Gleaner February 2017

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Vol. 24 No. 1 January 2017

new this month Kate Grenville makes a

Case Against Fragrance

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Australian Literature February To-Read List

One family, one day, one act of inexplicable violence. A story told from multiple perspectives; love and memory reverberate through the life of every character.

The story of a unique time in our history when social change, politics, devastating disease and police culture collided, and you could get away with murder.

Never before has a generation been so dependent on their parents; now it’s time to remove the spoon and put it back in the drawer.

From the award-winning author of Hades and Eden comes an ingenious and edgy suspense novel that will keep you guessing to the very last page . . .

All Fall Down by Cassandra Austin ($30, PB) In a starkly Australian gothic novel about a community divided, the small outback town of Mululuk is cut off from the world, and its citizens from each other, when a bridge mysteriously collapses. Teenaged Rachel has come from ‘the city’ to stay with her uncle after her home life has fallen apart, and she quickly becomes involved in the quest for the truth about the bridge. Father Nott, the local Franciscan priest, is trying to get the hysterical townsfolk to see sense, particularly his gossip-mongering friend Gussy. Shane, Janice and Craig find themselves at the heart of a devastating love triangle, with deadly ramifications that will reverberate far beyond the three of them. And the mysterious Charlie, a scruffy, charismatic alcoholic with a dark past, has a terrifying idea about what it takes to keep a bridge standing.

Gwen by Goldie Goldbloom ($30, PB) In 1903, the artist Gwendolen Mary John travels from London to France with her companion Dorelia. Surviving on their wits and Gwen’s raw talent, the young women walk from Calais to Paris. In the new century, the world is full of promise: it is time for Gwen to step out from the shadow of her overbearing brother Augustus and seek out the great painter and sculptor Auguste Rodin. It is time to be brave and visible, to love and be loved—and time perhaps to become a hero as the stain of anti-Semitism spreads across Europe.

The Hope Fault by Tracy Farr ($30, PB) Iris’s family—her ex-husband with his new wife and baby; her son, and her best friend’s daughter—gather to pack up their holiday house. They are there for one last time, one last weekend, and one last party—but in the course of this weekend, their connections will be affirmed, and their frailties and secrets revealed—to the reader at least, if not to each other. The Hope Fault is a novel about extended family: about steps and exes and fairy godmothers; about parents and partners who are missing, and the people who replace them.

Madame Midas by Fergus Hume ($12.95, PB) Charming, intelligent & forthright, the remarkable Madame Midas makes her fortune on the goldfields of Ballarat—and becomes the target of the villainous ex-convict Gaston Vandeloup, a charismatic Frenchman who soon makes himself indispensable to her mining operations. A companion piece to The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, Fergus Hume’s 2nd novel is both a tightly plotted murder mystery & an insight into the heady days of the Golden City & Marvellous Melbourne.

The Shifting Light by Alice Campion ($33, PB)

All Fall Down is a starkly Australian gothic novel about a community divided, and a chilling, archaic belief about what must be done to reunite it.

Strange and terrible things begin to happen to four teenagers – all born on the same Valentine’s Day.

Nina Larkin should be happy. She’s transformed her rundown outback property, The Springs, into a successful artists’ retreat; she’s won a distinguished art prize, and she’s living with her soulmate, trail-blazing grazier Heath Blackett. But the chance discovery of a portrait of her father, renowned artist Jim Larkin, makes her question everything. How could it have been drawn just weeks ago when Jim has been dead for years—or so she thought. Her search for answers will draw Nina into a maze of family secrets—just as the man who stepped out of a portrait arrives at her door.

Storm and Grace by Kathryn Heyman ($30, PB)

A wise and compelling look at who we are now and where we are heading in the future.

From Graeme Wood, author of the explosive Atlantic cover story “What ISIS Really Wants,” comes the definitive book on the history, psychology, character, and aims of the Islamic State.

Read more at penguin.com.au

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World-famous freediver Storm Hisray hits Grace Cain like a bolt from the blue. Instantly smitten, she abandons her life in the city to follow him to his idyllic Pacific island. There he teaches Grace the ways of the deep, and she learns to sink to unimaginable depths on one single breath. As their world narrows to the two of them, she learns, too, the exquisite pleasures of her body—but also that Storm hides as many secrets as the sea. As he pushes Grace further and further beyond her limits—both in and out of the water—her resistance grows, but so does Storm’s need to control her. With a secret of her own to protect, Grace starts to realise that she is in deeper and more dangerous water than she has ever imagined possible.

Bright and Distant Shores by Dominic Smith

Chicago First Equitable has won the race to construct the world’s tallest building and its president, Hale Gray, hits upon a surefire way to make it an enduring landmark: to establish on the roof an exhibition of real-life ‘savages’. He sponsors a South Seas voyage to collect not only weaponry and artefacts, but also ‘several natives related by blood’ for the company’s rooftop spectacle. Caught up in this scheme are two orphans: Owen Graves, the voyage’s head trader from Chicago’s South Side, and Argus Niu, a mission houseboy in Melanesia--two young men haunted by their pasts. With echoes of Melville, Doctorow and Carey, Dominic Smith’s novel is at once a love story and a breathtaking adventure that chronicles the clash of the tribal and the civilised at a pivotal moment in history. ($23, PB)

Old Growth by John Kinsella ($29.95, PB) A husband who has lost his wife plans to destroy the old-growth bush she loved and escape to the city, with alarming consequences.

Racism at a small town supermarket is resisted through friendship; in an act of kindness a frightening stranger turns up in a family’s woodshed; a home-made telephone transmits a dark truth; a theatre director is seduced into the world of an obsessive rabbit trapper; and two sisters find their lives thrown out of kilter by a charismatic junkie. This is a book of city and country, of challenge and threat, of sobriety and loss of control—John Kinsella drops the reader seamlessly into the worlds of men, women and children at pivotal moments in their lives, capturing the intensity of place, and the complexities and strangeness of human behaviour.

The Golden Child by Wendy James ($33, PB) Blogger Lizzy’s life is buzzing, happy, normal. Two gorgeous children, a handsome husband, destiny under control. For her real-life alter-ego Beth, things are unravelling. Tensions are simmering with her husband, mother-in-law and even her own mother. Her teenage daughters, once the objects of her existence, have moved beyond her grasp and one of them has shown signs of, well, thoughtlessness ... Then a classmate of one daughter is callously bullied and the finger of blame is pointed at Beth’s clever, beautiful child. Shattered, shamed and frightened, two families must negotiate worlds of cruelty they are totally ill-equipped for. This is a novel that grapples with modern-day spectres of selfies, selfishness and cyberbullying.

Just how well do you know your child?

The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte

by Lesley Truffle ($30, PB)

In the winter of 1912 on the wild West Coast of Tasmania, Wolfftown’s most notorious heiress & murderess, Sasha Torte, tells the tale of her own spectacular downfall. Forsaken by her parents & raised by criminals & reprobates, Sasha becomes a world-famous pastry chef at the tender age of 17. Entanglement with the disreputable Dasher brothers leads to love, but also to a dangerous addiction.

Behind bars in Wolfftown’s gaol, Sasha sips premium champagne as she recalls a life of seduction, betrayal, ghosts, opium & an indiscreet quantity of confectionary—and plots her escape.

Barking Dogs by Rebekah Clarkson ($25, PB) If you took a bird’s-eye view of Mount Barker, you’d see ordinary Australians living on their ordinary suburban blocks in an ordinary regional town. Get closer. Peer through a window. You might see Nathan Long, obsessively recording the incessant bark of a neighbourhood dog, or the Wheeler family sitting down for a meal and trying to come to terms with a shocking discovery. If you listen, you may hear tales of fathers and their wayward sons, of widows who can’t forgive themselves, of children longed for and lost, of thwarted lust and of pure, incorruptible love.

Within the shadows is an unspeakable crime. Rebekah Clarkson has created a compelling, slow-burning portrait of a town in the midst of major change as it makes the painful transformation from rural idyll to aspirational suburbia.

Australian Poetry

The Landing by Paul Croucher ($23.95, PB)

‘This is a poetry of mindfulness, of balance, and of measure. A poetry that is at home in Nepal or at the football, in a Buddhist monastery or in Brunswick. A realism—that has its feet in the backyard and its head in the clouds.’—Pi O

Snake Like Charms by Amanda Joy ($23, PB)

Amanda Joy is a poet from the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia, origin of the Rainbow Serpent, the Great Spirit that represents the world’s oldest religious tradition. According to Indigenous song-cycles, a snake literally created this country. This book quivers with snakes, consorting with birds and animals, in company with humans: ‘There’s no animal alive / won’t meet your eye’. Also, like the Aztec serpent Quetzalcoatl, this poetry is all intelligence and sharp wind chained to the ‘braille-like ridges’ of the country by reality, where ‘My friend’s story is everywhere.’

Flute of Milk by Susan Fealy ($23, PB) Flute of Milk is Susan Fealy’s first full-length collection of poems after years of publication in Australian and US journals and anthologies. The collection is in two parts, with each one interrogating love, loss, gender and aesthetics. The poems refract these themes through personal experience, as well as through a broader cultural lens. Some of these works are direct responses to the act of reading literature.

Rallying by Quinn Eades ($23, PB)

Rallying was written alongside Quinn Eades’s first book, all the beginnings: a queer autobiography of the body, and before he began transitioning from female to male. This is a collection of poems that are more than poems. They were written with children, under babies, around grief, amongst crumbs, on trains, with hope: with love. This is a book made of steel and honey, muscle and sun, with tongues. Open its pages and you will find more than poetry. You will find moments in time strung across by text, a poetics of the space between bodies, the way that language makes us separate and simultaneously whole.

On D’Hill

I have made myself a new tradition, oxymoron though it might be, and that is every year on my break between Christmas and New Year, I read a book that I missed when it first came out. Last year it was the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante and this year, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihira ($20). Much has been written about this book already so I won’t offer my own review here but oh my, what a novel! I haven’t been so physically and emotionally affected by a work of fiction for many years. The Ferrante books come close I guess, but do not pack the punch of A Little Life. One of the small delights of the book is the movies Yanagihira makes up for Willem who becomes a highly successful actor in the book. One of these is an adaptation of Paula Fox’s 1970 novel Desperate Characters, which, oddly, was sitting on my bedside table as I read A Little Life.

Dada dada dada dada! Spooky!

Gwen, by the gloriously named Goldie Goldbloom ($30), is a fictional account of the painter Gwen John. Set mainly in Paris, it centres on her obsessive affair with the sculptor Auguste Rodin and her struggle to emerge from under the wing of her brother, Augustus John, and to be recognised as an artist in her own right. Both men were appallingly sexist and treated Gwen quite despicably while claiming to love her. You want to scream at her to stop taking it but she was a woman of her time and overall, Gwen is a richly rewarding novel about women and art, sex and madness. Goldbloom is originally from West Australia which is why, I suppose, she is published by Fremantle Press, although she now lives in Chicago.

On a lighter note, I discovered the crime writer Peter May last year and recommended his book Coffin Road. His new outing is Cast Iron ($33), which, as you may have guessed, refers to the old ‘cast iron alibi’. Or is it? Set in France, this is a terrifically satisfying beach read.

And on crime novels, how amazing and sad that Peter Corris has now written his very last Cliff Hardy book appropriately titled Win, Lose or Draw ($30). As many have said, Hardy was very much part of the Sydney zeitgeist, so it is no surprise that while Corris had his private eye live in Glebe as Peter and his partner Jean Bedford did back in the 70s and 80s, now Peter and Jean have moved to Earlwood joining the increasing throng of writers and artists now living in our burg. Hooray and welcome all!

I have only just started the debut novel by Adelaide writer Rebekah Clarkson, but we may well have another discovery on our hands. Her book is Barking Dogs—set in small town South Australia and narrated by a twelve year old girl. I suspect Clarkson has been mentored by SA writer Eva Hornung as she gives the book a ringing endorsement. Perhaps I’ll see them both when I go to Adelaide Writers’ Week in March. Meanwhile, I’ll see you on D’hill, Morgan

Dark Convicts by Judy Johnson ($23, PB) It is a little known fact that eleven African American convicts arrived in Australia on the First Fleet in 1788. Two of these exslaves were the author’s ancestors. In extensively researched poems, award-winning writer Judy Johnson vividly portrays scenes from her black forebears’ lives, both before transportation and afterwards, in the fledgling colony of New South Wales.

Charlie Twirl by Alan Gould ($23, PB)

From the intrigue of his earlier poetry in fatalism & the mysteries of character, Alan Gould’s interest has moved to music. In many of the poems in this book, the folk songs or the homages to Vaughan Williams, his enquiry is one of synaesthesia: What is it we see when we hear? In meditating this the poet prefers the crisp, accessible, narrative voice to the philosophical. Here are ballads & celebrations, homages to past authors who have been his spiritual companions—Graves, Yeats, Shakespeare, and tributes to the Finnish resistance to Soviet aggression in 1939. There are some ‘equivalents’ to popular folk songs, and the title poem commemorates the extraordinary George Street dancer of VJ Day 1945..

A Personal History of Vision by Luke Fischer

This collection expands on the concerns of Fischer’s first collection Paths of Flight & embodies what Judith Beveridge has described as his ‘seemingly effortless ability to blend visual detail and imaginative vision.’ Intertwining the personal and the historical, the modern and the primeval, culture and nature, these poems explore vision in its many senses, often with reference to the visual arts. At their heart is a search for an enlarged awareness of ourselves and the world—awake to inadequacies and the trials of death and suffering––personal, political, and ecological. Yet, even in the darkness they detect possibilities of transformation. ($23, PB)

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International Literature

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Can bad children happen to good mothers?

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster ($33, PB) On March 3, 1947, in the maternity ward of Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, Archibald Isaac Ferguson, the one & only child of Rose & Stanley Ferguson, is born. From that single beginning, Ferguson’s life will take four simultaneous & independent fictional paths. Four Fergusons made of the same genetic material, four boys who are the same boy, will go on to lead four parallel & entirely different lives. Family fortunes diverge. Loves & friendships & intellectual passions contrast.

