The 100 bestselling books at Readings in 2017
Here are our 100 bestselling books from the past year.
(We’ve also compiled our 10 bestselling CDs of 2017 and our 10 bestselling DVDs of 2017.)
Of the 100 books below…
- 32 are fiction (including two poetry collections, three translated works and 15 Australian novels)
- 30 are non-fiction (including three self-help books, three Quarterly Essays and a beautiful, comprehensive guide to Australian birds)
- 17 are children’s and young adult books (including four picture books, nine junior and middle fiction reads, and four young adult novels)
- 10 are biographies or memoirs (including several fascinating reads from Australians)
- 6 are cookbooks (including Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s much-loved first cookbook)
- 5 are crime fiction (including both of Jane Harper’s gripping literary thrillers)
Of the 114 authors (as well as illustrators, translators, and more) listed here, 50 are female. It was a strong year for Australian literature with 50% of the list coming from Australians.
Authors Helen Garner, John Clarke, Rupi Kaur, Elizabeth Strout, Jane Harper, Yuval Noah Harari and Hetty McKinnon each have two books featured, and as ever, the list includes several notable literary prize winners including Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (Man Booker Prize), The Power by Naomi Alderman (Women’s Prize for Fiction), Extinctions by Josephine Wilson (Miles Franklin Award) and The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose (Stella Prize).
We’re especially delighted to see all three of our Readings Prize winners listed here: Sam Carmody’s The Windy Season, The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon and A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee. All these books from emerging Australian voices comes very highly recommended from Readings staff.
100. The Windy Season by Sam Carmody
99. Black Rock White City by A. S. Patrić
98. The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
97. F*cking Apostrophes by Simon Griffin
96. The Getaway (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 12) by Jeff Kinney
95. The Number Games by Adam Spencer
94. Common People by Tony Birch
93. City Of Crows by Chris Womersley
92. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
91. The Sellout by Paul Beatty
90. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
89. The Long Goodbye: Coal, Coral and Australia’s Climate Deadlock (Quarterly Essay 66) by Anna Krien
88. Under the Love Umbrella by Davina Bell & Allison Colpoys
87. The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga
86. A Season with Richmond: Yellow & Black by Konrad Marshall
85. The River of Consciousness by Oliver Sacks
84. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
83. My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
82. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
81. A Pleasure to be Here by John Clarke
80. Neighbourhood by Hetty McKinnon
79. Hunger by Roxane Gay
78. Detours by Tim Rogers
77. Insomniac City by Bill Hayes
76. The Passage of Love by Alex Miller
75. The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
74. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
73. The Power by Naomi Alderman
72. The Australian Bird Guide by Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack & Kim Franklin
71. Moral Panic 101 - Equality, Acceptance and the Safe Schools Scandal (Quarterly Essay 67) by Benjamin Law
70. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
69. Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
68. A Writing Life by Bernadette Brennan
67. Welcome To Country by Aunty Joy Murphy & Lisa Kennedy
66. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
65. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
64. Watching Out by Julian Burnside
63. The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser
62. Bad Dad by David Walliams & Tony Ross
61. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
60. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
59. Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami (translated by Philip Gabriel & Ted Goossen)
58. In My Heart by Jo Witek & Christine Roussey
57. Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
56. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
55. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
54. Inglorious Empire by Shashi Tharoor
53. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
52. The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon
51. Talking to My Daughter About the Economy by Yanis Varoufakis
50. The Choke by Sofie Laguna
49. Saga Land by Richard Fidler & Kári Gíslason
48. The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Polly and Buster Book 1) by Sally Rippin
47. The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein
46. The Good People by Hannah Kent
45. The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben (translated by Jane Billinghurst)
44. 5 Ingredients by Jamie Oliver
43. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (translated by Philip Gabriel)
42. The White Queen - One Nation and the Politics of Race (Quarterly Essay 65) by David Marr
41. Not Just Lucky by Jamila Rizvi
40. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
39. Lion by Saroo Brierley
38. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson
37. The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
36. Mythos by Stephen Fry
35. The Clever Guts Diet by Michael Mosley
34. Extinctions by Josephine Wilson
33. Ostro by Julia Busuttil Nishimura
32. Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman
31. Community by Hetty McKinnon
30. Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain
29. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
28. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
27. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
26. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
25. Depends What You Mean by Extremist by John Safran
24. Gut by Giulia Enders (translated by David Shaw)
23. Fighting Hislam by Susan Carland
22. Wimmera by Mark Brandi
21. A Long Way from Home by Peter Carey
20. A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee
19. True Stories by Helen Garner
18. A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré
17. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh
16. Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford
15. Tinkering by John Clarke
14. Stories by Helen Garner
13. La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust Book 1) by Philip Pullman
12. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
11. The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose
Our top 10 bestselling books are…
10. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
9. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
8. First Person by Richard Flanagan
7. Force of Nature by Jane Harper
6. The Dry by Jane Harper
5. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
4. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. The 91-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
And our number one bestselling book of 2017 is…
Described as ‘the only money guide you’re ever need’, The Barefoot Investor has struck a chord with Australians. It’s not only the bestselling book here at Readings but it was also the highest selling book across Australia in 2017. In its pages, Scott Pape will show you how to create an entire financial plan that is so simple you can sketch it on the back of a serviette – and you’ll be able to manage your money in 10 minutes a week.
