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Body Count: How Climate Change is Killing Us
by Paddy ManningSuddenly, when the country caught fire, people realised what the government has not: that climate change is killing us.But climate deaths didn&’t start in 2019. Medical officers have been warning of a health emergency as temperatures rise for years, and for at least a decade Australians have been dying from the plagues of climate change – from heat, flood, disease, smoke. And now, pandemic.In this detailed, considered, compassionate book, Paddy Manning paints us the big picture. He revisits some headline events which might have faded in our memory – the Brisbane Floods of 2011; Melbourne&’s thunderstorm asthma fatalities of 2016 – and brings to our attention less well-publicised killers: the soil-borne diseases that amplify after a flood; the fact that heat itself has killed more people than all other catastrophes put together. In each case, he has interviewed scientists to explore the link to climate change and asks how – indeed, whether – we can better prepare ourselves in the future.Most importantly, Manning has spoken to survivors and the families of victims, creating a monument to those we have already lost. Donna Rice and her 13-year-old son Jordan. Alison Tenner. The Buchanan family. These are stories of humans at their most vulnerable, and also often at their best. In extremis, people often act to save their loved ones above themselves. As Body Count shows, we are now all in extremis, and it is time to act.Respected journalist Paddy Manning tells these stories of tragedy and loss, heroism and resilience, in a book that is both monument and warning. &‘A climate emergency tour de force.' Dr Bob Brown 'True stories of heroism and unimaginable loss...Body Count is a brilliant exposition of why we must deal with the climate problem now.' Ross Garnaut 'Climate change kills. … Through the accounts of people who have lost so much, Paddy Manning drives home the deeply personal impact of climate change. Governments continue to ignore the impact on climate change on human health at OUR peril. The future of our planet and our future generations depends on everyone playing their part, today.' Professor Kerryn Phelps 'A stunningly powerful call to political leaders everywhere who hear the warnings of the devastating impacts of climate change on health but fail to act.' Dr Helen Haines, independent member for Indi &‘Moving stories of heroic courage and tragic loss. A pause to reflect on the lives lost and how urgently we need change.&’ David Pocock, former Wallabies captain
Esther the Wonder Pig
by Steve Jenkins Derek WalterIn the bestselling tradition of Marley and Me, a funny, heartwarming and inspiring true story of how one adorable little pig changed her owners' lives forever.When an old friend called animal lover Steve Jenkins and begged him to take in an adorable 'micro' piglet, he couldn't say no. Although he knew his partner Derek would be far from thrilled about him adopting yet another stray, the idea of owning a cute little piglet was impossible to resist. Little did he know, that decision would change his and Derek's lives forever.Esther turned out to be beyond adorable but there was nothing 'micro' about her, and Steve and Derek realised that they had signed on to raise a blooming full-sized pig. Within three years, tiny Esther tipped the scales at a whopping 270 kilograms. After some growing pains and a lot of pig-sized messes, Steve and Derek made another life-changing decision: they bought a farm and founded the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary, where they could care for Esther and other animals in need.Esther the Wonder Pig follows Steve and Derek's excellent adventure - from reluctant pig parents to two of the world's most successful and beloved animal rights activists, alongside the magnificent Esther, a social media star with millions of fans around the globe.
Life of the Party
by Bob Kealing'She was one of the most important businesswomen of the 20th century, the prototype for all these Facebook and Google women who are leaning in.' Before Martha Stewart and Mary Kay, there was Brownie Wise, the charismatic Tupperware executive who converted postwar optimism into a record breaking sales engine powered by ordinary housewives. Having started her own business after divorcing her alcoholic husband, the plucky Southern businesswoman caught the eye of Tupperware inventor Earl Tupper, whose plastic containers were collecting dust on store shelves. The now legendary Tupperware Party that Wise popularised, a masterclass in the soft sell, drove Tupperware's sales to stratospheric heights. It also gave poorly educated and economically invisible postwar women, including many African-American women, an acceptable outlet for making their own money for their families - and for being rewarded for their efforts. With the people skills of Dale Carnegie, the looks of Doris Day, and the magnetism of Eva Peron, Wise was as popular among her many devoted followers as she was among the press, and in 1954 she became the first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week. Then, at the height of her success, Earl Tupper fired her under mysterious circumstances, wrote her out of Tupperware's success story, and left her with a pittance. He walked away with a fortune and she disappeared - until now. Originally published as Tupperware Unsealed, Life of the Party is a revised and updated edition perfectly timed to take advantage of this trail-blazing dynamo returning to the spotlight where she belongs.