Chapter by chapter, the rotating narratives evolve into an elaborate dance of inner worlds enfolded within the outer forces of history as, one by one, the intimate plot of each Ferguson’s story rushes on across the tumultuous & fractured terrain of mid 20th century America. A boy grows up-again & again & again. Paul Auster’s first novel in seven years, is an unforgettable tour de force.

Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo ($28, PB) When army officer Chike Ameobi is ordered to kill innocent civilians, he knows that it is time to leave. As he travels towards Lagos, he becomes the leader of a new platoon, a band of runaways who share his desire for a better life. Their arrival in the city coincides with the eruption of a political scandal. The education minister, Chief Sandayo, has disappeared and is suspected of stealing millions of dollars from government funds. After an unexpected encounter with the Chief, Chike and his companions must make a choice. Ahmed Bakare, editor of the failing Nigerian Journal, is desperate for information. But perhaps the situation is more complex than it appears.

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Idaho by Emily Ruskovich ($33, PB)

Revenge, redemption ... and pastry.

A smart, sophisticated romance about the danger in playing it safe.

The Brittle Star by Davina Langdale ($33, PB)

When his mother’s ranch is attacked, sixteen-year-old John Evert is wounded and left to die. But John Evert is no ordinary young man. He’s a frontiersman’s son, a rancher who’s lived his whole life in the untamed Southern California wilderness of 1860. In a journey that will take him from the bustling young city of Los Angeles to Texas to Missouri and back, to the front lines of the American Civil War and home again, John Evert will learn the cost of vengeance and the price of forgiveness.

Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik

Summer, 1991. Joseph March, a 21 year-old working class kid from Seattle, has just graduated college, his future beckons, unencumbered, and magnificent. But his life implodes when he starts to suffer the symptoms of severe bipolar disorder, and, shortly after, his mother kills a man with a hammer. Joe moves to White Pine, Oregon, where his mother is in jail and his father has set up house to be near her. He is joined by Tess Wolff, a fiercely independent woman with whom he has fallen passionately in love. The lives of Joe, Tess, and Joe’s father fall into the slow rhythm of daily prison visits and beer and pizza at a local bar. Meanwhile, Joe’s mother, is becoming a local heroine as many begin to see her crime as a furious, exasperated act of righteous rebellion. Tess, too, has fallen under her spell, and enlists Joe in a secret, violent plan that will forever change their lives. ($30, PB)

More by Hakan Günday ($38, HB)

Gaza lives on the shores of the Aegean Sea. At the age of nine he becomes a human trafficker, like his father. Together with his father and local boat owners Gaza helps smuggle desperate ‘illegals’, by giving them shelter, food, and water before they attempt the crossing to Greece. One night everything changes and Gaza is suddenly faced with the challenge of how he himself is going to survive. This is a heartbreaking work that examines the lives of refugees struggling to flee their homeland and the human traffickers who help them reach Europe—for a price..Documenting the refugee crisis in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Gunday shows firsthand how the realities of war, violence, and migration affect the daily lives of the people who live there. This is a powerful exploration of the unfolding crisis by one of Turkey’s most exciting and critically acclaimed young writers.

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One hot August day a family drives to a mountain clearing to collect birch wood. Jenny, the mother, is in charge of lopping any small limbs off the logs with a hatchet. Wade, the father, does the stacking. The two daughters, June and May, aged nine and six, drink lemonade, swat away horseflies, bicker, sing snatches of songs as they while away the time.

But then something unimaginably shocking happens, an act so extreme it will scatter the family in every different direction.

The Big Green Tent

by Ludmila Ulitskaya ($27, PB)

This sweeping saga tells the story of three school friends who meet in 1950s Moscow and go on to embody the heroism, folly, compromise, and hope of the Soviet dissident experience. These three boys—an orphaned poet; a gifted, fragile pianist; and a budding photographer with a talent for collecting secrets—struggle to reach adulthood in a society where their heroes have been censored and exiled. Rich with love stories, intrigue, and a cast of dissenters and spies, Ludmila Ulitskay’s novel offers a panoramic survey of life after Stalin and a dramatic investigation into the prospects for integrity in a society defined by the KGB. Each of the central characters seeks to transcend an oppressive regime through art, a love of Russian literature, and activism. And each of them ends up face-to-face with a secret police that is highly skilled at fomenting paranoia, division, and self-betrayal.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders ($30, PB)

February 1862. The American Civil War rages while President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill. Days later, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a griefstricken Lincoln returns to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy’s body. From this seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of realism, entering a supernatural domain both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself trapped in a strange purgatory—called, in Tibetan tradition, the bardo—where ghosts mingle, squabble and commiserate, and a monumental struggle erupts over his soul.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman ($28, PB)

The great Norse myths are woven into the fabric of our storytelling— from Tolkien, Alan Garner & Rosemary Sutcliff to Game of Thrones & Marvel Comics. They are also an inspiration for Neil Gaiman’s own fiction. In this book he reaches back through time to the original source stories in a vivid rendition of the great Norse tales. Gaiman’s gods are thoroughly alive on the page—irascible, visceral, playful, passionate— with tales ranging from the beginning of everything to Ragnarok & the twilight of the gods. Galvanised by Gaiman’s prose, Thor, Loki, Odin and Freya become irresistible forces for modern readers and demand to be read aloud around an open fire on a freezing, starlit night.

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay ($30, PB) A pair of sisters, grown now, have been inseparable ever since they were abducted together as children, and must negotiate the elder sister’s marriage. A woman married to a twin pretends not to realize when her husband and his brother impersonate each other. A stripper putting herself through college fends off the advances of an overzealous customer. A black engineer moves to Upper Michigan for a job and faces the malign curiosity of her colleagues and the difficulty of leaving her past behind.

From a girls’ fight club to a wealthy subdivision in Florida where neighbours conform, compete & spy on each other, Roxane Gay’s stories deliver a wry, beautiful, haunting vision of modern America.

After marrying young & disastrously, society belle Robin Eakin divorces. The event makes the front page of the Sydney newspapers, bumping the war news to page 2. Then there are the American & British servicemen in Sydney—the dancing, the many trysts & a number of not-too-serious promises of marriage. At the end of the war Robin sets off for London, the only passenger on a military flight, to meet her latest fiancé, Johnny. But once her luggage arrives, Robin says goodbye to Johnny & dashes off with David, Marquis of Milford Haven, friend & cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh. At the age of 96 Robin Dalton looks back on a rich & colourful life, offering a delightful glimpse of a bygone world of romance, glamour & decadence.

Once Upon a Time in the East: A Story of Growing up by Xiaolu Guo ($33, PB)

When she is born Xiaolu Guo’s parents hand her over to a childless peasant couple in the mountains. Aged two, and suffering from malnutrition on a diet of yam leaves, they leave Xiaolu with her illiterate grandparents in a fishing village on the East China Sea. From a run-down shack to film school in a rapidly changing Beijing, to a scholarship that takes her to Britain—navigating the everyday peculiarity of modern China: censorship, underground art, Western boyfriends—Guo’s tale of East to West resonates with the insight that can only come from someone who is both an outsider and at home. How to be an artist when censorship kills creativity and the only job you can get is writing bad telenovela scripts. How to be a woman when female babies are regularly drowned at birth and sexual abuse is commonplace. Most poignantly of all: how to love when you’ve never been shown how.

BlackBooks

Happy New Year! We are really looking forward to the new books scheduled for publication in 2017

Altitude

One Leg Over: Having Fun—Mostly—In Peace and War by Robin Dalton ($30, PB)

Boo ks w ith

Biography

and hope they will be as great as 2016. Here is an impressive list of Gleebooks Blackheath’s Top Ten Best Sellers for 2016 … 1) My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante; 2) Harry Potter & the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne/ J.K. Rowling; 3) 79-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths; 4) Dark Emu

by Bruce Pascoe; 5) The Good People by Hannah Kent; 6) Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben; 7) Course of Love by Alain de Botton; 8) The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks; 9) Truly Madly Guilty by Lianne Moriarty; 10) Speaking Out by Tara Moss.

We also had a great year of events here in the mountains and want to thank all our customers for your support. We are currently putting together an exciting program to bring more authors to the mountains in 2017 to talk to us about their new books. If you are not already on our database to receive notification of upcoming events – please contact the Blackheath shop or pop in and put your name on the list.

2017 also marks Gleebooks Blackheath’s 10th Birthday which we will be celebrating later in the year by inviting all our customers to help us party and to thank you for your custom and ongoing support. It’s shaping up to be a great year!

Victoria.

Young Lothar: An Underground Fugitive in Nazi Berlin by Larry Orbach ($30, PB)

Lothar Orbach, the youngest son of a German Jewish family, was 14 when the Nazis began rounding up Berlin’s Jews. His promising education was aborted; his close-knit family splintered. When the Gestapo came for Orbach’s mother on Christmas Eve 1942, they escaped with false papers; his mother found sanctuary with a family of Communists and Orbach—under the assumed identity of Gerhard Peters—entered Berlin’s underworld. He scraped a living by hustling pool, cheating in poker and stealing—outwardly becoming a cagey amoral street thug, inwardly remaining a sensitive, romantic boy, devoted son and increasingly religious Jew, clinging to his humanity. In the end, he was betrayed and sent to Auschwitz, on the last transport, in 1944. This singular coming of age story of life in the Berlin underground during WWII is, in essence, a story of hope, even happiness, in the very heart of darkness.

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII

by Gareth Russell ($33, PB)

England July 1540: it is one of the hottest summers on record and the court of Henry VIII is embroiled, once again, in political scandal. Anne Cleves is out. Thomas Cromwell is to be executed and, in the countryside, an aristocratic teenager named Catherine Howard prepares to become fifth wife to the increasingly unpredictable monarch… In the five centuries since her death, Catherine Howard has been dismissed as ‘a wanton’, ‘inconsequential’ or a nave victim of her ambitious family, but the story of her rise and fall offers not only a terrifying and compelling story of an attractive, vivacious young woman thrown onto the shores of history thanks to a king’s infatuation, but an intense portrait of Tudor monarchy in microcosm: how royal favour was won, granted, exercised, displayed, celebrated and, at last, betrayed and lost.

Yarn Spinners: The Letters of Dymphna Cusack, Florence James, Miles Franklin and their Congenials (ed) Marilla North ($39.95, PB)

Dymphna Cusack, Miles Franklin and Florence James come alive on these pages through their friendships, their aspirations, their passions and achievements, their disappointments, insecurities and triumphs. Editing is too modest a word for what Marilla North has done in this trove of letters, artfully assembled from thousands she recovered in a labour extending over 12 years. She has topped and tailed and interwoven them, then filled the gaps with narrative and notes, and in the process created a unique literary form.

No Wall Too High: One Man’s Extraordinary Escape from Mao’s Infamous Labour Camps

by Xu Hongci, & Erling Hoh ($35, PB)

Xu Hongci was an ordinary medical student when he was incarcerated under Mao’s regime and forced to spend years of his youth in some of China’s most brutal labour camps. Three times he tried to escape. And three times he failed. But, determined, he eventually broke free, travelling the length of China, across the Gobi desert, and into Mongolia. This is the extraordinary memoir of his unrelenting struggle to retain dignity, integrity and freedom; but also the untold story of what life was like for ordinary people trapped in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.

Travel Writing

Granta 138: Journeys (ed) Sigrid Rausing

What are the ethics of writing about a place you may visit only briefly and view with the eyes of an outsider? With Granta’s long tradition of travel writing in mind, we ask some of the world’s best writers: is travel writing dead in 2016? William Atkins investigates a killing across the US-Mexico border.

Xan Rice goes back to school in South Africa. A brand new story from Edna O’Brien. David Flusfeder visits record factories in Detroit and California. Colin Grant trains as a doctor in 1980s London. ($25, PB)

Island People: The Caribbean and the World

by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro ($33, PB)

The Caribbean islands are so much more than gloss, white sand and palm trees—they form a region rich in colour, beauty and strength. Home of the Rastafarian faith, Che Guevara’s stomping ground and birthplace of reggae, the Caribbean has produced some of the world’s most famous artists, activists, writers, musicians and sportsmen—from Usain Bolt to Bob Marley and from Harry Belafonte to V. S. Naipaul. In the pages of Island People we hear the voices of the Caribbean people, explore their home and learn what it means to them, and to the world. The product of almost a decade of travel and intense study, Joshua JellySchapiro strips away the fantasy and myth to expose the real islands, and the real people, that make up the Caribbean.

The Other Paris by Luc Sante ($33, PB) Paris, the City of Light—the city of the Eiffel Tower & the Louvre, of white facades, discreet traffic & wellmannered exchanges. But there was another Paris, hidden from view & virtually extinct today—the Paris of the working & criminal classes that shaped the city over the past 2 centuries. In the voices of Balzac & Hugo, assorted boulevardiers, barflies, rabble-rousers & tramps, Luc Sante takes the reader on a vivid journey through the seamy underside of Paris: the improvised accommodations of the original bohemians; the flea markets, the rubbish tips & the hovels. Featuring over 300 illustrations, this is a lively tour of labour conditions, prostitution, drinking, crime, and popular entertainment, of the reporters, réaliste singers, pamphleteers, serial novelists, and poets who chronicled their evolution. It upends the story of the French capital, reclaiming the city from the bon vivants and the speculators, and lighting a candle to the works and days of the forgotten poor.

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THE WILDER AISLES

Janice is on holidays this month, but Sonia Lee of Granny’s Good Reads has been reading up a storm is stepping into the Wilder Aisles with more books to recommend.

I always feel comfortable reading Margaret Drabble. Perhaps this is because, as an almost exact contemporary, I’ve long accompanied her characters through their child-bearings, child-rearings and love affairs—and now share her preoccupation with ageing, death and the problems of longevity. In The Dark Flood Rises she contemplates with an amused but sympathetic eye a group of seniors on their final journey. First we meet Fran Stubbs, who inspects retirement complexes for a ‘Quakerish’ charitable trust. Fran is taking a home-cooked meal to Claude, her ex, who used to be a doctor but is now a chronic, selfish, demanding invalid living in some comfort with Persephone, his carer, and Cyrus, his cat. Cyrus likes daytime TV with the sound muted and Classic FM on, and prefers Claude to read The Times on his Kindle because the print version rustles and disturbs his nap. Fran’s friend Jo has sold her house in London and moved into Athene Grange in Cambridge, where she is researching Victorian novels about Deceased Wives’ Sisters. Teresa, Fran’s childhood friend, is dying of mesothelioma with ‘style and commitment’.

