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The bizarre ways of the new arrivals spooked the saltwater man.
CLUE #1
First letter of title:
FICTION at
Lola in the Mirror Trent Dalton
Miles Franklin Literary Award
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens Shankari Chandran
Cinnamon Gardens is a caring and colourful multi-cultural nursing home in western Sydney, facing problems - staffing, money and attacks by vile racists. When a staff member is violently targeted, there are devastating consequences. A finely written and powerful novel dealing with our treatment of the elderly, of refugees and migrants, the bonds that make families and the stresses that destroy relationships - and the damage politicians and the media can inflict without thought and with unintended effects. A worthy winner of the Miles Franklin. Lindy
A girl who has had many names, but doesn’t know her real one, lives with her mother in a van by the Brisbane River. She mightn’t know much about her real past, but she certainly knows what her future will be, and that vision - of being a world-famous artist with an exhibition at MoMA in New York - keeps her going through her tough and tragic circumstances. But even as she finds herself in trouble, she finds herself in love... Absolutely wonderful: heartwrenching, comic, exuberant, vivid, sympathetic, colourful - another literary marvel from the author of Boy Swallows Universe ($22.99). Lindy Pb $32.99
North Woods Daniel Mason
Pb $24.99
This incandescent novel is set in one patch of Massachusetts woodland over the course of centuries. A Puritan couple, a woman captured by Native Americans, a colonial British soldier-turned-orchardist, spinster sisters, an escaped slave, a reclusive artist, a rich industrialist and his family, a pulp crime writer, a poverty-stricken academic - the rich cast which populate and haunt this book. Their storylines intertwine with denizens of the woods, and the trees themselves are important components of this entrancing and absorbing novel. Very finely written in ways that capture the differing voices. At times surprising and wholeheartedly recommended! Lindy Pb $32.99
Edenglassie
Melissa Lucashenko When 97-year-old Eddie Blanket trips over and ends up in hospital, it sets off a chain of events involving her feisty granddaughter Winona, her doctor Johnny Newman... and the ghost of her grandfather. As they navigate relationships, attitudes and current events in 2024, the story switches back to the 1840s and 50s, when Brisbane was being colonised. There Mulanyin, proud Yugambeh man, tries to understand the interlopers and their bizarre customs, and dreams of returning to his saltwater country with his new wife. Everything you expect from the 2019 Miles Franklin-winning author of Too Much Lip ($24.99), but the historic sections really shine! Lindy Pb $32.99
The In-Between Christos Tsiolkas
The Fraud Zadie Smith
This kaleidoscopic novel is set against the backdrop of the Tichborne Trial that captivated Victorian England. In 1873, Mrs Eliza Touchet is the Scottish housekeeper of a once famous novelist. Andrew Bogle, once enslaved on a Jamaican plantation, finds himself in London, star witness in a celebrated case of imposture. Touchet is a woman of the world. Bogle is no fool. But in a world of hypocrisy and selfdeception, deciding what is real proves a complicated task.
Pb $34.99
Two men in their fifties meet in a Melbourne bar. They have lived full lives, but now fear being alone. Perry’s great love had been a married Frenchman; Ivan’s had been a younger man with a mercenary bent. How will they move past their damaged histories into new love? A tender novel which covers a few years and varying viewpoints, with all the insight and toughness you would expect from this masterful chronicler of contemporary issues. Lindy Pb $32.99
The Conversion
Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year
Amanda Lohrey
Joanna Nell
The conversion was Nick’s idea, but it’s Zoe who’s here now, in a valley of old coalmines and new vineyards, working out how to live in a deconsecrated church which seems empty of the possibilities Nick enthused about. She is stuck in purgatory until a determined young teacher pushes into her life. From the 2021 Miles Franklin-winning author of The Labyrinth ($22.99) comes a startling novel about the homes we live in - how we shape them and they shape us. Pb $32.99
Dr Heather Winterbottom and her husband Alan have run the small medical clinic in a picturesque English village for many years. On retiring, she has dreams of Greek sunshine, but his are about organic vegetables. Increasingly frustrated by his lack of understanding, and after one particularly galling family lunch, she heads off to Cephalonia to finally have an adventure all for herself. But is being by herself what she really wants? A warm and at times laugh-out-loud read, full of charm and gentle truths. Lindy Pb $32.99
Days of Innocence and Wonder Lucy Treloar
All her life, Till has lived in the shadow of a childhood friend’s abduction, tormented by wondering whether she could have prevented it. Now 23, she again senses danger approaching and flees her past - and the hovering presence of her fearful parents - to create a new home and life. But again there is something menacing. Till must decide whether she can finally face down the darkness, or whether she’ll flee once more and never stop running... Pb $34.99
The Turnglass Gareth Rubin
A tête-bêche is a book with two stories printed back-to-back that twist and meet in the middle. This one has two linked and self-referential stories, with a tête-bêche at their heart. One is set in 1880s England where Dr Simeon Lee is called to treat his cousin Oliver, who thinks he’s been poisoned by his sister-in-law who is kept in a glassed-off room. The other is in 1930s California where Oliver Tooke has died near Turnglass House. His friend thinks the clues to Oliver’s death are in his final book about a man called Simeon Lee... A clever and haunting book about time’s passing and the power of stories and their perspectives. Pb $34.99
The Future
Into Your Arms
Naomi Alderman
Nick Cave’s Songs Reimagined
Set in the near future, billionaires have taken steps to safeguard themselves and their families from the encroaching apocalypse, with little regard for the rest of the world’s population. But there are other people in their circles who are prepared to circumvent the elite’s precautions... Full of twists and turns, this page-turning environmental dystopia (à la Margaret Atwood) deals with a lot of big ideas, while remaining very readable.
Kirsten Krauth (Ed)
These stories respond to Nick Cave’s visionary genius with their own original and unsettling tales of death, faith, violence and love - from an automaton of Nick Cave to a vengeful Uber driver to a girl desperate to save a failing greyhound. Contributors include Kirsten Tranter, Tony Birch, Neil White, Toni Jordan and Christos Tsiolkas. Pb $32.99
Pb $32.99
3
FICTION at
Day Michael Cunningham
Set on the same day - 5 April - over three successive years - 2019 to 2021. In 2019, Isabel loves her work and hates the job. Her husband Dan once had fleeting success as a musician, but is now a house husband. Her brother Robbie is moving out of her brownstone’s attic because her children Nathan and Violet need the space, and to get over the nastiness of his last boyfriend. 2020 shows how the pandemic has affected them, and 2021 shows the aftermath. An exquisite novel about family, love, limitations and acceptance. Lindy Pb $32.99
Light Over Liskeard Louis de Bernières
From the author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ($22.99). Concerned about what the future holds for life in the city, Q buys a ruined farmhouse in Cornwall and builds his own self-sufficient haven. His new way of life brings him back in tune with his teenage children, his ex-wife and his own sense of who he is. This entertaining and heart-warming novel pokes fun at modern mores and makes us reconsider what is really precious in our lives.
Late Michael Fitzgerald
Pb $34.99
In a Bondi ocean-side apartment designed by a famous architect, a woman watches the world, ruminating on her past as a thrice-married actress. She observes Jewish traditions and keeps to herself. One day she meets a young man who is staying in a neighbour’s flat and, in the space of a day, they exchange snippets of their past. But Zelda Zonk has a secret she never quite reveals... Allusions and illusions abound in this freewheeling and fluid novel about memory, public perception and private realities. Lindy Hb $32.99
The Naturalist of Amsterdam Melissa Ashley
Dorothea’s mother is the renowned early 18th century illustratornaturalist, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Dorothea has always been a part of the family business. When Maria decides to travel to Suriname to record the insects and plants, Dorothea goes too, despite longing for independence and a home of her own. The trip will change their lives and fortunes... Another well-researched imagining of the life of a real woman, this is a colourful and engaging novel from the author of The Birdman’s Wife ($19.99). Lindy Hb $39.99
So Close to Home Mick Cummins
Aaron is a rather sweet young 18-year-old who constantly daydreams about love and connection. He’s also a desperate heroin addict living on the streets of Melbourne, constantly on the lookout for things to steal to get his next fix. As he becomes even more driven by his needs, he makes a wretched decision that awakens even worse demons from his past... A powerfully written, gritty and unflinching novel, winner of a 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Lindy Pb $34.99
Night Side of the River Ghost Stories
Jeanette Winterson A ghost has no substance, but it has power - and presence - and it can appear in alternative forms. In the metaverse, we are all alternative forms. The Dead will join us. We have changed, but our ghosts have not. They’ve simply adapted and found new channels to reach us. These are the stories of the Dead - of those we’ve lost, loved, forgotten. Some are fiction. But some may not be... Pb $32.99
A Dictator Calls Ismail Kadare
In June 1934, Stalin allegedly called the novelist and poet Boris Pasternak to discuss the arrest of fellow Soviet poet Osip Mandelstam. In this fascinating combination of dreams and dossier facts, Albanian author Ismail Kadare reconstructs that tense conversation and its aftershocks. Weaving together the accounts of witnesses, reporters and writers, this is a gripping story of power and political structures, and the relationship between writers and tyranny. Hb $34.99
The Opposite of Success Eleanor Elliott Thomas
All Lorrie wants is to get promoted, accept her body and end global warming. By Friday. Is that really too much to ask? She has a great partner, two adorable kids and absolutely no idea what to do with her life. This Friday, she’s hoping for change: it’s launch day for her big work project and she’s applied for a promotion that she’s not entirely sure she wants, but the day spirals from bad to worse to frankly unhinged. A riotously funny debut about work, motherhood, friendship - and the meaning of failure itself.
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4
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The Queen’s Apprenticeship
Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood
Tracy Ryan
Marguerite of Angouleme has always known that her duty lies with her beloved brother Francois. Their mother has plotted to see him king of France, and Marguerite’s worth is measured by her usefulness in dynastic manoeuvres, despite her intellectual talents. Jehane, a printer’s daughter, finds herself cast out and assumes male clothing for safety and to make her way through the world. In this rich reimagining of Renaissance France, historical high-born figures are brought to life and Marguerite and Jehane’s stories show the strength and courage of women from opposite ends of society. Lindy Pb $32.99
An unnamed narrator takes a retreat at a cloistered abbey near the town she grew up in. She’s avoiding thinking about her marriage breakdown and observing the nuns’ rituals with some incomprehension, but a few years later she is resident there. Has she run away from the world? Is it solace or solitude she seeks? Or forgiveness? As she revisits her moral failings, the world intrudes: first a mouse plague, then someone from her past... A quiet novel, all the more powerful because of its introspection. Lindy Pb $32.99
The Modern Anna Kate Blair
Australian Sophia is working as a fellow at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her longtime boyfriend proposes to her the night before he sets off to hike the Appalachian Trail for five months. It’s almost the perfect life, but on the cusp of 30, she’s not sure she has what she really wants. Nor does she really know what that is. Cara might be what she needs, if Sophia can keep what she already has... A meditation on art, desire, queerness and agency. Lindy Pb $32.99
Thaw Dennis Glover
In 1912, five British explorers struggle across the freezing Antarctic landscape seeking the safety of their camp. Today, as the ice sheets melt and surrender their secrets, archaeologist Missy Simpson works to reveal what happened to the explorers - a mystery that has intrigued researchers for over a century. Drawn from the pages of history and cutting-edge science, this gripping read will change how you see the frozen continent - and those who seek to conquer it. Pb $32.99
The Talented Mrs Greenway Tea Cooper
Mary Greenway has come to Sydney in 1814 with her three children, hoping that life will be good. Her ex-convict husband is the colony’s prime architect, with patronage from Governor Macquarie himself. She forms a friendship with Elizabeth Macquarie and it seems fortune is at last smiling on her family. But secrets from the past and betrayals in the present might just turn that all around if Mary can’t rise to the challenge - and promise of her future… Pb $32.99
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop Hwang Bo-reum
In the turbulent 1920s, a Wall Street tycoon takes a young woman as his wife. Together they rise to the top in an age of excess and speculation. But now a novelist threatens to reveal the secrets behind their marriage, and this wealthy man’s story - of greed, love and betrayal - is about to slip from his grasp. Comprising four competing versions of the same deceptive tale, this great page-turner was awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Pb $22.99
Learned by Heart Emma Donoghue
From the author of Room ($19.99) comes the story of two young girls on the margins of life, forging a connection that will last a lifetime. In 1805, at boarding school in York, two 14-year-olds meet - an orphan heiress sent from India to England when she was just six, and a talented troublemaker. Anne Lister would go on to become a gifted and famous diarist, but when she meets Eliza Raine, it changes her life forever. Pb $34.99
WINNER
$50,000
Picador
Pb $34.99
SHORTLIST
$5,000 each
Running with Ivan Suzanne Leal HarperCollins
Affirm Press
Pb $17.99
Pb $17.99
Waiting for the Storks Katrina Nannestad
Melbourne, 1871. Twelveyear-old Billy Pyke comes up against a sinister magician called the Obscurosmith in a race-against-time adventure.
ABC Books
Hb $19.99
To view the longlists, head to abbeys.com.au and click on Awards.
CLUE #2 First letter of title:
Iris Fiona Kelly McGregor
The Bookseller's Apprentice Amelia Mellor
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
Cloister yourself in Abbey's and you will find devotion and solace.
$5,000 each
Pb $22.99
Macedonia, 1917. Four lives intertwine and change, each compelled by the desire to create something meaningful as war-time Salonika is engulfed by fire.
$30,000
Historical Novel Society Australasia
Text Publishing
Pb $22.99
WINNER
HNSA
The Settlement Jock Serong
Text Publishing
Australian Fiction
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
SHORTLIST
Salonika Burning Gail Jones
ADULT
Trust Hernan Diaz
With prize money of $100,000, the ARA Historical Novel Prize is the richest, genre-based literary award in Australasia.
