Whether you found this list searching for books set in Australia or New Zealand or you are participating in the Book Voyage reading challenge, you’ve come to the right place.
Literary Themes in Australia and New Zealand Books
While Australia and New Zealand are high on many travel bucket lists, there’s a lot beyond the popular tourist destinations. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best New Zealand and Australian books that will transport you to these two countries. Our book recommendations include great fiction reads, historical fiction about their penal colony pasts, humorous travelogues, and eye-opening memoirs, including about the ongoing racial divide.
As always, we have focused on Australian authors whose books are set in Australia as much as possible, and you’ll see biography notes about many of the authors in the “Book Girls Say” section below the synopses. On the other hand, there are some very talented Australian authors whose books focus on universal relationship themes that could be set anywhere. For example, Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project is set in Melbourne, but does not describe this location, so we did not include it below. In compiling our recommended reading list, we’ve sought out books that provide vivid descriptions of the setting or dig deeper to help understand the region.
This epic novel is set in the vast expanse of Western Australia, where a million-acre sheep station is merely a dot on the map.
All it takes is a few seconds of inattention on a lonely outback road for the lives of the MacBride family to be forever shattered. But fate wasn’t done with them yet. Another twist of consequences will cause one of them to lose their life and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child.
Why This Book Made the List
It’s been more than a decade since we read M.L. Stedman’s debut novel, The Light Between Oceans, and yet the story has stuck with us all these years. We still think about the moral complexities of good people making bad decisions with the best intentions.
Set in the 1920s on the west coast of Australia, The Light Between Oceans remains an excellent pick for this challenge, but we are very excited for Stedman’s long-awaited sophomore novel. This family saga promises to also challenge readers with moral and ethical questions.
About the Author
Author M.L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London. She worked for years as a lawyer before pursuing writing.
Set during the golden years of radio broadcasting in post-war Australia, this novel celebrates the unseen women who wrote the radio plays that were enjoyed around the country without any recognition.
Martha Berry, a 50-year-old secretary at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), is one of an army of polite and invisible women in 1956 Sydney. Unmarried and often overlooked, she is assigned to assist Quentin Quinn, a young and inexperienced producer tasked with creating a new radio serial, As the Sun Sets.
As Quinn proves inept, Martha steps in to ghost-write scripts and manage the production. To make the show a success, she must also balance a conservative broadcaster frightened by the word ‘pregnant’ and a motley cast of actors with ideas of their own about their roles in the show.
Martha’s authentic storytelling resonates with audiences, but Quinn takes all the credit. When the truth threatens to surface, Martha must decide whether to remain in the shadows or claim her rightful recognition.
This novel is described as perfect for fans of Lessons in Chemistry.
Another Novel by This Author
Author Victoria Purman lives in southern Australia and focuses her writing on telling stories of Australian women.
Purman’s The Last of the Bonegilla Girls was previously on this list and also makes an excellent pick for an Australian read set in the 1950s. That novel tells the story of four women who met at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp in 1954. Three are from different European countries, and the fourth is the daughter of the camp’s director. Together, the “Bonegilla Girls” envision a brighter future in Australia. But when a ghost from one of their pasts threatens her path forward, her friends are willing to do anything to keep her safe.
Operating between 1947 and 1971, the Bonegilla Migration Reception and Training Center was Australia’s largest and longest-operating migrant camp, which served as the first home to more than 320,000 migrants from more than 30 different countries.
Frederick was born 82 years ago, and ever since, he has approached life with a huge heart full of kindness. But now, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. Then, he’s mistaken for grumpy Bernard from a local nursing home. As long as the real Bernard doesn’t show up, Fred has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head.
Denise is a middle-aged mom who works at the care facility while struggling with a crumbling marriage and other challenges that have zapped her joy. She vowed never to let a man deceive her again, making her suspicious of Fred since Bernard would never be as kind as he had been.
Our Thoughts on This Book
The first chapter had Angela laughing out loud, and while there were many more laughs throughout the book, it was the heart of this book that made it one of the best books she read this year. It’s perfect for fans of Remarkably Bright Creatures.
