Book to Screen

With the AACTA awards ceremony this month, it's a good time to check out some of the great Australian novels that have been adapted for the screen!

Updated January 16, 2024
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Big little lies
Moriarty, Liane
Paper Book
DON'T MISS SEASON 2 OF THE GOLDEN GLOBE AND EMMY AWARD-WINNING HBO® SERIES  STARRING REESE WITHERSPOON, NICOLE KIDMAN, SHAILENE WOODLEY, LAURA DERN, ZOË KRAVITZ, AND MERYL STREEP From the author of Nine Perfect Strangers, Apples Never Fall, and...
The book thief
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul. It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier...
Boy swallows universe
Dalton, Trent
Paper Book
"The best book I read this decade." --Sharon Van Etten in Rolling Stone "Boy Swallows Universe hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. . . . Eli's remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. They enable him to carve out the best of what...
Cocaine blues
Greenwood, Kerry
Paper Book
From the author of the bestselling Phryne Fisher Series comes Cocaine Blues, the first historical mystery featuring the sensual, posh, and intrepid murder detective Phryne Fisher... "Phryne can not get enough of adventure and the reader can not get enough of Phryne."--Deadly Pleasures ...
Dressmaker, the (fti)
Ham, Rosalie
Paper Book
After twenty years spent mastering the art of dressmaking in Paris, Tilly Dunnage returns to the small Australian town she was banished from as a child to check on her ailing mother. Her exquisite dresses earn Tilly grudging acceptance ... but her mind is set on a darker design.
The dry
Harper, Jane
Paper Book
A small town hides big secrets in The Dry, an atmospheric, page-turning debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper. After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend,...
Force of nature
Harper, Jane
Paper Book
Goodreads Choice Award Finalist (Mystery & Thriller, 2018) BookBrowse Best Books of 2018 Winner of the Prix Polar Award for Best International NovelBookRiot's 25 Best Suspense Books from 2018 Davitt Awards shortlist for Adult Crime Novel 2018 ...
The light between oceans
Stedman, M. L.
Paper Book
The years-long New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Spielberg's Dreamworks is "irresistible...seductive...with a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page" (O, The Oprah Magazine). After four harrowing years on the Western Front...
The lost flowers of Alice Hart
Ringland, Holly
Paper Book
An enchanting and captivating novel about how our untold stories haunt us -- and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. After her family suffers a tragedy, nine-year-old Alice Hart is forced to leave her idyllic seaside home. She is taken in by her grandmother, June, a flower...
Nine perfect strangers
Moriarty, Liane
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, now a Hulu original series "If three characters were good in Big Little Lies, nine are even better in Nine Perfect Strangers." --Lisa Scottoline, The New York Times Book Review From the #1...
On the beach
Shute, Nevil
Paper Book
Set in Melbourne following a catastrophic war in the northern hemisphere, Nevil Shute's classic is the story of a handful of survivors in the terrifying aftermath of nuclear apocalypse. First published in 1957 - and famously adapted for the screen soon after by Stanley Kramer, in a film starring...
Scrublands
Hammer, Chris
Paper Book
In this searing, "indisputable page-turner" (Associated Press), a town's dark secrets come to light in the aftermath of a young priest's unthinkable last act--in the vein of The Dry and Where the Crawdads Sing. In Riversend, an isolated Australian community...
The secret river
Grenville, Kate
Audiobook
The slap
Tsiolkas, Christos
Paper Book
The reverberations from the slap are far-reaching, affecting the marriages and friendships of all those who witness it. What unfolds is a powerful, haunting novel about love, sex, marriage, and the fury and intensity that family can arouse. In this remarkable novel, Christos Tsiolkas...
The thorn birds
McCullough, Colleen
Paper Book
"Beautiful....Compelling entertainment." --New York Times "A heart-rending epic...truly marvelous." --Chicago Tribune One of the most beloved novels of all time, The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of...

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