CHILDREN & YA
Yeongju has done everything expected of her - go to university, get a respectable job, marry a decent man - but when her life falls apart, she does what she’s always wanted to do and opens a bookshop. In a quaint district of Seoul, she and her customers are comforted by books and learn to overcome their disappointments and live again. A bestseller in Korea, this is a heart-warming and wholesome love letter to books! Pb $32.99
5
Historical Fiction
Awards
Our vast selection of children's books is lovingly curated by Lindy Jones. Visit KIDS' TREASURE TROVE at abbeys.com.au for the latest books - and tick 'Children's & Young Adult' as your eNews interest.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS at Universal Guide to the Night Sky Lisa Harvey-Smith
A joyful guide to the wonders of star-gazing, planet-spotting and the other treasures of the night skies. With illustrations by Sophie Beer, the text is conversational in tone and includes additional fun facts liberally interspersed throughout. There are also tips for activities (often using apps) and further research. A book designed to be devoured by the up-and-coming astronomer! Ages 7-10 Lindy Hb $24.99
Songlines
First Knowledges for Younger Readers
Margo Neale & Lynne Kelly
Unique to Australia, Songlines are the world’s oldest ideas, and this book invites readers to learn about their history, art and science. It explains how the Indigenous people used Songlines to navigate the land, find food, conserve resources and pass on knowledge to the next generation. A simplified version of the bestselling adult edition Songlines ($24.99), this is colourfully illustrated by Blak Douglas and also contains suggested activities. Thoughtful and non-condescending, it is perfectly pitched at ages 8-12. Lindy Pb $24.99
The Maps Book
The Ultimate Guide to the History and Use of Maps
Listen Duncan Smith & Nicole Godwin
Jo Bourne
From the very first world map to the maps on smartphones, this fascinating history covers all types of maps - political, geographical, topographical, scientific, transport, weather and even quirky ones like Tolkien’s Middle-earth and Winnie-the-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood. It also explores making maps, reading maps and modern mapping technology. Highly illustrated with colourful artwork and historic photos and of course lots of maps - this is an enjoyable journey through the world of cartography. Ages 9-12 Lindy Hb $29.99
Amazing Ancient World Atlas Uncover the Treasures of the Past
Nancy Dickmann
Empires have risen and fallen over the millennia and this fascinating, full-colour atlas reveals 40 historical cultures, societies and civilisations. From the Stone Age to the Persian empires, ancient China to ancient Egypt, young historians are introduced to early humans, first settlements and lost kingdoms. The absorbing text is illustrated with a mix of artwork, photographs, maps and timelines. An amazing book indeed! Ages 8-12 Lindy Hb $29.99
From the creators of We Are Australians (Hb $24.99) comes another heartfelt and simply told book. It invites young readers to listen to the voices of the First Peoples, their Ancestors and Elders to better understand the path to knowledge of culture and Country. Jandamarra Cadd’s illustrations are mesmerising and beautifully rendered, and the subtle patterns behind the pages of text add to the impact of the messages. Ages 4-7 Lindy Hb $24.99
Country Town Isolde Martyn & Robyn Ridgeway
This carefully written book follows a ‘typical’ Australian country town through two centuries. Starting with the First Nations people on Country, and tracing its history from first Europeans to contemporary times, the story of the town is told in landmark years and events - the gold rush, depression, floods and bushfires, the coming of the railway, war years and boom times. Interesting historical text directed at the reader is combined with fictional characters representing different townsfolk. Ably complemented by Louise Hogan’s intricate and detailed illustrations. An excellent way to distil Australian history! Lindy Pb $19.95
Courageous Kids and their Amazing Adventures Stephanie Owen Reeder
This is a bindup of seven stories celebrating the tenacity, curiosity and achievements of young people from our past - Lennie Gwyther, who rode his horse to the opening of the Harbour Bridge; Will Hutchinson, who went gold exploring as a teenager; Grace Bussell, who rescued shipwreck survivors; Quong Tart, who came from China to make a new life; May Zinga, the best bareback rider in the world; young Jane, who was lost in the bush with her brothers; and Belinda Kay and the castaways. Exciting stories of courage and adventure. Illustrations by Liz Duthie enhance the text. Lindy Hb $19.99
Bird Atlas
Camilla de la Bédoyère & Josy Bloggs The newest title in the Lonely Planet atlas range, this is jam-packed full of avian information! It covers regions and habitats from all round the world using maps, diagrams, fold-out and lift-up flaps, great photographs and interesting illustrations, all in full colour. Concise text covers everything from nest building to courtship displays, migrations to environmental concerns, hummingbirds to ostriches. A book to inspire any young birder! Lindy Hb $29.99
Let’s Play Sports Kate Baker
A bright and colourful lift-the-flap book pitched at pre-schoolers, this features eight different countries and a wide range of sports and games played around the world. Whether Australia for surfing, New Zealand for rugby, Canada for ice sports, Brazil for beach sports, India for cricket, Cameroon for soccer, the USA for baseball or the UK for skateboarding, this book provides interesting bite-sized information and shows how people and cultures happily play together. Lindy
Crow Baby Helen Milroy
Long ago, when the world was new, the spirit of a crow arrived at the birth of a human baby. The little girl Daisy Crow grew up with two spirits - one from her human family and one from the spirit crows. She loves exploring the landscape with her companion and guardian Arrk, a crow born with three special feathers signifying wisdom, courage and kindness - as Daisy was. But one day, when disaster strikes, she has a hard decision to make - which family can she save? A beautiful fable with glowing illustrations. Lindy Hb $24.99
Mr Clownfish, Miss Anemone and the Hermit Crab
Board Book $16.99
Sean Avery
Artichoke to Zucchini
An Alphabet of Delicious Things from Around the World
Alice Oehr
This delightfully bright and colourful book is a tour around the world through fruit, vegetables and delicious dishes. It’s a wonderful introduction to different foodstuffs, and the simple, bold illustrations are eye-catching with textural interest. This is very appealing - children love food and they should love this picture book too! Ages 3-5 Lindy Hb $24.99
6
Mr Clownfish and Miss Anemone have a lovely life together. She uses her stinging tentacles to keep him from certain doom if a big fish attacks; he becomes ferocious if an anemone-eater ventures close. Together they enjoy meals of small delicious sea morsels, although he might have to leave her to gather them. When he gives her the perfect birthday gift, little does he know it might break his little-fish heart... A delightful picture book about friendship and its rewards, of being sensitive to your friend - and a little less sensitive yourself! Ages 4-6 Lindy Hb $25.99
Kimmi Queen of the Dingoes
Need recommendations? Ask Lindy... info@abbeys.com.au 02 9264 3111
Favel Parrett
Kimmi the dingo is born in the tropical north, where life is safe with mama and aunty and her litter mates, but they’re under threat from angry humans. When a kindly human rescues them, they’re sent to different places to try to keep them safe, though mama and aunty soon decide to undertake a perilous journey back to the pups. Kimmi meanwhile is to be sent far to the south – will she see her family again? A sweet and simple companion novel to the bestselling Wandi (Hb $19.99) for ages 6-9. Lindy Hb $19.99
The Concrete Garden Bob Graham
Amanda lives in a large block of flats, and one day when the children are allowed out to play, she brings some chalk. Feeling rather pleased with the artwork she makes on the forecourt, she allows the others to contribute their own ideas and their cheerful work brightens the drabness. And when the rain blurs their art, they find another way to enjoy themselves! A sweet and gentle tale of children’s imagination, kindness and finding joy in doing things together. Lindy Hb $27.99
The Lost Library
Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass This sweet tale is set in a small town with a big mystery. Evan knows his dad tends to keep to himself, but then he learns that his father is implicated in the loss of the town’s library many years ago. He decides to investigate the true cause with the help of his fearless (but rulebound) friend Rafe. Told in turns through the eyes of Evan, Mortimer - the large orange cat who guards a newly-appeared street library - and a ghostly Assistant Librarian, this is a charming story for ages 9-12. Lindy Pb $16.99
The Planets The Story Orchestra Jessica Courtney-Tickle
This latest addition to the fabulous Story Orchestra range takes Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets and weaves a story about two children, Helen and Tim, who go on a night journey through the solar system, soaring through space before heading home. High quality, 10-second sound clips, information at the back about the composition and composer, and appealing illustrations make this a lively introduction to beautiful music! Lindy Hb $29.99
Impossible Creatures Katherine Rundell
When Christopher is sent to his unknown Scottish grandfather, he is unimpressed. That is, until he climbs a forbidden hill and a horde of impossible creatures appear. He’s found the entrance to the Archipelago, where all the animals of myth and peril are safe, and where Mal, a flying girl, lives. But the realm’s magic is dimming and the special beasts are beginning to sicken and die. When Christopher crosses into the Archipelago, the two join together to fight the evil force that threatens the world - and what adventures await them both! Absolutely marvellous! Ages 10-13 Lindy
Pb $18.99
Where Are All the Christmas Beetles? Suzanne Houghton
When I was a kid, Christmas beetles were a regular part of summer, but I haven’t seen one for the last few years. This lovely picture book celebrates some of our many beautiful Christmas beetles and explores their life cycle, while also explaining some of the reasons for their disappearance. It’s a book about the importance of the tiny creatures we don’t always appreciate, and why they matter. Colourfully illustrated. Ages 5-8 Lindy
The Puppets of Spelhorst
Hb $24.99
Kate DiCamillo
One day a regretful old sea captain spies a puppetshepherdess in a shop’s window. He is only permitted to buy her if he buys her companions - a king with a crown, a boy with a bow and arrows, an owl with real feathers and a wolf with sharp teeth. They are waiting for a Story and, in the meantime, tell each other their own desires. When adventures come, they aren’t quite what the puppets anticipated, yet they will be exactly what they thought... A beguiling, quietly moving fable about stories, connections and fate, with entrancing line illustrations by Julie Morstad. Ages 7-10 Lindy
Board book $29.99
Hb $24.99
Hb $44.99
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Hb $16.99
Hb $19.99
Asterix and the White Iris #40 Asterix Fabcaro & Didier Conrad
In Asterix’s 40th album of adventure and mayhem, we’re told: “To light up the forest, only one iris need bloom.” The White Iris is a new school of positive thinking and healthy living originating in Rome, and Caesar decides it might benefit his demoralised troops. But when it spreads within the village of the Gauls, the consequences are unforeseen... Everything fans expect: satire, wordplay, comic genius and delightful illustrations!
Hb $29.99
We stock a full range of Asterix and Tintin books!
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
Pb $17.99
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
We ask ourselves a universal question: "Will my stars align?"
7
CLUE #3
First letter of title:
CRIME ALLEY at
Abbey's is Australia's specialist crime bookshop. Visit CRIME ALLEY at abbeys.com.au for the latest crime book releases - and tick 'Crime' as your eNews interest.
The Seven Chris Hammer
Yuwonderie is a prosperous Riverina irrigation town, founded by seven families after WWI. They still hold political and economic sway, so when one of their own is found murdered, Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate. The story also goes back 30 years, when the heir of one of the Seven’s families is writing his honours thesis on the origins of the irrigation scheme and is murdered. It also goes back another 80 years to a housemaid’s letters to her mother... Of course, master writer Hammer draws these strands into one compelling read and, as always, combines great characters with a fine sense of place! Lindy Pb $32.99
Summer of Blood Dave Warner
It’s 1967 and two Sydney detectives, John and Ray, are in California looking for the missing son of an Australian politician. The trail leads into the summer sunshine of hippie and festival culture around San Francisco and Los Angeles, which the two embrace with enthusiasm, and Warner has fun setting the scene with cameos from musicians of the moment. The son remains missing, along with some young women, and menacing biker gangs move into frame. A pacy, enjoyable and relaxing mystery. Craig Pb $32.99
I am Already Dead #2 Lee Southern David Whish-Wilson
Lee Southern is watchful and can handle himself when things get physical - all the product of a rough childhood. The private investigator's current case involves a series of blackmail demands targeting a wealthy entrepreneur. As he delves deeper into the case, he begins to question the intentions of those he’s working for. A very satisfying mystery, well-paced with a compelling 'tough guy' along the lines of Child's Jack Reacher, Hurwitz's Orphan X or Disher's Wyatt. Craig Pb $34.99
Killing Moon #13 Harry Hole Jo Nesbo
Two women are missing, their only connection: they attended the same party hosted by a notorious property magnate. Then one of the women is found murdered. Catching the killer calls for a detective like no other, but the legendary Harry Hole is down and out in Los Angeles and cannot be enticed back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved his life is put in grave danger, and he has no choice. Because for Harry, this just got personal. Pb $32.99
Vertigo Karen Herbert
Frances, a public servant, is struggling to come to terms with the disappearance of a colleague Eric, as well as the death of her brother. Asked to review Eric’s last work file, she becomes an accidental sleuth, analysing reports for clues that may help solve Eric’s disappearance. She gradually uncovers a trail of corruption and must use her wits to stay one step ahead of those who want to keep the truth hidden. Pb $34.99
Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night #5 New Hercule Poirot
Sophie Hannah
The latest in the new Poirot mysteries sees our favourite Belgian detective summoned, with Inspector Catchpole, to solve a murder at a Norfolk hospital in the week before Christmas 1931. Hercule is asked to stay in a crumbling coastal mansion by Catchpole’s mother Cynthia, and when her best friend thinks her husband will be the killer’s next victim, he has to use all his little grey cells to catch the killer before someone else dies. Pure fun for all Agatha Christie fans! Pb $32.99
The Secret #28 Jack Reacher
Lee Child & Andrew Child
1992. Eight upstanding people have been found dead across the US. The deaths look like accidents and don’t appear to be connected. Then the Secretary of Defence calls for an inter-agency task force to investigate, and Reacher is assigned as the Army’s representative. The question is: will Reacher bring the bad guys to justice the official way? Or his way? Pb $32.99
The Year of the Locust Terry Hayes
The long-awaited follow-up to I am Pilgrim ($22.99). Kane, a highly trained CIA spy, travels to the badlands - where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet - to extract a man with vital information for the safety of the West. Instead he encounters a frightening adversary with vengeance in his heart who would take the world to the brink of extinction… Pb $34.99
$27.99
The Mantis Kotaro Isaka
Prima Facie Suzie Miller
Kabuto is a seemingly ordinary family man, although he does see the doctor more than most - because ‘the doctor’ is actually his handler and Kabuto is a hired assassin, and the ‘prescriptions’ the doctor gives him are his unlucky targets! Kabuto is trying to finish up with a few last jobs, but the most lucrative contracts involve taking out other assassins, and his final assignment puts both him and his family in danger. Pb $34.99
Tessa is a brilliant young barrister at the top of her game, until the night she is a victim herself of a sickening rape. She faces a life-changing decision: will she take the stand to testify about her rape, with full awareness that the system has not been built to protect her? A propulsive, raw look at the price victims pay for speaking out. Pb $34.99
Resurrection
#2 Jane Halifax Roger Simpson
Jane Halifax, forensic psychiatrist, wakes from a coma with no idea who she is. The car accident that put her in hospital seems to have been deliberate. She had files from a lawyer she shouldn’t have had, and her partner is distraught because she doesn’t remember him. It’s easier for Jane to retreat into the old memories she does retain. A young woman with links to a cold case 30 years ago keeps drawing Jane into the present, and it seems that if Jane can help her, she will also help herself... Pb $32.99
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
Spying the pilgrim, he quickly determined the locus of his destination.
CLUE #4
First letter of title:
8
Not Forever But For Now
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect
Otto and Cecil are young, privileged boys growing up in the Welsh countryside, watching nature documentaries, impersonating their grandfather... and killing the help. Murder is the family business, after all, and you have to start somewhere. A horror satire from the author of Fight Club ($22.99) about a debauched family of professional killers responsible for the most atrocious events in history, and the boys who just might start a nuclear apocalypse. It’s Palahniuk, so expect weirdness! Pb $32.99
The follow-up to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone ($22.99). “6 Writers. 5 Detectives. 4 Days. 3 Weapons. 2 Murders. 1 Train. When I’m invited to a crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for inspiration… but when one of us is murdered, six authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime. Or commit one.” Another deliciously witty, locked-room mystery.
Chuck Palahniuk
Benjamin Stevenson
Pb $32.99
Murder in a Heatwave
Classic Crime Mysteries for the Holidays
Cecily Gayford (Ed)
The Last Devil to Die
There’s nothing quite like an anthology of classic crime stories to while away a hot day! Here are 13 summertime tales of murder and mayhem from Dorothy L Sayers, Arthur Conan Doyle, Carter Dickson, Michael Innes, Baroness Orczy, Margery Allingham, Ian Rankin, Julian Symons, Ethel Lina White, Rex Stout, Ellis Peters, G K Chesterton and Ruth Rendell. So grab a long cool drink and settle in... Pb $22.99
#4 Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman
Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club - an old friend in the antiques business has been killed and a package he was protecting has gone missing. As the gang springs into action, they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home. With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die? Pb $34.99
The Golden Spoon Jessa Maxwell
For six amateur bakers, Bake Week is a dream come true. They arrive at Grafton Manor to compete, ready to do whatever it takes to win the ultimate prize. As the competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, just small acts of sabotage, but when a body is discovered, it’s clear that for someone in the competition, the Golden Spoon is a prize worth killing for… Pb $32.99
Murder at Maybridge Castle Ada Moncrieff
It’s Christmas 1937 and an eclectic list of guests and staff gather for the grand reopening of Maybridge Castle, a newly renovated hotel in the Cumbrian countryside. An innocent game of murder-in-the-dark turns into a real game of life and death. By the time the first sherries have been drunk, someone will be dead - and one of them is the killer. Somebody changed the rules of the game, but who? Pb $22.99
More mystery & mayhem...
You’d Look Better as a Ghost Joanna Wallace
The night after the funeral for Claire’s father, she meets Lucas at a bar. He doesn’t know it, but one mistyped email has put him in her sights. The trouble is, Claire is a part-time serial killer, and he’s about to end up dead. Although Claire is distracted by weekly bereavement sessions and getting her art career off the ground, when someone discovers her murderous hobby, she isn’t about to let matters rest... Deeply irreverent, black-hearted humour and refreshingly original! Pb $32.99
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TRUE CRIME The Teacher’s Pet Hedley Thomas
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Lynette Simms disappeared from Sydney’s northern beaches in 1982 and was never seen again. Within days, her husband Chris Dawson moved the family’s babysitter his 16-year-old student - into their home. Journalist Hedley Thomas revisited the story 36 years later with a popular podcast. Fresh leads and old evidence resulted in a public groundswell for authorities to act, and in August 2022 Dawson was found guilty of her murder. If you thought you already knew this story, get ready to be shocked.