We’ve also seen many people calling Frederick the next Ove, and while we adore this book just as much as A Man Called Ove, the main characters couldn’t be more different. While curmudgeonly Ove is ultimately heartwarming, Frederick is like a giant, cozy hug right from the start.
About the Author
Author Anna Johnston was the social support coordinator in her grandfather’s nursing home until an injury left her unable to continue the position. She used what she learned working in the home in this highly-rated debut novel, and she based the characters of Frederick and his late wife on the loving relationship she observed between her dear grandparents.
Audrey and Fraser have a storybook romance and are dreaming of their happily ever after, but then one tragic moment upends everything. Both are left facing the unimaginable and wrestling with guilt and “what ifs.”
What to Expect in This Book
What follows is a sliding doors-style story with two timelines happening at the same time. This book offers both romance and depth and is heavy with emotion and grief.
About the Author
Author Emma Gray is a native of Canberra, Australia. Don’t miss her author’s note at the end of the book, where she shares her personal connection to the story.
We previously had Emma Gray’s The Last Love Note on our Australia list and removed it to make room for this new title. But it would still make an excellent choice if you are looking for a book that might be quicker to get from the library. It similarly deals with themes of grief and is deeper than the cover might imply.
For sixty years, eighty-one-year-old Elsie has lived on the same idyllic street. She’s equal parts cantankerous and witty, but no one would guess that she’s kept her real identity hidden all these years.
When her 93-year-old neighbor passes away, Elsie becomes a “person of interest” to the police. They discover that as a child, she was known as “Mad Mabel,” due to a series of deaths around her, culminating in a murder charge when she was a teenager.
When Elsie agrees to be interviewed on YouTube, you’ll see her life story unfold in a dual timeline, including her present-day friendship with her 7-year-old neighbor, Persephone.
Our Thoughts on This Book…
We can always count on Australian Sally Hepworth to pull us into a page-turning, twisty world far from our own! In fact, Melissa still thinks about the wide range of emotions, toxic family bonds, and twists in the first Sally Hepworth book she read, The Good Sister, so Mad Mabel is high on her TBR list for 2026!
We recommend not reading any other reviews before picking this one up to avoid spoilers, but if you have any specific sensitivities, check for trigger warnings, as some tough topics are included.
In 1950, Anne left Wattle Island to start a new life in the city. However, she is forced to return home after a tragedy. Starting the Wattle Island book club is her only solace.
In 2018, librarian Grace heads to Wattle Island for an adventure after life handed her a hefty dose of new perspective. While she’s there, she’s determined to get to the bottom of a long-held mystery surrounding the town’s historic book club.
Anne and Grace must come together to heal the trauma that tore the book club apart.
What to Expect in This Book
While this is a book about friendship and love, it also addresses some serious issues, so we recommend checking trigger warnings if necessary.
Aboard a short flight from Hobart to Sydney, Australia, a passenger (who will come to be known as “The Death Lady”) walks up and down the aisles telling each person the age at which they will die and the cause of death.
Some passengers learn that they have many, many years ahead of them, like one who will live to be 103. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are less than a year away.
A few months after the flight, one passenger dies exactly as predicted. Then, soon after, two more. No,w even those who originally viewed their encounter with “The Death Lady” as an entertaining story to share at cocktail parties are paying close attention.
Thoughts on This Book
After asking ourselves, “Would we want to know how much time we have left?” while reading Nikki Erlick’s The Measure, we are totally intrigued by the question posed by Liane Moriarty in this novel – “If you knew you had a certain amount of time left, would you do things differently?”
About the Author
Liane Moriarty sets all of her books in her home country of Australia, and was the first Australian author to have a novel debut at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list (Big Little Lies).
While several of her books have been adapted for the screen, Hollywood has changed the settings to the United States in each case.
Three women in Australia are in desperate need of strength, courage, and reconnection. Grace is a 74-year-old retired farmer who feels her best days are behind her. Patrica was following her dreams of travel and adventure, but now has returned home to care for her aging parents. Dorothy and her husband desperately want a baby, and she’s struggling to accept that it may not happen.
