Australian dames - new releases
17 March, 2008
In April, HarperCollins will release Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography, by Jill Roe. Roe, who was recently named an Officer of the Order of Australia

Slow Journey South by Paula Constant
23 February, 2008
Australian Paula Constant has written a lifeaffirming, positive, inspiring and informative narrative of her emotional and physical journey to give up a teaching job in London and walk for three years with her husband

Paper Cranes: A Mother’s Story of Courage and Determination by Cheryl Koenig
23 February, 2008
This is the inspiring and uplifting story of the determination, dedication and sacrifice of a mother, and her unwavering quest to help her 12-year-old son, Jonathan, after he was hit by a car and left brain-damaged.

Me, Myself and Prague by Rachael Weiss
23 February, 2008
Weiss is marriage-less, childless and of Czech origin, so decides to abandon her life in Sydney and spend a year in Prague. She goes because there is nothing to stop her, but finds it isn’t as easy as she first thought.

I Peed on Fellini by David Stratton
23 February, 2008
David Stratton is a big name in cinema in Australia. As co-presenter of film review shows on the ABC and SBS, and with regular columns in The Australian, Stratton’s position as a first-grade reviewer is undeniable.

Holding Up the Sky: An African Life by Sandy Blackburn-Wright
23 February, 2008
South Africa was a tumultuous place at the end of apartheid. As a community aid worker in the townships, Sydneysider Sandy Blackburn-Wright was uniquely placed to observe the effects and after effects of apartheid and its demise.

God of Speed by Luke Davies
23 February, 2008
Howard Hughes was a man of huge ambitions: a perfectionist who directed the most expensive movie ever made; a mogul who bedded dozens of starlets; a pioneering aviator who insisted on test-piloting his own planes

Peter Brock Tribute Book
4 December, 2006
Bathurst: The Race for the Peter Brock Trophy (RRP $59.95, ISBN 1921203188, EAN 9781921203183). This primarily photographic tribute to Peter Brock and this year's Bathurst 1000 race will be available early December from Woodslane. Featuring a 30-page review of Peter Brock's career and 160 pages of action from this years' race, this book will be a great keepsake for the 60,000 fans who attended the race and the millions who admired Peter Brock throughout his life. This is a high-quality, full-colour coffee table book put together by three very dedicated motorsport journos and photographers.

Drink Me by Skye Rogers
23 April, 2006
The sub-genre of substance-abuse autobiography­think Running with Scissors, A Million Little Pieces et al-has taken up an increasing portion of the shelves in recent years. Rogers, author of nonfiction titles like Thirtysomething, varies the format with Drink Me as she delves into the story of her ex-partner Dan's alcoholism and how it eventually destroyed an intense and very loving relationship.

A Room in Bombay and Other Stories by Dorothy Wentworth-Walsh
23 October, 2005
Dorothy Wentworth-Walsh first travelled to India in the 1950s and fell in love with the country, particularly with Bombay. She returned many times over the following 40 years and spent long periods living in the city. Over time, she became more and more involved with the local people and their issues.

Hoi Polloi by Craig Sherborne
16 October, 2005
Craig Sherbourne’s wry outlook on life was shaped by growing up in a small town in the north island of New Zealand, where his parents owned the only pub in town.

A Crazy Occupation by Jamie Tarabay
16 October, 2005
Jamie Tarabay spent her childhood moving around the world, but spent formative parts of it here in Australia and—for a sharp contrast—in her family’s homeland of Lebanon, where there was a civil war going on.

Witnessing History by Jennifer Zeng
20 March, 2005
There is an air of mystery and ignorance about Falun Gong that has caused many people to turn a blind eye to the plight of its practitioners. This is the story of one practitioner’s struggle and persecution at the hands of the Chinese government. Although Zeng’s writing style is quite raw, it is exactly this that brings life and sincerity to her story. She is a typical, average Jane Chinese citizen, who fell upon Falun Gong in an attempt to overcome a debilitating form of hepatitis.

