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August Reading Guide 2 0 15 bet terread.com.au
Welcome to our Better Read Than Dead August Reading Guide! We are so excited by the range of New Releases this August! From big Aussie fiction names Kate Forsyth and Gail Jones to Evie Wyld’s graphic novel cross memoir, this month is sure to impress. Our Book of the Month for August is Fried Chicken & Friends; the cookbook by the well-known, local family behind one of our favourite restaurants Hartsyard. Be sure to grab a copy and try out the finger-lickingly good fried chicken recipe.
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We also have a tonne of events coming up; Talking Heads with Before I Go To Sleep author S J Watson, the A Little Life Better Reader Book Club Meeting, a High Tea with Stephanie Bishop and of course National Bookshop Day! As always you can book any of these on our events website; the link to which can be found on the adjacent page.
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AUSTRALIAN FICTION All our content for each category is linked directly. All you have to do is click on a tab! To check out our upcoming events, you can click the link below.
FICTION CRIME FICTION GRAPHIC NOVELS SCI-FI/FANTASY COOKING BIOGRAPHY NON-FICTION ART & DESIGN BRTD
BETTER READ EVENTS
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AUSTRALIAN FICTION
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Australian Fiction The Beast’s Garden | Kate Forsyth | $32.99 | Vintage Random House Forsyth does it again, expertly blending historical fiction with beautiful fairy-tale prose. This time one of the most violent, impassioned and beloved Grimm fable is vividly retold in the midst of Germany’s brutal Nazi Regime. To save her father, Ava is forced to marry a ‘beast’: Leo, a young Nazi Officer working for Hitler’s spy chief in Berlin. Joining an underground resistance, Ava must live a double life, hiding her true feelings from Leo, even as she falls in love with him. But is Leo really the beast he seems to be? Forsyth has created another a beautiful, compelling love story set in a time when the world seemed on the brink of collapse.
Mischa’s Pick
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A Guide to Berlin | Gail Jones | $32.99 | Vintage Random House
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A homage to Vladimir Nabokov with echoes of the Decameron, Gail Jones’ new novel tangles literary history with contemporary issues. Travellers meet in empty Berlin apartments to discuss their love of Nabokov—and to share stories both fictional and true. A violent act interrupts proceedings and changes them all. This is sure to be another fascinating read from the lauded author of Five Bells.
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Australian Fiction R&R | Mark Dapin | $32.99 | Viking Penguin American military policeman John ‘Nashville’ Grant is partnered with Shorty from the small town Bendigo in the town of Vung Tau during the Vietnam war. Nashville knows how everything works; Shorty knows nothing about anything. The two find themselves caught between the military police, South Vietnamese gangsters and the Viet Cong after a violent incident in a brothel, and soon they must take the law into their own hands.
“Nashville knows how everything works; Shorty knows nothing about anything.”
Sydney writer Mireille Juchau’s third novel is a tremendous work. Juchau’s story of family and environment is told in spare, pithy prose that explores the psychology of loss and restoration. It opens with a mother of two school aged girls pushing an empty pram. One of the girls, Tess, has not spoken for six months. The girls father is a beekeeper with disappearing bees. A subtle uneasy story beautifully told.
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The World Without Us | Mireille Luchau | $29.99 | Allen & Unwin
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Fiction Dean’s Pick
“Fresh and provocative as his most recent works”
Wind/Pinball | Haruki Murakami | $35.00 | Harvill Random Harumi Murakami’s two short novels were his first published in the 1970s. This is their first translation into English, and readers familiar with parts of Murakami’s life will recall that his first writing occurred late at night in the Jazz bar that he owned. Fresh and provocative as his most recent works, the novellas are lively creations spun by a master.