Their own journeys have brought them all to the Orange Blossom House, set in a beautiful rainforest in Queensland. Together with Sandrine, their yoga teacher, the women discover that life has much more to offer than they ever expected.
In 1998, twelve-year-old Lily Jorgenson’s family traveled from America to Australia and embarked on a yearlong road trip. But one night, during a storm, Lily’s mother disappeared in the Australian Everglades and was never seen again.
That same night, her sister, Iris was also missing for hours. And when Iris finally returned to the family camper, she refused to tell Lily where she’d been. Lily suspects her sister is hiding a dark secret.
Twenty-four years later, Lily lives in Pennsylvania and works as a travel writer. When she receives word that flooding dredged up her mother’s backpack, she feels compelled to travel back to Australia to unlock the secrets of the past once and for all. But doing so may shatter everything she thought she knew about her family.
About the Author
Thriller novelist Anni Taylor was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, where she still lives with her partner and four sons.
Abby Jones is a very successful writer, except no one knows because she writes under a pen name. She is the secret identity behind a wildly popular reality television recap column in a UK tabloid.
When Abby’s boss calls her in to talk about the upcoming season of The Stag (a Bachelor-style show) that will be filmed in Sydney, she tells her they want Abby on set to get the behind-the-scenes scoop.
But Abby won’t just be observing from off-camera – they expect her to be one of the contestants on the show. Abby can’t think of anything worse than going undercover in front of the cameras.
The only thing that might make the experience worthwhile is the handsome Aussie producer.
Thoughts on This Book
This comedic romance book set in Australia is a must-read for fans of The Bachelor!
Australian Sandy Barker is one of Angela’s favorite rom-com authors! She loves the vivid descriptions of the travel destinations in Sandy’s books, and this book did not disappoint! In addition to being a laugh-out-loud reality TV-inspired rom-com, you’ll also feel like you’ve just returned from a vacation to sunny Sydney!
1800s, Van Diemen’s Land (penal colony in modern Tasmania, Australia)
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
4.3 out of 5 97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
The Exiles takes readers back in history to the British settlement of Australia in the 1800s. While Aboriginal people inhabited the land for tens of thousands of years, the British government decided to forcibly relocate many tribes and create a new nation where they would exile British citizens who violated laws in their other territories.
The book follows three women and their intertwining lives – Evangeline, a young governess imprisoned after becoming pregnant, Hazel, a young girl sentenced to seven years after being accused of stealing a spoon, and Mathinna, an orphaned Aboriginal who the governor of the new land adopted.
Thoughts on This Book
This historical fiction set in Australia, from the author of Orphan Train, provides a compelling account of the hardships women faced in the nineteenth century, including some hardships that readers could find triggering.
The Lost Man is a mystery thriller set on the Bright family’s adjoining cattle farms in outback Queensland. Nathan discovers his well-liked brother Cameron dead near an isolated headstone of an unknown cowboy. The grave is famous in local legends and ghost stories, but what was Cameron doing there, miles from his car?
You’ll be transported to the dry, remote Outback as you try to piece together the mystery along with Nathan.
Consider This Before Reading
Our readers say they enjoyed how the author slowly revealed the underlying story. However, be aware that this book, set in the Australian Outback, includes some domestic violence.
Readers also highly recommend The Dry by the same Australian author.
At the beginning of this novel, the main character, Alice, is only 9 years old and is sent away from her seaside home to live with her estranged grandmother, June, on a flower farm. Over the years, she learns both the language of flowers and about all the women her grandmother has taken in over the years to help them heal from abusive situations.
However, Alice eventually realizes that she has her own unhealed wounds and flees the flower farm. She ends up in the remote, beautiful central desert of Australia. She thinks she has found peace until her new love, Dylan, is much different from what she expected.
More About This Book
In May 2019, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart won the Australian Book Industry Award for General Fiction Book of the Year. The book is now a series on Amazon Prime that stars Sigourney Weaver as June.
Ky is a Vietnamese-Australian woman who deeply regrets encouraging her parents to let her brother go out to celebrate his graduation. That evening, he was killed inside a restaurant. The Sydney suburb of Cabramatta is known for violent crime, and the worst heroin epidemic in Australian history, and the police force seems indifferent.
