{"id":512888,"date":"2025-10-19T22:13:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T22:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/512888\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T22:13:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T22:13:19","slug":"all-the-numbers-behind-radio-nationals-top-100-books-of-the-21st-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/512888\/","title":{"rendered":"All the numbers behind Radio National’s Top 100 Books of the 21st century"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost 288,000 readers cast their votes for their favourite books of the 21st century.<\/p>\n

The inaugural countdown saw fans choose everything from non-fiction to historical deep dives to murder mysteries.<\/p>\n

And by crunching the numbers, we discovered new insights into how and why Australians read.<\/p>\n

The winners<\/p>\n

The top book of the century, as voted by you, was Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe<\/strong> (2018).<\/p>\n

The Brisbane journalist and writer loosely based his literary debut on his own upbringing, replete with family dramas and unexpected criminal mentors.<\/p>\n

The story was also adapted for the screen in a much-celebrated TV series<\/a> aired last year. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Trent Dalton’s debut novel has won ABC Radio National’s inaugural Top 100 Books countdown. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Second place went to The Book Thief<\/strong> (2005) by Sydney writer Markus Zusak.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The beloved novel, often taught in high schools, features the unusual narrator of Death himself. The story is set deep in Nazi Germany, as the protagonist, Liesel, discovers the transformative power of reading.<\/p>\n

Third place brought American writer Amor Towles <\/strong>into the ranks. His novel, A Gentleman in Moscow<\/strong> (2016), follows the fictional Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a man ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury Moscow hotel.<\/p>\n

The full top 10 list was:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

#1 \u2014 Boy Swallows Universe (2018)<\/p>\n

#2 \u2014 The Book Thief (2005) by Markus Zusak<\/p>\n

#3 \u2014 A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) by Amor Towles<\/p>\n

#4 \u2014\u00a0All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014)<\/p>\n

#5 \u2014\u00a0Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022)<\/p>\n

#6 \u2014 Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (2013)<\/p>\n

#7 \u2014 The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (2020)<\/p>\n

#8 \u2014 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022)<\/p>\n

#9 \u2014 A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (2015)<\/p>\n

#10 \u2014 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We love Australian authors<\/p>\n

The Top 100 Books countdown proved that Australian bookworms love a local writer.<\/p>\n

Aside from the gold and silver medals going to a pair of Aussies, four of the top 10 titles and 26 of the top 100 titles were written by Australian authors.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Trent Dalton grew up in Queensland, using some of his life experiences in Boy Swallows Universe. (Supplied: HarperCollins\/David Kelly)<\/p>\n

Boy Swallows Universe proved popular across the country, topping the state and territory count in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria.<\/p>\n

The Book Thief placed first in the ACT, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.<\/p>\n

Though the top picks were broadly unanimous, men and women voted differently.<\/p>\n

On average, men were more likely to vote for Boy Swallows Universe <\/strong>(2018) by Trent Dalton<\/strong>, The Road<\/strong> (2006) by Corman McCarthy<\/strong>, and The Narrow Road to the Deep North<\/strong> (2013) by Richard Flanagan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Markus Zusak’s 2005 novel has captured the hearts and minds of Australians. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, women more commonly voted for The Book Thief <\/strong>(2005) by Markus Zusak<\/strong>, All the Light We Cannot See<\/strong> (2014) by Anthony Doerr<\/strong>, and Lessons in Chemistry<\/strong> (2022) by Bonnie Garmus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And when it comes to the authors in the list, the gender split was fairly even: 54 per cent female and 46 per cent male.<\/p>\n

Under 35s had other ideas<\/p>\n

While Trent Dalton and Markus Zusak dominated overall, younger voters went a different way.<\/p>\n

The under-35 age bracket was one of the bigger surprises of the countdown, with The Hunger Games<\/strong> (2008) by Suzanne Collins<\/strong> voted their favourite book of the past 25 years.<\/p>\n

Sorry Dalton and Zusak, it appears the odds weren’t ever in your favour when it came to this demographic.<\/p>\n

Women were the bigger readers<\/p>\n

Those who identified their gender as female made up the vast majority of voters at 75 per cent. That’s compared to just 17 per cent male.<\/p>\n

The top 100 list also provided insight into which states and territories are home to the biggest bookworms (or at least, those inclined to vote).<\/p>\n

Listen to the podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

Your favourite fiction authors share the stories behind their latest books on ABC Radio National’s The Book Show.<\/p>\n

Australia’s most devoted readers came from the ACT, which submitted the most votes per capita.<\/p>\n

That was followed by Tasmania, then Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Northern Territory.<\/p>\n

Competitive readers in Western Australia and Queensland might be disappointed to know that their states submitted the fewest votes, proportional to population.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two writers stood out<\/p>\n

There were two authors who each saw three of their books place in the Top 100: Geraldine Brooks<\/strong> and Anna Funder.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Australian-American author Brooks placed at #89 with People of the Book<\/strong> (2008), #22 with Horse<\/strong> (2022), and #15 with Year of Wonders<\/strong> (2002).<\/p>\n

Funder, also an Australian, placed at #43 with All That I Am<\/strong> (2011), #30 with Stasiland<\/strong> (2003), and #17 with Wifedom<\/strong> (2023).<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Geraldine Brooks and Anna Funder both had three books on the list. (Randi Baird and Penguin Australia)<\/p>\n

Tim Winton<\/strong> was agonisingly close to falling into this category. His books Breath<\/strong> (2008) and Dirt Music<\/strong> (2001) placed at #38 and #40, respectively, but his latest novel, Juice<\/strong> (2024), just missed out, placing 101st.<\/p>\n

And the 25-year cut-off didn’t stop plenty of voters from attempting to submit Winton’s beloved novel, Cloudstreet<\/strong>, which was published in 1991.<\/p>\n

The best year for books<\/p>\n

It seems that 2023 was the finest vintage for readers this century, with 10 titles from that year featuring on the Top 100 list.<\/p>\n

The years 2012 and 2025 were a bit more barren in the book world, with no titles making the list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Almost 288,000 readers cast their votes for their favourite books of the 21st century. The inaugural countdown saw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[167635,81374,74136,167634,74137,167643,167637,3444,167630,167638,167642,77,167639,167644,54178,167636,167633,167641,167632,167640,167100,167631,167629,16,15,5858],"class_list":{"0":"post-512888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-a-gentleman-in-moscow","9":"tag-a-little-life","10":"tag-all-the-light-we-cannot-see","11":"tag-amor-towles","12":"tag-anthony-doerr","13":"tag-barbara-kingsolver","14":"tag-bonnie-garmus","15":"tag-books","16":"tag-boy-swallows-universe","17":"tag-burial-rites","18":"tag-demon-copperhead","19":"tag-entertainment","20":"tag-hannah-kent","21":"tag-hanya-yanagihar","22":"tag-hilary-mantel","23":"tag-lessons-in-chemistry","24":"tag-markus-zusak","25":"tag-pip-williams","26":"tag-the-book-thief","27":"tag-the-dictionary-of-lost-words","28":"tag-top-100-books","29":"tag-top-100-books-of-the-21st-century","30":"tag-trent-dalton","31":"tag-uk","32":"tag-united-kingdom","33":"tag-wolf-hall"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115403136301918958","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}