Autumn 2010 - Hill of Content Bookshop

ILL OF
CONTEN
T
BOOKS HOP
M E L B O U R N E & S Y D N E Y
AUTUMN CATALOGUE 2010

ILL OF CONTEN
T
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Cover image: “Every Day In Tuscany” – Frances Mayes

Travel
Every Day in Tuscany
Frances Mayes
PB $34.95
In this new memoir Mayes offers her readers
another deeply personal account of her presentday
life in Tuscany, encompassing both the
changes she has experienced since Under the
Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany appeared and
sensuous, evocative reflections on the timeless,
unchanging beauty and simple pleasures of
Italian life.
A Taste of Venice: At
Table with Brunetti
Donna Leon &
Roberta Pianaro
PB $39.95
In A Taste of Venice,
Roberta Pianaro invites
readers to learn how to
prepare for themselves
the delicious meals Paola
Brunetti prepares for her
family. We are given the
secrets to Brunetti’s
favourite dish (penne
rigate), Paola’s famous apple cake, a lasagne recipe
from Brunetti’s mother, Donna Leon’s favourite
meal (risotto di zucca) and a host of other
sumptuous and authentic Italian classics.
Taschen’s Berlin
Angelika Taschen
HB $75.00
Angelika Taschen has
produced an
insider’s guide to the
best of Berlin, with
recommended
hotels, shops,
restaurants, cafes,
and bars. Now
everyone can
experience the
German capital like a true Berliner – the tastiest
cuisine, the hippest, most intriguing stores, and the
sleekest accommodations – they’re all listed here.
Blue River, Black Sea
Andrew Eames
PB $26.95
The Danube is Europe’s
Amazon. It flows through
more countries than any
other river on Earth –
from the Black Forest in
Germany to Europe’s
farthest fringes, where it
joins the Black Sea in
Romania. Andrew Eames’
journey along its length
brings us face to face
with the Continent’s bloodiest history and its most
pressing issues of race and identity.
Markets of New
York City
Karen Seiger
PB $26.95
This is the
comprehensive
guide to the rich and
diverse markets of
New York City:
antique and flea
markets, artisan
markets, farmers’
markets, seasonal
markets and more. Some are traditional, where
you’ll find some of the most sophisticated food in
the city; while others are hip and edgy.

Australian
So Greek
Niki Savva
PB $35.00
From one of the most
senior correspondents in
the Canberra Press Gallery
comes a rare account of life
as a political insider. In
1997, after a family
tragedy, Niki Savva was
forced to reassess her
career. In spite of her own
Labor convictions, she
became Liberal treasurer Peter Costello’s press
secretary, a role that she kept for six years before
moving on to join John Howard’s staff.
The River
Chris Hammer
PB $34.99
Chris Hammer takes us on
a journey through
Australia’s heartland,
following the rivers of the
Murray-Darling Basin,
recounting his experiences
and the stories of the
people he meets along the
way. It’s a journey
punctuated with laughter, sadness and reflection.
The River looks past the daily news reports and
their sterile statistics, revealing the true impact of
our rivers’ decline.
Australian Voices
John Thompson
HB $49.95
Australian Voices
presents a broad social
history of Colonial
Australian life, focusing
on the ordinary and
the every day, through
the words of
Australians of the time
and a handful of
visitors. This
atmospheric anthology comprises letters and diary
entries, memoirs and reminiscences – supported by
photographs, etchings and paintings – drawn from
the period up to the end of the First World War.
Malcolm Fraser: The
Political Memoirs
Malcolm Fraser &
Margaret Simons
HB $59.99
The story of a shy boy who
was raised to be seen and
not heard, yet grew to
become one of the most
persistent, insistent and
controversial political voices
of our times. From the
Vietnam War to the Dismissal and his years as Prime
Minister, through to his many disputes with the
Howard Government, Fraser emerges as an enduring
liberal, constantly reinterpreting core values to meet
the needs of changing times.
Breaking News:
The Golden Age of
Graham Perkin
Ben Hills
HB $59.95
It is now more than 30 years
since Graham Perkin’s
tragically premature death,
but his legacy lives on in
every corner of the Australian
media. In his nine years at the
helm of The Age, he
transformed a venerable but moribund rag into a paper
regularly voted one of the world’s 10 best broadsheets.
He changed forever the way that the media looks at
society, and the way that people relate to the media.
Listening to Country
Ros Moriarty
PB $32.99
The moving and personal
story of one woman’s
journey into the remote
and rugged Tanami Desert
with the matriarchs of her
husband’s family. Ros
Moriarty is a white woman
married to an Aboriginal
man. Full of warmth,
honesty and insight,
Listening to Country shares a rare and vivid
insight into the lives, wisdom, humour and
difficulties of the lives of Aboriginal women – right
here, right now.