Ky returns home to Cabramatta for the funeral and learns that while a dozen people were in the restaurant when Denny was killed, they all claim to know nothing. The police are stumped, so Ky decides to talk to the witnesses herself. As she peels back the layers, readers get the points of view of both Ky and the witnesses. These POV add depth to this literary thriller, exploring everything from colonialism to the Vietnam War.
About the Author
Author Tracey Lien was born and raised in southwestern Australia and then received her MFA at the University of Kansas in the US. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. This is her debut novel, which was nominated for numerous 2023 Australian literary awards.
Bill Bryson’s humorous travel memoirs never disappoint, and this one is the perfect combination of laugh-out-loud funny and an in-depth look at what makes the land down under so unique. Although Australia is home to more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else on Earth, Bryson adores the place, and after you read his travelogue, you’ll understand why! He takes readers far beyond the beaten tourist path, where he meets friendly locals at every turn and shares hilarious stories of his adventures.
Thoughts on This Book
Angela read this book right after she arrived in Australia for her study abroad experience back in 2000, and she has re-read it twice since then (as the perfect way to armchair travel back to one of her favorite places on Earth). Whether you’ve been fortunate enough to visit Australia or just want to feel like you have, this book is entertaining and informative from beginning to end!
If you enjoy audiobooks, Bill Bryson narrates this one himself. His dry, sarcastic tone adds even more humor to his writing.
Another Travelogue to Consider
If you’re looking for another travelogue set in Australia, consider Tracks by Robyn Davidson. The travel memoir of this Australian native tells the story of her mostly solo, perilous journey across Australia’s Outback in the late 1970s. She covered 1700 miles from Alice Springs all the way to the Indian Ocean. While this memoir gives a great look at this region of Australia during the 70s, some readers find Robyn unlikable, and others express concern with her use and treatment of the camels on her journey.
Set in a seaside town, Silver Bay is about a family of women at a small inn. The town’s draw is the sea life. One of the family members, Liza, even takes tourists on whale—and dolphin-watching boat tours.
When Mike, a real estate developer from London, is sent to scope out the town for a giant hotel complex, he brings visions of water sports that would disrupt the natural habitat. But, as he learns more about the impacts of his plans, he falls in love with more than just the location.
Thoughts on This Book
Like the lifestyle in the book, reviews say the plot can also feel slow at the beginning, despite the multiple points of view. However, they also praise the descriptions of what it’s like to live in a sleepy coastal Australian village, including vivid descriptions of the lives of dolphins and whales. This is a great choice if you’re looking for a light, pleasant book about Australia with Hallmark movie vibes!
This clue-style locked room mystery takes place during a family reunion at a secluded ski resort in the Australian mountains. But this isn’t your ordinary family. As the title says, everyone in the family has killed someone, and this reunion is an attempt at mending fences between family members.
From siblings, spouses, parents, and even aunts and uncles, everyone is a capable suspect when a murder occurs while they are snowed into the resort. The narrator is Ern, a family member investigating the crime despite his own questionable past.
Reviewers say you have to pay close attention to this Golden Age mystery filled with dark humor, as you’ll encounter many twists and turns as you try to play armchair detective alongside Ern.
About the Author
Benjamin Stevenson, who grew up in Canberra, Australia, is both an author and a stand-up comedian.
When funding for her research lab in Boston is suddenly reduced, 49-year-old Anna Fergusson is at a crossroads. On impulse, she decides to rent a cabin on an island along Australia’s Great Barrier Reef for a year.
However, her time on Turtle Island was not the simple retreat she expected. While she falls in love with islanders and with Tom, the laid-back turtle whisperer. Her time there is also filled with pain and challenges.
About the Author
The author is a scientist and neuropsychologist who lives on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, and spends much of her time in Australia. Through this novel, she shares a great deal of scientific knowledge about marine turtle conservation and the main character’s area of research specialty, Huntington’s Disease.
In 1808, Rose loves working with her naturalist father on his groundbreaking study of the platypus. When he is unable to travel to present his findings to the Royal Society in England, Rose goes in his place. What she discovers will change generations.
