Summer Reading Guide 2010
Transcription
Summer Reading Guide 2010
SPECIALS PRIZES REVIEWS GREAT GIFTS Check out our fabulous deals, exclusive offers and free gifts Win a library worth $5000 or a $100 Readings gift card Our expert reviewers assess a huge range of titles Something for every literature, music and film lover in your life Your trusted guide to this season’s best books, CDs and DVDs YOUR GUIDE TO great SUMMER READING, listening & viewing selected by Australia’s best independent bookseller WIN GREAT PRIZES You can win a library of books worth more than $5000 or a $100 gift voucher by correctly answering the questions scattered throughout this guide – see the back cover for details. CAN’T DECIDE? If you’re not 100% sure about what book will suit, why not give one of our gift vouchers? DELIVERY SERVICE Your books can be delivered anywhere in Australia for a small charge. See the back cover for details. Express and overseas rates are available on request. L SPECIA PRICE AT YOUR SERVICE CORPORATE GIFTS Impress your clients with a book for Christmas. Contact us for our corporate rates on bulk purchases. FREE ORDER SERVICE Our special order service is free, fast and efficient – if we don’t have it, we’ll get it for you! In her latest novel, the bestselling author of Water for Elephants (Allen & Unwin. PB. $23.95) continues to explore the theme of humankind’s complex relationship with animals. The story starts with a family of bonobo apes being kidnapped from a language laboratory by a wayward animal rights group. The plot twists and turns when Allen & Unwin PB the animals, which share more than 98% of the same DNA makeup as humans, fall into the WAS $33 wrong hands and become the subject matter NOW $27.95 of a crass reality TV show, Ape House. At the heart of the novel is the intelligence of these incredible apes, their unethical treatment and their uncanny resemblance to humans. Gruen has spent time with the bonobos and it is her deep understanding and admiration for them that bring Ape House to life. PLEASE NOTE All details were correct at the time of printing, and we will make every effort to maintain advertised prices. However, prices of imported items may change without notice due to the volatility of international exchange rates. L SPECIA PRICE AT HOME WITH THE TEMPLETONS Monica McInerney Michael Joseph PB $32.95 3-FOR-THE-PRICE-OF-2 AUDIOBOOK OFFER George Orwell (READ BY SIMON CALLOW) BOLINDA. 3-DISC SET. $29.95 HOW PROUST CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE Alain de Botton (READ BY NICHOLAS BELL) BOLINDA. 6-DISC SET. $39.95 KOKODA Paul Ham (READ BY PETER BYRNE) BOLINDA. 17-DISC SET. $49.95 THE WORLD BENEATH Cate Kennedy (READ BY JULIE NIHILL) BOLINDA. 11-DISC SET. $44.95 Buy any two of these Bolinda audiobooks and you can choose a third for free! Stock up for summer road trips, or for listening while cooking Christmas feasts for family and friends. You can revisit Orwell’s classic political allegory, ponder the power and significance of literature with Alain de Botton, follow Paul Ham’s meticulously researched history of the Kokoda campaign and enjoy Cate Kennedy’s highly praised first novel. Note that the title with the lowest RRP will be the one given free. Fourth Estate PB $28 Hachette PB WAS $35 NOW $29.95 Arty New Yorkers Peter and Rebecca are in their forties, parents to a geographically and emotionally distant daughter and proxy parents to Rebecca’s much younger brother Mizzy, youthful, beautiful and charismatic, but also exceptionally self-centred and addicted. And seductive, too – especially to Peter, with his thoughts of death and ageing, his desire for a pure relationship with genius and beauty (both in his personal life and in his profession as an art dealer), and his questioning of his entire self and his projection of it. In this fascinating and convincing portrait of a 20-year-old marriage on the brink, Cunningham is, as ever, a master at writing resonantly about modern life while asking us to contemplate what it is to be human. Australian author Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori series, which began with Across the Nightingale Floor (Hachette. PB. $25), has delighted millions of readers worldwide. In Blossoms and Shadows, Hearn continues to write about Japan, but rather than remaining in the feudal period, she locates this new story in the mid-1860s – a time of violent revolution and major upheaval. Tsuru, the main narrator, is an unconventional woman who begins her journey working as her physician father’s assistant, but is soon building her own career and taking charge of her life as she tends the wounded on the frontline and deals with the men in her life. Clearly, Hearn is a devoted student of Japanese history and culture, and with this novel she has created a captivating tale of Japan’s bakumatsu period, and a thoroughly likeable, interesting protagonist. THE COUNTESSES OF CASTELLO Milena Agus Scribe PB $24.95 In this follow-up to her bestselling debut novel, The House in Via Manno (Scribe. PB. $24.95), Milena Agus returns to the Italian island of Sardinia and its earthy and often eccentric inhabitants. The countesses of the title are three sisters living in a crumbling ancestral palazzo in Cagliari. Each has a different dream – Noemi of lost splendours, Maddalena of having a child and the softhearted youngest, who is known as Countess Ricotta, of love. Their bittersweet personal stories unfold against those of their relatives, dependents and neighbours, resulting in a quirky, compassionate and unexpectedly sexy narrative. BER DECEM SE RELEA THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR Peter Ackroyd A DEAD HAND Paul Theroux Set in Calcutta, the latest novel by Paul Theroux concerns a travel writer with creative block who receives a letter from a stranger. Against his will, the narrator allows himself to be beguiled and manipulated by the letter’s author, sexy American ‘philanthropist’ Mrs Merrill Unger, who holds the secrets to Tantric massage. When an investigation is launched into the death of a young boy, whose demise has implicated the friend of Mrs Unger’s son, all is not as it seems. With his reliable wit and verbal economy, the author of travel-lit classics including The Old Patagonian Express (Penguin. PB. $24.95) and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star (Penguin. PB. $26.95) explores the loneliness of the nomadic travelling writer and the way that off-kilter cities such as Calcutta can get under the skin. So perfect is this book for beach-holiday reading that copies are fated to return home with grains of sand lodged in the pages. Classic McInerney, the plot features drama and romance as well as a lovely depiction of a nutty family – it’s light but not lightweight, escapist but not thoughtless. The seven Templetons, including idiosyncratic heroine Gracie, come from England to country Victoria to take possession of a stately home, unsettling the locals. Their closest neighbours are Nina Donovan and her son Tom, and despite Nina’s reluctance to get involved, the lives of the two very different families become enmeshed. The plot keeps up an involving pace, while McInerney’s perceptive writing about change and betrayal in friendships and families provides the substance. BLOSSOMS AND SHADOWS Lian Hearn BY NIGHTFALL Michael Cunningham ANIMAL FARM Penguin PB $24.95 If, on inspection, you’re not happy with a book selected through this guide, you can return it (in saleable condition) within 14 days of purchase and we’ll exchange it for another book of equivalent value or for a book voucher – the choice is yours. Fiction APE HOUSE Sara Gruen L SPECIA OFFER GUARANTEE You can phone, fax or email your orders using the form on the back cover of this guide. ART, DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY 19 BIOGRAPHY 8–10 classical music 26 CRIME FICTION 6 DVDs 27 FICTION 2–5 FOOD 17–18 GIFT 21 HISTORY 11–12 KID’S 22–23 LANDSCAPES & GARDENS 14 LANGUAGE, POETRY & ESSAYS 7–8 music & film 16 music CDs & DVDs 24–25 ORDER FORM BACK COVER POLITICS & SOCIETY 13 SCIENCE & NATURE 15–16 TRAVEL 20 Allen Lane HB $49.95 Novelist and biographer Peter Ackroyd (London: the Biography) has always been fascinated with the history and literature of ‘the green and pleasant land’, and here he follows up his recent retelling of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (Penguin. PB. $26.95) with his version of the immortal legend of the death of King Arthur. This story of chivalry, treachery and death has retained its appeal and popularity through the ages, mesmerising readers with details of Mordred’s treason, the knightly exploits of Tristan, the quest for the Holy Grail, and Lancelot’s fatally divided loyalties and love for Guenevere. The result is an accessible and extremely moving account of the knights of the Round Table. Stirring stuff! L SPECIA E C I R P Quercus PB WAS $24.95 NOW $12.95 THE DOG OF THE MARRIAGE Amy Hempel This single volume brings together four highly praised collections of short fiction by Amy Hempel: Reasons to Live (1985), At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom (1990), Tumble Home (1997) and The Dog of the Marriage (2005). Memorably minimalist, witty, tragic, trivial, elemental and intensely personal, this is contemporary and punchy fiction, each sentence trimmed to the bone. Saying more in a few words than a million could convey, New York–based Hempel breaks your heart on one page and makes you laugh out loud on the next. From her moving first story, ‘In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried’, to the blurred fact and fiction of ‘Offertory’, runs the underlying thread of the author’s compassion for love’s and life’s losers. 3 Fiction Harvill Secker PB $29.95 L SPECIA PRICE Macmillan HB WAS $50 NOW $39.95 THE ELEPHANT’s JOURNEY José Saramago THE EMPTY FAMILY Colm Tóibín FALL GIRL Toni Jordan This novel by the Portuguese Nobel laureate is an enchanting mix of fact, fable and fantasy. It tells the story of an elephant called Solomon, brought to Portugal from the colonies in India and then given as a wedding gift by King Dom João III to the Hapsburg archduke, Maximilian. The poor pachyderm travels from Lisbon to Vienna on foot, accompanied by his quiet keeper, Subhro, who watches while – at every place they stop – people try to turn Solomon into something he is not. Based on an actual journey that occurred in 1551, the narrative is peppered with witty reflections on human failings and achievements, and is, in the end, about the journey of life itself. In nine captivating stories set in Ireland, America and Spain, the author of Brooklyn (Picador. PB. $23) and The Master (Picador. PB. $22.95) delineates with a tender and unique sensibility the lives of individuals cast adrift from their history. From the young Pakistani immigrant who seeks some kind of permanence in a strange town, to the Irish woman reluctantly returning to Dublin and discovering a city that refuses to acknowledge her long absence, most of these stories deal with returning home, of family threads lost and rarely regained – Tóibín’s characters have inevitably postponed their life’s chances for too long and are faced with ‘a landscape of endings’. Powerful and poetic, this collection by one of Ireland’s most acclaimed writers clearly comes straight from the heart. In her sparkling debut, Addition (Text. PB. $23.95), Melbourne author Toni Jordan explored the world of Grace, an OCD sufferer who finds romance. Fall Girl is just as romantic, but features a very different heroine – professional con artist Della Gilmore. She’s posing as Dr Ella Canfield, an evolutionary biologist who’s supposedly on a quest to prove that Tasmanian tigers aren’t extinct. Cool, calm and collected in her fake glasses and with her fake qualifications, Della asks Daniel Metcalf, head of the Metcalf Trust, to fund her ‘project’ to the tune of $25,000. A handsome Melbourne millionaire who’s funded a lot of oddball research, Daniel seems like the perfect target. Of course, things get a lot more complicated in this gripping story, as hot-and-bothered Della finds herself interested in more than just his money. BER DECEM SE RELEA Text PB $32.95 FALL OF GIANTS Ken Follett FREEDOM Jonathan Franzen Usually ‘getting lost in a good book’ is just a figure of speech, but not so when applied to Fall of Giants, the latest historical epic by blockbuster author Ken Follett – and the first in the planned Century trilogy. This is perfect holiday reading that takes you back in time to another world: the early 20th century during WWI, the women’s suffrage movement and the Russian Revolution. Some real historical figures make cameos, and there’s a huge cast of interconnected characters – helpfully listed at the beginning, with ‘Welsh’, ‘Russian’, ‘French’, ‘German & Austrian’, ‘American’ and ‘English & Scottish’ clans. Their children and grandchildren will populate the next two instalments of what is sure to be an unforgettable journey. GREAT HOUSE Nicole Krauss Yes, it really is as good as everyone says. Nine years after The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen is back to give us another acute dissection of middle-class America. Seemingly perfect Patty and Walter Berglund, their two children, and the indie musician who is Walter’s best friend and Patty’s symbol of the path not taken, are simultaneously the sufferers and symptoms of modern America. Franzen’s focus shifts from an intensely personal portrayal of these characters to broader social concerns, and there are obvious but never heavy-handed connections between the two. Depression stalks many of the characters, but the novel can be humorous as well as poignant. After you’ve finished Freedom you’ll think about it, want to talk to everyone about it, and then read it again. Immediately. With her bestselling and award-winning novel The History of Love (Penguin. PB. $22.95), New Yorker Nicole Krauss demonstrated her ability to avoid clichés and sentimentality while tackling romance, suspense and tragedy – an ability she’s retained in Great House, perhaps to even greater effect. Once again, Krauss cleverly and gradually weaves together a group of very different characters; this time connected by a treasured object – a mysterious desk with a locked drawer and such a rich history that it’s almost a character itself. This isn’t the kind of novel that can be casually picked up and put down. From the first page, Krauss captures the frailty and beauty of love and the torment of loss through the consistent, emotionally compelling voices of her characters. HAND ME DOWN WORLD Lloyd Jones Text PB $32.95 Picador PB $30 New Zealander Lloyd Jones – author of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize–winning and Booker-shortlisted Mister Pip (Text. PB. $23.95) – masterfully employs multiple perspectives in this perceptive and poignant novel. It follows the journey of an African woman from her time as a hotel maid through her riveting, cross-continental quest to find her son, who was snatched from her as an infant by her cruelly deceitful lover, Jermayne. As perspectives shift from those of various strangers who’ve observed and made assumptions about the woman – ‘the truck driver’, ‘the chess player’, ‘the alpine hunter and guide’ – to named characters who play more vital roles, revelations are gradually brought to light about the woman’s situation, her personality, her identity and the tangled, complex, often painful ways in which she interacts with others. THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY Richard C Morais Subcontinental scents of cardamom and cumin blended with Gallic garlic and truffles waft from the pages of this faux-memoir novel. The story’s narrator, Hassan Haji, invites us into his idiosyncratic restaurateur family as he traces their troubled journey Allen & Unwin PB from Mumbai and Southall to a French alpine village called Lumière. When Hassan’s father $28 brings the flavours of India to this rural town, in the form of his restaurant Maison Mumbai, the family faces fierce opposition from their neighbour, the formidable Madame Mallory, whose Michelin-starred restaurant is all of 100 feet away. US writer Richard C Morais deftly captures the passions, egos and aromas of the kitchen as the talented Hassan moves from his father’s restaurant to work in Madame Mallory’s own kitchen, and finally to Paris, where his own Michelin stars await. Fourth Estate PB $33 Q Viking PB $32.95 1. Who got drunk in the Roman forum? Affirm Press PB $24.95 BER DECEM SE RELEA HAVING CRIED WOLF Gretchen Shirm HOW IT FEELS Brendan Cowell In this impressive collection of short stories, ordinary people in an ordinary town go about their ordinary lives. Except, of course, no-one is ordinary, and Gretchen Shirm has a talent for bringing out the individuality of her characters and making them extraordinary. She also has an ability to convincingly and assuredly portray a broad range of those characters. The stories are all connected by their links to a fictional town on the NSW south coast, also beautifully rendered, and many characters and events are revisited in later stories told from different perspectives, casting new light on what we think we already know. Read this, and you’ll be watching out for more from this winner of the D J O’Hearn Memorial Fellowship for Emergent Writers. Let’s be frank – some readers are going to love this debut novel by actor Brendan Cowell, but others are going to loathe it. The only thing that’s sure is that everyone is going to be talking about it. Harking back to the heyday of Australian grunge-lit in the ’90s, How It Feels is full of sex, drugs and nihilism – and enough violence to almost warrant a warning sticker. But it’s also about masculinity, creativity and the path to adulthood. Neil Cronk and his girlfriend Courtney have just finished school, and are dreaming of a life away from Cronulla. But their joint future is compromised by loss, and this sets the pattern for Neil over the next decade, as he is unable to reach out to friends or lovers. His is a tough world, and anything beautiful is too often compromised. Picador PB $33 THE INTERROGATIVE MOOD Padgett Powell Profile Books HB $25 The cover of this book asks: Is this a novel? The answer is no, at least not as you’d know it. Is it intriguing? The answer is definitely yes. The Interrogative Mood poses myriad questions to get you thinking…about stuff. Questions like: Are you happy? Is there diabetes in your family? What period of history most interests you? What colour most flatters you? When was the last time you saw an ostrich? The mix of random and sometimes sequential questions combine to form a kind of poetry and, yes, tell a kind of story that’s stuffed with mental springboards for endless cogitation, along with revealing first-person insights from the author, who is a regular contributor to publications including The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Paris Review and Esquire. ALLEN & UNWIN 20TH BIRTHDAY EDITIONS JOURNEY TO THE STONE COUNTRY Alex Miller LILIAN’S STORY Kate Grenville THE SLAP Christos Tsiolkas THE WHITE EARTH Andrew McGahan These fabric-covered limited editions of award-winning Australian novels have been produced to celebrate the 20th birthday of Australian independent publisher, Allen & Unwin. Each is signed by its author, and features a striking cover illustration. Bound to become collector’s items. Allen & Unwin HB $65 each 4 L SPECIA E C I PR Faber PB WAS $35 NOW $13.95 Fiction THE LACUNA Barbara Kingsolver Winner of the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction, The Lacuna is as epic and engrossing as Kingsolver’s previous novel, The Poisonwood Bible (Faber. PB. $23.95). The Orange Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world – all things that this novel about identity, loyalty, love and betrayal has in spades. Its central character, Americanborn Harrison Shepherd, is the offspring of an American father and a fun-loving and feckless Mexican mother. After a shambolic education in Mexico City, he begins working for artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, embarking on a life-long friendship with them and with members of their revolutionary circle, including Leon Trotsky. Returning to the States after Trotsky’s assassination, Harrison becomes a successful novelist, but then the House Committee on Un-American Activities rears its ugly head... Jonathan Cape PB $29.95 Fig Tree HB $35 Fourth Estate PB $30 Q Picador PB $33 PREINCARNATE Shaun Micallef Hardie Grant HB $29.95 If you thought comedian and TV host Shaun Micallef’s humour was idiosyncratic and wide-ranging, hold onto your hats. Taking the idea of time travel and running with it, this imaginative sci-fi-with-a-difference novel takes us on a romp through history from 21st-century England to Cromwell’s Interregnum, the London of Conan Doyle and Outer Space circa 3050. Preincarnate’s mild-mannered hero Arthur Prewitt had never felt at home in his skin, and when a seemingly straightforward trip to the doctor leads to an injection from an alarmingly large syringe, a sequence of events is set in motion involving multiple bodies, Jack the Ripper and Rosicrucian monks. Or is it? This lively and hugely creative caper about backwards rebirth is accompanied by crisp line drawings in the vein of a ’30s whodunit. A controversial literary giant, Sir Salman Rushdie is also a dad. He wrote Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Granta. PB. $19.95) for one of his two sons and now he has written Luka and the Fire of Life – a sequel of sorts – for the other. The novel follows the adventures of Haroun’s little brother, Luka, who accidentally curses a terrifying circus ringmaster, and then finds himself cursed in revenge when his ‘professional storyteller’ father falls asleep and won’t wake up. Death is literally lurking outside the door, and Luka knows he has to act quickly to save his dad, journeying into the Magic World with the help of his loyal circus-escapee animal friends, Bear the dog and Dog the bear. As always, Rushdie’s prose dazzles and sparkles with wit, fantastical imagery, wordplay, metaphor and allusion. Jonathan Franzen begins his introduction to this new edition of Christina Stead’s semi-autobiographical novel with the cheeky comment that there are any number of reasons why you shouldn’t read it this summer – it’s long, its language is tricky, there’s psychological violence in spades and it doesn’t even have a traditionally happy ending. Nevertheless, Franzen’s introduction goes on to inspire readers to dive into this 70-year-old modern classic. Originally set in Australia, but switched to the US east coast on the request of Stead’s US publisher, this comic, compassionate and often disturbing novel tells the story of the extraordinary, dysfunctional Pollit family: blowhard Sam, his harried wife Henny and their half-dozen children. Stead’s For Love Alone and Letty Fox will also be published as part of the series. The period is Cromwell’s England, and housekeeper Aerlene Ward has decided that at the age of 70, and after 50 years’ service to the Easton family, it’s time to share a secret she has kept for almost a lifetime – that she is the illegitimate daughter of William Shakespeare. Almost blind, she enlists the help of the youngest Easton daughter to transcribe the story. Wonderfully evocative of the period and filled with historical detail, this intertwining story of love found and love lost in Elizabethan London has as many twists and turns as the Thames itself. 2. Which cuisine utilises saffron, barberries and dried limes? Miegunyah PB $25 L SPECIA PRICE NOTORIOUS Roberta Lowing Red threads of poetry, desert and death run through this impressive first novel by Australian writer and poet Roberta Lowing. A woman walks out of the arid dunes of the North African desert and into an asylum that once sheltered the poet Rimbaud. Ranging across continents and decades, Notorious teases out the mysterious connections that Allen & Unwin PB link the woman and Australian embassy official John Devlin, who comes to the asylum WAS $33 to interrogate her. Magical, metaphysical NOW $27.95 and startlingly original, this is a novel with many shades and nuances, at once a love story, a political thriller page-turner and an imaginatively realised quest for the legendary diary written by the famous French poet 120 years before. THE PENGUIN BOOK OF THE OCEAN James Bradley (ed) NOURISHMENT Gerard Woodward British author Gerard Woodward made his name with the Jones trilogy, which won him places on the Whitbread and Booker shortlists. His latest novel is quite simply a corker – a WWII family drama flavoured with wry and earthy humour. While Donald Pace languishes as a prisoner of war, his wife Tory is a prisoner of wartime living conditions. She’s working at a gelatine factory and living with her quirky mother while her three children are safe but distant in the countryside. And straight-laced, innocent Tory doesn’t know what to make of Donald’s letters: he keeps asking her for ‘really filthy’ responses that will satisfy his sexual urges. As she tries to do her wifely duty by researching erotic language, Tory’s life quickly becomes a lot more exciting – but there will, needless to say, be consequences. THE MAN WHO LOVED CHILDREN Christina Stead MR SHAKESPEARE’S BASTARD Richard B Wright MR CHARTWELL Rebecca Hunt Longlisted for this year’s Guardian First Book Award, Rebecca Hunt’s novel is about as original and clever as you can get. Its central characters are an elderly and run-down Winston Churchill; a fragile, lonely, lovelorn library clerk, Esther Hammerhans; and a massive black dog, Mr Chartwell, who walks on his hind legs and makes polite conversation. He’s not a ghost, not a Labrador, and most certainly not a pet – he’s the legendary, terrifying black dog of depression, whose job it is to plague his ‘clients’ with their deepest fears and insecurities. But oddly enough, he’s also rather charming and friendly. And it’s very difficult, perhaps impossible, to escape from his influence, as Winston and Esther are finding out… LUKA AND THE FIRE OF LIFE Salman Rushdie Hamish Hamilton PB $35 L SPECIA PRICE Knopf Australia HB WAS $29.95 NOW $19.95 The ocean has captured the imagination of writers and explorers for millennia, and this celebration of the big blue is a timely reminder that it must be treasured and not trashed. The diverse collection of stories and poems also reflects the poetic sensibilities of editor James Bradley, whose selection is masterfully evocative in both scope and vision. The ocean as metaphor for the human psyche and its unexplored depths is a theme that weaves through and informs many of the stories featured here. Rachel Carson’s ‘The Grey Beginnings’ about the birth of the seas sets the tone, and through the eyes of Hemingway, Melville, Conrad, Junger, Winton and many more, the ocean and its powerful lure is explored in all its vastness and beauty. THE PHILANTHROPIST John Tesarsch Sleepers PB $27.95 Charles Bradshaw is one of Melbourne’s wealthiest businessmen, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. No Scrooge, he’s given away a lot, and after a heart attack he starts thinking about giving away a lot more, though this doesn’t go down well with his emotionally distant wife and destructively ambitious son. Charles is a troubled man; plagued by a nightmarish event he’s tried to forget, one that destroyed his relationship with his first serious girlfriend, Anna. She’s now a successful judge, and comes back into his life after hearing of his illness. Maybe, with their accumulated life experience and wisdom, they can find a way to move on before Charles’s heart gives up. From an exciting new Australian author, this is an insightful, tensely dramatic novel – no wonder John Banville recommends it. RANSOM David Malouf SOMEBODY TO LOVE Steve Holden This literary masterwork by one of Australia’s greatest authors is a memorable take on Homer’s Iliad. Told with David Malouf’s deft interpretation of the characters, it reinvents the ancient story in prose that has been justly praised by Australian Book Review as ‘consistently fine…so sure, so unostentatious, that we can overlook how good it is’. When Patroclus dies in battle, Achilles exacts revenge by killing Hector and dragging his body from a chariot around the besieged city of Troy. King Priam witnesses the defilement of his son’s body until he can’t take it any longer. He must go out into the Greek camp, to confront Achilles. Every page expresses astute musings on loyalty, honour, love, friendship, and fathers and sons – it’s impossible to put this novel down. This debut novel is, amongst other things, a Tasmanian gothic tale of sex, love and death. Set in a small town, a transgender mortician is having a busy weekend in the office, with three recently arrived corpses awaiting preparation for burial. As the mortician goes about her work, we learn about the victims, how they died, and how each cause of death introduces a particular set of problems to the embalming process. We also learn about the mortician; about her childhood, her taxidermist father and how she came to be a she. As the embalmings near their completion, the mortician comes to a realisation that there is one last thing she must do for her transformation from man to woman to be complete… University of Queensland Press PB $24.95 L SPECIA E C I R P Faber PB WAS $33 NOW $27.95 Fiction SUNSET PARK Paul Auster Paul Auster is one of the most controversial figures in contemporary American fiction, with reviews of his work as likely to be adulatory as excoriating. A compelling storyteller, he sets most of his novels in Brooklyn, where he lives. Sunset Park is no different, with most of its narrative centred on a group of individuals occupying an abandoned house in one of the borough’s more dishevelled enclaves. The main character is Miles Heller, a college dropout haunted by guilt for having inadvertently caused the death of his stepbrother. Loss, guilt and isolation are familiar themes in Auster novels, and Sunset Park sticks with the template – unveiling a story of emotional frailties that is as riveting as it is moving. THEODORA Stella Duffy Virago PB $30 Writing in the sixth century AD, the historian Procopius gave posterity a portrait of Theodora, empress of the Byzantine Empire, that was as saucy as it was salacious. According to his Secret History, Theodora was the daughter of a bear trainer who, before marrying the great Emperor Justinian, had worked as an actress and whore in Constantinople. Stella Duffy isn’t interested in challenging the veracity of Procopius’ biography, instead giving its more colourful assertions a full airing in this rollicking and raunchy historical