Every year, thousands of Australians discover they have breast cancer. It could affect you, someone in your family, your friend, your workmate.
Telling It Like It Is - AnneMarie White - 23 Breast Cancer Journeys
Whatever links you to breast cancer, TELLING IT LIKE IT IS: 23 BREAST CANCER JOURNEYS reminds you that you are not alone. Fully supported by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, this is a collection of first-hand accounts and experiences from people whose lives have been touched by breast cancer.
This life-affirming book is the vision of acclaimed Queensland sports journalist AnneMarie White OAM. She conveys her own experiences via emails sent to her inner circle over the course of her treatment for breast cancer. To capture the stories of the other 21 women and one man in the book, White conducted months of interviews. The result is nothing less than extraordinary.
At times inspiring, hopeful and wistful; sometimes confronting and angry and sad, these are the voices of spirited contemporary Australians. Contributors include Susan Duncan, Ros Kelly, Kerryn McCann and Professor Fiona Stanley AC.
The abolitionists say they have brought me to England to help them change the course of history. Well. We shall see about that. But if I have lived this long, it must be for a reason.
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
Abducted from Africa as a child and enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata Diallo thinks only of freedom - and of the knowledge she needs to get home. Sold to an indigo trader who recognizes her intelligence, Aminata is torn from her husband and child and thrown into the chaos of the Revolutionary War.
In Manhattan, Aminata helps pen the Book of Negroes, a list of blacks rewarded for service to the king with safe passage to Nova Scotia. There Aminata finds a life of hardship and stinging prejudice. When the British abolitionists come looking for 'adventurers' to create a new colony in Sierra Leone, Aminata assists in moving 1,200 Nova Scotians to Africa and aiding the abolitionist cause by revealing the realities of slavery to the British public.
This captivating story of one woman's remarkable experience spans six decades and three continents and brings to life a crucial chapter in world history.
Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
'Stunning, wrenching and inspiring' Publishers Weekly starred review
When the hitman hiding in Roberta Williams' roof confessed that he couldn't kill her, she knew she had to get herself and her kids out of the bloodiest battle the Australian underworld had ever known.
My Life - Roberta Williams
Roberta's marriage to Melbourne career criminal Carl Williams had been a rollercoaster ride, but it was still a welcome antidote to her life before Carl. The youngest of seven children, her father died when she was a baby, and she was beaten by her mother and stepfather, kicked out of school for fighting and made a ward of the state at eleven.
Her early romantic relationships were marked by physical abuse, including marriage to an abattoir worker with some dangerous friends - the Moran brothers.
In stark contrast, Carl treated her better than any other man she'd ever known. Content with a stable family life and enjoying Carl's increasing wealth, Roberta wasn't overly concerned with her husband's occupational hazards - the police charges, the drug trafficking, the payoffs - until the bodies started turning up. She found herself tangled in a vicious web of deceit, denial and payback as the feud erupted onto the streets.
Now divorced from Carl, she is building a new life for herself, with a loving partner, promising career opportunities and, most importantly of all, her four children. It was Roberta's unwavering devotion to them that sustained her through her darkest hours.
Last Christmas, Donna Hay broke her own records for a bestseller with NO TIME TO COOK.
Seasons by Donna Hay
This year she is back with a completely different cookbook. Seasons builds on the trend for cooking with whichever ingredients are in season, which means you will always be eating beautifully fresh food.
Designed with Donna's usual flair for food styling, SEASONS features more lifestyle than Donna's previous books, giving readers tips and suggestions for how to enjoy the best of each season.
'the thinking man's light relief...warm, funny and particularly insightful when it comes to relationships.' Daily Mirror
Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby
Annie Duncan fit together naturally, like jigsaw pieces, though Duncan's passionate obsession with Tucker Crowe, the reclusive, tortured-genius songwriter, has never left much time for anything more meaningful, like marriage or kids. In fact, Annie's starting to wonder whether she's wasted fifteen years on a bad relationship.
When Tucker's record company suddenly issue a stripped-down version of his most famous album, and Annie just can't see what's good about it, Duncan finds solace in bed with somebody else - and Annie is at last liberated to throw him out.
But worse is to follow for Duncan: Annie is not alone in her opinion. After she posts a review on a fan website, she gets a response from a completely unlikely source, Tucker himself. The correspondence which follows is doubly satisfying: it turns out that not only is Tucker an expert like her on years of wasted life, but she begins to realize what lies behind his long silence.
Nick Horby's compelling new novel, four years after A Long Way Down, is about the nature of creativity and obsession, and how two lonely people can gradually find each other.
'It's good to have him back. Nick Hornby's first adult novel in four years is a comic delight. InJuliet, Naked, the author once again deftly but affectionately anatomises the foibles of flawed men and women. But mostly men.' Evening Standard
The eyes of the world are on the fate of General Gordon and the English-held Khartoum as it comes under siege, in this latest novel in the thrilling Fonthill series.
Siege of Khartoum by John Wilcox
Simon Fonthill, one time subaltern and ex-Captain in the North West Frontier's Royal Corps of Guides, together with 352 Jenkins, ex-batman and servant, are called to Khartoum. They're on an urgent mission from Sir Garnet Wolseley to reach General Gordon, England's hero, who is being besieged by followers of Mahdi, the infamous religious leader who has declared a jihad against Egyptian authority in the Sudan. Their journey on camel-back through the Sudanese desert is treacherous.
When they finally reach the General, an unexpected attack makes them realise that they have little time to make contact with Wolseley, who can dispatch troops to rescue General Gordon. As they leave in darkness to cross the Nile, they're set upon by a brutal Dervish patrol. Can Simon and Jenkins survive a Dervish interrogation and make it back to the General before Khartoum falls from British hands?
A gripping emotional drama with the pace of a thriller
Testimony by Anita Shreve
At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora s box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voice - those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal - that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.
A gripping emotional drama with the pace of a thriller, Anita Shreve's TESTIMONY explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.
Sookie Stackhouse enjoys her job as a cocktail waitress in Merlotte's, a small-town bar in small-town Bon Temps, deep in Louisiana.
A Touch of Dead - Charlaine Harris
She's funny and pretty and, thanks to her grandmother, she's very well-mannered - but since not many people truly appreciate her ability to read their minds, the guys haven't exactly been beating down her door...
And then along came Bill, tall, dark and handsome - and Sookie couldn't 'hear' a word he was thinking. He was exactly the type of guy she'd been waiting all her life for. Of course, Bill had a disability of his own: fussy about his food, not into suntans, bit of a night person: yep, Bill was a vampire. But at least now Sookie knows there ARE guys she can date who won't worry about her catching them thinking about other women...
And that's going to make Sookie's life really interesting!
"...Once I'd tasted human blood, I'd turned over the hourglass ... I couldn't keep going forever as what i was - part human and part vampire ... the vampire in me would grow stronger and eventually, I'd have to complete the transition."
Hourglass - Claudia Gray
Bianca has found refuge again with the Black Cross, and she and Lucas work desperately to keep her secret. In this company, being a vampire is a death sentence, and the two of them live and train alongside the hunters without anyone noticing her increasing need for blood.
Even though she's with the boy she loves more than anyone else in the world, Bianca can't help worrying about the family and friends she left behind. Caught between three feuding worlds, it's starting to feel as though she'll never be entirely at peace again.
When another betrayal puts the lovers in mortal danger once more, they realise that all they truly have in one another. But with the secret of Bianca's birth taking hold, not even Lucas can help her win her toughest fight.
Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of New York-based writer Amy Vincent. She has worked as a lawyer, a journalist, a disc jockey, and an extremely poor waitress. Her lifelong interests in old houses, classic movies, vintage style, and history all play a part in creating the world of Evernight.
The scourge of bad punctuators everywhere returns with an analysis of etiquette and manners (or the lack of) in modern society.
Talk to the Hand - Lynne Truss
"Talk to the hand 'cos the face ain't listening" the saying goes.
When did the world get to be so rude? When did society become so inconsiderate? It's a topic that's been simmering for years and Lynne Truss says that its now reached boiling point. Taking on the boorish behaviour that has become a point of pride for some, Talk to the Hand is a rallying cry for courtesy.
Lynne Truss's book Eats, Shoots and Leaves awoke the world's attention to the neglected but vital subject of punctuation. When social histories come to be written of the first decade of the 21st century, people will note a turning point in 2003 when declining standards of punctuation were reversed. Linguists will record Lynne Truss as the saviour of the semi-colon and the avenging angel of the apostrophe.
Now - thank heavens - she has turned her attention to an even more pressing subject: manners.
Sticklers, rejoice! Zero tolerance takes on modern manners.
The international bestseller, reissued and with a new introduction.
Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
A witty, entertaining, impassioned guide to perfect punctuation, for everyone who cares about precise writing. When social histories come to be written of the first decade of the 21st century, people will note a turning point in 2003 when declining standards of punctuation were reversed. Linguists will record Lynne Truss as the saviour of the semi-colon and the avenging angel of the apostrophe.
When social histories come to be written of the first decade of the 21st century, people will note a turning point in 2003 when declining standards of punctuation were reversed. Linguists will record Lynne Truss as the saviour of the semi-colon and the avenging angel of the apostrophe.
A panda walked into a cafe. He ordered a sandwich, ate it, then pulled out a gun and shot the waiter. 'Why?' groaned the injured man. The panda shrugged, tossed him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walked out. And sure enough, when the waiter consulted the book, he found an explanation. 'Panda,' ran the entry for his assailant. 'Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'
We see signs in shops every day for Banana's and even Gateaux's. Competition rules remind us: The judges decision is final. Now, many punctuation guides already exist explaining the principles of the apostrophe; the comma; the semi-colon. These books do their job but somehow punctuation abuse does not diminish. Why? Because people who can't punctuate don't read those books! Of course they don't! They laugh at books like those!
Eats, Shoots and Leaves adopts a more militant approach and attempts to recruit an army of punctuation vigilantes: send letters back with the punctuation corrected. Do not accept sloppy emails.
An utterly unique and personal travelogue from a cult figure in contemporary music.
Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne
Since the early 1980s, David Byrne has been riding a bicycle as his principal means of transportation in New York City. A few years later he discovered folding bikes, and started taking them with him on music tours overseas, and experienced a sense of liberation as he pedalled around many of the world's principal cities. The point of view from his bike seat has given Byrne a panoramic view window on urban life over the last thirty years as he has cyled round cities such as London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Manila, Sydney, New York, and San Francisco.
From music and the visual arts, to globalisation, politics, the nature of creative work, fashion and art, this book gives the reader an incredible insight into what Byrne is seeing and thinking as he pedals around these cities. Filled with intimate photographs, incredible musical stories and a powerful ecological message, this is a enchanting celebration of bike riding - of the rewards of seeing the world at bike level.
About David Byrne David Byrne, primarily known as the musician who co-founded the group Talking Heads (1976-88), has also been involved in an array of music, theatre, and film projects, including work with Brian Eno, Thwyla Tharp, Robert Wilson, Jonathan Demme and Bernardo Bertolucci. In 1989 he began solo recordings, including, Rei Momo, the self-titled, David Byrne and Feeling. Byrne has been involved with photography and design since his college days, but has only recently begun to exhibit and publish his work. Like his film and musical projects, his photography is often described as elevating the mundane or the banal to the level of art, creating icons out of everyday materials and finding the sacred in the profane. He shoots about half of the work on his travels in various parts of the world, while the other half is composed in his studio using a variety of photographic mediums, including polaroids and cibachromes.
At 66, Star Street in Dublin, someone is watching over the lives of the people living in its flats. But no one is aware of it - yet . . .
One of them is ready to take the plunge and fall in love; another is torn between two very different lovers. For some, secrets they want to stay buried will come to light and for others, the unveiling of those secrets will have tragic consequences.
Fate is on its way to Star Street, bringing with it love and tragedy, friendship and heartbreak, and the power to change their lives in the most unexpected of ways . . .
"Keyes delivers a dizzying vertical view of the mismatched, mixed-up tenants of Dublin's 66 Star Street, friends and lovers who grow up, grow old and give way to their "heart currents" with help from a puckish sprite. This multitiered saga of Dubliners searching for "the brightest star in the sky... the planet of love" straddles slapstick and sophistication in an engaging balancing act both giddy and grand. Here's Katie, publicist, freshly 40, and her workaholic, commitment-phobic fella, Conall; newlyweds Maeve and Matt, who hide a violent and crippling secret that binds them and drives them apart; madcap, sassy Lydia, a taxi driver who juggles worries about her aging mom and an over-the-top passion (mixed with equal parts lust and disdain) for her sexy flatmate; plucked from nowhere hunk Fionn, who hopes to begin a TV career, and his psychic foster mom and her mean-as-a-snake dog who improbably helps bring all the sweet mayhem to a satisfying close."
War Behind the Wire - Michael Caulfield - Australian Prisoners Of War
Australia has a long history of private sadness and quiet courage arising from her men and women being taken as prisoners of war. More than 34 000 have so far ended up in captivity; over 100 in the Boer War, more than 4 000 in WWI, just 30 during the Korean War, none in Vietnam - and the biggest of them all, WWII, when 30 560 Australian men and women were taken prisoner - that's more than all the Australians killed in action during the entire six years of the war.
The total number of Australian deaths during WWII, nearly thirty per cent, one in every three, were prisoners. Many of these men and women lost years of their lives, wasting away behind the wire. They endured a world where only the basics mattered - food, discipline, some small skerrick of hope...and survival.
In WAR BEHIND THE WIRE, Michael Caulfield presents stories from the Australians at War Film Archive that follows the stories of the POWs from capture to eventual liberation. The book ranges across all the wars, from the men and women trapped under the ruthless Japanese regime, to the forgotten POWs of the Germans and the Italians, captured in Greece, or Crete, or Libya or Syria, or those who simply fell from the skies somewhere over occupied Europe.
It ventures into the experiences of those who were taken by ambush in the scrubby hills and ranges of Korea and even encompasses the tales of civilian prisoners, caught up in war by tragic accident.
WAR BEHIND THE WIRE is a powerful and compelling insight into lives not often revealed.