In 1908, Tamsin needs to travel to the Hunter Valley to get an old sketchbook donated to the public library. When she arrives, she discovers that there is more to the sketchbook than she expected. Shaw, a young bookseller and lawyer, has his own ideas about the book, and Tasmin partners with him to try and uncover the book’s true provenance.
About the Author
Award-winning author Tea Cooper was born in England but has lived in Australia for most of her adult life. She has published numerous Australian historical fiction novels, including The Cartographer’s Secret and The Girl in the Painting.
At 27, Terri Raines took a vacation from her wildlife rescue work in Oregon and traveled to Australia. There, at a small wildlife park in Queensland, she met a conservationist named Steve Irwin. Less than a year later, the two were married in Oregon. Then she moved with Steve to Australia, where they continued his conservation work together. The footage filmed of their crocodile-trapping honeymoon would ultimately become the first episode of “The Crocodile Hunter.”
In this memoir, Terri shares the unforgettable adventures that she shared with Steve. While Steve was world-famous for his daring and enthusiasm, Terri provides a more intimate view of a devoted family man and dedicated environmentalist.
Despite Steve’s worldwide reputation as the “Crocodile Hunter,” his lifelong work involved rescuing and protecting wildlife from poachers, not “hunting” them as the name might imply.
Fun Fact: Angela was fortunate to visit Steve and Terri’s beautiful Australia Zoo in 2000 and meet their daughter, Bindi, who was just a toddler at the time.
In the 1960s, the misnamed “Aboriginal Protection Act” was still in effect in Australia. The law made it possible for the government to micromanage and oppress the Aboriginal population in endless ways, including taking light-skinned children from their families. This novel tells the story of this devastating policy.
Odette lives on the edge of a small town and is raising her granddaughter, Sissy, after her daughter disappeared. She works hard to stay under the radar of welfare authorities, who commonly take fair-skinned children. She’s willing to risk everything to protect Sissy from that fate.
About the Author
Tony Birch is an Aboriginal Australian author, academic, and activist. He lives in Melbourne and is a Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University.
More Recommended Reading
For additional perspectives on the Aboriginal experience, we recommend Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia, a short-story anthology edited by Anita Hess (a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of New South Wales). It includes stories from 51 Aboriginal Australians spanning various ages, locations, and life experiences. While many of the stories share heartbreaking injustice, there are also themes of hope and encouragement. If you enjoy the format of these short stories, there are other books in the Growing Up series, including Growing Up Disabled in Australia and Growing Up Queer in Australia.
This Australian historical fiction novel is set in the late 1800s and the early decades of the 1900s. In the vast and unforgiving desert of Western Australia, a little girl is abandoned in the sand.
She is taken back to the town of Leonora and named after it. Here, she is raised in an orphanage and slowly bonds with another orphan named James.
Eventually, Leonora is sent away to live with a wealthy family in America. James is taken in by relatives who have emigrated from Ireland. Years later, Leonora has the opportunity to return to Australia, and there she comes face to face with James – the only person who knows the real her.
Below we are featuring some of the highest-rated fiction set in New Zealand, but if you prefer a humorous travelogue, check out Squashed Possums by Jonathan Tindale.
Contemporary Fiction
When We Believed in Mermaids
Barbara O’Neal
Publication Date:
01/01/2019
Setting:
Auckland, New Zealand
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
4.5 out of 5 100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Kit, an ER doctor living in Santa Cruz, California, has missed her sister, Josie, for fifteen years. Josie was killed in a terrorist attack on a train. At least that is what Kit has always believed. But then, one day, she’s watching the news when live coverage of a club fire in Auckland shows a woman who is unmistakably Josie.
Fueled by grief, loss, and anger, Kit travels to Auckland, New Zealand in search of her sister, who has been living a lie. But for them to reunite in the present, they’ll also have to face long-buried secrets and a shared traumatic past. This past includes complicated issues involving both sex and drugs, so steer clear if these are themes you prefer not to read about.
More About This Book
This is one of the more popular books in the Kindle Unlimited catalog, and we can’t wait to read it ourselves!