novel. Indeed, Duffy depicts how the infant Theodora and her two sisters are trained in the arts of the stage by an exacting eunuch with such relish that historian Tom Holland recently described this book as reading like ‘Noel Streatfeild on crack’ (intending this as a compliment rather than an insult!). L SPECIA E C I R P Orbit PB WAS $35 NOW $27.95 L SPECIA PRICE Michael Joseph PB WAS $32.95 NOW $27.95 Weidenfeld & Nicholson HB $30 Lededje Y’breq has been coated in tattoos (‘surface detail’) inside and out from before she was born, making her one of the Intagliated, born to be used as chattel with apparently no way to hide her status. After many attempts to escape her power-hungry, psychopathic owner, she makes a desperate sacrifice, and luck leads her to the Culture, a super-benevolent society. But her involvement with them draws her into a major war that originated in the digital realms but looks set to involve the real world. This is sci-fi master Iain M Banks’s eighth Culture novel, and one of the best – by turns thrilling, sharp-witted, harrowing and thoughtful. And like the others, it can be read as a stand-alone work. Picador PB WAS $33 NOW $27.95 A TINY BIT MARVELLOUS Dawn French The star of The Vicar of Dibley, French and Saunders and other beloved British comedies has produced her first novel, and as you’d expect, it’s a hilarious treat – told in diary entries by a quirky and loveable dysfunctional family. Mo is an increasingly dissatisfied middle-aged mum, with a self-absorbed, gutter-mouthed, painfully insecure teenage daughter, Dora, and a Wilde-obsessed son, Peter, who insists on being called Oscar. The three of them aren’t exactly getting along well (actually, that’s a huge understatement), and each becomes absorbed in tangled affairs of the heart. But although the family seems to be coming apart at the seams, there’s a lot of love, joy and hope in this unpredictable, sidesplittingly funny tale. Vintage PB $32.95 Australia’s outback and vast sheep stations form more than a backdrop for Miles Franklin Award–winner Roger McDonald’s latest novel, and When Colts Ran is as much about Australia as it is about its title character, Kingsley Colts. The youth, sore about being kept safe while others are fighting in WWII, is being expelled from boarding school as the novel opens. The ensuing pages follow his fate, not only through his experiences but also those of the people who are part of his life. And throughout, all the characters are in and of their country, supported and challenged by it, many of them affected by the two world wars. With its carefully chosen words and carefully composed sentences, this is truly a book to savour slowly. THAT DEADMAN DANCE Kim Scott He won the 2000 Miles Franklin Award for Benang, and now Kim Scott returns with That Deadman Dance, which seems set to receive similar acclaim – already it’s found praise from Alex Miller, Rodney Hall and Thomas Keneally. The son of an Aboriginal man and a white woman, Scott writes of his own ancestors, the Noongar, whose country lies in Western Australia. It’s the early 19th century, and the Noongar – particularly Bobby Wabalanginy, Scott’s central character – are friendly with the new European settlers. Gradually, though, their mutual fascination and amity sours, as the realities of colonisation set in. Scott’s take on what unfolds is empathetic, sobering and non-judgemental, full of truth and wisdom. Also available in a hardback edition ($50). TO THE END OF THE LAND David Grossman Jonathan Cape PB $35 WHEN COLTS RAN Roger McDonald THE WEEKEND Bernhard Schlink Translated from the German, the latest novel by Bernhard Schlink, author of The Reader (Phoenix. PB. $23), is another observant tale of troubled characters struggling with guilt, weighty secrets and loss. Christiane has just picked up her brother Jörg from prison, where he’s served a 24-year term for murder and terrorism. He was part of the Red Army Faction (RAF) or Baader-Meinhof Gang, a real-life organisation that caused a great deal of destruction and havoc. Jörg’s sister and friends were once RAF sympathisers, but while he’s been locked away, they’ve been building new lives – even though none have fully moved on from the past. As they spend a weekend together, revelations emerge, leading to a moving, thought-provoking conclusion. L SPECIA E C I R P SURFACE DETAIL Iain M Banks 5 Ora is about to celebrate her son Ofer’s release from Israeli army service when he voluntarily rejoins his unit for a major offensive. In a fit of magical thinking, she takes off to hike in the Galilee with an old friend Avram (who also happens to be Ofer’s natural but unacknowledged father), leaving no forwarding information for the ‘notifiers’ who might darken her door. This is comforting logic: if she cannot be told of Ofer’s death, he must remain alive. Their illuminating walk places the most hideous trials of war alongside the quotidian business of raising children, resulting in a rich imagining of a family in love and crisis. A powerful and timely anti-war novel. THE WRONG BLOOD Manuel de Lope Chatto & Windus HB $29.95 Abandoned by her parents shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, 16-year-old María Antonia Extarri is left at the mercy of soldiers who take up residence in her family’s bar – and is raped. Isabel Cruces, meanwhile, enjoys a blissful honeymoon with Captain Herráiz in Biarritz, but just months later, the valiant Herráiz is shot as a traitor. Both María and Isabel suddenly find themselves violently altered, alone and pregnant, and they form a mysterious and silent pact in the loneliness and desperation of their mutual suffering. A creepy and compelling read from one of Spain’s master storytellers. literary award winners BLACKLANDS Belinda Bauer Corgi PB $21.95 Winner of this year’s Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Gold Dagger, this riveting psychological suspense novel profiles a dysfunctional family and a psychopathic paedophile. Note: December release. LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN Colum McCann Bloomsbury PB $23 The US National Book Award for Fiction was bestowed upon McCann’s dazzling novel, which is set in New York in the 1970s and celebrates the intimacies – ‘small beauties’ – of human life whilst vividly capturing the effervescent spirit of an age. TINKERS Paul Harding Windmill PB $24.95 An elegiac meditation on love, loss and the fierce beauty of nature, Tinkers was the deserving recipient of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. THE FINKLER QUESTION Howard Jacobson Bloomsbury PB $33 Two old friends and their former teacher stage a reunion over dinner. At this painful evening of reminiscence, all three remove themselves to a time before they had prized anything greatly enough to fear the loss of it. Awarded the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. SOLO Rana Dasgupta Fourth Estate PB $25 This young British novelist won the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize with his story of a reclusive 100-year-old man from Bulgaria embarking on an epic armchair journey through a century of violent politics, forbidden music, lost love and failed chemistry. TRUTH Peter Temple Text PB $23.95 In last year’s SRG we said that with this book, Temple ‘transcended genre and joined the ranks of Australia’s greatest writers’. We’re now thrilled to report that the judges of the Miles Franklin Literary Award were of the same mind, and awarded it Australia’s most important literary prize. THE TWIN Gerbrand Bakker Scribe PB $29.95 Ostensibly a novel about the Dutch countryside as seen through the eyes of a farmer, The Twin is, in the end, about the possibility or impossibility of taking life into one’s own hands. Winner of this year’s International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. WELLSPRINGS Mario Vargas Llosa Harvard University Press PB $29.95 In this recently published collection of essays, the winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature writes about the search for the wellsprings of his own work. 6 BER DECEM SE RELEA Windmill PB $24.95 L SPECIA PRICE Quercus PB WAS $32.95 NOW $27.95 L SPECIA PRICE Viking PB WAS $32.95 NOW $27.95 Crime fiction THE BEST AMERICAN NOIR OF THE CENTURY James Ellroy & Otto Penzler (eds) BETWEEN SUMMER’S LONGING AND WINTER’S END Leif Persson In his introduction to this anthology, James Ellroy describes noir as being ‘…the most scrutinised offshoot of the hard-boiled school of fiction. It’s the long drop off the short pier and the wrong man and the wrong woman in perfect misalliance. It’s the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad.’ The 39 stories here were published between 1910 and 2010 and include work by James M Cain, Mickey Spillane, Evan Hunter, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Patricia Highsmith and William Gay. Scandinavian crime fiction has dominated the genre over the past few years – think Fossum, Indridason, Larsson, Mankell and Nesbø – and this novel, originally published in 2002 but only now translated into English, was one of the works that kick-started the craze. A fictional account based on the investigation of the still-unsolved assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, it begins with the apparent suicide of a young American student in Stockholm. What is at first an open-and-shut case of suicide quickly leads to a complex web of international espionage, treachery and – ultimately – the murder of the PM. Persson was well positioned to write about this horrifying event in Swedish history, having worked at the Swedish National Police Board in the years leading up to Palme’s assassination. A dark and disturbing journey. Doubleday PB $32.95 FIELD GREY Philip Kerr The much-anticipated follow up to A Quiet Flame (Quercus. PB. $24.95) and If the Dead Rise Not (Quercus. PB. $32.95) has been worth the blessedly short wait. It’s 1954 and Bernie Gunther finds himself in prison with a proposition: work for the French or hang for murder. Bernie’s job is simple: to meet and greet POWs returning from Germany. One of these is Edgard de Boudel, a French war criminal and member of the French SS, who has been posing as a German Wehrmacht officer. The French are anxious to catch up with this man and deal with him in their own ruthless way. But Bernie’s past as a German POW in Russia is about to catch up with him – in a way he could never have foreseen. OUR KIND OF TRAITOR John le Carré Left-leaning Oxford academic Perry Makepiece and his barrister girlfriend Gail Perkins take an off-peak holiday on the Caribbean island of Antigua, where they meet a Russian millionaire called Dima who is mad about tennis. Initially, they haven’t an inkling how the meeting – which seemingly occurred by chance – will affect their lives. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for them to cotton on. Inducted into the murkiest cloisters of the City of London and its unholy alliance with Britain’s Intelligence Establishment, they are soon propelled on a tortuous journey through Paris to a safe house in the Swiss Alps where Dima and his family are under protection. What happens next should be no surprise to le Carré’s many fans, who have been enjoying the master’s thrillers about the morally bankrupt espionage game that he once worked within ever since the publication of his first novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961. Highly recommended L SPECIA PRICE Little Brown PB WAS $33 NOW $27.95 L SPECIA PRICE BER DECEM SE RELEA A FEAST OF PHRYNE FISHER Kerry Greenwood Allen & Unwin PB $30 Allen & Unwin PB $23 MOONLIGHT MILE Dennis Lehane Sixteen-year-old Amanda McCready has disappeared. Her anxious aunt contacts Patrick Kenzie to investigate. It is not the first time she has gone missing, as Patrick well knows – he was the investigator who worked on her case when she was kidnapped before, as a four-year-old. But this is not a simple case of a runaway girl. In fact, nothing in Amanda’s life has been simple: brought up by the world’s worst mother, neglected throughout her childhood, she has nonetheless blossomed into a formidably intelligent young woman. The case leads Patrick down Boston’s darkest, most dangerous streets and into a world of shocking secrets that will threaten not only Amanda’s life, but also his own and that of his partner Angie Gennaro. Harvill Secker PB $32.95 L SPECIA PRICE THE REVERSAL Michael Connelly Long-time defence attorney Mickey Haller, whom we’ve previously encountered in The Lincoln Lawyer (Allen & Unwin. PB. $23) and The Brass Verdict (Allen & Unwin. PB. $23), is recruited to change sides and prosecute the high-profile retrial of a brutal child murder. After 24 years in prison, convicted killer Jason Jessup has been exonerated by new DNA evidence. Haller is convinced that Jessup is guilty, and he takes the case on the condition Allen & Unwin PB that he gets to choose his investigator, who just happens to be Haller’s half-brother WAS $33 and Connelly’s best-loved character, LAPD NOW $27.95 Detective Harry Bosch. Together, Bosch and Haller embark on a case fraught with political and personal danger. BEREFT Chris Womersley Scribe PB $32.95 This gothic tale about love, secrets, longing and justice set in outback NSW in 1919 is from the author of The Low Road (Scribe. PB. $32.95). SILENCE Jan Costin Wagner Harvill Secker PB $29.95 Darkly interesting psychological twists and turns characterise this assured police procedural set in Finland. I CURSE THE RIVER OF TIME Per Petterson Harvill Secker PB $32.95 An honest, heartbreaking, yet humorous portrayal of a complicated mother–son relationship by the author of the award-winning Out Stealing Horses (Vintage. PB. $24.95). STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG Kate Atkinson Doubleday PB $32.95 The fourth novel in the Jackson Brodie series is sure to be much anticipated by everyone who loved the previous instalment, When Will There be Good News? (Black Swan. PB. $24.95). Quercus PB WAS $32.95 NOW $27.95 ALONE IN BERLIN Hans Fallada Penguin PB $26.95 First published in Germany in 1947, this rediscovered masterpiece evokes the horror of life in Germany during WWII through the story of a father who, after his son is killed fighting at the front, stages a silent campaign of resistance against Hitler. CAMPAIGN RUBY Jessica Rudd Text PB $32.95 With this ripper read, the daughter of you-knowwho delivers a delightful combination of fashion, faux pas, falling for the wrong man and the unexpected fun of federal politics. A DARK MATTER Michelle Paver Orion PB $27 A terrifying 1930s ghost story set in the haunting wilderness of the Arctic Circle. Don’t read it late at night! A DARKER MUSIC Maris Morton Scribe PB $32.95 This gripping mystery, which won this year’s Scribe Fiction Prize, takes you deep into the heart of one family’s dark secrets. Kerry Greenwood must be one of Australia’s most prolific published authors, with around 50 books to her name. The best-loved of these are those in her splendid Phryne Fisher series, set in 1920s Melbourne and featuring the elegant and intrepid sleuth and her assorted associates, including maid Dot, adopted daughters Ruth and Jane, sexy lover Lin Chung and left-leaning wharfies Bert and Cec. To mark the publication of the 19th book in the series, Dead Man’s Chest, Allen & Unwin has decided to reissue the first three titles (Cocaine Blues, Flying Too High and Murder on the Ballarat Train) in an introductory collection titled Introducing the Honourable Phryne Fisher, so providing the perfect introduction to the world of the feisty, fearless and devilishly dangerous Miss Fisher. Perfect beach reading. OPERATION NAPOLEON Arnaldur Indridason Taking a break from his Reykjavík Murder Mysteries featuring Erlendur Sveinsson, Indridason presents this gripping thriller, which moves between modern Iceland and America, and Iceland and Nazi Germany at the end of WWII. The story opens in Iceland, where two young men, Elías and Jóhann, witness something strange on the Vatnajökull Glacier. They disappear, and Elías’ sister Kristín, frantically worried about her brother’s safety, is swept up in a life-and-death search for him and for the truth behind what the boys saw. What she uncovers takes us back to the last days of the war in Europe and exposes a shocking event – one that certain powerful international parties will do anything to hide. THREE SECONDS Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström The 2009 winner of the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award for Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year, Three Seconds manages to sustain its relentless narrative pace and action-packed plot for every one of its 501 pages, incorporating a generous allocation of searing social criticism along the way. Piet Hoffman is the best undercover operative in the Swedish police force, but only one other man is even aware of his existence. When a drug deal he is involved in goes very wrong, he is faced with the hardest mission of his life: to infiltrate Sweden’s most infamous maximum security prison. Roslund, an awardwinning journalist, and Hellström, a former criminal, have researched their complicated plot meticulously and it has an undeniable – and frightening – plausibility. A DEATH IN CALABRIA Michele Giuttari Little Brown PB $30 The fourth outing for Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara sees the policeman investigating the deaths of Calabrese citizens in New York and Italy. GOLD BOY, EMERALD GIRL Yiyun Li Fourth Estate PB $28 These stories are set in contemporary China, where underneath the veneer of prosperity and opportunity lie the struggles of characters trying to reorient themselves in a new and unfamiliar landscape. HAMLET Nicki Greenberg Allen & Unwin HB $50 Shakespeare’s great play is given a graphic-novel treatment that is as richly imagined as Greenberg’s previous adaptation, The Great Gatsby (Allen & Unwin. PB. $24.95). THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE Maggie O’Farrell Headline PB $33 A portrait of two women who are separated by 50 years but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected, O’Farrell’s powerful novel is about love, motherhood and the search for self. L SPECIA R E F F O Language, poetry & essays Special Deal: buy the boxed set for $69.95! BER DECEM SE RELEA BIBLE: THE STORY OF THE KING JAMES VERSION 1611–2011 THE BEST AUSTRALIAN POEMS king james bible: 400th anniversary edition In 2011, it will be 400 years since the publication of the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Oxford University Press is marking this important anniversary with the publication of three titles about this elegantly written and poetic volume. In Begat, David Crystal shows how the King James Version’s words and phrases have found independent life over the centuries in the work of poets, playwrights, novelists, politicians, journalists and Hollywood. Gordon Campbell’s book offers a vivid and authoritative history of this renowned translation. The quatercentenary edition is an exact reprint of the original version. Cate Kennedy (ed)Black Inc PB $29.95 As always, these three volumes present the very best Australian writing of the past year in a compact and accessible form – particularly so this year, when we are able to offer a handsome boxed set including all three for the special price of only $69.95! Essays includes pieces by writers including Clive James, David Marr and Alex Miller, while Poems showcases work by Robert Gray, Les Murray, Jaya Savige and John Tranter among others. Stories is similarly rich, with contributions from familiar names Nam Le and Michael McGirr appearing among work by new and exciting talents. Harper Collins HB WAS $39.95 NOW $15.95 L SPECIA R E OFF Text PB $24.95 Harvard University Press HB $69.95 Miegunyah HB WAS $60 NOW $29.95 L SPECIA PRICE COLLINS DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE The Classical Tradition is a who’s who and what’s what guide to the intellectual bequest of the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose language and cultural legacy permeate Western culture in both obvious and surprising ways. With 500 articles penned by classical scholars from around the globe, this erudite and entertaining collection looks at the philosophy, history, religious beliefs, wisdom and allegories we’ve inherited. An A to Z from ‘Academy’ to ‘Zoology’, the varied topics include the origins of parasite (‘fellow diner’), the arts of satire, architecture and magic, the gifts of writers such as Horace and the legends of Apollo. HarperCollins HB WAS $60 NOW $49.95 L SPECIA E C I PR THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK – BOOKS Lucy Daniel (ed) GRIFFITH REVIEW 30: ANNUAL FICTION EDITION Highly recommended This celebration of Australian children’s book illustrations will transport readers of all ages back to their childhood, with favourite characters such as Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, the Magic Pudding and Blinky Bill all featured. Author Juliet O’Conor, who works in the children’s collection at the State Library of Victoria, has also included plenty of examples of less familiar works in her quest to ‘reveal the lesser known within a bigger picture’. Bottersnikes also demonstrates different stages in the development of visual signs of national identity, evident even in simple ABC books. Sensibly, the pictures are often left to tell their own story while the text focuses on history and context, making this scholarly enterprise accessible to all readers. THE CLASSICAL TRADITION Anthony Grafton, Glen W Most & Salvatore Settis BY HOOK OR BY CROOK: A JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF ENGLISH David Crystal The highly anticipated summer-fiction edition of this quality quarterly features sparkling short fiction by some writers you’ll know and others you’ll soon be hearing lots more about. This year’s collection explores the Pacific Rim, with stories from Australian and international authors who are engaging with the region, including Peter Temple, Janette Turner Hospital, Nick Earls, Alice Pung, Luke Davies, Eva Hornung, Danielle Wood, Chris Flynn, Anna Krien and many more. Purchase a copy and as a special Summer Reading Guide incentive you’ll also receive a FREE copy of Griffith Review 26: Stories for Today. BOTTERSNIKES AND OTHER LOST THINGS Juliet O’Conor OUP HB $120 THE BEST AUSTRALIAN STORIES Linguist and broadcaster David Crystal – described by the Times Higher Education Supplement as a sort of ‘latter day Dr Johnson’ – has combined personal reflections, historical allusions and traveller observations to create a mesmerising and entertaining narrative account of his encounters with the English language and its speakers throughout the world. By Hook or by Crook is his Bill Bryson–inspired attempt to capture the exploratory, seductive, teasing and tantalising nature of language study, an attempt that well and truly lives up to its author’s aspiration. L SPECIA E C PRI Gordon Campbell OUP HB $39.95 Robert Adamson (ed) Black Inc PB $24.95 L David Crystal OUP HB $39.95 THE BEST AUSTRALIAN ESSAYS Robert Drewe (ed) Black Inc PB $29.95 SPECIA PRICE BEGAT: THE KING JAMES BIBLE & THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 7 Hodder PB WAS $40 NOW $14.95 It’s not exactly a ‘little’ book, but it’s small considering the girth of its topic. Put together by a slew of talented international contributors and edited by an acclaimed reviewer and critic, this is a must-have not only for lovers of literature, but also for anyone who wants to know more about cultural development – pop and otherwise – since the 19th century. Alongside 350 glossy colour images, each page of text discusses the key books, characters, authors, passages and events that have shaped our world. Some have sparked controversies, others have fuelled conflicts, but many have helped to inspire, entertain, heal, save and sustain millions if not billions of people. LOVE POEMS Dorothy Porter Black Inc PB $27.95 ROOM Emma Donoghue Picador PB $33 This story of a mother, her son, a locked room and the outside world was shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker prize. HARBOUR John Ajvide Lindqvist Text PB $32.95 The author of the bestselling Let the Right One In (Text. PB. $24.95) serves up a masterful cocktail of suspense laced with bizarre humour. THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK OF ATHEISM Warren Bonett (ed) Scribe PB $35 The first collection to explore atheism from an Australian viewpoint brings together essays from 33 of the nation’s pre-eminent atheist, rationalist, humanist and sceptical thinkers. INDELIBLE INK Fiona McGregor Scribe PB $32.95 This witty and tender suburban family drama set in Howard-era Sydney recounts the transformation of staid 59-year-old divorcee Marie King. DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY Seymour Chwast Bloomsbury HB $40 A graphic adaptation of Dante’s classic by one of the most influential illustrators of the last half-century. LIGHTS OUT IN WONDERLAND DBC Pierre Faber PB $33 The latest novel by the Australian-born Man Booker–winning author takes as its central character Gabriel Brockwell, aesthete, poet, philosopher and disaffected 20-something decadent. NEW AUSTRALIAN STORIES 2 Aviva Tuffield (ed) Scribe PB $29.95 The second volume of Scribe’s eclectic anthology of short stories showcases work by both emerging talents and seasoned practitioners of the form including Marion Halligan, Cate Kennedy and Paddy O’Reilly. Collins celebrates 175 years of dictionary publishing by taking an in-depth and fascinating look at the evolution and transformation of our idiom. From the medieval English of Chaucer and inventions of Shakespeare to Anthony Burgess’ postmodernist Nadsat, the dictionary’s 200-plus essays leave no topic untouched in getting to grips with our richly nuanced language. The engaging articles delve into the many dialects of English, including Geordie, Chicano and Cockney, and trace the influence of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Hindi. Slang, Braille and computer speak get a look-in, along with word games such as Scrabble and crosswords. Most interesting are the studies on the ways writers use English, covering a broad range of scribes from Robbie Burns, Edward Lear and William S Burroughs to Leonard Cohen, James Ellroy and James Joyce. LOVESONG Alex Miller Allen & Unwin PB $27 Set in Paris and Melbourne, Miller’s perfectly paced novel is about moral frailty, secret passion and other aspects of human relationships. Best known for her verse novels including Monkey’s Mask, which won the National Book Council’s Poetry Prize and was later made into a movie, the late Dorothy Porter brought her poetic work to a wide audience, including fiction for young adults and libretti for chamber opera. This collection of love poems, song lyrics and excerpts from her verse novels spans her career and delivers a moving, passionate and evocative examination of love, and what it is to be in love. THE MAN IN THE WOODEN HAT Jane Gardam Abacus PB $25 At the end of WWII, free spirit Elisabeth marries Filth (Failed In London Try Hong Kong), a lawyer who finds it difficult to express his emotions. Problems are bound to eventuate, particularly when Filth’s hated rival at the bar enters the picture. AN OBJECT OF BEAUTY Steve Martin Weidenfeld & Nicolson PB $33 An irresistible look at the glamour and subterfuge of New York’s art world from bestselling author and Hollywood star, Steve Martin. Note: December release. THE PASSAGE Justin Cronin Orion PB $35 Optioned by director Ridley Scott for blockbuster film treatment, and with a very public endorsement by Stephen King, this first instalment of Cronin’s epic post-apocalyptic vampire trilogy is sure to have plenty of readers enthralled this summer. ROCKS IN THE BELLY Jon Bauer Scribe PB $32.95 A powerful novel about the destruction we wreak on one another in the pursuit of our own happiness and how we can never escape our upbringing. 