BCL Books - Local Books - Brisbane & Queensland

Local Books - Brisbane and Queensland

It's always fun reading books from your local area - there's a familiarity to the people and the places that can make the books even more enjoyable. It's also interesting when travelling to read books set in or about the places you're visiting - just keep in mind most of them are fiction.

Below are local books for Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Queensland including Autobiographies / Biographies, books for Children and Young Adults, Historical books (books set in or written pre-1940s) and Contemporary books.
 

Autobiography / Biography

• A Figure of Speech - by Graham Freudenberg - Autobiography by the Brisbane-born speech writer who penned speeches for Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke, and Bob Carr.
   
• Full Circle - by Edie Wright - Biography spanning three generations of an Aboriginal family from 1900 onwards. Some of the events take place at the Mappon Mission on the Cape York Peninsula in North Queensland. 
   
• Half a Lifetime - by Judith Wright - Autobiography of the poet, Judith Wright, who lived in Brisbane and Tamborine Mountain in the Gold Coast Hinterland from the 1940s to the 1970s.
   
• Hell, Hope, and Heroes - by Roy Ramsey - Journal of a Private who was trained near Brisbane and sent to the Middle East in 1915.
   
• In the Tracks of Old Bluey - by Bobbie Buchanan - Biography of the European explorer, Nat Buchanan, whose pioneering droving extended across the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.
   
• Is That You Ruthie? - by Ruth Hegarty - Memoir about life at Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission in western Queensland during the Depression. Winner of the David Unaipon Award in 1998.
   
• Margaret Olley - by Meg Stewart - Biography of the artist Margaret Olley who was born in Tully in North Queensland and later lived in Brisbane.
   

Children / Young Adult

• 48 Shades of Brown - by Nick Earls - This humourous novel for young adults set in Brisbane in the 1990s is about a boy in his final year of school who goes to stay with his young aunt and her friend. Winner of the Children's Book of the Year: Older Readers Award.
   
• After January - by Nick Earls - Set on the Sunshine Coast in the 1990s, this humourous novel for young adults tells the story of a boy waiting to hear if he got into his uni degree and the girl he falls for at the beach.
   
• Goanna Jumps High - by Urandangi State School - Story book written by the students of Urandangi State School in north-west Queensland. Aimed at primary school students.
   
• Monica Bloom - by Nick Earls - Set in Brisbane in the 1980s, this humourous novel for young adults tells the story of a boy who falls for his next door neighbour's Irish cousin.
   
• The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay - by Rebecca Sparrow - Humourous young adult fiction set in the western suburbs of Brisbane in the 1980s about a teenage girl and the boy from school who comes to stay with her family. The prequel to The Girl Most Likely.
   

Historical Fiction & Non-Fiction

• A Dumping Ground - by Thom Blake - Non-fiction book about the Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission in western Queensland, 1900 to 1940. Includes interviews with former residents as well as archival documents.
   
• Brisbane Then and Now - by Helen Gregory - Non-fiction book of photography comparing historical Brisbane to the Brisbane of the 2000s.
   
• By the Book - by Patrick Buckridge - Non-fiction book about the literary history of Queensland, from the beginnings of European settlement to the early 2000s.
   
• Fly Away Peter - by David Malouf - Set on the Gold Coast in 1914, this novel looks at three friends whose lives are changed by the war. Winner of The Age Book of the Year in 1982.
   
• Women of the West - Helen Gregory - Non-fiction book about the lives of over 300 women in western Queensland between the 1860s and 1960s.
   

Contemporary Fiction & Non-Fiction

• A Night at the Pink Poodle - by Matthew Condon - Set on the Gold Coast in the 1990s, this novel is about a successful, albeit highly neurotic, real estate agent trying to fit in with the fast-paced life he's found himself in.
   
• Firehead - by Venero Armanno - Taking place in Brisbane from the 1970s to the 1990s, this is a love story set within the Sicilian community.
   
• Harland's Half Acre - by David Malouf - This novel takes part from World War One onwards and tells the story of an artist and his connection to his family's small farm in Queensland.
   
• Johnno - by David Malouf - Semi-autobiographical novel set in Brisbane in the 1940s and 1950s, it recounts the protagonist's childhood and teenage years and his relationship with another young man called Johnno. The first novel by David Malouf, it was published in 1975.
   
• Last Drinks - by Andrew McGahan - Novel focusing on a corrupt journalist who returns to Brisbane ten years after the Fitzgerald Inquiry to try to discover how one of his former friends died. Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year and the Queensland Premier's Literary Award. Winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel.
   
• Mangroves - by Laurie Duggan - Poetry book in which Brisbane features as a source of inspiration. Winner of The Age Poetry Book of the Year in 2003.
   
• Paydirt - by Kathleen Mary Fallon - Novel about a white Australian foster mother of a Torres Strait Islander teenager who takes him to visit his dying birth mother in Brisbane.
   
• Praise - by Andrew McGahan - Darkly funny semi-autobiographical novel set in Brisbane in the 1990s about a young couple's tumultuous life together. Winner of The Australian/Vogel Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book in the Pacific Region.
   
• Running Wild - by Ken Hall - Non-fiction account of teenage years spent chasing wild Brumbies in South-East Queensland in the 1950s.
   
• The Equal Heart and Mind - by Meredith McKinney & Patricia Clarke - Letters from the poet Judith Wright to her philosopher partner Jack McKinney who both lived in Brisbane and Mt Tamborine.
   
• The Girl Most Likely - by Rebecca Sparrow - Semi-autobiographical humourous novel set in Brisbane in the 1990s about a woman having a quarter-life crisis.
   
• The Wild Reel - by Paul Brandon - Novel about an Irish woman who visits Brisbane for her friend's wedding. The Faerie King of Connaught follows her, wanting to make her his wife.
   
• War Babies - by Robert Macklin - The family history of journalist and filmmaker Robert Macklin, set in the suburban Brisbane of the 1940s and 1950s.
   
• Words to Walk By: Exploring Literary Brisbane - by Rodney Sullivan and Todd Barr - Features 25 scenic walks based on the books and lives of Brisbane authors Venero Armanno, Thea Astley, John Birmingham, Nick Earls, Janette Turner Hospital, Andrew McGahan, David Malouf, Thomas Shapcott, and Rebecca Sparrow. 
   
• Zigzag Street - by Nick Earls - Humourous novel mostly set in the suburb of Red Hill in Brisbane in the 1990s about a late-20s man trying to sort out his life post-breakup.
   

More Local Books

• Adelaide and South Australia
• Darwin and the Northern Territory
• Hobart and Tasmania
• Melbourne and Victoria
• Perth and Western Australia
• Sydney, Canberra, and New South Wales