Pb $36.99
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My Mother's Eyes Shanelle Dawson
Imagine you’re told from four years of age by your father that your mother didn’t love you and needed to get away. Imagine your babysitter taking her place in the family home. Imagine that 36 years later you find out your father murdered your mother... Shanelle Dawson doesn’t have to imagine, it was her life. Now she reclaims her mother’s story, finds the strength to confront her father, and create a new life after unimaginable deception. Pb $34.99
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BIOGRAPHY at
Her Sunburnt Country
The Extraordinary Literary Life of Dorothea Mackellar
Deborah FitzGerald
Bee Miles
Dorothea Mackellar was born into wealth and privilege, but was also talented and intelligent and allowed freedoms that other girls of her social standing were not. She was in her early 20’s when her most famous poem, My Country, was published, but there was much more to her than that. Fluent in five languages, she was an inveterate traveller, knew the intellectual elite of Sydney and mixed with literary giants overseas. Drawing on her extensive diaries and other archival material, this is a colourful and engaging narrative account of her life and works. Lindy Hb $55
Australia’s Famous Bohemian Rebel and the Untold Story Behind the Legend
Rose Ellis
Bee Miles was one of Sydney’s greatest characters, with a lifelong commitment to resistance and a quest for personal liberty. Highly intelligent, she could be autocratic, demanding and impatient, but was also a consummate performer and provoked great feelings equally of contempt and admiration. This deeply researched and lively book tells how Miles became herself - a woman who didn’t conform to prevailing norms, who couldn’t be controlled despite periods of incarceration, who knew she didn’t live by fear and needed to fly alone, and whose behaviour was a response to society’s repressive attitudes. A wonderful book about a fabulous woman! Lindy Pb $34.99
Flinders
Frank Moorhouse Strange Paths
The Life, Loves and Voyages of the Man Who Put Australia on the Map
Matthew Lamb
Moorhouse was the author of a large and diverse body of work, including short stories, essays, journalism, scripts and the iconic Edith Trilogy - Grand Days, Dark Palace and Cold Light ($22.99 each). An unapologetic activist, intellectual and libertarian, he was a champion of freedom of speech and sexual self-determination. The first in a projected two volumes, this is the fascinating story of one of Australia’s most original writers. Hb $45 December
Grantlee Kieza
The bestselling author turns to yet another fascinating character in Australian history - the intrepid Matthew Flinders, who took to the sea at 16, fought in naval battles of the French Revolutionary War and sailed with Bligh to Tahiti. At the age of 27, he commanded the first circumnavigation of the continent that would bear the name he coined - Australia - and drew meticulous charts still used today. The book follows the tragedy of the following years, when he was incarcerated as a French prisoner of war, and the great love story of his marriage. A stirring and colourful account! Hb $45
Elon Musk Walter Isaacson
The bestselling biographer of many driven and ambitious men - including Steve Jobs, Einstein ($24.99 each) and Leonardo da Vinci ($35) - turns his sights to the richest man on earth, Elon Musk. Two years of interviews and research result in a revealing portrait of a controversial and visionary innovator. How did a bullied and mistreated boy become a man with a craving for drama and extreme risk-taking? This book reveals how complex a character Musk is, and the balance between his raging dark streaks and his incredible drive towards progress and innovation. Hb $59.99 $49.99
Lies My Mirror Told Me Wendy Harmer
From being born with a severe facial deformity to becoming the highest paid woman in the cut-throat world of Sydney FM radio broadcasting, Wendy Harmer has certainly had an extraordinary life. As a kid, she moved around Victoria with her teacher dad, had reconstructive facial surgery in her teens - which wasn’t miraculously transformative - and worked as a political journalist before taking up comedy. From there she worked her way up the entertainment ladder in both television and radio. Frank, funny and fearless! Pb $34.99
Wandering Through Life Donna Leon I'm Liz Hayes Liz Hayes
The story of how Beth Ryan, the dairy farmer’s daughter, became Liz Hayes - the fearless television journalist. A warm and authentic memoir of an adventurous life - both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes - this is full of tales and characters from across the globe. It also shows how, when tragedy strikes close to home, the hardest story to tell is sometimes your own… Hb $49.99
The American author of the Commissario Brunetti series tells her own adventurous life story. In 1976, Leon spontaneously decided to teach English in Iran and was swept up in the early days of the 1979 Revolution. After teaching stints in China and Saudi Arabia, she landed in Venice, the beginning of a long love affair with Italy. Suffused with music, food and humour, this memoir offers Leon at her most personal. Pb $35
Ian Fleming The Complete Man
Shakespeare
Nicholas Shakespeare
The Man Who Pays the Rent
A fresh portrait of the man behind James Bond by a gifted biographer granted unprecedented access to the Fleming archives. A writer for only his last 12 years, Fleming aspired to be ‘the complete man’. Widely travelled and well connected, his dramatic personal life and impressive career in Naval Intelligence provided rich inspiration for his fiction, and this portrayal shows him to be more mysterious and subtle than anything he wrote. Pb $42.99
Judi Dench
In a series of conversations with actor/director Brendan O’Hea, Dench opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played in her 70-year career. She guides us through Shakespeare’s plays with incisive clarity, revealing the secrets behind her rehearsal process and vignettes of her creative partnerships, all told with her mischievous sense of humour and hilarious anecdotes. Pb $36.99
Wild Love
The Ambitions of Adelaide Ironside, the First Australian Artist to Astonish the World
What was Shakespeare Really Like? Stanley Wells
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) produced some of the most abidingly popular works in the history of literature and drama. Here Sir Stanley Wells brings a lifetime of learning and reflection to bear on fundamental questions about his personality and life. How did he think, feel and work? What were his relationships like? What made him laugh? A fresh and thoughtful study. Pb $28.95
Kiera Lindsey
Adelaide Ironside (1831-1867) is unfairly forgotten these days; she was the first solo artist exhibited at the nascent Art Gallery of NSW. She was a talented artist who went overseas to train professionally, won accolades in London, Paris and Rome, knew people like John Ruskin and Robert Browning, and even sold her work to the Prince of Wales. Her paintings were as exuberant as she was, yet underpinned by a romantic mysticism. An imaginative and deeply researched biography which brings this brilliant and ambitious woman to life. Pb $36.99
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The Broken House Growing Up Under Hitler
Wifedom
First published in 1966, this book quickly went out of print. Now reissued, it deserves to be rediscovered. Kruger looks back at his childhood in Germany during the Nazi period. Written at a time when Germans did not want to confront their history, it acts almost as a cathartic experience for its author who delivers in the most heartfelt and telling prose an account of a Germany that loses itself to a madness that envelopes the country. As a journalist, Kruger reports on the Auschwitz trials and finds himself pondering how he would have acted if in their position. One of the most extraordinary books I’ve read this year! Greg Pb $24.99
Anna Funder
Horst Krüger
Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life
Much has been written about George Orwell, but very little about his first wife Eileen O’Shaughnessy (m. 1936-1945). Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WWII in London, and is led to question what it takes to be a writer - and what it is to be a wife.
Pb $36.99
Quaint Deeds
Unlikely Adventures in Teaching and Treasure-hunting
A Brilliant Life
A J Mackinnon
My Mother's Inspiring Story of Surviving the Holocaust
From the author of The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow ($24.99) comes a heart-warming and hilarious memoir of teaching, treasure hunts and finding your own way in life. Best known as a travel writer, between eccentric voyages Mackinnon has taught at schools in Australia and the UK for almost 40 years. Here he brings his trademark wit and warmth to the classroom, recalling the ups, downs and unexpected detours of a teaching life. Pb $34.99
Rachelle Unreich
Rachelle’s mother Mira survived the Holocaust, and always maintained that it was in the German concentration camps that she learnt about the true goodness of people. When Mira was diagnosed with cancer 70 years later, Rachelle decided to ask about her mother’s life and journeys before it was too late, and discovered how truly extraordinary her life had been. An unforgettable story of fate, love, grief and the deepest faith. Pb $34.99
Donald Horne A Life in the Lucky Country Ryan Cropp
Lawrence of Arabia Ranulph Fiennes
Co-opted by the British military, archaeologist and adventurer Thomas Edward Lawrence became involved in the 1916 Arab Revolt. He fought alongside guerilla forces and made a legendary 300-mile journey through blistering heat. He also wore Arab dress and strongly identified with the people in his adopted lands. This authoritative biography from explorer Fiennes brings enthralling insight and clarity to a remarkable life. Pb $36.99
In the 1960s, Horne offered Australians a compelling reinterpretation of the Menzies years as a period of social and political inertia and mediocrity. His book The Lucky Country ($14.99) was profoundly influential, boldly showing Australians who we were and how we could change. Cropp’s landmark biography positions him as an antipodean Orwell - a lively, independent and distinct literary voice. Pb $37.99
A Kind of Confession The Writer's Private World
Alex Miller
Miller - twice winner of the Miles Franklin Award - reflects on his writing life over the past six decades. This deeply personal selection from his notebooks and letters details his struggles to be accepted as a published writer, his methods and inspirations, and the stories that captured his imagination. Whether writing for personal meditation or acclaimed publication, he has always been captured by ideas, moral choices and emotions. A profound insight into the man and his writing. Hb $39.99
An Unlikely Prisoner
How an Eternal Optimist Found Hope in Myanmar’s Most Notorious Jail
Sean Turnell
An impossibly cheerful professor of economics, Sean Turnell’s idea of an uncomfortable confrontation was having to tell a student that their essay was “not really that good”. In this book, he recounts how he ended up in Myanmar’s terrifying Insein Prison for 650 days on a trumped-up charge of spying. And how he not only survived, but left with his sense of humour intact, his spirit unbroken and love in his heart. Pb $35
December
Unfinished Woman Robyn Davidson
In 1977, Davidson set off with a dog and four camels to trek from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean - a story told in her 1980 bestseller Tracks ($22.99). A life of almost constant travelling followed, motivated by an unquenchable curiosity about other ways of looking at the world. In this revealing memoir, she delves into her youth to confront the cataclysm of her early loss and to uncover the forces that set her on her path. Pb $34.99
I'd Rather Not Robert Skinner
Robert Skinner arrives in the city, searching for a richer life. Things begin badly, then get slightly worse. Pretty soon he’s sleeping rough and trying to run a literary magazine out of a dog park. His quest for meaning keeps being thwarted - by endless jobs, beagles, house parties, ill-advised love affairs, camel trips and bureaucratic entanglements. A wryly funny memoir of reaching for the stars while lying in a ditch. Pb $27.99
My Mother the Spy
The Daring and Tragic Double Life of ASIO Agent Mercia Masson
Cindy Dobbin & Freda Marnie Nicholls Mercia Masson was a journalist in an era when there were few female journalists. She also led a dangerous double life as an ASIO agent. Following the defection of Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov, she was exposed at a royal commission into Soviet espionage in Australia - let down by the very system she was upholding. This story brings to life a determined woman at the centre of dramatic events during the Cold War. Pb $34.99
Capote's Women
A True Story of Love, Ambition and Betrayal
Laurence Leamer
Certain women captivated Truman Capote. They were beautiful, accomplished and born to be rich, and Capote listened to their deepest secrets, befriending and ingratiating himself with them. For years he had been working on a book he believed to be his magnum opus, but when a few chapters were published in Esquire, the barely disguised lives of his female friends were laid bare for all to see. The blowback destroyed his relationships with them and banished him from their high society world forever. A glittering and gossipy read! Hb $55
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
11
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
CLUE #5 Sydney was abuzz because she had a personality so large you could see First letter of title: it for miles.
AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
Tiwi Story Turning History Downside Up Mavis Kerinaiua & Laura Rademaker
Killing for Country A Family Story
David Marr
The author was shocked to discover his forebears served with the brutal Native Police in the bloodiest years on the frontier. This is a richly detailed saga of politics and power in the colonial world - of land seized, fortunes made and lost, and the violence let loose as squatters and their allies fought for possession of the country. A gripping personal reckoning with the brutal history of Australia’s frontier wars. Pb $39.99
Tiwi culture is distinct from that of the peoples of the mainland, and so is their history. They defended their territory from outsiders, including the British, who tried to establish a trading post there in 1824 to 1829. This intriguing book gives precedence to the Tiwi versions of their colonial history, interspersed with the respectful contributions of an academic historian. Stories of resilience, resistance and creativity show how Tiwi people have survived and kept their culture strong. Lindy
Pb $39.99
Innovation: Knowlege and Ingenuity #7 First Knowledges
Ian McNiven & Lynette Russell The latest title in the bestselling First Knowledges series, this provides a deeper understanding of what was necessary for First Nations Australians to thrive and prosper for more than 65,000 years. Innovation in social and religious activities, trading strategies, technology and land management systems are all explored, along with philosophies of sustainability and Country that continue to be utilised today. From building artificial reefs for oysters, sea hunting with suckerfish, body shaping and cremation, to using colonial materials fitted to purpose, this is a showcase of resourcefulness and clever ideas. Pb $24.99
Bennelong and Phillip A History Unravelled Kate Fullagar
This joint biography of Bennelong and Phillip turns colonial history around - firstly in the way it’s written (reverse chronological order), then in presenting the two men in a different light than traditional histories portray. Bennelong wasn’t outcast from his people, and Phillip was not the Enlightened man we may have been lead to believe... A rich and complex book that upends myths about these two leaders and shows their intricate relationship, which adds meaning to the old story of colonial dispossession. Hb $55
Right Story, Wrong Story
Southern Signals
Adventures in Indigenous Thinking
Stories of Innovation, Challenge and Triumph in Australia’s Communication History
Tyson Yunkaporta
Hugh Tranter
This is the story of Australia’s use of communications to bridge the vast distances of the continent. From sending mail to Britain from a remote convict colony to sending it around a big country; the arrival of telegraph, telephone and television; wireless radio in the Antarctic, then in ordinary homes; airmail and televising the first moon landing; and the internet - Australia has a grand history of innovation and technology in communications!
After speaking with a range of people including liberal economists, memorisation experts, mathematicians and storytellers, the author of Sand Talk ($24.99) further examines how our relationship with land is inseparable from how we relate to each other. A formidably original work about how we teach and learn, and how we can talk to each other to shape forms of collective thinking that are aligned with land and creation.
Pb $35
Hb $49.99
Jimmy Sharman's Boxers
Retro Sydney 1950-2000
Australia's Legendary Travelling Boxing Troupe
Nathan Mete
Stephen McGrath
This collection of photographs celebrates the vibrant coming of age of Australia’s first city in the golden era of 1950 to 2000, from the heart of the CBD and the bustling nightlife of Kings Cross to the fashionable streets of Double Bay, the quaint outer suburbs and the carefree beachside suburbs. The sights and scenes capture Sydney’s most significant postwar milestones and showcase its transformation into an international metropolis. Hb $55
Jimmy Sharman ran the most popular and profitable touring tent boxing show that featured indigenous, white and Chinese boxers. When WWI broke out, he was 27 and medically fit, and townspeople started to question why strong young men were fighting for money and not their country. Based on extensive research of real people and real events, this story tells how Sharman managed to tour throughout the war years, despite the war fervour, the conscription debate, recruitment propaganda and accusations of cowardice. Pb $32.99
LOW FLAT-RATE DELIVERY AUSTRALIA-WIDE $9.90
The Lucky Country
Heroes, Rebels and Radicals of Convict Australia
Amazing Australian Tales of Pure Dumb Luck
Eamon Evans
Jim Haynes
From lucky strikes in the Gold Rush to Stephen Bradbury winning a Winter Olympics gold medal, this is a light-hearted look at the flukes and fortunate happenstances that litter Australian history. Whether the well-placed chunk of coral that stopped the Endeavour from sinking or the happy accident that produced Wi-Fi, this is an entertaining collection of amazing tales of sheer dumb luck! Pb $32.99
What was it like living in Australia during the convict era of 1788 to 1870? This book brings to life the history of Australia’s penal settlements through stories of the men and women who were there. There’s Joseph Banks, who agitated for Botany Bay as a place of settlement; Surgeon John White, saviour of the First Fleet; Pemulwuy, the Bidjigal freedom fighter; Mary Reiby, horse-thief made good; Sapy Lovell, the Eora gypsy convict; Jack Donohue, the Wild Colonial Boy; and many more fascinating characters! Pb $34.99
December
The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely
My Darlinghurst
Australia's Prime Ministers from Barton to Albanese
Anna Clark, Gabrielle Kemmis & Tamson Pietsch (Eds)
Mungo MacCallum with Frank Bongiorno
MacCallum’s Australian classic, now updated by historian Frank Bongiorno. Since 1901, 31 leaders have run the national show, including good drinkers, bad swimmers and unlikely heroes. Whether they served for seven days (Frank Forde) or 18 years (Robert Menzies), each prime minister has a story worth sharing and this book brings them vividly to life. Pb $34.99
The triangle of 80 hectares that sits on the edge of Sydney’s CBD has been home to a mix of people - posh and poor, criminal and respectable, itinerant and established, sick and well. It’s been a place of grand colonial homes, mills built beside valley streams and densely packed rows of terrace houses inhabited by workers and labourers. Richly illustrated, this lively history reveals the stories of a very colourful neighbourhood. Pb $49.99
December
12
The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse
The Sinking of HMAS Sydney
Peter FitzSimons
Tom Lewis
From the Australian bush to the Battle of Beersheba
How Sailors Lived, Fought and Died in Australia’s Greatest Naval Disaster
The Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917 was perhaps the last great charge of cavalry in history - 800 men and their horses racing across four miles of open country into the gunfire of the ancient city’s Turkish occupiers. The stuff of legends! Told in FitzSimons’ trademark style, this rollicking narrative tells the story of ordinary men doing extraordinary things and a battle that changed the course of history.