Australian Fiction
Below the Styx
Michael Meehan
PB $29.99
How on earth does
Marcus Clarke, a
brilliant young
Englishman – author of
For the Term of His
Natural Life – stranded
on the far side of the
world and dead for
more than a century,
get himself mixed up
in a murder in exclusive, modern day Toorak? A
challenging, amusing, and intriguing novel about
reading, writing and thinking ... and many other
things besides.
The Norseman’s Song
Joel Deane
PB $32.99
An ancient man without a past
hails a taxi driven by a petty
criminal with no future.
Reluctantly, the pair embarks
on a journey in search of a
legendary whaler and
murderer known only as the
Norseman. This is a one-way
trip, but who’s taking who for
a ride? A stylish blend of
gothic mystery and modern crime noir, Joel Deane
creates a violent and lyrical vision of contemporary
Australia.
Nineteen
Seventysomething
Barry Divola
PB $24.95
In the fictional suburb of
Braithwaite, we meet
Charlie during the listless
weeks of his summer
holidays. Against a
backdrop of buzzing
cicadas, Dragstar bikes,
schoolboy rock bands,
church youth groups and Top 40 radio, Barry Divola
deftly evokes that awkward, exhilarating journey from
childhood to adolescence. Told with humour,
poignancy and authenticity and marking the familiar
stages of teenage awakening.
Gravel
Peter Goldsworthy
PB $29.95
A mediocre man is pulled
into a strange dance with
his stalker. A father gives his
daughter a Christmas
present with a disturbing
history. An ugly sports
parent plays a game of
ridiculous chance. A young
boy’s music lesson offers
him a discordant insight
into adult behaviour.
Compulsively readable, pitch-perfect in mood, the
eight stories in Gravel ponder the forces that can
wear down a marriage, darken desire and lead
people to thwart their best intentions.
Under Stones
Bob Franklin
PB $24.95
Under Stones are uneasy
tales, set in familiar
surrounds. They are
journeys into the human
psyche and powerful
critiques of
contemporary Australian
society. Bob Franklin
pokes and prods at
human fears and foibles,
revealing with forensic glee truths that you might
prefer were, well, left under stones.
Keeping Faith
Roger Averill
PB $29.95
Josh and Gracie cherish
their father, a lay preacher
and their mother, but for
Josh the complex secrets,
doubts and subtleties of
the world do not allow for
certainty. In adulthood he
works as a labour ward
attendant, his younger
sister Gracie as a nurse on a remote mission station
in Papua New Guinea. While Josh’s conviction
falters, the unfailing faith of his sister leads to tragic
consequences.

Fiction
Major Pettigrew’s
Last Stand
Helen Simonson
PB $32.99
Major Ernest Pettigrew
(retired) leads a quiet life
in a small rural English
village, where he values
the proper things that
Englishmen have treasured
for generations. The Major
takes pleasure in his wellorganised
and rational life
until he finds out that his patronising son and the
kind, yet interfering ladies of the village, seem to
have their own, rather special plans for him.
So Much for That
Lionel Shriver
PB $32.99
All his life Shep Knacker
has dreamed of leaving
New York and living in
simplicity in the Third
World. On the very day that
he announces he is leaving,
his wife informs him that
she needs his health
insurance money. Despite
having insurance coverage,
the astronomically
expensive treatments systematically deplete their
nest egg and this once well-off businessman hurtles
towards bankruptcy. Shriver’s new novel takes a
hard look at America’s health-care system and asks:
how much money is one human life worth?
The Strange Case of
the Composer and his
Judge
Patricia Duncker
PB $29.99
Hunters on their way
home through a forest in
the Jura stumble upon a
half-circle of dead bodies
lying in the freshly fallen
snow. A nearby holiday
chalet contains the debris
of a seemingly ordinary Christmas: champagne,
decorations, presents for the dead children. The
hunters are questioned and sent away. This literary
thriller is a metaphysical mystery of astonishing
verve and power.
Hotel Iris
Yoko Ogawa
PB $32.95
In a crumbling seaside hotel
on the coast of Japan, quiet
17-year-old Mari works the
front desk as her mother
tends to the off-season
customers. A sophisticated
observer of human desire,
she sees in one guest, a
proud if threadbare
translator, something she has
long been looking for. This award-winning author
returns with the twisted tale of an affair between a
young woman and a mysterious translator.
In Other Rooms,
Other Wonders
Daniyal Mueenuddin
PB $23.99
Passing from the mannered
drawing rooms of
Pakistan’s cities to the
harsh mud villages beyond,
Daniyal Mueenuddin’s
linked stories describe the
interwoven lives of an
aging feudal landowner, his
servants and managers and
his extended family, industrialists who have lost
touch with the land.
Mr Rosenblum’s List
Natasha Solomons
HB $29.99
Jack Rosenblum is five foot
three and a half inches of
sheer tenacity. Through
study and application he
intends to become a Very
English Gentleman. Jack is
compiling a comprehensive
guide to the manners,
customs and habits of his
new home. And he never speaks German, apart from
the occasional curse. Assimilation, he’s convinced, is
the secret of success. But the war’s been over for
eight years and despite his best efforts, his bid to
blend in remains fraught with unexpected hurdles.

