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I prefer the Eyewitness and the Insight
Guides series. They focus on the country and the
culture. |
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AUSTRALIA |
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* there
is an asterisk before books you can find in the US,
either in the library or bookstores. |
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Non-Fiction |
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*In a Sunburned Country, by Bill
Bryson.
*A Secret Country, by Aussie journalist John Pilger.
*Granta 70, Summer 2000 issue: Special edition on
Australia.
“Bullo,” by Marlee Ranacher.
*The Road From Courain, by Jil Ker Conway.
“Why Warriors Lie Down and Die,” by Richard Trudgen.
*Travelers Tales Guide: Australia, True Stories of Life
Down Under.
*The Fatal Shore, by Robert Hughes.
*Aboriginal Australia & the Torres Strait Islands: Guide
to Indigenous Australia. A Lonely Planet guide, with
detail for those wanting Aboriginal touring.
*The Future Eaters, and Country, by Tim Flannery.
The Lucky Country, by Donald Horne.
*My Place, by Sally Morgan.
The Law of the Land, by Henry Reynolds.
Don’t Take Your Love to Town, by Ruby Langford. .
A Fortunate Life, by A. B. Facey.
*A Traveler’s History of Australia, by John H. Chambers.
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Fiction |
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“River Town,” by Thomas Keneally .
“The Secret River,” Kate Grenville.
“Carpentaria,” by Alexis Wright.
*A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute.
Anthologies of the works of bush writers Henry Lawson
and Banjo Patterson, and the novels of Collene
McCullough, like Thornbirds.
note: people ask me about the popular Mutant Message
Downunder by Marlo Morgan. It is a hoax that totally mis-represents
Aboriginal spirituality. The Aboriginal people tried to
stop the publication of this book, and convinced
Hollywood not to make a movie of it. If you want a short
overview of Aboriginal spirituality, I can send you a
copy of an article I wrote for the journal Markers,
titled “Aboriginal Burials in Christian Missions.”
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NEW ZEALAND |
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New Zealand claims to have more book
stores per capita than most other countries in the
world....! So if you can’t find books on this list in
the US, save time for shopping! |
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Non-Fiction |
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The Penguin History of New Zealand, by
Michael King
Making Peoples: A History of the New Zealanders from
Polynesian Settlement to the End of the Nineteenth
Century, by James Belich. And the companion book,
Paradise Reforged: A History of the New Zealanders, from
the 1880s to the Year 2000.
A Fence Around the Cuckoo, by Ruth Park.
.
The Quest for Origins: Why First Discovered & Settled
New Zealand and the Pacific Islands? By K. R. Howe.
Wild New Zealand – a Reader’s Digest book. .
The Natural World of New Zealand: An Illustrated
Encyclopaedia of New Zealand’s Natural Heritage, by
Gerard Hutching. |
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Fiction |
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Whale Rider, by Witi Ihimaera.
The Bone People, by Keri Hulme.
NZ is the home of Katherine Mansfield. Other popular
writers to look for include Maurice Gee, Patricia Grace,
Witi Ihimaera, Fiona Kidman, Owen Marshall, Maurice
Shadbolt, and Philip Temple.
Once Were Warriors, by Alan Duff. |
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