On the Wagon
by Lennox NicholsonJack Kerouac?s On the Road helped to define freedom for a generation. But when a young recovering alcoholic turned to the Beat classic for inspiration, he saw more warning signs and wreckages than enlightenment and self-discovery. Was that really freedom? Setting off from Australia, Lennox Nicholson retraces the journey of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty but with one crucial twist ? he will try to stay sober. Instead of booze, Benzos and stolen cars he will rely on the generosity of strangers he meets in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Along the way, Nicholson talks freedom with everyone he meets. In comparing his own experiences of excess , indulgence and freedom to that celebrated by the Beat writers, he discovers that the chalk-and-cheese forces of Beat and AA have plenty to learn from one another.
Fashion is Freedom: How a girl from Tehran broke the rules to change her world
by Tala Raassi'Tala's story has had had a powerful impact on my life. She is a woman who will change the world.' - Jesinta CampbellThe inspiring true story of how courage, a dream, and some needle and thread can change a life forever. Even as a little girl, Tala Raassi adored fashion. But in her beloved homeland of Iran, a woman could be punished under Islamic law for exposing her hair in public, let alone wearing the latest trends. Despite the restrictions, Tala developed her keen sense of style at secret parties and backroom cafes. But she never imagined her behaviour would land her in prison and sentenced to forty lashes of the whip - for the crime of wearing a mini-skirt.Rather than breaking her spirit, the punishment fanned the flames of rebellion and inspired Tala to embrace a new freedom in the United States. As Tala developed her own clothing label, her exploration of the creative, cutthroat community of Western fashion opened her eyes to the ups and downs of hard work, hard decisions, and hard truths.Fashion is Freedom takes us on a journey that crosses the globe, from Tehran to Colombia to centre stage at Miss Universe, and inspires women everywhere to be fearless and follow their dreams.
Letter to My Teenage Self
by Grace HalphenMelbourne teenager Grace Halphen had a tough time transitioning to high school - she struggled to make friends and fit in. When she realised that this is a common experience, she wondered why she'd felt so alone. At thirteen, Grace embarked on a project to contact all the Australian public figures she admires, asking them to provide advice to help teenagers navigate the inevitable ups and downs of adolescence.In Letter to My Teenage Self, more than 50 prominent Australians write heartfelt letters to their younger selves, passing on the wisdom they wish they'd had at the time. From learning to laugh at yourself (Adam Gilchrist), realising that the qualities that make you stand out are the ones that make you so rad (Missy Higgins), not letting the negatives shape who you become (Guy Sebastian), practising gratitude (Nathan Buckley), and the reassurance that you'll get over anger about people treating you badly because you'll get better at treating yourself well (Judith Lucy), Letter to My Teenage Self provides inspiration for parents and teenagers alike.Contributors include: Maggie Beer, Chris Judd, Judith Lucy, Matt Tilley, Adam Gilchrist, Jen Cloher, Jackie French, Missy Higgins, Nathan Buckley, Kate Ceberano, Josh Frydenberg, Layne Beachley, Stephanie Rice, David Koch, Guy Sebastian, Alice Pung, Dannii Minogue, Chet Faker, Shaun Tan, Richard Joseph Frankland, Lisa Mitchell, Jo Stanley, Peter Alexander.All profits from the sale of this book go to the REACH FOUNDATION, helping all teenagers reach their full potential.
