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.
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.
What Kind of Books Are Included On This List?
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.
Some of our favorite authors are Australians whose books, while set in their home country, focus on universal relationship themes that could be set anywhere. These authors include Liane Moriarty (Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret) and Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project series). Although these authors’ books frequently show up on lists of books set in Australia, in compiling our recommended reading list, we’ve focused on books that provide vivid descriptions of the setting or dig deeper to help understand the region.
1800s, Van Diemen’s Land (penal colony in modern Tasmania, Australia)
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
The Exiles takes us 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 7 years after being accused of stealing a spoon, and Mathinna, an orphaned Aboriginal who the governor of the new land adopted.
The Exiles tells the originals of Australia from new perspectives, with themes of friendship, perseverance, and freedom.
The Book Girls Say…
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.
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 in the 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.
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Thriller novelist Anni Taylor was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, and where she still gives with her partner and four sons.
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 than she expected.
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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 and stars Sigourney Weaver as June.
Author Holly Ringland grew up in her mother’s tropical garden on the west coast of Australia, and then spent two years of her childhood traveling North American national parks in a camper van.
Kate hasn’t recovered from losing her husband, Cameron, two years ago. She’s back to work, but not at peak performance. Her best friend is trying to get her back on the dating scene, but she’s already overwhelmed trying to care for herself and her young son.
When Kate and her boss, Hugh, are on a flight to a quick business meeting, they have to land in Byron Bay due to a massive storm. The time away may be exactly what she needs to move into the next stage of healing.
While the title of this novel, and even the first couple of chapters, sounds like a rom-com, don’t go in expecting that vibe throughout. It gets quite deep and covers some very serious, hard, heart-wrenching topics. While it’s not exactly a dual-time, some chapters take you back to Kate’s life with her husband. You’ll tear up as many times as you laugh out loud. There are romantic elements, but it’s also squarely a story about grief and loss.
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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.
WARNING: This is one of those books that contains topics that may be upsetting to readers who have personal experience with them. However, they are spoilers, and we recommend reading this book without reading any more than our description for the best page-turning experience if you can. If you find any topics distressing, we recommend reviewing GoodReads reviews for trigger warnings before picking this one up.
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 is 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.
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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.
The Book Girls Say…
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.
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 draw of Silver Bay 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.
The Book Girls Say…
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 for Australia with Hallmark movie vibes!
As young girls, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were rescued from terrible homes and constantly told how lucky they were to have been rescued by Miss Fairchild. They lived on her idyllic farming estate and, from the outside, had a happy family life.
But the truth was much different. Miss Fairchild was unpredictable and was never to be crossed. In desperation, the trio of girls managed to escape and believed they were free, though their foster mother always lingered in the back of their minds.
When a body is discovered under the old farmhouse, the foster sisters become key witnesses…or are they the suspects?
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We can always count on Australian Sally Hepworth to pull us into a page-turning and twisty world far from our own!
This novel tells the story of four different women who meet at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp in 1954.
Hungarian Elizabeta has just arrived from with her family after escaping post-war Germany. At the migrant camp, she befriends Vasiliki from Greece and Iliana from Italy, as well as Frances, the adventurous daughter of the camp’s director.
Together, the “Bonegilla Girls” envision a brighter future in Australia. But when a ghost from Elizabeta’s past threatens to her path forward, her friends are willing to do anything to keep her safe.
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Operating between 1947 and 1971, the Bonegilla Migration Reception and Training Center. located near Albury in Victoria, was Australia’s largest and longest-operating migrant camp. It served as the first home to more than 320,000 migrants from more than 30 different countries.
Author Victoria Purman lives in southern Australia and focuses her writing on telling stories of Australian women. We look forward to reading her 2024 novel, The Radio Hour, as soon as it is available in the US.
For another historical fiction novel in Australia around the time of WWII, consider The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson, which is based on a true story.
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.
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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!