Dangerous yet seductive, the vampire's legendary abilities to live forever, vanish like mist, fly and exert mind-control over his victims, have commanded respect and inspired complete devotion in his fans the world over. Surveying the great vampire stories, from ancient myths to classic movies, this handbook charts the development of the vampire, from prince of pure evil to poignant anti-hero.
Author JoulesTaylor goes beyond the sexy, stylish glamour of the vampire to give authentic examples of people with physical and psychological symptoms of vampirism, and explores all aspects of vampire lore, both ancient and modern, from around the world. This comprehensive guide explores the dark mysteries of his eternal allure and irresistible charm, as well as his vulnerability.
It notes how to identify a victim of psychic vampirism, and details the many traditional defences against the vampire in all his guises. Keep it by your pillow!
A slave to his inner beast, the out-of-control wolf-man has careered through mythology and movie screens for centuries, howling in pursuit of his prey. But the modern werewolf is a complex creature, as likely to shed a lonely tear as another's blood. Suffering human remorse for a beast's inhumane acts, the man-turned-wolf is haunted by his own guilt and fear of harming those he loves. For millennia, the werewolf has stalked our imaginations.
Now, Jon Izzard goes beyond the fiction to find the facts behind this most tortured of creatures.With real-life stories of 'clinical lycanthropy' and feral children brought up in the ways of wolves, revealing a remarkably humane side to the natural wolf, he uncovers links between man and beast much stronger than we might think.
Packed with historical accounts and myths from around the world, from magical shapeshifters and skinwalkers to those doomed by dark and mysterious curses, discover mankind's fascination with unleashing the wolf within.
Gerald is deep in training for his first official assignment -- a case of espionage with international consequences.
Melissande, meanwhile, has gone into business ... she's opened a new witching locum agency. A one-stop shop where magical problems are solved -- for a reasonable price. Managing a business should be a breeze after negotiating the rough tides of New Ottosland politics.
The future is looking good. Good, that is, until Witches Incorporated is offered a job that puts Melissande on a collision course with Gerald. Before long, any kind of future is looking increasingly unlikely.
After all, Gerald has always been dangerous one day, lethal the next ...
The Worst Date Ever by Jane Bussmann is a genuinely funny journey from the Hollywood Hills to the rebel camps of Uganda in search of the perfect date.
One day Jane was a comedy scriptwriter with a successful career in British television and bright hopes for her future in Hollywood. The next she's stranded in La La Land, reduced to interviewing celebrities for British magazines. And after three years of writing nothing but mindless puff pieces, being bullied by publicists and eulogising stars she's never even met, Jane is close to despair.
She is saved only by an unlikely crush on peacemaker John Prendergast. After seeing his photograph in Vanity Fair she will go to any lengths to get a date, pretending to be a foreign correspondent in Washington and following him to Uganda only to discover he'd already left and she was alone in a war zone. Dodging trustafarians on holiday and the Ebola virus, Jane went on to discover a massive war crime involving hundreds of kidnapped children and revealed it on her heroine Kate Adie's radio programme. Jane never quite got her man but she did regain her self-respect, becoming a Useful Person, briefly at least.
Brilliantly evoking the shallow madness of life in LA, and the harsh realities of life in Uganda, with razor-sharp wit and passionate observation, this is brilliant storytelling by a hugely talented writer.
Australian fiction in the past 12 months was apparently so good that a seven-book shortlist was not enough for the judges of the Prime Minister's Literary Award.
So they created a new "highly commended" category. Peter Pierce, who chaired the fiction panel,said: "We thought that the evenness of quality of a score of books meant that some outside the shortlist ought to be highly commended, literally commended to Australian readers." These books may benefit from the publicity even though they have no chance at the $100,000 prize: Turtle, by Gary Bryson; Texas, by Sarah Hay; Disquiet, by Julia Leigh; and Ice, by Louis Nowra.
If you missed last week's news, the shortlisted fiction books are: The Pages, by Murray Bail; People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks; Wanting, by Richard Flanagan; Everything I Knew, by Peter Goldsworthy; One Foot Wrong, by Sofie Laguna; The Boat, by Nam Le; and The Good Parents, by Joan London.
On the shortlist for the $100,000 nonfiction award are: Van Diemen's Land, by James Boyce; Doing Life: A Biography of Elizabeth Jolley, by Brian Dibble; Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History, by Jenny Hocking; The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island, by Chloe Hooper; Drawing the Global Colour Line, by Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds; The Henson Case, by David Marr; and American Journeys, by Don Watson.
The Prime Minister's Award for fiction gave a significant sales boost to its first winner. The Zoo-keeper's Wife, the first novel by Steven Conte, had sold fewer than 3000 copies before winning the award last year. Now, says Shona Martyn, the publishing director at HarperCollins, sales are close to 15,000. The effect was not so strong for the nonfiction winner: Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers, by Philip Jones (Wakefield Press), had sold 1864 copies before its win and has now sold a total of 3570. It deserves more.
Jamie will try real American food and meet the most interesting cooks and producers that this vast country has to offer. His epic journey will take him to the heart of America: its people, culture, music and, most importantly, its food. Along the way Jamie will be getting his hands dirty - meeting hunters, cowboys, fishermen and local producers - as he finds out about the best (and strangest) ingredients on offer. He won't just be sampling, he'll be getting involved: entering a gumbo 'throw-down' in Louisiana, fishing in California and sampling bison in Montana as he joins life on a ranch.
As well as being a visually stunning journey Jamie's America will is a practical cookbook, with each chapter focusing on the food and recipes of a different state. And the food will be as varied as the landscapes - from spicy Mexican in the desert to freshly caught Alaskan salmon. With 120 brand new recipes, and Jamie's diary narrative running alongside, this will be a celebratory cookbook of a country with a wide food heritage.
'Jamie is the best in the business at making simple food great and his recipes include fine versions of pork and beans, baby back ribs, Waldorf salad and yes, hamburgers. Overflowing with character and superb photography, Jamie's America is a very tasty place to be.' Delicious
The Skull by Adam Shand - Informers, Hitmen And Australia's Toughest Cop
There has never been a more feared or respected policeman in Australia than Brain 'Skull' Murphy.
Adam Shand, author of the bestselling Big Shots, tells the story of the last of the super cops, collaring big-time crims and small-time thugs, rubbing shoulders with corrupt officials and flashy assassins, and using a combination of old-school persuasion and self-styled 'slychology' to recruit his network of informers.
In the '70s and '80s, The Skull enters the shady world depicted in Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, and we see many of its key villains - Christopher Dale Flannery, the Kane brothers and Ray Chuck - from Murphy's perspective as he plays them off against each other and fights to stay on top.
Fast-paced and gritty, The Skull is the life and times of a legendary crime-fighter.
The stunning Twilight Journal set features cover art and decorative two-colour quotes from Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn throughout, and is packaged in a collectible tin.
The set includes four gorgeous journals packaged in a collectible keepsake tin, inspired by Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Each journal features the beautiful and instantly-recognisable Twilight Saga cover art and is fully-designed throughout with images and decorative quotes from each of the books, as well as some of the classic works of literature that inspired them.
A bestseller since it was first published, Ned Kelly A short life is acknowledged as being the definitive biography. Ian Jones combines years of research into all the records of the era and exhaustive interviews with living descendants of those involved, to present a vivid and gripping account of one of Australia s most iconic figures.
Australian Tragic by Jack Marx - Our Top Ten Darkest Tales
MOST of us would like to think we live in "The Lucky Country". But crawl into the recesses and our history tells a different story.
Journalist and author Jack Marx has spent years researching Australia's underbelly, shining a light on the quirks, misfortunes and tragic turns of fate they wouldn't dare tell you about in school.
So read on for our nation's history, Marx-style, as he brings us the top ten darkest moments from his new book Australian Tragic.
Moloch While waiting at Circular Quay for a ferry to take them to Sydney's Luna Park on June 9, 1979, the Godson family are approached by a Satanic-looking figure dressed in a loincloth and wearing a mask with horns. The creature voicelessly places his hand on young Damian Godson's shoulder. Somebody snaps a photograph. It is the last photograph of the boy ever taken - hours later, Damian, his brother, Craig, and his father, John, will burn in the fire that sweeps through The Ghost Train. Nobody will ever see the horned man again.
A Fork in the Road One night in November, 1952, a young nurse from Queanbeyan lies dazed and injured on the side of a Canberra intersection, the wheels of a fallen motorcycle spinning, her boyfriend unconscious nearby. She begins to cry, fearing they will both die on this dark and lonely corner. A car approaches, she cries out, and breathes a sigh of relief as the vehicle slows. She cannot know that the man driving the vehicle has been drinking, and has just been released from prison for the attempted rape of his own sister...
Of Monkeys and Men Many decades after the enigmatic Dr Henry Leighton Jones ended his experimental operations in the bushland around Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, builders excavating the site of the doctor's clinic are horrified when they unearth what appear to be the skeletal remains of so many children, huddled together in a common grave, as if cowering from some shared horror.
Joan of Antwerp A priest has been called to a farm near the town of Antwerp in Victoria, where he has been told an exorcism has entered a difficult phase. Inside the house, he finds the body of Joan Vollmer decomposing in the bedroom, her fluids leaking into the bedclothes and onto the floor, while the three "exorcists" - including the dead woman's husband - are in the kitchen, in an extreme state of denial, fixing themselves some sandwiches. The priest politely declines their invitation that he join them for lunch.
A Day at the Races James Larkins and his dog have been wandering in the Queensland outback for hours. James has been drinking for days, and his hangover is now baking under the intense midday sun. There is no water, no shade. Mad with thirst, he digs in the soil for water, but the earth is thirsty, too. He would do anything, he thinks, for any moisture at all. He looks at his dog. There is blood inside of her - a pint, maybe two. He takes out his pocket knife...
A Boat with No Name Only weeks before, Amal had helped to deliver Alia's baby boy. Now, both women are in the sea, the baby floating between them, dead, the boat that was to ferry them to Australia having capsized and sank beneath the waves. Alia disappears into the deep, and the dead baby turns toward Amal, as if reaching out for the one who delivered him. Amal wishes him away, but the baby keeps drifting closer, needing her touch. Alia can stand no more and pushes the baby under, then turns and holds tightly to a dead woman who floats with her until the rescuers come.
Friday the Thirteenth John Robinson has lain for hours in a clearing outside of his house as a bushfire has roared through the trees above him, the flames licking at his back. The inferno having passed, he rises and goes in search of his four children, who ran for their lives when the house exploded. At last he finds them, on a dirt road that winds through the smoking landscape, their eyes closed and mouths open, as if they are merely asleep. In the terror, they have assumed the same positions in which they have always walked to school: two by two, descending by order of age - the same little arrangement that has ferried them safely to school for all their days.
What's Eating Mrs Mousley? On February 9, 1919, police are called to a mansion on Dandenong Road in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor. The occupant, old Mrs Mousley, has not been seen for days, and her neighbours are worried that she might have drunk herself into some kind of harm. As police force the door and cautiously move down the darkened hallway, their footsteps give rise to a ferocious trembling in the floorboards and walls as thousands of rats scuttle for subterranean safety. From the darkness of the living room comes a malevolent growl...
Voyage of the Savages In 1883, a group Queensland Aborigines, mostly from Palm Island, are shanghaied to the other side of the world to take part P. T. Barnum's 'Ethnological Congress of Strange and Savage Tribes'. While touring Europe, the troupe are invited to visit the Royal Museum of Berlin, and their mood becomes buoyant as they identify various boomerangs, message sticks and other Aboriginal artifacts on display. They turn a corner to be greeted by the sight of a stuffed and mummified Aborigine, ferried to the museum all the way from Queensland...
The Last Troops On the morning of November 16, the HMAT Boonah, the last Australian troop ship to leave for the great war, arrives in the South African port of Durban to momentous news: an armistice has been signed. The war is over, and the lives of the young Australian troops aboard are to be spared. Before returning home to the West Australian port of Fremantle, the Boonah takes on supplies, and soldiers notice that some local stevedores appear to be sick. What nobody knows is that the stevedores are infected with the dreaded Spanish Flu, a pandemic that had already claimed millions of lives in Europe and America. The last troops to die for Australia in the Great War will never fire a shot.
In this provocative and funny collection, Susan Irvine pokes fun at the worlds of art and fashion. From 'Concept 1', in which an artist has raised a child as an installation, in order to enter him for the Turner Prize, to a very different take on the art of Andy Warhol, suggesting his public persona as the painter of the Campbell's Soup-Can hid a side that no one, not even his very closest friends, knew about.
Irreverent and witty, Susan Irvine takes a satirical swipe at two worlds she knows very well with delightful results.
8 August 2008 is the 90th anniversary of the most decisive day of the Great War: the British attack at Amiens which broke clean through the German defences. In earlier offensives, a gain of a few hundred yards counted as a 'victory', but this time our troops advanced seven miles in a day. German commander-in-chief General Ludendorff called it the 'Black Day' of the German Army. The long agony on the Western Front was nearly over.
Spearheaded by tanks and armoured cars and supported by the RAF, the attack was led by the Australian and Canadian Corps, with British and French troops on the flanks. Elaborate deception measures were employed to ensure surprise. The first day's ambitious objectives were achieved: armoured cars raced deep enough into the German defences to shoot up a corps headquarters. The operation bore many of the hallmarks of the German Blitzkrieg of twenty years later.
This book will seek to show how the attack was conceived, the preparations, and the actual assault itself, as well as what happened on the subsequent days and how Amiens paved the way for the final victorious Allied advance. It will draw on both primary and secondary sources, as well as eyewitness accounts and will aim to recreate the atmosphere of the time.
The book will also examine the tactics employed, showing how sophisticated for their time they had become, as well as the weaponry used. In addition, it will gauge the character of the Australian, British, Canadian, French and German troops who took part.
My Whispering Angels is the extraordinary story of an ordinary Irish wife and mother blessed with an incredible gift.
Francesca faced the dawn of the new millennium debilitated by ill-health and despair, without any hope or faith in her future. This was until the loving angels and spirits that she remembered watching over her as a young girl returned to save her in adulthood.
We are taken on a wondrous journey of self-discovery as Francesca describes how her angels helped her to recover from her illness and led her to a profound spiritual healing. The angels taught her how to use her gift to help others and to use her insight to guide them to lives enriched with hope and purpose.