8 Language, poetry & essays OPENING PANDORA’S BOX Ferdie Addis Michael O’Mara HB $25 English is brimming with words and phrases inherited from Ancient Greece and Rome, but now that ‘a classical education’ is a thing of the past, knowledge of this inheritance is becoming less widespread. Enter Ferdie Addis, with succinct and engaging explanations covering common expressions such as ‘to fall on one’s sword’, ‘to be somebody’s muse’, ‘Achilles heel’ and ‘to cross the Rubicon’, as well as many surprising, less-obvious words, such as ‘mentor’, ‘echo’, ‘gymnasium’ and ‘ocean’. Addis also includes lists of important facts on the months of the year, the Olympian gods, the signs of the zodiac, and other interesting aspects of classical culture that continue to influence us. And to make the journey even more enjoyable, the book is sprinkled with delightfully funny cartoons. THE PEN & THE STETHOSCOPE Leah Kaminsky (ed) Scribe PB $32.95 SAND Robert Drewe & John Kinsella Robert Drewe and John Kinsella, two of the country’s foremost writers, team up to explore the many influences of the Western Australian sand that has to an extent helped shape their lives and careers. Through memoirs, poems and stories, the elemental nature of sand takes on a variety of shapes and Fremantle Press PB meanings. The collection is finely balanced, the juxtaposition of Drewe’s reflective and $27.95 evocative childhood memories in stories such as ‘The Sand People’ and the fast-paced style of Kinsella’s ‘Perth Poem’ working together well to create an overall sense of place. As both authors are intimately linked to the Western Australian landscape in their work, it’s no surprise that this literary double act is a rewarding read. Biography TO BE OR NOT TO BE… Liz Evers Michael O’Mara HB $25 Bloomsbury PB $24 each Viking PB $32.95 Admired for his poetic elegance and cultural breadth, and mourned at his death in April 2010, Peter Porter was one of the world’s most distinguished poets. Memorable, beautiful and haunting, the selected poems in this timely tribute span 50 years of Porter’s work, from his first collection, Once Bitten, Allen & Unwin PB Twice Bitten, published in 1961 following his relocation from Brisbane to Britain, to 2009’s $40 Better Than God. Porter’s poems are marked by satire and grief, his love for European music and culture, the isolation of dislocation where ‘home is just a postmark’, and the gradual reappraisal of his Australian roots. The book’s introduction by David Malouf places the selections in context, and an affectionate overview of Porter’s life and work is provided by friend and fellow expat Clive James. L SPECIA R E F OF SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE: THE STORY OF AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH Bruce Moore Oxford University Press PB $32.95 Moore, the director of the ANU’s Australian National Dictionary Centre, presents the real stories behind some of Australia’s unique and best-loved words in his latest book, What’s Their Story? This fascinating collection profiles words such as ‘battler’, ‘bludger’, ‘bogan’, ‘dinkum’ and ‘hoon’ through their histories and through thematic and structural associations. Hot off the presses, it’s a companion volume to his authoritative 2008 publication Speaking Our Language and we’re very excited to be able to offer both books at a special price of only $29.95 (RRP $52.90). Note: this deal is exclusive to the Summer Reading Guide. AND FURTHERMORE Judi Dench Orion HB WAS $45 NOW $39.95 Trained at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama, it was Judi Dench’s performance in Franco Zeffirelli’s memorable Old Vic production of Romeo and Juliet that turned her into a star. She became a household name via television, thanks initially to a sit-com, A Fine Romance, in which she played alongside the actor Michael Williams, whom she married in 1971. Her film credits include Shakespeare in Love, in which she played Queen Elizabeth, a role that gained her an Oscar. In this autobiography she talks frankly about her life and a career that has ranged from the beloved sit-com As Time Goes By to six Bond films. Sure to be a summer reading favourite. BACKSTAGE POLITICS Phillip Adams THE BEDWETTER Sarah Silverman For over 50 years, broadcaster, film producer and writer Phillip Adams has been an observer, critic and close confidant to many of the key figures who have shaped our political landscape. In Backstage Politics, Adams treats us to a trip down his personal and political memory lane with a swag of revealing and often hilarious anecdotes from across the years. While Whitlam, Hawke, Keating and Howard all play starring roles, it’s the final chapter on Kevin Rudd that resonates most deeply. Famous as one of our best-known long-time lefties, Adams resigned from the ALP when Kevin Rudd was toppled from power. His fond recollection of Rudd and searing criticism of those who deposed him highlights the unwavering honesty that has punctuated a great career. Many people’s first introduction to Sarah Silverman was her hilarious YouTube viral smash hit ‘I’m ****ing Matt Damon’, sung as a duet with Damon and winning her an Emmy. Known by her nickname ‘Big S’, she is often compared to Lenny Bruce and certainly seems to leave a trail of controversy behind her whatever she goes. The fact that she leaves no subject matter taboo means that she has been on the receiving end of much criticism, but this didn’t stop her TV show The Sarah Silverman Program from being a ratings success. As you’d expect, her memoir covers plenty of career highs and lows, often with hilarious consequences. But it is also an intriguing insight into a childhood and adolescence plagued by bedwetting into her teens, depression and medication abuse. Faber HB $30 SPECIAL DEAL: BUY BOTH FOR ONLY $29.95! WHAT’S THEIR STORY? A HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN WORDS Bruce Moore Oxford University Press PB $19.95 Some are born loving Shakespeare, some grow to love him, and some have him thrust upon them in high school. Whichever group you fall into, there’s no denying that the Bard contributed a great deal to the English language, although it’s easy to be unaware that many everyday words (‘new-fangled’, ‘disgraceful’, ‘cold-blooded’, ‘bandits’, ‘silliness’, and many surprising others) originated in his work. Fortunately, Liz Evers has put together a down-to-earth, vibrant look at everything Shakespearean in this gorgeously designed book, which includes summaries of his plays in chronological order, key biographical details, famous quotes and misquotes (it’s ‘all that glisters is not gold’, not ‘all that glitters’!), a description of his sonnets and the iambic pentameter, a character glossary, and an index of famous lines. L SPECIA E C PRI AGENT ZIGZAG OPERATION MINCEMEAT Ben Macintyre More mind-blowing than fiction, Times columnist Ben Macintyre’s Agent Zigzag is a real-life spy saga of double agents and secrets from the top. The bestselling biography regales readers with the exploits of the caddish and opportunistic Eddie Chapman, Nazi spy turned MI5 double agent who parachuted into WWII England in 1942. What follows is a real-life thriller of cinematic proportions, reissued to pair with Macintyre’s follow-up, Operation Mincemeat. Another true WWII story of deception, it reveals the Allies’ faked plans for a European offensive that deceived Hitler and paved the way for their successful invasion of Sicily. The plotters’ incredible attention to detail included the body of a deceased tramp and countless faked documents, some of which appear in the book’s appendix along with photos of the protagonists. Good writing by good doctors is often about the art rather than the science of medicine. It gives us insight into doctors’ minds and their relationships with patients as thinking and feeling individuals as much as it tells us about their skills in dealing with patients’ bodies. It also reveals doctors’ own vulnerabilities. Doctors encounter life and death, hope and despair, fear and bravery, and in their and their patients’ reactions we can learn something about being human. This broad-ranging anthology features non-fiction by some of the best doctor–writers, including Atul Gawande, Oliver Sacks, Gabriel Weston and Irvin Yalom, as well as fiction by authors including Nick Earls and Peter Goldsworthy. Royalties go to the Starlight Children’s Foundation. THE REST ON THE FLIGHT Peter Porter AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN: VOLUME 1 Harriet Elinor Smith et al (ed) University of California Press HB $54.95 L SPECIA E C I PR Mark Twain first began writing his life’s story in the 1870s, and left strict instructions that his words should remain unpublished in their entirety until a century after his death, which occurred in 1910. Here then, in its uncensored glory, is the first volume of his free-ranging and frank recollections. This scholarly work brings together Twain’s early dictation and manuscripts, chronologically organised in the order of their creation to March 1906; three volumes will eventually be published, taking the autobiography to October 1909. Extensive explanatory notes provide essential background and context to the entries, which cover Twain’s early years and encounters with such luminaries as Ulysses S Grant, and offer diverting insights into the minutiae of his much-travelled life. BEST OF MICHAEL PALIN BOXED SET Michael Palin Phoenix WAS $70 NOW $29.95 This collection of Michael Palin’s travel writing includes five illustrated volumes: Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle, Himalaya and Sahara. Travelling because, as he says, ‘…I’d far rather see for myself what’s going on in the world outside, than rely on newspapers, television, politicians and religious leaders to tell me what I should be thinking’, he has explored pretty well every corner of the world in the post-Python years and has established a well-deserved reputation for insightful and empathetic travel journalism. This handsome boxed set will be an inspiring and lavish Christmas gift for travellers of both the both the actual and armchair variety. L SPECIA E C I R P Hachette HB WAS $50 NOW $39.95 L SPECIA E C I R P Virago PB WAS $35 NOW $29.95 L SPECIA E C I R P Hamish Hamilton HB WAS $49.95 now $39.95 Collector’s Edition $125 Biography 9 L SPECIA PRICE BLIGH: MASTER MARINER Rob Mundle COCO CHANEL William Bligh has been written off by history as the man who sparked a mutiny at sea and hid under the bed to avoid capture during the Rum Rebellion. In this detailed new biography, Rob Mundle redresses the balance, tracing Bligh’s career from seven-year-old ship’s boy to Master, Commander and Captain. Before the age of 40, Bligh had sailed with James Cook and witnessed his violent death in the Sandwich Islands, faced mutiny aboard the Bounty, survived a perilous 47-day journey in a tiny boat, and sailed around the world with the young Matthew Flinders. Celebrating Bligh’s navigational skill and courage, Mundle deftly captures the heady sense of adventure in this age of exploration. DREAMING OF CHANEL EVEN SILENCE HAS AN END Ingrid Betancourt In 2002, Ingrid Betancourt, a politician and presidential candidate celebrated for her determination to combat the corruption and climate of fear endemic in Colombia, was taken hostage by FARC, a terrorist guerrilla organisation. For the next six-and-a-half years she was held captive in the depths of the jungle, chained day and night for most of that time. In this powerful book she recounts the extraordinary drama of her capture and eventual rescue, and describes her fight to survive, both mentally and physically. As she confronts the horror of what she went through, Betancourt’s story goes beyond the specifics of her own confinement to offer an intensely intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate reflection on what it means to be human. HOW TO MAKE GRAVY Paul Kelly Highly recommended Charlotte Smith & Grant Cowan HarperCollins HB $35 BER DECEM SE RELEA L SPECIA E C I R P Michael Joseph HB WAS $39.95 NOW $34.95 R BE DECEM SE RELEA ‘Leaps and Bounds’, ‘From St Kilda to Kings Cross’, ‘How to Make Gravy’ – Paul Kelly has written the soundtrack to our lives since the 1980s. In his ‘mongrel memoir’, Kelly provides the background stories to these songs, revealing intimate insights into his music and life. The idea for this singular autobiography sprang from a series of retrospective concerts in which Kelly played more than 100 songs over four nights, from A to Z. Just as there were four shows, there are four chapters, structured like a set list. Song lyrics are followed by musings on the places, people or musicians that inspired them, along with assorted lists, tour diary entries and stories. Diehard fans will want to buy the special collector’s edition signed boxed set, which includes the book, companion A–Z Recordings (eight CDs) and a 64-page booklet of colour photographs. THE ELEPHANT TO HOLLYWOOD Michael Caine Justine Picardie HarperCollins HB WAS $45, NOW $39.95 Quercus PB $29.95 It’s been a long journey for Maurice Micklewhite – all the way from London’s poverty-stricken suburb of Elephant and Castle to the bright lights of Hollywood. In this new autobiography, Micklewhite (or Michael Caine, as we all know him) looks back on a career that has spanned more than five decades and included starring roles that have earned him two Oscars, a knighthood and lasting fame. Funny, warm and honest, Caine gives an insider’s view of Hollywood, recalling the films, legendary stars and offscreen moments with a gift for storytelling that makes this much more than the average star-tells-all volume. THE SECRET OF CHANEL NO. 5 Tilar J Mazzeo HarperCollins PB $35 It’s a Chanel-fest! Three new releases celebrate the life, career, influence and products of the woman who conjured up the little black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women and the most successful fashion brand of all time. In Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, Justine Picardie discusses all of these achievements and looks at how Chanel also fashioned the myth of her own life. In The Secret of Chanel No. 5, Tilar J Mazzeo gives us a history of Chanel’s most famous product. Mademoiselle Coco also makes an appearance in Dreaming of Chanel, in the form of a few gorgeous frocks. THE FRY CHRONICLES Stephen Fry The previous volume of Stephen Fry’s autobiography was cursed with what could well be the worst title ever given to a book: Moab is My Washpot. In this second, far more sensibly titled instalment, the much-loved actor, writer and comedian reminisces at length about his time at Cambridge University, where he is drawn into the world of student theatre and first meets his great friends Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson. His postuniversity experience working on TV series such as Blackadder are recounted here, along with his impressions – sometimes acerbic but mostly fond – of famous friends and colleagues. The book is full of Fry’s trademark self-deprecating humour and unashamedly indulges in arcane facts and convoluted sentences – great stuff! THE KING’S SPEECH Mark Logue & Peter Conradi One man saved the British Royal Family during the abdication crisis in the first decades of the 20th century – an almost unknown Australian speech therapist called Lionel Logue, whom one newspaper in the 1930s famously dubbed ‘The Quack who saved a King’. Based on Logue’s personal diaries, The King’s Speech is the previously untold story of how an unqualified Aussie saved Bertie (as the man who was to become King George VI had always been known) from his debilitating stammer and pathological nervousness in front of a crowd or microphone. Read the book before the soon-to-be-published film starring Colin Firth, Helena Bonham-Carter and Geoffrey Rush hits our cinema screens! Hodder & Stoughton PB $35 L SPECIA E C I R P William Heinemann HB WAS $49.95 NOW $39.95 L SPECIA E C I PR Omnibus PB WAS $39.95 NOW $33.95 LUNATIC IN MY HEAD Anjum Hasan Brass Monkey PB $29.95 This lyrical novel by an exciting young writer from the Subcontinent joins another of the author’s recent works, Big Girl Now (Brass Monkey. PB. $29.95), in addressing what it is to be young and directionless in contemporary India. SISTER Rosamund Lupton Piatkus PB $33 When Tess is found dead, her mother, friends, fiancée and even the police accept that she was a suicide. But her sister Beatrice isn’t convinced, and embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth. THE DONALD FRIEND DIARIES Ian Britain Text PB $39.95 The first single-volume selection of the diaries of Australian artist Donald Friend includes material from two ‘lost’ wartime diaries recently unearthed in America, along with handsome sketches by Friend. SOLAR Ian McEwan Jonathan Cape PB $32.95 In this darkly satirical novel, McEwan shows human frailty struggling with the most pressing and complex problem of our time. THE FAMILY LAW Benjamin Law Black Inc PB $27.95 Meet the Law family – eccentric, endearing and hard to resist. Your guide: Benjamin, the third of five children and a born humorist. READING BY MOONLIGHT Brenda Walker Hamish Hamilton HB $29.95 Writer and academic Brenda Walker describes the five stages of her treatment for breast cancer and how different books and authors helped her through the tumultuous process of recovery. GUANTANAMO: MY JOURNEY David Hicks THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET David Mitchell Sceptre PB $33 From the author of the acclaimed Cloud Atlas (Sceptre. PB. $25) comes this panoramic novel set in 18th-century Japan. VILLAIN Yoshida Shuichi Harvill Secker PB $29.95 The first novel by Shuichi to be translated into English, this story of a murder depicts loneliness and alienation in contemporary Japan with startling realism. In 1999 a young man from suburban Adelaide set out on an overseas trip that would change his life forever. Initially, he was after adventure and the experience of travelling the Silk Road. But events would set him on a different path; one that would see him deemed a terrorist, one of George W Bush's ‘worst of the worst’. He would be incarcerated in the world’s most notorious prison, Guantanamo Bay, and in that place where, according to an interrogator in Abu Ghraib, ‘even dogs won’t live’, he was to languish for five and a half years, suffering horror, torture and abuse. Now, for the first time and in his own words, David Hicks tells the story of his incarceration. A timely and important book. LEONARD COHEN: A REMARKABLE LIFE Anthony Reynolds Surprisingly few biographies have been written about Leonard Cohen, the famously reclusive and enigmatic Canadian poet, singer and songwriter. With knowledge and insight – but without hero worship – Welsh musician and writer Anthony Roberts describes the slow burn of Cohen’s early career and years of recording and touring, followed by five years of seclusion at a Zen Buddhist retreat. He also details the reappraisal of Cohen’s legacy following the many tribute albums and shows such as ‘I’m Your Fan’ and ‘Came So Far for Beauty’, the many cover versions of ‘Hallelujah’ and the financial mismanagement that put Cohen back on the road in his 70s, resulting in some of the most acclaimed live concerts in recent years. THE VINTAGE AND THE GLEANING Jeremy Chambers Text PB $32.95 Set in a winemaking town, this novel is about Smithy, a retired shearer turned vineyard worker who seeks redemption for past mistakes. WYATT Garry Disher Text PB $23.95 Wyatt is back, as dangerous and as enigmatic as ever. Involved in a jewel heist that goes wrong, he’s not the type of man to leave loose ends untied – as his former associates and new adversaries are about to find out. Winner of this year’s Ned Kelly Award for Best Australian Crime Fiction. HUMAN CHAIN Seamus Heaney Faber HB $30 This new collection of poems from the Nobel Prize–winning writer comprises a series of intense and masterfully sustained lyric pieces that are inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid. TALLER WHEN PRONE Les Murray Black Inc PB $24.95 Murray’s first volume of new poems since 2006’s The Biplane Houses (Black Inc. PB. $24.95) is a showcase for his unique mastery of form and matchless ear for the Australian vernacular. 10 Biography L SPECIA E C I R P Weidenfeld & Nicolson HB WAS $50 NOW $39.95 L SPECIA PRICE LIFE Keith Richards Over five decades, Keith Richards has lived a rock and roll life: taking chances, speaking his mind and making amazing music with the Rolling Stones. Now, in this much-anticipated autobiography, Richards tells us the story of the crossfire hurricane that is his life. And what a life it has been. Creating immortal riffs such as the ones in ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’, ‘Street Fighting Man’ and ‘Honky Tonk Women’. Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg. Coping with the death of Brian Jones. His famously turbulent relationship with Sir Mick. Marriage, family and the road that goes on forever… With the disarming honesty that has always been his trademark, Keith Richards provides rare insights into his hard-to-believe, totally unique life. Scribe HB WAS $45 NOW $39.95 REINVENTING FOOD Colman Andrews Phaidon HB $39.95 Ferran Adrià’s influence on contemporary cuisine will be felt long after his world-famous Catalan restaurant elBulli closes next year. For those of us who longed to experience a 30-course meal at his perennially fully booked table, this entertaining and insightful biography provides an entree into the man behind the legend. Acclaimed US food writer Colman Andrews charts Adrià’s rise from lowly dishwasher and army canteen cook to the most famous and controversial chef on the planet. It’s much more than a biography, however, as Andrews delves behind the hype of molecular gastronomy and alchemical experiments with foams and spherification, and describes his many personal experiences of dining at elBulli. STORYTELLER: THE LIFE OF ROALD DAHL Donald Sturrock Harper Press PB $35 Complex and often controversial, Roald Dahl is best known as the author of classic children’s books including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Fantastic Mr Fox, but he also wrote risky, often macabre, short stories for adults. Biographer Donald Sturrock first got to know Dahl while he was making a TV documentary about him in 1986. A friendship with Dahl’s family continued after the author’s death, and in 2006 Ophelia Dahl asked Sturrock if he would write her father’s biography, granting him access to Dahl’s private papers in the process. That Dahl was never averse to mixing autobiographical facts with a twist of fiction only adds to the enigma of the man who often severely tested his friendships but enthralled a legion of children and adults with his marvellous tales. Highly recommended THE PAPER GARDEN Molly Peacock REAL AND REEL Brian McFarlane Poet Molly Peacock first saw a travelling exhibition of Mary Delany’s cut-paper flowers at the Morgan Library in New York City, and was transfixed – both by the flowers and by the story of their creation. Dating from 1771, the 1000 pieces in the ‘Flora Delanica’ collection held in the British Museum were the first examples of the art form we now call mixed-media collage, produced by a woman aged in her 70s who created close to 1000 botanically accurate renditions of flowers in this form over a period of 10 years. This fascinating biography, which includes 35 full-colour illustrations, weaves together the events of Delany’s life in Georgian England in the company of George Frideric Handel, Jonathan Swift and the like, and spotlights the burst of late-life creativity that led to her remarkable artistic achievement. In Real and Reel, local film critic Brian McFarlane delivers a quietly ironic account of his life-long addiction to the big screen, particularly the films of 1940s Britain. Growing up in a small Victorian country town with the unfortunate name of Nhill, the aspiring cinephile spent every available penny and moment at the flicks, a habit that was to become one of a lifetime. From Nhill to Melbourne University and then eventually on to London, McFarlane describes – almost with bemusement – how his passion for film became a distinguished career, leading to meetings and friendships with stars aplenty as well as the publication of a host of books on cinematic history, including The Oxford Companion to Australian Film (with Geoff Mayer and Ina Bertrand) and The Encyclopedia of British Film. THE ROMANTIC Kate Holden Text PB $32.95 L SPECIA PRICE Little Brown HB WAS $50 NOW $16.95 Her memoir In My Skin (Text. PB. $25.95) shattered the stereotype of the drug-addicted prostitute, revealing intimate details of her five-year journey through heroin and sex work in St Kilda. And now a second memoir covers what Kate did next: a journey through Italy in search of romance, identity, wisdom – and sexual adventure. Told in the third person, with sections named after different lovers, this is a remarkably different memoir, but just as brave, bold and absorbing. In a recent interview with the Age, Holden said that she now lives ‘a quiet nanna’s life’, clearly a sharp contrast to the one she depicts in this book, of threesomes, phone sex and dildos, but also uncertainty, emotional upheaval, and betrayal by a man she deeply loved. Sid Harta PB $29 .95 L SPECIA E C I R P SHAKESPEARE: THE ILLUSTRATED EDITION Bill Bryson Harper Press HB WAS $40 NOW $14.95 UNDER THE SUN: THE LETTERS OF BRUCE CHATWIN Nicholas Shakespeare & Elizabeth Chatwin (eds) L SPECIA E C I PR TRUE COMPASS Edward M Kennedy Edward Kennedy didn’t live to see his autobiography in print, dying at Hyannis Port on 25 August 2009 less than two weeks before its publication. His much-anticipated memoir is the definitive firsthand account of America’s first family, drawing on 50 years of diaries and notes. Kennedy paints a picture of family life with his parents and eight older siblings, and recounts their profound influence on his life and 46 years as a progressive liberal senator. He reveals the years of heartbreak he suffered following the deaths of his brothers. With equal candour he tells of his later career in the Senate, including his endorsement of Barack Obama, and retraces the events that occurred at Chappaquiddick in July 1969, which closed the door on his own place in the presidential race. MALCOLM FRASER Malcolm Fraser & Margaret Simons Melbourne University Publishing PB $45 Part memoir and part authorised biography, this substantial volume moves from the Vietnam War to the Dismissal, covers Fraser’s years as PM and discusses his concern for breaches in the Rule of Law and the harsh treatment of refugees. RAINBOW PIE: A REDNECK MEMOIR Joe Bageant Scribe PB $35 This coming-of-age memoir from the author of Deer Hunting with Jesus (Scribe. PB. $24.95) is set between 1950 and 1963, and takes as its central theme America’s most taboo subject – social class. Jonathan Cape HB WAS $55 NOW $49.95 AN EXCLUSIVE LOVE Johanna Adorján Text PB $27.95 In this literary journey of self-understanding, Adorján investigates the lives of her grandparents, Hungarian Jews who survived the Holocaust and together, took their own lives when one fell terminally ill in 1991. FRANK James Kaplan Sphere PB $35 The definitive biography of that icon of the 20th century, Frank Sinatra, written by a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Esquire. MUST YOU GO? Antonia Fraser Phoenix PB $30 The celebrated biographer has written a moving portrait of her life with playwright Harold Pinter, who died in 2008. HITCH-22 Christopher Hitchens Allen & Unwin PB $35 The acid, hilarious, confessional and provocative memoirs of the journalist, polemicist and author of God is Not Great (Allen & Unwin. PB. $26.95). BOOK OF WAYWARD GIRLS & WICKED WOMEN Angela Carter Virago PB $35 A new edition of Carter’s bestselling collection of stories extolling the female virtues of discontent, sexual disruptiveness and bad manners. Note: December release. A JOURNEY Tony Blair Hutchinson HB $59.95 Blair’s memoirs provide an insight into the man, the politician and the statesman; charting successes, controversies and disappointments with an extraordinary candour. Bryson’s relentless inquisitiveness and offbeat observations are utilised to the max in this rollicking biographical yarn about the bard of Avon. Sifting through the tonnes of historical research and writing that already exists on Shakespeare’s work and life, Bryson concocts a lively portrait of the man and the time in which he lived. Breathing plenty of Elizabethan life into the story, we’re taken on a wander through Shakespeare’s early years, the lost years, the London years, the plays, the years of fame and finally his death. The text is littered with a colourful range of historical paintings, portraits and documents that also bring the period to life. ‘There is simply no writer in England whose work I have a greater passion for than yours,’ Bruce Chatwin’s publisher Tom Maschler wrote – this from a man who also published Amis, Barnes, McEwan and Rushdie. And yet Chatwin’s work remains in relative obscurity. This comprehensive collection of letters, edited by his biographer Nicholas Shakespeare and his wife Elizabeth Chatwin (her footnotes add piquancy), seeks to bring Chatwin back into the sun. From his earliest letters home from boarding school to his last words in his dying days, the impression is of an erudite man who was ‘running away from himself by travelling’, as one friend wrote in his diary. Devoted husband and active homosexual; socialite and loner; archaeologist and art collector – Chatwin’s life was one of contradictions, many of which are unpacked here. MY BLOOD’S COUNTRY Fiona Capp Allen & Unwin PB $28 An intensely personal exploration and celebration of the life and work of one of Australia’s premier poets, Judith Wright, through the landscape and country she loved so much. NOMAD Ayaan Hirsi Ali HarperCollins PB $35 The author of Infidel (Simon & Schuster. PB. $25) tells the story of her journey to America, where she has built a new life an ocean away from the strife she witnessed in Somalia and the death threats that followed her public renunciation of Islam in the wake of 9/11. CHOCOLATE WARS Deborah Cadbury HarperCollins PB $35 Historian and documentary filmmaker Deborah Cadbury takes a journey into her family history to uncover the rivalries that have driven 250 years of chocolate empire building. Mouthwatering narrative history! THE WEST AND THE MAP OF THE WORLD Matthew Richardson Miegunyah HB $70 This handsomely illustrated volume was inspired by antique maps and their creators’ global vision. 