More Australian servicemen died in the sinking of HMAS Sydney than in the Vietnam War. She was the pride of the fleet during WWII, but was sunk in a fierce battle with the German raider Kormoran off the coast of Western Australia on 19 November 1941, the wreck not found until 2008. This substantial book tells the full story of this naval disaster, but more importantly brings to life the 645 sailors on board this ill-fated ship. Pb $32.99
Hb $49.99 $39.99
Operation Postern
The Battle to Recapture Lae from the Japanese, 1943
Saving Lieutenant Kennedy
Ian Howie-Willis
The Heroic Story of the Australian Who Helped Rescue JFK
The Japanese occupied New Guinea’s capital, Lae, for 18 months until September 1943. Operation Postern saw Australian troops retake the town against fierce resistance. It was a turning point in the Pacific War. Until then, the Japanese believed they could retain the island, but afterwards they continued to retreat, making possible the success of subsequent Allied operations in the south-west Pacific theatre. This retelling also takes into account the Papua New Guinean involvement. Pb $32.99
Brett Mason
Lieutenant Reg Evans was coast-watching in the Solomon Islands in August 1943 when he saw a US torpedo boat rammed by a Japanese destroyer. For the next five days, he and two local islanders searched the area for survivors, eventually finding them on a small, uninhabited island. One of them was Lieutenant John F Kennedy, a future US president. Set against the background of the Pacific war, this latest book from the author of the popular Wizards of Oz ($34.99) also looks at the birth of the Australia-US alliance and the beginning of the JFK legend. Pb $34.99
December
The Eagle in the Mirror
The Intelligent Mr Kinghorne
Jesse Fink
Chis Maxwell & Alex Pugh
In Search of Australian War Hero, Master Spy and Alleged Traitor Charles Howard 'Dick' Ellis
A Biography of Alexander Kinghorne (1770-1846)
Part biography, part forensic jigsaw, part cold-case investigation, this is the astonishing untold story of Charles Ellis, an Australian-born Cold War intelligence officer posthumously accused in the 1980s of being the traitor of the century. But was he really guilty or was an innocent man framed? In this gripping real-life international whodunit, Fink sets out to reveal the truth once and for all. Pb $34.99
Kinghorne was an agricultural innovator, surveyor, civil engineer and incurable romantic. In 1824, aged 54, he left Scotland with his family to make a fresh start in the colony of New South Wales. A pioneer, he founded a pastoral dynasty and also held public office, encountering a diverse range of people from princes and convicts to authors and Australia’s first people. Hb $44.95
Australasian History
Alan Joyce and Qantas
Indigenous History
The Trials and Transformation of an Australian Icon
Peter Harbison with Derek Sadubin
As CEO of Australia’s iconic airline for the last 15 years, Alan Joyce steered the company through cyclones and bushfires, volcanic ash and a tsunami, a pandemic, two fleet groundings, intense union battles and a bitter turf-war. Here is the unvarnished story of this fascinating period as told through the insights and anecdotes of business leaders, politicians, union bosses, analysts, media critics, rivals, insiders and of course the man at the helm through it all. Pb $36.99
GIFT WRAPPING $2 PER ITEM
Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! The Lindt Café Siege
Officer A
The story of the courageous actions of the NSW Tactical Operations Unit during the 16-hour siege of the Lindt Café in Martin Place, Sydney in December 2014. More than just an insider’s perspective, this book will challenge what you thought you knew about Australia’s first terrorist hostage rescue mission, which was livestreamed around the world.
Pb $35
Australia's Most Infamous Jail
Pb $39.99 $14
Inside the Walls of Pentridge Prison
James Phelps
Until its closure in 1997, HM Prison Pentridge was a bluestone behemoth that housed Victoria’s worst prisoners. Beginning with a gang of guards and a handful of convicts in 1851, a who’s who of criminals walked its corridors, from Ned Kelly to Chopper Read. True and uncensored accounts of inmates, guards, archaeologists and even a former Governor-General make this a gritty and gruesome history. Pb $34.99
Pb $27.99 $10
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
Pb $19.99 $10
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
In communicating this innovative clue, we hope our message is perfectly clear.
13
CLUE #6
First letter of title:
Abbey's is Australia's specialist history bookshop. Visit HISTORY HERALD at abbeys.com.au for the latest history book releases - and tick 'History' as your eNews interest.
HISTORY at Alexandria
Lost Cities of the Ancient World
The City that Changed the World
Philip Matyszak
Islam Issa
From the Neolithic period to the late Roman empire, settlements have flourished, then disappeared - submerged under water or swallowed up by the sands of time. This engaging book brings to life 37 of these forgotten cities in Europe, the Middle East and beyond, showing how different cultures traded, fought and exchanged ideas and inventions, offering a fresh perspective on our urban origins. Extensively illustrated with photographs and maps to add to the pleasure of reading! Hb $49.99
Inspired by Homer, Alexander the Great sketched a plan for a great city on the sands of Egypt, on the cusp of Africa, Europe and Asia. He didn’t live to see it built, but a glittering city of learning and diversity arose. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Jews of the city shaped modern science, philosophy, art and religion. It was fought over by Arabs, Ottomans, the French and the British, but maintained its independent spirit. A splendid history of a multifaceted place. Hb $49.99
Assyria
The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire
Europe and the Roma
Eckart Frahm
A History of Fascination and Fear
At its height in 660 BCE, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. This book looks at its origins circa 2000 BCE, when the old Assyrian period started, to the destruction of Nineveh in 612 BCE. Slowly morphing into an empire devoted to war, Assyria was also known for its vast libraries, monumental sculptures and elaborate trade networks, and this accessible history brings this fabled civilisation to life. Pb $49.99
Klaus-Michael Bogdal
The Romani peoples, known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. This book describes a dark side of European history - the rejection of the Roma from their arrival in the late Middle Ages to the present day, due to their mysterious origins, unknown language and way of life. Persecuted and shunned, the Roma nonetheless spread across the continent and became an important part of European culture. Hb $85 $75
December
A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women
Homer and His Iliad
Emma Southon
Robin Lane Fox
This fresh, lively and entertaining history shows that the Roman Empire wasn’t all about the blokes. Half the empire was women, and they filled all sorts of roles: Vestal virgins and sex workers, business owners and poets, martyrs and saints, queens, rebels, scapegoats and survivors. A rollicking good read, not just about the 21 women showcased, but of being a woman in the Roman world.
A thorough study of the greatest of all epic poems by one of the world’s leading classicists. Drawing on a life-long love and engagement with the poem, Lane Fox addresses the questions of where, when and how it was composed, and why it has such enduring power, explaining what old and new readers can find in it. Hb $65
Hb $39.99
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December
LOW FLAT-RATE DELIVERY AUSTRALIA-WIDE $9.90
Justinian Emperor, Soldier, Saint Peter Sarris
Emperor of Rome Ruling the Ancient Roman World
This groundbreaking new biography of Justinian (482-565 AD) traces his path from the humblest beginnings to the almost godlike ruler of much of the known world. He was as interested in the mechanics of governance as he was in wars of conquest and expansion, saw religious significance in the most mundane tasks, erected massive monuments - and married a slave girl, changing the laws to elevate her to Empress Theodora. He had to deal with insurgencies, climate change and a pandemic of massive proportions, but left behind lasting legacies. A vibrant, lucid and extraordinary portrait of a man of many capabilities and contradictions! Pb $34.99
What was a Roman emperor? In this sweeping, nonchronological book, the renowned classicist covers the period from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Looking at different points in an Emperor’s career (gaining the throne, leading armies, becoming a god) and different parts of his day (dealing with correspondence, dining, medical treatments), as well as the people around him and those who observed him, this rich and insightful history shows the messy reality of ruling imperial Rome. Hb $65
Mary Beard
The Eagle and the Lion
Earthly Delights A History of the Renaissance
Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict
Jonathan Jones
Adrian Goldsworthy
From the acclaimed historian comes this massive and compelling narrative dealing with the two adjoining ‘super-powers’ of the ancient world. Rome could never expand as far east as it desired, where there were the great cities and fabulous trade routes of the Persian empire. Likewise, the Parthians/Sasanians were limited by the Romans on their western edges. More than 700 years of conflict ensued, a fight that neither side could win. Deeply researched and totally engrossing, this is a panoramic history of an ancient stalemate, of military strategies and many characters - and the eventual fall of both empires. Hb $69.99
The Loom of Time
Between Empire and Anarchy, from the Mediterranean to China
Love
Robert Kaplan
A Curious History in 50 Objects
Edward Brooke-Hitching
This splendidly illustrated volume celebrates and chronicles love through the ages, from prehistoric carvings to ancient Greek army regiments, love spells in medieval manuscripts, hidden codes in famous artworks, cryptic postcards, Welsh love spoons, Nigerian wedding chains and lovers ranging from a French pirate queen to the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. A compendium of romantic treasures! Hb $55
What exactly was the Renaissance? In this captivating narrative history, it is considered against the backdrop of world discoveries - of artists discovering inspiration from outside Europe, as well as across the continent. From Atlantic voyages to Germanic worlds, Italian palazzi to Prague’s royal castle, the Netherlands to England, this highly illustrated panoramic account tells the story of European artists as pioneers, adventurers (and that most Renaissance concept) geniuses thinking about, and creating, new worlds. Hb $60
14
The renowned geopolitical expert and recent author of Adriatic ($35) pieces together the history of the Greater Middle East and what it suggests for the future, weaving together classic texts, immersive travel writing and a great variety of voices from every country that compel us to look closely at the realities on the ground, rather than ideals on paper. A book for anyone who wants to understand the real forces that decide war and peace. Hb $54.99
The Story of Scandinavia
Templars The Knights of Britain
Stein Ringen
This book argues that the Knights Templar - famous for their battles on Christendom’s eastern front - were in fact dedicated peace-mongers at home. They influenced royal strategy, created financial structures and brokered international peace treaties, primarily so men, money and material could be transferred more readily to the east. From their rise under Henry I to their violent suppression following the fall of Acre, these medieval knights were essential to the emergence of an early English state. Hb $51.95
Steve Tibble
From the Vikings to Social Democracy
‘Scandinavia’ is a recent invention. For centuries, Denmark and Sweden, as well as Norway, had been bitter enemies. They were kingdoms of repression, where rulers played at being powerful European monarchs, usually at the expense of their subjects. So how have they come together under one name? This sweeping, incisive history chronicles more than 1,200 years of drama, economic rise and fall, rulers, war, peace, culture and language. Pb $39.99
December
Beatrice’s Last Smile
Big Caesars and Little Caesars
A New History of the Middle Ages
How They Rise and How They Fall from Julius Caesar to Boris Johnson
Mark Gregory Pegg
Ferdinand Mount
Big Caesars want to achieve total social control. Little Caesars want an agreeable kleptocracy without opposition. Take Julius Caesar, Oliver Cromwell, Napoleon, Mussolini, Bolivar, de Gaulle, Salazar. And Trump and Johnson. Starting with the idea of a Caesar, the making of Caesars, and the unmaking of them, and concluding with a defence of parliamentary politics, this eloquent and erudite book is a wry, witty and entertaining guide to dictators and autocrats! Hb $49.99
December
The New Makers of Modern Strategy From the Ancient World to the Digital Age
This book sweeps through Western European history from the beginning of the 3rd century to the beginning of the 16th. It covers the slow formation of Latin Christendom after the disintegration of the Roman Empire, from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, the Nile to the Volga, from northern Africa to central Asia. Well researched and fastpaced with many vignettes, this captivating history offers fresh insights into the great movements of history, as well as individual people whose stories were woven into the emergence of a distinctive Western culture. Hb $61.95
The Bone Chests
Hal Brands (Ed)
Unlocking the Secrets of the Anglo-Saxons
This brick of a book (1,200 pages) is the essential resource on military and political strategy, and how key figures have shaped the theory and practice of war and statecraft through the centuries. First published in 1986, this thoroughly updated volume has greater emphasis on the Cold War and post 9/11 eras. Expert contributors look at great strategists of the past and deliver insights into the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century. Hb $79.99
Cat Jarman
In 1642, ten chests displayed in Winchester Cathedral were smashed open and the contents scattered and desecrated. The remnants of the bones of eight ancient kings, three bishops and one formidable queen were collected by the clergy and rehomed in six chests. In 2014, using the latest scientific techniques, forensic archaeologists tried to identify these remains. This enthralling history builds on the stories of who they were and what they represent - the founding of England. It also tells the tale of modern scientific investigations into the past. Pb $34.99
The Rest is History
History’s Most Curious Questions Answered
Normal Women
Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook
900 Years of Making History
Based on their hit podcast, this book is really just two renowned historians having fun with their topics! From Alexander the Great to Tolkien, from the War of the Roses to Watergate, from ancient eunuchs to modern pigeons, they investigate some of the more curious aspects of the past. A treasure trove of quirky and entertaining trivia, conversational and inviting in tone, yet also thought-provoking and enlightening. Pb $34.99
Philippa Gregory
Renowned for her historical novels, Gregory has now written a well-researched, panoramic and lively history of the millions of women who never appear in official retellings of Britain’s past. These normal women went to war, tilled the fields, committed crimes, invented things and rioted. They were international traders and ran theatres and were even paid the same wages as men after the Black Death of 1348 - it took almost 700 years for that to happen again! Normal women made history - and this book shows just how much they did. Pb $37.99
Why Empires Fall
Rome, America and the Future of the West
Peter Heather & John Rapley
Why did Rome fall - and what can it teach us about the decline of the West today? This book uses the Roman past to think anew about the contemporary West, its state of crisis, and the path forward. From 399 to 1999, the life cycles of empires sow the seeds of their inevitable destruction. The era of Western global domination has ended, so what comes next? Hb $45
The Middle Kingdoms
A New History of Central Europe
Martyn Rady
The dramatic history of Europe’s shape-shifting centre, including the German lands, Switzerland and Ukraine. From the Roman Empire onwards, it has been the target of invasion from the east, and the story of the Middle Kingdoms is a reminder of Central Europe’s precariousness, of its creativity and turbulence, and of the common cultural trends that make these lands so distinctive. Hb $75
To the Ends of the Earth
How the Greatest Maps Were Made
Philip Parker
A lavishly illustrated book providing insights into the evolution of mapmaking, from the Stone Age to the digital age. It explores cartographers and their methods, showing the development of different techniques and technology. From Babylonian maps carved in clay and Ptolemy’s introduction of longitude and latitude to aerial photography and digital touchscreens that can focus on minute details, this is a visually stunning history of maps and their makers. Hb $49.99
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
The Wager
A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
David Grann
In September 1740, HMS Wager left Portsmouth to intercept a Spanish treasure galleon, but was wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. Marooned for months, the crew built a flimsy craft and landed in Brazil in January 1742, where 30 emaciated survivors were greeted as heroes. Six months later, another decrepit vessel with just three castaways on board landed in Chile. And they had a very different story to tell... An engrossing and thoroughly researched tale from the bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon ($24.99). Pb $34.99
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
A serious look at the first empire known for libraries, art, trade and sadly, war.