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You Don’t Have to Live Like This | Benjamin Markovits | $29.99 | Allen & Unwin
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In 2009 middleclass thirtysomething drifter Greg ‘Marny’ Marnier joins a group of like-mindeds (handpicked via Facebook) who aim to buy up, occupy and creatively gentrify a neighbourhood of derelict properties in Detroit, Michigan. The presence of longer-established local communities has not been factored into the hipsterish ‘backto-basics’ entrepreneurial equation. Complex class and race political problems multiply fast and soon we see contemporary, contradiction-ridden America in microcosm. ‘From basketball court to courthouse, it’s like a season of The Wire scripted by J M Coetzee.’
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Fiction Land Falls | Naomi Williams | $29.99 | Little Brown & Co Naomi Williams reinvents the classic maritime adventure novel in her debut work Landfalls. Writing of the historic Lapérouse expedition, which left France in 1785 to circumnavigate the globe, Williams delves deep into historical fact whilst introducing powerful imagined characters and stories. Each chapter is told from a different point of view and a different part of the world, creating an absorbing, abundant tale which transitions between melancholic and comic, profound and observational.
One Hundred Days of Happiness | Fausto Brizzi | $29.95 | Pan Macmillan When Lucio discovers he only has three months left to live his life is in shambles. Realising he needs to turn his life around, Lucio spends his last days making every moment count, making amends, making a journey across Italy and making his last 100 days his happiest. Told over one hundred chapters, one for each of his last days, this novel is a heart-warming tale about life and love.
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“Told over one hundred chapters, one for each of his last days, this novel is a heart-warming tale about life and love””
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Crime Fiction
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Surveillance | Bernard Keane | $29.99 | Allen & Unwin
Close Your Eyes | Michael Robotham | $29.99 | Sphere Hachette
Keane, a writer for Crikey, has penned this riveting cyber-crime thriller fiction. Terrorists, governments, corporations, security services and others are variously in the business of hiding, hacking, tracking, managing and manipulating secret and sensitive information. Journalist and cyber-expert Kat Sharpe is excited to be at the centre of the breaking news. But then, as the plot thickens, things take new turns for the strange. Grab a signed copy while stocks last.
When a mother and daughter are found murdered – one brutally stabbed and the other left unmarked. A reluctant Joe O’Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when one of his former students, dubbed ‘The Mindhunter’ jeopardises the investigation by leaking details to the media trading on Joe’s name. As the case becomes ever more complex, nothing is what it seems . . .
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Graphic Novels
The words of the talented and award-winning Evie Wyld are married to the striking illustrations of Joe Sumner in this bold graphic novel. Wyld contrasts her family holidays spent in rural Australia with the urban security of England. The idea of the man-eating shark, begun in Australia and expanded by trips to museums (and the film Jaws) pursue the protagonist of this book. The shark is always following, just under the surface of her life, ever ready to take her under.
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Everything is Teeth | Evie Wyld & Joe Sumner | $39.99 | Knopf Random
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“The shark is always following, just under the surface of her life, ever ready to take her under.”
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Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Everyone’s Pick
“They are one of the boldest science fiction novels of this decade.”
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The Southern Reach Trilogy | Jeff VanderMeer | $19.99 each | Fourth Estate
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What more can I say about this series? I’ve been talking about them for over a year now. They are one of the boldest science fiction novels of this decade. It’s hard to know where to begin. Part one is an eco-sci-fi horror story with echoes of Poe and Lovecraft. Part two is a deceptively mundane story of bureaucratic intrigue that blooms into psychological thriller, while part three is a psychedelic action blockbuster.
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Sci-Fi/Fantasy The Whispering Swarm | Michael Moorcock | $29.99 | Orion Legendary and beloved science-fiction writer has finally released a new book and this is it. London is just recovering from the blitz and a young man name Michael Moorcock (Eh!) meanders through London back-streets and hidden worlds that most Londoners haven’t even heard of. Moorcock is met by fantastical people, danger, love, and especially magic. This is not the London you think you know!
Armada | Ernest Cline | $32.99 | Random House
Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories | China Mieville | $29.99 | Pan Macmillan Compared to the ineffable David Mitchell, fantasy writer China Mieville calls his work ‘weird fiction’. This collection of short stories is as reliably unpredictable as his previous work. It’s been almost ten years since his last collection and it is always worth the wait.