At the start of this novel, a woman flees from her husband with her young daughter in tow. The duo ends up living on the streets of Brisbane, taking shelter in a rusted van with flat tires parked in a scrapyard along the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name, because on the street, names are dangerous. But she does have an old mirror. When she looks into the mirror, she sees Lola – exactly the friend she needs to talk to. The girl is also always sketching her life, and each chapter of the novel opens with one of her drawings along with commentary (in the form you might see accompanying artwork in a museum).
As time goes on, the girl winds up alone, though she has a street community around her, for good or for bad. With the help of her best friend, Charlie, She must try to stay outside the grip of the drug queen called Lady Flora Box (or Lady Flo).
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Some readers praise this book and compare it to Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, both for its depictions of Lola’s struggles, as well as the role of art in her healing. Others, however, feel that it paints to optimistic a view of homelessness.
Australian author Trent Dalton is best known for his award-winning 2018 coming-of-age novel, Boy Swallows Universe.
In Badara, everyone knows everything about everybody. Paige is a single mom of three who moved to the small town to escape city life. She’s lonely and overwhelmed but joins a Tuesday Gym Club for a bit of respite from caring for her children. While she expects to be judged, the town matriarchs, Briony & Marion, are kind and fill her life with baked goods.
Briony and Marion’s lives are filled with enough drama and secrets that they don’t have time to critique Paige’s life. Briony’s adult children have boomeranged home, and Marion fears the upcoming opening of a time capsule, knowing the words she wrote as a teenager are about to rip everything apart.
The Book Girls Say…
Australian author Tricia Stringer also has a 2023 novel called Back on Track, which is set aboard a train traveling from Adelaide to Darwin, which would make a great pick for an Australian read, or for a book set on a mode of transportation.
After fighting on the Western Front in WWI, Tom Sherbourne returns home and takes a job as a lighthouse keeper on an isolated island. It’s a half-day journey from the west coast of Australia, and supply boats only come once a season. During their years on the island, Tom and his wife, Isabel, suffer two miscarriages and a stillbirth.
Then, a boat washes up onshore carrying a dead man and a crying baby. Against Tom’s judgment, the couple claims the baby is their own and raises her on the island. Two years later, when they return to mainland Australia, they must face the reality of their choice.
The Book Girls Say…
We’ve both read this novel and were drawn in by the beautiful writing, the compelling characters, and the moral complexities of good people making bad decisions with the best intentions.
Author M.L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London.
The Lost Man is a mystery thriller set on the Bright family’s adjourning 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.
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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, which is included with Kindle Unlimited as of 5/14/2024.
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.
The Book Girls Say…
The author is a scientist and a neuropsychologist who lives on a Great Barrier Island near New Zeland and also 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.
The Book Girls Say…
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 being known worldwide 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 enough to visit Steve and Terri’s beautiful Australia Zoo in 2000, and to 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 devasting 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.
The Book Girls Say…
Tony Birch is an Aboriginal Australian author, academic, and activist. He lives in Melbourne and also serves as a Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University.
On Christmas Eve sixty years ago, a delivery man makes a gruesome discovery that forever changes the small town of Tambilla. In the present day, Jess is a journalist in London when she gets a call to return home to Australia to help with her grandmother, Nora. Nora was more like a mother to Jess, after Jess’s mother, Polly, left her with Nora and moved to Brisbane when Jess was only 10.
Nora fell in her attic while searching for something, and now she is mumbling about an event in her past in a way that is difficult to understand. As Jess tries to piece things together, she learns that Nora was agitated and restless even before the fall. She knows something is going on, and is determined to figure it out. As she searches the house for clues, she finds a true crime book about the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve. But what does this cold case have to do with her family?
The Book Girls Say…
This new 2023 mystery has been getting rave reviews, but is on the longer side at 547 pages. Some readers feel like the first 400 pages could have been shorter, but most agree that you won’t be able to put this book down in the last 100 pages.
This dual-timeline novel transports you to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. In 1901, a ship sank, and only one passenger survived. Isabella Winterbourne’s husband had been commissioned to transport a jeweled mace to the Australian Parliament. As the sole survivor of the shipwreck, Isabella must brave the elements to survive and deliver the priceless gift.