11 History L SPECIA PRICE Doubleday HB WAS $55 NOW $19.95 AT HOME: A SHORT HISTORY OF PRIVATE LIFE Bill Bryson THE AUSTRALIAN PUB Diane Kirkby, Tanja Luckins & Chris McConville It struck Bill Bryson one day that most of the key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live. This inspired him to start a journey in book form around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, moving from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life – things that many of us take for granted – came to be. In the process, Bryson did a prodigious amount of research on the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to toilets. A worthy successor to his prize-winning A Short History of Nearly Everything (see p16), At Home is a fascinating look at human life through a domestic telescope. This book takes us on an intoxicating journey through the history of one of Australia’s mostloved institutions, the pub. From its colonial origins along the waterfronts and roadways used by travellers, through to the mid-20thcentury six o’clock swill and on to the boutique bars of contemporary cosmopolitanism, The Australian Pub persuasively argues the case that our pubs are, and always have been, more than just a place to drink. The authors trace the essential role of the pub as an enduring provider of drink, food, entertainment, accommodation and illegal betting; investigate its relationship to sport and its battles with licensing laws; and explore a wide range of classic pub architecture. University of NSW Press PB $49.95 This handsome book delivers a decade in pictures, reminding us of the faces, places, tragedies and achievements of the turbulent noughties. Each year is captured with an emblematic title and graphic photojournalism, including blasts from the not-so-distant past such as the Y2K bug, the 2004 tsunami, the Beaconsfield rescue, the launch of the iPhone and the election of Barack Obama. Essays by the likes of environmentalist Jonathan Porritt delve into the decade-defining topics of climate change, 9/11, science and finance. Penguin PB $24.95 Heart & Soul: Australia’s First Families of Wine takes us on a journey through the history, the people, the vineyards and the regions of Australia’s most famous wineries. Chronicling the trials and triumphs of the families who pioneered the Australian wine industry over generations (Yalumba, Tyrrell’s, Henschke, Brown Brothers, Jim Barry and more), it is full of stories that are as rich and varied as their produce. The book includes an introduction by James Halliday, maps of the major wine regions, cellar door and accommodation information, and sidebars filled with tips and secrets straight from the experts’ mouths. An essential resource for everyone interested in Australian wine. Highly recommended Popular historian James Reston, Jr is fascinated by the turning points of history. With his novelist’s eye for drama, he draws out the parallels and ‘what ifs’ that foreshadow the misunderstandings and conflicts of today between Christianity and Islam, Protestants and Catholics, Sunnis and Shiites. In this page-turning sequel to Warriors of God, his bestselling study of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, Reston gets to the pointy end of the conflict. At its heart is that pivotal moment in 1529 when Süleyman the Magnificent’s army amassed for battle on the outskirts of Vienna, having the Europe of Charles V clearly in its sights. Each leader was defending a different faith and had different allies, so events unfolded against the background power plays of Francis I, Henry VIII, Martin Luther and the Ottoman Janissaries. HOLY WARRIORS Jonathon Phillips HEART & SOUL Graeme Lofts Wiley PB $39.95 D-DAY: THE BATTLE FOR NORMANDY Antony Beevor Bestselling military historian Antony Beevor pretty much has the pivotal moments in WWII history sewn up. Having captured the drawn-out horror of Stalingrad, the home-front horrors of Berlin and the liberation of Paris, he turns his famously in-depth and meticulous scrutiny to one of the war’s most resonant events: the Allies’ Normandy invasion of June 1944. Beginning with the planning involved in this immense undertaking, Beevor provides an almost blow-by-blow description of the horrendous battles and skirmishes that erupted as the fronts merged on the town of Caen and on to Paris. He captures the human experience of the D-Day battles, in which almost 20,000 French civilians died, and the terrible suffering experienced by Normandy, whose scars would linger into the postwar era. Viking HB WAS $59.95 NOW $16.95 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH James Reston, Jr DECADE Terence McNamee Phaidon HB $59.95 L SPECIA PRICE Pimlico PB $29.95 This timely and revealing study demonstrates that crusading has proven to be a remarkably adaptable and long-lasting phenomenon, embedded in the actions and consciousness of the West for centuries. Jonathon Phillips traces the crusading impulse from the bloody conquest of Jerusalem in the First Crusade right up to George W Bush’s declaration in 2001 that ‘…this crusade, this war on terror, is going to take a while’. Phillips covers a lot of ground – from the First Crusade in 1095, through the Second Crusade, the Fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the epic clashes between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin during the Third Crusade, the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, Frederick II’s Recovery of Jerusalem in 1229, the 1492 fall of Granada, the conquest of the New World and finally, in our own time, to the West’s offensive against radical Islam. THE FIRST LADIES OF ROME Annelise Freisenbruch Jonathan Cape HB $55 L SPECIA R E F OF Welcome to the extraordinary world of the first ladies of the Roman Empire, legendary women who were born or married into the imperial houses of Rome. From the scandalous (Augustus Caesar’s daughter Julia, who was disowned by her father after getting drunk in the Roman forum and then having sex with strangers on the speakers platform) to the scheming (Poppaea, Nero’s mistress, who persuaded the emperor to kill his mother Agrippina in order that he might marry her) and the saintly (Helena, Constantine’s mother, who was known for her Christian piety and proselytising), these and other powerful woman were both assets and liabilities to their imperial fathers, husbands, lovers and sons. Annelise Freisenbruch uses the most up-to-date literary, artistic, archaeological and epigraphic evidence to bring them vividly to life in this fascinating and accessible book. special deal: buy all three for only $59.95! IN SEARCH OF SYDNEY Delia Falconer IN SEARCH OF BRISBANE Matthew Condon IN SEARCH OF HOBART Peter Timms University of NSW Press HB $29.95 each Three well-known local writers take us on a journey through their home cities, using interviews, personal recollections and historical narrative to evoke the unique spirit of each. These beautifully presented volumes can be purchased individually or – in a Summer Reading Guide exclusive offer – for a bargain price of $59.95 for all three. ATLANTIC Simon Winchester Harper Press PB $35 Simon Winchester delivers a mixture of history, science and reportage in this masterful work about the Atlantic Ocean. THE FLIGHT OF THE INTELLECTUALS Paul Berman Scribe PB $29.95 Berman delivers a powerful commentary about the media’s inability to detect dangerous ideas in contemporary society. ILL FARES THE LAND Tony Judt Allen Lane PB $29.95 In this polemic, the late historian and essayist challenges us to confront our societal ills and to shoulder responsibility for the world we live in. EUROPE’S TRAGEDY: A NEW HISTORY OF THE THIRTY YEARS WAR Peter H Wilson Penguin PB $29.95 A fascinating, brilliantly written attempt to explain the horrific series of conflicts known as the Thirty Years War (1618–48), which tore the heart out of Europe. FROM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS WHO GAVE YOU PEARL HARBOR Jerry Della Femina Text PB $35 This advertising classic, first published in the US in 1971, was an inspiration for the Mad Men TV series. ILLUSTRATED superFREAKONOMICS Steven D Levitt & Stephen Dubner Allen Lane HB $39.95 This new, illustrated edition of the worldwide bestseller looks deeper, questions harder and uncovers even more hidden truths about our world. GERMANIA Simon Winder Picador PB $35 This ‘personal history of Germans ancient and modern’ is an enthusiastic, amusing and startlingly vivid introduction to the wonders of Germany. THE SS: A NEW HISTORY Adrian Weale Little Brown PB $35 Drawing on new research, this history argues that as the ideological ‘engine room’ of National Socialism, a study of the SS is the best way of gaining insight into how Nazism would have evolved if Germany had not lost the war. GOD IS NOT ONE Stephen Prothero Black Inc PB $34.95 Subtitled ‘The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World & Why Their Differences Matter’, Prothero’s thought-provoking work shows that the differences between the major religions are far greater than most of us think. THE IDEA OF JUSTICE Amartya Sen Penguin PB $26.95 Is justice an ideal, forever beyond our grasp, or something that may actually guide our practical decisions and enhance our lives? Here, Sen argues that public reason can indeed make societies less unjust. INTO THE WOODS Anna Krien Black Inc PB $29.95 An intimate and intrepid journey into the Tasmanian forest wars, written by one of the country’s most exciting new writers. THEM AND US Will Hutton Little Brown PB $35 Hutton argues that reconstructing a broken financial system (ie, capitalism) cannot be done without a wholesale revision of the wider system and the values on which it is based, the most important of which is fairness. Note: December release. 12 History MI6 Keith Jeffery Bloomsbury HB $60 Often glamorised in TV series such as Spooks, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or MI6 as it’s better known, has always been shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Professor of British History Keith Jeffery has been granted full access to the MI6 archives, though due to security reasons the book only covers the years between its foundation in 1909 to the early years of the Cold War in 1949. There’s an enormous amount of information crammed into the 800 pages, with MI6 turning its hand to everything from helping prevent a Communist revolution in Brazil in 1935 to monitoring the development of German V-weapons. James Bond fans won’t be disappointed either: one agent is set ashore in front of a Dutch casino during WWII wearing full evening dress and a rubber oversuit. SAVAGE OR CIVILISED? Penny Russell University of NSW Press PB $34.95 In colonial Australia, manners marked the difference between savagery and civilisation, between vulgarity and refinement. Colonists recoiled in shock and confusion at the customs of Indigenous Australians, but they also sensed the savagery lurking in white society. Manners mattered, to individuals and to society. In Savage or Civilised?: Manners in Colonial Australia, Penny Russell, associate professor of history at the University of Sydney, has written an original and compelling account of behaviour, respect and manners in our early society. L SPECIA PRICE Picador PB WAS $35 NOW $29.95 L SPECIA PRICE Norton HB WAS $52.95 NOW $49.95 L SPECIA E C I PR Fig Tree PB $24.95 L SPECIA PRICE Hachette Australia PB WAS $35 NOW $29.95 PARISIANS Graham Robb Following the success of his award-winning The Discovery of France (Picador. PB. $27), Graham Robb has produced another wonderfully engaging and erudite book, this one focusing on the world’s most romantic city. Like its subject, Parisians is far from conventional and staid – being a travelogue, a history, a series of biographies and a short-story collection all in one. Its sections deal with different historical figures and their actions in Paris, often treating them like fictional characters but drawing on a wealth of detail from Robb’s numerous sources. There are relatively straightforward essays, such as the depiction of Marie Antoinette becoming lost in the then-unmapped Left Bank, along with more adventurous creative pieces including one that has Miles Davis and Julie Greco conducting a love affair in screenplay format. Showtime is a scholarly and enjoyable journey through the history of the Broadway musical from its early beginnings to the present day, lauded in the Washington Post as a book that is ‘large in spirit as well as scope’. Stempel took 30 years to research his subject, and it tells. He separates out the threads that have been woven into the modern musical theatre, journeying from the 18th-century French, German and English influences of European-trained professional musicians to the crude realities of the ethnic theatre of immigrant Irish and Italians, and also tracing the influence of African-American culture, vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley. Along the way he puts a cast of colourful characters and formidable talent under the spotlight, including Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lerner and Loewe, Harold Prince, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Fosse, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the great Stephen Sondheim. THREE FAMINES Tom Keneally It’s a perennially interesting quirk of history that the three rulers embroiled in WWI were cousins, linked by marriage and Queen Victoria’s entwined family tree. Carter’s enthralling history of the years leading up to 1914 probes into the childhood, inept statesmanship and many foibles and quirks of Victoria’s eldest grandson, the unhinged Kaiser Wilhelm, and look-alike cousins George V and Tsar Nicholas. Written with an entertaining contemporary eye, this accessible history is a period page-turner with a terrific choice of photographs of the royals at work and play. Reading with the knowledge of the inexorable changes waiting in the wings adds to the drama and sense of foreboding as the last years of Europe’s imperial era are played out. Acclaimed author Tom Keneally sets out to untangle the history of what appear to be three very different famines: the Irish famine, which began in 1896; the Bengal famine of 1943; and the Ethiopian famine of the 1970s and ’80s. While each famine is associated with overwhelming shortages of staple foods (in particular potatoes, rice and the cereal grain teff), Keneally eloquently places much greater blame on governments, administrative mismanagement and racial preconceptions. Challenging and debunking the questionable truths that the Irish relied too much on one staple food crop, the Bengalis were victims of a caste system and the Ethiopians refused to plough without oxen, his searing indictment of the root causes of famine is as thought provoking as it is timely. National Library of Australia PB $39.95 This richly illustrated book offers a fascinating insight into the early history of European settlement through the first encounters with our native fauna. Naturalists regarded Australia as a ‘land of contrarieties’, with oddly built creatures and a topsy-turvy landscape. Olsen gives a brilliant account of their reaction and includes many of the important first illustrations as well as documented accounts, attitudes and first impressions. The chapter on koalas includes the story of their first discovery, eight of the earliest (and rather peculiar) renderings, ill-informed descriptions and some of the mammal’s original appellations (sloth, colo, cooloo, even monkey). There are hundreds of similar accounts, all carefully documented for academic reference or for those with a keen interest in our early natural history. Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia still stands as one of history’s most acute lessons in hubris and the reversal of fortunes. Delving into archives of Russian military history only recently unlocked, Lieven goes behind the legends and historical bias to shine a new light on Russia’s experience in the Napoleonic era, proving once and for all that Russia’s victory over the French emperor wasn’t entirely due to the weather. Lieven’s magisterial study of the campaigns and battles of 1807 to 1814, told from the Russians’ perspective, doesn’t stint on the details in describing the barbarity of war, in particular the central battles of Leipzig and Borodino. Meticulously researched and possessing great narrative verve, Lieven’s book puts a new perspective on European history. STREET FIGHT IN NAPLES Peter Robb Allen & Unwin HB $50 Like his 1996 bestseller Midnight in Sicily (Duffy & Snellgrove. PB. $22.95), Peter Robb’s Street Fight in Naples is an unconventional and engrossing history set in the Mezzogiorno. Subtitled ‘A Book of Art and Insurrection’, it ranges across nearly 3000 years of Neapolitan life and art, from the first Greek landings in Italy to his own less auspicious arrival 30-something years ago. Robb lived in Naples for most of the 1980s, and his personal stories add a contemporary edge to the fascinating history that he recounts here. One of the book’s narrative threads is the story of how, in 1606, the painter Caravaggio fled from Rome after a fatal street fight and made his way to Naples, finding in its teeming streets an image of the age’s crisis. It’s a not-unexpected diversion, seeing that another of Robb’s award-winning books, M (Duffy & Snellgrove. PB. $35), dealt with that enigmatic painter’s extraordinary life. TRANSPORT: AN AUSTRALIAN HISTORY Robert Lee University of NSW Press HB $49.95 BER DECEM SE RELEA More than the story of trains, boats and planes – and trams, ferries and automobiles – Lee’s history of Australia’s varied modes of transport puts a different spin on social history. Beginning with the steamers and liners that sailed here from Britain, the author moves to the legendary Cobb & Co era, drovers and the Afghan camel trains. From the stunning changes wrought by the coming of the railways, and the urban transport revolution that saw trams trundle across our capital cities, this entertaining history is packed with evocative images of our changing cityscapes and commuters. Underscoring what is predominantly a history of government enterprise is the author’s sense of rage at our current governments’ failure to deliver on transport policy and the largely woeful state of Australia’s public transport systems. A WORLD ON FIRE Amanda Foreman UPSIDE DOWN WORLD Penny Olsen UNSUNG ORDINARY MEN Sally Dingo Like many returning WWII POW’s, Max Butler never spoke about his experiences of the horrors of war. The psychological scars that burned deep were hidden away. He died when his daughter Sally was just 12 years old, and Unsung Ordinary Men is her celebration of him and many other men like him, who served their country and then suffered in silence. Max Butler served in the doomed 2/40th battalion and spent over three years in prisoner-of-war camps, including the virtual death sentence of being held in camps along the Thai–Burma Railway. Sally Dingo’s search for understanding is a moving account of the legacy of war and how it impacts on both families and future generations. Penguin Press PB $32.95 SHOWTIME Larry Stempel THE THREE EMPERORS Miranda Carter Knopf Australia HB WAS $49.95 NOW $39.95 RUSSIA AGAINST NAPOLEON Dominic Lieven Allen Lane PB $35 In this epic history of the American Civil War, Amanda Foreman recounts the titanic struggle between North and South and looks at British involvement in the war through the lives of over 100 participants – soldiers, mercenaries, politicians, spies, journalists, diplomats, doctors and nurses. More British citizens fought in the Civil War than in any other nonBritish war, and it’s refreshing to read nonUS-centric takes on the conflict, made even more enthralling in the capable hands of a British-American historian. Acclaimed military historian Antony Beevor says about her achievement: ‘Amanda Foreman’s magnificent book provides a completely fresh perspective on the first great modern conflict. Weaving together a vast panoply of people and events, it dramatically brings alive this extraordinary period of British and American history.’ Politics & society 23 THINGS THEY DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT CAPITALISM Ha-Joon Chang Allen Lane PB $29.95 BER DECEM SE RELEA Many of us watched the unfolding events of the global financial crisis of 2008 with bewilderment at how it could all go so wrong. Ha-Joon Chang, specialist in development economics at Cambridge University and the author of two previous books on global economics, gives us a no-holds-barred, full-frontal attack on free market capitalism in an enlightening and somewhat scary economics page-turner that documents how the meltdown came about. The 23 things in the title are responses to so-called free market truths, which the author systematically dismantles and then tears to pieces. Chang is no anti-capitalist, but his forthright and entertaining approach to economic theory and free-market practices is sure to make this a love-it-or-loathe-it book for many. A cracking great read. BEST AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL CARTOONS 2010 Russ Radcliffe (ed) See what Australia’s wittiest and most perceptive political cartoonists made of 2010 in Scribe’s annual and essential alternative guide to Canberra’s political year. The downfall of Kevin Rudd, anointing of our first female prime minister and ascendency of Tony Abbott to lead the Opposition are covered in depth, showcasing the political expediency that ran riot on both sides of politics during this election year. Budgie-smugglers, dumped promises and political assassinations – they’re all here. Scribe PB $29.95 Q Scribe PB $35 Bantam PB $35 University of Queensland Press PB $34.95 University of WA Publishing HB WAS $49.95 NOW $16.95 HAMLET’S BLACKBERRY William Powers Scribe PB $29.95 We seem to spend most of our waking hours online rather than off these days, and terms like crackberry have jokingly been thrown around to describe our digital addictions. Journalist William Powers’ first book, part memoir part self-help guide, aims to bring some balance to our online and offline worlds. Along the way he argues that what is perceived to be a particularly modern disorder has its antecedents in the past. Great thinkers from Plato to Shakespeare, Thoreau to McLuhan theorised over the social impact of the written word, the printing press, TV and the mass media. Powers doesn’t exactly advocate a turn off, tune out and drop in approach; instead, his prescription for a bad case of digital addiction is as simple as pulling out the plug. BER DECEM SE RELEA WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM Steven Johnson THE MORAL LANDSCAPE Sam Harris Like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion through a recent bestseller (Letter to a Christian Nation. Bantam. HB. $29.95). In the aftermath, he discovered that most people, from secular scientists to religious fundamentalists, agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, the failure of science to address questions of meaning and morality has become the primary justification for religious faith. In this controversial new book, Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that we know enough about the human brain and how it reacts to events in the world to say that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. L SPECIA E C I R P 3. What celebrates its 400th birthday in 2011? GRIFTOPIA Matt Taibbi Gonzo Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi dishes the dirt on the financial world’s smokescreen of legislation and insider deals to get at the truth behind the GFC and subsequent government bailouts. His boisterously scathing reflections on the state of America place the blame firmly at the feet of the ‘grifter class’, America’s financial leaders and their political sidekicks, and in particular former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Like many commentators who believed in the dream that Obama could ‘make a difference’, Taibbi’s disillusionment is fuelled by anger at Wall Street and ‘the mechanics of this fiendish labyrinth of theft’. Pulling no punches, Griftopia is a refreshingly commonsensical rant, providing truly scary insights into an ongoing story of corruption and intrigue. 13 Allen Lane HB $29.95 In his seventh book, popular-science author Steven Johnson takes a look at the ideal conditions for stimulating good ideas, and comes to some enlightening conclusions. Rather than concentrating on individual thinkers and their brainwaves, as so many books on innovation do, Johnson focuses on the environments in which these brainwaves happen. He points out that the more we’re connected – be it through cities or the internet – the more we’re confronted by fresh material to feed our minds. And good ideas often need the allowance of a long time to develop (‘slow hunches’), as in Tim Berners-Lee’s creation of the World Wide Web. Ideas can also be stimulated by error, serendipity and other circumstances that Johnson delves into. He demonstrates how cultivating the right place and the right time is essential to inspiring important discoveries. WISDOM Stephen S Hall THE ZEROES Randall Lane Award-winning science writer Stephen S Hall has that wonderful gift of being able to take on the big subjects and write about them in an engaging and readable way. In Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience, Hall takes up a challenge that lesser science writers might find too big to wrestle with. His search for the meaning of wisdom takes us back to the great philosophical teachers and thinkers, before heading at warp speed through the millennia to explore how neuroscience is at the cutting edge in the search for the meaning of wisdom today. There are plenty of thought-provoking ideas and loads of research along the way to get you thinking about just what it means to be wise. What does a Wall Street insider do when the stock market crash of 2008 sends his business down the gurgler? Write a tell-all memoir about it, of course! And that’s just what Randall Lane, cofounder and editor of the now defunct Trader Monthly and Dealmaker magazines, has done. Aimed at the greed-is-good mob, Lane’s editorial mantra for his magazines was ‘See It, Make It, Spend It’, and his target market lapped it up. The Zeroes details the decade’s excesses with outlandish tales of big-spending traders and the circus that surrounded them. It’s a gossip-filled roller-coaster ride made up of a cast of characters whose lives are fuelled by multimillion-dollar deals and by chasing the trading dragons of addiction. Scribe PB $35 CONVERSATIONS WITH THE MOB Megan Lewis Over a period of five years, former Australian photojournalist Megan Lewis lived with the Martu people of the Great Sandy Desert, capturing their day-to-day experiences against the outback palette of blue skies and red earth. Amongst the last Aboriginal people to come into contact with white Australia, the Martu live in an unforgiving environment where summer highs can reach 50°C. Dramatic, moving and beautiful, Lewis’s photographs are interspersed with voices from the desert, speaking on such topics as the Dreamtime, health, whitefellas, footy and community, underscoring the tensions between old and new ways. With subtlety and respect, she successfully treads that fine line between friend and photojournalist, revealing the world of the Martu not only to outsiders but also to themselves, and bridging the cultural divide in the process. Images from this collection won a 2005 Walkley Award. MONSOON Robert D Kaplan Black Inc PB $34.95 L SPECIA E C I PR Profile HB WAS $60 NOW $49.95 Like many global observers, US journalist and academic Robert D Kaplan believes that this is the Asian Century. His controversial mix of travel, politics and polemics posits that the rise of Asia’s superpowers – China and India – has moved the geopolitical focus from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. From the Horn of Africa to Indonesia, the region’s 37 countries are home to a third of the globe’s population, characterised by a volatile cocktail of weak governments, dissatisfied youth and the threat of extremism. Highlighting the intertwined religious, political, economic and environmental challenges facing the region, Kaplan explores ethnic rivalry in Sri Lanka, climate change in Bangladesh, democracy in Indonesia and naval expansionism in China. WHY THE WEST RULES – FOR NOW Ian Morris Why has the West dominated the globe for the past 200 years, and will its power last? Describing the patterns of human history, the archaeologist and historian Ian Morris offers surprising new answers to both questions. It is not, he reveals, differences of race or culture, or even the strivings of great individuals, that explain Western dominance. Rather, it is the effects of geography on the everyday efforts of ordinary people as they deal with crises of resources, disease, migration and climate. And as geography and human ingenuity continue to interact, the world will change in astonishing ways, transforming Western rule in the process. Brilliantly argued, Why the West Rules – for Now not only explains why the West came to rule the world, but also predicts what the future will bring in the next 100 years. ZOMBIE ECONOMICS: HOW DEAD IDEAS STILL WALK AMONG US John Quiggan Princeton University Press HB $34.95 Cue eerie music. Deregulation, market forces, the trickle-down effect…in Zombie Economics, John Quiggan, Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland, argues that entrenched economic principles such as these caused the GFC, and that although they’ve been resolutely discredited, they refuse to die. Quiggan believes that the only way of avoiding another financial crisis is by killing the ideology of market liberalism once and for all. He describes how the various ideas behind economic rationalism were born in the form of Thatcherism and Reaganism, how they developed and how they were brought undone. And refreshingly, he also provides some answers, including taking a new approach to risk and regulation, and improving social risk-management policies. 