She describes some of the spirits that aid her in her healing work, such as the beautiful child spirit of Joanna, and relates the messages the angels deliver to her through meditations messages of hope that relate to the challenges the world faces today.
Francesca's remarkable story is a testament to the transformations that can occur if you open your eyes and your heart to hope.
Twilight tempted the imagination. New Moon made readers thirsty for more. Eclipse turned the saga into a worldwide phenomenon. And now, the book that everyone has been waiting for...
It ought to seem redundant to dismiss the fourth and final Twilight novel as escapist fantasy-but how else could anyone look at a romance about an ordinary, even clumsy teenager torn between a vampire and a werewolf, both of whom are willing to sacrifice their happiness for hers? Flaws and all, however, Meyer's first three novels touched on something powerful in their weird refraction of our culture's paradoxical messages about sex and sexuality.
The conclusion is much thinner, despite its interminable length. Everygirl Bella achieves her wishes quickly (marriage and sex, in that order, are two, and becoming an immortal is another), and once she becomes a vampire it's almost impossible to identify with her. But that's not the main problem. Essentially, everyone gets everything they want, even if their desires necessitate an about-face in characterisation or the messy introduction of some back story. Nobody has to renounce anything or suffer more than temporarily-in other words, grandeur is out. This isn't about happy endings; it's about gratification.
Breaking Dawn, the final book in the #1 bestselling Twilight Saga, will take your breath away.
Producers Nick Wechsler, Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz have used their own money to acquire screen rights to "The Host," the first adult novel written by Stephenie Meyer, author of the "Twilight" series. Andrew Niccol will write the script and direct.
Meyer's novel is a love story set in the near future on Earth, which has been assimilated by an alien species of benevolent parasites that call themselves "Souls." One such soul, the Wanderer, is fused with a dying human named Melanie Stryder, in an attempt to locate the last pocket of surviving humans on Earth.
Wechsler and the Schwartzes are separately teamed on "The Road," the John Hillcoat-directed adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel that will be released Nov. 25 by the Weinstein Co. They are also producing the Paul Schrader-scripted "The Dying of the Light" and an adaptation of Pete Takada book "An Eye at the Top of the World," which Ryne Douglas Pearson is adapting.
In addition to writing four volumes of the "Twilight" series, Meyer has been heavily involved in the screen transfers, and she spurned several overtures for "The Host." The producers continued lobbying the author and her UTA reps with a significant offer, a strong vision for the project and a collaborative spirit. Meyer eventually said yes.
In fact, Niccol first came under consideration after Wechsler and the Schwartzes asked Meyer what her favorite science fiction films are. "Gattaca" and "The Truman Show" were in her top five; Niccol wrote and directed "Gattaca" and scripted the Peter Weir-directed "The Truman Show."
Tim Winton's Cloudstreet to be adapted for TV series
Author Tim Winton's novel Cloudstreet is to be turned into a six-part series for television, shot on location in Western Australia.
Culture and Arts Minister John Day confirmed yesterday that ScreenWest had secured the filming of Cloudstreet through its production attraction fund.
"We are thrilled that we are helping to bring Cloudstreet to the screen and that it is being produced here in Western Australia," Mr Day said. "This will provide employment and development opportunities for local crew, cast, businesses and infrastructure associated with the screen industry, and will also showcase our wonderfully diverse locations and culture to an international audience."
The novel chronicles the story of two working class WA families thrown under the one roof in inner-suburban Perth from the 1940s to 1960s. From separate catastrophes two rural families flee to the city and find themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering joint called Cloudstreet, where they begin their lives again from scratch. For twenty years they roister and rankle, laugh and curse until the roof over their heads becomes a home for their hearts. Tim Winton's funny, sprawling saga is an epic novel of love and acceptance. It has already been staged as a theatre production.
Showtime Australia commissioned and will mostly fund the television version of Cloudstreet. Mr Day says the script for the TV series is being finalised by Winton and Ellen Fontana. Pre-production is expected to begin in November.
"It is expected that principal photography will commence in WA in the first half of 2010," Mr Day said. The six-hour series, once completed, will be screened on Foxtel and Austar.
Winner of the Miles Franklin and NBC Awards in Australia, Cloudstreet is a celebration of people, places and rhythms which has fuelled imaginations world-wide.
First published in 1956, PEYTON PLACE uncovers the passions, lies and cruelties that simmer beneath the surface of a postcard-perfect town.
At the centre of the novel are three women, each with a secret to hide: Constance MacKenzie, the original desperate housewife; her daughter Allison, whose dreams are stifled by small-town small-mindedness; and Selena Cross, her gypsy-eyed friend from the wrong side of the tracks.
'PEYTON PLACE shocked America with its tale of secrets, sex and hypocrisy in a small New Hampshire town... Saucy, compelling, and surprisingly literary... A crafty, page-turning brew of illicit sex, secret lives, public drunkenness, abortion, incest and murder...
Power Plays by Laurie Oakes - The real Story Of Australian Politics
Laurie Oakes is the most influential political journalist in Australia if he says something has happened, the rest of the media (especially the Canberra Press Gallery) believe him, and report it as news. He is respected by political insiders and his name is known to the wider public.
He has worked in Canberra as a political reporter for 39 years and reported on 19 federal elections. He regularly finds the big story way ahead of everyone else. Currently the national political editor for the Nine Network he is the man who interviews all the big names.
From 1987 to December 2007 he wrote a weekly column for the Bulletin and since its demise he has been writing a column for the Saturday Daily Telegraph in Sydney and the Herald Sun in Melbourne.
POWER PLAYS is a selection of 150 of the very best and most timeless of Laurie Oakes columns - that sum up the important events or people and that shed light on the past and present. This book is both an examination of the high points (and some of the low ones) of the past 20 years of national politics - and a fascinating look behind the scenes.
It was a moment of mad impulse when John Humphrys decided to buy a semi-derelict cottage and a building site on a plot of land overlooking the Aegean. A few minutes gazing out over the most glorious bay he had ever seen was all it took to persuade him. After all, his son Christopher was already raising his family there so he would help build the beautiful villa that would soon rise there. What could possibly go wrong? Everything.
John was to spend the next three years regretting his moment of madness. Some of it had its comic side. He learned to cope with a drunken peacock falling out of his favourite tree and even a colony of rats invading his bedroom. Some of the humans proved trickier: the old man demanding payment for olive trees in the middle of John's own land; the neighbour who dragged his lovely old fishing boat onto the beach and set fire to it after a row with his wife. And, of course, the builders. Was the plumber who electrocuted him in the shower vengeful or merely incompetent?
John learned a lot about Greece in a short time. He grew to love it and loathe it in almost equal measures, but was never for a moment bored by it. And Christopher learned a bit more about John. Their shared experience revived keen memories for him of growing up with a father for whom patience was never the strongest virtue... Here father and son capture the idyll and the odyssey as paradise is found, lost and regained.
For a while Lawrence Martin had everything. He was the keyboard player in a successful rock band; he had money, his choice of women. It was all a long way from the British boarding school where he met Roly, the charismatic front man who lured him to Australia in the first place, and with whom he shared the song-writing.Only after it all went wrong did Lawrence learn they'd been sharing other things as well.
Two decades on, living in the highlands of Scotland, he's again confronted with those turbulent years, and with the accident that changed everything . . .
Wry, insightful, intelligent, 88 Lines About 44 Women traces the boundaries of shame and how it obstructs the capacity for love.Are all men emotionally disconnected?Does true intimacy bring redemption, or is it the other way round?
'A gripping, sensuous and at times breathtaking work' Sydney Morning Herald 'Exhibits the health of Australian fiction in the new millennium' The Bulletin 'Lang skilfully ratchets up the tension . . . a fine debut' The Age
The senior pupils of St Peter's High School are on retreat to a secluded outdoor activity centre, coming to terms with the murder of a fellow pupil through the means you would expect: counselling, contemplation, candid discussion and even prayer - not to mention booze, drugs, clandestine liaisons and as much partying as they can get away with.
Not so far away, the commanders of a top-secret military experiment, long-since spiralled out of control, fear they may have literally unleashed the forces of Hell.
Two very different worlds are on a collision course, and will clash in an earthly battle between science and the supernatural, philosophy and faith, civilisation and savagery.
Wildflower - The Extraordinary Life & Death Of Joan Root by Mark Seal
The front cover of Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa, shows a supermodel in a 1950s frock, holding a milk bottle and being nuzzled by a baby elephant.
At first, I thought this photograph was a prop to sell the book. Not so. This gorgeous creature and her playmate are very real. They are world renowned naturalist and film maker Joan Root and her friend Bundu - an elephant she would soon lose amongst a long succession of animals that would leave her life. A life that also witnessed the loss of the true wilds of Africa.
WILDFLOWER is naturalist, filmmaker and lifelong conservationist Joan Root's gripping life story - a stunning and moving tale featuring a remarkable modern-day heroine.
After twenty years of spectacular, unparalleled wildlife filmmaking together, Joan and Alan Root divorced and a fascinating woman found her own voice. Renowned journalist Mark Seal offers this breathtaking, culturally relevant portrait of a strong woman discovering herself and fighting for her beliefs before her mysterious and brutal murder. With a cast of characters as wild, wondrous and unpredictable as Africa itself, WILDFLOWER is a real-life adventure tale set in the world's fast-disappearing wilderness.
Full of personal revelation, intrigue, corruption and murder, readers will remember Joan Root's extraordinary journey long after they turn the last page of this utterly compelling book.
'She's got everything going for her: she's tough, she's smart, she's funny and she works bloody hard' - Nicola Roxon, Minister for Health
Julia Gillard is an exceptional Australian political figure. The first woman to be deputy prime minister - and tipped by many to get the top job in the future - she is admired on both sides of politics as well as by the public.
'Julia Gillard is not about policy . . . her aim is the celebrity that brings public approval' - Michael Costello, The Australian
She is not loved by everybody. Her career has been marked by pitched battles with jealous rivals and powerful factions. To conservatives she is still 'red Julia'; to some on the Left she is still a politician too willing to compromise. She is widely perceived to be ambitious, and yet does she want to be prime minister?
'I am proof that a woman can thrive in an adversarial environment' - Julia Gillard
The Making of Julia Gillard tells Gillard's remarkable story, including her Adelaide childhood, her time as a fiery student activist, her battles to get into Parliament and her relationships with the important men in her political life: Simon Crean, Kim Beazley, Mark Latham and Kevin Rudd.
In this immensely readable book, acclaimed biographer Jacqueline Kent draws on interviews with Gillard's friends and foes - and with Gillard herself - to reveal just how adversarial her environment has been and how she has thrived.
Twilight Saga Audio Books Complete Series - Stephenie Meyer
In Stock and ready To Ship
Stephenie Meyer holds you spellbound with her incredible New York Times bestselling Twilight Saga. Experience the entire series on audio with narrator Ilyana Kadushin and prepare to be amazed by the more than 60 hours of listening pleasure.
Twilight (11 CDs): When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks, Washington, and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.
New Moon (12 CDs): For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning.
Eclipse (13 CDs): As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob?knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf.
Breaking Dawn (14 CDs): Twilighttempted the imagination.New Moonmade readers thirsty for more.Eclipse turned the saga into a worldwide phenomenon. And now, the story that everyone has been waiting for.... Breaking Dawn,the final installment in the #1 bestselling Twilight Saga, will take your breath away.
They've considered him a murderer for eighteen years, so no one in Dungirri is surprised when Gil Gillespie returns and a woman's body is found in his car. Wearied by too many deaths and doubting her own skills, local police sergeant Kris Mathews isn't sure whether Gil is a decent man wronged by life, or a hardened criminal she should lock up.
But she does know he s not guilty of this murder, because she is his alibi. Gil isn't used to feeling anything for anyone. But there s a teenager here who has his eyes a daughter he never knew existed. And the sergeant's fiery tenacity stirs his blood. He can t acknowledge either. He s made too many enemies in the Sydney Mafia and amongst corrupt cops. Kris's alibi might have saved him from a murder charge but her dedication to finding the truth has made her a target.
Gil is surrounded by wilderness, but there s no place to hide, because his enemies have most of the town on their side, and they know that the one thing most punishing would be harming the few people he cares about.
Buy this book between August 26 and September 30, 2009 and receive your choice of either 10 Short Stories You Must Read OR Grug Learns To Read FREE!
Annie Duncan fit together naturally, like jigsaw pieces, though Duncan's passionate obsession with Tucker Crowe, the reclusive, tortured-genius songwriter, has never left much time for anything more meaningful, like marriage or kids. In fact, Annie's starting to wonder whether she's wasted fifteen years on a bad relationship.
When Tucker's record company suddenly issue a stripped-down version of his most famous album, and Annie just can't see what's good about it, Duncan finds solace in bed with somebody else - and Annie is at last liberated to throw him out.
But worse is to follow for Duncan: Annie is not alone in her opinion. After she posts a review on a fan website, she gets a response from a completely unlikely source, Tucker himself. The correspondence which follows is doubly satisfying: it turns out that not only is Tucker an expert like her on years of wasted life, but she begins to realize what lies behind his long silence.
Nick Horby's compelling new novel, four years after A Long Way Down, is about the nature of creativity and obsession, and how two lonely people can gradually find each other.
'the thinking man's light relief...warm, funny and particularly insightful when it comes to relationships.' Daily Mirror
'It's good to have him back. Nick Hornby's first adult novel in four years is a comic delight. InJuliet, Naked, the author once again deftly but affectionately anatomises the foibles of flawed men and women. But mostly men.' Evening Standard
'Riveting, atmospheric and tautly written, Red Queen is a remarkable debut.' Michael Robotham
Shannon and Rohan Scott have retreated to their family's cabin in the Australian bush to escape a virus-ravaged world. After months of isolation, Shannon imagines there's nothing he doesn't know about his older brother, or himself - until a stranger slips under their late-night watch and past their loaded guns.
Reluctantly the brothers take the young woman into their fold, and the dynamic within the cabin shifts.Possessiveness takes hold, loyalties are split, and trust is shattered.Before long, all three find themselves locked into a very different battle for survival.