Son Christopher is in the Canary Isles, and Poppet, her daughter, lives in a West Country house which is in danger of flooding because of the heavy rain that is the backdrop of the story. It’s not a tightly plotted story, but rather a celebration of life’s small potatoes, where we are drawn into the concerns of all these characters and end up wishing them well, even the selfish ones like Claude. I loved this book to bits and recommend it to all readers, young and old alike.

Cousins by Salley Vickers is the story of the Tye family from World War 2 to the present. It centres on Will Tye’s fall from the roof of King’s College Chapel, onto which he has climbed illegally at night. Will survives with appalling injuries, unlike his uncle Nat, who died making the same climb a generation earlier. Cambridge perhaps attracts such thrill-seekers, though in this case Will and Nat were already ‘half in love with easeful death’ for other reasons—in Will’s case his passionate attachment to cousin Cecelia. The narrators of the story are Will’s sister Hetta, his grandmother Betsy and aunt Bell, each of whom brings her own slant to teasing out the enigmatic life of Will. Salley Vickers’ novels and short stories are always rewarding and Cousins is one of her best.

I generally like Zadie Smith’s essays better than her novels, except for White Teeth, which she wrote at age 21. However, with Swing Time, her latest novel, she is at the top of her form. Two young girls from adjoining housing estates in London NW meet and bond at a Saturday morning dance class. The girls are both brown, the narrator (let’s call her ‘N’) having a Jamaican mother and her friend Tracey a Jamaican father who spends some of his time in gaol.

The girls watch Swing Time, the 1936 film starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and try to copy the dance moves. N is no dancer but has a gift for singing ‘black songs’ with emotion, a talent she later neglects. Tracey, though talented, is wilful and ungovernable, while N has an aspirational mother who becomes an MP and ensures that her daughter goes to university and gets a degree. N then takes a job as personal assistant to Aimee, a ‘bogan from Bendigo’, but also an international pop star who has decided to build a girls’ school in a village in West Africa. For the next ten years N lives at a breathless pace, travelling with Aimee but always having Tracey as her centre of reference. Tracey, meanwhile, gets into the chorus of Guys and Dolls but never stars in it or in anything else. N and Tracey have been estranged for eight years but then meet up again. There are overtones here of My Brilliant Friend, but Swing Time differs in being full of social commentary and musings about the importance of community—where the emptiness in N’s life is contrasted with the fullness and richness of life in the small, poor African village. While N finds herself ultimately incapable of love or friendship, Tracey is still living in the flat where she was born and is somebody in her own neighbourhood and comfortable in her skin, while N never truly settles anywhere. My guess is that this novel will be read aloud, discussed in book clubs, lionised in academia and perhaps win the Booker. If you can get hold of Smith’s article Optimism and Despair in the New York Review of Books (try Dr Google if all else fails), you will find it illuminating—it’s the text of an address given by Smith in Berlin last November when she was awarded the Welt Literature Prize. Sonia

6

Crime Fiction

Winter Traffic by Stephen Greenall ($30, PB)

Sutton doesn’t like the 3am phone calls. He should change his number—that way Rawson wouldn’t have it. Sutton’s best mate is a hero cop, but strife flows through him like a highway. He was supposed to die young. Maybe Millar will do it for him: she’s the hot young detective from Internal who still thinks intellect & integrity will take her places.

If she doesn’t watch her step, she might find out what they are…This is the story of good dogs living in a bad-news town—a fragrant harbour city where the judges are dead, the vendettas lively and every glittering fortune hides a sin.

Something For Nothing by Andy Muir ($25, PB)

Lachie Munro fishes a giant haul of heroin out of his favourite abalone poaching spot near Newcastle. A dismembered corpse is found on Nobby’s beach. The two are probably connected, but the opportunity to clear his gambling debt is too good for Lachie to pass up. But how do you sell several kilos of heroin? Staying one step ahead of the cops, a local bikie he’s managed to insult, play off a big time dealer from Sydney, placate the neighbour’s labrador, Horace, and win the heart of the gorgeous new Fisheries Officer he’s fallen for might prove to be more than a man can handle.

What Dark Clouds Hide by Anne Holt ($30, PB) Psychology professor, Johanne Vik, arrives at the home of her friends Jon & Ellen Mohr ready to celebrate their young son’s birthday to find a scene of devastation: the boy has climbed a ladder & fallen to his death.

But Oslo is under attack—an explosion has torn the city apart so the eyes of the police department are focused elsewhere. A newly qualified officer named Henrik Holme investigates the Mohr household, and casts doubt on the claim that the death was a tragic accident. But there are shadowy figures at work, as yet unseen by Johanne or Holme—and Johanne’s husband Adam Stubo is preoccupied with his police work & doesn’t see the danger his wife is placing herself in.

Sinner Man by Lawrence Block ($17, PB)

In Lawrence Block’s long lost first crime novel insurance man Don Barshter has to take on a new identity—Nathaniel Crowley, ferocious up-and-comer in the New York mob—to escape punishment for a murder he didn’t mean to commit. But can he find safety in the skin of another man...a worse man...a sinner man...?

The Harbour Master by Daniel Pembrey ($16, PB)

Henk van der Pol is a 30-year-term policeman, a few months off retirement. When he finds a woman’s body in Amsterdam Harbour, his detective instincts take over, even though it’s not his jurisdiction. Warned off investigating the case, Henk soon realises he can trust nobody, as his search for the killer leads to the involvement of senior police officers, government corruption in the highest places, Hungarian people traffickers and a deadly threat to his own family.

What You Don’t Know by JoAnn Chaney ($30, PB)

7 years ago, Detective Paul Hoskins & his larger-than-life partner solved one of the biggest serial killer cases of the decade. They dug up 33 bodies in a crawlspace belonging to the beloved Jacky Seever, a pillar of the community & a successful businessman. Sammie Peterson was the lead reporter on the case. Her byline was on the front page of the newspaper every day. Seever’s wife, Gloria, claimed to be as surprised as everyone else. Today, Hoskins has been banished to the basement of the police station, Sammie is selling make-up at the shopping mall, and Gloria is trying to navigate a world where she can’t escape condemnation. And Seever? He’s watching the show. But when a series of copycat killings take place—the victims all connected to Seever—Gloria is once again thrust into the spotlight, while Hoskins & Sammie realize this may be their chance to get their lives back, even if it means forfeiting their humanity in the process. It isn’t over. It’ll never be over.

Quarry in the Black by Max Allan Collins ($15, PB) With a controversial presidential election just weeks away, Quarry is hired to carry out a rare political assignment: kill the Reverend Raymond Wesley Lloyd, a passionate Civil Rights crusader and campaigner for the underdog candidate. But when a hate group out of Ferguson, Missouri, turns out to be gunning for the same target, Quarry starts to wonder just who it is he’s working for.

The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman by Mindy Meija

17 year-old Hattie Hoffman is a talented actress, loved by everyone in her Minnesotan hometown. When she’s found stabbed to death on the opening night of her school play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of the community. Local sheriff Del Goodman, a close friend of Hattie’s dad, vows to find her killer, but the investigation yields more secrets than answers: it turns out Hattie played as many parts offstage as on. Told from three perspectives, Del’s, Hattie’s high school English teacher & Hattie herself, Mindy Meija tells the story of the real Hattie, and what happened that final year of school when she dreamed of leaving her small town behind. This is a book about manipulation of relationships and identity; about the line between innocence and culpability; about the hope love offers and the tragedies that occur when it spins out of control.

Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly

by Adrian McKinty ($30, PB)

Belfast 1988: a man has been shot in the back with an arrow. It ain’t Injuns and it isn’t Robin Hood. But uncovering exactly who has done it will take Detective Inspector Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on the high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave.

The Unfortunate Victim by Greg Pyers ($33, PB)

At midnight on 28 December 1864, in the Australian gold-mining town of Daylesford, young newly-wed Maggie Stuart lies dead in her own blood. Rumour & xenophobia drive speculation over the identity of her killer, and when a suspect is apprehended, police incompetence & defence counsel negligence bring yet more distortion to the wheels of justice. In this climate of prejudice & ineptitude, it seems only Detective Otto Berliner is able to keep an objective mind & recognise that something is terribly wrong. He intends to put matters right, though all the odds are against him.

Art and passion in Paris

Crimson Lake by Candice Fox ($33, PB) 12.46: 13 year-old Claire Bingley stands alone at a bus stop. 12.47: Ted Conkaffey parks his car beside her. 12.52: The girl is missing. 6 minutes is all it took to ruin Detective Ted Conkaffey’s life. Accused but not convicted of Claire’s abduction, he escapes north, to the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake. Amanda Pharrell knows what it’s like to be public enemy number one. Maybe it’s her murderous past that makes her so good as a PI, tracking lost souls in the wilderness. Her latest target, missing author Jake Scully, has a life more shrouded in secrets than her own—so she enlists help from the one person in town more hated than she is: Ted Conkaffey. But the residents of Crimson Lake are watching the pair’s every move.

Palindrome by Nick Athanasou ($26.95, PB)

Palindrome is a cerebral detective fiction that focuses on a forensic crime in which a falsification of pharmaceutical test results for an anti-cancer drug leads to a murder. Anna Taylor is found with her throat cut at the drug discovery firm where she works. In an atmosphere of ruthless ambition, high stakes and ulterior motives, her former mentor, Adam Gabriel, an Oxford pathology professor, investigates her murder through a series of meticulous scientific methods. Many of her colleagues stand to gain in some way by her death. Was Anna killed to disguise the dangerous effects of a highly marketable anticancer drug? Or was the motive professional jealousy?

To The Sea by Christine Dibley ($33, PB)

On a clear summer’s day, Detective Inspector Tony Vincent answers a call-out to an idyllic Tasmanian beach house. Surrounded by family and calm waters, 17 year-old Zoe Kennett has inexplicably vanished. Four storytellers share their version of what has led to this moment, weaving tales which span centuries and continents. But Tony needs facts, not fiction: how will such fables lead him to Zoe and to the truth? As Tony’s investigation deepens, he is drawn into a world where myth and history blur, and where women who risk all for love must pay the price through every generation.

9781925164251

Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit ($30, PB) Randolph insists he had a normal childhood, though his father kept thirty loaded guns in the house. Now he has an attractive, intelligent wife and two children, enjoys modest success as an architect and has just moved into a beautiful flat in a respectable part of Berlin. Life seems perfect —until his wife, Rebecca, meets the man living in the basement below.

Their downstairs neighbour is friendly at first, but soon he starts to frighten them—and when Randolph fails to act, the situation quickly spins out of control. A powerful psychological thriller that will leave you reeling.

In 1903, the artist Gwen John travels from London to France with her companion Dorelia. Surviving on their wits and Gwen’s raw talent, the young women walk from Calais to Paris seeking out the great painter and sculptor Auguste Rodin. ‘a powerful tribute to a great painter’ Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife ‘a dazzling work of art in its own right’ Dominic Smith, author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos Also by Goldie Goldbloom

Athenian Blues by Pol Koutsakis ($18, PB) Stratos Gazis is the Robin Hood of fixers—he fixs things that people pay handsomely to get done provided that his meticulous research shows him that the targets deserve their fate. But now, in the midst of the Greek economic crisis & a melancholy winter which makes life in Athens even more unbearable than usual, this film-noir loving assassin finds himself caught between the most beloved lawyer in Greece, known as ‘the guardian of the poor’, and his actress & model wife. They are both in dire need of his killing services, but which one is telling the truth? Helped by 3 childhood friends—homicide cop, Costas Dragas, transexual hooker, Teri & Maria, the passion of his life—he discovers that truth, in shattered loves and broken families, is, as ever, a relative thing.

Win, Lose or Draw by Peter Corris ($30, PB)

‘I’d read about it in the papers, heard the radio reports and seen the TV coverage and then forgotten about it, the way you do with news stories.’A missing girl, drugs, yachts, the sex trade & a cold trail that leads from Sydney to Norfolk Island, Byron Bay & Coolangatta. The police suspect the father, Gerard Fonteyn OA, a wealthy businessman. But he’s hired Cliff to find her, with unlimited expenses & a $250,000 reward for information. Finally there’s a break—an unconfirmed sighting of Juliana Fonteyn, alive & well. But various other players are in the game—and Cliff doesn’t know the rules—or even what the game might be.

fremantlepress.com.au @FremantlePress

7

books for kids to young adults

compiled by Lynndy Bennett, our children's correspondent

To welcome 2017 we have some of the best of available youth literature as well as an introduction to this year’s offerings. It’s an exciting time to be involved with children’s books, as the quality and universality of them has been increasing over the past decade, and from what I’ve previewed so far they will continue thus. If you’ve not ventured near children’s books lately, do come in and let us show you some of our favourites: good (children’s) books transcend all ages!

non-fiction

It’s so encouraging to witness the veritable flood of nature books being published at the moment, in both the world of children’s and of adult’s books.

Magnificent Creatures: Animals on the Move!

by Anna Wright ($25, HB)

picture books

My Donkey Benjamin by Lies Wiegmann & Hans Limmer (tr) by Elke Wakefield ($25, HB) My Pig Paulina by Hans Limmer & David Crossley (tr) Elke Wakefield ($25, HB)

Two beautiful books, first published in German in the 1960s, are back in print.

My Pig Paulina tells the story, in text and black and white photographs, of a little girl, Angelika, and the pig she names Paulina. My Donkey Benjamin is the story of her sister Susi, and her adopted donkey Benjamin. Both books are set on an idyllic Mediterranean island, full of flowers, insects and gentle animals.