Fiction
Alone in Berlin
Hans Fallada
PB $26.95
This never-beforetranslated
masterpiece is
based on a true story. It
presents a richly
detailed portrait of life
in Berlin under the
Nazis and tells the
sweeping saga of one
working-class couple
who decides to take a
stand when their only son is killed at the front.
“The greatest book ever written about German
resistance to the Nazis.” – Primo Levi
Trespass
Rose Tremain
PB $32.95
In an isolated stone
farmhouse lives Aramon
Lunel, an alcoholic so
haunted by his violent past
that he’s become
incapable of all meaningful
action, letting his hunting
dogs starve and his land go
to ruin. Meanwhile, his
sister, Audrun, alone in her
modern bungalow, dreams of exacting retribution for
the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life.
Trespass is a thrilling novel about disputed territory,
sibling love and devastating revenge.
Beatrice and Virgil
Yann Martel
PB $32.95
When Henry receives a
letter from an elderly
taxidermist, it poses a
puzzle that he cannot
resist. As he is pulled
further into the world of
this strange and
calculating man, Henry
becomes increasingly
involved with the lives of
a donkey and a howler
monkey – named Beatrice and Virgil – and the epic
journey they undertake together. This brilliant new
novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey.
Solar
Ian McEwan
PB $32.95
Michael Beard is a Nobel
prize-winning physicist
whose best work is behind
him. Trading on his
reputation, he speaks for
enormous fees and lends
his name to the letterheads
of renowned scientific
institutions. When Beard’s
professional and personal
worlds collide in a freak
accident, an opportunity presents itself for Beard to
extricate himself from his marital mess, reinvigorate
his career and save the world from environmental
disaster.
Point Omega
Don Delillo
PB $29.99
Richard Elster was a
scholar when he was
called to a meeting with
government war planners,
asked to apply ideas and
principles to such matters
as troop deployment and
counterinsurgency. Now at
the end of his service
Elster has retreated to the
desert, “somewhere south of nowhere,” in search of
space and time. There he is joined by a filmmaker, Jim
Finley, intent on documenting his experience.
Both Ways is the
Only Way I Want It
Maile Meloy
PB $27.95
Caught between
opposing forces –
fidelity and desire,
impulse and security,
innocence and
experience – Meloy’s
unforgettable characters
have each reached a fork
in the road. But what
kind of fool wants it only
one way? These eleven stories are funny, sly and
sparkling with energy. Both Ways is the Only Way I
Want It is a joyous read.

History
The Thirties: An
Intimate History
Juliet Gardiner
HB $59.99
A fresh perspective on
the 1930s – that restless,
uncertain, ambitious
decade – bringing the
complex experience of
thirties Britain alive
through newspapers,
magazines, memoirs,
letters, diaries and
interviews. Gardiner
captures the essence of a people mesmerised by
“modernism” . Yet, at the same time, this was a
nation imbued with a pervasive awareness of loss.
For the Soul
of France
Frederick Brown
HB $45.00
An ambitious, farreaching
book about the
forces that led up to the
twilight years of the 19th
century when France
was forced to cede the
border states of Alsace
and Lorraine, and of the
resulting civil war, waged
without restraint, that
toppled Napoléon III,
crushed the Paris Commune and provoked a
dangerous nationalism that gripped the Republic.
Enlightened
Eccentrics
Robert Spillane
PB $24.99
This book is a
declaration of respect
and admiration for the
philosophers who had
the courage to publicly
use their reason in the
service of truth.
Threatened and
attacked in their time,
they are today ignored
or ridiculed by those who fear or wish to suppress
the truths of human existence.
On The
Spartacus Road
Peter Stothard
HB $39.99
In this original work,
Peter Stothard retraces
the journey taken by
Spartacus and his army of
rebels, taking us back to
an ancient world which
confronted similar issues
to those we face today –
the perils of religious
belief, the comfort of
organised religion the virtues of public life.
The Seven Ages
of Britain
David Dimbleby
HB $65.00
A fascinating story of
how British art
reflects British history.
Beginning with the
mysterious Pictish
carvings and Roman
mosaics that reveal
the legacy of Britain’s
many invaders, David
Dimbleby guides us through the seven ages of
Britain, from the riches of the Middle Ages, to the
innovation of the Restoration.
Dancing to the
Precipice
Caroline Moorehead
PB $27.95
Lucie de la Tour du Pin
was the Pepys of her
generation: her diaries
provide a vivid picture
of Versailles, the French
Revolution and
Napoleon. This richly
textured, highly
enjoyable and evocative
biography shows us an
extraordinary woman in the midst of her
extraordinary times.