Daring, stylish and sexy, Red Queen is a psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan - Oprah's Latest Book Club Pick
The publishers of Uwem Akpan's book "Say You're One of Them" are probably jumping for joy. That is because the short story collection was chosen as the latest pick in Oprah's Book Club, which will most likely make the book an instant best-seller.
This is the first short story collection that has gotten Oprah's stamp of approval. Uwem Akpan is a Nigerian-born Jesuit priest that tells five long stories about suffering and hardships in Africa through the eyes of children. These children characters suffer from poverty, war, prostitution and street life in different parts of the country.
Say You're One of Them is fiction with real emotional punch and told from the viewpoints of children - the innocent victims - is powerful, vivid and deeply moving. Uwem Akpan's ability to capture a child's imagination and his skilful portrayal of the situations they have to endure makes this a truly compelling read.
Although the collection might have a few critics, it has recieved many positive reviews from the media and readers alike. There is no doubt that millions of copies will sell within the next few weeks. Readers love to follow along with Winfrey's discussions.
For many the dream of owning their own business remains just that. Even if you have a great idea, the work and money involved in building a business from the ground up can prove too daunting. What few aspiring entrepreneurs realise is that buying an already existing business can be far easier, sometimes possible with little or no money at all, and can be just as satisfying a route to self-sufficiency.
In easy-to-follow language, Buying and Selling a Business takes you through the entire process, from identifying your target business and assembling the right team to help you, to valuation, agreeing terms and finding the necessary finance. Just as importantly, Haigh helps you ensure your deal is the right deal for you, offering advice on running the business you buy and implementing proper exit strategies from the start.
With valuable appendices containing typical documentation, and how to read them, Jo Haigh's book is a one-stop resource to closing the deal and transforming your life.
In celebration of 10 years in print, comes an updated collector s edition of Bill Granger s bestselling first cookbook Bill s Sydney Food. With new iconic Sydney photography and a fresh design in a new hardback format this title is sure to capture a new audience, tempt die-hard fans who will need a revised copy and prove the perfect gift or souvenir for visitors to Sydney.
Sydney Food contains all the must-have recipes from bills original restaurant in inner-city Darlinghurst the signature scrambled eggs, ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter even chocolate chip cookies.
When American novelist Denton receives a letter from a young woman, Mary Thomason, saying she's in danger and needs his help, he doubts if there's anything he can do. As famous writer with a well-documented past as a lawman in the American west, Denton is used to having mysteries laid at his door, but the letter is months old and was only forwarded to him when the buyer of a painting found it stuck behind the frame.
Presumably whatever Mary Thomason was frightened of has already happened. So why did she hide the note behind this particular painting, instead of sending it? The search for answers leads Denton into the heart of Bohemian London - the world of artists and their models, a world of brilliance and depravity, of unconventional morals and shifting sexual identities, where the border between genius and madness is hard to discern but easy to cross.
And before he has learned the shocking truth, Denton will discover what it's like to be the object of a lethal obsession and endure a terrifying confrontation with his own demons.
Newlyweds Margaret and Patrick set off on a great adventure -- a year living in Kenya in a dizzying and sometimes dangerous city. Shuttling between expat suburbs and squalid shantytowns, Margaret realizes there is a great deal she doesn t know about the complex culture of her new home, and about her husband.
The newlyweds eagerly take part in a climbing expedition to the summit of Mount Kenya. But during their arduous ascent a horrific accident occurs. In its aftermath, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how it has transformed her and her marriage, perhaps for ever.
When small actions have unintended, catastrophic consequences, where does responsibility lie, and can blame ever truly be laid to rest? With stunning language and striking emotional intensity, A Change in Altitude illuminates the inner landscape of a couple, the irrevocable impact of tragedy and the elusive nature of forgiveness.
Each song that shuffles through 'that greatest of all human inventions' triggers a memory. There are songs for the girls from when he was single; there's the one for the day he met his wife-to-be, and another for the day his son was born. But when his family falls apart, even music loses its hold on him, and he has nothing.
Until one snowy night in Brooklyn, when his life's soundtrack-and life itself-starts to play again. He stumbles into a bar and sees Cait O'Dwyer, a flame-haired Irish rock singer, performing with her band, and a strange and unlikely love affair is ignited.
Over the next few months, Julian and Cait's passion for music and each other is played out, though they never meet. In cryptic emails, text messages, cell-phone videos, and lyrics posted on Cait's website, they find something in their bizarre friendship that they cannot find anywhere else. Cait's star is on the rise, and Julian gently guides her along her path to fame-but always from a distance-and she responds to the one voice who understands her, more than a fan but still less than a lover.
As their feelings grow more feverish, keeping a safe distance becomes impossible. What follows is a love story and a uniquely heartbreaking dark comedy about obsession and loss.
Called 'one of the best writers in America' by The Washington Post, the bestselling author of Prague delivers his finest work yet in The Song Is You. It is a closely observed tale of love in the digital age that blurs the line between the longing for intimacy and the longing for oblivion.
Transcending Post-Infidelity Stress Disorder by Dennis Ortman
A psychologist uses post-traumatic stress disorder as a model for the wounded partner to explore rage and emotional pain and learn the secrets of recovery.
The discovery of a partner's infidelity is heart-wrenching and traumatic. In TRANSCENDING POST-INFIDELITY STRESS DISORDER (PISD), Dennis Ortman likens the psychological aftermath of sexual betrayal to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in its origin and symptoms, including anxiety, irritability, rage, emotional numbing, and flashbacks. Using PTSD treatment as a model, Dr. Ortman presents steps to recovery from the pain of infidelity. With the author's PISD system, readers will find a structure to help them categorize emotions, face their rage, make important life decisions, and find wholeness, peace, and forgiveness.
Tomorrow When The War Began by John marsden - Cast Finalised
The ensemble cast of eight young Australian actors to star in the new AUS$20 million teen war movie "Tomorrow, When The War Began" was announced Thursday, ahead of production on the film, which gets under way in New South Wales this month.
Chris Pang, Deniz Akeniz, Andy Ryan and Lincoln Lewis join the previously announced female cast, featuring Caitlin Stasey as Ellie, Phoebe Tonkin and Ashleigh Cummings. Lewis and Stasey have had roles in Australian soaps "Home and Away" and "Neighbours," while Akeniz has appeared in the local version of Disney Channel's "As The Bell Rings" and Pang has been seen in the recent Australian feature, "Home Song Stories."
"Tomorrow" marks the directorial debut for writer Stuart Beattie, who has previously penned the screenplays for "Collateral," "Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" and "Australia."
Based on the first of seven books in the hugely popular "Tomorrow" series of teen novels by acclaimed Australian author John Marsden, the film follows a group of teenagers who are waging a guerilla war on enemy soldiers in their hometown after Australia is invaded by a foreign power and their families are taken. The story is told from Ellie's point of view.
The seven books in the series have sold over 2 million copies in Australia and have been translated into 13 languages.
The film is being produced by financier Omnilab Media's production division, Ambience Entertainment, with Andrew Mason producing. Christopher Mapp, Matthew Street and David Whealy are executive producers.
Paramount Pictures will handle distribution and marketing of the film in Australia and New Zealand. Screen Australia is providing production investment, with assistance from the NSW Department of State and Regional Development.
Ever Dirk - The bogarde letters & The Authorised Biography by John Coldstream
Several movie stars have found a second career as writers quite late in life, David Niven and Alec Guinness among them, but none more successfully than Dirk Bogarde with 15 volumes of memoirs, fiction and essays, and this outstanding collection of letters, scrupulously edited by John Coldstream. His earlier correspondence has been incorporated into Coldstream's authorised biography, and this 600-page book covers the final 30 years of his life; he lived in Provence for 17 years, reluctantly returning to London when his long-time partner, Tony Forward, became terminally ill.
His matinee idol days were over and he'd become an arthouse actor, working largely for continental directors. Increasingly, he saw himself as an author, eventually claiming in 1992: "I am no longer an actor, I write only now."
Bogarde was a compulsive, natural writer though not a natural grammarian, and Coldstream has retained the eccentric spelling and syntax ("holacaust", "Ghandi", "is'nt"). This only adds to the individuality and charm and brings us closer to a warm, witty, emotional man, who in his public persona often appeared cold, remote and guarded in a closeted, English way. The letters are long, rambling, bitchy, gossipy, honest, intelligent, unpretentious and funny, often expressing social and racial prejudices that he must have expected the recipients partially to discount.
Almost the only formal communication is a 1991 letter to the Kensington and Chelsea council protesting, unsuccessfully, against the opening of a McDonald's. There are revealing letters to Joseph Losey, the director who changed the course of Bogarde's career, and an exchange with John Osborne, whose despair over modern life Bogarde shared: "Why is it that we the English have become so foul?"
But most of the letters, and the best of them, are to women, and of these particularly moving and tender are those offering his condolence to two widows, Kathleen Tynan and Patricia Losey. With further stories about Noël Coward, the making of Victim, his investiture at Buckingham Palace and a grisly gala in Monaco, there isn't a dull paragraph in the book.
Dan Carter, his wife Sara and their two children are at Heathrow, about to get on a plane that will take them on their first vacation as a family when he discovers his passport's missing. Exasperated, Sara says she and the children will go on their own. You can't, he says. Just watch me, she replies.
Hours later, Dan watches the newsflash about the plane going down over the Atlantic and his life is shattered. But after the first explosion of grief, the questions start to haunt him. Was it an accident his passport got mislaid? Did Sara make sure he wasn't on the plane? Was he the intended target of a terrorist attack that lead back to his time as a sniper in Afghanistan? And how does that tie in with his wife's secret life that he gradually starts to uncover.
Searching for answers will set him on a deadly trail of revenge that will not end until he has found the truth and meted out justice the only way only he knows how.
Kristen Stewart - Infinite Romance - Josie Rusher - The Star of Twilight and New Moon
Hollywood's hottest young star, Kristen Stewart, is set for global stardom and in this book you can learn everything you need to know about this interesting, beautiful and glamorous film star.
From her early roles in films with Jodie Foster and Sharon Stone, Kristen showed her true potential as a child star who could make it big. But nothing was to prepare her for global superstardom when it was announced that Kirsten was to play Isabella 'Bella' Swan in the movie Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling vampire/romance novels. Along side Robert Pattinson, who plays her vampire boyfriend, Kristen smashed box office records and confirmed herself as the actor most teens would like to be.
INFINITE ROMANCE includes all the news from the sets of New Moon. Become her soul mate and consider this mortal as she truly is: a beautiful and complex young actor who has stolen our imaginations and created a Bella we can all believe in.
In January 2008, movie star Patrick Swayze was given the worst news of his life. What he hoped was just a stomach ache was actually stage four pancreatic cancer, a diagnosis that is fatal within a year for 79% of the people to whom it is given. Remarkably, Patrick is not just alive a year later but continuing his treatment, and responding well.
But this book isn't just the story of Patrick's fight against cancer. In the public eye from the early 1980s, this is the story of a remarkable life and career. Intended as a low budget, straight-to-video production, Dirty Dancing became a cult hit and remains one of the most enduring films of the 80s. Ghost cemented Patrick as a hugely bankable star, in a role that has had a considerable cultural impact. Most recently Patrick has returned to the public's adoring arms in TV's The Beast. This book will chronicle Patrick's personal life as well -- including his treatment for alcoholism following the death of his father and sister's sudden death.
What has remained a constant in Patrick's life is his marriage and Patrick and Lisa's love story is inspiring, honest, heartfelt and transcends the typical celebrity marriage. This is a book that anyone who has faced cancer or a terminal illness can turn to: Lisa and Patrick have shown the world that cancer isn't just a diagnosis given to one individual, but a disease that can bring a household together or pull a family apart.
Bold, honest and inspiring, Patrick Swayze's memoir is the story of a remarkable man's life and career and of his refusal to give in.
This celebratory valentine to Patrick Swayze explores his kaleidoscopic career, from the early days on Broadway and TV to his defining roles in films such as "Dirty Dancing," "Road House," "Point Break," and "Ghost," and gives us an intimate look at the charismatic, complex man who seemed destined from birth to capture our hearts.
Patrick Swayze: One Last Dance, with never-before-heard stories including his insatiable drive for pushing the limits and his many brushes with death, his early family life and fairytale love story with his wife Lisa Niemi, and how his refusal to be typecast led him to roles that fell both in and out of favour with critics and fans alike. Surprising and fascinating details, such as the heavy tension on the set of Dirty Dancing with co-star Jennifer Grey, the inspiration behind Patrick's drag queen character Vida Boheme on To Wong Foo, and Patrick's struggle to deal with his Sexiest Man Alive status and the throngs of women who came along with it, will captivate his myriad fans.
Patrick Swayze: One Last Dance is a loving portrait of a man who's mesmerized and inspired us for decades.
The Adventure capitalist - Conor Woodman - Around The World In 80 Trades
Economist Conor Woodman has decided to test his negotiating skills, charm and eye for a bargain against some of the world's oldest trading cultures. He's sold his house to finance the trip, but if his hunches are right - trading Sudanese camels for Kenyan coffee, coffee for South African red wine and then off to China to buy porcelain with the proceeds - he'll return six months later with a lot of money, some new friends and a whole raft of brilliant tall tales
Conor believes that the principles of profit are universal wherever you go, whatever language you speak. Whether trading teak or bath taps, light bulbs or seafood he'll work out how to make money in every market he encounters along his route. He'll trade on his wits and instincts, going head to head with the best operators in the world's most hotly-contested markets. But will years of experience in corporate finance mean anything when haggling with Chinese officials to trade his boat-load of tobacco down the Mekong River?
Part Undercover Economist, part Apprentice challenge, Around the World in 80 Trades swaps worry about the global credit crunch for an exciting insight into the human story behind the money in our pockets: face-to-face trade between people from around the world.
A man wakes, trapped inside a cloning vat. He has no idea how he got there, no idea where he is and no idea who he is. But someone is trying to kill him and they're about to succeed...
A disgraced Foreign ambassador leaves his post humiliated and ignored by his superiors, only to meet Ameline - a woman who seems to know everything about him and an alarming amount about a conspiracy to overthrow the government.