14 Landscapes & gardens BEST AUSTRALIAN GARDENS & LANDSCAPES BEST AUSTRALIAN INTERIORS BEST AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE Gary Takle (ed) In these three lavishly illustrated books, the publisher of Abode and Winning Design magazines has compiled his choice of the best in contemporary architecture, interior design, and landscape and garden design from around the country. Each book profiles around 50 projects and includes text, plans and stunning photographs. Images Publishing HB $60 Think Publishing PB $39.95 each L SPECIA E C I PR University of WA Publishing HB WAS $59.95 NOW $49.95 This scholarly and exhaustive study gives a full account of the omnipresent eucalypt in Australian life. Naturally, we think of the landscape, park or garden. But as this book aptly demonstrates, eucalypts are a central part of our culture: our art, music, literature, and commercial and social history. The book uses photographs and text to examine every facet of these uniquely Australian trees. We learn of the tree’s biology, classification and cultivation; its rare and endangered species; and of iconic individual trees. And we also learn that it isn’t, in fact, uniquely Australian – there are a few species found naturally elsewhere that are also documented. The book ends with a checklist of all species and includes the meaning of their botanical names. Fremantle Press HB $49.95 The rich volcanic soil and cool climate of the Dandenong Ranges just east of Melbourne have made it a haven for horticulturalists and gardeners for well over a century. Prior to Francis purchasing the 2-hectare Cloudehill property in 1992, it had been in the same family since the first rural land divisions of the 1890s. Francis saw the potential in the overgrown acreage with its sweeping views and fine collection of specimen trees lost in the undergrowth. Like all great gardens, Cloudehill is a labour of love and the story of its transformation into one of the country’s finest landscaped properties in the arts and crafts style makes great reading. Best known as one of the presenters of ABC TV’s Gardening Australia, the laconic and very knowledgeable Angus Stewart is a strong advocate of changing our European garden practices in favour of an Australian native garden style. Creating an Australian Garden is an all-you-need-to-know guide to planning, building and planting with Australian native plants. A number of native gardens are featured, highlighting a variety of different garden styles from bush block to suburban back garden. With a comprehensive plant guide of over 450 different varieties to choose from, there’s plenty of scope to think outside the box and go native, with ideas aplenty for tropical, cottage, formal or bush gardens. Stretching from Broome to Kununurra and covering an area that Victoria could squeeze into twice over, the Kimberley is one of Australia’s most remote and enigmatic wilderness regions. It’s also one of the world’s most ecologically diverse regions, with pristine marine ecosystems and more than 100 recently discovered plant species adding to its floral bounty. Packed with vibrant photographs, this pictorial takes us inland along the Fitzroy River to Geikie Gorge, deep into the interior at Halls Creek, and up to Broome and the islands and reefs offshore. With the focus on the area’s natural wonders and beauty, this celebration of the region’s bountiful biodiversity argues that, rather than being exploited, the Kimberley should be protected with World Heritage status. Husband and wife team Neil and Jenny Delmage have been designing and planting gardens for over 20 years. From large-scale rural properties to much more intimate projects, they have always had a strong focus on waterwise garden design. Here, the authors revisit many of the Western Australian gardens they have created, discussing the principles behind each design and the individual challenges thrown up by location and environment. Whether turning a 2-hectare patch of sand into a parkland garden or making the most of minimal space to create a restful garden space out of a shoebox, From Coast to Country: Waterwise Gardens for Australian Living offers plenty of advice and inspiration on how to approach designing and creating an enduring garden. Allen & Unwin HB $50 L SPECIA PRICE Miegunyah HB WAS $65 NOW $54.95 RURAL AUSTRALIAN GARDENS Myles Baldwin THE KIMBERLEY Victoria Laurie Highly recommended CREATING AN AUSTRALIAN GARDEN Angus Stewart FROM COAST TO COUNTRY Neil & Jenny Delmage EUCALYPTS: A CELEBRATION John Wrigley & Murray Fagg Jacana HB $65 CLOUDEHILL: A YEAR IN THE GARDEN Jeremy Francis Murdoch HB $89.95 Landscape designer Myles Baldwin heads off on a state-by-state jaunt through Australia’s alpine, arid and subtropical regions in search of our best rural gardens. This chatty and informative tour, rich in photographic inspiration, will have urban garden lovers who fantasise about escaping to a bucolic lifestyle frantically searching for acreage on realestate. com. From the perennial walled garden of Possumwood in the NSW Southern Highlands to the more arid landscape of Boat’s End in South Australia, Baldwin supplies detailed explorations of each garden and an overview from the property owners themselves. Of course, properties on a grand scale don’t come easy, especially when set in difficult locations, and there’s plenty of detailed knowledge and sound advice here to make this a practical as well as inspirational tour of 18 beautiful gardens. SHACK Simon Griffiths Lantern PB $39.95 Photographer Simon Griffiths has travelled the countryside to bring us images of that great Aussie icon, the shack. DOG EAR CAFE Andrew Stojanovski Hybrid Publishers PB $34.95 This inspirational book about the Mt Theo Petrol Sniffing Program is a true-life adventure story about how one Aboriginal community beat the odds and put an end to petrol sniffing. LA BELLA LINGUA Dianne Hales HarperCollins PB $30 A joyous, funny and warmly affectionate celebration of Italy, its history, literature, food, music, movies, people and – most of all – language. A FIELD GUIDE TO THE MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA Peter Menkhorst & Frank Knight Oxford University Press PB $39.95 A significantly updated and redesigned edition of this classic guide to identifying all 382 species of mammals known in Australia. THE GARDEN OF IDEAS Richard Aitken The origins, history and preservation of our parks and gardens is a much-less researched and documented subject than, say, Australian architecture. More quixotic in nature, gardens are easily lost in time yet they tell us much about ourselves, where we came from and where we’re going. Covering four centuries of Australian garden style, Richard Aitken’s sweeping history of garden design is a ripper of a book, painstakingly researched and magnificently illustrated. From our early colonial days and establishment of parkland through to our current need for a waterwise approach to gardening, Aitken traces how our cultural development and thinking has shaped and re-shaped the design of our gardens and landscape. WILDFLOWER COUNTRY Stanley & Kaisa Breeden Fremantle Press HB $75 A NEW HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY Anthony Kenny Oxford University Press HB $79.95 Now available as a single volume, this magisterial and easily accessible history will appeal to anyone interested in the people and ideas that shaped the course of Western thought. THE GRAND DESIGN Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow Bantam PB $32.95 Hawking and Mlodinow argue their case that scientific obsession with formulating a single theory on the origins of the universe may be misplaced. THE HAPPINESS PROJECT Gretchen Rubin HarperCollins PB $35 Soon after her 36th birthday, Gretchen Rubin realised that she wasn’t as happy as she would like to be. So each month for the following year, she pursued a different set of resolutions and formulated her own definitions of happiness and how to achieve it. THE LEGACY David Suzuki Allen & Unwin HB $27 The internationally renowned scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster shares his vision about how we can create a sustainable future. The image that comes to mind when we think of Western Australian wildflowers is fields of colour stretching as far as the eye can see. Digital photographers Stanley and Kaisa Breeden’s astonishingly detailed close-up work turns this image on its head. Their method of digitally recording a series of identical images with different depths of field and then combining them into a single image results in botanical photographs that have an almost hyper-realist feel to them. Travelling from Shark Bay to the Fitzgerald River, the Breedens zero in on some of the whopping 5800 different plants that grow in the area sometimes referred to as the Southwest botanical province and recognised as one of the world’s 39 International Biodiversity Hotspots. SEX AT DAWN Christopher Ryan & Cacilda Jethá Scribe PB $35 An explanation of how our promiscuous past haunts our contemporary struggles, addressing why many people find long-term fidelity so difficult and why sexual passion tends to fade even as love deepens. TEACH US TO SIT STILL Tim Parks Harvill Secker PB $35 A thought-provoking and improbably entertaining story of Parks’ quest to overcome ill health; one that led him to confront hard truths about the relationship between the mind and the body, the hectic modern world and his life as a writer. CUSTOM BICYCLES Christine Elliott & David Jablonka Images Publishing HB $40 Passionate cyclists Elliott and Jablonka present a wonderful collection of expertly honed, humanpowered machines built by some of the most creative bicycle makers in the world. THE AUSTRALIAN UGLINESS Robin Boyd Text PB $34.95 This 50th-anniversary edition of Boyd’s highly influential book of architectural and social criticism includes a foreword by Christos Tsiolkas. Science & nature THE ARTIST AND THE SCIENTISTS Peter Trusler, Patricia Vickers-Rich & Thomas H Rich Cambridge University Press PB $59.95 Talented science artists such as Peter Trusler draw on fossil evidence to produce stunning depictions of life before humanity. For three decades, he’s been working with a husband-and-wife palaeontologist team – Monash University’s Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich and Museum Victoria’s senior curator Thomas H Rich – on adventurous digs around the world. This engaging collaborative book is part-memoir, part-scientific fact and part-artwork (with nearly 200 imaginationcapturing illustrations), as the artist and the scientists discuss the amazing projects they’ve completed together. CYCLES OF TIME Roger Penrose Jonathan Cape HB $55 In his first book since the bestselling The Road to Reality (Vintage. PB. $55), Penrose offers a radical new theory of the origin – and ultimate end – of the universe, offering a completely new perspective on cosmology and providing a quite unexpected answer to the oftenasked question, ‘What came before the Big Bang?’ Two key ideas underlie his argument: a penetrating analysis of the Second Law of Thermodynamics – according to which the ‘randomness’ of our world is continually increasing – and a thorough examination of the light-cone geometry of space-time. Penrose is able to combine these two central themes to show how the expected ultimate fate of our accelerating, expanding universe can actually be reinterpreted as the ‘Big Bang’ of a new one. HERE ON EARTH Tim Flannery Text HB $49.95* PB $34.95 * Limited number of copies signed by the author available Tim Flannery’s sweeping biography of the earth and the human species that have inhabited it for the last couple of hundred thousand years is as brilliant as it is ambitious. With his scientist/explorer sensibility, this love letter to the planet is filled with scientific fact, rich in biographical detail and observation. Subtitled ‘An argument for hope’, the book is also in many ways about Flannery and his vision of the future, and he imbues the text with a spiritual, almost cosmic sensibility. The chapters covering ecology and environment are at the heart of his argument, and though much of what is covered here makes for painful reading, Flannery sees a possible eleventh-hour escape route from the environmental devastation we have created. humour A BOOK FOR EVERY WOMAN MEN AND HOW TO MANAGE THEM National Library of Australia HB $14.95 each For retrospectively hilarious tips on how to manage the housekeeping budget, maintain feminine grace and rear children, one needs go no further than these facsimiles of two locally published books, one published in 1885 and another in 1924. Our favourite tip? ‘Man is a manageable animal – to be reached through his stomach’. THE CHASER ANNUAL 2010 Text PB $29.95 Parodying Elizabeth Gilbert, Tiger Woods, Malcolm Turnbull, Justin Bieber and many others, the Chaser’s 2010 annual is, as it proudly claims in its publicity material, ‘an essential read for anybody who can’t be arsed watching the news’. 15 ATLAS OF SCIENCE Katy Börner MIT Press HB $39.95 L SPECIA E C PRI Allen Lane HB WAS $49.95 NOW $15.95 BER DECEM SE RELEA Norton HB $22.95 Cartographic maps have guided our explorations for centuries, allowing us to navigate the world. Science maps have the potential to guide our search for knowledge in the same way, assisting us to navigate, understand and communicate the dynamic and changing structure of science and technology, and helping us to make sense of the avalanche of data generated by contemporary scientific research. This handsome volume features more than 30 full-page science maps and 50 data charts – everything from Claudius Ptolemy’s 1482 Cosmographia World Map to a globe showing the worldwide distribution of patents – plus a timeline of science-mapping milestones and 500 colour images. THE EERIE SILENCE: ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE? Paul Davies To celebrate 50 years since the establishment of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), the acclaimed physicist, cosmologist and chair of SETI’s post-detection task-group, Paul Davies, gives us the lowdown on where we’re at and where we’re headed in the search for extraterrestrial life. If there’s anyone listening in, they’re certainly playing hard to get. After more than a million hours of astronomers on the lookout, there hasn’t been so much as a peep on the airwaves so far. As to our chances of discovering intelligent life, there are plenty of scientific ifs and buts, of which there are seemingly endless permutations. One thing’s for sure; If ET does decide to pick up the phone you can bet that Paul Davies would like to be around to answer it. THE INSTANT PHYSICIST Richard A Muller Richard Muller, professor of physics at the University of California, turned his university course for non-science students, Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines, into a book of the same name (Norton. PB. $22.95). Sourcing the anecdotes in his new book from the same course, Muller gives non-physics types a leg up with easily understood explanations of many of the scientific facts and physics theories that are part of our everyday lives – think global warming, nuclear bombs, spy satellites and tsunamis. While it might sound like a book for dummies, after a read through (and with the aid of humorous illustrations by Joey Manfre), you might be surprised to find yourself more than able to wax lyrical about supernova, thermal nuclear fusion and how we really are just made up of stardust. SEXUALLY, I’M MORE OF A SWITZERLAND David Rose (ed) Picador HB $30 Notoriously funny, rude and outthere, the London Review of Books’ personal ads have been entertaining readers since 1998. These hilarious, quirky, enraged, honest and horny cries from the heart make addictive reading. Note: December release. FIRST DOG ON THE MOON’S THE STORY OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY Andrew Marlton Text HB $29.95 Crikey cartoonist Andrew Marlton turns his gaze on the Christmas story, or rather the story of the Christmas story. This light-hearted retelling of one of the greatest stories ever told covers all the bases, from Mary and Joseph’s surprise impending parenthood through to the birth of Jesus in a stable – according to Marlton, there were no vacancies at Crazy Isaiah’s Wine Bar and Grill. THE BUTTERFLIES OF AUSTRALIA Albert Orr & Roger Kitching Jacana PB $45 L SPECIA PRICE Norton HB WAS $52.95 NOW $49.95 BER DECEM SE RELEA Few who enjoy the outdoors could miss the magic and allure of butterflies. Now we have a remarkable book that allows for a deeper appreciation of these exquisite creatures: their habits, habitats, flight behaviour, mating patterns, lifespan, ecology, conservation and much more. This scholarly work on Australia’s nearly 400 species offers superb illustrations of mounted specimens. But unlike other reference books, it also includes life-like studies of their appearance in the wild, their larvae, pupae and host plants – delivering a blend of biology, nature and art that will delight not only butterfly enthusiasts, but everyone who appreciates the presence of these beautiful jewels of the landscape. FROM SO SIMPLE A BEGINNING Charles Darwin & Edward O Wilson (ed) Never before have the four great works of naturalist Charles Darwin – The Voyage of the HMS Beagle (1845), The Origin of Species (1859), The Descent of Man (1871) and The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) – been collected under one cover. Undertaking this challenging endeavour, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O Wilson has written an introductory essay for the occasion, while providing new introductions to each of the four volumes and an afterword that examines the fate of evolutionary theory in an era of religious resistance. The volume, which is presented in an attractive slipcase, also includes restored versions of the original illustrations. THE LEAFCUTTER ANTS Bert Hölldobler & Edward O Wilson Bert Hölldobler and Edward O Wilson’s academic tome The Ants, which won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, was later shortened and popularised under the title Journey to the Ants. Their new work, The Leafcutter Ants, provides remarkable insights into one of the world’s most evolved animal Norton PB $27.95 societies. Sounding a little like a scene from Alien, the leafcutters are described as one of the earth’s ultimate superorganisms, with the mother queen producing up to 200 million female offspring in her lifetime. Sadly for the leafcutter males, they are only reared seasonally to inseminate virgin queens and then die. While the text can sometimes be a tad technical, there is enough mindboggling research here to keep the less scientifically minded reader enthralled. THINGS BOGANS LIKE Hachette Australia PB $25 Based on the popular website thingsboganslike.wordpress.com, this hilarious manifesto lifts the lid on the ever-evolving and expanding sect of the modern Australian bogan, here dubbed the ‘nouveau-bogue’. WHY MEN ARE NECESSARY Richard Glover ABC Books PB $28 Glover’s vivid, magical and laughout-loud stories of everyday life – ‘The News from Nowhere’ – as heard on ABC Radio’s ‘Thank God It’s Friday’. 16 Science & nature L SPECIA E C I R P Picador PB WAS $35 NOW $29.95 L SPECIA PRICE Doubleday HB WAS $85 NOW $39.95 L SPECIA PRICE Hardie Grant HB WAS $59.95 NOW $49.95 THE MIND’S EYE Oliver Sacks NATURAL HISTORY BOOK David Burnie (ed) NONSENSE ON STILTS Massimo Pigliucci Neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks has written several bestselling books of mind-boggling case histories, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Picador. PB. $27). In this new collection, Sacks himself is one of the patients he discusses. He was diagnosed with a malignant eye tumour in 2005, and in ‘Persistence of Vision: A Journal’, he includes entries he wrote during his recovery process, involving musings (and fascinating sketches) on his altered perceptions, but also – poignantly – his fears and hopes. Another quite personal essay concerns his prosopagnosia, or face-blindness, while the others look at patients who are experiencing various neurological deficits, but who’ve found amazing ways to adapt and get on with their lives. Produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution, this monumental and extraordinarily beautiful guide to the earth’s natural wonders covers over 5000 species and claims to be ‘the ultimate visual guide to everything on earth’. A useful reference source for nature lovers of every age, it introduces and explains each geological and biological grouping in an engaging and highly informative way. Contributions by a worldwide team of natural history experts are divided into six sections: Living Earth; Minerals, Rocks and Fossils; Microscopic Life; Plants; Funghi; and Animals (Invertebrates, Chordates, Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals). Best of all, every entry is accompanied by stunning colour photographs. Subtitled ‘How to tell science from bunk’, professor of philosophy Massimo Pigliucci takes us on the grand tour of groups who turn their noses up at scientific fact in favour of pseudoscientific belief. Of course, it’s a little more complicated than creationists dismissing Darwinism or climate change deniers who think that global warming is pie in the sky. Running the gamut from pseudoscience and non-science to near-science and ‘established’ science, Pigliucci charts a course through these treacherous waters. String theory and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are examples of what he refers to as almost science – not pure science but definitely not bunk. Certain to shake some cages, Nonsense on Stilts is an illuminating study of science, pseudoscience and society. Dorling Kindersley HB $59.95 ILLUSTRATED SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING Bill Bryson Proving that Google isn’t the only wideranging source of answers to life’s questions, the enormously likable and erudite Bill Bryson makes textbook ‘ologies’ (cosmology, palaeontology, geology – you name it) accessible for lay readers in this whirlwind journey through popular science, now released in a version packed with full-colour photographs, drawings, portraits and cartoons. Along the way he reveals the accidents and foibles of scientists and raids all manner of sources of information to provide clarity as well as a rattling good, Brysonesque read. THE TIGER John Vaillant Sceptre PB $35 Music & film THE 100 BEST AUSTRALIAN ALBUMS John O’Donnell, Toby Creswell & Craig Mathieson It’s a big ask to come up with the 100 best albums from the last 50-odd years of Australian rock music. Co-author Toby Creswell is no stranger to big lists; his 2005 run-down of the 1001 great songs of all time makes this challenge look easy. ‘Best of’ lists are always going to be controversial, and compiling a 100 best Aussie album list is sure to provoke plenty of discussion. Each entry is accompanied by an overview of the work in relation to the artist’s career, interviews, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album and its impact locally and internationally. Regardless of who comes top and who didn’t make the list, the authors have pulled together a diverse collection of classic Australian albums. Let the debates begin! Aurum PB $35 L SPECIA E C PRI MASTERS OF CINEMA Various authors Phaidon PB $12.95 each Commissioned and published by the influential French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, these authoritative and accessible introductions to the life and work of the world’s greatest film directors are devoted to the auteur, with individual volumes dedicated to Woody Allen, Pedro Almodóvar, Tim Burton, Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Each book provides the keys to understanding a director’s career, from their earliest projects to their most recent films, alongside a complete filmography, film stills, on-set pictures and film posters. Authors include Florence Colombani, Bill Krohn, Thierry Jousee, Thomas Sotinel and Bernard Benoliel. Hachette HB WAS $70 NOW $59.95 This non-fiction adventure is set in a remote area of northeastern Russia in 1997, where an endangered and protected Siberian tiger has been acting out some kind of revenge on humans. Two men have already met with gruesome ends at the claws of a tiger that Vaillant describes as ‘what you get when you pair the agility and appetites of a cat with the mass of an industrial refrigerator’. Yuri Trush, head of one of six Inspection Tiger units, a government initiative to protect the tigers from poachers, is enlisted to track down the big cat and put a stop to the carnage. Mesmerisingly well written, combining historical research and gripping storytelling, this tale of man, nature and conservation is reminiscent of Melville’s Moby Dick moved to the inhospitable Russian landscape. University of Chicago Press PB $29.95 L SPECIA PRICE Bloomsbury HB WAS $30 NOW $17.95 Taking a break from gazing at the sky, the author of The Cloudspotter’s Guide (Sceptre. PB. $25), described by many critics as the most entertaining textbook ever written, has turned his formidably enquiring mind to the ocean, researching waves – where they come from and to what extent our lives depend on them. Pretor-Pinney explains the relationship between waves and the beating of our hearts, the movements of food down our digestive tracts and the signals in our brains. He also investigates the many types of waves there are in the modern world – brain waves, radio waves, infrared waves, microwaves, shock waves, light waves, even Mexican waves. If you’ve ever wondered why snakes slither, suspension bridges collapse, butterfly wings shimmer, saucers fly and traffic jams, The Wavewatcher’s Companion has the answer. ROCK AND HARD PLACES Andrew Mueller LEGENDARY GUITARISTS AND THEIR GUITARS Dom Kiris Guitarists have long been associated with their instrument of choice – Jimi Hendrix and his Gibson flying V or David Gilmour and his Fender Stratocaster spring to mind. Of course, some prog-rock axe masters took it too far; Jimmy Page and his double-neck Gibson SG is a good example of rock god excess. Legendary Guitarists looks at the world’s biggest and best guitar manufacturers and the guitar heroes who went on to become flag bearers of the brands. Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker and Epiphone are just a few of the companies who perfected models that became the indispensable weapons of rock war over the years. Amps and effects pedals also get a mention – after all, where would we be without the Wah-Wah and the Big Muff fuzz pedal? THE WAVEWATCHER’S COMPANION Gavin Pretor-Pinney Affirm Press PB $29.95 What do you get if you put a rock journo, foreign correspondent and travel junkie into a bag and give it a good shake? Andrew Mueller is the most likely answer. This collection of articles, ranging from a hilarious on-tour encounter with the Cure to an expedition to Beirut to find out what the road to Damascus is like, covers 20 years of on-the-road adventure and misadventure. Hailing from Wagga, the London-based Mueller has written for a swag of publications, including Uncut, the Guardian and Monocle. Whether stumbling into war zones, reporting on a rock extravaganza like U2’s PopMart tour (Bono supplies an endorsement on the book’s back cover) or reflecting on his own career choices, this is a riotous and often guffaw-inducing collection of stories. MUSIC Andrew Zuckerman THE SOUND OF PICTURES Andrew Ford Building on the huge success of his previous project Wisdom (Hachette Australia. HB. $75), a photographic study and series of interviews with a diverse range of over-65ers, photographer Andrew Zuckerman now brings together a group of artists from different musical backgrounds – rock, rap, dance, soul, R&B, classical, country, reggae, pop, jazz, world and more – and allows them to reflect on their career and approach to making music. Zuckerman’s striking images, where the subject is always photographed against a trademark stark white background, convey a sense of revealing intimacy. The portraits are crystal clear, with an unnerving under-themicroscope quality. The roll call of the 50 artists who are portrayed here includes Philip Glass, Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne and Kenny Rogers. Writer, composer and broadcaster Alan Ford is the host of the Music Show on ABC Radio National. In The Sound of Pictures, he takes us on an illuminating journey looking at how film directors use music and sound in their movies, interweaving it with image and narrative on the big screen to create atmosphere, emotion and tension or often simply to push the plot along. Examining the work of a range of directors from Alfred Hitchcock to Peter Greenaway, Ford’s immaculately researched and in-depth study also features interviews with a host of directors and composers including Bruce Beresford, Ennio Morricone, Peter Weir and Howard Shore. Moviegoers and music lovers alike should enjoy finding out just how much the sound of pictures influences and informs what they watch on the cinema screen. Black Inc PB $32.95 17 Food L SPECIA E C I PR Murdoch Books HB WAS $79.95 NOW $69.95 L 365 GOOD REASONS TO SIT DOWN TO EAT Stéphane Reynaud SPECIA PRICE Reynaud is a well-known advocate for rustic French cooking, and his previous books Ripailles (Murdoch Books. HB. $79.95) and Rôtis (see p18) were easy and entertaining guides to creating delicious traditional dishes. This latest book offers more of his winning formula, based around the concept of a different, seasonally driven dish for every day, each one photographed in colour. One of the joys of using Reynaud’s recipes is their easy-to-follow format – preparation time and cooking time are made clear, measurements are both metric and imperial, and handy practical hints are provided for every dish (how to crush hazelnuts, why it’s best to add cold milk in a béchamel sauce). He even includes warning notes on what can go wrong, so that cooks can be on their guard throughout the process. Hardie Grant PB WAS $34.95 NOW $29.95 Murdoch Books HB $69.95 Lantern HB $49.95 Q Phaidon HB $69.95 L SPECIA E C PRI Murdoch HB Was $59.95 NOW $39.95 Australian Chef Tobie Puttock, the local face of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant, continues his affair with Italian cuisine in this, his third cookbook. This time, Tobie heads off on a six-week trip to Bella Italia, immersing himself in the country and its food. Cook Like an Italian focuses on regional cities and their cuisine, with dishes from Venice, Genoa, Florence and Rome, amongst others. Cultural traditions, seasonal produce and simplicity are the keys to many of his recipes, Tobie’s philosophy being that while the recipe of a great dish might not be rocket science, it can be perfect just the same. Rich in photographs and suitably glossy, the book also contains information on recipe variations for those with food intolerances. AT ELIZABETH DAVID’S TABLE Elizabeth David Elizabeth David is the woman who changed the face of British cooking, introducing a dreary post-war Britain to the sun-drenched culinary delights of the Mediterranean – olive oil and pasta, artichokes and fresh herbs, saffron and garlic. Her recipes brought colour and life into kitchens everywhere, yet her bestselling books never contained any photographs. Sixty years after the publication of her first book, Mediterranean Food, this beautiful new collection has been released, celebrating her most inspiring everyday recipes in glorious colour photography. Twelve chapters guide the reader from tasty soups and starters through to meat, fish and desserts, showcasing simple and tasty recipes including baked eggs, gratin dauphinois, moules marinière and chocolate mousse. A FOOD LOVER’S PILGRIMAGE TO SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA Dee Nolan Lantern HB $100 This extraordinarily beautiful book traces Dee Nolan’s pilgrimage as she walks along the Camino through Southern France and the north of Spain. Following in the footsteps of Christian pilgrims, Dee visits medieval pilgrimage sites, food producers and ancient vineyards along the way. The story of her journey is illustrated by hundreds of colour photographs by Earl Carter – so inspirational that you are sure to immediately want to do the walk yourself – as well as recipes for the delicious meals Dee enjoyed in restaurants, farms and homes along the route. This is a book about the very heart of things: why we should care about what we eat and how it is produced, and why we need escape valves like the pilgrimage in our busy modern lives. LA CUISINE Françoise Bernard LA CUCINA ITALIAN FOOD SAFARI Maeve O’Meara & Guy Grossi Hardie Grant HB $55 MOVIDA RUSTICA Frank Camorra & Richard Cornish Here, chef and restaurateur Frank Camorra returns to his native Spain in a welcome follow-up to his bestselling first cookbook, MoVida (Murdoch Books. PB. $54.95). Full of recipes that have been inspired by his travels and perfected for the home cook, Movida Rustica is a truly mouth-watering read. Moving from sophisticated Madrid to the Basque seaside towns and then on to the Andalucían Sherry Triangle, Frank highlights the pillars of Spanish cooking and the culture in which the food is grown, prepared and eaten. Along the way, he looks at what defines traditional Spanish food and shares his zeal for seasonal produce. Michael Joseph HB $49.95 4. Who had a father who worked as a bear trainer? INDIA: THE COOKBOOK Pushpesh Pant Till now, it’s been difficult to find an Indian cookbook that adequately covers all the bases. With a whopping 1000 recipes, Pushpesh Pant’s India is the one we’ve been waiting for. Sixty centimetres thick and light as a feather, this is the book you wouldn’t be without in an Indian cook-off at 50 paces. Including a brief and jaunty history of Indian cuisine, Ayurvedic philosophy and food regions, it is an informative introduction to what’s on offer in the Subcontinent. Userfriendly recipes cover spice mixes and pastes, breads, snacks and appetisers, pulses, mains and desserts. There’s also a nice selection of signature dishes from Indian chefs working around the world. A breezy