Choose Your
Weapons
Douglas Hurd
HB $69.99
In this book Hurd looks
at 200 years of
arguments, successes
and failures in the
British Foreign Service,
such as the dramatic
antagonism after
Waterloo between
Canning (liberal,
populist, interventionist)
and Castlereagh
(institutions, compromise, real politics) – the last
occasion on which ministerial colleagues fought a
duel.
Renaissance
Florence on Five
Florin a Day
Charles FitzRoy
HB $35.00
This fascinating guide
provides all the
practical advice you
need for a journey back
to the golden age of
one of Europe’s great
cultural cities. This witty
book will appeal to
travellers, museumgoers
or anyone who
wonders what it would really have been like to
visit this model of Renaissance culture.
History
Empires of the
Silk Road
Christopher Beckwith
HB $59.95
The first complete
history of Central
Eurasia from ancient
times to the present day,
Empires of the Silk
Road represents a
fundamental rethinking
of the origins, history
and significance of this
major world region.
Yalta: The Price
of Peace
Serhii Plokhy
HB $49.95
A major new history of
the eight days in
February 1945 when
FDR, Churchill and
Stalin decided the fate
of the world. In this
landmark book, a gifted
Harvard historian puts
you in the room with
Churchill, Stalin and
Roosevelt as they meet at a climactic turning point
in the war to hash out the terms of the peace.
Carthage Must Be
Destroyed: The
Rise and Fall of an
Ancient Civilization
Richard Miles
HB $59.95
The devastating
struggle to the death
between the
Carthaginians and
Romans was one of the
defining dramas of the
Ancient World.
Drawing on a wealth of
new archaeological research, Richard Miles makes
Carthage vivid as it has never been before.
Marcus Aurelius:
Warrior,
Philosopher,
Emperor
Frank McLynn
PB $29.95
Marcus Aurelius is the one
great figure of antiquity
who still speaks to us
today, nearly 2,000 years
after his death. A
philosopher as well as an
emperor, his was an
extraordinary reign. He proved himself a great
leader and his book Meditations remains one of
the most widely read classical books.

Military History
The Anzac Book
AWM
HB $49.95
Few books have ever
been produced under
such harsh conditions
as The Anzac Book.
Created by soldiers
under enemy fire and
in extreme hardship,
the illustrations,
stories, cartoons and
poems were intended
as a Christmas and
New Year diversion for soldiers facing a harsh
winter in the trenches.
The Pacific
Hugh Ambrose
PB $34.95
Between America’s
retreat from China in late
November 1941 and the
moment General
MacArthur’s airplane
touched down on the
Japanese mainland in
August 1945, five men
connected by
happenstance fought the
key battles of the war
against Japan. In The Pacific, Hugh Ambrose
focuses on the real-life stories of these five men.
Anzac Fury
Peter Thompson
HB $49.95
A riveting story of how
the legendary Anzac
Corps was reformed in
the heat of battle
during World War II to
fight a powerful and
merciless foe.
Dramatically combining
personal memories
with combat action,
Anzac Fury gives voice
to the experiences of young Australians and New
Zealanders who were sent on Churchill’s orders
from the victorious battlefields of Libya on a
disastrous mission to Greece and Crete.
Maritime Dominion
and the Triumph of
the Free World
Peter Padfield
PB $32.99
In this final volume of
his masterful trilogy,
Peter Padfield carries the
theme through the
terrible wars of the last
century to the present,
“offering up sea battles
as vivid as any you will
find in Patrick O’Brien.”
– Wall Street Journal
Beneath Hill 60
Will Davies
PB $34.95
Beneath the killing
fields of the Western
Front, another war was
taking place, a deadly
game 30 metres down,
played between
thousands of troops.
These were not
infantrymen but miners
and their mutual goal
was to tunnel beneath
‘no man’s land’, under the opposing lines and
destroy the German enemy from below.
Diggers and Greeks
Maria Hill
HB $59.95
This compelling book
combines details of the
campaigns with an
account of the response
of Greeks and Cretans
to the Allied forces on
their soil. It reveals the
personal relations that
developed between
Australian soldiers and
Greek civilians and
soldiers; these were sometimes hostile but in other
cases developed into friendships that lasted
decades after the war had finished.

Biography
Cheever: A Life
Blake Bailey
PB $28.95
John Cheever spent
much of his career
impersonating a perfect
suburban gentleman, the
better to become one of
the foremost chroniclers
of post war America.
Written with
unprecedented access to
essential sources –
including Cheever’s
massive journal. Bailey’s
Cheever is a stunning example of the biographer’s
art and a brilliant tribute to an essential author.
Lesley Blanch
Anne Boston
HB $65.00
Lesley Blanch was an
artist to her fingertips, a
writer, a traveller, a
bohemian: a talented
illustrator who became
Vogue’s maverick arts
correspondent and a fine
film writer. Vivid, yet
elusive, she hid as much
as she revealed and left a
legend behind her.
The Life of
Iréne Nemirovsky
Oliver Philipponnat
PB $35.00
This is a remarkable,
panoramic biography of
the author of Suite
Française, a moving
portrait of a woman and
of her extraordinary
times, and a sweeping
saga of a turbulent
period of European
history, holding up a
mirror to the world of publishing, intellectual
thought, society and the darker shadow of
prejudice between the wars.
Lives Like Loaded
Guns: Emily
Dickinson and Her
Family’s Feuds
Lyndall Gordon
PB $35.00
Though in her lifetime
only ten of Emily
Dickinson’s poems were
published, her death
revealed 1,800 poems,
many of them in handsewn
booklets, secreted
in a locked chest. She is
now regarded as one of the greatest poets.
The Last Empress
Hannah Pakula
HB $69.99
Beautiful, powerful and
sexy, Madame Chiang
Kai-shek was at the
centre of one of the
great dramas of the
twentieth century: the
founding of modern
China. An epic
historical tapestry, this
beautifully wrought
narrative revolves
around a fascinating, manipulative woman and
her family.
The Shaking Woman
or a History of
My Nerves
Siri Hustvedt
HB $35.00
While speaking at a
memorial event for her
father in 2006, Siri
Hustvedt suffered a
violent seizure from the
neck down. Despite her
flapping arms and
shaking legs, she
continued to speak clearly and was able to finish
her speech. It was as if she had suddenly become
two people: a calm orator and a shuddering wreck.
Then the seizures happened again and again.

