THE BEST AUSTRALIAN BOOKS OF 2005

NOT exactly a fantastic year in Australian fiction, but there were a couple of nuggets among them.

NOVELS
March (Fourth Estate) / Geraldine Brooks
The Patron Saint of Eels / Gregory Day
Grace (Viking) / Robert Drewe
The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers (Picador) / Delia Falconer
The Secret River (Text) / Kate Grenville
Surrender (Viking) / Sonya Hartnett
The Ballad of Desmond Kale (Vintage) / Roger McDonald
Prochownik’s Dream (Allen & Unwin) / Alex Miller
The Marsh Birds (Allen & Unwin) / Eva Sallis
The Broken Shore (Text) / Peter Temple
Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living (Picador) / Carrie Tiffany
The Wing of Night (Viking) / Brenda Walker

NONFICTION
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev (Picador) / Robert Dessaix
The Meaning of Recognition: New Essays 2001-2005 (Picador) / Clive James