back-to-basics cookbook that makes cooking Indian food at home as accessible as visiting your local Indian cafe. Firm friend of the Working Dog crew (see the travel spoof Molvanîa), bossy cook Audrey Gordon discovers the tastes and traditions of Tuscany as she eats her way through central Italy. Reflecting Audrey’s stern, no-nonsense approach to cooking, and crammed with useful instructions which you are advised to follow at all costs, her Tuscan cookbook includes over 50 recipes along with insights from her travel diary. Recipes range from the traditional (Melanzane con Pomodori al Forno) to classic trifle and rustic rabbit pie. Notes on dinner party etiquette are scattered throughout, along with Audrey’s aphorisms (‘if you can’t get fresh garlic, use a clove of ordinary garlic and slightly lower your expectations’). Warning: Add a huge pinch of salt when reading this book! BER DECEM SE A E L E R COOK LIKE AN ITALIAN Tobie Puttock BENTLEY: CONTEMPORARY CUISINE Brent Savage Young chef Brent Savage receives rave reviews for his Sydney restaurant Bentley Restaurant & Bar, a recipient of two chefs hats and the ‘Favourite vegetarian’ award in the most recent SMH Good Food Guide. This handsome book reveals the secrets behind his creations (described by more than one critic as art on a plate) in an accessible and engaging manner. Step-by-step photography and instructions on modern cooking techniques help the home chef replicate Brent’s dishes with professional flair. Recipes include tapas, entrées, mains, desserts and cocktails. AUDREY GORDON’S TUSCAN SUMMER Audrey & Phillip Gordon Norton HB $44.95 Acclaimed Melbourne chef Guy Grossi and infectiously enthusiastic SBS presenter Maeve O’Meara celebrate the food and culture that has become such an integral part of our cafe and restaurant scene in this book version of their popular TV series. A feast of Italian regional cooking, it covers everything from preserving, fishing and cheese-making, to harvesting from the wild and, of course, the home garden. Everyday Australian-Italians share their stories and the trade secrets that have been passed down from generations. Covering the four seasons, the book includes recipes from top chefs including Rosa Mitchell, Stefano Manfredi and Guy Grossi, as well as culinary gems from home kitchens around the country. The Italian Academy of Cuisine Rizzoli HB $75 each These tributes to the regional and rustic cooking of France and Italy are so encyclopaedic in size and scope that it’s difficult not to wield the word ‘bible’ when describing them. Celebrating everyday French home cooking, La Cuisine is a compendium of 1000 classic, unfussy recipes compiled by French culinary doyenne Françoise Bernard. Reducing complex dishes such as roast goose stuffed with chestnuts to simple, numbered steps, its recipes are made even easier to emulate by the inclusion of useful tips such as suggested accompaniments and techniques. Even more exhaustive, La Cucina presents more than 2000 authentic regional Italian dishes. For all of us who yearn to have an Italian nonna in the kitchen, this authoritative and accessible guide to Italian cooking is as close as we’re likely to get. MY CALABRIA Rosetta Costantino with Janet Fletcher NOMA: TIME AND PLACE IN NORDIC CUISINE René Redzepi Rosetta Costantino grew up in Calabria, the region at the southern tip of the Italian mainland. She describes it as ‘a land of fragrant citron and bergamot orchards, ancient olive groves and terraced vineyards; a place of persistent tradition and ritual, where the annual swordfish catch and hot pepper harvest are celebrated with elaborate festivals, and where women still roll pasta dough around knitting needles’. Now a Californian, Rosetta harks back to the land of her childhood in this celebration of traditional Calabrian cuisine, presenting recipes that make the most of the region’s staple products (most of which are also Aussie staples). There are chapters dedicated to antipasti, pasta and seafood, as well as a guide to making some of the dolce (sweets) that the region is so famous for. Recently crowned the world’s best restaurant in the San Pellegrino Awards, René Redzepi’s Noma showcases sophisticated cooking techniques, stunning presentation and ingredients foraged from the forest or seashore – a seductive mixture indeed. And though most of us will never be lucky enough to eat at this temple of gastronomy, all of us can garner an appreciation of Redzepi’s revolutionary cooking style and unorthodox food pairings by delving into this newly released cookbook, which features over 90 recipes that have featured on the Noma menu since the Copenhagen restaurant first opened in 2003. Like the food that it profiles, the book has a strong Nordic aesthetic, with striking colour photographs followed by recipes printed on textured paper. It’s a perfect gift for serious foodies and aspiring superchefs. Phaidon HB $69.95 18 Food L SPECIA R E F OF QUAY: FOOD INSPIRED BY NATURE Peter Gilmore SPECIAL DEAL: GET BOTH FOR ONLY $49.95! OMG! I CAN EAT THAT? Jane Kennedy Hardie Grant PB $39.95 FABULOUS FOOD MINUS THE BOOMBAH Jane Kennedy Hardie Grant PB $39.95 Calorie-counters can take heart. Here are the cookbooks of your dreams – gorgeously styled, lavishly photographed, and filled with enticing and indulgent dishes that look and taste terrific but will stay within the realms of your diet. Following on from last year’s Fabulous Food Minus the Boombah, which was jam-packed with flavoursome low-fat recipes, Jane Kennedy’s new book OMG! I Can Eat That? focuses on those creamy and rich comfort foods that dieters are usually forced to refuse. Get both of these guilt-free cookbooks for only $49.95 – a special offer that’s exclusive to the Summer Reading Guide. L SPECIA PRICE Murdoch HB WAS $49.95 NOW $29.95 L SPECIA E C I PR Pavilion HB WAS $60 NOW $16.95 Murdoch Books HB $95 SRI OWEN’S INDONESIAN FOOD Sri Owen Sri Owen is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Indonesian cookery. Her book Indonesian Food and Cookery was first published in 1976 and has long been acknowledged as an essential resource for lovers of this mouth-watering cuisine. This updated and expanded version of that book provides a valuable insight into the ancient, exotic and varied cuisine of the Indonesian archipelago. Organised into recipe-laden chapters covering staples and methods, it has plenty of colour photographs and a handy two-way glossary of Indonesian ingredients. Though born in Indonesia, Owen has spent the past 40 years living in Britain, and here she gives useful tips about substituting hard-to-access Indonesian ingredients and accommodating non-Indonesian palates. Lantern HB WAS $55 NOW $19.95 See the back cover for details of our competition to win a meal for two worth $600 at Quay! SALADES Damien Pignolet RÔTIS: ROASTS FOR EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK Stéphane Reynaud Anyone left doubting Stéphane Reynaud’s devotion to meat after reading his bestselling debut Pork & Sons need only flick through his follow-up volume, Rôtis, to be thoroughly convinced. Boldly asserting that roasts aren’t just for Sundays, Reynaud gives us 100 good reasons to turn up the heat with meat, giving step-by-step instructions and loads of recipes for roasting beef, chicken, game, lamb, veal and pork. He even makes some concessions to non-carnivores, with chapters on roasting fish and on vegetables and side dishes. Yes, the guava snow egg recipe is here. And yes, every dish in Peter Gilmore’s new cookbook looks as exquisite as the dishes he demonstrated in MasterChef. Buy a copy of Quay and you’re sure to be whipping up delectable dishes such as crisp-pressed cinnamon spiced duck confit and wowing guests at your next dinner party. Though not for beginners, the recipes are clearly constructed, split into three sections: Ingredients, Method, and To Finish and Plate. We gave the 12-hour slow-braised milk-fed lamb shoulder recipe a go, and are chuffed to report that it was relatively easy, looked gorgeous when plated and tasted wonderful. L SPECIA E C I PR Lantern HB $59.95 L SPECIA PRICE Lantern HB WAS $100 NOW $29.95 Rarely has the humble salad been so lavishly pampered as in Sydney chef Damien Pignolet’s follow-up to his award-winning debut, French (Lantern. HB. $69.95). Guaranteed to be a favoured volume on the cookbook shelf, Salades not only inspires you to get into the kitchen, it opens up a wide range of possibilities for the amateur cook to prepare easily accessible ingredients in new and exciting ways. From classics through to side, warm, winter and sweet salads, Pignolet showcases his knowledge of French cuisine with recipes such as raw cauliflower with coddled egg and watercress, and cooked witlof with shaved celery and Roquefort. Handsomely bound and illustrated throughout, Salades also includes a handy glossary of ingredients, equipment and techniques. L SPECIA PRICE Hardie Grant HB WAS $79.95 NOW $69.95 THE REALLY USEFUL COOKBOOK David Herbert You won’t find foams and liquid nitrogen in this new cookbook by David Herbert, the popular Weekend Australian culinary writer. What you will find is more than 200 basic, foolproof recipes for dinner party and everyday dining. There are classic sponge cakes and winter-warming fruit crumbles, Sunday roasts and Friday-night pizzas, the recipe to ban gluggy steamed rice forever, and plenty of Herbert’s tips and tricks. Once you’ve mastered the basics there are variations to try, inspiring timid cooks to overcome their kitchen fears and providing more experienced cooks with the tools to experiment a little with confidence. Chapters are ordered alphabetically, from Biscuits, Breads and Cakes to Soufflés, Soups and Stuffed Vegetables. SARABAN Greg & Lucy Malouf Having previously explored Middle Eastern cuisines from Turkey and Syria to Morocco, Australian-Lebanese chef Greg Malouf shines a light on the less familiar tastes of Iran, ably assisted as always by his ex-wife and creative partner, Lucy Malouf. This inspirational mix of travel writing, photography and recipes moves from Tehran to Kerman, Persepolis to Isfahan, revealing Persia’s festive, generous, sophisticated and well-balanced cuisine. A mix of authentic centuries-old recipes and more modern interpretations of the classics, Saraban cover staples, small dishes, soups and stews, grills and roasts, sweets and preserves. The recipes could accompany other Middle Eastern or even Western dishes, or provide the inspiration for a truly memorable Persian banquet of your own – just make sure you have saffron, barberries and dried limes on hand. THAI STREET FOOD David Thompson WHAT TO COOK AND HOW TO COOK IT Jane Hornby It’s hard to imagine a more knowledgeable and inspiring guide to the vibrant world of Thai street food than internationally renowned chef and Thai food expert, David Thompson. Join him on a whirlwind tour of the curry shops, stir-fry stalls and markets of Thailand – then try your hand at cooking the fast, fresh and irresistible food that sustains a nation. Recipes include crunchy prawn cakes, pat thai, sweet banana roti, steamed fish curry and pork hocks braised with star anise – yum! Earl Carter’s stunning photo essays of Thai street life and exquisite food photography make Thai Street Food as much an art reference as it is a culinary one – a stunning gift for lovers of food, travel and photography. Welcome to the ultimate step-by-step cookbook for beginners. It takes 100 easy and delicious recipes back to basics, with clear colour photographs accompanying both the ingredients list and every clearly explained method step. Our 12-year-old guest reviewer used it to whip up a dinner of lamb chops and ratatouille with barely a question, no accidents and not too much mess – so the book gets a big tick from us! There are popular, accessible and tasty recipes for every occasion, from breakfast muffins to omelettes, tasty roast chicken to classic lemon tart. The clear cooking instructions and tips on what to buy will guide the reader all the way from the supermarket to the dining table. Phaidon HB $59.95 stocking fillers BALI BIKE BELLS The sound of paradise! $8.95 Shaped like a miniature Hindu stupa, these bells give off a sonorous and distinctive sound that gently yet firmly alerts pedestrians and traffic alike to your presence. The bells are exclusive to the Summer Reading Guide, and we will be donating $1 from each sale to the Indigenous Literacy Project (www. indigenousliteracyproject.org.au). COLOUR, RHYTHM, DESIGN: 2011 CALENDAR Art Gallery of NSW $27 This stunning calendar has been inspired by Australian wood and lino cuts of the 1920s and ’30s. It includes work by artists including Margaret Preston, Ethel Spowers and Thea Proctor. THE FOODIES’ DIARY 2011 Allan Campion & Michele Curtis Hardie Grant $29.95 This inspirational diary incorporates a seasonal calendar, an easy and delicious recipe for every week, wine profiles and details of fresh produce markets across the country. There’s enough room for you to record both appointments and shopping lists. THE FRENCH COUNTRY DIARY 2011 Linda Dannenberg & Guy Bouchet Hardie Grant $29.95 A colourful Provençal fabric embellishes the cover of this diary, which is full of charming photographs of Brittany, Burgundy and Provence. JUKURRPA DIARIES & CALENDAR 2011 IAD Press PB diary $24.95 HB diary $34.95 Calendar $24.95 Contemporary Aboriginal art from 15 communities in the central and western desert regions of Australia is profiled in these diaries and calendar produced by the Institute for Aboriginal Development (IAD) in Alice Springs. POSTCARDS FROM PUFFIN Puffin Boxed set $39.95 A unique collection of 100 postcards, each featuring a different and iconic Puffin book cover. Seventy years of outstanding British design and illustration in one sturdy little box! Art, design & photography 777 WORKS OF MODERN ART Frechmann Kolón HB $49.95 Q L SPECIA PRICE Miegunyah HB WAS $90 NOW $75.95 Piper Press HB $69.95 University of NSW Press PB $39.95 L SPECIA PRICE The full title of this book is 777 Works of Modern Art You Must Know, You Should Know and You Really Impress If You Know. It highlights important works that trace the fascinating and revolutionary development of art from the late 19th century up to global art experimentations in the Post-Modern Age, and is a great tool if you want an authoritative but accessible overview of this endlessly fascinating period of art history. 5. Who was ‘The Quack who saved a King’? ART + SOUL Hetti Perkins The flourishing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in Australia over the past 30 years has been the inspiration for this book and its companion ABC television series. Subtitled ‘A journey into the world of Aboriginal art’, the book follows Hetti Perkins, a senior curator at the Art Gallery of NSW, as she travels to the landscapes of remote Arnhem Land, saltwater country and the desert heartlands of Central Australia to visit the homelands of many major artists, documenting their remarkable energy and diversity along the way. Illustrated with over 150 artworks as well as photographs by Warwick Thornton, director of the award-winning film Samson and Delilah, the book profiles influential artists including Destiny Deacon, Judy Watson, Rover Thomas, Emily Kam Ngwarray, Michael Riley and Richard Bell. Lothian Boxed Set WAS $90 NOW $79.95 L SPECIA PRICE Viking HB WAS $49.95 NOW $19.95 19 THE ARRIVAL AND SKETCHES FROM A NAMELESS LAND BOXED SET Shaun Tan This special boxed set of Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The Arrival and its new companion volume of commentary and developmental drawings Sketches from a Nameless Land offers a revealing insight into the art of one of Australia’s most acclaimed authorillustrators. In Sketches, Tan discusses themes in The Arrival – Belonging, Journeys, The City, Language – and includes sources of inspiration, his early concept sketches and some finished illustrations that didn’t make it through to the final version. Together, they offer a fascinating insight into the origins of ideas, connections with real-life experiences, artistic techniques and sheer hard work that underpin the creative process, adding another layer of meaning to Tan’s mesmerising tale of migration. ARS SACRA Rolf Toman et al Tandem Verlag GmbH HB $350 BER DECEM SE RELEA ATLAS OF REMOTE ISLANDS Judith Schalansky THE ART OF GRAEME BASE Julie Watts This highly engaging book profiles Graeme Base, creator of Animalia, The Eleventh Hour, The Waterhole, Enigma and many other bestselling children’s picture books. It explores the acclaimed illustrator’s life and work, looks closely at what went on behind the making of each of his books and includes more than 200 exquisitely detailed illustrations, many of which have never been seen before. Base himself supplies lively reflections, and his caption commentaries on each illustration offer fascinating clues as to how he creates his imaginary worlds. Few Australian authors are as well known as Base (Animalia alone has sold nearly three million copies worldwide), and this book is a fitting tribute to his amazing artistic talents. Mindboggling in its scope, achievement and sheer size, Ars Sacra is a survey of Christian art and architecture of the Western world from its very beginning up until today. Superbly researched texts by a team of European academics take the reader on a tour through the epochs and highlight the specific changes that have occurred in sacral art, architecture and culture. Separate chapters are devoted to periods and artistic styles including Late Antiquity, the Early Middle Ages, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Art Nouveau, Expressionism and Modernism, accompanied by more than 2000 breathtaking photographs. A volume for the true aficionado or scholar. Particular Books HB $39.95 Born on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall, the only way Judith Schalansky could travel as a child was through the pages of an atlas. Now she has created her own, which takes us across the oceans of the world to 50 remote islands – from Iwo Jima to Tristan da Cunha and from Easter Island to Disappointment Island. On one page are her perfect maps, on the other unfold cryptic stories from the islands. Rare animals and strange people abound: marooned slaves and lonely scientists, lost explorers and confused lighthouse keepers, mutinous sailors and forgotten castaways. Armchair explorers who undertake these journeys will find themselves in places that exist in reality, but only come to life in the imagination. EUAN MACLEOD Gregory O’Brien EVERFRESH: BLACKBOOK Everfresh Studio JUST MY TYPE Simon Garfield Sydney-based artist Euan Macleod paints from the core of his being, taking us into innermost regions of the human condition. His works explore states of youth and aging; the relationship between the human body and the environment; and the processes of memory and forgetting that shape both people and places. In this book, poet and curator Gregory O’Brien looks at the origins of these works in the artist’s life, and in the many strands of Australasian art and history that have shaped them. Released to coincide with the exhibition ‘Surface Tension: Euan Macleod’ at Sydney’s S H Irvin Gallery, this lavishly illustrated volume is a great introduction to the artist’s tempestuous yet strangely luminous canvases. Melbourne has a much-celebrated and ubiquitous street art culture, the popularity of which seems at times to divide and confuse the city’s populace. Unfortunately, the recent accidental painting over of a Banksy stencil by council workers hasn’t done much to help our understanding or appreciation of the movement. This up-close look at the work and artists who operate under the collective known as Everfresh is a good starting point to get a handle on what street art is all about, profiling the studio, the artists behind the work and the culture of the elusive underground art world. Arial, Bembo, Palatino and Helvetica – once upon a time only a printer would have recognised the significance of these words. Fonts haven’t been this fashionable since Gutenberg was in business, but while we can spot the difference between Comic Sans and Gill Sans, we’re probably not aware of their history and psychological impact, and the insights they provide into printing and computers. Just My Type takes a fun look at centuries of fonts, some of which go back more than 550 years, while others like Microsoft’s ubiquitous Calibri aren’t yet five years old. Packed with interesting facts and trivia – like the woman who was sacked for sending an admin email in full caps – it will make you think twice before selecting your own default font. Miegunyah PB $40 ONCE UPON A TIME IN PAPUNYA Vivien Johnson STILL LIFE Jane Ussher & Nigel Watson The thousands of small panels now known as the Papunya boards were painted between 1971 and 1972 by a group of Aboriginal men from the Northern Territory, mostly senior initiated lawmen in their own society. Western Desert art expert Vivien Johnson’s fascinating book looks into the history of the Papunya movement, how it evolved and why the Aboriginal artists chose to reveal sacred symbols in their works. This is a compelling history of the Indigenous Australian art movement that spread the popularity of the so-called dot paintings and which, by the late 1990s, took the world art market by storm. In this extraordinary photographic study, photographer Jane Ussher has turned the eye of her trusty digital Hasselblad camera on the huts that served as the base camps for explorers Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton between 1895 and 1917. Virtually untouched, the huts have withstood the ravages of time due to the sub-freezing conditions. Exterior shots highlight the region’s beautiful but cruel conditions, but it is the truly haunting interior images of daily life that capture the imagination. Clothes still hang on hooks, a newspaper is discarded on a table and tins of food are still stacked on shelves. Introductory essays by Nigel Watson from the Antarctic Heritage Trust and diary entries from the expeditions accompany this richly illustrated and beautifully conceived work. Murdoch HB $79.95 Profile Books HB $30 L SPECIA PRICE Century HB WAS $55 NOW $35.95 WALL AND PIECE Banksy Combining the mischievousness of the surrealists and the pop art sensibilities of Warhol, the stencilled graffiti images created by the antiestablishment street artist Banksy have become some of the most recognisable street artworks of today. Wall and Piece is a photo-document of much of Banksy’s work before it was removed by authorities. While his anti-capitalist, anti-war and antiestablishment images featuring monkeys, rats, policemen and soldiers often carry an overtly political message, they also have a distinctively humorous or ironic edge. Musings from Banksy himself help to outline the development of his style, but as you’d expect there’s no mention of the true identity behind the Banksy mask. In the words of this global street art phenomenon, ‘a wall has always been the best place to publish your work’. 20 Travel L SPECIA PRICE Watkins HB WAS $45 NOW $39.95 ABC Books PB $40 100 JOURNEYS FOR THE SPIRIT Michael Ondaatje et al BHUTAN HEARTLAND Robert van Koesveld & Libby Lloyd This escapist journey through sublime places on every inhabited continent shows that despite increased urbanisation and pollution, magic and mystery haven’t been sapped from the world. Whatever your beliefs, these places are undeniably sacred. Explore the Spanish mystical stone structures, Talatí de Dalt; the Zimbabwean rocky Matobo Hills; the Chinese Yungan Cave Shrines; the Indian sacred Bodhi Tree; the Tibetan town of Lhasa; and many more. Awe-inspiring images are accompanied by more than just historical and geographical facts: much of the text is poetic and evocative. Not surprisingly, because the list of contributors writing first-hand experiences is impressive – including Booker Prize–winner Michael Ondaatje and the muchloved Alexander McCall Smith. DRAWING PARIS DRAWING ITALY David George Holm Bhutan is one of the planet’s most inaccessible and beautiful mountain kingdoms, a Buddhist realm that measures GNP in Gross National Happiness and restricts access from the outside world. This pictorial introduction to the Land of the Thunder Dragon goes beneath its famously intact cultural heritage to chart the country’s transition from semi-feudal society to today’s constitutional monarchy, with its democratic trappings of healthcare and internet access. Combining Lloyd’s words and van Koesveld’s stunning photography, shot during springtime journeys through Bhutan’s Himalayan heartland, the book introduces us to the country’s people – rural farmers and Buddhist monks, urban schoolgirls and elderly village weavers – as they move from the traditions of the past to the globalised world of today. Australian architect David George Holm explores the architectural history of these two great European cities armed only with a pencil, paper and eagle eye. His drawings feature quick-fire lines and detailed, often minute, observations, managing to evoke a sense of place with great success. It’s often the case that we don’t linger long enough to take in the architectural splendour of historic buildings and monuments when we visit cities – these informative, educational and inspirational books show what a mistake that can be. FROM HERE TO THERE Jack & John Faine GREEK PILGRIMAGE John Carroll In April 2008, radio broadcaster Jon Faine and his son Jack closed the door on their Melbourne home, leaving jobs, studies, family and friends to travel overland to London in their trusty four-wheel drive. This intelligent and entertaining account of their six-month journey through countries including Indonesia, Mongolia, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan tells about the people they met, the things they saw and the trouble they got into. It’s also the story of a tender father–son relationship, albeit one that seems to involve lots of squabbling over food and farting, snoring and sneezing! This meditation on classical Greece takes us on a journey through its great sites, monuments and cultural works. Along the way, it examines the country’s pivotal role in the foundation of the modern world. Philosopher and sociologist John Carroll reminds us of how the ancient Greeks invited us to think about who we are, and consider the best ways to organise ourselves, to build institutions and to make our cities beautiful. They bequeathed to us science and philosophy, drama and sport, our engagement with nature, and much else that graces our modern world. Greek Pilgrimage is also designed to serve as a practical guide for the modern traveller to Greece, providing two itineraries complete with maps and illustrations. THE TITANIC AWARDS: CELEBRATING THE WORST OF TRAVEL Doug Lansky Perigree PB $16.95 Anyone who’s ever had an airline lose their luggage or who’s been forced to drive in Italy knows that the perfect holiday shouldn’t be taken for granted. The Titanic Awards takes a different approach to these often-spectacular travel underachievements, instead celebrating them. From worst airport layout to the most overrated tourist attraction, Lansky looks at these flawed travel destinations with a gimlet eye and an infectious sense of the absurd. Our favourite categories include Most Unfortunate IATA Airport Code (Doha Airport in Qatar is DOH and Pocos de Caldos Airport in Brazil is POO) and Most Unfortunate City Name (Dildo, Newfoundland and Mianus, Connecticut). Among the many belly laughs are some serious gripes that all of us are likely to share (Most Hated Airport – Heathrow). TRAVELLING WITH POMEGRANATES Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Kidd Taylor Penguin PB $22.95 Fremantle Press HB $59.95 In Travelling with Pomegranates: A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey & France, the author of The Secret Life of Bees (Headline. PB. $23) joins with her daughter to present a dual memoir of pilgrimage and metamorphosis. This modern day Demeter and Persephone chronicle their travels together in Europe at a time when each was on a quest to redefine herself and rediscover each other. As Sue struggles to enlarge a vision of swarming bees into a novel, and recently graduated Ann ponders the classic question of what to do with her life, they explore an array of inspiring figures and sacred sites, as well as their own mother–daughter relationship. Scribe PB $29.95 Jane Curry Publishing PB $49.95 each IS THAT THING DIESEL? Paul Carter Ex oil-rig worker, author and general gadabout Paul Carter is holed up in suburban Perth with a boring day job. Married life and a newborn baby haven’t dampened the recklessly adventurous spirit that saw him journey across the world from oil rig to oil rig, penning two tell-all books (Don’t Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs and This is Not a Drill) during his travels. With the go ahead from his Allen & Unwin PB saintly wife, Carter heads off on a mad dash $25 around Australia riding a bio-fuel bike with a documentary cameraman in tow. Irreverent, laugh-a-minute and packed with a cast of characters that includes a cat with attitude, Diesel is a tale of how one man discovers that home really is where the heart is. L SPECIA PRICE THE TRAVEL BOOK 2: DELUXE EDITION Lonely Planet Slipcased HB WAS $100 NOW $79.95 The new, fully revised edition of Lonely Planet’s pictorial journey through every country in the world offers inspiration and information in equal measure. Organised in an easy to navigate A–Z format, each of the 229 countries is given a punchy introductory overview accompanied by stunning photographs, factual information, listings of essential experiences, and cultural pointers on books to read, movies to watch and music to listen to. This deluxe edition is presented in a handsome case and comes with a set of fullcolour A3-sized travel posters – it will make a splendid gift for anyone interested in visiting the cultures and countries that make up our world, either in person or as an armchair traveller. There’s also a standard edition (HB. $80) in stock. THE TRAVELLER’S GUIDE TO PLANET EARTH In recent years, guidebook publisher Lonely Planet has moved into the pictorial and inspirational book publishing market, a trend continued with The Traveller’s Guide. This collaboration with parent company BBC’s Planet Earth TV series pulls together content from both the documentaries and Lonely Planet/BBC the guidebook company’s wealth of travel Earth PB $35 information. Lonely Planet co-founder Tony Wheeler and Planet Earth producer Mark Brownlow kick-start proceedings with their own travel highlights, and the book is structured to reflect the episodic nature of the series. Chapters