Science
Seeing Further:
The Story of
Science and the
Royal Society
Bill Bryson
HB $49.99
Published to mark its
350th anniversary,
this highly illustrated
book celebrates the
Royal Society’s vast
achievements in its
illustrious past as
well as its huge
contribution to the development of modern
science.
The Hidden Brain
Shankar Vedantam
PB $35.00
From a Washington Post
columnist comes an
original and deeply
engaging investigation
into the role of the
hidden brain – the parts
of the mind concealed
from conscious
awareness but
responsible for
controlling decision
making.
The Immortal Life
of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
PB $34.99
Her name was Henrietta
Lacks, but scientists
know her as HeLa. She
was a poor black
tobacco farmer who
worked the same land
as her slave ancestors,
yet her cells – taken
without her
knowledge – became one of the most important
tools in modern medicine. Taken in 1951, these
cells became the first immortal human cell line
ever grown in culture.
Requiem for
A Species
Clive Hamilton
PB $24.99
Sometimes facing up
to the truth is just
too hard. This book
is about the frailties
of the human
species: our strange
obsessions, our
hubris and our
penchant for
avoiding the facts. It
is the story of a battle within us between the
forces that should have caused us to protect the
earth.
Trying Leviathan
D. Graham Burnett
PB $36.95
In Trying Leviathan, D.
Graham Burnett recovers
the strange story of
Maurice v. Judd, an 1818
trial that pitted the new
sciences of taxonomy
against the thenpopular
– and biblically
sanctioned – view that
the whale was a fish. The
trial fuelled a sensational
public debate in which nothing less than the order
of nature – and how we know it – was at stake.
Secrets of The
Grown-Up Brain
Barbara Strauch
PB $27.95
A leading science
writer examines how
the brain reaches its
peak in middle age,
and how to keep it
there. New research
from neuroscientists
and psychologists
suggests that, in fact,
the brain reorganises
itself as we age, allowing us to recognise patterns
faster and make better judgments, and even helping
us to adopt a more optimistic outlook.

Modern Thought
Thinking of Answers
A.C. Grayling
HB $35.00
In his most stimulating
and enjoyable collection
of essays to date, A.C.
Grayling tackles many of
the most fundamental
problems facing anyone
who wishes to lead a
considered life. Rather
than presenting a set of
categorical answers
Grayling offers, instead,
suggestions for how to think about every aspect of a
question and then arrive at one’s own conclusions.
Them and Us
Will Hutton
PB $35.00
In his new book Will
Hutton argues that
fairness must be placed
at the heart of the new
capitalism if our society
is to recover its values. It
musters brilliant,
convincing arguments
which will lend favour
on both right and left. It
is set to be a book
which captures the mood of the moment in the
same way that The State We’re In did.
What’s Wrong
With Anzac?
Marilyn Lake &
Henry Reynolds
PB $29.95
Anzac has seemingly
become a sacred,
untouchable element of
the nation. In this
controversial book,
some of Australia’s
leading historians dare
to criticise Anzac
suggesting that the
Anzac obsession distorts the rest of Australia’s
history. Perhaps most devastatingly – they ask
whether the grief and loss associated with
bloodshed on foreign shores was all worth it.
Whoops!
John Lanchester
HB $49.95
For most people, the
reasons for the sudden
collapse of our economy
remain obscure. Whoops!
is the story of how we
came to experience such
a complete and
devastating financial
implosion and how the
decisions and actions of a
select group of
individuals had profound consequences for
America, Europe and the global economy overall.
Goodbye to
All That?
David McKnight
& Robert Manne
PB $32.95
This is the first substantial
book to explore what the
global financial crisis
means for Australia. It
asks what kind of social
democracy we might
hope for in the future.
With a contribution from
the prime minister, as well as leading writers in the
field, this book is essential reading for anyone wishing
to understand the financial crisis.
The Authenticity
Hoax
Andrew Potter
PB $35.00
In this perceptive and
thought-provoking blend
of pop culture and
philosophy, Andrew
Potter finds that far from
serving as a refuge from
modern living, the search
for authenticity often
creates the very problems
it’s meant to solve.

