Itinerary is: Sydney, Perth, Blue Mountains, Heron Island, Cape Trib, Uluru.
Love reading novels or memoirs about places we are in. Suggestions to take along or look for when we get there?
Thanks,

"English Passengers" by Matthew Kneale.

Also, just saw "Sydney" by Jan Morris at the library, but I haven't read it.

Not a novel but travel writing: "In a Sunburned County" by Bill Bryson. A favourite of mine.

"The Thorn Birds" by Colleen McCullough, somewhat trashy family saga.

"Mutant Message" interesting memoir-style, new agey, walkabout story.

Wow, you could just about be Nelson Marsha.
http://ask.metafilter.com/31084/What...stralian-Novel
Not a great reader myself of late but will have to complete a few I've half started.
Don't know if 'For the term of his natiral Life' by Marcus Clarke is on that site and you're not going to Tassie but it's about a convict and the harsh Tasmanian penal life.

For some cheap[free actually] local info, pick a youth hostel to pop into and most will have great pocket size guidebooks that actually have some good info them and just the right size for carting about - one in particular by Safari Pete will likely have a guy in a Safari outfit on cover.

I like to read before (and during) a trip, too!

Here are a few that I enjoyed:

"Rabbit Proof Fence" by Doris Pilkington.

"A Fortunate Life" by A.B. Facey--highly recommended!!

"Tracks" by Robyn Davidson.

"Kangaroo Dreaming" by Edward Kanze--traveling with a naturalist.

"One for the Road" by Tony Horowitz--humorous travelogue.

Enjoy!

Just read Richard Flanagan's rather chilling "The Unknown Terrorist" set in Sydney; and Welsh writer Jan Morris's "Sydney", mentioned above, I think, far surpasses Bill Bryson's take on that city.

A couple which spring to mind for Perth are Tim Winton's "Cloudstreet" and Robert Drewe's "The Shark Net".

Agree, "A Fortunate Life" by A. B. Facey is a great book - a true story.

I just finished "The True History of the Kelly Gang" and loved it, good writing, fascinating story.

I'm a Jan Morris fan, I'll look for "Sydney" while I'm there.

"we of the never never' by jeannie gunn. historic.

Any of the novels by Peter Yeldham which feature much of the history of Australia - and are easy and entertaining to read.

Thanks, these are great and thanks for the metafilter link!
Wow. I won't have time to look around OZ with all of these suggestions.........but hopefully it will make the plane rides easier. Will review what we liked upon return.

We've enjoyed Judy Nunn's books - Kal, Territory, Floodtide, Heritage are some of the titles. Fiction based on facts.

Bill Bryson's book on Australia - published as 'Down Under' in Australia is a tongue-in-cheek account of his travels in Australia.

Tim Bowden (formerly a journalist on ABC television) has written several books about travelling in Australia.

I second Pat's suggestion of Cloud Street. For the Blue Moutains there's In the Service of Clouds by Delia Falconer.

For non-fiction, Chloe Hooper's Palm Island is an excellent examination of race relations.

Good suggestions above. Some other non-fiction titles you may wish to consider for a sense of place, larger than life characters or largely forgotten times -

Evan McHugh's <i>Outback Heroes</i>

Tom Cole's <i>Hell West and Crooked</i> - autobiographical account of a real-life 'Crocodile Dundee' in northern Aust in the 20s and 30s

Kieran Kelly's <i>Tanami; On Foot Across Australia's Desert Heart</i> - by a Sydney merchant banker (and that's not rhyming slang in this case) in 2002

Ernestine Hill's <i>The Great Australian Loneliness</i> - her classic outback journey in the 30s - and other titles

Ted Egan's <i>The Land Down Under</i> and other titles - historian, songwriter and former Administrator of the Northern Territory

Nicholas Jose's <i>Black Sheep; Journey to Borroloola</i> - Amazon link -

http://tinyurl.com/d54v5b

Michelle Grattan's <i>Back on the Wool Track<i>

Nicholas Rothwell's <i>Wings of the Kite-Hawk; a Journey into the Heart of Australia</i>

E.J. Banfield's <i>The Confessions of a Beachcomber</i> - Amazon link -

http://tinyurl.com/cpuuco

'Popular histories' by Frank Clune or Ion Idriess