The Long Run
by Catriona Menzies-PikeNo one ever expected Catriona Menzies- Pike to run a marathon. She hated running, and was a hopeless athlete. When she was twenty her parents died suddenly - and for a decade she was stuck. She started running on a whim, and finally her grief started to move too. Until very recently, it was frowned upon for women to run long distances. Running was deemed unladylike - and probably dangerous. How did women's running go from being suspect to wildly popular? How does a high school klutz become a marathon runner? This fascinating book combines memoir and cultural history to explore the rich and contradictory topic of women and running.
Dinner With Edward
by Isabel Vincent'Everyone deserves her own Edward - and everyone deserves to read this book.'When Isabel meets Edward, both are at a crossroads: he wants to follow his late wife to the grave, and she is ready to give up on love. Thinking she is merely helping Edward's daughter by agreeing to check in on her nonagenarian dad, Isabel has no idea that the man in the kitchen baking the sublime roast chicken and light-as-air apricot soufflé will end up changing her life.As Edward and Isabel meet weekly for the glorious dinners Edward prepares, he shares so much more than his recipes for apple galette, the perfect martini or tips for deboning poultry. Edward is teaching Isabel the luxury of slowing down and taking the time to think through everything she does, to deconstruct her own life, cutting it back to the bone and examining the guts, no matter how messy that proves to be.Dinner with Edward is a book about love and nourishment, sorrow and joy, and about how dinner with a friend can, in the words of M.F.K. Fisher, 'sustain us against the hungers of the world'.
Adventures of a Wonky Eyed Boy
by Jason ByrneIt was a time when your brother persuaded you to eat the grease behind the cooker by telling you it was caramel, your house was blown up by lightning, your dad mixed up the toothpaste and the 'arse-cream', and you fell asleep on Sunday nights to the sound of one of the neighbours - who were all named Paddy - drunkenly singing 'Magic Moments' in the good front room. All of this while trying to stop your wonky eye from giving the game away.With illustrations by the award-winning Nicky Phelan, Jason Byrne's Adventures of a Wonky-eyed Boy is a unique memoir capturing the childhood adventures of an accident-prone youngster in suburban Ireland. It's like Angela's Ashes on amphetamines!
The Green Bell
by Paula KeoghIt’s 1972 in Canberra. Michael Dransfield is being treated for a drug addiction; Paula Keogh is delusional and grief-stricken. They meet in a psychiatric unit of the Canberra Hospital and instantly fall in love. Paula recovers a self that she thought was lost; Michael, a radical poet, is caught up in a rush of creative energy and writes poems that become The Second Month of Spring. Together, they plan for ‘a wedding, marriage, kids – the whole trip’. But outside the hospital walls, madness, grief and drugs challenge their luminous dream. Can their love survive? The Green Bell is a lyrical and profoundly moving story about love and madness. It explores the ways that extreme experience can change us: expose our terrors and open us to ecstasy for the sake of a truer life, a reconciliation with who we are. Ultimately, the memoir reveals itself to be a hymn to life. A requiem for lost friends. A coming of age story that takes a lifetime.
Juliet's Answer
by Glenn DixonIn fair Verona, where we lay our scene ...When Glenn Dixon is spurned by love, he packs his bags for Verona, the setting for Shakespeare's most famous love story, Romeo and Juliet. Determined to heal his heartbreak by helping others, he becomes the lone male in a dedicated team of secretaries who answer letters from thousands of lovelorn people around the world on behalf of 'Juliet'. Although he has firsthand experience of heartbreak and has taught Shakespeare for decades, at first Glenn struggles with how he can advise others yearning to understand the mysteries of the heart. But as he learns from his fellow letter writers about life and love, he comes to realise he has a lot of learning to do about himself, about heartbreak - and about Shakespeare's two fictional lovers. He also learns that the letters have the power to transform lives, his own included. An irresistible modern-day love story set against the backdrop of one of the most enduring love stories of all time, Juliet's Answer will warm your heart long after the last page.