Literary
Reporting at Wit’s
End: Tales from the
New Yorker
St Clair McKelway
PB $29.95
McKelway’s articles for
the New Yorker were
defined by their clean
language and
incomporable wit; by his
love of New York’s rough
edges and his affection
for the working man.
Williams Shawn, long-time editor, described him as a
writer with the “lightest of light touches”. His style
is so striking that “it was too odd to be imitated”.
The Possessed:
Adventures With
Russian Books and
The People Who
Read them
Elif Batuman
PB $26.95
Batuman searches for
the answers to the big
questions in the details
of lived experience,
combining fresh
readings of the great
Russians, from Pushkin to Platonov, with the sad
and funny stories of the lives they continue to
influence – including her own.
Bright Wings:
An Illustrated
Anthology of
Poems About
Birds
HB $37.95
In this beautiful
collection of poems
and paintings, Billy
Collins, former U.S.
poet laureate, joins
with David Allen
Sibley, America’s
foremost bird illustrator, to celebrate the winged
creatures that have inspired so many poets to sing
for centuries.
A Reader on
Reading
Alberto Manguel
HB $49.95
The thirty-nine essays in
this volume explore the
crafts of reading and
writing, the identity
granted to us by
literature, the farreaching
shadow of
Jorge Luis Borges,
whom Manguel read as
a young man and the
links between politics and books and between
books and our bodies.
The Oxford
Companion to
The Book
Michael F. Suarez
et al HB $450.00
This is a unique
reference work by an
international team of
scholars covering the
book from ancient
times to the present
day. Introductory
essays explore the history and technology of the book
and the range of genres and provide surveys of the
book around the world; these are followed by more
than 5,000 A–Z entries, all carefully cross-referenced.
Beg, Borrow, Steal:
A Writer’s Life
Michael Greenberg
HB $35.00
Michael Greenberg
regales us with his wry
and vivid take on the life
of a writer of little means
trying to practise his
craft or simply stay alive.
He finds himself
doctoring doomed movie
scripts; selling cosmetics
from an ironing board in
front of a women’s department store; writing about
golf, a game he has never played; and botching his
debut as a waiter in a posh restaurant.

Food
Home Cooking:
A Writer in
The Kitchen
Laurie Colwin
PB $25.95
Home Cooking is Laurie
Colwin’s manifesto on the
joys of sharing food and
entertaining. From the
humble hotplate of her
one-room apartment to
the crowded kitchens of
bustling parties, Colwin
tells of meals gone both magnificently well and
disastrously wrong. Hilarious, personal and full of
hard-won expertise.
Abla’s
Lebanese
Kitchen
Abla Amad
HB $49.95
In this inspired
collection of
recipes, acclaimed
cook and
restaurateur Abla
Amad shares the
secrets of Lebanese cooking. Learn how to arrange
a traditional mezza spread of kibbee, vine leaves,
baba ghannooj and felafel, and how to achieve
complex flavours in simple dishes such as
casseroles, skewered meats and exotic salads.
Paris Patisseries
Pierre Herme et al
HB $65.00
An exquisitely
photographed
introduction to the
great French tradition
of baking, from the
simple croissant to
the light and flaky
millefeuilles, drawn
from the best pastry
chefs in Paris. Temptations abound for the sweet
tooth in Paris, from the hottest culinary trends to
time-honored classics.
Eat My Globe
Simon Majumdar
PB $27.99
Simon is obsessed with
food. In the midst of a
mid-life crisis, Simon
Majumdar decided to
pack in his day job and
embark on a trip of a
lifetime: to go everywhere
and eat everything. Part
travelogue, part memoir
Eat My Globe is a
culinary tour of the world that Simon has always
dreamed of making. He crosses the globe in search
of variety and the ultimate taste experience.
The Real Food
Companion
Matthew Evans
HB $89.95
Writer Matthew Evans
shows us how to
ethically source, cook
and eat real food.
Written with gusto and
filled to bursting with a
huge range of recipes to
nurture the soul and
family, The Real Food
Companion outlines everything you need to know
to navigate today’s complex food world. It’s the
farmer, butcher, fishmonger and baker by your side.
The Book of Tapas
Simone & Ines Ortega
HB $59.95
From the authors of the
much-loved Spanish
cooking bible 1080
Recipes comes The Book
of Tapas, a definitive
collection of recipes for
everyone’s favourite type
of Spanish food. From
gambas al ajillo (garlic
prawns) to tortilla
española (Spanish omelette), this book combines
classic tapas dishes with brand new recipes from
the Ortegas, selected and introduced by renowned
Spanish tapas chef José Andrés.

Gardening
The Gardener’s
Book of Days
Holly Kerr Forsyth
PB $44.99
Holly Kerr Forsyth has
travelled the world and
its gardens and in this
book she offers some of
the advice and
information she has
garnered along the way. It
brings together gardening
tips, historical gardeners,
plant information and the world’s most loved
gardens, organised into daily readings for the
whole year.
The Women
Behind the Roses
Tilley & Andrew
Govanstone
HB $49.95
Alister Clark, Australia’s
most prodigious
rosarian, bred roses to
establish new,
improved, hardier
varieties that would
flourish in the
Australian climate and
grow better in Australian soils. He aimed to
produce roses that would extend their flowering
beyond a season: ideally to bear blossoms all year.
Dream Gardens
of England
Barbara Baker
HB $65.00
A beautifully designed
sourcebook of 100
gardens of all styles in
all parts of the country.
It presents a wonderful
variety of garden-design
ideas, ranging from
modern sophistication
to lush romanticism and from small city plots to large
gardens in breathtaking rural locations. Each garden is
photographed to show all its key features and
essential details, while concise descriptions offer a
rare insight into some of today’s leading gardeners.
Our Life in Gardens
Joe Eck & Wayne
Winterrowd
PB $24.95
Renowned garden
designers Joe Eck and
Wayne Winterrowd have
written an entertaining,
fascinating and
unexpectedly moving
book about the life and
garden they share. The
book contains much
sound information about the cultivation of plants
and their value in the landscape and invaluable
advice on garden design.
The Gardens
of Japan
Helena Attlee
HB $45.00
In Japanese
gardens, visitors
find nature
condensed and
brought to
perfection. Trees are
trained and
sculpted until they epitomise the very best of the
trees’ tree-like qualities; the finest natural
landscapes are reproduced in miniature; and the
seasons are celebrated with spring blossom and
the fiery leaves of autumn.
Botany for the
Artist
Sarah Simblet
HB $60.00
An intimate
understanding of
botany will help any
artist create vibrant
and realistic art. Sarah
Simblet’s master class
provides you with an
awareness and
appreciation of plants and flowers and shows how
to apply that knowledge to your art.