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Zack Lightman has spent his whole life dreaming. He often wishes that his life was more like the books he reads, the movies he watches, and the video games that he plays. But when Lightman spots a UFO it is up to him and gamers from all around the world to use their hard won video-game skills to save the Earth. Sound familiar? Zack thinks so too. This is a wonderfully subversive adventure that is a demi-parody of science fiction tropes as well as being a rollicking coming-of-age adventure.
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Cooking Book of the Month
Amelia’s Pick
“Pull up a chair with the team behind award-winning restaurant Hartsyard and get stuck in to the high-octane flavours of beef poutine, crab cakes and chargrilled broad beans.”
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Fried Chicken & Friends: The Hartsyard Family Cookbook | Gregory llewellyn & Naomi Hart | $49.99 | Murdoch
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Fried chicken has undergone a renaissance. It’s been reinvented for a new generation. It’s restaurantlevel impressive and a sure-fire way to keep a crowd happy. Fried Chicken and Friends is a collection of simple, wholesome American-inspired recipes, including the ultimate buttermilk fried chicken, as well as aperol sours, oyster po’ boys, waffles with bacon and maple syrup, and all the other delicious things that go with it. Pull up a chair with the team behind awardwinning restaurant Hartsyard and get stuck in to the high-octane flavours of beef poutine, crab cakes and chargrilled broad beans. All served with a generous shake of the hot sauce bottle. It’s a party on a plate.
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Cooking Vegetables, Grains & Other Good Stuff | Simon Bryant | $39.99 | Penguin
Scott’s Pick
From Venice to Istanbul | Rick Stein | $55.00 | Random House We all watched Rick Stein’s latest BBC series religiously, and have been inspired to evoke the magic of the Eastern Mediterranean in our own homes. With his latest cookbook, From Venice to Istanbul, you can do just that. Packed with stunning photography of the food and locations, and filled with Rick’s passion for fresh produce and authentic cooking, this is a memorable food odyssey: journeying through an ancient landscape discovering great food, creating dishes from recipes that have lasted the course of time.
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Vegies, grains and pulses have moved from side status to being the star of the plate. Simon’s recipes affirm this trend; setting out to prove that vegies are never boring, whether smoked, pureed, baked or rolled into balls. Covering a vast and diverse range of recipes; from kimchee to spanakopita, entrees to desserts, breakfast to dinner, we are absolutely amazed by the dishes Simon has plated up. The most original, inventive and comprehensive guide to healthy eating that we’ve seen in a long time.
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Biography
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Women I’ve Undressed | Orry-Kelly | $39.99 | Random House
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Orry-Kelly’s ( 1897-1964) brilliant costume design is celebrated for the first time in this wonderful hardcover volume. Born in Kiama, NSW, with an imaginary pet dog named ‘Bijou’ Orry-Kelly travelled from Kiama to Sydney, then New York and Hollywood where he would receive three Academy Awards . Orry-Kelly designed for superstars Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood and Errol Flynn. Part wild memoir, part photo album extraordinaire this book is a remarkable testament to an extraordinary Australian.
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Biography What My Daughters Taught Me | Joseph Wakim | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin Joseph never imagined he would be raising three young daughters on his own. But when his wife died of Breast Cancer in 2003 Joseph found himself the sole parent of a 4, 7 and 11 year old. Against all the well-meaning advice and suggestions of help needed by friends, Joseph set about raising his daughters his own way. Told here with candour and humour, the story of Wakim’s family is inspiring and heart-warming, and a bit of a challenge to so many assumptions about single fathers. This is a moving memoir about one father’s journey to honour his wife the only way he knew how.
Warren Brown takes the reader on a calamitous historical journey investigating the search for a mythical gold reef in the desert. The characters and stories traipse through parts of Australia with brash Lasseter at the helm in an invigorating adventure that outstrips the imagination. This journey became the stuff of legend whereby the lines between truth and fiction become blurred as a desert mirage.
