To help inspire voters, we’ve called on some of the country’s most beloved authors to share their top picks.<\/p>\n
Markus Zusak<\/p>\n
The Sydney writer is best known for his international bestsellers, The Book Thief (2005) and The Messenger (2002). Both have been adapted for screen.<\/p>\n
His latest book, a memoir called Three Wild Dogs (and the truth), was published in 2024 to critical acclaim.<\/p>\n
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Markus Zusak has written seven books, many of which were published internationally. (Supplied:\u00a0Hugh Stewart)<\/p>\n
His favourite book of the past quarter-century? The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by American author Michael Chabon.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The 2002 historical novel follows the lives of two Jewish cousins who create a fictional superhero and rise in the burgeoning comic book industry.<\/p>\n It also happens to contain Zuzak’s favourite line of any book, in Chabon’s description of an ocean liner coming into New York Harbor “like a mountain wearing a dinner jacket”.<\/p>\n Vote for the top 100 books of the 21st century<\/a><\/p>\n Cast your vote for your favourite 10 books from the past 25 years. Don’t forget to tune in to ABC Radio National on October 18 and 19 to hear the countdown.<\/p>\n “To me, that’s what writing is all about,” Zusak tells ABC Radio National.<\/a><\/p>\n “It’s like sitting in a sand pit playing with words.”<\/p>\n Hannah Kent<\/p>\n After winning the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award for her then-unpublished novel Burial Rites (2013), Kent shot to literary stardom.<\/p>\n The novel, which follows the true story of an Icelandic woman’s execution in the 1800s, won a slew of awards and was highly praised by readers and critics alike.<\/p>\n Hannah Kent wrote the basis of Burial Rites as her PhD thesis. (Supplied: Jonathan van der Knaap)<\/p>\n Her following novels, The Good People (2016) and Devotion (2021), were similarly set in the 19th century in Ireland and Australia, respectively. Her latest work is a memoir entitled Always Home, Always Homesick (2025).<\/p>\n Kent says her favourite novel of the 21st century is “probably one that people wouldn’t expect”: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (2023) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.<\/strong><\/p>\n The non-fiction book details the role of Indigenous American knowledge in understanding land and nature.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n “It’s a book that I can recommend to anyone, and do,” Kent says.<\/p>\n “It’s a book that I can re-read and expect to re-read throughout my life, and it’s something that I always take something new from, no matter when I turn to it.”<\/p>\n Ocean Vuong<\/p>\n The young Vietnamese-American writer is well known for his poetry and numerous essays.<\/p>\n His debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019), spent six weeks on the New York Times’ bestseller list.<\/p>\n This year, he published a second novel, The Emperor of Gladness (2025), which was met with positive reviews and found a coveted spot in Oprah’s Book Club.<\/p>\n In his essays and novels, Ocean Vuong deals with themes of identity, migration and language. (Supplied: Tom Hines)<\/p>\n Vuong’s pick for top book of the 21st century is, fittingly, a book that analyses the 21st century: Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures (2014), a collection of writings by English cultural critic Mark Fisher.<\/strong><\/p>\n “It’s a seminal landmark work of critical theory,” Vuong says.<\/p>\n “It basically says that we do not truly have a 21st century, other than a 20th century in high-def. It’s a pessimistic book, but it’s less a vision and more of a diagnosis.<\/p>\n “Like all great books, it forces us to confront the realities of our times, and then hopefully bring up remedies and possibilities in its wake.”<\/p>\n Trent Dalton<\/p>\n Journalist-turned-novelist Trent Dalton took the literary world by storm with his debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe (2018), set in the mean streets of Brisbane.<\/p>\n The story has since been turned into a celebrated Netflix series.<\/p>\n Trent Dalton based much of his first novel around his childhood experiences. (ABC)<\/p>\n Dalton followed it with novels All Our Shimmering Skies (2020) and Lola in the Mirror (2023), as well as a non-fiction offering, Love Stories (2021), which was adapted for the stage last year.<\/p>\n He reveals that the 21st-century book that most shaped him is A Fraction of the Whole (2008) by Steve Toltz<\/strong> \u2014 no surprise to fans of Boy Swallows Universe, who might recognise similar themes.<\/p>\n It turns out Dalton was reading Toltz’ novel \u2014 which follows three generations within an eccentric Australian family \u2014 when writing Boy Swallows Universe.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n “I owe Steve a lot for that. That book stays with me still,” Dalton says.<\/p>\n “The way Steve wrote that book \u2026 I just remember thinking, everything is possible and an Australian writer has every right to open up his brain and just let it explode.<\/p>\n “There are a couple of twists in there that still make my head shake. It’s exceptional.”<\/p>\n Kate Grenville<\/p>\n Veteran author Kate Grenville has published 15 books, including fiction, non-fiction and biography.<\/p>\n Her award-winning historical novel, The Secret River (2005), earned international acclaim and has since been adapted into a TV series and a stage show.<\/p>\n The Secret River was inspired by Kate Grenville’s own family history in colonial Australia. (ABC Local)<\/p>\n But it was non-fiction that inspired her latest book, Unsettled (2025), which traces her own journey of discovery while researching and writing The Secret River.<\/p>\n The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia (2011) by Bill Gammage<\/strong> “totally transformed” her sense of Australian identity, she says.<\/p>\n Exploring the sophisticated land management systems employed by First Nations people, the book inspired her to see the land around her as “a kind of embroidery”, complex and layered.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n “It’s a superb book \u2026 Bill does a forensic examination of a landscape,” Grenville says.<\/p>\n “Whenever I go anywhere now, I’m looking for the original shape [of the land]. You can’t often see it but even looking for it has transformed my life.”<\/p>\n Craig Silvey<\/p>\n Western Australian author Craig Silvey published his first novel, Rhubarb (2004), when he was just 19 years old, solidly placing him on the literary map.<\/p>\n Craig Silvey has twice been named one of the Best Young Australian Novelists by The Sydney Morning Herald. (Supplied: Allen & Unwin\/Daniel Grant)<\/p>\n His second novel, Jasper Jones (2008), was a bestseller that went on to become a star-studded film.<\/p>\n Silvey went on to publish The Amber Amulet (2012), Honeybee (2020) and Runt (2022), gaining a devoted readership along the way.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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