Craft
Sewing Green
Betz White
PB $45.00
By its nature, do-ityourself
sewing is
environmentally
friendly. Betz White
takes stitching to an
even higher level of
sustainability,
presenting 25
projects made from
“repurposed” thrift-store and back-of-the-closet
finds and organic fabrics. She dispenses tips on
everything from how to deconstruct old garments
for reuse in new creations to how to wrap gifts
with resusable fabric scraps instead of paper.
Weekend Sewing
Heather Ross
HB $45.00
More than just a pair
of days, a weekend is
also a state of mind –
a feeling of relaxation
and freedom to
immerse ourselves
fully in a favourite
activity. In Weekend
Sewing, Heather Ross presents creative projects for
clothing, accessories and home items that can be
made in a weekend or less. The sewing
instructions are beautifully illustrated and patterns
for the projects are included on pullout sheets.
Appliqué
Your Way
Kayte Terry
PB $31.95
Appliqué Your
Way goes
beyond
traditional quilt
work with 35
sweet stitching
projects from
crafter extraordinaire Kayte Terry. Master
decorative stitches; create original templates and
much more. The book is designed for easy use with
a lay-flat Wire-O binding and a handy back pocket
that holds pattern and template pieces.
Zakka Sewing
Therese Laskey &
Chika Mori
PB $45.00
In Japanese, zakka
means “household
goods,” referring
specifically to handsewn
items for domestic
use – tableware,
kitchenware, containers
of various kinds, even
simple clothing. Therese
Laskey and Chika Mori were enchanted by the many
clever pieces they saw online but disappointed that
directions and patterns were solely in Japanese and
so have put together an authentic zakka book for
English-speaking crafters.
I Love
Patchwork
Rashida
Coleman-Hale
PB $39.95
Offering a modern
approach to
traditional fabric
design, this
charming
instructional book
illustrates how to
create sophisticated patchwork projects by
combining linen and print fabrics using simple
quilting procedures.
The Gentle Art of
Quiltmaking
Jane Brocket
HB $39.95
A charming,
inspirational and
practical collection of
15 quilts for would-be
quilters by leading
author, Jane Brocket.
There’s a Russian
Shawl Quilt, inspired
by traditional motifs
of Russian folk art, a Floral Frocks Quilt inspired by
summer dresses, flower gardens and herbaceous
borders and a Suits and Ties Quilt reusing sober
woollen suiting contrasting with extravagant silk
ties designed in an Irish Chain.

The Arts
Sunday’s Kitchen
Leslie Harding &
Kendra Morgan
HB $49.99
Sunday’s Kitchen
explores life behindthe-scenes
at Heidi, the
celebrated haven for
progressive modernist
artists and writers.
Sunday Reed, a
passionate cook and
gardener, ensured the
artists she championed
received sustenance for the body, not just the mind.
Her emphasis was on home-grown produce,
seasonal cooking and a self-styled domestic
aesthetic that became an inspirational model.
La Bella Principessa
Martin Kemp
HB $49.99
Previously changing
hands for just £12,000,
La Bella Principessa is
now thought to be worth
something in the region
of £150 million. As ‘The
Beautiful Princess’ finally
goes on display to the
world, the people
responsible for proving it
is one of Leonardo da Vinci’s tell the story of its
discovery. Superbly researched and richly
illustrated.
Yves Saint
Laurent
Farid Chenoune
HB $75.00
One of the most
distinctive and
influential designers
of the second half of
the 20th century, Yves
Saint Laurent takes his
place in the pantheon
of French couturiers,
alongside Coco Chanel, Christian Dior and Jeanne
Lanvin. Yves Saint Laurent, the first comprehensive
retrospective of his life’s work, will accompany an
exhibition of some 250 garments from the collection
of the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent at
the Petit Palais in Paris.
Australian
Fashion
Unstitched
Bonnie English &
Liliana Pomazan
PB $49.95
A compelling and
authoritative survey of
the myriad influences
and attributes of
Australian fashion over
the last 60 years. This
post-war period saw Australia’s fashion industry
come of age. Designers, in turn, embarked upon a
long, sometimes arduous journey to offer Australian
fashion to the world.
French Country
Style at Home
Sebastien Siraudeau
HB $55.00
This enchanting volume
unlocks the door of
French homes tucked
away in the country,
from a farmhouse in the
Cevennes to a castle
lost in the heart of the
Morvan mountains. It
reveals the hidden gems
of interior design in the French countryside and
unveils the wealth of decorative inspiration they
have to offer.
Sanderson:
The Essence of
English Decoration
Mart Schoeser
HB $90.00
For 150 years
Sanderson has been at
the vanguard of every
significant movement in
European decorative
arts, from arts and crafts
and art deco to 1980s
country-house style to the vibrant interiors of the
21st century. This is the story of England’s leading
manufacturer of wallpapers and decorative fabrics,
illustrated with archival images and specially taken
photographs.