Safari: I Won't Cry Mumma by Janet Seath with Frank Scaysbrook
28 February, 2005
Can you imagine having nothing to eat but sand? Life in Gosford, on the NSW central coast, is a far cry from the tragedies encountered in the drought- and famine-afflicted villages of Kenya—a place where inadequate medical facilities and a lack of electricity mean that burns accidents and death by snakebite pose a daily threat.

Memoirs of Moving On by Dorothy McRae-McMahon
26 February, 2005
Dorothy McRae-McMahon is a remarkable woman and her life story is inspirational. A retired minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, she has worked consistently and tirelessly for almost 50 years to effect change in many arenas.

The Promise by Lisa Clifford
26 February, 2005
What I enjoyed most about this love story, set in both Florence and Australia, was the depiction of the life of an Italian family set around their love for Italian food—who cooked it and who ate it, where it was eaten, and from where in the family history the recipe had come.

Australian Inspiration: A Bush Graden Goes to Chelsea by Cliff Green with Jim Fogarty
26 February, 2005
The plethora of lifestyle shows on commercial television has elevated the profession of landscaping to a previously unheard-of popularity in recent years. However, behind the glitz and glamour of khaki shorts is a hard-working and often undervalued group of industry professionals. Australian Inspiration is a novel account of how two such professionals, Cliff Green and Jim Fogarty, undertook the Herculean task of creating Australia’s first show garden at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show in London in May of this year.

City Bushman: Henry Lawson and the Australian Imagination by Christopher Lee
26 February, 2005
Christopher Lee tackles Henry Lawson’s image and memory in Australia, how they were developed and have continued to develop over time as different communities have attempted to lay claim to or to discredit the memory of one of Australia’s best-known bush poets. Lee ranges over the time from Lawson’s death to the late 20th century, using Lawson’s memory as a prism through which to view segments of Australian social, political and cultural history.

In Tasmania by Nicholas Shakespeare
26 February, 2005
Quite a period of time ago I read an interesting essay in Peter Craven’s Best Australian Essays 2002 regarding Nicholas Shakespeare (then best known as Bruce Chatwin’s biographer) being in possession of some old letters dating back to the late 1700s, given to him by his father. The letters were correspondence from Anthony Fenn Kemp to his brother-in-law, Potter.

Marcos Ambrose: The Devil Race by Marcos Ambrose with Sean Callander
26 February, 2005
Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose is the public face of Stone Brothers Racing in Australia’s premier motor-racing category—the V8 Supercar Championship. He comes across as a likeable young man who has managed to reach the pinnacle of his sport rapidly, and this is his story.

The Natasha Factor: Politics, Media and Beyond by Alison Rogers
26 February, 2005
Her leadership was brutally cut short but she was arguably the most likeable politician this country has ever seen. Whether it was bad timing or weak leadership that precipitated her downfall, the fact remains that as leader of the Australian Democrats ‘Tash’ brought celebrity status to a profession that was and is sorely in need of a star.

Australia's Governors-General by Brian Carroll
25 February, 2005
I’m sure most of us have asked at some point: ‘What the hell does the governor-general do anyway?’ This book sheds some light on the history of a position whose lines of jurisdiction and areas of authority are often blurred.

The Heart Garden by Janine Burke
25 February, 2005
Janine Burke returns to the territory she covered in the popular and award-winning Australian Gothic in this biography of Australian 20th-century art scene lynchpin Sunday Reed. From the beginning of her life, born into the Baillieu family, through to its end at her home that became one of Australia’s best-known and –regarded modern art museums, Heide, Sunday was an extraordinary figure, well-deserving of this detailed biography.

The Idea of Home by John Hughes
25 February, 2005
The Idea of Home by John Hughes is both a typical and, at the same time, strikingly original work. It’s a memoir that will resonate with many Australians’ experience as a cross-generational migrant tale.

Australian Son: Inside Mark Latham by Craig McGregor
21 February, 2005