And on a back-water world during an economic crisis a worker called Tibus Heth leads a revolt against the corporation which earns him an unexpected and mysterious ally with astounding influence and an inclination to aid his revolutionary ideas...
A must-read title for all fans of Patrick Rothfuss and Trudi Canavan, FIRE is an exceptional fantasy novel. From the deft characterisation to the gripping story, the fast-paced action to the evocative prose, this is one of the strongest fantasy novels of the year.
Set in a world of stunningly beautiful, exceptionally dangerous monsters, Fire is one of the most dangerous monsters of all - a human one. Marked out by her vivid red hair, she's more than attractive. Fire is mesmerising.
But with this extraordinary beauty comes influence and power. People who are susceptible to her appeal will do anything for her attention and for her affection. They will turn away from their families, their work and their duties for her. They will forget their responsibilities to please her...and worse, crush nations, neglect kingdoms and abuse their power.
Aware of her power and afraid of it, Fire lives in a corner of the world away from people and away from temptation. Until the day comes when she is needed - a day when, for her king, she has to stand against not only his enemies, but also against herself...
Cuban heat meets immigrant politics in this thriller with a social conscience.
Cuban cop Hernandez has a score to settle, on behalf of a deadbeat dad, a 'traitor' who skipped free from Castro's control to set up a new life working illegally in Colorado. He settled in a ski resort popular with the Hollywood set, where the facade is maintained by the immigrant cleaners and labourers who work for below minimum wage while the local sheriff is bribed to turn a blind eye. Hernandez Sr's dreams of fortune and freedom came to a swift end when he was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
Sworn to avenge his death, Hernandez has some obstacles to overcome - not least getting out of Cuba, where visas are as elusive as constant electricity.
Seguing back and forth between heat-soaked Havana and the icy luxury of the mountainside resort, Fifty Grand is an audacious thriller from an acknowledged talent - and an incendiary debut for a new hero.
About Adrian McKinty
Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. He studied politics at Oxford University and after a failed legal career he moved to the US in the early 1990s. He found work as a security guard, postman, construction worker, barman, rugby coach and bookstore clerk before becoming a school teacher. He is the author of The Dead Trilogy. He now lives in Melbourne, Australia.
In this newly revised and updated edition, Master of Wine Jancis Robinson has created this wine tasting course based around practical exercises that will guide you from your first sips to confident,well-informed gulps.
Clearly divided into theory and practise, this workbook first provides all the information you need before you put it into practise. Learn the correct way to taste wine and enjoy the tasting exercises specially devised by Jancis based on readily available and inexpensive bottle. Learn how to recognise the most popular grape varieties from Chardonnay to Riesling, Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignon, and why you should choose a good sparkling wine over cheap Champagne. There is advice on choosing from a wine list and how to match food with wine.
How to Taste Wine will awaken the wine connoisseur in us all.
Being a blood spatter analyst who hates the sight of blood has always made Dexter's work for the Miami PD tough. But it means he's very neat when it comes to his out-of-hours hobby: murder. Of course, the fact Dexter only kills bad people helps too.
Now Dex is facing a disturbing situation. He's used to blood at work and blood when he's out with the dark passenger (the voice that guides him on his deadly outings). But he's not sure what to make of the man who says blood is art.
Using bodies as his canvas, someone is out there expressing themselves in the most lethal and painful of ways.If Dexter's to escape the scalpel and avoid becoming the latest exhibit, he needs somewhere to run...and he might just have found the perfect place.
With his wedding looming, completing his nice-guy disguise, Dexter's honeymoon might just save his skin.
A beautifully produced collector's edition featuring all of Murray Ball's 'Weekender' cartoons. These were cartoons that were run in the weekend newspapers. Many have never before been published in book form, and many never seen in New Zealand. (They were run in Saturday and Sunday newspapers in Australia, but only on Saturdays here.
A unique feature of the Weekenders is the Footrot Flats 'photographs', where Murray has drawn our favourite characters onto colour photographic backgrounds. These colour photographs appear throughout. A beautiful work of rare Footrot Flats material that every collector or Footrot Flats fan must have.
The Forsaken by Tim Tzouliadis - Hope And Betrayal In Stalin's Russia
Of all the great movements of population to and from the United States, the least heralded is the migration, in the depths of the Depression of the nineteen-thirties, of thousands of men, women and children to Stalin's Russia. Where capitalism had failed them, Communism promised dignity for the working man, racial equality, and honest labour. What in fact awaited them, however, was the most monstrous betrayal.
In a remarkable piece of historical investigation that spans seven decades of political change, Tim Tzouliadis follows these thousands from Pittsburgh and Detroit and Los Angeles, as their numbers dwindle on their epic and terrible journey. Through official records, memoirs, newspaper reports and interviews he searches the most closely guarded archive in modern history to reconstruct their story, one of honesty, vitality and idealism brought up against the brutal machinery of repression.
His account exposes the self-serving American diplomats who refused their countrymen sanctuary, it analyses international relations and economic causes but also finds space to retrieve individual acts of kindness and self-sacrifice.
Dennis 'The Menace' Pike, former wild man of Tottenham, is going grey and going straight. Anyway, it was hard work being a yob- the birds, the brawls, the endless beers- and he hasn't really got the energy any more for life on the edge. Then two old faces turn up from the past- the Bishop brothers, Chas and Noel. Famously inept, they were bad news then, and they haven't aged well.
What's worse, they need Pike's expertise on a scheme wealth distribution really- offloading one of the old gang's ill-gotten millions. Robbing the robbers- now what's criminal about that, Pike, still haunted by what happened one wreckless night all those years ago, refuses to get involved.
But old habits die hard, and when he suddenly finds his bank account tampered with, Pike is drawn back into a world he spent ten years escaping. Thug or mug, he is nevertheless forced to confront a man so psychotically unhinged that his own youth seems like mere kids' stuff...
A slick, razor-sharp novel, FULL WHACK is packed full of searing wit, scurrilous characters and nefarious knock-about.
The Quiet War is over. The city states of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn have fallen to the Three Powers Alliance of Greater Brazil, the European Union and the Pacific Community. A century of enlightenment, rational utopianism and exploration of new ways of being human has fallen dark. Outers are herded into prison camps and forced to collaborate in the systematic plundering of their great archives of scientific and technical knowledge, while Earth's forces loot their cities, settlements and ships, and plan a final solution to the 'Outer problem'.
But Earth's victory is fragile, and riven by vicious internal politics. While seeking out and trying to anatomise the strange gardens abandoned in place by Avernus, the Outers' greatest genius, the gene wizard Sri Hong-Owen is embroiled in the plots and counterplots of the family that employs her. The diplomat Loc Ifrahim soon discovers that profiting from victory isn't as easy as he thought. And in Greater Brazil, the Outers' democratic traditions have infected a population eager to escape the tyranny of the great families who rule them.
After a conflict fought to contain the expansionist, posthuman ambitions of the Outers, the future is as uncertain as ever. Only one thing is clear. No one can escape the consequences of war - especially the victors.
Vampire Diaries Bind-Up Volume 2 Fury and Dark Reunion by L J Smith
In Stock & Ready To Ship
The Fury: Elena, believing she was helping her boyfriend, Stefan, is tricked by his brother Damon into exchanging blood with him - little realising that this will transform her into a vampire too. Now crazed with her own wild craving for blood, it is up to Stefan to save her - but first he must find a way to end his feud with Damon
The Dark Reunion: Elena, brought back from the dead, calls on Stefan and Damon to recreate their powerful vampire trio. Together they must face incredible evil and battle against it with their combined strength, cunning and charm - only then can they find peace, and save the friends they have left behind...
Preston Clearwater has been a criminal since stealing two chain saws and 1600 pairs of aviator sunglasses from the Army during the Second World War. Back on the road in post-war North Carolina, a member of a car-theft ring, he picks up hitch-hiking Henry Dampier, an innocent nineteen-year-old Bible salesman. Clearwater immediately recognizes Henry as just the associate he needs - one who will believe Clearwater is working as an F.B.I. spy; one who will drive the cars Clearwater steals as Clearwater follows along in another car at a safe distance.
Henry joyfully sees a chance to lead a dual life as Bible salesman and a G-man. During his hilarious and scary adventures we learn of Henry's fundamentalist youth, an upbringing that doesn't prepare him for his new life. As he falls in love and questions his religious training, Henry begins to see he's being used - that the fun and games are over, that he is on his own in a way he never imagined.
As the waters rose in FLOOD, high in the Colorado mountains the US government was building an ark. Not an ark to ride the waves but an ark that would take a select few thousand people out into space to start a new future for mankind.
Sent out into deep space on a journey lasting centuries, generations of crew members carry the hope of a new beginning on a new, incredibly distant, planet. But as the ages pass knowledge and purpose is lost and division and madness grows. And back on earth life, and man, find a new way.
This is the epic sequel to the acclaimed FLOOD; a stirring tale of what mankind will do to survive and the perfect introduction for new readers to one of SFs greatest tropes; the generation ship. Written by one of the most significant SF writers of the last 30 years, a man considered to be the heir of Arthur C. Clarke as a writer with a unique ability to popularize science and science fiction for the largest possible audience FLOOD and ARK together form a landmark in modern SF.
Twenty years ago John Costello's life, as he knew it, ended. He and his beautiful girlfriend, Nadia, became victims of the deranged 'Hammer of God' killer who terrorised New Jersey City throughout the summer of 1984. This murderer went after young courting couples in an attempt to 'save their souls'.
Nadia was killed by the first blow of the hammer. John survived, but was physically and psychologically scarred to an extent that few people could comprehend. He withdrew from society, hid in his apartment and now only emerges to work as a crime researcher for a major newspaper. Damaged he may be, but no one in New Jersey knows more about serial killers than John Costello.
So, when a new spate of murders starts - all seemingly random and unrelated - John is the only one who can discern the complex pattern that lies behind them. But could this dark knowledge be about to threaten his life?
Liberty in the Age of Terror by A C Grayling - A defence Of Civil Liberties And Enlightenment Values
An impassioned defence of the civil liberties and the rule of law in the face of increasing pressure for ever greater 'security'.
'The means of defence against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.' - James Madison
Our societies, says A.C. Grayling, are under attack not only from the threat of terrorism, but also from our governments' attempts to fight that threat by reducing freedom in our own societies - think the 42-day detention controversy, CCTV surveillance, increasing invasion of privacy, ID cards, not to mention Abu Ghraib, rendition, Guantanamo ...
As Grayling says: 'There should be a special place for political irony in the catalogues of human folly. Starting a war 'to promote freedom and democracy' could in certain though rare circumstances be a justified act; but in the case of the Second Gulf War that began in 2003, which involved reacting to criminals hiding in one country (Al Qaeda in Afghanistan or Pakistan) by invading another country (Iraq), one of the main fronts has, dismayingly, been the home front, where the War on Terror takes the form of a War on Civil Liberties in the spurious name of security. To defend 'freedom and democracy', Western governments attack and diminish freedom and democracy in their own country. By this logic, someone will eventually have to invade the US and UK to restore freedom and democracy to them.'
In this lucid and timely book, Grayling sets out what is at risk, engages with the arguments for and against examining the cases made by Isaiah Berlin and Ronald Dworkin on the one hand, and Roger Scruton and John Gray on the other, and finally proposes a different way to respond that makes defending the civil liberties on which western society is founded the cornerstone for defeating terrorism.
Save money on groceries and spend less time in the kitchen with this guide to planning and budgeting for family meals including recipes, shopping lists and general tips.
Being disorganised in the kitchen at mealtimes wastes time and money. Australian mother Penina Petersen has devised an ingenious plan to organise grocery shopping lists, limit cooking to three nights a week and save money by reducing waste in the kitchen.
Table Tucker by Penina Petersen is an indispensable guide for busy Australian families who want to spend more time relaxing together and less time in the kitchen and the supermarket.
This straightforward guide to planning meals and being more organised in the kitchen offers a one year menu plan with recipes for family-friendly main meals. With a week-by-week format, Petersen provides not only recipes but grocery shopping lists and tips for using leftovers.
Recipes are displayed in an easy to follow format suitable for even a beginner cook. Ingredients can be easily found at the local supermarket and there are minimal processes involved in each recipe. There is an enjoyable range of meals including curries, stir-frys, pasta dishes, soups, roasts, vegetarian dishes and salads. Meat dishes include chicken, beef, fish, pork and lamb. Side-dish recipes are also included.
The number of serves is listed with each meal, with meals serving between 2 - 6 people. Recipes would need to be adjusted to suit individual family needs. The meal plan provides a menu plan and recipes for meals six nights a week.
The Year Of The Flood by Margaret Atwood - The Planet Smasher
Margaret Atwood's 2003 novel, Oryx and Crake, may have been unprecedented in the history of dystopian literature for conjuring a terrible near future and then dialing it up to an apocalyptic one. It envisioned an environmentally exhausted world of gated communities, gruesome Internet broadcasts and pigs with human cunning, and then it swept this landscape clean of people with a man-made virus. With her new book, The Year of the Flood, Atwood has returned us to this same world only to wreck it all over again. Between these apocalyptic scenarios, in her 2008 Massey Lectures, she painted our present as a non-fiction dystopia wrought by the greed and gluttony of modern-day Scrooges -- that is, us; the lectures were published as Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth.
If Atwood has assumed the mantle of a 21st-century Jeremiah, warning us of a biblical reckoning to come, she is surprisingly cheerful about the prospect. She sits, sun-hatted and fresh from a meal with her long-time partner, Graeme Gibson, and her daughter, Jess, on the leafy patio of Espresso Bar Mercurio near the University of Toronto. From this vantage point, the 21st century doesn't look too dystopian. For one thing, there are ring tones, just one innovation employed in the tech-savvy campaign to promote The Year of the Flood.
"I didn't even know what a ring tone was," Atwood says, with a mischievous smile. She draws in her chin, as if she's trying to keep a chuckle to herself. (Listen to her Massey Lectures via podcast and you'll hear this little laugh often.)
The Year of the Flood occupies the same patch of post-near-apocalypse North America and features some of the same characters as Oryx and Crake. Atwood says the books can be read in either order.