These books capture all the innocence and freshness of that time, and are a pleasure to read again. Louise

Anna Wright is a Scottish illustrator who grew up on a farm, surrounded by animals, and this experience is inherent in everything she draws. In Magnificent Creatures: Animals on the Move, she captures all the wonder of migratory animals—from jellyfish to Monarch butterflies, sea turtles to butterflies. She uses ‘colour, fabric and feathers, (my) dipping pen and ink’ to capture all the beauty and movement of all these creatures. Simple but informative text makes this book not only a visual treat, but a great one to read aloud. Louise Both Louise & I chose Magnificent Creatures for this month’s recommendations, and apart from those aspects already mentioned I love the whimsy of Wright’s patterns and camouflage markings. Also, amidst the realistic depictions of some lesser-known animals is the inclusion of contemporary details in the text—eg. construction of underpasses & a bridge on Christmas Island to facilitate safe passage of the crab migrations. Lynndy

Colossal Creature Count by Daniel Limon ($23, PB) This over-sized book combines the busy-ness of Where’s Wally? with educational elements. Each double page spread features a different habitat, such as Madagascar, the Galapagos Islands, or (deep underwater) Abyss, populated by its native creatures. Count each sighting of the animals within, note them in a column on the far right, and hope your figures match the grand totals provided. Puzzles + visual discernment + geography + addition = instructive fun. Answers are in the back, and yes, there are some Australian scenes too! Lynndy

teen fiction

Raising Arcadia by Simon Chesterman

Easily my favourite novel of 2016, with my favourite heroine, this first book of the Arcadia Trilogy centres around 16-year-old Arcadia: prodigiously intelligent, observant, and very much a misfit at her exclusive school. It was intoxicating to have such a strong character use intellect rather than supernatural abilities or weaponry to solve the minor puzzles (where the reader is pitted against Arcadia) and the more sinister mystery twists that ultimately shake Arcadia’s trust in family and identity. Books 2 and 3 can’t come quickly enough for me. Very highly recommended, especially for those who enjoyed the pacy intrigue and thrills of The Mysterious Benedict Society mysteries. Lynndy

The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer

In The Land of Stories, fairy tales are real. Things you’ve only dreamed of are what this world are made of… but that’s not all! There are portals from the other world—which they call Earth, to the Land of Stories. Even though all of the classic fairy tales are complete and are history, it doesn’t mean everyone will have a happily ever after. Danger lurks in the shadows, and that’s what Alex and Connor Bailey, the twin children of the fairy godmother can help with. In this series, good clashes with evil, and Alex and Connor, are separated.

The series tells you what happens after happily ever after. I highly recommend this series by Chris Colfer. ($15, PB) Gemma (10) These are also a favourite of Ryan (age 12), one of our most frequent reviewers, who was so enthusiastic I imported the companion audio set The Land of Stories: A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales, performed by Chris Colfer. ($45, 4 CD’s/4.5 hours) Lynndy

Since brain surgery at the age of ten, Flora Banks has been unable to create new short-term memories. Her first ten years remain vividly in her mind, but she is cosseted and shepherded everywhere, a 17-year-old bereft of even the most basic knowledge of her daily life. She copes partly by writing notes on her hands and arms as prompts to herself, and she has a box of notebooks under her bed to consult about other important facets of her life, with reminders to her future self. Realising at her best friend Paige’s party that she is all wrong: too juvenile in dress and behaviour, Flora heads home, and on the way she is kissed by a boy. As far as she knows this is the first time such a thing has happened to her, and even more momentous is the fact that the next day she can remember everything that happened with this boy—Paige’s boyfriend—who was leaving to work in Norway. When her parents leave to be with Flora’s older brother Jacob in hospital in Paris, they believe Paige is staying with Flora to look after her. Instead, Flora pursues Drake, the boy she is convinced holds the secret to unlocking her memory and curing her. Without disclosing more of the plot, I’ll merely comment on the aptness of the title, and Flora’s determination and heartbreaking uncertainty about who to believe, as she can’t even trust her own memory. Barr writes exquisitely; we engage completely with Flora and her frustration, as well as experiencing with her the poignant repeated actions and observations. Deeply moving and thoughtprovoking, this novel also prompts compassion not only for Flora but for each member of her family, who relate to her very differently yet with Flora’s optimal life in mind. I hope this first sensitive foray from adult to children’s literature will not be the last by Barr. Lynndy

fiction

arts & crafts

We have lots of good quality colour pencils, graphite crayons, sharpeners and watercolour paints to get ready for the back to school rush. As well as that we have some really fun card games, flash cards in foreign languages, as well as conversation, and tell-a-story cards, all by the inimitable eeBoo (a very creative American toy company). The ever reliable editors at Klutz are still producing really imaginative, fun craft books, I particularly like the Neon Chalk Lettering book ($23). The latest from Klutz is Make Paper Lantern Animals ($25, PB) There’s tremendous scope in these kits to make a variety of animals—realistic or fantastical—and create functional lanterns from the enclosed concertina paper.

Full instructions are included: all you need to do is press out the paper lanterns, decorate them with the shapes, glitter and fancies provided, and you have personalised tiny lights to brighten your room. Creativity, fun, form and function!

We need YOU! We invite you to share your comments about books you’ve enjoyed, so other readers of your age can embark on the series, genres, or authors you recommend – whether recent releases or old favourites. Just email lynndy@gleebooks.com.au and include your name and age.

8

Food & Health

The Case Against Fragrance by Kate Grenville

Like perhaps a quarter of the population, Kate Grenville reacts badly to the artificial fragrances around us: other people’s perfumes, and all those scented cosmetics, cleaning products & air fresheners.

On a book tour in 2015, dogged by ill health, she started wondering: what’s in fragrance? Who tests it for safety? What does it do to people? The chemicals in fragrance can be linked not only to shortterm problems like headaches & asthma, but to long-term ones like hormone disruption & cancer. Yet products can be released onto the market without testing. They’re regulated only by the same people who make & sell them. And the ingredients don’t even have to be named on the label. This book will make you see—and smell—the world differently. ($25, PB)

Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang ($30, PB)

In our 24-7 global economy, rest feels like a luxury at best & a weakness at worst. We see work & rest as competitors—but what if they’re actually partners in a productive, balanced life? Blending rigorous scientific research with examples of writers, painters & thinkers—from Darwin to Stephen King—Silicon Valley futurist & business consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang exposes how we’ve underestimated the power of rest for our success. Full of tips for upping your downtime, from sleep to hobbies to vacation, Rest is a new road map for finding renewed energy & inspiration, and getting more done.

Backyard Chickens: How to Keep Happy Hens

by Dave Ingham ($35, HB)

Chickens are great backyard pets for young and old—they’re a natural extension for everyone with a vegie patch, and for those who like eggs but are concerned about the welfare of commercial hens. This book is the perfect reference, whether you’re already keeping chickens or an absolute beginner thinking about getting a couple of chooks. Dave Ingham offers compulsively readable advice on how to start, housing and feeding, settling chickens in with other pets, troubleshooting, and the (minimal) commitment required to keep your backyard hens healthy and happy.

Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss ($60, PB)

Luisa Weiss—born in Berlin to an Italian mother & American father, married into a family of bakers with roots in Saxony— has mastered the German baking recipes most essential to every good baker’s repertoire. In addition to the pillars of the German baking tradition, like Christmas stollen, lebkuchen & apple strudel, Weiss includes overlooked gems, like eisenbahner—an almond macaroon paste piped onto jam-topped shortbread— and rosinenbrötchen—the raisin-studded whole wheat buns that please a child’s palate & a parent’s conscience.

Pana Chocolate, the Recipes: Raw, Organic, Handmade, Vegan by Pana Barbounis ($38, HB)

Over 70 recipes from breakfast (chia pudding, granola, buckwheat porridge) to kids parties (chocolate crackles, honey joys), to uniquely plated creations based around raw chocolate to traditional desserts—all raw, organic, vegan, free from dairy, gluten, soy and refined sugar, and still taste great! Pana Chocolate, The Recipes unlocks the secrets behind some of its best-loved creations and offers the ultimate raw chocolate experience for home cooks.

Breakfast Bowls: 52 Nourishing Recipes to Kickstart Your Day by Caroline Griffiths

For many, breakfast means a bowl of (often unhealthy) shopbought cereal or toast. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Kick start your day with one of 52 healthful bowls, from a vitaminpacked green smoothie bowl—packed with fresh berries, kale, avocado and nut butter—to heartier healthy grain-based bowls including oat, faro, quinoa and rice—a new one for every week of the year. ($30, PB)

Love Your Lunches: Vibrant Healthy Recipes to Brighten Up Your Day by Rebecca Dickinson

From a red lentil, squash & coconut dal to a quick & fuss-free sushi bento bowl, each recipe is nutritionally balanced, easy-tomake & mouthwateringly delicious. Learn how you can adapt last night’s leftovers for an exciting lunchtime meal, batch meals you can freeze ahead, fast lunches you can whip together in the morning, in a matter of minutes. Taking just 30 minutes or less to prepare, this book has over 50 recipes that are easy to adapt so you can easily mix and match your lunch to your own personal preference. ($30, PB)

Also New How to Overcome Pain by Leon Chaitow, $17

Science & Nature

What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength

by Scott Carney ($33, PB)

We like to sit in air-conditioned comfort, yet each year millions of ordinary people train in CrossFit boxes, compete in Tough Mudders & challenge themselves in Spartan races. They are connecting with their environment and, whether they realise it or not, unlocking their hidden evolutionary potential. No one exemplifies this better than Wim Hof, whose remarkable ability to control his body temperature in extreme cold has sparked a whirlwind of scientific study. Through him, we are just beginning to understand how cold adaptation might combat autoimmune diseases & chronic pain—and possibly even reverse the development of one of our greatest killers: diabetes. Scott Carney investigates the astonishing & sometimes dangerous world of body transformation. He reveals techniques you can try at home, but his own journey culminates in a record-bending, 28-hour climb to the snowy peak of Mt Kilimanjaro—wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and running shoes.

The Vaccine Race: How scientists used human cells to combat killer viruses by Meredith Wadman

In 1962, Leonard Hayflick created and then froze roughly 800 tiny ampules of what he dubbed WI-38 cells. Each petite glass vial contained between 1.5 million and 2 million cells. These cells would become the first normal, non-cancerous cells available in virtually unlimited quantities to scientists, and, as a result, the best-characterized normal cells available to this day. They would become the basis for vaccines that have immunized hundreds of millions of people worldwide against polio, rubella, rabies, chicken pox, and measles. This profoundly human tale combines scientific discovery, rivalry, greed and drama; abortion and vaccine politics; and timely questions about the tradeoff between socially beneficial medical research and the rights of individuals.

Consider this irony: cells derived from an aborted fetus have prevented tens of millions of miscarriages that otherwise would have been caused by the rubella virus, which infects foetuses in the womb. ($35, PB)

The Intimate Bond: How Animals Shaped Human History by Brian Fagan ($28, PB)

From the first wolf to find companionship in our prehistoric ancestors’ camp, to the beasts who bore the weight of our early empires, to the whole spectrum of brutally exploited or absurdly pampered pets of our industrial age, animals—and our ever-changing relationship with them—have left an indelible mark on the history of our species & continue to shape its future. Through an in-depth analysis of six truly transformative human-animal relationships, Brian Fagan shows how our habits and our very way of life were considerably & irreversibly altered by our intimate bond with animals. Among other stories, he explores how herding changed human behaviour; how the humble donkey helped launch the process of globalization; and how the horse carried a hearty band of nomads across the world & toppled the emperor of China.

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium: An Essay in Natural History by Juan Pimentel ($60, HB)

One animal left India in 1515, caged in the hold of a Portuguese ship, and sailed around Africa to Lisbon—the first of its species to see Europe for more than a thousand years. The other crossed the Atlantic from South America to Madrid in 1789, its huge fossilized bones packed in crates, its species unknown. How did Europeans three centuries apart respond to these two mysterious beasts—a rhinoceros, known only from ancient texts, and a nameless monster? As Juan Pimentel explains in this penetrating account of two remarkable episodes in the cultural history of science, the reactions reflect deep intellectual changes but also the enduring power of image and imagination to shape our understanding of the natural world.

Satellite: Innovation in Orbit by Doug Millard

Ubiquitous but mysterious, satellites are the technological infrastructure of our globally connected world, helping us do everything from orient ourselves on a map to watch our favourite television shows. Doug Millard pays tribute to the stoic existence of the satellite, tracing its simultaneous pathways through the cold silence of space and the noisy turbulence of the past century. How satellites ever came to be is, in itself, a remarkable story. Telling an astonishing history of engineering experimentation & ingenuity, Millard shows how the Cold War space race made the earliest satellites ones like Sputnik, Telstar & Early Bird household names. He describes how they evolved into cultural signifiers that represented not only our scientific capabilities but our capacity for imagination, our ability to broaden the scope of our vision to the farthest reaches. From there he follows the proliferation of satellites in the second half of the 20th century, examining their many different forms, how they evolved, all the things they do, what they have enabled, and how they have influenced our popular culture. He then asks what we can still expect, what sort of space age the satellite has initiated that is yet to be fully realized. ($40, HB)

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events

s Eve nt ar d n e Cal

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MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY 1 Special Free Event 6 for 6.30

THUR 2

Socialism and the Centenary of the Russian Revolution, 1917-2017, A Conversation with leading Marxist, David North.

David North to be introduced

by Nick Beams

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13

7

Event—6 for 6.30

Author Talk with Power Point Presentation George Gittoes

Event—

Rodney

Blood Mystic Equal parts artist and warrior, George is world-famous for waging war on war with art, circus, photography and film. ‘Soldiers die for flags. For me it is art’, he says.

14 Event—6 for 6.30

15 Event—6 for 6.30

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21 Event—6 for 6.30 Lisa Murray

Sydney Cemetries: A field guide in conv. with Tanya Evans Whether your interests lie in history, genealogy, architectural design, birdwatching, heritage roses or just finding quiet picnic spots, this is the ultimate handbook for exploring Sydney’s cemeteries—from crowded inner-city plots to spacious burial grounds in semi-rural spots.