CLUE #7
First letter of title:
15
HISTORY at Legacy of Violence
A History of the British Empire
Caroline Elkins
After more than a decade of research on four continents, this Pulitzer Prize-winning historian reveals the dark heart of Britain’s Empire - a systemised doctrine of unrelenting violence employed to maintain its interests across the globe. When Britain could no longer maintain control over that violence, it simply retreated. A searing, unflinching achievement that explodes many long-held myths. Pb $35
The Russian Revolution Victor Sebestyen
The Russian Revolution of 1917 is one of the pivotal moments of modern history. Imperial Russia had been an unwieldy amalgamation of diverse ethnicities and vast distances, and the Romanovs had ruled through cruelty, interspersed with short-lived reforms. Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917 and the provisional government - formed to oversee democratic elections - was ousted in Lenin’s October revolution of the same year. Sebestyen recounts the events of this momentous time in an accessible style without sacrificing deep research. Hb $59.99
A Nasty Little War
The Western Fight to Reverse the Russian Revolution
December
Anna Reid
The first comprehensive history of the failed Allied involvement during the closing months of WWI - in Russia’s post-revolutionary Civil War, a conflict which drew in 180,000 troops from Britain, America, France and Japan. They joined anti-Bolshevik forces in trying to overthrow the new men in the Kremlin in an astonishingly ambitious endeavour known as the Intervention. A fascinating and timely history of how the West’s relationship with Russia was irrevocably changed. Pb $34.99
One Fine Day Britain’s Empire on the Brink Matthew Parker
On 29 September 1923, when the Palestine Mandate became law, the British Empire covered a quarter of the globe. It was the largest empire the world had ever seen, but was beset by debts and the beginning of decline. This immersive and thoroughly researched history sweeps the reader through a vast panorama, yet also tells the tales of humble people. In one way the Empire is totally alien, but in another it grappled with ideas (managing multi-ethnic political entities, racism, co-opting religion for political purposes, ignorance) that the modern world still fights to resolve. An epic and astonishing book. Pb $36.99
Germany 1923
Hyperinflation, Hitler’s Putsch and Democracy in Crisis
Volker Ullrich
Germany in 1923 was defined by hyperinflation, violence, a political system on the verge of collapse and the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Now, a century later, Ullrich draws on letters, memoirs, newspaper articles and other sources to present a riveting chronicle of one of the most difficult years any modern democracy has ever faced. Hb $57.95
Unruly
A History of England’s Kings and Queens
David Mitchell
The funniest and most refreshing history of England’s monarchs you’ll ever read. Mitchell explains it’s not all names, dates and ungraspable historical headwinds, but really just a bunch of random stuff that happened with a few lucky bastards ending up on top. Some of these bastards were quite strange, but they were in charge, so everyone else just had to live by their rules.
Music of Exile
Pb $36.99
The Untold Story of the Composers Who Fled Hitler
Michael Haas
In the 1930s, composers and musicians began to flee Hitler’s Germany to make new lives elsewhere. Haas sensitively records the experiences of this musical diaspora, including musicians interned as enemy aliens in the UK, the Hollywood compositions of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and the Brecht-inspired theatre music of Kurt Weill. He shows how these musicians shaped the 20thcentury soundscape, and also presents a moving record of the incalculable effects of war on culture. Hb $51.95
Once a King
The Lost Memoir of Edward VII
Jane Marguerite Tippett
Drawing on new sources, including an unpublished memoir, this gives fresh and revealing insights into the man who gave up his throne for love - an endlessly fascinating topic for all royal buffs! It explores Edward VII’s travels and interests, his relationship with the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, and the events leading up to his abdication and subsequent exile. Pb $34.99
After the Nazis
The Story of Culture in West Germany
Astor The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Anderson Cooper with Katherine Howe
John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant to America in 1783, made a fortune in fur trading, often through dubious methods. He increased his fortune by trading in New York real estate. Ensuing generations used this wealth to further their political power or engage in cultural pursuits, but when John Jacob Astor IV died on the Titanic, the family fortunes started to spiral downwards. By 2009, the Astor name was mired in scandal when Brooke Astor was the victim of elder abuse. This fascinating, detailed story not only follows the Astors, but also shines a light on American history. Pb $34.99
Michael Kater
After WWII, a mood of despair and impotence pervaded the arts in West Germany. Moving from 1945 to reunification, Kater explores this culture as it emerged from the darkness of the Third Reich, from the literature of Gunter Grass to the diverse artworks of Joseph Beuys to Karlheinz Stockhausen’s innovative electronic music, showing how it was only through cultural reinvigoration that West Germany could contend with its past and allow democracy to reemerge. Hb $51.95
Beyond the Wall
East Germany, 1949-1990
Katja Hoyer
The story of a country that briefly existed, yet still looms large in the psyche of those who remember it. East Germany was incredibly repressive, but this book tells a more nuanced story than the black-and-white Cold War portrayal - the introduction of childcare, more doctors and more women in the workforce. But for all positives, the GDR could not escape the controlling arm of the USSR; once they pulled their support for the GDR in the 1970s, its days were numbered. Hoyer does a wonderful job, never forgetting the personal stories that make up the historical arc of the narrative, without the nostalgia for things gone by. Greg Pb $35
Meeting Churchill A Life in 90 Encounters
Sinclair McKay
This insightful portrait delves beyond well-known political moments, allowing us to see Winston Churchill through the eyes of those who met him. From encounters with Bletchley Park codebreakers to Hollywood stars, Harold Wilson to Gandhi, these lesser-known interactions reveal glimpses of the real man behind the legend. Hb $39.99
December
16
Female Secret Agents
The Food Adventurers
Remarkable stories of some of the bravest - and most dangerous - women who ever lived! Espionage wasn’t just a boy’s game; many women also worked behind the scenes during both world wars. In Belgium and France, women of all social classes and many nationalities worked against the Kaiser’s forces, and during WWII many more opposed the Nazis, risking execution. This book explores their motivations and celebrates their bravery, resourcefulness, intelligence and strength. Pb $39.99
Daniel Bender
Douglas Boyd
How Around-the-World Travel Changed the Way We Eat
From the colonial Dutch East Indies to Anthony Bourdain, this traces the world traveller’s discovery of different cuisines. Tourists may have wanted authenticity, but it was at odds with their desire for familiar foods. Still they came home having tasted the world! From Tahitian suckling pig feasts in the 1840s to the luxury ships of the 1920s and on to the hotel restaurants of the 1960s and 70s, this is a delightfully eccentric history! Hb $44.99
The Two-Headed Whale
A Woman I Know
Life, Loss and the Tangled Legacy of Whaling in the Antarctic
Female Spies, Double Identities and a New Story of the Kennedy Assassination
Sandy Winterbottom
An elegant blend of travel literature, industrial history, ecology and imaginative writing, this charts the history of post-war whaling in the Antarctic. When the author sailed on a tall ship from Uruguay to Antarctica, she became aware of the scale of 20th century industrial whaling. Her rage subsided when she came across the grave of an 18-year-old whaler who died far from home. Themes of colonisation and capitalism, and their links to exploitation of the environment and workers, combine with descriptions of the scenery and wildlife to make this a vivid read. Pb $36.99
Mary Haverstick
Independent filmmaker Mary Haverstick thought she’d stumbled onto the project of a lifetime - a biopic of a littleknown aviation legend whose story embodied the hopeful spirit of the space age. After a mysterious warning from a government agent, she suspected all was not as it seemed, but was not prepared for the web of intrigue she uncovered, including shocking new clues about what really happened before the assassination of JFK in Dallas. Pb $36.99
Invisible Lines
Boundaries and Belts that Define the World
The Penguin History of Modern Spain
Maxim Samson
1898 to the Present
There are obvious borders and barriers (walls, signs, mountain ranges) and also unseen, but nonetheless recognised, ones. This fascinating book shows how 30 invisible lines shape our actions, from the Orthodox Jewish eruv (a ritual enclosure that allows observers to keep Shabbat) to the Wallace Line (marking differing biospheres) to the safe and unsafe spaces of Los Angeles street gangs to the Qinling-Huaihe line used to separate north and south China on the basis of temperature. The sort of book that makes you think differently about the geographical restrictions we unconsciously impose upon ourselves. Lindy Hb $45
Nigel Townson
Interweaving decades of Spanish-led research never before published in English - with testimonies of peasants, housewives, soldiers, workers, entrepreneurs, feminists and worker-priests, this surprising new history reveals the country behind the veil of propaganda and romantic myths. Hb $65
The Wagner Group
The Race to the Future
From Savage Global Mercenaries to Putin’s Unlikely Nemesis
The Adventure that Accelerated the Twentieth Century
Kassia St Clair
Owen Wilson
Five cars set off from Peking in June 1907. They were taking part in a race to Paris, over steep mountain ranges and trackless deserts, needing teams of helpers to drag them over rough terrain and rivers. It was a race that sparked the imagination of millions around the world - one of the first global news stories - and was held against a backdrop of geopolitical and technological changes heralding the new century, and a rush towards the cataclysm of WWI. An innovative and energetic history. Pb $34.99
This is the first book on the Wagner Group - the shadowy Russian paramilitary organisation that fought in Ukraine and staged a surprise uprising against Putin on 23-24 June 2023. It has been involved in conflicts in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Venezuela and Mali, committing war crimes, rape, robbery and torture. Wilson investigates its history and who is really behind the group. Pb $34.99
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Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
Nick, too, agreed it was time to go, and so dashed away to his dacha.
CLUE #8 First letter of title:
Abbey's is Australia's specialist science bookshop. Visit SCIENCE CENTRAL at abbeys.com.au for the latest science book releases - and tick 'Science' as your eNews interest.
SCIENCE at The Best Australian Science Writing 2023
Around the World in 80 Games
Donna Lu (Ed)
A Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the Greatest Games
Marcus du Sautoy
Now in its 13th year, this fabulous anthology showcases more than 30 of the best Australian science pieces. It covers a vast array of fascinating topics from the microscopic to the astronomical, including ice cores in the Antarctic, antimatter, first astronomers, bogong moths, long Covid, space cowboys, reverse-engineering of brain circuitry and the ethics of saving endangered species. Always guaranteed to stimulate, inform, provoke thought and make you look for more on the different subjects! Lindy
For as long as there have been people, there have been games, and mathematics is often involved. This amusing and illuminating book explores the maths behind the games we play, from Rock Paper Scissors to Monopoly, Connect 4, Go and Dungeons & Dragons. The award-winning author reveals how games provided the first mathematical insights into the world, how understanding maths helps make a better player, and how both maths and games are integral to human psychology and culture. Pb $34.99
Pb $32.99
Birds of the World
In a Flight of Starlings
The Art of Elizabeth Gould
Andrea Hart & Ann Datta
The Wonder of Complex Systems
Giorgio Parisi
This is the first monograph on Elizabeth Gould - and it’s long overdue! The text is informative and well written, but the glory of the book is in its finely reproduced, full-colour plates. The birds are organised geographically - Europe, South and Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia - and include some previously unpublished artworks. A lavish volume which pays tribute to her great skill and talent, and finally brings her out of her husband’s shadow. Lindy Hb $140
In this enlightening book, the 2021 Nobel Prize-winner in physics explains how he realized the sophisticated flight patterns of starlings can help us understand complex systems of all kinds collections of everything from atoms to planets to other animals like ourselves. Parisi also reflects on the lessons he’s learned from a life in pursuit of scientific truth, inviting us to find wonder in the world around us. Hb $39.99
Getting to Know the Birds in Your Neighbourhood
The Bird Art of William T Cooper
Darryl Jones
Wendy Cooper
I know my birds, but I had to start somewhere, and if this book had been around it would have been so much easier to take my first steps into the lifelong, joyous activity of birdwatching! Designed for the newly fascinated birder, it covers 139 birds commonly seen around the 20 most populous cities on the continent. It has a concise and chatty style, excellent resources, good clear photographs (the browns are beautifully reproduced - a real help!) and enough information (habitats, similar species, ecology, features, interactions with humans) to confidently identify that bird you see in your local area. A brilliant book the best I’ve seen for beginners! Lindy Pb $34.99
William Cooper’s paintings captured birds and their habitats with an exactitude and masterful technique rarely surpassed in avian illustration. This glorious volume is full of the paintings he did for himself (many not published elsewhere) with many sketches showing the way he planned his work. It includes not just Australian birds, but also birds from Asia, New Guinea, Africa and America. A magnificent tribute to Cooper’s work by his botanist wife Wendy, this would make an exquisite gift for any birder, naturalist or art-lover! Lindy Hb $64.99
Silk and Venom
The Incredible Lives of Spiders
James O’Hanlon
Personally, I like spiders. But O’Hanlon loves them! In this fascinating book, he sets out to show just how amazing spiders are, from the quiet corners of your backyard, around the world, even underwater and into space. He enthuses over their habits, hunting techniques, remarkable webs of silk and the qualities of their venom. A fresh, sometimes funny, misconception-busting look at these important little creatures! Lindy Pb $32.99
Dr Rip’s Essential Beach Book
Everything You Need to Know About Surf, Sand and Rips
Rob Brander
An entertaining and educational book on everything you need to know about beaches - how they form, how waves break, the science of currents, the way sandbars and dunes work, spotting rips and what to do if you get caught in one. Full of information, this is the perfect gift for every beach-goer, whether they surf, swim or just stroll along them! Pb $34.99
Extinctions
How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves
Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs
Michael Benton
Acid rain, global warming, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact - it’s a wonder life has survived on the planet! In this very engaging and enlightening book, Benton shows how extinctions are not only lethal events, but also the means by which life readapts to changed conditions. From the Ediacaran to the Late Ordovician, the Late Devonian through to the Cretaceous asteroid disaster, this fascinating book takes the reader on journeys through deep time... and the persistence of life! Lindy Hb $49.99
Nathalie Bardet et al
A richly illustrated introduction to the world of the marine animals that ruled the oceans when dinosaurs ruled the lands, this is accessible and authoritative palaeontology. It relates the astonishing anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptions that allowed vertebrates to return to the seas that their ancestors had left millions of years before. Their living descendants, including sea turtles and sea snakes, are also discussed. Includes splendid artwork and crisp photographs of fossil remains. Hb $49.99
Vital Organs
A History of the World's Most Famous Body Parts
A Book of Noises
Suzie Edge
Notes on the Auraculous
Caspar Henderson
Sound shapes our world in invisible but significant ways. From the sounds of the earth to those of space, to the sounds of life and those of humanity, this erudite and elegant book explores both sound and silence. From the sonics of desert sand to the tuneful warble of a songbird, from the forms of music to the links between silence and memory, this is an engrossing blend of popular culture, science, history and philosophy. Hb $36.99
December
A medical historian takes us on a tour of various body parts that belonged to famous people. The book is arranged in chapters dedicated to one thing - starting with Louis Braille’s eyes and Frida Kahlo’s eyebrows, working down past Queen Victoria’s armpit to Shelley’s heart and Samuel Pepys’ bladder and on to Yao Niang’s toes. At times slightly gruesome, yet always vastly entertaining and informative! Pb $34.99
18
What the Trees See
The Language of Trees
A Wander Through Millennia of Natural History in Australia
Dave Witty
How Trees Make Our World, Change Our Minds and Rewild Our Lives
There are remnants of the past wherever we go, and sometimes they are trees. Scarred river red gums in Melbourne tell of Aboriginal usage. The blue gum in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens is a remnant survivor of the great rainforests that once occupied the area. A mallee box on the North Adelaide Golf Course shows that the landscape was once semi-arid scrub. From Burke and Wills to the Empress Josephine, lost children to sugar slaves, this is an eloquent meditation on the witness of trees. Hb $29.99
This beautiful volume combines gorgeous illustrations and the prose, poetry and art from over 50 contributors such as Robert Macfarlane, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Elizabeth Kolbert and Zadie Smith. From prehistoric paintings to Mongolian Tree Clocks, from creation myths to the death of a 3,500-year-old cypress, this beguiling and immersive book also contains a tree alphabet (printed in green ink) as envisioned by Holten, and used to illustrate the pieces within. A special book indeed! Lindy Hb $35
Katie Holten
The Universe in a Box A New Cosmic History
Einstein in Time and Space
We are part of an incredible chain of events stretching back 13.8 billion years, and even further into the future. This book is a tribute to simulations - the remarkable computer codes that allow us to understand the distant past and far future of the universe. This is the story of our home, the cosmos, through simulations, or mini-universes inside computers. It reframes what we think we know about galaxies, black holes and matter itself. Pb $35
Samuel Graydon
Andrew Pontzen
A Life in 99 Particles
Einstein has become a figurehead of science and another word for ‘genius’, but who was the man? He came up with some of the most influential scientific theories, yet he also liked to cheer up his ailing pet parrot with jokes. He turned down the presidency of Israel, had a radioactive element named after him, and an FBI dossier over 1,400 pages long. This highly entertaining and informative book concentrates on the man, rather than the science, and in a mosaic of 99 pieces, succeeds in capturing the character behind the equations. Pb $34.99
The Little Book of Exoplanets Joshua Winn
Richard Owen
A concise and accessible introduction to planets that orbit distant stars, this explains how astronomers have searched for exoplanets, and the cutting-edge science that has allowed them to peer into the outer reaches of space. This new age of discovery has not only uncovered new planets, but upended many notions of the origins of planetary systems and our broader knowledge of the universe. Surprising and enticing astrophysics for the general reader. Hb $39.99
Patrick Armstrong The Victorian-era naturalist and palaeontologist Richard Owen was a brilliant, hard-working, influential promoter of science who helped establish London’s Natural History Museum. He was also a difficult and arrogant man, a combative bully whom Charles Darwin claimed was the only man he hated. This lively biography shows why this talented, controversial character remains worthy of our attention for his achievements, while balancing it against his more difficult personality traits.