covering mountains, deserts, caves, jungles and the ocean are all rich in images, lively and inspirational text, and factual information. For anyone dreaming of or planning a travel adventure, this book and the BBC series of the same name offer a wet-your-whistle taste of destinations to choose from. L SPECIA PRICE Lonely Planet HB WAS $55 NOW $15.95 THE WELL AT THE WORLD’S END A J Mackinnon USA This full-colour reference guide to the USA draws together the history, culture, politics, trademarks and essential experiences of America. Few countries can offer as many sights, sounds, tastes and lifestyles under the one banner – and few publishers could do them all justice. Fortunately, Lonely Planet does. From alligator swamps and buffalo ranges to Mississippi juke joints and Texan honky tonks, this celebratory book takes the reader on a grand tour through the 50 states. With a stunning collection of photographs and the informative text that Lonely Planet is known for, USA is sure to make you want to book an airfare and head Stateside as soon as you’ve read it. Black Inc PB $32.95 When A J Mackinnon quits his job in Australia, he knows only that he longs to travel to the Well at the World’s End, a mysterious pool on a remote Scottish island whose waters, legend has it, hold the secret to eternal youth. Determined not to fly (‘It would feel like cheating’), the author of The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow (Black Inc. PB. $27.95) sets out with a rucksack and a map of the world and trusts chance to take care of the rest. By land and by sea, by train, truck, horse and yacht, he makes his way across the globe – and through a series of hilarious adventures. This true story of an old-fashioned quest by a modern-day adventurer is utterly delightful – don’t miss it. BER DECEM SE RELEA Black Inc PB $24.95 Gift AUSTRALIAN ENCOUNTERS Shane Maloney & Chris Grosz Inspired by Edward and Nancy Sorel’s illustrated vignettes that appeared in the Atlantic magazine in the 1980s, the quirky ‘Australian Encounters’ page in The Monthly magazine profiles true encounters – public and private, ill-fated and fortuitous – between a renowned Australian and an international mover and shaker. This book includes 50 of these encounters, brought humorously to life by Chris Grosz’s energetic cartoons and Shane Maloney’s sharp humour and observation skills. Viking PB $32.95 Jonathan Cape HB $35 THE PEANUTS COLLECTION Nat Gertler Cameron House HB $60 Charles M Schulz’s ‘Peanuts’ cartoon strip first appeared in 1950 and went on to become one of the most successful comic strips in history. The Peanuts Collection is a fun-packed album of all things Peanutsian and features rarities from the Schulz Museum and family archive. Pull-outs, inserts and bits and bobs make for plenty of interactive entertainment, and there’s a swag of other stuff including original sketches, photographs and frameable prints of your favourite characters. Faber PB $20 L SPECIA E C I R P Cambridge University Press HB WAS $29.95 NOW $14.95 Ten Speed Press PB $27.95 This action-packed account of the players who have captained the Australian team since the early days of test cricket makes fascinating reading. Get in quick and you will also receive a copy of The Greatest: The Glory Years of Australian Cricket (Malcolm Knox. Hardie Grant. HB. RRP $49.95) absolutely free! Note: only while stock lasts. SEEKING THE SACRED Stephanie Dowrick Psychotherapist, interfaith minister, popular newspaper columnist and bestselling author Stephanie Dowrick encourages the reader to go beyond cultural divisions and religious clichés in order to discover what makes one’s life sacred, satisfying and meaningful. Seeking the Sacred is a provocative and accessible read for those making up their own minds about God, faith, spirituality and the nature of Allen & Unwin PB belief in 21st-century life. $33 SIMPLE TIMES Amy Sedaris Grand Central Publishing HB $45 BER DECEM SE RELEA Particular Books HB $29.95 Setting out to debunk the theory that ugly people craft and attractive people have sex, Amy Sedaris demonstrates that anyone with a couple of hours to kill and access to pipe cleaners can join the elite society of crafters. Her book is full of tips to make crafting both pleasurable and easy, including where to look for inspiration (buy fruit and let it get old, what shapes does it turn into?) and ways to avoid the most common crafting accidents (sawdust fires, feather asphyxia, pine cone lodged in throat). Definitely not for serious crafters! WHAT CAESAR DID FOR MY SALAD Albert Jack Hardie Grant HB $49.95 THE NEEDLECRAFT BOOK Maggi Gordon, Sally Harding & Ellie Vance Harper Perennial PB $23.95 Dorling Kindersley HB $49.95 L SPECIAER OFF The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide is a guide to the emerging subculture of literary tattoos. It includes more than 150 full-colour photographs of human epidermis indelibly adorned with quotations and illustrations from Dickinson to Pynchon, from Shakespeare to Plath. With beloved lines of verse, literary portraits and illustrations – as well as statements from the bearers on the personal significance of the chosen literary work – this fascinating publication is part collection of photographs and part literary anthology written on skin. From the intricacies of lace knitting to patchwork matching and star quilting, this needlecraft bible provides more than 500 tips and instructions for mastering the needle arts. The key crafts – knitting, crochet, embroidery, needlepoint, quilting and appliqué – are covered in depth, starting with the basics and progressing to more advanced techniques and embellishments for more-experienced sewers. In true DK style, the step-by-step illustrations and diagrams are colourful, crystal clear and easy to follow. SPECIAL DEAL: GET BOTH FOR ONLY $69.95! SEW LA TEA DO Pip Lincolne Hardie Grant PB $49.95 MEET ME AT MIKE’S Pip Lincolne Hardie Grant PB $45 The popular return to making crafty stuff shares many of the same green credentials as the slow movement or growing your own veggies – it’s ethical, it’s fun, it recycles and it brings folks together over a cup of tea and a natter. Each of Pip Lincolne’s books offers a bumper mix of projects, including clothes for kids and adults, and things to make for the home. The easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions are accompanied by plenty of tips and pictures to whet your crafty DIY appetite. SQUIRREL SEEKS CHIPMUNK David Sedaris Little Brown HB $27 BER DECEM SE RELEA Did you know that the Cornish pasty was developed to protect tin miners from arsenic poisoning, or that the word ‘salary’ comes from Roman soldiers being paid their wages in salt? What Caesar Did for My Salad is crammed with fascinating insights, characters and events that show our history is surprisingly full of food-related incidents. It’s sure to provide enough bizarre stories to entertain a hundred dinner parties. THE WORD MADE FLESH Eva Talmadge & Justin Taylor WHEN FRENCH WOMEN COOK Madeleine Kamman As a young woman, Madeleine Kamman developed her passion for food by working in the kitchens of France’s most respected regional cooks. This memoir-cookbook is dedicated to each of these remarkable women, who nourished her appetite for the tradition, rigour and deeply personal nature of cooking. Originally published over 30 years ago, When French Women Cook includes over 250 recipes and is required reading for anyone who wants to know more about la cuisine française. Nothing unites or divides people as much as the tribal loyalty of AFL supporters. Combining passion for the game with a talent for words, 17 writers explore the full range of supporters’ emotions, from the fervour of a convert to the weariness of the long-term sufferer, the guilt of the turncoat to the joy of the flag-winner. Every club gets a guernsey – and every writer is a true fan of what the editors proudly call ‘our greatest game’. Scribe PB $29.95 TALES OF HI AND BYE Torbjörn Lundmark Sniffing one another’s breath in Polynesia, sticking out your tongue in Tibet, patting each other’s behinds in New Guinea, exchanging air-kisses in LA – this thought-provoking and entertaining book studies the many welcoming and farewelling gestures, customs, behaviours and forms of address found around the globe. Filled with little-known facts and witty asides, Tales of Hi and Bye is sure to make you think twice about your telephone manner, hat-doffing technique and choice of everyday greetings. THE CAPTAINS Malcolm Knox In her seventh cartoon collection, the popular Australian illustrator and writer Judy Horacek turns her whimsical and pithy observations to climate change and, as always, the absurdity of modern-day life. THE SECOND BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE John Lloyd & John Mitchinson The QI team is back with another lorry-load of mistakes and misunderstandings. This new compendium of popular misconceptions, misapprehensions and common mistakes is culled from the hilarious BBC show hosted by Stephen Fry and is the perfect gift for everyone who’s proud to admit that they don’t know everything. It’s also an ideal stick with which to beat people who think they do! BEST ON GROUND Peter Corris & John Dale IF YOU CAN’T STAND THE HEAT Judy Horacek CYCLOPEDIA William Fotheringham Everything you ever wanted to know about cycling will be found in this essential bicycle bible. A miscellany of facts, figures, interesting snippets and quirky characters from the world of cycling, it has all the gear, the equipment, the races, the chases, the faces, the places, the drugs, the sex and the scandals to convert any amateur cyclist into a fully fledged BMX bandit. Go on, get on yer bike! 21 IFT FREE G Viking HB $29.95 On the surface, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk appears to be a collection of 16 Aesop-like fables. The majority of the stories collected here don’t conclude with a cosy moral outcome, though, because things are much darker in the world of humorist and satirist David Sedaris While there are bags of astute observations and plenty to chuckle at, this collection is definitely more David Lynch than Disney. WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU WEARING? Michi Girl A companion volume to Michi’s first book, Like I Give a Frock (Viking. HB. $29.95), this encyclopaedia to the world of Michi is the perfect gift for girls of all ages. This ‘Michipedia of fashion’ contains a glossary of the fashion world from Michi’s always-unique point of view. (‘A’ is for ‘acid wash reflux disease’, which affects 1 in every 4 people…) and brings a sense of joy, sophistication, surprise and subversion to all things fashion. ZOMBIE FELTIES Nicola Tedman & Sarah Skeate Penguin PB $19.95 The zombie craze has been gnawing at our brains for a while, and now it’s found a way to our hearts. Here are 16 imaginative patterns to make everything from the traditional ‘Classic Zombie’ and ‘Zombie Bride’, to the more contemporary ‘Surfer Zombie’ and ‘Thrilla’ pop sensation zombie. With helpful tips for beginners, and easy-to-follow instructions and diagrams, you’ll soon be surrounded by creatures from beyond the grave: drooling threads, spilling sequined brains, and watching you with beady eyes… 22 Kids ALL THROUGH THE YEAR Jane Godwin & Anna Walker Viking HB $24.95 A journey through the Australian year, seen through the eyes of a child. Gorgeous fullpage spreads illustrated by Anna Walker show us summer at the beach, the start of school in February, Easter egg hunts in April, football grand finals in September and other milestones. Each month is described in verse, and there are lots of bits that children will relate to (My brother thinks that he’s the boss/ He changes things and makes me cross!). 3+ L SPECIA PRICE Angus & Robertston HB WAS $40 NOW $19.95 CAMILLE AND MADELEINE THE HOLIDAYs SOPHIE’S MISFORTUNES Sophie Rostopchine, Comtesse de Ségur These modern English-language editions of the French children’s classics will delight young readers as much today as they did on their original publication between 1857 and 1872. 8+ L SPECIA PRICE GREEK MYTHS Ann Turnbull & Sarah Young Walker Books Boxed Set WAS $39.95 NOW $19.95 Walker Books HB $37.95 BER DECEM SE RELEA GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU BOARD GAME Sam McBratney & Anita Jerum The classic picture book is brought to life in a board game for all the family. For up to four players, the pack contains a board game with spinner, four character stands and character pieces, and 28 activity cards. Also included are a hardback edition of the picture book and an animated DVD of the story, narrated by Kevin Whately. What a bargain! 5+ Gecko Press HB $35 BER DECEM SE A E L E R THE KEEPERS: MUSEUM OF THIEVES Lian Tanner Allen & Unwin PB $23 In the city of Jewel, where people have reacted to danger by becoming exceedingly protective of their children, young Goldie Roth makes a bid for independence. As trouble threatens, Goldie finds herself in the city’s museum with its eccentric band of ‘keepers’, protectors of both city and museum. Just as Goldie gets drawn into the museum, so will readers aged 10+ find the first book in this imaginative trilogy totally irresistible. MAUDIE AND BEAR Jan Ormerod & Freya Blackwood Little Hare HB $29.95 Maudie tests love to its limits, and Bear passes the test every time. In fact, Maudie is so confident of Bear’s love that sometimes she makes demands, throws tantrums and lets Bear do all the work, knowing he will love her unconditionally. And he does…right to the end. A charming book for toddlers and their long-suffering parents. 3+ Reading this thrusts you into the Jazz Age in New York, with its flappers, speakeasies, and all-round decadence. In the summer of 1929 best friends Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur escape their stultifying lives in small-town Ohio. Cordelia goes to the city to find her father, a notorious bootlegger, while Letty seeks fame and fortune as a singer. This vivid drama will be irresistible to teenage girls with a penchant for historical fiction. 13+ Puffin PB $19.95 BER DECEM SE A E L E R $16 DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: the ugly truth Jeff Kinney Puffin PB $14.95 We’re thrilled to offer three Australian children’s classics – Blinky Bill (1933), Blinky Bill Grows Up (1934) and Blinky Bill and Nutsy (1937) – in one handsome, bargain-priced volume. Little ones will love to be read these stories about the adventures of the larrikin koala and his mates, which come complete with Dorothy Wall’s original illustrations in colour and black-and-white. Watch out Miss Pym and Farmer Smifkins – Blinky’s here! 5+ Ruth Craze thinks life can’t get any worse. She fights with her brothers, her parents drive her mad, her friends are mean and no-one ever listens to what she says. So when Rodney the Rat suggests a way out, Ruth is ready to risk everything. But as she soon finds out, you need to be careful what you wish for. Allen & Unwin PB And sometimes, the ideal life is closer than you think. 10+ Simon & Schuster HB $17 each They’ve read the first four books, seen the film and begged for more. Fortunately, Jeff Kinney hasn’t made your children wait too long without an instalment of this fabulously successful series about Greg Heffley, his best friend and sidekick Rowely, and his older brother Rodrick. This LOL gem is perfect for young readers (especially boys) who find too much text off-putting. 8+ BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS Anna Godberson CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR Maureen McCarthy BER DECEM SE RELEA the fleurville trilogy BLINKY BILL Dorothy Wall Hodder & Stoughton PB $23 This collection of 17 Greek myths is truly something to treasure. Beautifully written by Ann Turnbull and illustrated by Sarah Young, it includes the timeless stories of Theseus and the Minotaur, Persephone, King Midas, Ariadne, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Echo and Narcissus. The stories are told with great freshness and there is a good balance between the gentler myths and the ones packed with battles and monsters. It’s a wonderful introduction to the fascinating world of Greek mythology. 7+ Scholastic HB $25 THE CLOCKWORK THREE Matthew J Kirby In 1870s New York, three children are forced to fend for themselves. Talented Giuseppe has been stolen from his native Italy to busk for his padrone; orphaned Frederick has been placed as an apprentice clockmaker; smart Hannah must earn her family’s keep after her father’s stroke. All have a quest to fulfil, and when their lives intersect by chance, they work together to achieve their own ends, with the help of just a little magic. 10+ GRUG Ted Prior Simon & Schuster Boxed Set $30 L SPECIA E C I PR Grug, that unforgettable hero of the Australian bush, began life as the fallen top of the native Burrawang tree. This new set of a board book, CD and plush toy will introduce your pre-schooler to this muchloved character, giving them hours of fun and showing how everyday problems can be solved creatively and without fuss. 2+ H.O.U.S.E. Aleksandra Machowiak & Daniel Mizieliński IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN OUTSIDE OVER THERE Maurice Sendak Have you ever seen a house without walls? Is it possible to pack a house into a suitcase? Can a house behave like a turtle? This book about contemporary domestic architecture is full of vivid illustrations and cool facts. Profiling amazing projects from around the world, H.O.U.S.E. (Habitable Objects Unique Spatial Extraordinary) includes 35 weird and wonderful shelters – including a sand house, UFO house, egg house, nut house, inflatable house and house for the homeless. 9+ The second and third books in Maurice Sendak’s famous Wild Things trilogy feature the same dream-fantasy storylines and magnificent illustrations that made Where the Wild Things Are one of the most beloved picture books of all times. 3+ Red Fox PB WERE $19.95 NOW $7.95 each THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER Jasper Fforde LEGO BRICKMASTER: STAR WARS Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs an employment agency for soothsayers and sorcerers, but she’s finding that it’s hard to place her clients – these days, drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and the only call for magic carpets is for pizza delivery. But are things about to change? Jasper Fforde’s first work for younger readers is as hilarious as it is exciting. 10+ LEGO and Star Wars – a match made in heaven! Young fans will love this set, which comes complete with 140 bricks and minifigures of a clone trooper and battle droid. The detailed instruction book shows how to make eight models – great value for money. Watch as your junior engineer makes a battle tank, attack shuttle, personal gunship, mobile missile platform and sand-speeder bike – everything needed to take on Darth Vader and the Sith. 7+ Dorling Kindersley Activity Set $39.95 MR BADGER AND THE BIG SURPRISE MR BADGER AND THE MISSING APE Leigh Hobbs Mr Badger is the Special Events Manager of London’s Boubles Grand Hotel. He loves his job, even the parts that see him having to cope with Miss Sylvia Smothers-Carruthers, the spoiled seven-year-old granddaughter of the hotel’s owners. These entertaining books Allen & Unwin PB by the creator of Old Tom and Horrible Harriet $14 each are perfect for junior readers aged 6+. MY ISLAND HOME Neil Murray, Peter Hudson et al SOLID ROCK (SACRED GROUND) Shane Howard, Peter Hudson et al TOOK THE CHILDREN AWAY Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter & Peter Hudson One Day Hill PB $19.95 each These vibrant and inspirational picture books are based on three iconic songs from the heart of Indigenous Australia. A percentage of the profits from sales goes towards Ian Thorpe’s ‘Fountain for Youth’ literacy empowerment initiative. 6+ 23 Kids THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS Clement C Moore & Eric Puybaret Koala Books HB $27 This beautiful hardback edition of the famous poem ‘’Twas the Night before Christmas’, written by Clement C Moore in the 1820s, comes with a musical and narrative CD recorded by legendary folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary. ‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!’ 3+ NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY John Boyne David Fickling Books HB $27.95 NONI THE PONY Alison Lester Allen & Unwin HB $25 A delightful rhyming story for young children by the popular Australian author and illustrator, Alison Lester. Noni is the nicest pony any little child could ever hope to meet. She loves to entertain the cows and hens and ducks on the farm by the sea. And one of her favourite games is to play hide and seek with her best friends, Dave Dog and Coco the Cat. Children aged 1+ will love her! OTTO: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TEDDY BEAR Tomi Ungerer Phaidon HB $24.95 THE QUIET BOOK Deborah Underwood & Renata Liwska Houghton Mifflin HB $17.95 This gentle picture book explores the many types of quiet that can fill a child’s day from morning to night. Hide-and-seek quiet, last-one-to-get-picked-up-from-school quiet, sleeping-sister quiet, story-time quiet – all of these moments are evoked in Renata Liwska’s adorable illustrations. It’s a wonderful book to share with a child, and yes, it’s certain to grant a quiet moment or two! 2+ BER DECEM SE RELEA Puffin PB $16.95 Little Hare HB $24.95 David Fickling PB $24.95 Penguin PB $17.95 Walker Books HB $19.95 Persimmon, a beautiful young florist with long red locks, is an outcast from her family thanks to her love of flowers. Epiphany, an inquisitive grey mouse, is regarded with suspicion by her mother for her desire to know what lies beyond their subterranean home on Platform One in the same station where Persimmon has her shop. The two misfits’ destinies collide in an enchanting and highly original fairy tale that will appeal to dreamy middle readers and young adults, too. UP AND DOWN Oliver Jeffers HarperCollins HB $25 VIOLET MACKEREL’S BRILLIANT PLOT Anna Branford & Sarah Davis Violet Mackerel spends every Saturday at the market, where her mum has a craft stall. On another stall, run by a man called Vincent, there is a blue china bird that Violet really wants. Unfortunately, she has no money. Violet realises that she needs a brilliant plot to make some cash, and maybe work some magic for her mum and Vincent in the process. This endearing first instalment in a new Australian series is perfect for girls aged 7+. Stone the crows! Here’s a beaut illustrated cookbook for little Aussies, full of top tucker like pikelets, Anzac biscuits, dinky-di icy poles, Auntie Bev’s rissoles and Pam’s pav. The recipes aren’t quite as tricky as those on Junior MasterChef (phew!), but they’re sure to be well received at the dinner table. We’re not too sure about the roo doo in a patty case, though… 8+ THE THREE LOVES OF PERSIMMON Cassandra Golds TRASH Andy Mulligan Dumpsite boys Raphael, Gardo and Rat scrape a living by picking through their city’s rubbish. One day, 14-year-old Raphael finds money, a map and a key in the rubbish, and enlists his friends to help him find the hidden treasure these will lead to. The three are soon on the run in a compelling adventure. Compelling too is the confrontingly realistic depiction of a developing country, riven by corruption, where filth exists alongside luxury. 11+ The third in Phaidon’s series of award-winning children’s books by one of the world’s bestloved author-illustrators, Otto is a powerful and beautiful book told first-hand by a German-made teddy bear who is separated from his owner, lives through WWII, emigrates to America and is reunited with his original owner 50 years later. 7+ STEW A COCKATOO: MY AUSSIE COOKBOOK Ruthie May & Leigh Hobbs TERRY DENTON’S BUMPER BOOK OF SILLY STUFF TO DO! Terry Denton Packed with hours of holiday fun, this fantastic activity book is full of drawing activities, cartoons, maps, lists and games to entertain children at home or on holiday. Terry Denton has an uncanny ability to tap into all the funny, crazy, yucky, weird and downright silly things that children love, and they are sure to lose themselves for hours in this interactive compilation. 7+ Eight-year-old Noah Barleywater runs away from home into a magical world that is both eerie and hilarious. He finds a toyshop full of beautifully crafted puppets owned by an old man with stories to tell and life’s lessons to share. Noah is disinclined to share the reason behind his flight from a loving home, but it gradually becomes clear, as does the identity of the old man. Another wonderful book by the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. 9+ Highly recommended Once there were two friends, and they always did everything together. Then one day the penguin decides it’s time to spread his wings. But will the boy be there to catch him if he falls? This heart-warming, beautifully illustrated story by Oliver Jeffers (Lost and Found, How to Catch a Star and The Way Back Home) is about friendship, love and reaching for your dreams. 3+ ZOG Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler Scholastic HB $28 Zog is a dragon who is learning the necessary dragonish arts, including capturing princesses and battling knights. But the princess has her own ideas about her fate, and the knight’s passion isn’t for fighting. Kids will love the story and Gruffalo-ish illustrations; adults will appreciate the subversion of the dominant paradigm! 4+ EJ12: GIRL HERO Susannah McFarlane Scholastic PB $13 each A new series featuring a female superhero created especially to get girls aged 9+ reading. We also stock a gift box that includes the first four books for a special price of only $30! THE ROBOT BOOK Heather Brown Accord Publishing Board Book $24.95 This robot has two eyes, two arms and two legs, but what really makes him tick? Look inside the book for the answer. Features actual working – and moving – parts. 4+ SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS Fiona Wood Pan Australia PB $17 Fourteen-year-old nerd-boy Dan Cereill isn’t quite coping with moving house, new school hell, a just-out gay dad and an impossible crush on the girl next door. His life is a mess, but for now he's narrowed it down to just six impossible things…13+ THE BIRD KING AND OTHER SKETCHES Shaun Tan Windy Hollow HB $39.95 A journal of drawings and doodles from the acclaimed artist, author and illustrator. 11+ CHILDREN MAKE TERRIBLE PETS Peter Brown Hachette Children’s HB $29 A quirky, laugh-out-loud story about a bear and her ‘pet’ boy. 4+ A GIRAFFE IN THE BATH Mem Fox, Olivia Rawson & Kerry Argent Viking HB $24.95 A giraffe in the bath – does that make you laugh? An owl with the flu? Or a roo on the loo? This very funny picture book suggests increasingly silly and hilarious possibilities. 3+ KIMONOS Annelore Parot Hardie Grant HB $24.95 This visually stunning picture book about Japanese culture involves the junior reader in lots of activities while reading. 4+ LINGER Maggie Stiefvater Scholastic HB $30 The sequel to Stiefvater’s bestselling Shiver (Scholastic. PB. $20) continues the story of Grace and the wolves of Mercy Falls. 13+ LITTLE ELSE Julie Hunt & Beth Norling Allen & Unwin PB $14 each This funny, entertaining three-book series (Trick Rider, On the Run, Ghost Hunter) about a bushranger and her gang will delight girls and boys aged 6+. THE MAZE RUNNER James Dashner Chicken House PB $17 This exciting adventure for readers is full of action and tension and is sure to appeal to fans of books such as The Hunger Games. 11+ SEASONS Blexbolex Gecko Press HB $30 Acclaimed French illustrator Blexbolex has created a book about the seasons, featuring thick art-paper pages, rich colour and superb illustrations. 3+ THERE’S GOING TO BE A BABY John Burningham & Helen Oxenbury Walker Books HB $29.95 These pages brim with love, excitement and reassurance as the child in the story imagines all kinds of colourful futures for the brother or sister he is waiting to meet. 2+ THIS IS SHYNESS Leanne Hall Text PB $19.95 A guy who howls. A girl on a mission to forget. Leanne Hall’s powerful young adult novel evokes a darkly magical world that is both familiar and completely original. 13+ WHEN YOU REACH ME Rebecca Stead Text PB $16.95 This story about friendship and time was this year’s winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal. 11+ YELLOW IS MY FAVOURITE COLOUR Judy Horacek Picture Puffin Board $14.95 From the acclaimed cartoonist and illustrator of Where is the Green Sheep? (Picture Puffin. PB. $14.95) comes this joyous celebration of colours in a board book for preschoolers. 1+ 24 Music L SPECIA E C I R P AFROCUBISM BAND OF JOY CD. $29.95 Robert Plant. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 This incredible jam between the top musicians in Cuba (led by Buena Vista Social Club founder Eliades Ochoa and Grupo Patria) and Mali’s finest (led by Toumani Diabate and Bassekou Kouyate) is the completion of a long-frustrated plan hatched before BVSC. The Cubans’ rock-solid rhythms and the Malians’ incredible virtuosity are simply intoxicating. The latest offering from the legendary Robert Plant sees him showcasing his love of Americana. Featuring an eclectic collection of relatively obscure covers – bar one original co-written by Buddy Miller – it’s perhaps a million miles from Zeppelin, yet better than expected. Backing vocals by Patty Griffin add a wonderfully lush texture. L L SPECIA PRICE SPECIA PRICE L SPECIA PRICE THE BEATLES 1962–1966 THE BEATLES 1967–1970 CAR TAPE 2 The Beatles. CDs. WERE $39.95 each NOW $24.95 each Both this and Miller’s first Car Tape album will make you want to hole up in a small dark place so that you can listen without outside distractions to her haunting, beautiful and rollicking renditions of timeless and hidden classics. Folksy and just plain wonderful, it deserves to be in your car… er…CD player. These two ‘greatest hits’ collections complement the recent reissues of the Beatles’ studio albums. Masterfully restored, the Red Album (1962–66), as it has become known, offers an emphasis on the hit single as was popular in the early years, whilst the Blue Album (1967–70) concentrates on a burgeoning interest in album tracks from Sgt. Peppers to Let It Be. Lisa Miller. CD. $24.95 L SPECIA PRICE L SPECIA PRICE GLIMJACK DOWN THE WAY COME AROUND SUNDOWN Kings of Leon. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 The world’s most impossibly skinny-hipped band is back this summer to saturate your airwaves with their now-stadium-sized riffs. Fans of these southern-fried scamps won’t be disappointed as the Followill boys rock a steady boat towards world domination. All hail the kings! L SPECIA PRICE Glenn Richards. