2018: It's The Final Countdown

Still keeping it simple. Here are 9 of the top ten books I read this year.

10. SEVERANCE by LING MA
With so many post-apocalyptic novels doing the rounds these days, it's getting ever harder to stand out from the crowd. Kudos to Ling Ma, then, for pulling off a wholly original take on the genre, equal parts hilarious and downright frightening. As the world succumbs to a mysterious virus, Candace Chen remains committed to her shitty job, coming into the office each day to find fewer and fewer of her colleagues at their desks. In alternating chapters, we also see Candace after she's escaped the city and joined a band of survivors in search of The Facility. Severance is a great adventure, but it's an even better commentary on the stupidity of our modern lives.

9. THE BUTCHERBIRD STORIES by A.S. PATRIĆ
After two excellent novels, A.S. Patrić returns to the short form and, I have to say, it's a deadset triumph. The Butcherbird Stories not only confirms but builds on Patrić's reputation as one of Australia's finest writers. Each of the eleven stories is a wonder to read: beautifully crafted, edgy, captivating and fresh. For those who missed Patrić's brilliant novella, Bruno Kramzer, it makes a welcome reappearance here under a new title (Among The Ruins). And then there's The Flood, another novella-length story that might just be one of my favourite things that Patrić has written. Top it off with gorgeous production values - ten points to Transit Lounge for releasing it in hardcover - and you have an absolute must buy.

8. AXIOMATIC by MARIA TUMARKIN
2018 was one of the first years that I really got stuck in to reading some non-fiction that wasn't related to research for my own writing and, I think, it's done me good. Old me might never have picked up Axiomatic, but enough lit-loving friends were raving about it to convince me I'd be a fool to let it slip by. I don't really know how to describe this book other than to say Maria Tumarkin would have to be the most important public intellectual at work in Australia right now and this is her in full flight. Riffing on five seemingly self-evident axioms, Tumarkin forces us to question what we take for granted by dragging our minds across the grater of painful experience. The result is nothing short of magnificent.

7. WOMEN TALKING by MIRIAM TOEWS
No other book hit on 2018's zeitgeist quite like Miriam Toews's Women Talking. From a true story of the mass drugging and rape of Mennonite women by the men in their own community, Toews fashions an urgent and searing commentary on sexual power, exploitation and, ultimately, social revolution. Stripped of mod-cons, the Mennonite experience lends an almost fable-like air to the story, intensifying the book's metaphoric power. It's an intense read, quiet in its rage, but deafening in its moral force.

6. CICADA by SHAUN TAN
Well here's an unlikely top tenner. A picture book, only thirty-odd pages, and containing less than two hundred words, Shaun Tan's Cicada says more about the human condition than most other books this year. Drawing heavily on Kafka, with a hint of Ben Folds' Fred Jones, the titular Cicada is a data entry clerk, a cog in some menial bureaucratic machine. Over 17 years he is progressively crushed by his work and by those around him, all the while longing for something more from his life. It's heartbreaking and infuriating but ultimately redemptive and profound.

5. FLAMES by ROBBIE ARNOTT
Was there a more thrilling opening chapter to any book this year than the sea hunt in Robbie Arnott's Flames? In narrative verve and edge-of-the-seat tension it reminded me of the hot air ballon crash in Ian McEwan's Enduring Love, but with an almost Melvillian flair. Thankfully, what follows didn't disappoint. Flames proved a strange, magical, nigh mythical work of deeply Australian storytelling in which the characters are almost indistinguishable from the elemental forces that rage within. Trust me, you haven't read anything like it. Just beautiful.

4. NO FRIEND BUT THE MOUNTAINS by BEHROUZ BOUCHANI
One day we will look back on this era of Australian history with deep shame. What we have done, and what we have failed to do when it comes to our humanitarian obligations is frankly outrageous. At least we won't be allowed to forget. Behrouz Bouchani's staggering account of his imprisonment on Manus Island will continue to shine brightly as a mnemonic beacon long after the detention centres have been closed down. No Friend But The Mountains is a masterpiece of prisoner literature, up there with Solzhenitsyn and Levi (and no, I'm not going the Godwin's Law route, but I had visceral shivers reading some of the familiar conditions in that hellhole). Moreover, it is an instant Australian classic. Probably the most important book published here this century. The prose is stunning, the poetry sublime. It is dignified and courageous, honest and excoriating. I urge everyone to read it.

3. THE CAGE by LLOYD JONES
A man and boy stumble into a small town, seeking refuge. The locals take them in but grow progressively suspicious, and build a large cage to keep them until they can figure out what they should do. As the townsfolk bicker amongst themselves, the refugees seem ever less human, reduced as they are to base existence. Inspired by Lloyd Jones's own observation of mass displacement in Europe, this dark allegory should have absolutely dominated the literary world in 2018. It's the kind of book I see myself rereading over and over again in the coming years. If you happened to miss it, now would be a good time to rectify that.

2. THE EVERLASTING SUNDAY by ROBERT LUKINS
When it comes to quiet achievers, you really have to hand it to Robert Lukins and his exquisite debut, The Everlasting Sunday. Released in January by a publisher that spent the rest of year punching far above its weight, The Everlasting Sunday has continued to pick up new readers and is now finding itself on almost every end of year list I've seen. It's not hard to see why. The Everlasting Sunday is humble in its quietude and deceptive simple in its telling but contains a deep excavation of the complexities of young manhood. It's a beautiful book, in every sense, and one that richly deserves all the praise it is receives.