In New Zealand, Marion has spent the last 15 years living a quiet life on the coast. She’s packed away her memories until a chance meeting with a young boy named Ika brings her past back to life.
As she individually examines images of her grandfather, mother, brother, and lover, she tries to find a new order and memories. As she strives to forgive her younger self, she also tries to save Ika from his own tragic childhood.
Jax is a former model who has just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, where he lost a leg to a roadside bomb. He recently returned home to New Zealand, and he’s agreed to help his pregnant sister by serving as a pseudo-tour guide for a wealthy American, Karen, who is interested in buying his sister’s high-end glamping business.
Jax tours Karen around some of New Zealand’s most beautiful – as well as some of its quirkiest – ecotourism sites. Despite the challenges (Karen seems to have never heard the phrase “we don’t have time” let alone “there’s not more room in the car”) the chemistry is undeniable.
Thoughts on This Book
If you are looking for a light contemporary romance book that will whisk you away to New Zealand, consider giving this book a shot. Readers particularly enjoy the descriptions of New Zealand’s scenery, food, and culture.
Be aware, however, that both Jax and Karen are working through some trauma, so this book may also cause you to shed a few tears as well.
About the Author
American author Rosalind James spend years working as a marketing executive in Australia and New Zealand. She is also the author of another popular series of romance books set in New Zealand, called Escape to New Zealand.
Middle-aged beekeeper Alice Trentwell installs some hives and looks forward to her bees pollinating all of the fruit trees in her corner of Christchurch, New Zealand. Instead, just a day later, a dead body is discovered covered in bee stings, and now the police believe the killer used her bees as a murder weapon.
Desperate to protect her hives from destruction in the hunt for evidence, Alice sets out to solve the murder herself, but she’s soon in over her head.
About the Series
Each book in the Honeybee Mysteries trilogy is a quick, novella-length standalone read with no cliffhangers.
On a sun-drenched summer holiday at their beachside holiday home north of Wellington, New Zealand, ten-year-old Alix narrates her family’s summer vacation. Her mom is working on a novel, her dad is occupied with grilling and watching cricket, and her teenage sister wants to flirt with the local lifeguard. While everyone else is preoccupied, Alix teams up with a new friend to solve an old mystery.
Two years ago a young child named Charlotte was presumed drowned, but things are quite as they seem. Alix and Kahu begin investigating and their childlike sleuthing uncovers unsettling clues, eerie observations, and hints of adult secrets. Are her parents really happy together? Is her sister trusting the wrong person? Is their vacation rental safe?
As Alix pieces together fragments she scarcely understands, the holiday’s slow, nostalgic pace sharpens into suspense. And when someone else goes missing, the family finds themselves at the center of the investigation.
Thoughts on This Book
This debut novel from New Zealand author Jennifer Trevelyan is praised for its nostalgic portrayal of summer friendships and the confusion of being a child trying to understand an adult world. It’s described as a quiet book that flows slowly but effortlessly.
This novel, the first in a trilogy, is a colonial New Zealand historical fiction set in the 19th century.
Helen is the governess for a wealthy London household. She longs for a family of her own, but with her late 20s quickly approaching and no prospects, it doesn’t seem promising. When she sees an ad seeking young women to marry New Zealand’s honorable bachelors, she jumps at the opportunity.
In nearby Wales, Gwyn’s wealthy sheep breeder father is dealt an unlucky blackjack hand and offers up his daughter’s hand in marriage. The rest of her family is outraged, but Gwyn sees it as a thrilling chance to escape her boring life.
The two women meet on the ship to Christchurch, New Zealand, and become fast friends. When their new Kiwi husbands don’t turn out to be what they expected, the two will lean on one another.
Consider This Before Reading
This novel is over 700 pages long. But if you’re up for it, you’ll find an epic saga of friendship, romance, marriage, and adventure.
Other Titles to Consider
The German-born author also has another highly-rated trilogy set in New Zealand, which begins with The Fire Blossom. The novels in this trilogy are also on the long side, and are also included with Kindle Unlimited.
Danielle Hawkins is a New Zealand author known for perfectly capturing rural life in her light and humorous novels, which are said to be perfect for fans of Doc Martin.