One Italian Summer: Across The World And Back In Search Of The Good Life
by Pip WilliamsPip and Shannon dreamed of living the good life. They wanted to slow down, grow their own food, and spend more time with the people they love. But jobs and responsibilities got in the way: their chooks died, their fruit rotted, and Pip ended up depressed and in therapy. So they did the only reasonable thing – they quit their jobs, pulled the children out of school and went searching for la dolce vita in Italy. One Italian Summer is a warm, funny and often poignant story of a family’s search for a better way of living in the homes and on the farms of strangers. Pip sleeps in a woodshed, feasts under a Tuscan sun, works like a tractor in Calabria and, eventually, finds her dream – though it’s not at all the one she expected.
Letters of Love
by Alannah & Madeline FoundationThe Port Arthur massacre was one of Australia's darkest days. But it also brought out the best in Australians who united in support of gun control reforms and sent messages of love and compassion to strangers affected by the tragedy. One year later Walter Mikac launched the Alannah & Madeline Foundation in memory of his daughters Alannah and Madeline Mikac, aged 6 and 3, who were tragically killed with their mother and 32 others that day.Letters of Love was created by the Foundation with the aim of sending messages of love and support back into the community. Featuring more than 50 celebrities and public figures writing about love in all its shapes and sizes - from romance to platonic love, familial love to a love of music, nature or social media - Letters of Love is a delightful and life affirming testament to the power of the human spirit.All proceeds from sales of the book will go to the Alannah & Madeline Foundation.
The Other Mother
by Kelly ChandlerFor Kelly, meeting the right guy was pretty straightforward – becoming a ‘spare mum’ to his two sons was more daunting. It had taken long enough to get on with her own stepmum, and now Kelly suddenly found herself sharing responsibility for two mini-humans. Her party days gave way to early starts, jokes about farts, games of hide-and-seek, and delicate negotiations with her partner’s ex and a cast of many. When Kelly got pregnant, stitching together the patchwork quilt of their new tribe became even trickier. In this brilliantly funny, deeply insightful and moving memoir, Kelly tells how her whole life changed when she became a stepdaughter, how it changed again when she became a stepmum, and how blended families rock her world. ‘A pleasure to read, effortless and brilliant like the diary entries of Helen Garner. You’ll find yourself deeply in love with the family she has helped create.’ Anna Krien
Wish You Were Here
by Sheridan JobbinsA Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.
Get Up Mum
by Justin HeazlewoodIt?s 1992 in Burnie, Tasmania and 12-year-old Justin lives alone with his mum. When she is well, Mum is perfect. She knows he likes his carrots raw and his toast cooled, and she knows how to sooth his growing pains. But when she is sick she cries uncontrollably and never gets out of bed. High school is on the horizon and Justin is bursting with adolescent energy. But his mum?s mental illness hangs over him like a shadow and he feels the need to grow up fast. Told with youthful exuberance, Get Up Mum is a wildly endearing, entertaining and incredibly powerful memoir about love, family, and coming-of-age.
High Life of Oswald Watt: Australia's First Military Pilot
by Chris Clark‘Father of the Flying Corps’ and ‘Father of Australian Aviation’ were two of the unofficial titles conferred on Oswald (“Toby”) Watt when he died in tragic circumstances shortly after the end of the First World War. He had become the Australian Army’s first qualified pilot in 1911, but spent the first 18 months of the war with the French Air Service, the Aéronautique Militaire , before arranging a rare transfer to the Australian Imperial Force. Already an experienced combat pilot, he rose quickly through the ranks of the Australian Flying Corps, becoming a squadron leader and leading his unit at the battle of Cambrai, then commander of No 1 Training Wing with the senior AFC rank of lieutenant colonel. These were elements in a colourful and at times romantic career long exciting interest and attention—not just during Wat’s lifetime but in the interval since his death nearly a century ago. His name had been rarely out of Australian newspapers for more than a decade before the war, reflecting his wealthy lifestyle and extensive and influential social and political connections. But this focus has enveloped Watt’s story with an array of false and misleading elements verging on mythology. For the first time, this book attempts to establish the true story of Watt’s life and achievements, and provide a proper basis for evaluating his place in Australian history.