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 Angus & Julia Stone. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $22.95 This is a stunning album. Fans of the Australian brother-and-sister duo’s first album, 2007’s A Book Like This, have held great expectations for this new release – fortunately, Angus and Julia have well and truly delivered, creating a collection of beautifully minimal, emotional and refined songs that they take turns to vocalise. There is a tranquil, nostalgic and wistful spirit to this album that you will find yourself wanting to immerse yourself in again and again. L SPECIA PRICE THE GIFT Susan Boyle. CD. WAS $29.95 NOW $24.95 After the enormous worldwide success of I Dreamed a Dream, Boyle returns with a new album that is equal parts Christmas music and inspirational interpretation of classic contemporary songs such as Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’, Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ and the Crowded House classic, ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’. For his first outing in eight years, Phil Collins faithfully re-creates the Motown and soul sound that has played such a huge role in his creative life. The 18 tracks on offer here are performed with Collins’ trademark exuberance and enthusiasm, and it is hard not to get swept along with toe-tapping, hip-swinging hits including ‘Heatwave’, ‘Uptight’ and ‘Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)’. GRINDERMAN 2 Grinderman. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 There is great big raucous fun to be had with the newest Grinderman album, where everything’s slightly dark, pretty sleazy, but always listenable. Gritty, rocking good times brought to you by Nick Cave’s newest, pared-back project, and arguably one of his finest achievements because of it. HARLEM RIVER BLUES Justin Townes Earle. CD. $24.95 If country-roots with a touch of gospel is your thing, then look no further. This incredibly talented young man has produced two of the very best records from the genre in recent years, and with Harlem River Blues he has delivered yet again. Justin Townes Earle is the real deal. Yessir! L SPECIA E C I R P HEART THAT’S POUNDING I BELIEVE YOU LIAR Sally Seltmann. CD. $22.95 Washington. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 This is the third full-length release by the artist previously known under the alias of ‘New Buffalo’ – a gorgeous album filled with intimate, quaint sing-a-long songs including the single ‘Harmony to My Heartbeat’. Reminiscent of the sounds of Belle and Sebastian and the upbeat, harmonious elements of ’60s pop, it’s well worth adding to your collection. L SPECIA PRICE HE WILL HAVE HIS WAY – THE SONGS OF TIM & NEIL FINN GOING BACK Phil Collins. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 Augie March frontman Glenn Richards has recorded an impressive solo debut with Glimjack, demonstrating once again that he is one of our finest song-writing talents. All of his trademark lyrical and melodic gifts are here in spades, with the added benefit of a couple of Drones in his backing band to provide muscle. The opening track of Megan Washington’s debut album 1997 immediately confirmed that this Australian singer-songwriter was going to live up to all the hype. I Believe You Liar offers more of the sophisticated songwriting and quirky nostalgia sound that has made her a big hit with both indie and pop fans worldwide. Various artists. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 Following on from the massive success of 2005’s She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn, now it’s the men’s turn to pay homage to the glory of the brothers Finn. Each artist brings their unique musical perspective to reinterpreting a Finn classic, along with the odd hidden gem from the brothers’ extraordinary catalogue. L SPECIA PRICE JASMINE Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden. CD. $32.95 Two of the elder statesmen of jazz reunited in Jarrett’s home to reminisce, and the conversation led them to play through some of their favourite standards. No album was planned, but the tapes demanded an airing. In a change from Jarrett’s usual extended improvisations, Jasmine showcases the finest ballad playing you’ll ever hear, bass and piano conversing like old friends. LITTLE BIRD Kasey Chambers. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 After a series of side projects and collaborations, Chambers has returned to what she does best, releasing a solo album of her own songs recorded just the way she wants them. Little Bird is a return to form for an artist who, frankly, seemed to have lost her way a little. Confident and full of optimism, it’s her best work in a long time. Music L SPECIA PRICE LUCY & THE WOLVES MALK Martha Tilston. CD. $24.95 Saltwater Band. CD. $29.95 Being the daughter of beloved British folk singer Steve Tilston, Martha would eventually find her way into the family business, yet she’s always wanted to do it on her own terms. The first track on her fifth album finds Tilston’s beautiful voice gliding over an impressive musical landscape and is reminiscent of her early influence, Joni Mitchell. This record will grow in stature because it improves on each listen. L SPECIA PRICE After the runaway success of his solo album, Gurrumul Yunupingu took time out to complete a third album for the Saltwater Band. All the ingredients that made Gurrumul such a spine-tingler are here, as well as lush harmonies, percussion, reggae vibes, brass and strings – giving the album a much more varied feel. Beautiful. L SPECIA E C I R P 25 MODERN DAY ADDICTION THE MAN IN BLACK Tex Perkins & the Tennessee Four. DVD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 A DVD release of the critically acclaimed show that toured the country recently and earned Tex a Helpmann award. Filmed at the Palais Theatre in September, it weighs in at a little over two hours. Also includes a stack of bonus features. L SPECIA E C I PR Clare Bowditch & The New Slang. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 From its up-tempo opening track, it is clear that Clare Bowditch has a point to make with her latest record. Modern Day Addiction suggests that our desires for new technologies and our thirst for surgically enhanced looks outweigh our desire to spend time with family and loved ones. This is Clare’s best collection yet, both brave and engaging. L SPECIA PRICE Ô HOURIA MODERN FOLK Vince Jones. CD. WAS $29.95 NOW $24.95 If there is one voice in Australian jazz more recognised than any other, it would have to be that of Vince Jones. Our leading vocalist, interpreter, trumpet player and composer has entertained and informed us for decades with his ever-evolving elite group of musicians. Now, after a wait of six years, comes this new album. Recorded live around Australia, it includes originals and some beautiful contemporary versions of jazz standards. NEIL YOUNG ARCHIVES: VOL. 1 DVD boxed set. WAS $499.95 NOW $149.95 We have a very limited number of this awesome 10-DVD boxed set. Spanning the years 1963 through to 1972, it will be an essential addition to every serious fan’s collection. If you want one, be quick – they won’t hang around long at this special price! Souad Massi. CD. $24.95 The latest album by Algerian-born Souad Massi is a mixture of folk song, toe-tapping country and western, husky jazz and ’60s-style French pop. Sung in French, Arabic and English, the tracks feature acoustic guitars and vocals recorded up close – highlights are ‘Ô Houria’, a hymn to liberty; ‘Nacera’, a lament for a battered woman; and ‘Let Me Be in Peace’, sung with Paul Weller. L SPECIA E C I R P RECOLLECTION K D Lang. 2-CD set. WAS $29.95 NOW $19.95 With Recollection, the four-time Grammy winner and long-time Readings favourite releases her first career retrospective, 25 years after her debut. This is a terrific reminder of just why she is one of the most respected female artists today and includes all of her major hits and duets with Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett and Jane Siberry. L SPECIA E C I R P SWANLIGHTS SONGS FROM THE ROAD ROCKWIZ NATIONAL TOUR 2010 Various artists. CD and DVD set. $29.95 Earlier this year, the enormously popular SBS program Rockwiz left its comfy home at the Espy and went national. This CD/DVD package documents the tour, and includes the entire Toowoomba show, a behind-the-scenes documentary and extra footage from other shows. There’s also a full CD of performances recorded on the road by many notable guests. Leonard Cohen. CD & DVD set. WAS $29.95 NOW $21.95 In 2008, Leonard Cohen embarked on his first world tour for 15 years, playing stadiums, festivals and auditorium halls from Tel Aviv to London. Anyone who saw him in Australia last year is still raving about his performance. If you missed out then or if you’re keen to own a reminder of what a magic event it was, this release is for you. WELCOME STRANGER WE ARE BORN Sia. CD. $24.95 Renowned for her involvement with Zero 7 and her single ‘Breathe Me’, the Adelaide-born singer has diverged from her down-tempo past to create her fifth studio album, We are Born. This is a bright, vibrant collection of bold and catchy pop songs that clearly exhibit Sia’s vocal diversity, confidence, individuality and talent. Monique diMattina. CD. $29.95 Clearly no stranger to songwriting or singing, diMattina recorded this album after years living in New York City, working with artists as diverse as Lou Reed, Björk and a who’swho of jazz greats. Stylistically, Welcome Stranger draws from melodious country blues and sweet New Orleans roots. The result is a catchy jazz-pop journey that will delight existing fans and hook newcomers. Antony and the Johnsons. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 Both timeless and modern, Swanlights is a piece of atmospheric sweetness. Some songs are stripped of all but vocals and delicate piano, while others are almost orchestral in feel, full of swelling strings and lovely keyboard melodies. All quaver with Antony Hegarty’s echoing chamberpop vocals. L SPECIA PRICE TUMBLING INTO THE DAWN Lior. CD. $24.95 The very likeable and talented Lior returns with another impressive collection, confirming him as one of our best singer-songwriters. He opens with the Beatles-flavoured ‘Shadow Man’, follows up with ‘I Thought I Could Sing on My Own’, where he sounds like Wings, and saves his more subdued and reflective tracks for last. THE WITMARK DEMOS 1962–1964 Bob Dylan. 2-CD set. WAS $34.95 NOW $29.95 YOU ARE NOT ALONE Between 1962 and 1964, Dylan recorded 47 demos of songs for presentation to his first two music publishers, now presented as Volume 9 of the Bootleg Series. Tracks including ‘Hey Mr. Tambourine Man’, ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘The Times They are a-Changin’’ are recorded here on solo acoustic guitar, piano and harmonica, along with 15 tunes that have never seen the light of day. Includes deluxe booklet and rare photographs. Uplifting? Joyous? There really are not words enough to describe this wonderful collaboration between gospel soul queen Staples and Wilco main man Jeff Tweedy. This is a record deeply rooted in Mavis’ spiritual beliefs and when given room to soar, it’s clear that hers is a voice that comes from somewhere very special – exactly where this album will take the listener. Mavis Staples. CD. $25.95 26 Classical music L SPECIA E C PRI L SPECIA PRICE THE BALLETS: TCHAIKOVSKY 111: THE COLLECTOR’S EDITION 2 Various artists. 56-CD set. WAS $159.95 NOW $139.95 Deutsche Grammophon’s 2009 celebration of 111 years in recording was marked by the release of a 55-CD boxed set of DG’s landmark recordings, and it was so popular that the iconic label has released a second instalment: 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon: The Collector’s Edition 2. Fabulous repertoire and superb performances! L SPECIA E C I PR Royal Ballet/Royal Swedish Ballet. 4-DVD set. $69.95 Every ballet lover’s dream – three fabulous productions of Tchaikovsky’s ballets (Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty) presented together in a boxed set. All are from Sir Peter Wright’s choreographic workshop and each includes interviews with the main players as well as documentaries about the ballets. L SPECIA E C I PR BORGIA DYNASTY: CHURCH AND POWER DURING THE RENAISSANCE Montserrat Figueras, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI & Jordi Savall 3-CD, DVD & 400pp book set. $74.95 What would Christmas at Readings be like without a deluxe Alia Vox doorstopper? The theme this year is the centuries-spanning soap opera of Italy’s bloodthirsty Borgias, and the stellar music runs from Arabic and Sephardic Spain to the grandest glories of Josquin des Prez and Cristobal de Morales. Includes a making-of DVD. THE CELTIC VIOL II Jordi Savall, Andrew Lawrence-King & Frank McGuire. CD. WAS $34.95 NOW $29.95 Last year, Readings customers thrilled to Jordi Savall’s viol and harp take on the ancient jigs, airs and reels of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. This sequel is even more energetic, thanks in large part to the inspired addition of Irish bohdran drummer Frank McGuire. The performances are matched by Alia Vox’s usual lavish sound and packaging. L SPECIA PRICE THE CLASSIC 100 – TEN YEARS ON Various artists. 8-CD set. WAS $89.95 NOW $74.95 Ten years ago, ABC Classic FM asked its listeners, ‘What is the one piece of classical music you cannot live without?’ and gave birth to the Classic 100 phenomenon. Following a successful series of spin-offs (opera, chamber music etc), the original question was recently posed anew and here’s the result – 10 hours of wonderful music. Various artists. 2-CD & book set. $49.95 Vladimir Horowitz with various artists. 7-CD set. WAS $69.95 NOW $59.95 MAHLER: THE COMPLETE WORKS Though the great Vladimir Horowitz died in 1989, he has never left the public’s favour. This new boxed set presents all of his recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and is a feast for any discerning listener. To mark his 150th birthday, EMI has released Mahler’s complete works in a boxed set. Drawing on recordings from 60 years of EMI’s prodigious catalogue and featuring some of the world’s greatest conductors, singers and orchestras (both past and present), this specially priced set is exceptional value. A must-have. L SPECIA E C I PR IFT FREE G MICHAEL NYMAN COLLECTIONS HOROWITZ: COMPLETE RECORDINGS ON DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON Various artists. 16-CD set. WAS $57.95 NOW $44.95 RECEIVE A FREE GIFT WITH EVERY PURCHASE! MOZART: THE COMPLETE OPERAS Various artists. 33-DVD set. $199.95 Some of the finest directors of our time worked on this huge audio-visual Mozart project, which comprises 51 hours of music and 33 DVDs. This boxed set also includes Mozart rarities, many of which are now appearing for the very first time on DVD. And as a special Summer Reading Guide offer, you’ll receive a 35-CD boxed set of Violin Masterworks on the Decca label valued at $121.95 with every purchase! Note: only while stock lasts. Various artists. 40-CD set. $59.95 This boxed set will make Russophiles feel right at home! As well as including major works by giants such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Rimsky-Korsakov, it also includes their lesserknown works and comes with a bonus disc about Russian musical art. Exclusive to Readings. IFT FREE G RECEIVE A FREE GIFT WITH EVERY PURCHASE! THE NUTCRACKER Simon Rattle & the Berliner Philharmoniker. CD with booklet. WAS $29.95 NOW $24.95 Tchaikovsky’s beautiful ballet as performed by one of the world’s favourite conductors and orchestras! Presented in a stunning limited edition with booklet, this will be a lovely gift for lovers of ballet everywhere. SACRED MUSIC IN THE RENAISSANCE RUSSIAN MASTERS This new collection showcases Nyman as a mature composer, filmmaker and photographer. Beautifully presented in a slimline box, this evocative and inspiring set is exclusive to Readings in Australia. The Tallis Scholars. CD boxed sets. Each volume $34.95 For over three decades, The Tallis Scholars have produced highly acclaimed recordings of sacred music from the Renaissance on their own label, Gimell Records. Each of these three boxed sets (Volumes 1, 2 and 3) collects recordings from a particular decade of their career, featuring music from all over Europe that spans 150 years of music history. OFFICIUM NOVUM Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble. CD. $32.95 Fifteen years after Officium, one of the best-loved recordings of modern times, the Norwegian saxophonist and English choir reunite for another unique experience: songs by Pärt, Pérotin and many pieces by Armenian mystic Komitas Vardapet. Garbarek’s saxophones weave spontaneous filigrees around the four voices, resulting in music that manages to be both lush and austere. Timeless, unearthly beauty. O SOLITUDE Andreas Scholl & Accademia Bizantina. CD. WAS $26.95 NOW $21.95 Returning to the Decca label, Andreas Scholl lends his superb countertenor voice to the music of Purcell. Including the famous soprano aria ‘When I am Laid in Earth’ from Dido and Aeneas, this collection comprises music for the stage as well as sacred and chamber music. As a special Summer Reading Guide offer, we’ll also give you a copy of Scholl’s Arias for Senesino with every purchase! Note: only while stock lasts. SOSPIRI Cecilia Bartoli. 2-CD prestige edition. $34.95 SOUVENIRS OF RUSSIA The title (Sigh) hints at the mood evoked by this album. Featuring a selection of mostly gentle arias, it will appeal to novices and opera fans alike. Bartoli fans are sure to want this beautifully packaged prestige edition, which contains additional arias plus a second disc featuring a gorgeous selection of sacred music. Presented by virtuosos John Schneiderman and Oleg Timofeyev, this homage to the guitar music of Russia features music from the romantic period of Russian masterpieces. Lovingly put together, it’s an album that will please any guitar or music lover. Czar’s Guitars. CD. $30.95 DVDs L SPECIA E C I PR 27 BIRD ON A WIRE ANIMAL KINGDOM ART + SOUL DVD $39.95, Blu-ray $44.95 DVD. $39.95 With this assured debut, local filmmaker David Michod demonstrates a startling directorial confidence. 2010’s Australian film to beat is torn from the annals of Melbourne’s recent history, inducting us into a pride of backbiting crims. See it before its inevitable AFI awards sweep. Art + Soul is an intimate look at the art and life of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Spanning the period from ancient times to the multi-media world of today, this documentary follows Hetti Perkins as she takes a personal journey to reveal a complex, diverse and enduring art form that retains a deep appreciation of its heritage. DVD. $29.95 Restored and re-edited from recently discovered footage, Bird on a Wire follows Leonard Cohen on his 1972 world tour. A showcase of one of the world’s most enduring, creative and respected singer-songwriters through his performance in song and poetry, the documentary also records conversations during ‘down-time’ on the tour. A testament to a bygone and bohemian time. THE HEDGEHOG EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Special edition DVD. $39.95 The term ‘prankumentary’ was coined to describe Banksy’s movie debut – and with good reason. Is it for real? To what extent? Or is it a wile? In the end, it doesn’t matter – Banksy’s angle on the commodification of counter-culture eclipses all conjecture in this outlandish ‘account’ of a passion monstrously mischannelled. DVD. $34.95 THE GRUFFALO DVD. $19.95 Can a lone mouse outfox a forest full of hungry predators with tall tales of an imaginary monster? An all-class roster of British talent (Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Robbie Coltrane) voice a miscellany of cute woodland critters in this vibrant animated telling of the adored children’s picture book. Adapted from Muriel Barbery’s bestselling novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, this film tells the story of Paloma, a precocious 11-year-old who records her observations of her barely functional family and other inhabitants of a Parisian apartment block on her movie camera. A touching and intelligent film. THE CONCERT DVD. WAS $39.95 NOW $19.95 Farce and human drama play in harmony in this ebullient tale of an orchestra of misfits who seize one last unlikely chance to complete a performance cut short 30 years ago. The culminating sequence set to Tchaikovsky’s ‘Violin Concerto in D Major’ is sublime. HUMPHREY BOGART: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION 7-DVD set. $59.95 In six classic films of the 1940s – Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, The Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not and Treasure of the Sierra Madre – Bogart set the gold standard of the wisecracking tough guy, playing characters including Sam Spade and Philip Marlow and making on-screen alchemy with Lauren Bacall. Of all the box sets in all the world, you have to own this one. L SPECIA PRICE THE LOST THING DVD. $29.95 IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN IN SEARCH OF MOZART 2-DVD set. $44.95 These two documentaries reveal insights into the lives of Beethoven and Mozart through the greatest orchestras, musicians and experts ever assembled. A two-disc set that takes you beyond the myth and into the heart of genius itself. L SPECIA PRICE LIFE DVD & Blu-ray. $89.95 each It took the BBC’s Natural History Unit four years of filming in high definition to capture what Darwin called nature’s ‘struggle for existence’. Written and narrated by David Attenborough, the 10 episodes of Life are a breathtaking narrative of the predatory strategies and survival techniques used by mammals, insects, fish and plants. Author-illustrator Shaun Tan directed this short film of his widely praised book of the same name. While collecting bottle tops, an odd young boy stumbles upon the Lost Thing, and takes it on an eventful journey to find its way back home. The film has a charming and nostalgic 1950s look, and will make a very special gift for film-lovers of every age. LOVE LUST & LIES DVD. WAS $29.95 NOW $24.95 This is the fifth instalment of Gillian Armstrong’s documentary series capturing the lives of three women from Adelaide. As Michael Apted did in his 7 Up series, Armstrong records her subjects’ lives with great honesty. PETER GREENAWAY COLLECTION MASTERS OF AMERICAN MUSIC 10-DVD set. WAS $99.95 NOW $79.95 This fabulous boxed set of DVDs charts the lives and works of the musicians who defined the course of America’s musical history. Combining period performance footage and vintage photographs, artists are brought to life through conversations with their contemporaries. Episodes include Bluesland, Armstrong, Basie, Coltrane, Parker, Vaughan and The Story of Jazz. THE PACIFIC 6-DVD set $79.95, Blu-ray $99.95 This multi-award-winning, 10-part drama filmed in Melbourne follows members of a US infantry division in the Pacific as they battle against Japan. It moves from epic to intimate as seamlessly as did its predecessor, Band of Brothers. Cinematic television of the highest calibre. 8-DVD set. $79.95 Visionary, visual stylist, painter with light, eroticist, 21st-century Cocteau – there are many ways to describe director Peter Greenaway. This boxed set contains The Draughtsman’s Contract, A Zed & Two Noughts, Drowning by Numbers, Prospero’s Books, Baby of Macon, The Pillow Book and 8½ Women, and demonstrates Greenaway’s trademark mix of the sumptuous visual style of Renaissance paintings with minimalist modern soundtracks. STEPHEN FRY LIVE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE DVD. $29.95 The comedian, actor, director and TV host seems to be loved by everybody. Why is this? This recording of his recent live show in Sydney provides the answer – Stephen Fry is someone we are immediately at home with. In the first half, Fry converses with the crowd and in the second he is in conversation with Jennifer Byrne. ✁ ORDER FORM Your name Your address Postcode Order online at www.readings.com.au Tel (BH) Email address Name on card Readings has been Melbourne’s pre-eminent independent bookseller since 1969. In 2010 we were named ABIA Australian Independent Bookseller of the Year for the fifth time. Readings has six shops around Melbourne, each with their own distinct character: Carlton, Hawthorn, Malvern, Port Melbourne and the newly renovated shop in St KIlda – as well as the most recent addition, a new shop in Palmer Hall at the State Library of Victoria. Cardholder’s signature Illustration by Oslo Davis (www.oslodavis.com) Cheque enclosed o Card number Expiry date / / MC o VISA o Please charge my credit card: / / / / / / / / / / / / / / Card verification code / / / / o Please send me information about your newsletter and events Please mail your completed order form to Readings, 309 Lygon Street, Carlton, VIC 3053; order by telephone, fax or email; or at our website www.readings.com.au. title quantity price subtotal plus delivery (Melbourne metro) or plus delivery (Elsewhere in Australia) or plus delivery (New Zealand – one to three items) or plus delivery (New Zealand – four items or more) (Express and overseas rates available on request) total $ *NB: Postage free with seven or more items $6.50* $7.95* $7.95 $10.00 Please note: although all details are correct at the time of printing, prices may change without notice due to the vagaries of the exchange rate and the will of publishers. WIN AN INSTANT LIBRARY! To win a library of books worth more than $5000 or one of six $100 Readings gift cards: ✁ •fill in the form below with your answers •attach the form to a receipt from the purchase of an item from this guide (NB: your purchase must be from one of our shops) SECOND PRIZE •return to one of our shops by MONDAY, 31 JANUARY 2011 One of six $100 Readings gift cards. •answer the questions scattered throughout the guide READINGS MALVERN READINGS ST KILDA 309 Lygon Street, Carlton VIC 3053 Tel: (03) 9347 6633 Fax: (03) 9347 1641 Email: [email protected] Open: Mon–Fri: 8am–11pm Sat & Sun: 9am–11pm Christmas Eve: 8am–9pm Closed Christmas Day 185 Glenferrie Road, Malvern VIC 3144 Tel: (03) 9509 1952 Fax: (03) 9509 4957 Email: [email protected] Open: Mon–Fri: 9am–7pm Sat: 9am–6pm Sun: 10am–6pm Christmas Eve: 9am–6pm Closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day 112 Acland Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 Tel: (03) 9525 3852 Fax: (03) 9534 0444 Email: [email protected] Open: Mon–Sat: 10am–10pm Sun: 10am–9pm Christmas Eve: 10am–9pm Closed Christmas Day READINGS HAWTHORN READINGS PORT MELBOURNE 701 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122 Tel: (03) 9819 1917 Fax: (03) 9815 0649 Email: [email protected] Open: Mon–Fri: 8am–8pm Sat & Sun: 9am–6pm Christmas Eve: 9am–6pm Closed Christmas Day 253 Bay Street, Port Melbourne VIC 3207 Tel: (03) 9681 9255 Fax: (03) 9681 9797 Email: [email protected] Open: Mon–Fri: 9am–7pm Sat & Sun: 9am–6pm Closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day. FIRST PRIZE A selection of the titles featured in this catalogue – the very best of this summer’s fiction, travel, history, politics, biography and much more. Total value more than $5000! •pay close attention as you read the reviews in this guide READINGS CARLTON READINGS STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Tel: (03) 8664 7540 Email: [email protected] Open: Mon–Sat: 10am–6pm Sun: closed Closed 25 December–3 January Note: All opening hours are valid for 1–24 December 2010 only (inclusive) and are subject to change. Call ahead or check online at www.readings.com.au for updates. Looking for the perfect gift? Readings has a wide range of unique items that will fit the bill: I’d like to enter the competition to win more than $5000 worth of great books. My answers are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Entries must be received by 5pm on Monday, 31 January 2011. The prize will be drawn at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW, at 5pm on Wednesday, 9 February 2011. To be eligible to enter, you must purchase an item from this catalogue at a participating shop, attach the proof of your purchase to your completed entry form and return it to a participating shop. The winners will be notified by post and announced in The Australian newspaper on Friday, 11 February 2010. Prizes are not transferable and may not be exchanged for cash. Titles are selected for first prize at the discretion of the promoter. Employees of participating bookshops (and their immediate families) are not permitted to enter the competition. Promoter: Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW 2037. Tel: (02) 9660 2333. NSW Permit No. LTPS/10/10220. We are proud to stock a wide range of Lamy pens, including ballpoint and fountain pens plus refills (pens from $19.95, refills from $6.95). Available at all shops except Malvern. Mark your books with Brilliant Book Buddies from Izzi Inc. Each bookmark is handcrafted in Melbourne and each one is unique! Assorted designs, $9.95 each. For the creative person on your Christmas list we have Milini hard-bound drawing journals and 12-pastel packs at $19.95 each – these special sets are exclusive to Readings. Your name Your address Postcode Tel (BH) Email address oYES! I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ENTER THE DRAW TO WIN A MEAL AT SYDNEY’S QUAY RESTAURANT To win a lunch or dinner for two worth $600 at Sydney’s acclaimed Quay restaurant, purchase a copy of Quay (Peter Gilmore, Murdoch Books, $95) and attach your receipt to the entry form above. You will then go into the draws to win both the main competition prize and the special Quay prize. Note that you must have purchased a copy of the book to enter this second competition. Two great books about Melbourne: Melbourne Remade: The Inner City Since the 70s ($20) by Seamus O’Hanlon and First People: The Eastern Kulin of Melbourne, Port Phillip & Central Victoria ($24.95) by Gary Presland. For a fashionable and socially conscious gift, we have a variety of unique and colourful carry bags made from recycled materials ($19.95). These are the work of SEW (Supporting and Empowering Women), a development project that employs HIV+ women in Tanzania. PROJECT MANAGER: VIRGINIA MAXWELL. BOOK SELECTION: DAVID GAUNT, KATHY KOZLOWSKI, MARK RUBBO, CATHERINE SCHULZ & MARTIN SHAW. CD & dvD SELECTION: DAVE CLARKE, LOU FULCO & PHIL RICHARDS. REVIEWS: JANET AUSTIN, KATE GOLDSWORTHY, ROBERT HOLLINGWORTH, LORIEN KAYE, DAVID MCCLYMONT & VIRGINIA MAXWELL. EDITING: VIRGINIA MAXWELL. PROOFREADING: JANET AUSTIN. COVER ILLUSTRATION: SHAUN TAN. DESIGN: MARY CALLAHAN. PRINTING: HANNANPRINT VICTORIA.