28 Event—6 for 6.30 Rebecca Huntley

Still Lucky At a time when politics seems increasingly negative & our society increasingly divided, Still Lucky shows that we are more fortunate than we think, and have more in common than we know. ‘The essential work on the Australian people in the 21st century.’ George Megalogenis

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Helen Razer

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Disposable Leader ership Coups from in conv. with Pr Disposable Leader and insightful ana drama leadersh regular event that Australia

The Case Against Fragrance Kate Grenville had always associated perfume with elegance and beauty. Then the headaches started.

This book is based on careful research into the science of scent and the power of the fragrance industry.

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Event—6 for 6.30

The Helen 100 in conv. with Eden Riley A hundred dates in less than a year.

Will they heal her broken heart or make it worse? Brilliant, hilarious and excruciating confessions from bestselling writer and journalist Helen Razer.

Kate Grenville

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Meredith and Verity Burgmann

Event—

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Back Country: T Deua and Green Bans Red Union: in conv. wit The saving of a city In 1981 accompan in conv. with Prof. Kurt Iveson Zachary B. de M Introduced by Jack Mundey out on foot throug The definitive account of the glory escarpment coun days of the NSW Builders Labour- Wadbilliga Natio ers’ Federation and the green bans. out of print Back revised & upd

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Yarn Sp Panel: Marilla No Susanne Gervay Emcee: Lar Yarn Spinners is ship, politics & a ment to a distinct erature woven thr Dymphna Cusack Miles Franklin &

All events listed are $12/$9 concession. Book Launches are free.

Gleeclub members free entry to events at 49 Glebe Pt Rd February Events are held upstairs at #49 Glebe Point Road unless otherwise noted.

Bookings—Phone: (02) 9660 2333, Email: events@gleebooks.com.au, Online: www.gleebooks.com.au/events 2017

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Launch—3.30 for 4 Jaeson Jones

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The Executives: Their Aim Was To Please You Launcher: Gary King Jaesen Jones tells the story of one of Australia’s most multi-talented, musically ambitious and distinctive pop groups of the sixties, The Executives.

—6 for 6.30 y Tiffen

10 Launch—6 for 6.30

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John Parkinson

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Julia Meyerowitz-Katz and

The Surgeon’s Eye rs: Media & LeadDean Reddick (eds) Launcher: Roger Mackell m Menzies to Abbott Art Therapy in the Early Years: TherDr Richard Bowker was a ship’s rof. Geoff Gallop apeutic interventions with infants, rs is an engaging surgeon on a whaler—this is a captitoddlers and their families alysis of the high- vating account of his life at sea, and Launcher: Ruth Mooney hip challenge—a as a settler in NSW where he left his Art therapy with infants, toddlers t is now central to mark as doctor, politician and father and their families is an exciting and of a medical dynasty. an politics. developing area of practice.

Trek through the Wadbilliga th Bob Carr nied only by a fickle Mule John Blay set gh the challenging ntry of Deua and onal Parks. Long Country has been dated edition.

—6 for 6.30

a North

SUNDAY

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pinners orth, Pat O’Shane, & Paul Sharrad rry Buttrose a story of frienda shared committive Australian litrough the letters of k, Florence James, & their congenials.

Remember! b and get free Join the Gleeclu ld at our shops, entry to events he with every pur10%credit accrued aner delivered to chase, and the Gle onth. your door every m

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David Tait & Jane Goodman-Delahunty

Juries, Science and Popular Culture in the Age of Terror: The Case of the Sydney Bomber The team of international, transdisciplinary experts draw conclusions of global legal & political significance, and contribute to the growing scholarship on comparative counterterrorism law.

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Granny’s Good Reads with Sonia Lee

I’d been wondering why Hogarth Shakespeare would want to commission the retelling of Shakespearean plays by famous authors, but changed my mind when I read Hag-Seed—Margaret Atwood’s version of The Tempest ($30). It’s brilliant and could easily stand apart from the project. Felix Phillips, artistic director of a Toronto theatre festival, is fired and replaced by Tony, his scheming rival, just as he’s about to produce The Tempest—with Ariel cast as a transvestite on stilts and Caliban as a paraplegic on a skateboard. So Felix goes off to live in a shack on the outskirts of town, where he plans vengeance, while communing with the shade of his daughter Miranda, who sadly died at the age of three. Felix assumes the name ‘Mr Duke’ and takes a job at the Fletcher Correctional Centre, where he teaches the prisoners Shakespearean acting, adding 15 points to their IQs in the process. The plot thickens when ‘Mr Duke’ schedules The Tempest for his class, taking the part of Prospero himself and importing the actress who was to have taken the part of Miranda in his earlier version of the play. The story sparkles with fun and mischief and a deft piece of ‘rough magic’ sees it all come to a happy resolution. I liked the prisoners’ ‘take’ on their characters, less so their ‘rap’ versions of Shakespeare’s songs. For those who don’t know Shakespeare’s original, Atwood supplies a useful digest of the plot as an appendix. I found this an exhilarating read.

Another engrossing read is The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman ($35), who explores the newly discovered brilliance of birds in a book which is part science and part travelogue. She cites the New Caledonian crows who make tools for getting at food and our own bower birds who make elaborate bowers to attract a mate. Some rascally bower birds will destroy a rival’s nest and steal his most attractive items, usually the blue ones, as red is not favoured by the fussy females. Birds make complex navigational decisions, their songs have regional accents, they have astonishing memories of where they’ve hidden seeds long ago, they share food and experience, and may even grieve, all with brains the size of a walnut. There’s a whole chapter on the homing pigeon and another on the house sparrow. Engaging and well written, this informative work is perfect as a bedside book.

If birds are intelligent, so are trees, according to forester and author Peter Wohlleben in his informative book The Hidden Life of Trees ($30). Trees, he claims, can communicate with one another via their pheromones, warn of insect attack, send electrical impulses, and nurture their offspring through their root systems. As forester, Wohlleben has made sure that the forest he manages in the Eifel mountains has no machines, and if a tree has to be cut down it’s done by men and horses. This book is packed full of surprising information, and if you’d like to hear Peter Wohlleben, chase up the interview he gave to Phillip Adams on RN’s Late Night Live.

The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy by Michael McCarthy ($45) is another book which regards nature as both solace and marvel. When McCarthy was seven his mother was hospitalised and aunt Mary took him and his brother to live with her. Young Michael was consoled by seeing a bright storm of butterflies feeding on a buddleia bush. From then on he rejoiced in the joys of nature and became an environmental advocate. At that time, before the hedgerows were destroyed for broad-scale farming, birds and butterflies were plentiful. Now half England’s biodiversity is lost. McCarthy sees homo sapiens as Earth’s ‘problem child’: we are, he says, too numerous and consume too much, leaving little room for wildlife. One chapter describes the massive worldwide destruction of estuaries, which are the essential stopover places for millions of migrating wading birds. Another ponders the disappearance of the London sparrow. This is a profoundly troubling book yet it was the highlight of my summer reading.

I also read The Short and Excruciatingly Embarrassing Reign of Captain Abbott ($30) and The Curious Story of Malcolm Turnbull, the Incredible Shrinking Man in the Top Hat ($30), both by Andrew P. Street. These are written in a manic larrikin style with amusing footnotes and are great fun. Benjamin Law describes them as catapults laden with truth bombs. Masochists may also like Mark di Stefano’s bizarre account of our eight-week 2016 election campaign in What a Time to be Alive ($28).

Finally, don’t miss Bob Ellis in His Own Words ($30), edited by his widow Anne Brooksbank. This is chock-full of good things, among which Bob’s 1999 address to the May Day rally in Newcastle is truly outstanding. Bernie Sanders would applaud every word of it. Sonia

Subtle Moments: Scenes on a Life’s Journey

by Bruce Grant ($35, PB)

Bruce Grant was raised in outback Western Australia but lived and worked at or near the centre of power in Australia for several decades, as journalist & foreign correspondent, diplomat, and advisor to governments from Menzies to Whitlam to Hawke & Keating. Throughout his life Grant has also been a successful writer, of film and theatre criticism, novels, short stories, essays, books. Australian High Commissioner to India (1973–1976), Grant was an early advocate of the importance of Asia, to Australia—his Indonesia (1964) remains a classic. Grant shares stories of public life, and its private dimensions illuminating how Australia has changed over time, and how it might still develop for the better.

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Australian Studies Still Lucky by Rebecca Huntley ($35, PB) Our politicians are becoming more conservative, both in their policies & their ambitions for the country, but the Australian people—almost all of us—want to see real social change. We are more generous & more progressive, and more alike, than we think we are—and we are better than our day-today political discourse would suggest. Rebecca Huntley has spent years travelling the country, getting to know what’s in our hearts and minds. Here she tackles the biggest social questions facing Australia now: Why do we fear asylum seekers? Why are women still underpaid and overworked? Why do we over-parent? Why do we worry even though we are lucky? This is a broad-ranging, wise & compelling look at who we are now and where we are heading in the future, from someone who knows what Australians are really thinking.

Gleebooks’ special price $29.95

Griffith Review 55: State of Hope (ed) Schultz

Hope is at the heart of South Australia. More than any other state it has shaped its own destiny with large doses of vision & optimism.

It has been less frightened of ‘the vision thing’ & demonstrated willingness to challenge prevailing sentiments, experiment, boldly innovate & take a national lead. As a result, the state has produced a disproportionate number of leaders in business, sciences, arts & public policy. Griffith Review 55 explores the economic, social, environmental & cultural challenges facing South Australia, and the possibilities of renewal that draw on the strength of the past. It celebrates the unselfconscious willingness that hope enables. ($28, PB)

Into the Heart of Tasmania: A Search For Human Antiquity by Rebe Taylor ($35, PB)

In 1908 English gentleman, Ernest Westlake, packed a tent, a bicycle & 40 tins of food & sailed to Tasmania. On mountains, beaches & in sheep paddocks he collected over 13,000 Aboriginal stone tools. Westlake believed he had found the remnants of an extinct race whose culture was akin to the most ancient Stone Age Europeans. But in the remotest corners of the island Westlake encountered living Indigenous communities. This book tells a story of discovery & realisation. It brings to life how Australian and British national identities have been fashioned by shame & triumph over the supposed destruction of an entire race. To reveal the beating heart of Aboriginal Tasmania is to be confronted with a history that has never ended.

Disposable Leaders: Media and Leadership Coups from Menzies to Abbott by Rodney Tiffen ($35, PB)

Since 1970 73 political leaders within the major parties have been forcibly removed from their leadership positions. And at the heart of the turmoil is the media, with its 24-hour news cycle making political leadership evermore precarious. Rodney Tiffen analyses the high-drama leadership challenge—a regular event that is now central to Australian politics. Not only exploring some of the most intriguing federal leadership struggles that have dominated recent Australian politics in detail, he also examines all of the 73 successful leadership challenges—shining a light on the central role the media plays in the revolving-door leadership that has become the new normal in modern Australian politics..

Overturning Aqua Nullius: Securing Aboriginal Water Rights by Virginia Marshall ($39.95, PB)

This book aims to cultivate a new understanding of Aboriginal water rights & interests in the context of Aboriginal water concepts & water policy development in Australia. Virginia Marshall argues that Aboriginal water rights require legal recognition as property rights, and that water access & water infrastructure are integral to successful economic enterprise in Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal peoples’ social, cultural & economic certainty rests on their right to control & manage customary water. Drawing on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Marshall argues that the reservation of Aboriginal water rights needs to be prioritised above the water rights & interests of other groups.

Knowledge Courage Leadership: Insights & Reflections by Barry Jones ($35, PB) This collection of insights from Barry Jones includes new and updated reflections on the big issues and concerns locally, nationally and internationally. Understand more about the key immediate and long term issues and problems that face our world and lives, from climate change and discrimination to the threat of ISIS, the demagogues, and even the selfie.

Also New The Undesirables: Inside Nauru Revised by Mark Isaacs, $25 From Great Depths: The Wrecks of HMAS Sydney II and HSK Kormoran (ed) edited by M. McCarthy ($70, HB)

History & Politics

The Way With Strangers: Encounters with Islamic State by Graeme Wood ($35, PB)

This is the definitive book on the history, psychology, character & aims of the Islamic State. Based on Graeme Wood’s unprecedented access to supporters, recruiters & high-ranking members of the most infamous jihadist group in the world, this is fast-paced deep dive into the apocalyptic dogma that informs the group’s world view, from the ideas that motivate it, to the ‘fatwa factory’ that produces its laws, to its very specific plans for the future. By accepting that ISIS truly believes the end is nigh, we can understand its strategy—and predict what it will do next.

Our Revolution by Bernie Sanders ($30, PB)

Bernie Sanders provides a unique insight into the campaign that galvanized a movement, sharing experiences from the campaign trail and the techniques that shaped it. Drawing on decades of experience as activist and politician, Sanders outlines his ideas for continuing this political revolution. He shows how we can fight for a progressive economic, environmental, racial & social justice agenda that creates jobs, raises wages & protects the environment. Searing in its assessment of the current political & economic situation, but hopeful in its vision of the future, this book contains an important message for anyone tired of ‘same as usual’ politics & looking for a way to change the game.

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Who’s Afraid of International Law? (eds) Raimond Gaita & Gerry Simpson ($30, PB)

removed from their leadership positions. And at the heart of the turmoil is the media, with its 24-hour news cycle making political leadership evermore precarious. Disposable Leaders is an engaging and insightful

The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics

by John B. Judis ($20, PB)

analysis of the high-drama leadership challenge – a regular event that is now central to Australian politics. Rodney Tiffen shines a light on the central role the media plays in the revolving-door leadership that has become the new normal in modern Australian politics.

A Perfidious Distortion of History: The Versailles Peace Treaty & the Success of the Nazis by Jürgen Tampke

Conventional wisdom has it that, guided by motives of punishment and revenge, and based on the untenable claim that Germany had caused the WW1, the Versailles treaty’s chief instigators, US president Woodrow Wilson, British prime minister David Lloyd George & French prime minister Georges Clemenceau, imposed a Carthaginian peace upon the defeated enemy—which in the end drove the German people into the arms of Adolf Hitler, and the evils of WW2. Jürgen Tampke argues that Germany got away with its responsibility for WW I & its behaviour during it; that the treaty was nowhere near as punitive as has been claimed; that the German hyper-inflation of the 1920s was at least partly deliberate policy to minimise the cost of paying reparations; and that WWII was a continuation of Germany’s long-standing war aims (which went back beyond WWI to the late 19th century). ($45, HB)

Revised edition of a landmark book with new introduction.