Pb $29.99
The Milky Way Smells of Rum and Raspberries
LOW FLAT-RATE DELIVERY AUSTRALIA-WIDE $9.90
... and Other Amazing Cosmic Facts
Jillian Scudder
An offbeat guided tour of the universe focusing on the weird and wonderful. The galaxy is flatter than a credit card. Supermassive black holes can sing a super-low B flat. It rains iron on a brown dwarf, and diamonds on Neptune. The colour of the Universe is beige. The story of how astrophysicists actually know these types of arcane facts makes this an entertaining book for armchair astronomers. Pb $24.99
Beyond DNA
How Epigenetics is Transforming our Understanding of Evolution
Benjamin Oldroyd
Geneticists are finding that spores, sperm, pollen and ova are packed with personalised genetic information that plays an important role in offspring development and has lifelong effects. This epigenetic - or 'extra-genetic' - inheritance thus makes significant contributions to evolutionary processes. Oldroyd explains the mechanisms underlying epigenetics and speculates on the role it plays in human health and happiness. Pb $35
White Holes
Inside the Horizon
Carlo Rovelli
Let us journey into the heart of a black hole. We slip beyond its boundary, the horizon, and tumble down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we see geometry fold, we feel the equations draw tight around us. We pass the remains of a star and fall to the bottom, where time and space end, where the white hole is born. With lightness and magic, Rovelli explains his cutting-edge research, revealing the uncertainty and joy of travelling where no one has been before. Hb $35
The Science of Spin
The Force Behind Everything from Falling Cats to Jet Engines
Roland Ennos
Spin literally makes the world go round, and this comprehensive and wide-ranging book examines the ways rotation affects our lives, from the structure of galaxies to the biomechanics of walking. It charts the development of technology and engineering, from the earliest prehistoric drills to turbine engines. A lucid and engaging exploration of one of the most fundamental of all forces. It’s time to stop thinking in straight lines! Hb $39.99
2024 Australasian Sky Guide Nick Lomb
This compact and user-friendly guide to the night sky has been the go-to book for Australian and New Zealand sky gazers for years, and this latest edition contains all the features you would expect - monthly sky maps, celestial highlights, viewing tips and historical features, as well as the rising and setting of the sun, moon and planets throughout the year. An invaluable resource!
Astronomy & Physics
Pb $24.99
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
The moon gazes across the night sky, guiding its light to your celestial eye.
December
CLUE #9 First letter of title:
19
Earth & Environment
Information Technology
TODAY'S WORLD at
Rogue Corporations
Inside Australia’s Biggest Business Scandals
Quentin Beresford
Storytellers
Geoffrey Edelsten, Alan Bond, Christopher Skase, HIH Insurance, Storm, James Hardie, Crown Casino, Rio Tinto. There are (unfortunately) many more on the rollcall of CEOs and corporations who have enriched themselves at the expense of others. This compelling book shows how the failure of regulatory systems, poor lending practices, manipulation of accounting processes and selfdeluded, risk-taking corporate leaders who lacked morality have all contributed to Australia’s business scandals. Meticulously researched and utterly readable! Lindy Pb $34.99
Questions, Answers and the Craft of Journalism
Leigh Sales
This is a book about the craft of journalism, of catching a good story, of inspiration, listening and communication. More than 30 of Australia’s finest journalists including Laurie Oakes, Stan Grant, Richard Fidler, Kate McClymont, Lisa Millar and Annabel Crabbe talk candidly about the things they have learned in their careers. Arranged in ten sections from news reporting to editing and producing, this is a wonderfully addictive journey through the many different paths of professional storytelling. Full of wisdom, warmth, professionalism and of course fabulous anecdotes! Lindy Pb $36.99
Faking It
Artificial Intelligence in a Human World
Toby Walsh
Artificial intelligence is, as the name suggests, artificial and fundamentally different to human intelligence. Yet often the goal of AI is to fake human intelligence. This deceit has been there from the very beginning. Can AI systems ever be creative? Can they be moral? What can we do to ensure they are not harmful? In this fun and fascinating book, Walsh explores all the ways AI fakes it, and what this means for humanity - now and in the future. Pb $34.99
Best Wishes
Making the World a Better, Less Annoying Place One Wish at a Time
Richard Glover
There are many things about the modern world that can be very annoying. Pedestrians five abreast in front of you. Plastic-wrapped single pieces of fruit. Stupidly expensive sandwiches. Restaurants so noisy you can’t hear yourself chew. Climate-change deniers. It’s an endless list, but thankfully Richard Glover is on your side. With a sly wit and acute observations, this encyclopaedia of ‘can-do-better’ is a plea for a more sensible world and for the collective sense of humour needed to deal with it. Pb $34.99
Going Infinite
The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
Michael Lewis
Best Australian Political Cartoons 2023 Russ Radcliffe (Ed)
The year in politics as observed by Australia’s funniest and most perceptive political cartoonists, including Dean Alston, Peter Broelman, Andrew Dyson, John Farmer, First Dog on the Moon, Matt Golding, Fiona Katauskas, Mark Knight, Jon Kudelka, Johannes Leak, Sean Leahy, Alan Moir, David Pope, David Rowe, John Spooner, Andrew Weldon, Cathy Wilcox and more. Pb $35
2023 - A Year of Consequence Essays that Got the World Talking
The Conversation
Before he turned 30, Sam Bankman-Fried became the world’s youngest billionaire, making a fortune in the crypto frenzy. Then it all fell apart. A psychological portrait of a gifted ‘thinking machine’ on a wild financial roller-coaster ride, this is a 21st century epic of crypto mania and insane amounts of money, of hubris and downfall. Hb $55
The Coming Wave
AI, Power and the 21st Century's Greatest Dilemma
Mustafa Suleyman with Michael Bhaskar
Suleyman, co-founder of AI company DeepMind, sounds the alarm on the risks to global order posed by the coming wave of technologies involving artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, quantum computers, DNA printers and autonomous weapons. As our fragile governments sleepwalk into disaster, we face the dilemma of unprecedented harm arising from unchecked openness on one side, or the threat of overbearing surveillance on the other. Pb $36.99
December
2023 was a year of consequential decisions, not just for Australia but the world. Nationally, the Voice to Parliament, military transformations, inflation, housing crises and overall economic uncertainty. Internationally, the continuing war in Ukraine, ethical considerations with AI and the latest reports on climate change. The Conversation authors have been at the forefront of these debates and provide evidence-based research to guide policy-makers and everyday Australians to make informed decisions. Thoughtful and trustworthy! Pb $29.99
Doppelganger A Trip into the Mirror World Naomi Klein
When Naomi Klein discovered that a woman who happened to share her first name, but had radically different, harmful views, was getting chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously. Then suddenly it wasn’t. Grappling with a distorted sense of reality, she decides to follow her double into a bizarre, uncanny mirror world… A deadly serious, darkly funny look at our increasingly polarised culture.
Quarterly Essay #92
The Great Divide: Australia's Housing Mess and How to Fix it
Alan Kohler
One of the great mysteries of Australian life is that a land of sweeping plains, with one of the lowest population densities on the planet, has a shortage of land for houses. As a result, the median house price in Sydney is the second most expensive on Earth after Hong Kong. The escalation in house prices is a pain that has altered Australian society. Kohler tells the story of how we got into this mess - and how we might get out of it. Pb $27.99
Pb $36.99
The Echidna Strategy
December
Australia's Search for Power and Peace
Sam Roggeveen
Australia’s Pivot to India
This book overturns conventional wisdom about our national security, proposing a radically different approach to defence based on the premise that America’s security is not threatened by China’s rise, so Australia’s strategy should not rely on American help. It also sheds new light on the contest for leadership in Asia and the need for a bolder foreign policy, especially leadership in the Pacific. Pb $32.99
Andrew Charlton
By 2050, India’s population is expected to be larger than the US and China combined. Charlton provides an authoritative analysis of Australia’s relationship with India, explains why now is the time for collaboration and cooperation, and outlines a partnership that could enhance Australia’s security and prosperity. He argues that Australians and Indians have an outdated view of each other - trapped in decades-old stereotypes and misunderstandings. Lively, thoughtprovoking and timely. Pb $32.99
20
Ashes 2023 A Cricket Classic
5 Ingredients Mediterranean Simple Incredible Food
With a foot in both camps, Haigh covered this year’s five-Test Ashes series for The Australian here and The Times in the UK. This book mixes his popular match reports with new material, capturing all the drama and skill of this classic series, including the controversy over a stumping at Lord’s that followed in the tradition of ‘bodyline’ as a clash of cultures and stereotypes.
Jamie’s most popular cookbook, 5 Ingredients (Hb $45), goes Mediterranean in this mouth-watering follow-up, inspired by his fascination with the food from this region. Includes over 125 delicious, easy-to-follow recipes, including Aubergine Flatbreads, Lemon-Tzatziki Chicken, Tunisian Prawn Linguini and a baked cheesecake that was kitchen-tested 20 times to get the ingredients just right! Hb $55 $45
Jamie Oliver
Gideon Haigh
Pb $35
The Woman in Me
Songs from the Kitchen Table
Britney Spears
Archie Roach & Ruby Hunter
A pop icon with over 100 million records sold, her story has been splashed over the headlines for years, but here Britney Spears can tell her side of it. Written with great candour, this is a moving memoir of fame, freedom (and the lack thereof ), motherhood, love and survival, revealing the woman behind the image.
This beautiful book commemorates two of our iconic musicians. It contains the lyrics to more than 100 of their songs, accompanied by stories of their making, contributions from other Australian musicians, original artworks, and many fine and rare photographs that document the life and times of Archie and Ruby. An absolute must-have tribute for the legion of listeners touched by the power of their songs! Lindy Hb $59.99
Hb $49.99 $39.99
Scattershot Life, Music, Elton and Me
Unsung A Compendium of Creativity
Bernie Taupin
The man who wrote the lyrics to most of Elton John’s songs has been a famously private person. In this freewheeling memoir, written with an infectious energy, Taupin tells of his childhood, meeting Elton in 1967, and their longstanding musical partnership - both the glittering times and the less salubrious ones. An honest, warm and eloquent autobiography. Pb $34.99 Comes with a free copy of Elton John: The Definitive Portrait (Hb $69.99) while stock lasts.
Kate Ceberano
When the world stopped for the pandemic in 2020, many performing artists found themselves lost. Ceberano turned to other forms of artistic expression to help her through those dark days. She painted, made beautiful quilts, and wrote. In this beautifully illustrated memoir, she muses on what has inspired and humbled her, the people who have had a profound impact on her, the hurts and joys of a lifetime lived in music. Hb $55
The Dangerous Life and Ideas of Diogenes the Cynic Jean-Manuel Roubineau
The founder of one of the most influential schools of thought, Diogenes has been widely mythologised and reviled through the ages. This careful re-examination of the man sheds light on his life and times, but also inspires the reader to rediscover his philosophical legacy. Whether to challenge the established order of things, detach from materialism, return to nature or engage in acts of virtue rather than the theory, this comprehensive and compact book reveals an ancient philosophy that still has much to teach us today. Hb $39.95
Griffith Review #82 Animal Magic Carody Culver (Ed)
Animals occupy a central place in our social, emotional and cultural lives and this latest anthology explores the many connections between us and them. Geraldine Brooks reflects on horses, and Chris Flynn on reptiles. Laura Jean McKay contributes a new short story, and Aunty Fay Bodkin shares stories of plants and animals on Country. There are many other delights in store - grab a copy and settle in to this entertaining and thoughtprovoking selection! Pb $27.99
The Visionaries
Why Politics Fails
Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil and the Salvation of Philosophy
Wolfram Eilenberger
The Five Traps of the Modern World & How to Escape Them
From the author of Time of the Magicians ($22.99), this enthralling intellectual adventure focuses on four women Hannah Arendt, Simone de Beauvoir, Ayn Rand and Simone Weil - following in their footsteps from Leningrad to New York, Spain at civil war to France under occupation in WWII, as each is uprooted by totalitarianism. It shows them facing the injustices and violence of their time as women, refugees, activists, resistance fighters and above all as thinkers. Hb $55
Why do the revolving doors of power always leave us disappointed? Ansell argues it’s often because our self-interest undermines the ability to deliver on our collective goals. Drawing on examples from Ancient Greece to Brexit, and using his own counterintuitive research, he explains how we can escape the political traps of our imperfect world. Politics won’t end, but it doesn’t have to fail. Pb $34.99
Ben Ansell
A Therapeutic Journey
The New Leviathans
Alain de Botton
John Gray
Lessons from the School of Life
Thoughts After Liberalism
Following The School of Life ($24.99), this essential guide to mental health traces the arc from mental crisis and collapse to convalescence and recovery. Written with kindness and sympathy, it is both a practical guide and a source of comfort in what might be our loneliest, most anguished moments. This is essentially a book about redemption - about regaining the thread of our lives, rediscovering meaning, and finding our way back to connection, warmth and joy. Pb $36.99
Sport
Music & Performing Arts
In this philosophical meeting of minds, Gray allows us to understand the world of the 2020s - with all its contradictions, moral horrors and disappointments through a new reading of Thomas Hobbes’ 1651 classic, Leviathan ($29.99). The collapse of the USSR saw an era of triumphalism in the West and a belief that tyranny, nationalism and unreason lay in the past. Hobbes would not be so confident. A powerful meditation on historical and current folly. Hb $45
December
Philosophy
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
21
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
It's a prickly predicament that will need strategic thinking.
CLUE #10 First letter of title:
ART, ARCHITECTURE & TRAVEL at Best in Travel 2024 Lonely Planet
Emily Kam Kngwarray
Kelli Cole, Hetti Perkins & Jennifer Green This is splendid indeed! Comprehensive and richly illustrated, it celebrates the art of the pre-eminent indigenous artist. Kngwarray, an Anmatyerr woman from central Australia, came to painting in the last years of her life, but her body of work is astounding. The book features archival images, original research and new insights into her work. A book no art-lover should be without. Hb $89.95
After a one-year hiatus, this annual bestseller is back, with 50 incredible destinations to experience over the coming year. Five lists cover the top 10 countries, regions, cities, best value destinations and sustainable travel destinations. Grab a copy and start planning your year of travel! Pb $27.99
December
Way Makers
An Anthology of Women’s Writing About Walking
Kerri Andrews (Ed)
The Art Thief
Moving from the 18th century to contemporary times, this excellent anthology chronicles - through letters, diaries, poetry and novels - the simple and complicated actions implied by a woman walking. Whether for comfort or adventure, as a source of creativity or an expression of desire, walking is freedom, yet also sometimes fraught with danger and fear. A testament to the rich history of women writers-walkers over the centuries. Hb $37.99
A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession
Michael Finkel
Stéphane Breitwieser liked to think of himself as a connoisseur of beauty, and that museums are merely prisons for works of art. Over a decade, he stole hundreds of objects and paintings from all over Europe, with the help of his girlfriend and the tacit knowledge of his mother. He didn’t sell them, he simply displayed them in his rooms for his own pleasure. Then he finally made a mistake that allowed authorities to track him down - but not all of the art. Told in short chapters, this is a page-turning true tale of risk-taking and obsession. Lindy Pb $32.99
World Heritage Sites of Australia 2nd Edition
Peter Valentine
Variations A More Diverse Picture of Contemporary Art
Tristen Harwood, Grace McQuiltern & Anthony White This beautifully produced and lavishly illustrated book showcases 25 modern Australian artists who are under-represented in mainstream discussions of art. It shares the life stories of creatives from a diverse array of backgrounds and practices, including those living with illnesses, those from Indigenous and refugee or migrant backgrounds, those with experiences of incarceration, or untrained people who felt the deep need to express themselves - outsiders. It reminds us that art is a way of connection and sharing experience, whoever the practitioners... Hb $69.99
Venice City of Pictures Martin Gayford
La Serenissima is a place of romance, beauty, drama and light, and artists over five centuries have depicted her and her citizens in all their guises. This is a visual tour of Venice through 130 paintings, her history revealed through the details of the artworks. Written with a light touch that conceals deep knowledge and research, it is full of clear and beautifully reproduced illustrations. Almost as good as being there! Lindy
Reading the Rooms
Behind the Paintings of the State Library of NSW
Richard Neville & Rachel Franks (Eds)
This splendid book documents the astonishing collection of paintings held by the State Library of NSW, which might not always be of the highest aesthetic quality, but are important and essential records of our past. It is broad and eclectic, ranging from colonial portraits to scientific illustrations, landscapes and maritime scenes to those that document ordinary life. The reproductions here are extraordinary as great care has been taken to match the printing process to the originals. A stunningly beautiful book! Lindy
Hb $89.99
Jane Austen’s Wardrobe Hilary Davidson
Acclaimed dress historian and Austen expert Hilary Davidson reveals the wardrobe of the celebrated author. Drawing on Austen’s 161 known letters and her surviving garments and accessories, this book assembles examples of the clothes she would have possessed, from gowns and coats to shoes and undergarments. Austen’s letters are peppered with her renowned irony and wit, describing clothes, shopping and taste.