This time, the tale is told from the point of view of a pair of female survivors who once belonged to a cult of environmentalist Christians called God's Gardeners. These burlap-wearing eco-fruitcakes display the same humourless solemnity as the folks at the local food co-op circa 2009: In their leader, Adam One, and his struggles to compliment his flock's vegan pot-luck dishes, we hear Atwood having a little chuckle at the present-day environmental movement to which she belongs. And note that, unlike Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, she had the wit to populate her dystopia with people to laugh at.
Twilight' books banned from Australian primary schools for being too racy
MELBOURNE - Aussie primary school students have been banned from reading Stephenie Meyer's smash hit 'Twilight' books, as they are said to be too racy. According to the Daily Telegraph, librarians in some junior schools have even removed the books from shelves, as they believe the content is too sexual and goes against religious beliefs. They have even asked parents not to let their children bring their copies of the novels, which explore the stormy love affair between a teenage girl and a vampire, to school.
Santa Sabina College at Strathfield was so concerned about the Twilight craze that teachers ran a seminar for Year 6 students to discuss sexual and supernatural themes in the books. "We don't have a policy of censorship but the issues in the Twilight series are quite different from the Harry Potter classics," News quoted the school's head librarian Helen Schutz as saying. "It is not available in our junior library for these reasons," she said. She said that younger kids read the books, which have been turned into a smash hit movie, so they could "talk the talk and are part of the cool crowd".
But teachers addressed the primary students because they were concerned they might be too young to deal with the adult themes. "There was a great level of concern from the teachers and we anticipated there would be concern from the parents," Schutz explained. "We wanted to make sure they realise it's fictitious and ensure they don't have a wrong grasp on reality," she said.
The four Twilight books trace the love affair between Bella Swan, who moves to a new school, and Edward Cullen, a mysterious heartthrob who belongs to a family of vampires. Catholic Education Office spokesman Mark Rix said individual schools had to decide whether the books were suitable. "It comes down to the discretion of the school to keep an eye on what the kids read," Rix said. "Some primary students are not ready to read Twilight. That said, some secondary students may not be either," he added.
Balmoral's Queenwood School for Girls head librarian Heather Voskyl said only senior school students were allowed to borrow the books from the library. "There isn't a lot written for the Year 4 to 5 age group so they are quickly pushed into higher reading age groups. There is a mismatch between their level of maturity and their level of reading," she stated.
St Anthony's Catholic primary school in Picton has also asked parents not to let their children bring the book to school. Emmi Payten, 10, from Bellevue Hill, has read three quarters of the first Twilight book. "I know it's all just fantasy. I think it's really good, really interesting and bits of it are really funny," she stated.
FOR her latest thriller, Tara Moss had herself set on fire and slowly choked unconscious.
The Canadian-Australian author got a stunt agency in Los Angeles to tog her up in soaking wet flame-retardant clothing, then had layers of aloe vera and gel applied to her skin before a flammable chemical was dabbed onto strategic spots. "Then they lit me up with a blowtorch." Why? The 36-year-old former model wanted to experience the sensations that would be felt by the victims in her novel Siren, the fifth in the popular Makedde Vanderwall series of crime novels.
When she was set on fire, Moss didn't feel anything for the first eight seconds, but then the heat started creeping up. "[The stuntmen] were watching the clock very carefully because at about 15 seconds skin begins to melt, even under all the fire-retardant protection." She was hosed down 12 seconds in.
A few days later, Moss was in an Ultimate Fighter ring, being choked unconscious by US stuntman Big John McCarthy. He had to do it slowly, so he didn't accidentally end up snapping her neck.
"With the chokeout ... the moment I became conscious again, I grabbed my notepad and was literally sitting on the mat, writing notes immediately. Those notes went pretty much directly into Siren." She admits that afterwards, she felt as if she'd been "punched in the throat for 24 hours".
"I certainly seize the opportunity to have an unusual experience which helps with my writing and heightens the authenticity of my novels," says Moss. "I take calculated risks but it's not crazy. They're well thought out and executed in controlled circumstances."
Moss also studies psychology, forensic science and criminology in her spare time. And she's been to every one of the cities she writes about. She's also a qualified race car driver, a National Geographic TV presenter, and has made the transition from model to crime author so successfully that she's managed to live off her writing for 10 years.
And on the phone from her home in Sydney, Moss, who was formerly married to Australian actor Mark Pennell, also seems intelligent, articulate, witty and bubbly the sort of dream woman that pops up on male Christmas wish lists.
Siren was a slower write than previous Mak books. "This one took three years whereas the previous four took two. I think it shows in a very positive way in the finished manuscript. It's certainly the most explosive of the Vanderwall books." In the series, Mak, a beautiful, divorced international model and student of forensic psychology (spot the similarities), jets to different countries solving crime.
The glossy image that's been built around Tara Moss: Bestselling Author is one that sells books. She has a star on the Australian Walk of Fame and her novels have been nominated for the Davitt and Ned Kelly awards in Australia. And it's one she's well aware of for the fire stunt, she was pleased her long hair made it through unsinged. But Moss travelled a different path to many ex-models she hasn't judged any reality shows, released her own clothing line or written a bitchy tell-all book about the industry. She actually found life on the catwalk a bit well... boring. "When I was modelling, I couldn't wait to quit. I didn't have a lot of fear attached to the idea of being a novelist."
She had no control or, often, input into the creative process. "The fact is, as a fashion model, you're a mannequin and creative energy comes not from you, but the photographer, art director and client. It's all about selling a product. You're not wearing your own clothes, doing your own makeup, showing your own personality and, in most cases, haven't even chosen the pose you're representing to the world."
Moss went into modelling because she wanted to travel, she said, which certainly seems like a better choice than the average 20-something's OE of pulling pints in an Irish pub.
But she does get angry that women, in any profession, are often judged by their looks, regardless of their career goals or achievements.
"When I was going on modelling jobs and people asked me what I was up to in the weekend and I'd say `oh, I'm writing a novel', they'd roll their eyes. I do find it bizarre that anyone would see a relationship between wearing makeup or heels and intellectual prowess. I love Australia and I'm an Australian now, but that doesn't stop me from noticing that there's a certain amount of misogyny directed at female politicians in this country. We're pretty much 50 years behind in some of the statements made. Thankfully, these days, those statements are actually taken up by media commentators and people say `hey, that's just ridiculous', but the fact that they still get said is crazy."
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson - World release October 1st!
Prior to his sudden death of a heart attack in November 2004 he finished three detective novels in his trilogy "The Millenium-series" which were published posthumously; "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest". Altogether, his trilogy has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide (summer of 2009), and he was the second bestselling author in the world 2008.
STIEG LARSSON, 1954-2004
Before his career as a writer, Stieg Larsson was mostly known for his struggle against racism and right-wing extremism. Starting in the late 1970's, he combined his work as a graphic designer with holding lectures on right-wing extremism for the Scotland Yard. During the following years he became an expert on the subject and has held many lectures as well as written many novels on the subject. In 1995, when 8 persons were killed by neo-Nazis I Sweden, he was the main force behind the founding of the Expo-foundation, a group intended on exposing neo-Nazi activity in Sweden. From 1999 and on, he was appointed chief editor of the magazine Expo.
During the last 15 years of his life, he and his life companion Eva Gabrielsson lived under constant threat from right-wing violence.
Salander is plotting her revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. But it is not going to be a straight forward campaign. After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in Intensive Care, and is set to face trial for three murders and one attempted murder on her eventual release.
With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must not only prove her innocence, but identify and denounce the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vulnerable to become victims of abuse and violence. Once a victim herself, Salander is now ready to fight back.
Mama Mia by Mia Freedman - A memoir Of Mistakes, Magazines and Motherhood
Mia Freedman was always in a hurry to kick her big life goals. And when she became editor of Cosmopolitan at 24 and had a baby a few months later, she thought she was right on track. But when things unexpectedly fell apart, she was forced to face a few uncomfortable truths about who she was and what she wanted to do with her life. Over the next decade, she would experience some dazzling career highs and some devastating personal lows.
She would leave the glamorous world of magazines for a high-profile new job that exploded in her face. She would lose all her confidence and then -- eventually -- find it again in an unexpected place. She would make mistakes at work and at home, and she would learn some surprising lessons about what made her happy.
As a writer, magazine editor, popular blogger and media personality, Mia has been called the voice of her generation. Mama Mia is her story so far.
Mama Mia by Mia Freedman - A Memoir of Mistakes, Magazines and Motherhood - 9780732281892
AUSTRALIAN TRAGIC is about a nation that began its life as a stage for misfortune - and ever since has struggled to outgrow its birthright. These are gripping tales that take us into the heart of this country: tales of genuine catastrophe, of grand chances gone astray, of fools and their plans pathetically undone, of heartbreaking sadness and violent loss, and of both goodness and human evil.
From Aboriginals being curious in an American circus to the story of Martin Bryant at Port Arthur, and from Bob Bungey, who survived The Battle of Britain, but couldn't face life when his young wife suddenly died soon after he came home to the doctor who died minutes before he was to deliver a paper revealing the secret of using monkey glands to improve human health and stamina, and sexual virility - all these stories are told in a gripping narrative style, driven by eyewitness testimony, a solid sense of place, and a mood of impending doom.
March of Patriots Paul Kelly - The Struggle For Modern Australia
The March of Patriots looks at the creation of a new Australian Settlement during the 1991-2003 era of Paul Keating and John Howard.
Keating and Howard were the first two Australian prime ministers of the globalised age. They were raised together, fashioned by the same forces with careers that paralleled each other. They sought to create a new set of faiths for their parties, Labor and Liberal, in an age where the old beliefs were obsolete. In this sense they were prophets for their tribes offering a fresh interpretation of Labor and Liberal ideology for a new century.
Keating and Howard are best understood as change agents, adapting their parties and their nation to a new course. This is the story of two experiments in prime ministerial power and of two leaders divided by temperament, cultural outlook and perceptions of national identity, yet united in much of their economic and social policy. It describes their efforts to devise a fresh policy framework for Australia and to invest their decaying parties with new faiths.
Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large of The Australian. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of The Australian (1991-1996). He is the author of The Unmaking of Gough (1976), later titled The Dismissal (1982), The Hawke Ascendancy (1984), The End of Certainty (1992), November 1975 (1995) and Paradise Divided (2000).
The Bee Hut brings together the poems Doroty Porter wrote in the last fi ve years of her life. By turns expansive and intimate, effusive and contemplative, these poems roam widely - into history and to sacred places both mythic and personal. Porter's writing glows and shimmers with passionate curiosity and exuberant love of life.
from ' Caesarea' Sometimes a new place has the ferocity of a gale ripping the calm off a safe harbour making the drowned bells peel Hallelujah for all your future false prophets and glorious. glorious. lost gods.
'(Dorothy Porter's)' poems are short, powerful, beautiful and sometimes brutal. Each poem is a portrait, a sensation, a short story, a joke, or a reflection in itself.'
For Jason Roche, an Australian working in London's foreign exchange market, a life is only well lived if you're the centre of a glittering universe - big bucks in the bank, a swank flat in Belgravia, an Aston Martin in the garage, and a trophy girlfriend in the bedroom. Jason spends his days gambling with nine-figure sums of other people's money, and his nights partying with his A-list aristocrat fiancee, Tabitha. This is London, 2003, awash in money, sex, drugs and all the bling filthy lucre can buy... Everything and everyone has a price. Or so Jason - proud, vain and virtually morally bankrupt - believes.
But Jason's precarious existence is upset by the arrival of Tabitha's older brother, Zachary, an upper-class eccentric who left his manic life in London to live in Japan with a sect of Buddhist zealots. Zach has come home to put his affairs in order, before returning to Japan to achieve enlightenment. The only thing is, his version of enlightenment involves meeting his maker. Jason decides he must save Zach from his sect and sets about luring him back into the worldly ways of the life he intends to leave behind. But, in the course of doing so, Jason is forced to confront the possibility that Zach does not have a price, nor does friendship, and that it might just be he who is in need of salvation.
Philip Hui was born in Hong Kong and lives in Sydney. He studied commerce at UNSW and law at the University of Sydney. Superbia is his first novel.
Harvest by Meredith Kirton - A complete Australian Guide To The Edible Garden
This beautifully illustrated book by bestselling gardening author Meredith Kirton will inspire you to grow and harvest your own seasonal fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices, whether your garden is a large suburban block, a small city courtyard, or in the country.
You'll learn all about the basics of successful edible gardening from climate, soil and propagation to pests and diseases, crop rotation and organic gardening as well as how to grow a huge range of edibles that include old favourites, heirloom varieties and exotics.
Full of tips, step-by-step gardening techniques and fascinating historical background, Harvest is your definitive guide to growing your own delicious produce.
Harvest by Meredith Kirton - A Complete Australian Guide to Edible Garden - 9781741964509
Chinese civilisation was for a long period more advanced than European. From China, Europe acquired printing, paper-making, the compass, gunpowder and locks for canals.Yet it was in Europe that steady economic growth first occurred and then the Industrial Revolution.And it was in Europe that representative government and individual rights, those other hallmarks of modernity, first developed.What is it about Europe?
Celebrated historian John Hirst offers a fascinating exploration of the qualities that made Europe a world-changing civilisation.
The Shortest History of Europe begins with a rapid overview of European civilisation, describing its birth from an unlikely mixture of three elements: classical learning, Christianity and German warrior culture.Over the centuries, this unstable blend produced highly distinctive characters - pious knights and belligerent popes, romantics spouting folklore and revolutionaries imitating Rome - and its coming apart provided the dynamic of European history in modern times.
Meanwhile the common people were tilling the soil, until they became the first to enjoy the prosperity of an industrialised urban society.
The Shortest History of Europe is a clear, humorous and thought-provoking account of a remarkable civilisation.
THE SHORT-LIST of six authors for the prestigious 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced by the Chair of judges James Naughtie at a press conference held at the Man Group place's London headquarters on Tuesday (Sept 8). The six short-listed books were selected from the 'Man Booker Dozen' long list of thirteen titles, announced earlier on July 28. This year's final winner will be announced on October 6.