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t the height of the building

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities by Bettany Hughes

Istanbul has always been a place where stories and histories collide and crackle, where the idea is as potent as the historical fact. From the Qu’ran to Shakespeare, this city with three names—Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul—resonates as an idea and a place, and overspills its boundaries—real and imagined. Standing as the gateway between the East and West, it has served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman Empires. Bettany Hughes takes a dazzling historical journey through the longest-lived political entity in Europe. Over the last 6,000 years Istanbul has absorbed a mosaic of micro-cities & cultures all gathering around the core. At the latest count archaeologists have measured 42 human habitation layers. Phoenicians, Genoese, Venetians, Jews, Vikings, Azeris all called a patch of this earth their home. ($33, PB)

boom in the 1970s, a

remarkable campaign stopped billions of dollars worth of indiscriminate development that was turning Australian cities into concrete jungles. Green

Treasures from the Map Room: A Journey through the Bodleian Collections by Debbie Hall ($80, HB)

This book explores the stories behind 75 extraordinary maps. It includes unique treasures such as the 14th century Gough Map of Great Britain, exquisite portolan charts made in the 15th century, the Selden Map of China—the earliest example of Chinese merchant cartography. As well as the works of famous mapmakers Mercator, Ortelius, Blaeu, Saxton & Speed, the book also includes lesser known but historically significant works: early maps of the Moon, of the transit of Venus, hand-drawn estate plans & early European maps of the New World.

political leaders within the

major parties have been forcibly

Can international law be seen as a coherent set of norms? Or is it, rather, something experienced radically differently by different individuals & groups in different parts of the world? And what do the different sets of international law seek to change or justify today? Raimond Gaita & 6 other authorities in this field respond to Gaita’s invitation to explore ways in which international law constitutes a certain way of talking & being; one that might have both ameliorative & malign effects. The result is an extended & rich conversation about international law’s relevance—aspirations & limitations, its nuances & rigidities, achievements & failures.

What’s happening in global politics, and is there a thread that ties it all together? As if overnight, many Democrats revolted & passionately backed a socialist named Bernie Sanders; the UK voted to leave the European Union, in a stunning rebuke; the vituperative billionaire Donald Trump became the presidential nominee of the Republican Party; and a slew of rebellious parties continued to win election after election in countries like Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Austria, and Greece. John B. Judis offers an understanding of the populist movement that began in the US in the 1890s & whose politics have recurred on both sides of the Atlantic ever since.

ince 1970 seventy-three

Bans, Red Union documents the development of a union that took a stand. In telling the colourful story that inspired many environmentalists and ordinary citizens Meredith Burgmann and Verity Burgmann open a window on a period when Australian workers led the world in innovative and stunningly effective forms of environmental protest.

w w w. n ews o u t h p u b l i s h i n g .co m

Now in B Format The Ways of the World by David Harvey, $25 Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, 1917

by Helen Rappaport, $23

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Robinia trees, rosellas & reading

This summer break saw me sitting for days under a golden Robinia tree full of rosellas and King parrots, edging closer and closer to my plate of Christmas cake crumbs, as I became more absorbed with each book I read. The books I read were neither summery or light, each was terrifically bleak in its own way—bliss.

Cultural Studies & Criticism

Nutshell, by Ian McEwan ($33) is an extraordinary book, told in the first person by an unborn embryo. He is a very clever little chap, extremely erudite as his mother seems to spend most of her time languishing in a decaying Georgian mansion listening to podcasts. It is revealed very early in the narrative that Trudy, the pregnant mother, is plotting the demise of the baby’s father, much to the chagrin of her baby. The plot thickens, the identity of Trudy’s lover is revealed, and a Greek tragedy unfolds. It is, of course, the plot of Hamlet, which could be extremely irritating, but is not. The unborn baby is full of dreams, he is ‘immersed in abstractions’, a poet, and an expert on wine (sadly, Trudy drinks rather a lot of it). The baby’s father is a poet and a publisher—and the owner of the squalid, valuable house that the pregnant Trudy and her ruthless swain have set their sights on. Nutshell is a complex book, but easy to read—fast paced and clever. It is such an imaginative and unexpected book that its cleverness really belies the compassion and humanity underlying it.

Ann Patchett’s most recent book, Commonwealth ($30), is also riveting. Starting with a drunken kiss at a christening party, two young, intact families unravel, and join up again as two different blended families. From then, the level of parental neglect is staggering, and the ramifications of the neglect ripple out for years to come. The evocation of the place and time is utterly brilliant, you are there as the six children tramp through the fields to the lake (yes, without their parents), and when the one single, terrible event later takes place, seen through their eyes. Everything leads up to this event, and everything falls away from it, and yet the author is without judgement. This is not a preachy book, but a clear eyed view of damage done, and life that keeps happening after that damage. I read Commonwealth twice, as I was muddled by all the characters at the beginning—perhaps an intentional device in the narrative. Not surprising that several Gleebooks staff named this as their favourite book of 2016.

Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney ($30) is the third book about a golden couple, Corrine and Russell Calloway, set against the backdrop of Manhattan, across the two years leading up to Obama’s election. They appear to live a reasonably gilded life—Russell is a publisher and Corrine works in a food bank. They have twins, a boy and a girl, and live in a rent controlled loft. I haven’t read the first two books in the trilogy, but I wasn’t at a loss, although the flashbacks were useful. Full of literary allusions and discussions, great swathes of F. Scott Fitzgeraldesque descriptive prose, and lots of in jokes (someone books into a hotel using the name of an Edith Wharton character), all set a fairly familiar scene, one that the reader looks into, rather than is involved with. Overall this is a book about a marriage, complete with betrayals and loyalties, but with lots of interesting digressions into the world of publishing, and unlikely humour (I don’t often burst out laughing when I read a book, but I did with this one).

Now the halcyon days are over, back to work and reading on a train. I’m finding His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnett ($20) to be a suitable travel companion.

It is a supremely grim, but imaginative book comprising documents of a fictional crime that took place in a crofting community in the Scottish highlands in 1869. Hard to keep in mind that this is a work of fiction, so compellingly real are the details, but it’s a salient reminder that the good old days weren’t always so, and the picturesque rural life had another side to it. Louise

The Helen 100 by Helen Razer ($30, PB) One dry Melbourne summer afternoon, Helen Razer’s partner of fifteen years announced without warning that she ‘needed to grow’, and left in the Toyota. Razer remained in her pyjamas, ordering barbecue chicken, and crying on her cat. After two days of disclosing her foulest thoughts on a XXX app, quitting her terrible job, and receiving bad advice from her discount shrink, she cried again; this time on her beauty therapist, who dared her to go on 100 dates inside a year. ‘It’s Bridget Jones, but for angry communists.’—One of Helen’s mates.

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Why I Am Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto

by Jessa Crispin ($25, PB)

Jessa Crispin, cultural critic and founder of Bookslut, offers a brilliant rejection of contemporary feminism—and demands something better. Somewhere along the way, Jessa Crispin argues, the feminist movement sacrificed meaning for acceptance, and left us with a banal, polite, ineffectual pose that barely challenges the status quo. In this bracing, fiercely intelligent manifesto, she demands more. This is a radical, fearless call for revolution. It accuses the feminist movement of obliviousness, irrelevance, and cowardice—and demands nothing less than the total dismantling of a system of oppression.

The Trial Of Lady Chatterley’s Lover

by Sybille Bedford ($13, PB)

When Penguin released a new, unexpurgated edition of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960 they were charged with the crime of publishing obscene material. The publisher was forced to defend the book’s literary merit in a court of law—thus beginning one of the most famous trials of the 20th century. There to take it all in, armed with her pencil and paper, and her trademark wit and flair, Sybille Bedford presents us with a play-by-play of the trial: from the prosecution’s questioning of the novel’s 13 sexual encounters and their listing of all 66 instances of swear words, to the dozens of witnesses who testified—including the Bishop of Woolwich and E. M. Forster. A timeless and dramatic account that captures one of the most fascinating and absurd moments in both legal and publishing history, when attitudes and morals shifted forever.

Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of Our Gendered Minds by Cordelia Fine ($30, HB)

Testosterone, so we’re told, is the very essence of masculinity, and biological sex is a fundamental force in our development. Not so, says psychologist Cordelia Fine, who shows, with wit and panache, that sex doesn’t create male and female natures. Instead, sex, hormones, culture and evolution work together in ways that make past and present gender dynamics only a serving suggestion for the future —not a recipe. Fine brings together evolutionary science, psychology, neuroscience and social history to move beyond old ‘nature versus nurture’ debates, and to explain why it’s time to unmake the tyrannical myth of Testosterone Rex.

We Do Things Differently: The Outsiders Rebooting Our World by Mark Stevenson ($30, PB)

Our systems are failing. Old models—for education, healthcare & government, food production, energy supply—are creaking under the weight of modern challenges. As the world’s population heads towards 10 billion, it’s clear we need new approaches. Futurologist Mark Stevenson sets out to find them, across four continents. From Brazilian favelas to high tech Boston, from rural India to a shed inventor in England’s home counties, he travels the world to find the advance guard re-imagining our future. He meets innovators who have already succeeded in challenging the status quo, pioneering new ways to make our world more sustainable, equitable & humane. He paints a convincing picture of what can be done to address the world’s most pressing dilemmas, offering a much needed dose of down-to-earth optimism. It is a window on (and a roadmap to) a different and better future.

Charity Sucks by Iqbal Wahhab ($20, PB) In the wake of debacles such as Kids Company & Beat Bullying, where charities have egregiously squandered public funds, Iqbal Wahhab offers a scathing criticism on the cosiness between government & charity, and argues that the solution lies in business. The sanctimony of charity & its persistent failure to do good with our money (our money, not theirs) is matched only by two things— firstly, the lives of the people they promised us they would improve and secondly, the inevitable truth that in the hands of business, social impacts are more sustainable, measurable & much, much larger.

Charities expand by the amount of hope and faith they can convince largely ignorant if well-meaning donors and philanthropists to finance them with. Businesses expand through success. Success wins over hope. Businesses win over charities in their ability to change the world.

The War on The Old by John Sutherland ($20, PB) ‘Better than the alternative’, said Mark Twain. As the 21st century rolls on, many of those living through their sunset years may be in two minds about that. It is estimated that by 2020, one in five Britons will be pensioners and living a longer retirement than ever before. ‘A good thing’, politicians add, through gritted teeth. The truth is that for them it is a damned inconvenient thing. An attitude is developing which regards ‘the old’ as not a tribute to the better life Britain now provides for its population but a social problem: something that must be ‘solved’. John Sutherland (age 77, and feeling keenly what he writes about) examines this intergenerational conflict as a new kind of ‘war’ in which institutional neglect and universal indifference to the old has reached aggressive, and routinely lethal, levels. This is a book which goes out to provoke but in the process tells some deep and inconvenient truths, about something British society would rather not think about.

Philosophy & Religon

Materialism by Terry Eagleton ($35, HB)

Terry Eagleton makes a powerful argument that materialism is at the centre of today’s important scientific & cultural as well as philosophical debates, following the inroads being made by contemporary neuroscience on such issues as the nature of consciousness, the body’s role in cognition, and the existence of mental states. He considers the values & beliefs of 3 very different materialists—Marx, Nietzsche & Wittgenstein—drawing fresh comparisons between their philosophies while reflecting on a wide array of topics, from ideology & history to language, ethics & the aesthetic. Cogently demonstrating how it is our bodies & corporeal activity that make thought & consciousness possible, Eagleton’s book is a valuable exposition on philosophic thought that strikes to the heart of how we think about ourselves & live in the world.

On Betrayal by Avishai Margalit ($57, HB) Adultery, treason, and apostasy no longer carry the weight they once did. Yet we constantly see and hear stories of betrayal, and many people have personally experienced a destructive breach of loyalty. Avishai Margalit argues that the tension between the ubiquity of betrayal and the loosening of its hold is a sign of the strain between ethics and morality, between thick & thin human relations. Judgments of betrayal often shift unreliably. A whistle-blower to some is a backstabber to others; a traitor to one side is a hero to the other. Yet the notion of what it means to betray is remarkably consistent across cultures and eras.

Betrayal undermines thick trust, dissolving the glue that holds our most meaningful relationships together. Recently, public attention has lingered on trust between strangers—on relations that play a central role in the globalized economy. These, according to Margalit, are guided by morality. On Betrayal is about ethics: what we owe to the people and groups that give us our sense of belonging.

A History of Islam in Indonesia: Unity in Diversity

by Carool Kersten ($60, PB)

Carool Kersten provides comprehensive insight into the different roles played by Islam in Indonesia throughout history, including the importance of Indian Ocean networks for connecting Indonesians with the wider Islamic world, the religion’s role as a means of resistance and tool for nation building, and postcolonial attempts to forge an ‘Indonesian Islam’.

Letters to a Young Muslim by Omar Saif Ghobash

At 6 Omar Saif Ghobash lost his father to a violent attack in 1977.

As the UAE Ambassador to Russia in 2008, he began to reflect on what it means to be a Muslim, establishing a moral foundation rooted in the belief of the hard grind that is the crux of spiritual & practical living. The new generation of Muslim’s is tomorrow’s leadership, and yet many are vulnerable to taking the violent shortcut to paradise & ignoring the traditions & foundations of Islam. Ghobash explores how Arabs can provide themselves, their children & their youth with a better chance of prosperity & peace in a globalised world, while attempting to explain the history & complications of the modern-day Arab landscape & how the younger generation can solve problems with extremists internally, contributing to overall world peace. ($30, PB)

Psychology

Buddhist Psychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: A Clinician’s Guide by Dennis Tirch, Laura Silberstein & Russell Kolts ($50, PB)

This user-friendly guide to the basics of Buddhist psychology presents a roadmap specifically designed for cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) practitioners. It explains central Buddhist concepts and how they can be applied to clinical work, and features numerous experiential exercises and meditations.