In 2011, Libby Slater leaves her life in Paris to return to her Australian hometown. Having recently lost the love of her life, she hopes that reconciling with her sister, who she hasn’t spoken to in 20 years, might help her grieving process.
As this story intertwines between the centuries, the women learn to navigate life’s losses and hardships in search of love and happiness.
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Author Kimberley Freeman was born in London and received her Master’s Degree and PhD from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where she now works as a lecturer.
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.
For the short-story lovers in the group, you might enjoy this anthology from 51 Aboriginal Australians spanning a wide range of ages, locations, and life experiences. While many of the stories share heartbreaking injustice, there are also themes of hope and encouragement. It’s a great way to learn about this important culture.
The Book Girls Say…
Editor and author Anita Heiss is a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of New South Wales.
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.
The Book Girls Say…
his is one of the more popular books in the Kindle Unlimited catalog, and we can’t wait to read it ourselves!
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 beautiful most beautiful – as well as some of it’s 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.
The Book Girls Say…
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.
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.
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.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel is over 700 pages long. But if you’re up for it, you’ll find a epic saga of friendship, romance, marriage, and adventure.
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 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?
The Book Girls Say…
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.
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?
The Book Girls Say…
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.
This 2023 release is a contemporary romance that alternates between our main character’s past & present. In the past sections, Amy is a 17-year-old living in England. She becomes pregnant and writes a letter to the father, Chris, but never hears back. Amy then moves to New Zealand with her parents.
In the present, Amy is now 40 and still in New Zealand raising her 17-year-old daughter, Bea. She’s shocked when Chris walks through the door of her cafe. But if he’s showing up now, why does he seem so disinterested in Bea?
The Book Girls Say…
This book is full of turmoil and twists, often driven by a lack of communication between the characters, which some readers find frustrating. While the majority of readers really enjoy this one, some find it difficult that Amy isn’t more likable.
Jane Crittenden is a fiction author and a homes and interiors journalist. She resides in the UK, but has also spent time living in Canada, Greece, Spain, Ghana, and New Zealand.
Squashed Possums: Off the Beaten Track in New Zealand
Jonathan Tindale
Publication Date:
02/27/2015
Setting:
New Zealand
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Ten years after returning from New Zealand, Jon receives a mysterious manuscript in the post. Squashed Possums, reveals what it’s like to live in the wild through four seasons, including New Zealand’s coldest winter in decades. The book is narrated by him home during that time, his caravan (camper)!
Stories include how Jon found himself reversing off the edge of a cliff, meeting a Maori chef who survived 9/11, encountering flying hedgehogs, screaming possums, and the elusive kiwi bird.
The Book Girls Say…
This NZ travelogue gets mixed reviews, but Bill Bryson calls it “terrific,” – which makes it worth a look in our book.
New for 2024, members can print a single page containing all the book titles from each guided challenge list. We will also continue providing the journal page format, which has space to indicate your interest level in each book, jot down notes, and rate the books once you have read them.
Our BMAC members (we call them our BFFs) help cover the cost of running the challenges so we can keep them free for everyone. You can read more about why our members are essential and learn about the perks of membership.
Sign Up for the Book Voyage Challenge
Sign up for our email list below to receive a free printable tracker for the Book Voyage Challenge. Our weekly email newsletter helps you stay on track with friendly reminders while still allowing you the flexibility to read at your own pace. Additionally, challenge participants have an opportunity to discuss the books on this list and to provide ratings and reviews via our book logs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Continent Australia & Oceania?
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 and traveling around 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 comprised of many islands. The two largest, where most of the population lives, are referred to as 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.
The Book Girls are best friends who jointly read over 200 books per year. We started Book Girls' Guide in 2019 to help others de-stress and find joy through the power of a great book. We do in-depth research on thousands of novels and non-fiction titles each year to provide curated book lists covering a variety of genres.
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