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Lasseter’s Gold | Warren Brown | $35.00 | Hachette
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Liz’s Pick
“a calamitous historical journey investigating the search for a mythical gold reef in the desert.”
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Non-Fiction The Water Book | Alok Jha | $35.00 | Hachette Water is the only substance to expand when frozen and no one knows why. Only in 1963 did someone—a Tanzanian teenager named Erasto Mpemba—discover that water freezes faster when hot. No one has discovered the answer to that either. Despite it being so essential to our being and our planet, we still know so little about water. This book delves into the mysteries of this wondrous element.
Waterfront | Duncan McNab | $32.99 | Hachette
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McNab, author of seven books (eg, Outlaw Bikers in Australia), is a former police detective, private investigator, investigative journalist and media adviser to governments and the private sector. Here he lifts the lid on the intriguing and chequered history of Australia’s sea ports, which as well being the nation’s shipping-industrial gateways have over the decades formed a breeding ground for crime, corruption and political conflict. And the story continues: ‘After a century of Royal Commissions, reports, denials and crackdowns, crime and wrongdoing in Australia’s ports remains organised, entrenched and incredibly profitable.’
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Gudinski | Stuart Cope | $32.99 | Hachette Entrepreneur and businessman Michael Gudinski has for four decades been a powerful presence in the Australian music industry. He not only nurtured the careers of Split Enz, Jimmy Barnes, Kylie Minogue, Paul Kelly etc. but also brought to Australia the likes of Sinatra, Dylan, the Stones, Springsteen, Madonna and Sting. Where did Gudinski come from, and what combination of talent, passion and good fortune led to his being the music industry ‘captain’ he is? Rock journo Coupe, himself something of an iconic figure, is well placed to recount this history.
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Non-Fiction Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease | Marc Lewis | $29.99 | Penguin
A Force for Good: The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Humanity | Daniel Golfman | $29.99 | Allen & Unwin For years many have turned to the Dalai Lama for his great wisdom and insight into leading a happy and fulfilling life. Now, in this latest offering he outlines his vision for the future. A Force for Good is both an exploration about the science and power of compassion, as well as a call to action for all of humanity. Together with Daniel Goleman, the Dalai Lama outlines how he believes compassionate acts, no matter how small, will be the essential factor in creating a more peaceful world. Issues ranging from teaching ethics and conflict resolution to rethinking commerce and business from a compassionate viewpoint, His Holiness will challenge all with his gentle and revolutionary wisdom.
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Former addict and neuroscientist Marc Lewis (Memoirs of An Addicted Brain, 2011) re-evaluates notions of addiction. In particular, Lewis calls into question the addiction as disease model. According to Lewis addiction is not a choice or an illness, it is an inborn part of human behavioural biology. Using five case studies and concise explanation, whether the reader agrees or disagrees, his hypotheses are indisputably intriguing.
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Art & Design MoMA Masterpieces | Am Temkin | $70.00 | Thames & Hudson This book highlights a collection of painting and sculpture works of MoMa. Incorporating some lesser known works as well as the most popular modern works in the gallery, the reproductions are a glorious way to re acquaint with known works and get to know recent acquisitions. The book takes you to New York when you can’t get to New York.
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Art & Makeup | Lan Nguyen Grealis | $60.00 | Thames & Hudson
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Perfect for makeup aficionados, this book showcases the versatility of makeup as well as demonstrating makeup as an art form in its own right. The stunning looks are inspired by artists like Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst, and performing arts including Cleopatra and Ballet. I particularly liked the detailed descriptions of the makeup used for each stunning look.
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Art & Design “Have you ever wondered what a Welsh Corgi has in common with an Arne Jacobsen Grand Prix chair? I know I have!”
Dogs and Chairs: Designer Pairs | Cristina Amedeo | $21.99 | Thames & Hudson
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This stylish book is a series of visual puns. Amodeo’s quirky imagination and sharp eye make for a delightful set of thematic pairings. Have you ever wondered what a Welsh Corgi has in common with an Arne Jacobsen Grand Prix chair? I know I have! Well this book will help you find out.
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James’ Pick