Downloadable audio recordings of the guided meditations are provided at the authors’ website. Essential topics include the relationship between suffering and psychopathology, the role of compassion in understanding and treating psychological problems, and how mindfulness fits into evidence-based psychotherapy practice.

Coffee with Freud by Brett Kahr ($40, PB) Sigmund Freud pays another visit to Vienna’s renowned Café Landtmann, where he had often enjoyed reading newspapers and sipping coffee. Freud explains how he came to invent psychoanalysis, speaks bluntly about his feelings of betrayal by Carl Gustav Jung, recounts his flight from the Nazis, and so much more, all the while explaining his theories of symptom formation and psychosexuality.

s d d w n n a o 2 H R A S aintly Q ua rtet

I imagine that many of my select band of readers—those of a certain age—remember an entertaining 1960s TV series featuring a very suave Roger Moore as Simon Templar. A debonair thief, adventurer and (sometimes) vigilante, who left his calling card at the scene of his ‘crimes’. A stick figure with a halo – ‘The Saint’. Moore was perfectly cast as he zipped around various locales international in his white Volvo P 1800. I also dipped into a few Saint books over the years—the short story collections being my preferred choice. I thought the Saint’s persona—the ‘Gentleman Thief/Robin Hood’ who dispenses his own brand of justice to sundry law breakers— worked well within the constraints of a shorter format.

Saint author Leslie Charteris (1907–1993) was born Leslie Charles BowerYin in Singapore—half Chinese and half English—to a Chinese surgeon father. His first language was Mandarin. His pseudonym, ‘Charteris’, was supposedly chosen from a phone book as a quintessentially English-sounding name. Simon Templar, his most famous creation, made his debut in the 1928 novel, Meet the Tiger, written when Charteris was 21. Thirty-nine Saint books appeared between 1928 to 1970. The novels gained enormous popularity during the 1930s with their settings and light, humorous dialogue. Hollywood films were made in the 1940s featuring everybody’s favourite cad, George Sanders. A 1950s radio serial featured the Saint voiced by horror maestro, Vincent Price. Of a 1997 big budget film—directed by Australia’s own Phillip Noyce, and featuring Val Kilmer as The Saint—the less said the better.

Here are a quartet of Saint volumes to enjoy. All of them are in good, readable condition. A couple have minor repair work to the spines.

The Saint and Mr. Teal. (1933). Originally published as Once More the Saint.

Paperback 1953 reissue. $12.00.

This collection of three stories sees our hero hitting his stride. The Gold Standard features a dying man who claims his brother can make gold, and Simon Templar outwitting the criminal milieu of the Paris underworld. Tex Goldman is The Man from St Louis, an American gangster who brings Chicago-style organised crime to London—and tangles with the Saint. Their deadly rivalry is renewed in The Saint in New York (1935). The Death Penalty is set in the Scilly Isles. A Simon Templar holiday unexpectedly features drug-smuggling, drugged beer and a damsel in distress.

Saint Overboard (1936). Paperback reissue 156. $10.00.

The Saint is enjoying a cruise along the French coast aboard his yacht, The Corsair when he is awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of gunfire and shouting from another vessel nearby. The commotion is a group of men pursuing a young woman swimming frantically away from the other ship. Templar rescues the woman who—after much hesitation—identifies herself as Loretta Page, a detective investigating the mysterious disappearance of sunken treasure from the Atlantic. She enlists the Saint’s help in tracking down a group of modern-day pirates.

The Saint Goes West (1942). Paperback reissue 1955. $10.00.

The first of the wartime Saint novels and—according to Saint historians—the first one in which American censorship prevailed, thus eliminating some of the supposed immoral activities that enlivened the previous Saint books. The book contains three novellas. In Arizona the Saint travels to the American West to foil a Nazi scientist who plans to take over a mineral-rich ranch whose contents beneath are destined for German munitions. Palm Springs sees Simon Templar hired to bodyguard a spoiled, alcoholic millionaire receiving death threats that turn very real. The Saint also finds himself distracted by the millionaire’s trio of live-in girlfriends. And Hollywood—as word spreads of his recent adventures in Arizona and Palm Springs, Templar receives an offer to star in a motion picture about his life, spearheaded by Byron Ufferlitz—an obnoxious gangster-turned-movie producer. But when the producer is murdered, the Saint finds himself—reluctantly, in this case—reverting to his real-life role of detective.

Call for the Saint (1948). Paperback reissue 1953. $12.00.

Featuring two stories, this is the final volume in which Leslie Charteris used the novella format for telling his stories. He would revert to short story format hereafter. The King of The Beggars is set in Chicago & sees the Saint recruited by a theatre actress to investigate the murder of a beggar and find the mastermind behind a criminal protection racket. In Masked Angel a New York boxer dies in the ring under mysterious circumstance, and the Saint investigates. Stephen

Revised & Updated The Woman Who Changed Her Brain

by Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, $25

Now in B Format The Confidence Game: The Psychology of the Con and Why We Fall for It Every Time by Maria Konnikova, $23

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Summer Reading 2016 - 2017 Welcome back!...after a sojourn that saw the shocking Fall of the House of Clinton and the election of Donald J.Trump as (possibly) the worst President of the United States. There are some previous Presidential contenders for this unwanted title. They comprise an irredeemable group that includes:

Richard Nixon, 37th President (1969–1974) whose personal mendacity, vindictiveness and illegal activities as Chief Executive led to his resignation from office in disgrace.

James Buchanan, 15th President (1857–1861) whose terrible term included meddling in Supreme Court rulings, exacerbating the Great Economic Panic of 1857, failure to resist southern slave-holding interests and his indecisiveness in dealing with the secessionist movement—virtually inviting half a dozen states to leave the Union. His legacy to his successor, Abraham Lincoln was a divided and demoralized country. Read more about him in: The Worst President: The Story of James Buchanan by Garry Boulard ($39, PB).

Finally, there is the 29th President—Warren G. Harding (1921–1923). To those who believe that, as Karl Marx said, history does indeed repeat itself—‘the first time as Tragedy, the second as Farce’, I dipped into the following two books:

The Ohio Gang: The World of Warren G. Harding by Charles Mee, Jr ($35) and The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country by Layton McCartney ($32, PB).

Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865–1923) was a former Ohio newspaper editor and state Senator of very limited political ability, whose good looks, affability and a willingness to please by saying whatever party dignitaries wished to hear, eventually saw him voted the Republican Party nominee at a deadlocked 1920 Convention.

Elected President on a platform of slashing taxes, curbing immigration and raising trade tariffs, Harding promptly appointed a Cabinet full of business cronies and allowed them free reign to use their offices for their own enrichment. Consequently, Harding’s administration was fraught with scandal. The most notorious example— known as ‘The Teapot Dome Scandal’—saw his Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, issue illegal oil drilling licences to numerous companies for substantial bribes. Other cabinet members sold illegal liquor permits and parole licences virtually on request.

The President meanwhile busied himself with poker marathons, golf and—since he was also an unrestrained womaniser—entertaining Nan Britton (1896–1991), his 25-year-old mistress.

In 1923, Harding died of a stroke in San Francisco. Shortly before his death, when he was finally made aware of the extent of malfeasance within his administration, Harding pathetically remarked: ‘I am not fit for this office and should never have been here’. I doubt if Donald Trump is burdened by any such self-doubt.

From the worst (so far) President to the greatest. In 2010 a symposium of 65 Presidential scholars selected Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865) as the preeminent Present for: ‘his powerful leadership in managing the worst crisis the nation has ever faced, his moral authority, his vision he set for saving the Union, for ultimately eradicating slavery, his pursuit of equal justice for all, and his performance in the context of his time.’ Some 16,000 books have been written about Lincoln since 1865. Here are two of my favourite biographies: With Malice Toward None by Stephen Oates. 1977 ($32, PB) Oates’s biography was the first complete one volume life of Lincoln in two decades. His easy style, artful reconstruction and comprehensive treatment of his subject make this a fine work. It replaced Benjamin Thomas’s 1952 work as the ‘standard life’ of Lincoln, until…

Lincoln by David Herbert Donald. 1995 ($36, PB). Elegantly written, this acclaimed work looks primarily at what Lincoln ‘knew, when he knew it, and why he made his decisions’. Lincoln is shown as ambitious, often defeated, often tormented by his married life, but with an astonishing capacity for change and growth—during the upheaval of the Civil War—that marked his greatness as President.

Some other enjoyable Summer reading was (surprisingly) two works of fiction: The North Water by Ian McGuire ($33, PB) ‘We are here to kill whales, not root out sin’. Set in 1859, it follows the doomed voyage – by human intent – of the whaler, The Volunteer, to the coast of Greenland. A serial killer is aboard and a disgraced, opium- addicted surgeon provides the only moral compass (of sorts). I can only echo my colleague Tatjana’s earlier recommendation. Harrowing, dark, brilliantly written.

While awaiting Hillary Mantel’s, The Mirror and the Light—the concluding volume of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy—I read her much earlier prize-winning historical novel, published in 1992, recounting the turmoil of the French Revolution: A Place of Greater Safety ($20). This is a sprawling montage of documentary recreation and

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imaginative construction. Mantel deftly paints a grim, momentous, joyous canvas, with a keen eye for bizarre detail and engaging wit, as she follows the lives of three key figures—Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins and Maximilien Robespierre— all likable but flawed idealists who were to meet their fate on the guillotine.

And books still in progress, that I hope to review sometime this year are: Rachel Carson’s seminal environmental science book Silent Spring ($24.95); Thin Air, Michelle Paver’s thriller set on Kangchenjunga—the third-highest peak on earth, ($29.99, PB); Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale ($55, HB); Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years and After, 1939–1962 by Blanche Wiesen Cook ($72, HB); and Hitler, Volume 1: Ascent 1889–1939 by Ulrich Volker ($50, PB).

Stephen Reid

Language & Writing

Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar by David Crystal ($30, HB)

David Crystal explains grammar’s rules and irregularities, shows how to navigate its snares and pitfalls, and explores its history and varieties. He gives practical guidance on how grammar may be used for different purposes and in different settings.

He provides a series of insights into the stages by which children acquire grammar and shows how this can be used to guide its early instruction. He casts a mordant eye on what learned people have said about English grammar over the centuries and what they continue to say now. Grammar is complex but, Professor Crystal shows, it need not be daunting: the more we understand it, he argues, the more sense we shall make.

Q&A A Day For Writers: A One Year Journal

Each daily entry in this stylish journal features engaging prompts designed to help writers think about their process, observe the world around them, and focus on the act of crafting thoughtful, beautiful writing. The prompts run from the observational ‘Describe in loving detail an object in your field of vision that others might overlook’, to creative writing exercises like ‘Write an opening sentence in the style of one of your favorite authors’. ($28, PB) Also available in this series is Q&A A Day for Creatives: A Four Year Journal ($30, PB)—with a visual prompt for every day of the year, ranging from the irreverent (‘Draw the socks you’re wearing’) to nostalgic (‘Draw one favourite room in your childhood home’) to ‘Draw the contents of your mind today’. Over a 4 year period, you’ll see how your doodles change as you create a lasting keepsake.

Unreconciled by Michel Houellebecq

Poetry

This selection of poems chosen from 4 collections shines a fresh light on Michel Houellebecq, emphasising the radical singularity of his work. Divided into 5 parts, Unreconciled forms a narrative of love, hopelessness, catastrophe and, ultimately, redemption. In a world of supermarkets & public transport, Houellebecq manages to find traces of divine grace even as he exposes our inexorable decline into chaos. Told through forms & rhythms that are both ancient & new, with language steeped in the everyday, his vision of our era is one brimming with tensions that cannot—and will not—be reconciled. ($45, HB)

New & Selected Poems of Anna Wickham

A pioneer of Modernist poetry, she was also a fierce feminist, social activist, and friend of many significant writers, including D.H. Lawrence, George Bernard Shaw, Dylan Thomas, Katherine Mansfield, Natalie Clifford Barney, Kate O’Brien, and Lawrence Durrell. She produced a unique, daring and influential body of work while living a dramatic, often tragic life, which ended with her suicide. This is the first collection of Wickham’s poetry to be published in over three decades. In addition to bringing many of Wickham’s greatest poems back into print, this collection publishes 150 of Wickham’s poems for the first time ($30, HB)

E W

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Was $43

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Numero Zero Umberto Eco, HB

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The Iliad Tr. Stephen Mitchell, HB

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A Painter’s Progress: A Portrait of Lucian Freud David Dawson, HB

Was $55

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Was $54

Now $19.95 The Bible: A History Miller & Huber, HB

Was $49.95

Now $16.95

Was $50

Was $42.95

Now $17.95

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Beasts: What Animals Can 100 Birds to See Before You Die Teach Us About Human Nature Chandler & Couzens, PB Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, HB

Was $69.99

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Now $17.95

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Now $17.95 The Discovery of Middle Earth: Mapping the Lost World of the Celts Graham Robb, HB

Was $45

Now $18.95

The Profligate Son: Or, a True Story of Family Conflict, Fashionable Vice, and Financial Ruin in Regency England Rembrandt’s Nose: Of Flesh & Medicine: Perspectives Spirit in the Master’s Portraits Nicola Phillips, HB in History & Art Michael Taylor, HB Robert E Greenspan, HB

The Birth of an Opera: 15 Masterpieces from Poppea to Wozzeck Michael Rose, HB

Was $50

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P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters The Death of King Arthur: A New Verse Translation (ed) Sophie Ratcliffe, HB Tr. Simon Armitage, HB

Centuries of Change: Which Century Saw the Most Change? Great Catastrophe: Armenians & Turks in the Shadow of Genocide Ian Mortimer, HB Thomas De Waal, HB

Was $49.95

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Was $46.95

Cabinet of Curiosities: A Kid’s Guide to Collecting & Understanding the Wonders of the Natural World Gordon Grice, HB

Now $17.95

Dangerous Rhythm Why Movie Musicals Matter Richard Barrios, HB

Was $69.95

Now $19.95

101 Classic Cookbooks: 501 Classic Recipes Marion Nestle, HB

Was $39.95

Now $16.95 Eternity of Eagles: The Human History of the Most Fascinating Bird in the World Stephen J. Bodio, HB

Was $49.95

Now $19.95

Culina Mundi Bellahsen & Rouche, HB

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The Arts

Rules for Mavericks: A Manifesto for Dissident Creatives by Phil Beadle ($25, PB)

Raphael’s Tapestries: The Grotesques of Leo X

by Lorraine Karafel ($86, HB)

Around 1515, Raphael designed a set of tapestries for Leo X, the first Medici pope. Each was sumptuously woven in gold, silver & silk, and depicted scenes from classical mythology with inventive grotesques. Tapestries played a central role at Leo’s court, as spectacle and as propaganda, and the Grotesques of Leo X would inform tapestry design for the next 3 centuries. Their beauty and complexity rivaled those of contemporary painting, and their luxurious materials made them highly prized. With this new study, the Grotesques take their rightful place as Renaissance masterworks and as documents of the fervent humanist culture of early 16th-century Rome.