The six chosen books are: The Children's Book by AS Byatt, Summertime by JM Coetzee, The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, The Glass Room by Simon Mawer and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.
Out of the six authors, the strongest contender is Nobel prize winner for literature (2003) and two time Booker prize winner (also the first to win the booker prize twice) South African author JM Coetzee.
His novel Summertime is the last in the trilogy of the fictionalised memoir starting with "Boyhood" and "Youth". If Coetzee wins this year, he would be the first author to win the Man Booker Prize three times. He had earlier won the coveted prize in 1999 for Disgrace and in 1983 for Life & Times of Michael K.
Another strong contender is novelist A S Byatt for her novel "The Children's Book". She had won the Booker Prize in 1990 for Possession. Even though "The White Tiger" by the Indian Author Arvind Adiga won the Man Booker last year, no Indian author made it to even the long-list this year.
The Booker Prize for Fiction was first awarded in 1969. For the last forty yeas, the coveted literary award has been honouring outstanding new authors in the English language . Since Man Group was announced as the sponsor of the prize in April 2002, the booker prize has got the name man booker prize.
Stephenie Meyer inspires readers to write with The Twilight Journals
Stephenie Meyer has made bank reviving reading programs and opening up young adult minds nationwide with four books (plus an unintentional fifth book), known as the Twilight Saga. Now both Meyer and her publisher, Little, Brown & Company, get another two thumbs up because they have plans to inspire her fans to write.
The journals are intended for her readers to jot down "their own thoughts and dreams, stories and secrets," according to the overview on the Barnes and Noble website. The journal covers look like the covers on the Twilight books with Twilight quotes on them. The journals are about the size of a composition book and come with a keepsake tin.
Is Little, Brown & Company going overboard with Twilight? You bet.but they are doing a good thing. Meyer and her publisher are aware of their success; they know their fan base will buy the journals. By releasing these journals, they are offering a positive outlet for today's youth to release whatever may be on their mind.
Mitch Albom's latest Book 'Have a Little Faith' inspired by local roots
"I loved my childhood in South Jersey," said Albom, who enjoyed reminiscing about places like Genova's Pizza on the White Horse Pike and McMillan's Bakery, where the donuts have never been duplicated.
Albom will tell you that back in his South Jersey boyhood, he was definitely not known as a writer. "It was somewhat of an effort for me to write, although I loved to tell stories," said the author who honed that skill in a family of three kids competing for attention, and in a noisy extended family in which everyone, it seemed, had a story to tell.
His South Jersey boyhood taught Albom to appreciate simple things, including small town sports rivalries between Haddon Heights and the "enemy," Collingswood, and to play football along Newton Creek. "I can remember just lying on the grass looking at the sky. It was all quite idyllic."
But no one, least of all Albom himself, could have guessed that this kid from a small South Jersey town would go on to Brandeis and ultimately become a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist for the "Detroit Free Press," a nationally-syndicated radio host for ABC who also regularly appears on ESPN's Sports Reporters?let alone an author whose books have reached people around the world.
But it's South Jersey, specifically one of its most beloved and respected rabbis, that is one of the main strands of Albom's latest book, "Have A Little Faith," which chronicles the author's path to delivering the eulogy for the late Rabbi Albert Lewis of Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill.
"When I was a kid, Rabbi Lewis was just the most awesome figure, recalled Albom, who first encountered the rabbi when he was taken to Shabbat services by his parents. "He was not G-d, of course, but he was the next closest thing." wrote Albom in his book. "If I saw him coming down the hallway, I ran.I felt tiny in his presence and I was certain he could view all my sins and shortcomings."
So several years ago, when Rabbi Lewis reunited with his former student after a speech Albom had made, and asked Albom whether he would deliver the eulogy at the rabbi's funeral, the author was stunned. The rabbi was not dying eight years ago, yet still, he made the request.
"After a few days, I called him up and said that I'd honor his request, but only if I could come to know him as a man," recalled Albom, who admittedly had lapsed in his own religious life, largely through apathy.
At around the same time, Albom became interested in another religious man, this one a black pastor in Detroit, the author's current home. Pastor Henry Covington was a man whose roots were in the poorest of environments. He was a man with a criminal record who had admittedly broken every one of the Ten Commandments, then regained his footing through deep faith. And he was having a profound impact on the lost souls around him in depressed Detroit.
"The two men could not have been more different, yet faith, for both of them, was the touchstone to it all. So I decided to tackle a book about both men and, in the process, about my own odyssey and reawakening to faith," explained Albom.
"What began as a book about two men, a wonderful rabbi and a wonderful pastor, ended up changing my life along the way," said Albom. "As I say in the forward to the book, 'This is a story about believing in something, and about the two very different men who taught me how.'
In the tradition of Dennis Lehane and Greg Iles, Attica Locke delivers an electrifying thriller that you won't soon forget!
Jay Porter is not the lawyer he set out to be, but he's long since made peace with the American Dream and carefully tucked away his darkest sins.
Jay believes he can make a fresh start in Houston, Texas, until the night in a boat out on the bayou when he impulsively saves a woman from drowning - and opens a Pandora's box. Her secrets put Jay in danger, ensnaring him in a murder investigation that could cost him his practice, his family and even his life. But before he can get to the bottom of the tangled mystery that reaches into the upper echelons of Houston's corporate power brokers, Jay must confront the demons of his past.
A compelling and provocative new thriller in the tradition of Dennis Lehane, Black Water Rising marks the arrival of an electrifying new talent.
About Attica Locke Born in Houston, Texas, Attica Locke has worked in both film and television for over ten years. She recently completed an adaptation of Stephen Carter's The Emperor of Pictures and was also a script writer on the hit tv show The Wire. She now lives in Los Angeles. Black Water Rising is her debut novel.
JM Coetzee's Summertime in running for Man Booker hat-trick
South African-born author JM Coetzee could become the first person to win the Man Booker prize for fiction three times after being named on the shortlist for this year's prize.
Coetzee, now an Australian citizen, appears on the six-strong shortlist for the fictionalised memoir Summertime.
The 69-year-old won the prestigious prize previously for Disgrace in 1999 and Life and Times of Michael K in 1983.
The other authors competing for the Man Booker are AS Byatt, The Children's Book; Adam Foulds, The Quickening Maze; Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall; Simon Mawer, The Glass Room; and Sarah Waters, The Little Strangers.
Announcing the shortlist, judges chair James Naughtie said: "We're thrilled to be able to announce such a strong shortlist, so enticing that it will certainly give us a headache when we come to select the winner. The choice will be a difficult one. There is thundering narrative, great inventiveness, poetry and sharp human insight in abundance.
"These are six writers on the top of their form. They've given us great enjoyment already, and it's a measure of our confidence in their books that all of us are looking forward to reading them yet again before we decide on the prize-winner. What more could we ask?"
The winner of the prize, which comes with aprox. $100,000 in prize money, will be announced in London on October 6th.
Author Nicholas Sparks Talks About His Latest Book, "The Last Song"
The film adaptation of perhaps his most memorable book, "The Notebook" brought audiences to tears and secured a place on most twenty-something female's lists of their favorite all-time love stories. Mixing love and tragedy seems like the perfect cocktail for success for the talented storyteller that is Nicholas Sparks. His latest, "The Last Song" only proves that his recipe for the perfect life and love story seems to be working quite well.
In the novel, troubled teenager Ronnie along with her younger brother spend a summer in North Carolina to find the sleepy beach town her father calls home can bring just as much adrenaline and action as her native Manhattan. A summer that she'll never forget, Ronnie experiences both love and heartbreak as she falls for a local boy's charms and slowly loses her own father to illness after having reconnected with him after several lost years.
Sparks has written both the novel and screenplay for "The Last Song," which is currently filming and starring teen sensation Miley Cyrus alongside Kelly Preston and Greg Kinnear. "Though the intent was for Miley to star in the film, what I wanted to do was write the best screenplay that I could. I've met Miley and her family before and I can say that she is a very nice lady and perhaps less rebellious than the character she's going to portray on screen. And unlike Ronnie, she's got a much better relationship with her parents. She comes from a very strong family," Sparks says.
Despite being a teenage love story, Sparks believes both younger and mature audiences are going to connect with Ronnie's dilemmas and heartache as she struggles to find acceptance with her boyfriend's family and how her love and hate for music brings her much closer to her once-distant father. "Really it depends on the age of the reader, but this story is a compelling test of time," he says. "In the end, Ronnie's summer is both believable and interesting without having to be melodramatic. She finds out what's really important in life and most readers can relate to that."
And as most of Sparks' novels, the Carolina settings play an important impact on his storytelling, with "The Last Song" being no different. "When one of my fans picks up my book, I want to give them an element they are already familiar with. And plus I live here so it makes it much more simple to write about my surroundings."
Those surroundings - which includes long nights watching the sun set and rise on the beach with the ocean going from blue to grey to black - is where the characters of his novel experience everything from their first kiss to their feelings of fear and hope. "And just like in the novel, you can find plenty of old beach homes in need of repair up and down the Carolina coast," he adds.
Even though all of his novels have been filmed in the Carolinas, "The Last Song," is currently being filmed in Georgia. Explaining the reason behind the departure, Sparks says, "It came down to financial incentives that states offer to studios and in this case Georgia offered more. I tend to stay away from those type of decisions."
And although busy penning a new project himself, Sparks still finds the time to check out the latest titles from his peers. "There are a lot of good novels and a lot of bad novels out there. But most recently, I've read 'The Devil's Punchbowl,' by Greg Iles and 'South of Broad' by Pat Conroy."
"The Last Song," is currently on bookshelves. The movie is due in theaters in 2010.
'Twilight' Documentary Screening To Take Place In Forks
Over the past few weeks, the creators of the first-ever documentary on the "Twilight" phenomenon have been giving fans exclusive looks at the movie, its poster and a teaser trailer. Now they're back with more footage from "Twilight in Forks", as well as a big announcement about where you can see their movie on the big screen.
"We're pleased to announce that we're doing a sneak peek of our film 'Twilight in Forks' in Forks itself at Forks High School on Stephenie Meyer Day, which coincides with Bella's birthday, in the city of Forks," producer York Baur exlpained. "Last year, there were over a thousand fans that came to town for Stephenie Meyer Day, and we expect, given that there have already been 16,000 people that came to Forks just in the month of July alone, that there might be a pretty good turnout for Stephenie Meyer Day, and hopefully for our sneak peek."
Three federal Labor MPs have endorsed a petition calling on the government to keep book import restrictions.
The Productivity commission wants to see the scrapping of copyright laws that block parallel imports of books published locally, arguing the deregulation would lead to cheaper prices. But a campaign by authors, known as Saving Aussie Books, argues the proposals would not lead to lower prices. Instead, fledgling authors would have trouble finding a publisher as locally written books, sold in Australia, are edited to suit US tastes, they say.
The presence of Labor members Graham Perrett, Steve Gibbons and Arch Bevis at a campaign function in Parliament House on Tuesday adds to divisions in the government over the issue. Authors Kate Grenville and Sheryl Gwyther joined Labor and Greens MPs as they endorsed 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for parallel book import restrictions to stay. Ms Grenville, the author of eight books, said publishers would take fewer risks in supporting unknown authors if the laws were changed, and would see literature go back to being a cottage industry.
"We'll go back to a situation where there are only a few very fragile Australian publishing companies," she told AAP, adding similar deregulation in New Zealand a decade ago had stunted that nation's publishing industry. "They will say, `I'm really sorry, we can't afford to support you, we can't afford to publish this novel which might only break even. "'I'm sorry, you'll have to try the big boys in Britain and New York'."
Her first book of short stories, Bearded Ladies, published by University of Queensland Press in 1984, sold less than 1,000 copies. But the author's later novels have won awards and sold successfully in the US and the United Kingdom.
Mr Perrett - a first-term MP and the published author of a novel, Twelfth Fish - said it was "fallacious" to argue that consumers are salivating at the thought of cheaper books. "We have a market that lets people buy reasonably priced books, but we also nurture a great Australian publishing industry that exports to the world," he told AAP. He added he was "pretty sure" cabinet would decide to keep existing book import laws, which are also applied in the US, UK and Canada.
I think she has a much bigger rack than I have." Kristen Stewart is pondering her Twilight action figure ? the little plastic doll that represents Bella, her character in the film franchise ? while checking the proportions of the bust. "I also think she looks much older than me," she adds, before setting the figure aside. I pick it up and, on closer inspection, the doll does look a little older than its real-life progenitor (as to the "rack", closer inspection would be inappropriate). "It's strange," continues the 19-year-old actress, "but people often think I'm a little bit older than I really am. A French journalist asked me earlier on how my teenage years had affected my later life. I'm still in my teens." She smiles. "Really, even if I was older, how could my teenage years not have shaped my life? I don't know how to answer that."
The French journalist should have done his research, although, to the uneducated observer, Stewart might well seem beyond her years. Her conversation, for example, most certainly belies her age. Not many teenagers are quite as articulate or as self-aware ? although not many teenagers are carrying the world's biggest burgeoning film franchise, the teen vampire series Twilight. With JK Rowling's much-loved characters pottering into their final big-screen chapter, Twilight will soon stand as the top teen-movie franchise, and with their leading lady, the film-makers have snared a supremely talented and highly intelligent young star.
This is my story. Here is my recollection of those years growing up in Mao's China. It is my family's history. It is my journey, from my earliest memories, through discovering dance, to my life in the West. History may record things differently, others may too, but the stories here remain as true to me now as they ever were. It is a remembrance that contains the treasures from my heart.
In a small, desperately poor village in north-east China, a young peasant boy sits at his rickety old school desk, interested more in the birds outside than in Chairman Mao's Red Book and the grand words it contains. But that day, some strange men come to his school - Madame Mao's cultural delegates. They are looking for young peasants to mould into faithful guards of Chairman Mao's great vision for China.
This is the true story of how that one moment in time, by the thinnest thread of a chance, changed the course of a small boy's life in ways that are beyond description. One day he would dance with some of the greatest ballet companies of the world. One day he would be a friend to a president and first lady, movie stars and the most influential people in America. One day he would become a star: Mao's last dancer, and the darling of the West.