Rounds Complete: An Artillery Forward Observer in Vietnam
by Steve GowerIn 1966, Steve Gower, a young gunner captain in the 101st Field Battery, was sent to Vietnam. He would serve in what is arguably Australia’s most controversial war in the dangerous role of forward observer with the 5th and 6th battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment. The definition of his role stated simply that he was to provide ‘timely, accurate and effective fire support’, his task to guide the guns of the Australian artillery, sited many kilometres away, in providing deadly firepower to support the soldiers who battled both the jungle and its shadowy inhabitants. Gower would learn quickly that the definition omitted to mention the terror and nerve-jangling tension of jungle warfare he was to experience as a forward observer. In Rounds Complete, Gower describes living the life of an infantry soldier, tramping the ground and joining his infantry mates in a variety of operations including search and destroy, cordon and search, heliborne and road-protection operations and company patrols from forward operating bases. He describes the inevitable boredom and monotony of the routine, contrasting this with the heightened senses of the men as they prepared to move forward with the ‘safety catch off’, the nervous anticipation of what might lie ahead, the exhilaration and, above all, the camaraderie. Gower is positive about his time in Vietnam and, perhaps surprisingly for one who saw action in this contentious war, is supportive of Australia's commitment, referring to the conflict as the last time the Army was permitted the ‘unfettered, all-arms prosecution of a war’. Rounds Complete is a frank and compelling tribute to men who served just as nobly as their AIF predecessors but, until recent times, were denied their nation’s gratitude. Their fight for understanding continues.
Blood on the Rosary
by Sue Smethurst Margaret HarrodA heartfelt, brave and inspiring memoir about the power of speaking out A brave nun. Her twin brother. The secrets and lies that would tear them apart. There is a special bond that twins share, an ethereal connection that can’t be put into words. Margaret Harrod shared that unique bond with her twin brother Michael. As children they were inseparable and at age 22, together they gave their lives to the Catholic Church. Margaret became a nun and Michael a Salesian priest – it was the proudest day of their deeply religious parents' lives. Margaret cherishes those carefree childhood memories because the brother she adored is now in jail. Father Michael Aulsebrook pleaded guilty to multiple charges of molesting children, some as young as seven. And the unlikely whistleblower was his courageous twin sister. It cost Margaret everything, but she couldn’t stay silent any longer about the damage her brother was wreaking in his community. Margaret knows of that damage firsthand, having had that trust betrayed herself.Blood on the Rosary is Margaret's story – how she sacrificed everything she held dear in the pursuit of the truth, and how she bravely fought her church and her community to bring paedophile priests to justice.'Margaret Harrod's compelling life experience is a truth we all need to understand' Chrissie Foster, author of Hell on the Way to Heaven
Note to Self
by Connor Franta<P>In his New York Times bestselling memoir, A Work in Progress, Connor Franta shared his journey from small-town Midwestern boy to full-fledged Internet sensation. Exploring his past with humor and astounding insight, Connor reminded his fans of why they first fell in love with him on YouTube—and revealed to newcomers how he relates to his millions of dedicated followers. <P>Now, two years later, Connor is ready to bring to light a side of himself he’s rarely shown on or off camera. In this diary-like look at his life since A Work In Progress, Connor talks about his battles with clinical depression, social anxiety, self-love, and acceptance; his desire to maintain an authentic self in a world that values shares and likes over true connections; his struggles with love and loss; and his renewed efforts to be in the moment—with others and himself. <P>Told through short essays, letters to his past and future selves, poetry, and original photography, Note to Self is a raw, in-the-moment look at the fascinating interior life of a young creator turning inward in order to move forward. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
A Forger's Tale: Confessions of the Bolton Forger
by Shaun GreenhalghIn 2007, Bolton Crown Court sentenced Shaun Greenhalgh to four years and eight months in prison for the crime of producing artistic forgeries. Working out of a shed in his parents' garden, Greenhalgh had successfully fooled some of the world's greatest museums. During the court case, the breadth of his forgeries shocked the art world and tantalised the media. What no one realised was how much more of the story there was to tell.Written in prison, A Forger's Tale details Shaun's notorious career and the extraordinary circumstances that led to it. From Leonardo drawings to L.S. Lowry paintings, from busts of American presidents to Anglo-Saxon brooches, from cutting-edge Modernism to the ancient art of the Stone Age, Greenhalgh could - and did - copy it all. Told with great wit and charm, this is the definitive account of Britain's most successful and infamous forger, a man whose love for art saturates every page of this extraordinary memoir.