Albrecht Dürer: Documentary Biography

by Jeffrey Ashcroft ($129, HB)

Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was hailed in his lifetime as a founder of the Northern Renaissance, and his work revolutionised the art of printmaking. Dürer was also the first artist outside Italy to leave behind a large body of writing. Contemporaries and succeeding generations added their accounts of him to this documentary legacy. Jeffrey Ashcroft’s new book provides the first English translation of the whole corpus of Dürer’s writings; the legal, financial, and administrative documentation of his life & work; and what others wrote about him during his life and in the following century. This unique combination of documentary evidence, current research, and exhaustive bibliography will doubtless become a definitive source for students and scholars of Dürer and his work, as well as for historians of early modern culture, language, and literature.

Painting 1909: Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Henri Bergson, Comics, Albert Einstein, and Anarchy

by Leonard Folgarait ($50, HB)

In 1909, renowned artist Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) embarked on a series of stylistic experiments that had a dramatic effect on modern art. This book examines the ways in which Picasso’s art of 1909 intertwines and engages with the larger intellectual framework of his time and sheds light on how the writings of Gertrude Stein, the philosophy of Henri Bergson, the theories of Albert Einstein, and even American comic strips played a role in the development of Picasso’s unique artistic style. With an insightful, interdisciplinary approach that focuses on how European society was grappling with the larger issues of how to conceptualize, write about, and visualize a rapidly modernizing culture, Painting 1909 presents a methodical exploration of Picasso’s stylistic choices and proposes new reasons for the development of radical modernist art that led to Cubism and, eventually, absolute abstraction.

New Expressions in Origami Art: Masterworks from 25 Leading Paper Artists by Meher McArthur ($40, HB)

The trailblazing efforts of Japanese artist Akira Yoshizawa elevated the paper folding to an artform though a variety of non-traditional folding techniques. Artists in other parts of the world took Yoshizawa’s cue and pushed these techniques further and further. The result has been the emergence of many new and surprising sculptural forms created through techniques such as wet folding, curved creasing, tessellating and the application of alternative materials besides paper.

DVDs With Scott Donovan Stalker: Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky ($36.95, Region 2) Deep within the Zone, a bleak and devastated forbidden landscape, lies a mysterious room with the power to grant the deepest wishes of those strong enough to make the hazardous journey there. Desperate to reach it, a scientist and a writer approach the Stalker, one of the few able to navigate the Zone’s menacing terrain, and begin a dangerous trek into the unknown. Andrei Tarkovsky’s second foray into science fiction after Solaris is a surreal and disturbing vision of the future. Hauntingly exploring man’s dreams and desires, and the consequences of realising them, Stalker, adapted from Arkady & Boris Sturgatsky’s novel Roadside Picnic, has been described as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.

Our Kind Of Traitor: Dir. Susanna White

Bored poetry lecturer Perry (Ewan McGregor) & his high-flying lawyer wife, Gail (Naomie Harris) are holidaying in Marrakesh in an attempt to breathe life into their failing relationship. Here they are persuaded to help Dima (Stellan Skjarsgard), a Russian mobster who wants to defect. In classic John le Carré narrative, they soon find themselves squeezed between the Russian Mafia, the British Secret Service & a maverick British spy, Hector (Damian Lewis), who is obsessed with exposing high-ranking UK politicians who are colluding with Russian criminals ($32.95, Region 2)

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Guardian columnist, award-winning teacher, award-winning broadcaster, author, editor, singer, songwriter, producer and public speaker, Phil Beadle knows a bit about leading a life producing good work across a variety of platforms. In this elegantly written book he glides and riffs around the idea of maverick nature, examines the processes of producing good work in creative fields and broaches the techniques that orthodoxies use to silence dissident voices.

The Lighting Designer: What is ‘Good Lighting’? Nigel Levings ($17, PB)

Lighting for the stage is at its best when it goes unnoticed: when the actors’ faces are expressive, the costumes look great, the time & mood of the day are eloquent & the changes are imperceptible. Good lighting is that which integrates itself into the production and stitches the elements together into a seamless whole. From his long experience in the opera houses of the world Nigel Levings describes how a deep knowledge of the science of light, and fine attention to the elements, can transform a production. Good lighting is intelligent lighting. It springs from deep thought about the text and the director’s interpretation of it.

Sex Pistols: Poison in the Machine

by John Scanlan ($35, PB)

John Scanlan considers the Sex Pistols as the first successful art project of their manager, Malcolm McLaren, a vision born out of radical politics, boredom and his deep and unrelenting talent for perverse opportunism. McLaren deliberately set a collision course with establishments, both conservative and countercultural, and succeeded beyond his highest expectations.

Scanlan tells the story of how McLaren’s project – designed, in any case, to fail – foundered on the development of the Pistols into a great rock band and the inconvenient artistic emergence of John Lydon.

Moving between London and New York, and with a fascinating cast of delinquents, petty criminals and misfits, this is not just a book about a band—it is about the times, the ideas, the coincidences and the characters that made punk, that ended with the Sex Pistols—beaten, bloody and overdosed—sensationally self-destructing on stage in San Francisco in January 1978, and that transformed popular culture throughout the world.

Gift Shop

The hills and hedgerows. The farms and furrows. The hoots, tweets, sticks and stiles of the English countryside. Introducing Anorak. A British brand with its heart planted firmly in the great outdoors.

It’s 2017 and time to get those thoughts in order!

Write a novel. Write a poem. Write a speech Keep that dream journal. Keep that reading journal.

Get the kids away from the keyboard.

It’s time!

Prices start at $13

The Fall: Series 3 ($39.95, Region 2)

I must admit I wasn’t sure where The Fall was going to go after the bloody cliffhanger that ended season 2. But Metropolitan Police Superintendent Stella Gibson is back, and still in pursuit of serial killer Paul Spector who survives the bullet from season 2 but is now claiming amnesia triggered by the trauma. Stella is not taken in, but there are others ready to fall under his spell. Some people find the pace of this show a problem—but I like the brooding silences, especially when Gillian Anderson’s Stella is doing the brooding. Viki

The Young Pope: Dir Paolo Sorrentino

Jude Law and Diane Keaton star in this drama that was created and directed by Paolo Sorrentino (Youth, The Great Beauty). Lenny Belardo, aka Pius XIII, is the first American Pope in history. Young and charming, his election might seem the result of a simple & effective media strategy by the College of Cardinals. But, as we know, appearances can be deceptive. Especially in the Vatican, among the people who have chosen the great mystery of God as the guiding light of their existence.

And the most mysterious and contradictory figure of all turns out to be Pius XIII himself, as he tries to walk the long path of human loneliness to find a God for mankind. And for himself. Something for those who enjoyed Robert Harris’ Conclave. ($59.95, Region 2)

POND — Claire-Louise Bennett ‘This is a truly stunning debut, beautifully written and profoundly witty.’ – THE GUARDIAN This collection can be read as 20 mostly interlinked stories or as a novella fractured into 20 parts. It is narrated by a nameless woman living in a small cottage in rural Ireland. While the reader inhabits the narrator’s consciousness, the result is a series of tableaus – funny, acute, melancholy and misanthropic.

EATING OURSELVES SICK — Louise Stephen This is not a diet book.

Stephen shows us how Big Food is picking up where Big Tobacco left off, employing skilful marketing to nudge us towards increasingly processed food.

Meticulously researched and compellingly argued, Eating Ourselves Sick shines a light on the powerful forces that stand between us and a healthy diet.

TO THE SEA — Christine Dibley A dangerous yearning echoes through generations . . .

On a clear summer’s day, seventeen-year-old Zoe Kennett inexplicably vanishes from an idyllic Tasmanian beach house. Four storytellers share their version of what has led to this moment, weaving tales which span centuries and continents.

For fans of Kate Morton and Alice Hoffman, To the Sea is a remarkable saga from debut author Christine Dibley.

SILENCE: Film tie-in — Shusaku Endo Silence is Shusaku Endo’s most highly acclaimed novel and a classic of its genre. It caused major controversy in Japan following its publication in 1967.

Now a major film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.

John: Girl from Venice by Martin what we're reading Cruz—WW2 the Italians are in the process of changing sides, and the Germans are on the retreat. A young Jewish woman escapes the Gestapo and is rescued by a fisherman on the Venetian lagoon. Full of odd characters (like Rick’s Café in Casablanca) including a diplomat’s wife, a forger, helping both Jews and Germans to escape and a famous actor/collaborator.

Entertaining, lots of fun predictably at the expense of the Italian Fascists and Germans ($33). Conclave by Robert Harris—Set in the near future, a Pope dies and a new Pope must be selected by the Cardinals. They gather in Rome with more ambition and agendas than the Australian Senate. Entertaining, with more intrigue and less theology than Morris West.

Robert Harris brings his usual deft touch to makes a compelling narrative with a few unexpected twists ($33) Steve: In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes (1947) The morning paper had columns on the case. It had pictures of the girl, Mildred Atkinson, of the lonely spot in Beverly Glen Canyon where her body was found. The cops were scouring the town now, talking to every man Mildred had known…A quick shot of thought jabbed him. The tires…

Could they get a cast of tire marks from concrete? He doubted it. Certain gambles were legitimate. Like appearing in a lighted place with Mildred.

Gambling on the muddled memory of waitresses and countermen…Risks were spice, as long as you used them like spice, sparingly. He fingered his lip. He could grow a moustache. No reason why he should. He looked like a thousand other men. He’d never been in that drive-in before. He never intended to go again. Risks he took; mistakes he didn’t make.

Dixon ‘Dix’ Steele—returned World War II veteran. A charming, cynical, calculating murderer. Set in post war Los Angeles, Dorothy B. Hughes (1904-1993) novel is a suspenseful first-person narrative of the mind and motives of a serial killer. Dix treads carefully, since his best friend is on the LA Police Department. However, when Dix meets Laurel Gray—a femme fatale with brains—things begin to unravel. In A Lonely Place combines taut, atmospheric prose, unflagging pace and a slow ratcheting up of tension. A unique gem. It also inspired the famous 1950 film of the same name, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame—a film noir classic in its own right—but one which departs almost entirely from the novel in plot.

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1. My Brilliant Friend

Elena Ferrante

2. Everywhere I Look

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3. My Life on the Road

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4. Talking To My Country

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5. The Shepherd’s Life

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6. The Noise of Time

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7. The Natural Way of Things

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8. A Little Life

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9. All the Light We Cannot See

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30. Barkskins

and another thing.....

Welcome to 2017—seems like I blinked, that fantasy reading holiday passed without materialising and it’s back to the monthly deadlines and more books to stack beside the bed. One of those books is Jane Austen, The Secret Radical by Helena Kelly. Released during my down time, this was a browse discovery, and I’ve been reading a chapter a night. It doesn’t take me by surprise that Austen’s books have a political edge—their sexual politics around inheritance and the rights of women are pretty pointed, but Kelly’s book is an eye-opener in terms of Austen’s broader critiques of Georgian society—for instance, I never picked up the anti-slavery thread in Mansfield Park. Even for non-Janeites this is an interesting history of the Britain of Austen’s time. I’ve also been working my way through Secondhand Time, Svetlana Alexievich’s collection of interviews with ex-Soviet citizens living in post-Communist Russia. One can’t help feeling the ‘sovok’ looking back with longing to Stalin and the ‘one truth’ of Pravda has a lot in common with the rust-belt American who votes for a billionaire capitalist promising to get him his well-paid job back and make America great again. I just finished a moving graphic memoir by Marcelino Truong, Such a Lovely Little War, about his childhood in Saigon, 1961 to 1963. It ends with a line that echoes much of the Russian experience with capitalism: 40 years later, Vietnam has opened up and life has become easier, but the spartan heroes of yesterday—or their descendants—have become red capitalists whose unspoken motto is ‘Get rich and forget about politics’.

Trumps everywhere! Meanwhile I’ve got a couple of proofs to savour. I’m halfway through March release, book two of the Keneally’s gentleman convict Hugh Monsarrat series, The Unmourned. Having gained his ticket of leave at the end of The Soldier’s Curse, Hugh and his side-kick Mrs Mulrooney are now living in Parramatta where they are drawn into the investigation of a murder at Parramatta’s notorious Female Factory. I am also looking forward to the first in a new series

by Arnaldur Indridason—The Shadow District. An ex-police detective, Konrad looks into a murder in the present that causes a murder in wartime Reykjavik to resurface—can’t wait. Viki

For more February new releases go to:

Tara Moss Annie Proulx

Main shop—49 Glebe Pt Rd; Ph: (02) 9660 2333, Fax: (02) 9660 3597. Open 7 days, 9am to 9m Thur–Sat; 9am to 7pm Sun–Wed Gleebooks 2nd Hand—191 Glebe Pt Rd; Ph: (02) 9552 2526. Open 7 days, 10am to 7pm Sydney Theatre Shop—22 Hickson Rd Walsh Bay; Open two hours before and until after every performance Blackheath—Shop 1 Collier’s Arcade, Govetts Leap Rd; Ph: (02) 4787 6340. Open 7 days, 9am to 6pm Dulwich Hill—536 Marrickville Rd Dulwich Hill; Ph: (02) 8080 0098. Open 7 days, 9am to 7pm, Sunday 9 to 5 www.gleebooks.com.au. Email: books@gleebooks.com.au; oldbooks@gleebooks.com.au

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