Move over Hottest 100 – this literary countdown is a real page turner
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Forget the Triple J Hottest 100, because this new national tradition will have readers totally booked: ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Books Countdown.
What’s your favourite book? It’s the dreaded question that stumps readers everywhere, and now ABC Radio National is asking all of Australia.
Akin to being asked to choose a favourite child or being asked your stance on pineapple on pizza (a touchy, divisive topic for many), it’s the question now being posed to Australian book lovers as ABC Radio National launches Australia’s biggest ever book vote.
Taking a page out of the Triple J Hottest 100’s concept, the idea is simple: across Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 October, they’ll be counting down the books that have shaped Australia’s cultural memory in a special two-day live broadcast event.
Inviting people to vote for the stories that moved them, challenged them, or stayed with them long after the first chapter, from politics to poetry, all genres are welcome, and if you’ve read it, you can vote for it.
Kicking off the inaugural countdown with the theme ‘The Top 100 Books of the 21st Century’, ABC Radio National will be celebrating the most powerful, beloved, and talked-about books published in English between January 1, 2000, and August 31, 2025.
And with literally millions of books published since the early 2000s, readers will have their work cut out for them.
But the good news is, you can vote for more than one book. Voting is open until 5 pm Thursday 2 October for a minimum of one book, up to a maximum of 10 (if your favourite title isn’t listed, you can add it manually). But you cannot vote for the same book more than once, and you can only vote once.
Once you’ve submitted your votes, you can’t change them (even if you’ve voted for fewer than 10 books), so you’d better be confident with your decision.
You can vote now via the Top 100 Books website and join the ABC Book Club Facebook Group to connect with fellow readers, and share the books that have stayed with you by using #Top100Books on social media.
Also featuring special guests and engaging conversations, organise a listening party, curl up with a cup of tea and sit back to find out if your vote helped pick the top book.
Happy reading (and voting)!