Andrew Martin
An enjoyable exploration of the Paris underground railway system, full of stories and anecdotes from a real train enthusiast. It embraces everything from geology to engineering to statistics to the history behind the names of the stations. It also covers literary and cinematic treatments of the Metro – and there is even a chapter on its smell! Entertaining. Hb $39.99
Sydney has some of the best examples in the world of brutalist architecture. From the late 1950s, local and international architects experimented with raw concrete and brick, predominantly made on-site by hand, not machine (think the Sirius building, the Masonic Centre or the ribbed shells of the Opera House). These bold, innovative buildings could be divisive, December and nowadays there are many under threat of demolition, but they transformed the city. This book reveals the stories behind the buildings, their architects and the contemporary iterations, with many illustrations. Pb $49.99
The New Modernist House
Mid-Century Homes Renewed for Contemporary Living
Patricia Callan
This is one drop-dead gorgeous book! It takes 21 mid-century homes from around the country and showcases the architectural principles of these airy, sleek and tranquil houses. An historical overview is provided, along with the stories of the owners and current occupiers who have worked hard to preserve and sympathetically update the buildings. Beautifully illustrated with glowing photography, this is an excellent resource for renovators, dreamers and aficionados! Lindy Hb $79.99
Art, Design, Architecture
Hb $51.95
GIFT WRAPPING $2 PER ITEM
Metropolitain An Ode to the Paris Metro
Sydney Brutalism Heidi Dokulil
Hb $60
December
There are 20 listings on the World Heritage register for Australia (although two cover multiple locations - Convict sites and fossil mammal sites). Each is given 14 pages in this large book with concise overviews, personal impressions and the process of the listings. The many photographs capture the magnificence, beauty and wonderful details of these precious places. A splendid production! Lindy Hb $59.99
22
Travel & Transport
Food, Home, Garden
WORDS & WRITING
The Dictionary People
The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary
Sarah Ogilvie
Question 7
Richard Flanagan Beginning at a love hotel by Japan’s Inland Sea and ending by a river in Tasmania, by way of H G Wells, Rebecca West’s affair, 1930s nuclear physics and Flanagan’s father working as a slave labourer near Hiroshima when the atom bomb was dropped. This hypnotic melding of dream, history, literature and memory explores the choices we make about love and the chain reaction that follows.
Hb $35
The Oxford English Dictionary has long been associated with elite institutions and a few Victorian men, notably James Murray, who devoted 36 years to the project. But the dictionary also relied on contributions from the public. By the time it was finished in 1928, its 414,825 entries had been crowdsourced from a surprising and diverse group of people. Ogilvie takes a deep dive into previously untapped archives to tell a sparkling people’s history of the OED. Anyone who enjoyed The Surgeon of Crowthorne ($24.99) will find this equally fascinating! Pb $35
A Date with Language
Fascinating Facts, Events and Stories for Every Day of the Year
David Crystal
Always Take Notes
In this selection of 366 stories, events and facts, eminent linguist Crystal presents insights from writers and poets of many different eras and cultures, together with weird and wonderful anecdotes, to enliven each day of the year. Some days focus on pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary, others on the use of language in science, religion, politics, arts and publishing, or on technological progress, forensic science, speech therapy and even ‘Talk Like William Shatner Day’. A lively compendium! Hb $49.99
Advice from Some of the World's Greatest Writers
Simon Akam & Rachel Lloyd (Eds)
Bestselling and award-winning authors share their tips, secrets to success and the hard lessons they’ve learned along the way. Based on a popular podcast, this book is a compendium of frank and often entertaining guidance for living a creative life. From early failures to the daily challenges of writing, literary luminaries of all genres offer inspiration and information in equal measure! Hb $39.99
December
The Notebook
Dinner with Joseph Johnson
A History of Thinking on Paper
Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age
Roland Allen
Daisy Hay
The blank book has shaped the way we work out ideas. Portable paper products have had an historical advantage over other technologies, and this social history follows the growth of notebooks, journals, sea-logs, diaries, ledgers and sketchbooks. From the invention of double entry bookkeeping in Florence, which revolutionised international trade, to the sketchbooks of artists, the jottings of scientists, writers and musicians, to diaries kept by patients to chart their progress, this engrossing book shows how notebooks have influenced our thinking processes.
Back in the day when booksellers were also publishers, Joseph Johnson regularly had many of his authors and other luminaries over for dinner - people like Mary Wollstonecraft, Joseph Priestly, William Wordsworth and Benjamin Franklin. A fascinating and very readable look at Britain in the late 18th century - a very interesting time in its history. Dave
Pb $29.99
Hb $55
Sunday Best
80 Great Books from a Lifetime of Reviews
John Carey
Handwritten
Remarkable People on the Page
Lesley Smith
This is a celebration of handwriting, introducing famous writers, thinkers and historical figures through reproductions of documents in their own writing. It is a selection of treasures from the Bodleian Library, divided into themes such as novelists, scientists, reformers and explorers. There are scribbles, marked-up proofs, first drafts, letters and autograph albums. Stretching from the second century BCE to the present, this is a remarkable and revealing collection and just like reading over someone’s shoulder! Hb $79.99
Stephen Fry
The myths we loved in Fry’s bestselling Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold ($22.99) now return in a beautiful illustrated edition, capturing these stories for the modern age in all their rich and deeply human relevance. Fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia’s revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas, and hunt with the ferocious Artemis. Hb $80
Complete Chronicles
An Ancient Guide to Treating People Fairly
The two newest titles in the University of Princeton Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series, featuring new and lively translations of ancient classics by renowned classicists. The original Greek or Roman is on facing pages, while the introductions and notes are clear and crisp... and the messages and morals are still very relevant today!
Clarice Lispector
From 1967 to 1977, Lispector wrote weekly dispatches from her desk in Rio de Janeiro for the Jornal do Brasil. Already known for her revolutionary, interior, metaphysical novels, in her Chronicles she turns her attention to the everyday, transforming the material of her life into profound, touching and funny observations and revelations. Pb $29.99 December
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
How to Flourish
An Ancient Guide to Living Well
Aristotle Hb $29.99
The Iliad Homer
Too Much of Life
How to Do the Right Thing Seneca Hb $29.99
In 1977, newly installed as a professor of English at Oxford, Carey took the position of chief reviewer for the Sunday Times, the start of a career that would span 40 years. Here are the books he has most cherished. Covering subjects as diverse as the science of laughter, the art of Grayson Perry, the history of madness and Sylvia Plath’s letters, this is a compendium of titles that have stood the test of time, offered with Carey’s warmest recommendation. Pb $22.95
Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey (Pb $31.95, Hb $65.95) in 2017 was a global sensation. Now she unveils her equally revelatory translation of Homer’s other great epic. In her hands, this thrilling, magical, often horrifying tale now gallops at a pace befitting its legendary battle scenes, the crisp, resonant language evoking the poem’s deep pathos and revealing palpably real characters. The culmination of a decade of intense engagement with antiquity’s most emotionally complex poetry. Hb $65.95
Mythos The Illustrated Story
December
December
23
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
When my baby smiles at me, I can never get too much of that good thing.
CLUE #11
First letter of title:
oon!
See you s
BOOKSELLER PICKS at
EVE
DAVE
The Marriage Question
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
George Eliot's Double Life Clare Carlisle
Hb $45
Britain and the American Dream Peter Moore
LINDY
CHRISTIAN
page 20
Faking It Toby Walsh
Pb $34.99
ALLISON
GEORGIA
Available in other languages
Love, Theoretically
Naruto
Pb $22.99
GN Pb $17.99 Manga Pb $15.95
Ali Hazelwood
Masashi Kishimoto
Hb $75.95
North Woods
page 3
Daniel Mason
Pb $32.99
Tom Lake Ann Patchett
Pb $32.99
Impossible Creatures Katherine Rundell
Pb $18.99
page 7
MARY
Vengeance of page 27 the Pirate Queen
GAVIN
BRUCE
Seicho Matsumoto
J L Carr
Tokyo Express Pb $22.99
Tricia Levenseller
Pb $24.99
CRAIG
A Month in the Country
I Look Forward to Hearing From You
Pb $24.99
Nick Bhasin
Pb $32.99
HANNAH
The Hummingbird Effect
Kate Mildenhall
Pb $32.99
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin
Pb $22.99
Best of Friends
SOPHIE
Kamila Shamsie
The Prison Healer series
Pb $22.99
Lynette Noni
Pb $19.99 each
HAILIE
ALICE
NICOLE
Tamsyn Muir
Aurélie Valognes Pb $31.95 no English translation
Yaa Gyasi
Gideon the Ninth
La Cerise sur le Gâteau
Pb $32.99
ZÖE
Non Dimenticare Chi Sei Homegoing
A Day of Fallen Night
Pb $42.95
Pb $34.99
English translation
Pb $22.99
Samantha Shannon
Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead Emily Austin
Pb $22.99
Bookseller Picks
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Sunday Best 80 Great Books from a Lifetime of Reviews John Carey ge 23
Pb $22.95
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TOM
BRENDAN
The End of the Murdoch Empire Michael Wolff
Kim Newman
The Fall Pb $34.99
Something More Than Night Pb $19.99
TIANNA
Mrs Nash's Ashes Sarah Adler
Pb $22.99
PETRA
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop Satoshi Yagisawa
Pb $24.99
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The Woman in Me Britney Spears
Hb $49.99 $39.99
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Homer and His Iliad Robin Lane Fox
Hb $65
page 14
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
GREG
The Broken House Growing Up Under Hitler Horst Krüger 11
Pb $24.99
page
24
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Every book on this page will someday be read. Which one would you read?
CLUE #12
First letter of title:
Welcome to Australia's largest range of learning aids for over 100 languages, including English as a Second Language (ESL).
LANGUAGE BOOK CENTRE
Discover our huge range of fiction, non-fiction, children's books and DVDs in foreign languages.
Phonobet
Discover the Sounds of Australian English
Kathy Weeden & Kim Drane
An amazing and fun read-aloud book for parents of young children, this is a modern-day, Australian answer to Dr Seuss’s ABC ($11.99). The very clever rhyming text takes an onomatopoeic romp through the 44 phonemes of Australian (and British) English, comparing sounds to trees, bees, trains, robots, monkeys, pirates and more. Hb $24.99
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Reading & Writing Self-Study Language Workbooks
Coffee Break Languages
Short Activities to Improve Your Language
Transform your down time into 'do time'. The most successful language learners create a habit of studying on a regular basis. This series makes it easy to master a simple routine of improving your chosen language by effortlessly integrating it with your calming daily ritual - from a 5-minute espresso to a 15-minute latte. Pb $22.99 each
The perfect self-study workbook to help improve your reading and writing! With a step-by-step approach that moves from tracing letters to reading and writing complete words, this book gives you all the tools you need to produce and comprehend written script in your chosen language. With free online resources. Pb $24.99 each
Plushies
from $29.99
Short Stories and Folktales for Language Learners
3D Puzzles from $21.99
Aimed at beginning to intermediate language learners, these books introduce stories in parallel form, with English and the other language presented on facing pages. These elegantly illustrated volumes help language learners expand their vocabulary, as well as their listening and reading comprehension. The stories gradually increase in length and complexity as readers' language skills improve.Pb $34.99 each
Purses & .99 Pencil Cases from $26 Stacking Figurines from $49.99 Limited Edition Anniversary Blu-rays
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25
Coming from the wise and ancient language of the First People of the Western Australian south coast the Noongar people - these stories have been created as part of an Indigenous language recovery project led by Kim Scott and the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project. With stunning illustrations, they have been workshopped in a series of community meetings with families of the contributors as a part of the project to revitalise an endangered language. Pb $24.99 each
GALAXY is Australia's specialist science fiction & fantasy bookshop. Visit GALAXY at abbeys.com.au for the latest releases and tick 'Science Fiction' and 'Fantasy' as your eNews interests.
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@galaxybookshopsydney Making it So Patrick Stewart
42 The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams Douglas Adams (edited by Kevin Jon Davies)
From stage triumphs to legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises in a career spanning more than 60 years, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world. This is the story of his astonishing life, from humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim.
After his death in 2001, over 60 boxes of papers belonging to Douglas Adams were loaned to his old Cambridge college, St John’s. This incredible archive has been carefully reproduced here in full colour, so it’s like peeking behind the curtain at the personal process - and chaos - of this wonderfully creative human. It really has to be seen to be appreciated! Craig
Hb $55 $49.95
Hb $59.99
$49.99 Chainsaw Man Vol. 1-11 Tatsuki Fujimoto
See page 30 for more Manga...
The Worlds of Dune
The Places and Cultures that Inspired Frank Herbert
Tom Huddleston
Broke young man + chainsaw demon = Chainsaw Man! Denji was a small-time devil hunter just trying to survive in a harsh world. After being killed on a job, he is revived by his pet devil Pochita and becomes something new and dangerous - Chainsaw Man! Boxed set includes the rip-roaring first arc of this global hit, plus an exclusive double-sided full-colour poster. Boxed Set $175 $140
Some writers build worlds, others build entire universes. But how did an ex-Navy newspaperman come to write such a world-conquering novel as Dune ($22.99) and its sequels? Herbert’s influences ranged from an interest in Zen Buddhism and indigenous American lore to Shakespearian drama and 1960s New Age thinking. Beginning on Arrakis and going planet by planet, this book explores the diverse strands woven into his epic creation. Packed with fascinating photos. Hb $49.99
Murtagh #5 Inheritance Christopher Paolini
Paolini returns to the world of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the last events of the Inheritance Cycle. The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Hated and alone, they are exiled to the outskirts of society. The perfect book to enter the world of Eragon for the first time... or to joyfully return. Pb $32.99
The Hobbit J R R Tolkien lf! Illustrated by Tolkien himse
A beautifully illustrated edition of one of fantasy’s classic dragon tales. Eragon #1 Inheritance Christopher Paolini Hb $75 $64.95
A Stroke of the Pen The Lost Stories
Slipcase $250 $225
Terry Pratchett
Here are 20 rediscovered short stories that Pratchett wrote under a pseudonym for newspapers during the 1970s and 1980s. Although none are set in the Discworld, they hint towards the world he would go on to create, containing all his trademark wit, satirical wisdom and fantastic imagination. A truly unmissable collection, each accompanied by exquisite original woodcut illustrations. Pb $32.99 $24.99
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Official Baking Cookbook
Sandy K Snugly Hb $45 $39.95
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Nightmare Before Christmas
MinaLima Edition
The Official Baking Cookbook Gift Set Hb $85 $79.95
J K Rowling Hb $65 $54.95
Check and Mate Ali Hazelwood
In this clever, swoonworthy novel from the author of The Love Hypothesis ($19.99), life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart. Mallory is done with chess, focussing on her family and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on until she wipes the board with current world champion and reigning Bad Boy, Nolan. She’s confused by his desire to cross pawns again. But despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist... Suitable for both Young Adult and adult readers. Pb $22.99
Harry Potter Harry Potter
Official Christmas Cookbook
Elena Craig Hb $45 $39.95
Hb $89.99 $79.99
Official Christmas Cookbook Gift Set Hb $85 $79.95
26
See page 29 for more Romance...