Lia and Anna are friends who opened a cafe near a seaside town. They’re spending all their free time working, planning Anna’s wedding, and trying to get Lia’s ex-boyfriend to understand that it’s over. Then, one night, a gorgeous stranger appears at Lia’s window in the middle of the night. Is it worth fitting a new relationship into her already hectic life?
Thoughts on This Book
Our readers say that this book is laugh-out-loud funny at times with fun characters, but The Pretty Delicious Cafe also has some serious and darker topics interwoven into the book.
About the Author
Bestselling New Zealand author Danielle Hawkins lives on a sheep farm with her husband and children. When It All Went to Custard is another excellent option from this author, full of humor and a rollercoaster of emotions as Jenny tries to save her family farm.
This YA book uses a popular New Zealand myth to create a magical realism/fantasy adventure. The main character is 8-year-old Kahu, a descendant of the legendary Whale Rider and a member of the Maori tribe.
Her great-grandpa is desperately looking for a successor to become chief, a role reserved for male heirs. However, Kahu is his only great-grandchild. While others see how special she is, the chief is blind to her greatness and continues searching for a male to take his place.
One day, hundreds of whales are beached and threaten the future of the tribe. Kahu will attempt the impossible to save them. Can this young girl be the leader the tribe needs?
About the Book & the Author
This is a short book at 140 pages – perfect if you have a busy month!
Born in New Zealand in 1944, author Witi Ihimaera was the first Māori writer to publish both a novel and book of short stories.
You are welcome to choose any book you’d like to read for the challenge, but we hope this list of books has given you a good starting point.
You are welcome to choose any book you’d like to read for the challenge, but we hope this list of books has given you a good starting point.
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Book Recommendations for Other Regions
Find more recommendations for other regions of the world using the links below.
Australia is often referred to as an island continent. It is the only continent that is also a country and is surrounded by water on all four sides. Australia’s population of roughly 25.5 million is tiny compared to the more than 300 million people living in the United States. So, it can be easy to forget that its landmass is nearly as large as the continental US. In fact, Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world. And with that size comes incredible diversity – both in its landscape and its people.
Australia is part of the region referred to more broadly as Oceania, which includes New Zealand and 12 other island nations in the South Pacific. We focused our armchair travels on island books last month, but we saved books set in New Zealand for this month’s list.
How Similar are Australia and New Zealand?
Book Girl Angela spent six months in college living in Brisbane, AUS, and traveling around both Australia and New Zealand. She’s very excited to introduce everyone to the beauty of these two countries through the pages of the books recommended above!
Many people tend to lump Australia and New Zealand together (much to the dismay of the Aussies and the Kiwis that live there). While the countries share similarities, they are also unique, as the books on our list will help you discover.
Australia is a Country of Contrasts
The east coast of Australia features coral reefs and subtropical rainforests to the north and popular surfing beaches along the central Pacific Coast. The majority of the country’s population is centered around the three largest cities, which are all located along the east coast – Sydney, Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bin by the locals), and Brisbane (pronounced Bris-bin). The west coast of Australia, in contrast, is very sparsely populated, with only one major city – Perth – and a dry, sunny climate.
The dry, red desert of the Australian Outback covers more than 70 percent of the continent. Visitors to the center of the country usually arrive by way of the town of Alice Springs. From this base, you can travel another four and half hours by car to reach two of Australia’s most recognizable landmarks – Uluru (Ayres Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). These sandstone rock formations – which are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and are sacred to the indigenous Aboriginal people – feature springs, rock caves, and ancient paintings.
The Two Main Islands of New Zealand
New Zealand is made up of many islands. The two largest, where most of the population lives, are called the North Island and the South Island. The North Island of NZ is home to the biggest city, Auckland, with white sandy beaches and vast areas of farmland.
While the North Island is beautiful, the South Island is widely considered the more breathtaking of the two. The largest city on the South Island is Christchurch. Much of the island is covered in the rugged Southern Alps with its glaciers and fjords.
Book Recommendations for Other Regions
Find more recommendations for other regions of the world using the links below.
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