The 2022 top spot goes to… drumroll, please… Honeybee by Craig Silvey. Honeybee is a tender, profoundly moving novel, brimming with vivid characters and luminous words. It’s about two lives forever changed by a chance encounter – one offering hope, the other redemption. It has been embraced by Australian readers and sets the tone for the rest of this year’s Top 100 list. Some other noteworthy observations:

  • Australian readers love female authors.
  • 71 of the Top 100 books were written by women.
  • There are seven great reads by female authors in the Top 10.
  • Three female authors in the Top 10 are Australian.
  • In total, 57% of authors are Australian, and six of the Top 10 books are by Aussie authors.
  • List here