ar! The biggest book of the ye Fourth Wing #1 Empyrean
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter #11 Cosmere
Rebecca Yarros Pb $32.99
Brandon Sanderson Yumi has spent her entire life in strict obedience, granting her the power to summon the spirits that bestow vital aid upon her society. Painter patrols the dark streets dreaming of being a hero, leaving him always on the outside looking in. If they cannot unravel the mystery of what suddenly brings them together, they risk losing not only the bond growing between them, but the very worlds they’ve always struggled to protect. Pb $32.99
...just got bigger! Iron Flame #2 Empyrean Pb $32.99
Bookshops and Bonedust #2 Legends & Lattes
The Olympian Affair #2 Cinder Spires
Travis Baldree
Jim Butcher
For centuries, the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defence and trade. Now the Spires hover on the brink of open war. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the might of Spire Aurora’s Armada and its new secret weapon. It will take daring, skill and showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion, assuming it’s not already too late... Pb $32.99
#1
Pb $22.99
A standalone cosy fantasy about the power of good bookshops, great friends and unexpected choices along the way, set in the world of BookTok sensation Legends and Lattes ($22.99). Viv’s mercenary career isn’t going as planned. Recuperating from battle wounds at a struggling bookshop in the sleepy town of Murk is the last thing she would have predicted. A suspicious traveller in grey, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be surprisingly eventful... Pb $34.99 #1 Pb $22.99
DallerGut Dream Department Store The Dream You Ordered is Sold Out
Mi-Ye Lee
Star Bringer #1 Star Bringer
In a mysterious town that lies hidden in our collective subconscious, there’s a quaint department store where all kinds of dreams are sold. Customers both human and animal from all over the world shuffle in sleepily to purchase their latest adventure. It’s Penny’s first week working at the store and one of the most coveted and expensive dreams gets stolen, so we follow along as she tries to uncover the workings of this wonderfully whimsical world. The first book in a bestselling Korean duology. Pb $29.99
Tracy Wolff & Nina Croft
With the clock ticking, the Nine Planets’ only hope rests on a fancy space station and the alien artifact it’s carrying. Which is why it really sucks when some jackass blows that station up - while you’re still on it - and your only option is to steal a flying hunk of space junk to escape. Which means seven strangers with deadly secrets are trapped together. And every faction in the galaxy is hunting the ship... Pb $32.99
LOW FLAT-RATE DELIVERY AUSTRALIA-WIDE $9.90 Curious Tides #1 Drowned Gods Duology
Vengeance of the Pirate Queen
Pascale Lacelle
#3 Daughter of the Pirate King
Emory might be a student at the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magics, but her healing abilities have always been mediocre at best, until a treacherous night in the Dovermere sea caves leaves a group of her classmates dead and Emory as the only survivor. Now she is plagued by strange, impossible powers that no healer should possess. Powers that would ruin her life if the wrong person were to discover them. An intriguing dark-academia tale with an engaging mystery and clever magic. Well worth a look. Craig Pb $27.99
Tricia Levenseller
You can’t be afraid of the dark when you’re the monster lurking in the shadows. The Pirate Queen is back! Daughter of the Pirate King ($19.99) is my favourite book by Levenseller and I cannot wait to see what’s in store this time! Levenseller has a gift for creating powerful female protagonists and has done no differently with the deadly assassin Sorinda. Sent on a rescue mission, they must fight the King of the Undersea and his undead army. Will they manage to save the world or will Sorinda suffer a fate worse than death - becoming the King’s undead Queen? Mary Pb $24.99
The Defector
Chasm #2 Glacian Trilogy
#2 Apollo Murders
Chris Hadfield
Stacey McEwan
Israel, late 1973. A Soviet MIG fighter disappears from radar and NASA flight controller Kaz Zemeckis is pulled into a high-stakes game of spies, lies and possible defection. Moving from space in The Apollo Murders ($22.99) to another part of Hadfield’s CV - test pilot in the US Air Force and Navy - this is another full-throttle ride, full of insider detail and political intrigue drawn from real events.
Dawsyn’s miraculous escape from the Ledge was just the beginning. In the queens’ dungeon, she awaits her execution, while reliving the death of her lover Ryon. Rescued by her village friends, she’s on the run and struggling to tame her newly-gained powers. As she and her comrades ascend the perilous mountain to the Glacian kingdom in a desperate attempt to save those remaining on the Ledge, she must battle wills as well as weapons, before discovering an entirely new evil awaits her...
Pb $32.99
#1 Glacian Trilogy
Pb $32.99
Pb $29.99 Science Fiction
Fantasy
Romance
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
This legend of finding friends in a cosy bookshop is close to the bone.
27
CLUE #13 First letter of title:
B
SF & FANTASY
The Fragile Threads of Power
upstairs at
V E Schwab
#1 Threads of Power
Set in the Shades of Magic universe, this epic fantasy features familiar characters and settings, introducing a new generation of magic, shadows and adventure into the much-loved world. Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds... Pb $39.99
An Inheritance of Magic #1 Inheritance of Magic
Benedict Jacka
In a world where everything magical is bought and controlled by the super-rich, Stephen Oakwood has inherited a natural talent for magic. Plunged into a world of scheming dynasties, warring patriarchs and vicious scions, he must navigate magical high society and learn to control his gifts. If he cannot master his magic quickly and learn to distinguish friend from foe, his name may end up on the missing persons list, just like his father. Pb $32.99
Spirit of the Wood #8 Green Rider Kristen Britain
After years of leading the battle against the vicious Darrow Raiders, Lieutenant-Rider Laren Mapstone has learnt to conceal her emotions. When she is made mentor to Tavin Bankside a Green Rider trainee on his first message errand - she is soon given the moniker’Ice Lady’. Only after she’s severely wounded in an attack does she let her emotions slip... A stunning new illustrated novella set in the Green Rider universe. Pb $29.99
The Narrow Road Between Desires A Kingkiller Chronicle Novella
Patrick Rothfuss
Expanded to twice its previous length and lavishly illustrated by Nate Taylor, Rothfuss returns with a stunning reimagining of his novella The Lightning Tree. From dawn to midnight over the course of a single day, follow the Kingkiller Chronicle’s most charming fae, Bast, as he schemes and sneaks, dancing into trouble and back out again with uncanny grace as he traces the old ways of making and breaking, following his heart even when doing so goes against his better judgement. Hb $34.99
December
Kaldoras #6 Medoran Chronicles Lynette Noni
Journey back to Medora to follow Alex Jennings and her friends - and enemies - for one last adventure. Now four years since Vardaesia ($22.99), #5 in the series, this is an epilogue like no other - full of laughter, tears and the unending power of friendship. Lynette Noni has hinted there are five character points-of-view and I can’t wait to catch up with my favourites after the shocking revelations of A Very Merry Kaldoras. This book promises to be a fitting end to a wild ride! Allison Pb $22.99
Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead #1 Corax
#1 Oct
K J Parker
This series will be loved by fans of Parker's '16 ways’ stuff. For new fans, these books have a wonderful, dark world-sense, shot through with wry humour and riddled with detailed ’Roman era’ influences, especially when it comes to warfare. Parker is seriously knowledgeable and passionate about that period of history and uses it as a solid stage to perform his wonderfully entertaining stories. This one is from the viewpoint of battlefield ’salvagers’ who stumble into 'complications’... Craig
Pb $22.99 each
#2 Nov
The Clackity Lora Senf
Evie Von Rathe lives in Blight Harbor - the seventh most haunted town in America - with her Aunt Desdemona, the local paranormal expert. When Des disappears into an abandoned slaughterhouse on the edge of town, Evie goes in to search for her. She encounters The Clackity, a strange creature who agrees to help get Des back in exchange for the ghost of a serial killer who stalked Blight Harbor 100 years earlier. Will Evie ever find Des or is The Clackity planning something more sinister? Pb $17.99
#8 J W Wells and Co From the author of The Portable Door ($22.99) film now streaming! Pb $22.99
#3 Dec
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic
Dark Heir #2 Dark Rise
Breanne Randall
C S Pacat
Sadie has always believed the curse that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer, and her first heartbreak returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel. Then her estranged twin brother Seth also returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets... A cosy, fantasy romance. Pb $22.99
In this riveting sequel to Dark Rise ($24.99), Will and his allies have survived the Dark’s first assault, but at a terrible cost. Pursued by dark forces, they must travel to the heart of the ancient world, making new and dangerous alliances, and revealing the shocking secrets of the past. But Will carries a dark secret of his own. Drawn to the beautiful and deadly James St Clair, Will is tempted by the darkness within. Intriguing and subversive, this will keep you captivated. Allison Pb $24.99
Infinity’s Secret #1 Dragon Force
The House with a Dragon in it
Katie Tsang & Kevin Tsang
Nick Lake
It’s been five years since the Dragon Realm fell into the Human Realm. Now both populations live side by side, but dangerous magical creatures threaten to disrupt the peace and it’s up to a new group of heart-bonded humans and dragons to protect the world - the Dragon Force. From the authors of the bestselling Dragon Realm series comes the first in this action-packed new series for readers aged 8+.
Pb $17.99
28
Summer and her foster family are having lunch when a hole appears in the middle of the living room. The hole leads to a dragon and the promise of three wishes - granted by a very unusual witch. Summer wishes for popularity and plenty of money, and things are looking up, until she realises the hole in the floor is getting bigger and the witch is getting more sinister. As things unravel, will Summer get her dearest, most secret wish? A classic story of dragons and witches, beautifully illustrated by Emily Gravett. Hb $24.99
Red River Seven A J Ryan
The Reformatory Tananarive Due
In this pulse-pounding horror novel, a man wakes up on a boat at sea with no memory of who or where he is. There are six others, each with a unique set of skills. None of them can remember their names. All of them have a gun. When a message appears on the computer, they agree to work together to survive whatever is coming. But as the boat moves through mist-shrouded waters, divisions begin to form... Pb $22.99
Damnation Games Alan Baxter (Ed) Pb $41.95 $29.95
Gracetown, Florida in the summer of 1950. Robert is sent to Gracetown School for Boys and soon learns it isn’t just any reform school, but one that is haunted by boys who have died there. To survive the school governor and his Funhouse, Robert must enlist the help of the ghosts, who have their own motivations... An eerie, gripping page-turner! Pb $27.99
! R O R R HO
Get your horror fix from logy local authors with this antho rs! - signed by five of the autho
Rouge Mona Awad
Belle has always been obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother mysteriously dies, she returns to southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death... A surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief and the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters. Pb $34.99
LOW FLAT-RATE DELIVERY AUSTRALIA-WIDE $9.90
romance... Unholy Terrors Lyndall Clipstone
Hunt on Dark Waters Katee Robert
Everline Blackthorn has devoted her life to the wardens - warriors who guard against monsters known as the vespertine. After a series of strange omens, she uncovers a startling truth in the form of Ravel Severin - a rogue vespertine who reveals the monsters have secrets of their own. Ravel promises the help she needs, for a price... A dark romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Lynette Noni and Sarah J Maas. Pb $19.99
Evelyn is a witch with a perfect storm of bad impulses - terrible taste in bed partners, sticky fingers and a lust for danger. After she steals from her vampire ex and falls through a portal to another realm, she’s fished out of the water by a band of seafarers and their telekinetic captain. She’s given a simple choice - join their group or die. The first book in a new fantasy romance series. Pb $32.99
An Unexpected Party Seth Malacari (Ed)
From fantastical realms to real-world struggles, this Young Adult anthology champions queer identity by challenging stereotypes and exploring the many facets of identity. Written with wit, heart and honesty, the stories take queer protagonists outside the box of YA romance and centre them at the heart of stories that involve magic, paranormal beings and adventure. Featuring trans and gender-diverse voices - asexual, aromantic, bisexual and more - these stories are as diverse as their writers. Pb $19.99
December
Pb $21.99 each
Wildfire #2 Maple Hills Hannah Grace
When Russ and Aurora cross paths at a college party, a drinking game leads to a passionate one-night stand. Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on their first day as summer camp counsellors, where the tension between them intensifies. Russ doesn’t want to risk breaking the camp's 'no staff fraternising’ rule, but Aurora has never cared too much about rules... A deliciously swoonworthy romance! Pb $22.99
December
Betting on You Lynn Painter
When 17-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she’s less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Now though, instead of everything about him rubbing her the wrong way, she looks forward to hanging out and gossiping about their coworkers, particularly two who keep flirting with each other, and they make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong. Pb $22.99
The Hurricane Wars #1 Hurricane Wars Thea Guanzon
All Talasyn has ever known are the Hurricane Wars. An orphan of the struggle, she uses the power of light to fight for her people against the Night Empire. All Alaric has ever known is darkness. The son of the Night Emperor, he wields terrifying shadow magic to crush the rebellion. Then he sees Talasyn, his sworn enemy, burning bright across the battlefield. But a greater threat looms and only they can stop it. Thus begins an epic new enemiesto-lovers fantasy. Pb $34.99
WIN! Aladdin's Gold
Ten $100 Gift Voucher prizes. See p2 for competition details.
The boys have a ghost of a chance of turning over a new leaf in this house.
29
CLUE #14 First letter of title:
SF & FANTASY upstairs at Manga Stories Volume 1 Haruki Murakami
This volume comprises four of Murakami’s enthralling, ever-so-slightly-odd short stories - a perfect storm showcasing, in quintessentially Japanese style, one of Japan’s most successful authors. If you enjoy Murakami, you’ll love this. I’ve adored Murakami’s style ever since some guy handed me a book about mythological and illusive sheep with a star on its side! Manga Stories: Volume 2 (Hb $39.95) due mid-2024: The Second Bakery Attack, Samsa in Love and Thailand. Craig Hb $34.99
The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline
Anthony Breznican et al The Marvel Cinematic Universe is vast, varied and complex - different worlds, different timelines, countless characters. Follow the entire story from before the Big Bang to the Blip and beyond. Along the way, learn more about the evolution of the Iron Man armours, the hunt for the Infinity Stones, and the formation of The Multiverse. The definitive, filmmaker-endorsed guide! Hb $75 $64.95
VIZ
Lore and Legends
d New and noteworthy Art an VIZ Manga to add to the huge any F OF range! And get 10% ck sto VIZ title we don’t have in you). (that we have to order in for
A Visual Celebration of the Fifth Edition of the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game
Michael Witwer et al
When the reimagined fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons debuted in 2014, tabletop roleplaying games were on the brink of obsolescence, but D&D soon found greater success than ever before. How did an analog game nearly a half century old become a star in a digital world? This comprehensive guide explores its evolution, cultural relevance and popularity through exclusive interviews and over 900 pieces of artwork, photography and advertising. Hb $95 $84.95
The Way of the Househusband The Gangster’s Guide to Housekeeping
Kousuke Oono
Learn the housekeeping secrets of the legendary gangster, Tatsu, with this practical and humorous book inspired by the popular manga series The Way of the Househusband. Everyone, from busy office workers and aspiring homemakers to the fiercest members of the yakuza, can gain important life skills! Hb $36.99
Everybody Wins
Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made
James Wallis
The annual Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) Awards are like the Oscars of board games. Wallis investigates the winners and losers of each year’s contest, from modern classics like CATAN, Ticket to Ride and Dixit to once-lauded games that have now been forgotten, not to mention several popular hits that somehow missed a nomination.
The Art of Demon Slayer
Marvel Comics
Kimetsu no Yaiba the Anime
A Manga Tribute
Hb $49.99
Ufotable & Koyoharu Gotouge Pb $29.99
Hb $36.99
Foundation
The Art and Making of Seasons 1 & 2
Mike Avila
Soichi
This lavish book delves into the incredible behindthe-scenes work that went into realising the epic, galaxy-spanning TV series. Concept art, set photos, VFX tests and exclusive interviews with the producers, directors, cast and crew make this the ultimate guide to Foundation. Season 2 is currently in production!
Cat-Eyed Boy
Junji Ito Story Collection
The Perfect Edition, Vol 1
Junji Ito Hb $37
Hb $69.99
Kazuo Umezz Hb $49.99
$39.99
Reading Tarot
Reading Tea Leaves
Doctor Who
April Wall Hb $29.99
Doom’s Day: Extraction Point
Origin Stories
Pb $29.99
Find Your Inner Fortune Teller Through the Cards
April Wall Hb $29.99
Hb $32.99
Graphic Novels & Manga
Pb $22.99 each
30
Game Worlds
SF & Fantasy Art Reference
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