The March of Patriots looks at the creation of a new Australian Settlement during the 1991-2003 era of Paul Keating and John Howard.
Keating and Howard were the first two Australian prime ministers of the globalised age. They were raised together, fashioned by the same forces with careers that paralleled each other. They sought to create a new set of faiths for their parties, Labor and Liberal, in an age where the old beliefs were obsolete. In this sense they were prophets for their tribes offering a fresh interpretation of Labor and Liberal ideology for a new century.
Keating and Howard are best understood as change agents, adapting their parties and their nation to a new course. This is the story of two experiments in prime ministerial power and of two leaders divided by temperament, cultural outlook and perceptions of national identity, yet united in much of their economic and social policy. It describes their efforts to devise a fresh policy framework for Australia and to invest their decaying parties with new faiths.
Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large of The Australian. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of The Australian (1991-1996). He is the author of The Unmaking of Gough (1976), later titled The Dismissal (1982), The Hawke Ascendancy (1984), The End of Certainty (1992), November 1975 (1995) and Paradise Divided (2000).
Carpathians are an immortal race of beings with animal instincts and the ability to shape shift. Every Carpathian male is drawn to a life mate: a woman - Carpathian or human - able to provide the light to his darkness. Without her, the beast within slowly consumes the man until turning into a vampire is the only option.
Victory is the rarest of Carpathians - a female Carpathian. As such, she has been protected by her brothers for most of her life. But once she's freed the mage Razvan from his prison cave, she must run from her brothers, for Razvan is hunted by both the Carpathian hunters and vampires - believed to be enemies of both.
But Victory senses that Razvan is more than what he appears to be, and is willing to go against the entire Carpathian race to help him. But will her belief cost both of them their lives?
Curtis is no longer a rock star. His dad is dead, he has no wife and his life is a mess.
"I'm not about to attack,' she said. She smirked with one side of her mouth and looked up at me through the black spray of her fringe. Her eyes were dark and already she was playing some kind of game with me, or that's how it seemed. Her voice was a little deeper and huskier than I might have expected, so her last line had come out with a hint of something that might have been menace or even seductiveness or just a pitch at adult banter. Whatever it was, it stuck with me and it punctuated the moment and it didn't feel quite right for a conversation with a schoolgirl on my doorstep."
With his chart-topping band, Butterfish, Curtis Holland lived the cliched rock dream. Residing in hotels and recording studios, travelling in custom-built buses, he got married after a soundcheck in a wedding chapel in Nevada and barely noticed when his wife left him in Louisville.
But no dream lasts forever.
When Annaliese Winter walks down Curtis Holland's front path, he's ill-prepared for a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl who's a confounding mixture of adult and child. He's back in Brisbane trying to build a life and he is not used to having a neighbour at all.
So when Curtis receives an invitation to dinner from Annaliese's mother, Kate, he is surprised when he not only accepts but finds himself being drawn to this remarkably unremarkable family. Even to fifteen-year-old Mark who is at war with his own surging adolescence.
Curtis soon realises that with Kate divorced, Annaliese and Mark need a male role model in their lives, but it's hard for him to help when he's just starting to grow up himself and harder still when Annaliese begins to show an interest in him that is less than filial.
Filled with acute observation, humour and tenderness, Butterfish is Nick Earls at his very best.
"Just like all the best songs, Butterfish takes you on an emotional ride, and then makes you want to start it all over again." - Shane Nicholson
"With THE TRUE STORY OF BUTTERFISH, Earls has moved to a deeper, more compassionate pool. Brisbane is a backdrop, not a character. And the searching of Curtis Holland is poignant and at times emotionally wrenching (there are several laugh out loud scenes, too). There is a real heart to this novel, and and its likely to appeal to his legions of fans but also secure him a new readership." - Matthew Condon, Qmagazine
"It is a tender, funny tale of a man finally coming to terms with adulthood that is touching without ever being saccharine." - Chris Hook, The Daily Telegraph
THE TRUE STORY OF BUTTERFISH is consistent with Earls' established interest in lovelorn men, but it is different in tone from earlier books. If you've read and loved them you might want to alter your expectations a little. There is less acerbic wit and an altogether gentler, more mellow approach to the plight of a hopeless man who might be everyman - Emma Young, The Age
Amelia Bradlow seems to have everything she needs to be happy - a handsome husband, a beautiful home, money, good looks and a glamour job. Everything, that is, except the thing she wants most - a baby.
Ed, her husband, is funny, affectionate and sophisticated but simply not interested in parenthood. He likes his life neat and tidy. And he likes having a wife who attends solely to his needs.
As she approaches 37, Amelia is faced with a life-changing decision, aided and abetted by Kiki, her hopelessly disorganised but ridiculously rich friend. Should Amelia stay in her nearly happy marriage, or expose herself to the vagaries of single life and the distant possibility of meeting someone who wants to start a family?
Maggie Alderson brings her deep understanding of the human heart to this new novel about the compromises we make in life, and about those rare moments of grace when we decide to risk everything for the chance to be truly, madly and deeply happy.
Review a book at The Book Abyss and win FREE books!
Here at The Book Abyss, we want to reward our customers for doing what they love the most... reading.
So each month, we're giving one lucky reader the chance to win your choice of one of the books below. All you have to do is review any of the books on The Book Abyss website and each month, a member of staff will select one review as the winner. If that's yours, you win, it's that simple!
To submit your book review simply login to your Book Abyss account, (click on Create Account if you haven't already got one), find the book you want to leave a review for and click on create your own review at the bottom of the page. It couldn't be easier.
Remember, you get to choose any one of these great books FREE just for being judged the best review for the month so get cracking and start reviewing! The Winning review will be posted in The Book Abyss blog each month.
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1. The winning entry will be selected by the staff at The Book Abyss and will be final. No correspondence will be entered into. 2. Competition closes the last day of the calander month. winners will be notified by email the following week. 3. Employees of The Book Abyss or members of their family are not eligible to enter.
In an effort to re-introduce classic literature to teenagers, Harper-Collins announced that it will re-release Emily Bronte's classic Wuthering Heights with a distinctly trendy cover.
The publisher has revealed a new cover with the well-known black, white and red hues of the Twilight series. They also employ the familiar Twilight font, so that at first glance, the classic looks like the fifth book in the series.
In case any Stephenie Meyer fans have forgotten some of the series' trivia, the cover comes with Bella and Edward's reigning endorsement: Wuthering Heights is their favorite book.
While some traditionalists may be outraged that Bronte's classic romance is being re-molded to fit today's pop culture, the new covers may be beneficial in the long run. Getting teenagers to read classics can be a difficult task, and any effort to make them more enticing could ameliorate kids' and teenagers' diminishing interest in reading.
The new covers also accompany Twilight graphic novels, as well as special editions of the original novels. At this rate, the vampire craze is well on its way to becoming a full-fledged publishing juggernaut.
The Genesis Enigma by Andrew Parker. Why The Bible Is Scientifically Accurate
Does modern science - while agreeing with Darwinian evolution, the big bang theory and the complexity and deep age of the universe - prove the order of creation as described in the Bible to be true?
It takes just one page in the Bible to describe the creation of the universe, the Earth, the sky, the seas and all life on the planet. But a close reading will reveal that it is written in a very odd order. Light is mentioned twice - in 'let there be light' and secondly in 'let there be lights . . . to divide the day from night'. Whales appear before birds. Vegetation appears after 'let there be light' but before day is separated from night.
In The Genesis Enigma Andrew Parker argues that the reason the Genesis account is strangely ordered is, amazingly, that it precisely reflects the order of events as we now understand them. The latest reinterpretation of Earth's ancient rocks and fossils and their comparisons with animals today has completed our understanding of the history of the Earth and of life. By comparing the data of science with the words and phrases of Genesis 1-11 the remarkable parallels become clear.
In a fascinating and controversial scientific detective story Andrew Parker reveals how the latest modern understanding corresponds in unerring detail with the creation account in Genesis. His astonishing conclusions will revolutionise how many of us view the debate between science and religion, and asks the question: in a scientific world is there still a place for God?
The Twilight Saga Paperback Box Set by Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer's legions of fans will devour this gorgeous complete Paperback set.
Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, ECLIPSE and BREAKING DAWN capture the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires.
This stunning set, complete with all four Paperback books makes the perfect gift for fans of the bestselling vampire love story.
Twilight:In spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella.
New Moon:A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut. It all happened very quickly then. 'No!' Edward roared... Dazed and disorientated, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm - and into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.
Eclipse:As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob.
Breaking Dawn: Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating and unfathomable consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life.
Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn capture the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This stunning set makes the perfect gift for fans of this bestselling vampire love story.
"Tim Priest draws comparisons between international policing standards and argues how ineffectual policing has allowed organised crime to spiral out of control and how the 'war' on drugs in NSW has been lost forever.
Drawing on research from parliamentary enquiries, committee reports, Supreme Court documents, affidavits, media articles, interviews, police court briefs, speeches and other research, Tim Priest leaves no stone unturned in his pursuit of the truth and accountability.
Enemies of the State scratches the surface and uncovers a vast web of scandal, intrigue, deception and illegal activity that will change the publics perception of and faith in NSW Police."
Internationally acclaimed novelist Robert Drewe returns to the short-story territory he has made his own.Set against the backdrop of the Australian coast, as randomly and imminently violent as it is beautiful, The Rip reveals the fragility of relationships between husbands and wives, children and parents, friends and lovers.
You will find yourself set down in a modern Garden of Eden with a disgraced Adam seeking his Eve; sharing the fears of a small boy in a coastal classroom as a tsunami approaches; in an English gaol cell with an Australian surfer on drug charges; and witnessing a middle-ages farmer contemplating murdering the hippie who stole his wife.
Written in a variety of moods, always compassionate, wry and razor sharp, these dazzling stories are crafted by Drewe's incisive wit and passion.
'You will read the powerful short stories in this collection with your heart in your mouth.They are the stories of a writer at the top of his form, and they will attach themselves to you.' Carmel Bird, THE AGE
'Thirteen exquisitely focused tales, all dealt with through a rich yet limpid literary chemistry, by what might be called a sumptuous minimalism.' WEST AUSTRALIAN
First tests by Steve Cannane - Great Australian Cricketers And The Back Yards That made Them
Australia has dominated test cricket over the last 130 years. But its not the formal cricket academies or high-end coaching that are responsible for the Australian cricket team's winning ways. The backyard has been the real academy of Australian cricket.
Don Bradmans unique grip, stance and backlift all evolved in response to the pace at which the golf ball rebounded off the tank stand in his backyard games. Greg Chappells trademark flick off the hip shot was invented on his backyard wicket where the best scoring opportunities lay on the leg side. Alan Davidson bowled accurately because he had to. If he missed the stumps on his home-made pitch, he had to chase the ball down the hill into the scrub. Doug Walters played spin with ease because his ant-bed backyard pitch spun like a top. Neil Harveys immaculate footwork came from playing balls that darted viciously off the cobblestones in his back lane.
This collection of cricketers and the stories of the backyards that made them gets to the heart and soul of their game. Facing up to hostile brothers on dodgy pitches created a love of competition and developed the skills and the toughness that took them to the top in test cricket.
First Tests by Steve Cannane - Great Australian Cricketers and the Backyards That Made them - 9780733321146
The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard dawkins - The Evidence For Evolution
The fiery science/religion debate continues as Dawkins takes on the Creationists.
150 years ago the momentous findings in Charles Darwin's controversial masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, shook the scientific and religious world to its core. Perhaps more astonishing, the creation-evolution debate sparked by his seminal work of 1859 continues unabated in the 21st century. Now, Richard Dawkins, world renowned evolutionary biologist and famous atheist, takes on the Creationists with a brilliant and uncompromising look at the incontrovertible evidence for Darwin's theory of evolution.
The panoply of data that proves the theory is vast, with scientific fingerprints massively numerous and varied. The logic Dawkins employs to explain it is the same throughout the book: the evidence that we see is exactly what we should expect to see if evolution had happened. He examines the facts from the point of view of domestication, from cabbages to Great Danes. Anatomy yields a raft of clues whether from the common mouse or fish, and molecules underscore the message even more convincingly. With answers to a miscellany of common questions, and detailed descriptions of what our ancestors would have looked like at various landmark dates, Dawkins leaves us with no room for doubt.
The Greatest Show on Earth comes at a critical time; systematic opposition to the truth of evolution is now flourishing as never before in America, while in Britain, pockets of intelligent design are entering our schooling system at an alarming pace. Following the storm upon publication of The God Delusion, Dawkins continues the heated debate about science and religion whilst furthering the public education that he feels passionately is his responsibility. His new book is a thrilling tribute to science, the wonders of nature and his ultimate hero, Charles Darwin.
Completing the majestic trilogy of fictionalised memoir begun with BOYHOOD and YOUTH.
A young English biographer is working on a book about the late writer, John Coetzee. He plans to focus on the years from 1972 - 1977 when Coetzee, in his thirties, is sharing a run-down cottage in the suburbs of Cape Town with his widowed father. This, the biographer senses, is the period when he was finding his feet as a writer.
Never having met Coetzee, he embarks on a series of interviews with people who were important to him - a married woman with whom he had an affair, his favourite cousin Margot, a Brazilian dancer whose daughter had English lessons with him, former friends and colleagues. From their testimony emerges a portrait of the young Coetzee as an awkward, bookish individual with little talent for opening himself to others. Within the family he is regarded as an outsider, someone who tried to flee the tribe and has now returned, chastened. His insistence on doing manual work, his long hair and beard, rumours that he writes poetry evoke nothing but suspicion in the South Africa of the time.
Sometimes heartbreaking, often very funny, SUMMERTIME shows us a great writer as he limbers up for his task.
BOYHOOD : 'Boyhood is a deeply-felt and utterly compelling account of a South African childhood: the narrative style is as spare and lean as the Karoo flatlands which form its backdrop' Daily Telegraph
YOUTH : 'an extraordinarily crystalline and bleak evocation of London in the 1960s' Bernard O'Donoghue, The Irish Times
'Coetzee's prose is chaste and lyrical - it is a relief to encounter writing as stylish as this.' Independent
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