Challenge Yourself to Read

We challenge you to expand your horizons with one of our reading challenge lists - whether you read for enjoyment, learning, or escape from reality, there is a list here to inspire you!

  • Crime and thrillers

    This List will keep you up reading late at night and help you discover new authors from Australia to Scandinavia and everywhere in between.
  • Into The Flames -- James Delargy The Cuckoo -- Camilla Lackberg Storm Child -- Michael Robotham All The Colours Of The Dark -- Chris Whitaker Tipping Point -- Dinuka McKenzie The Fury -- Alex Michaelides The Escape Room -- L.D. Smithson Fool Me Twice -- Benjamin StevensonThe Dry – Jane HarperScrublands – Chris HammerMirror Man - Fiona McIntoshThe Scholar – Dervla McTiernanDarkness For Light – Emma VisikThe Nowhere Child – Christian White

  • quirky reads

    Heart warming, tear jerking, and a little bit off-beat, these books will make you eager to read more; but their charm lies in their individuality no two on this list are quite the same.
  • The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife -- Anna Johnston Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies -- Catherine Mack The Tea Ladies -- Amanda Hampson What You Are Looking For Is In The Library -- Michiko Aoyama Joy Moody Is Out of Time -- Kerryn Mayne Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year -- Joanna Nell Tuesday Evenings With The Copeton Craft Resistance --Kate Solly She And Her Cat -- Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa The Guncle -- Steven RowleyThe No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – Alexander McCall Smith The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – Rachel Joyce The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village – Joanna NellBefore the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu KawaguchiThe Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle – Sophie green

  • inspirational people

    Men and Women who have over come adversity, changed the planet, and challenged our thinking about the world. If you want inspiration this is the place to start!
  • The Twat Files -- Dawn French Shakespeare -- Judi Dench Against All Odds -- Craig Challen & Richard Harris Did I Ever Tell You This? -- Same Neill Sister Viv -- Grantlee Kieza The Stable Boy of Auschwitz -- Henry Oster & Dexter Ford The Lucky Ones -- Melinda Ham The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook -- Kirsten Bradley The Happiest Refugee – Ahn DoTell Me Why – Archie Roach

  • Indigenous Australia

    Want to know more about the first Australians? This is the list for you! From very local stories to nation wide this will give you insight, perspective, and much more depth than you ever encountered in school.
  • Dark Emu – Bruce PascoeSand Talk – Tyson YunkaportaPeople of the River – Grace Karskens Black Swan – Eileen HarrisonWelcome to Country – Marcia LangtonGulpilil – Derek RiellyLowitja – Stuart RintoulTell me Why – Archie RoachWith the Falling of the Dusk – Stan GrantDeep Time Dreaming – Billy Griffiths Return to Uluru – Mark McKennaSonglines – Margo neale & Lynne KellyLoving Country – Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou Truganini - Casandra Pybus

  • Romance

    Romance with fantasy Romance with sport Romance in all shapes and forms - we got you!
  • Love Redesigned -- Lauren Asher Eyes Turned Skyward -- Rebecca Yarros Marrying of Morgan Mcbride -- Amy Barry Finding Mr. Write -- Kelley Armstrong Mind Games -- Nora Roberts The Temptation of Magic -- Megan Scott Powerless -- Lauren Roberts The North Wind -- Alexandria Warwick Woven By Gold --Elizabeth Helen

  • LGBTQI+ Romance & Fiction

    Are you looking for more community representation? Wanting to familiarise yourself with LGBT people and issues? Or maybe you just want your own brand of romance/fiction that reflects your identity and life? This list is for you.
  • Boyfriend material – Alexis HallRed, White & Royal blue – Casey McQuistonSong of Achilles - Madeline MillerThe house in the Cerulean Sea – TJ KluneThe Long way to a Small, Angry Planet – Becky ChambersThe Starless Sea – Erin MorgensternThe Priory of the Orange tree – Samantha ShannonThe Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins ReidThis is how you lose the time war – Amal El-MohtarA marvellous light – Freya MarskeGideon the ninth - Tamsyn MuirShe who became the sun – Shelley Parker-ChanThe Invisible life of Addie La Rue / Darker shade of magic - VE Schwab
  • The animals at Lockwood Manor – Jane HealyDevotion – Hannah KentDetransition, Baby – Torrey PetersWitchmark / Stormsong / Soulstar – C.L. PolkFun Home – Alison Bechdel (Biography / Graphic novel)Aristotle and Dante discover the secrects of the universe – Benjamin Alire Saenz Carry on – Rainbow RowellA little Life – Hanya YanagiharaCall me by your name – Andre AcimanSimon vs the Homo Sapiens agenda – Becky AlbertalliHolding the Man – Timothy Conigrave (Biography)Heartstopper – Alice Oseman (graphic novel)
Need2Read 2024