Ann Hannah, My (Un)Remarkable Grandmother: A Psychological Biography
by Betty MclellanAnn Hannah was an ordinary, no-nonsense, practical woman. While a constant and caring presence in the life of her granddaughter Betty McLellan, she remained emotionally distant.In an effort to understand her grandmother, Betty has used Ann Hannah's everyday expressions as a starting point to uncover the truth about her life. These words and phrases, heard countless times during Betty's childhood, are the clues to a life that, like those of many working-class women in the early 1900s, was fraught with challenges and difficulties and ignored by historians.What did Ann Hannah mean when she said that she was forced to migrate to Australia from England in the 1920s? Why did she remember her husband as a ‘wickid' man? How did she cope with the death of those close to her, including her own son? How did she manage to overcome the struggles and disappointments that punctuated her life?Written with a sharp feminist consciousness that displays both compassion and intellect, this astute psychological biography tells the story of a resilient woman who, when placed in circumstances beyond her control, managed to live a good life. It provides valuable insight into the lives of many (un)remarkable women whose lives may have gone unnoticed but whose experiences shed so much light on the realities faced by women throughout the 1900s.
Making Trouble (Tongued with Fire): An Imagined History of Harriet Elphinstone Dick and Alice C Moon
by Sue IngletonIn the winter of 1875, two rebellious spirits travel from England to Australia. Harriet Rowell (age 22) and Alice Moon (age 18) were champion swimmers in a time when women didn't go into the sea; and they were in love in a time when many women were in love with each other but held such love secretly. Harriet and Alice took on the world at a dangerous time for women's freedom of expression, but their love ended when Alice moved to Sydney to become a writer. Before Harriet can get over her grief from the breakup, tragedy strikes; Alice is found dead in her bed at thirty-seven. Suspicions rest upon the powerful, chauvinistic scientist, John McGarvie Smith, with whom Alice had been working in her newfound capacity as a journalist. This book seeks to uncover the truth of Alice's death and seek justice.
Portrait of the Artist's Mother: Dignity, Creativity and Disability
by Fiona PlaceI am seen by many as a danger. As having failed to understand the new rules, the new paradigm of successful motherhood. In this eye-opening book, Fiona Place describes what it is like to be the mother of a son with Down syndrome. She takes us from her pregnancy—and the urging of medical professionals to undergo screening—to the multiple challenges she faced as she did her utmost to ensure her son had every opportunity to grow and learn. We share her distress at the treatment of her family by many so-called experts; we share her appreciation for those people who reached out to Fraser and showed him care and compassion; we share her frustration at the obstacles she faces as a mother who just wants the best for her son. We also share her joy as we witness Fraser become a successful award-winning artist. This is a story of courage, love, and commitment to the idea that all people, including those who are 'less than perfect', have a right to be welcomed into this increasingly imperfect world.
Karu: Growing Up Gurindji
by Felicity Meakins Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal Violet Wadrill Biddy Wavehill YamawurrGurindji country is located in the southern Victoria River in the Northern Territory of Australia. Gurindji people became well known in the 1960s and 1970s due to their influence on Australian politics and the Indigenous land rights movement. They were instrumental in gaining equal wages for Aboriginal cattle station employees and they were also the first Aboriginal group to recover control of their traditional lands.In Karu, Gurindji women describe their child-rearing practices. Some have a spiritual basis, while others are highly practical in nature, such as the use of bush medicines. Many Gurindji ways of raising children contrast with non-Indigenous practices because they are deeply embedded in an understanding of country and family connections. This book celebrates children growing up Gurindji and honours those Gurindji mothers, grandmothers, assistant teachers and health workers who dedicate their lives to making that possible.