The Top 100: The Better Reading Team Each Chooses a Book That They Love

We know our readers love the annual release of the Top 100, but we also get excited. We LOVE the list, pour over the list… The release of the Top 100 is one of our favourite times of the year. Here, the Better Reading team each shares a book from the Top 100 that they love, and one they’re planning to read next.

But before we share that with you… we’ve created a wonderful printout that you can use to check off the books that you’ve read from the list. To make it more fun, we want to hear your number… how many books have you read? Consider this an unofficial reading challenge. How many books can you read from the list over the next 12 months?

So, let us know… what’s your number?

Download the Top 100 Printout here…

Here are some books we’re ticking off.

Cheryl

Asking me to choose a favourite book from the Top 100 is like asking me to choose a favourite person in my life – an impossible task. But a standout for me is Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey. Entertaining, heartfelt and wonderfully Australian.

The book I’m reading next… A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towels. It’s been on my beside table for ages, but with so much reading for work, I simply haven’t got to it. But apparently it’s wonderful.

Jane

So hard to choose a favourite. I adore The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland. It’s a brilliant novel – Holly pours the very essence of herself into every page. I’m also a big fan of Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth.

As for my next Top 100 read… I’ve never read a Tania Blanchard novel and she has two titles on the list, so is clearly very popular for a reason. She’s got a new book coming out soon, so I’m playing catchup by reading Suitcase of Dreams and The Girl from Munich.

Melissa

Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet is one of my all-time favourite novels, and definitely my standout read from the Top 100. There’s a reason this great Australian novel is voted onto the list, year after year.

The book I’m reading next… in fact I’m reading it now, is Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I’m loving it. I understand why it’s on the list and after I finish it, I might just be holding it up beside Cloudstreet.

Aleta

I loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – made me realise that there are more people than we realise facing daily challenges and having small but heroic victories.

I’ve had this copy of The God of Small Things for many years and it sits proudly on my bookshelf but I’ve never finished reading it. The bookmark is about half way thru. It’s so long ago that I can’t even remember why I didn’t finish it. Too many other wonderful books that needed to be read? Demands of work and home life reached fever pitch and I had to put it aside, then forgot about it?  But now I can see that others have supported this book as a Top 100 pick I am resolved to revisit it!