Children’s
In the Town All
Year Round
Suzanne Berner
HB $27.99
Big, colourful
illustrations and
minimal text set the
stage for a delightful
cast of characters as
they go about their
day-to-day adventures
in one little town
throughout the year.
Playing, chasing pets, running errands, going to
work: following what happens and looking for the
many small surprises in the pictures will absorb
and amuse children and parents alike.
The Piper’s Son
Melina Marchetta
PB $24.95
Thomas Mackee wants
oblivion. Melina
Marchetta’s brilliant,
heart-wrenching new
novel takes up the story
of the group of friends
from her best-selling,
much-loved book Saving
Francesca – only this
time it’s five years later
and Thomas Mackee is
the one who needs saving.
Blue
Chameleon
Emily Gravett
HB $26.99
A lonely little
chameleon is so
sad he turns blue!
He can turn
himself into
anything and
appear to fit in
anywhere, but it seems that neither the swirly
snail, the green grasshopper nor the stripy sock
want to be friends. With a subtle and witty
interplay between words and illustrations this
introduction to colours and shapes is sure to
delight even very young children.
The Lion
and the
Mouse
Jerry
Pinkney
HB $24.95
Award-winning
artist Jerry
Pinkney’s
wordless
adaptation of one of Aesop’s most beloved fables.
An unlikely pair learns that no act of kindness is
ever wasted. After a ferocious lion spares a
cowering mouse that he’d planned to eat, the
mouse later comes to his rescue, freeing him from
a poacher’s trap.
The Bear With
The Sword
Davide Cali &
Gianluca Foli
HB $24.99
A bear goes out into the
forest with a sword to
chop down trees. Soon
after, his impregnable
fort is washed away by
a flood and he goes out
to find and punish the
creature responsible. After accusing a fascinating
array of unusual creatures he finally arrives at the
truth: the flood was caused by some idiot with a
sword who chopped down all the trees.
The Easter Egg
Jan Brett
HB $29.95
If Hoppi can make
the best Easter egg,
he will get to help
the Easter Rabbit
deliver the eggs on
Easter morning. But
it is not so easy.
Discouraged, he
goes into the woods
to think when a blue robin’s egg tumbles out of its
nest. Hoppi keeps it safe and warm until the baby
bird hatches, and when the Easter Rabbit arrives,
he chooses the empty blue eggshell to reward
Hoppi for his kindness.

Children’s
Need
Carrie Jones
PB $15.99
Zara collects phobias
the way other high
school girls collect
Facebook friends. And
the man she sees
everywhere – the tall,
creepy guy who points
at her – is not a
figment of her
imagination. He’s a
pixie. But not the cute,
sweet kind with little wings. Maine’s got a whole
assortment of creatures. And they seem to need
something – something from Zara.
Madame
Pamplemousse
and the Time-
Travelling Café
Rupert Kingfisher
HB $19.99
In Paris there is a cafe,
elegantly furnished with
polished wooden tables
and an awning of striped
gold and green. Sitting on
the bar is a large, silver,
expresso machine.The
café owner, Monsieur
Moutarde, has made the
most extraordinary discovery – he has created a
time travel machine – for that is what the expresso
coffee machine is…
The Phantom
Tollbooth
Norton Juster
HB $29.95
This ingenious fantasy
centres on Milo, a bored
10-year-old who comes
home to find a large toy
tollbooth sitting in his
room. With a watchdog
named Tock, Milo drives
through the tollbooth’s
gates and begins a
memorable journey. He
meets Faintly Macabre, who gives him the
“impossible” mission of returning two princesses to
the Kingdom of Wisdom.
Madame
Pamplemousse and
Her Incredible Edibles
Rupert Kingfisher
PB $12.99
Madeleine, forced to work
in her unpleasant uncle’s
horrible restaurant, by
chance comes across the
most marvellous shop,
run by Madame
Pamplemousse, which is
quiet, discreet, yet full of
delicious and
otherworldly ‘edibles’. A quiet comradeship
develops between Madeleine, Madame
Pamplemousse and Madame’s cat, Camembert.
The Heart and
the Bottle
Oliver Jeffers
HB $24.99
Once there was a
girl who was full
of wonderment at
how the world
worked. She
shared all her
dreams and
excitement with
her father, who always had the answer to every
question. That is until one day when his chair was
empty, not to be filled again – how would the girl
ever find meaning from her life again?
So Many
Days
Alison
McGhee
HB $19.99
This book is a
celebration of
the choices
children make
along the way,
and the bravery
it takes for them
to decide exactly who they want to be. An ideal
gift for graduations, weddings, new babies or
difficult transitions.

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