Book picks similar to
Birdland by Leila Jeffreys


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australia
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The Billionaire Cattle Baron


Mandy Magro - 2017
    But this farmer isn’t looking for a wife — his first love ended in tragedy, and he will never put his heart on the line again. The land is his love, and he’s happy that way.Sasha Hepworth has goals and ambitions and she has worked very hard for her success. She’s just forgotten how to enjoy herself. So a weekend fling with a gorgeous cowboy is just what she needs — after all, it can’t go any further. She’d never leave the conveniences and beauty of the city for a dusty outback town.But a weekend of fine dining and spectacular sights isn’t enough for Blake and Sasha, and the growing feelings that neither can deny make them question everything about their lives. When a city girl meets a country boy, will they find middle ground?

To My Country


Ben Lawson - 2020
    As the bushfires continued to rage into the new year on an unprecedented scale, Ben, feeling angry, helpless and broken-hearted as he watched the devastation from across the ocean, sat down and put his feelings into words. To My Country is an ode to the endurance of the Australian spirit and the shared love of our country.In the true Aussie spirit, Ben and Allen & Unwin will be donating proceeds of To My Country to The Koala Hospital.

The Lotus Eaters: A memoir


Emily Clements - 2020
    With seemingly nothing to lose, she makes the biggest decision of her life – to stay. But Emily's attempts to bridge a yawning loneliness spur a downward spiral of recklessness, as she hurtles from one sexual encounter to the next. It will take a truly terrifying experience for her to understand that sex is both a weapon and a wound in her battle for self-worth and empowerment.Delicately interweaving past and present, The Lotus Eaters is a sharply written story of self-redemption from an exciting young voice in Australian memoir that dissects the patterns of blame and shame women can form around their bodies and relationships.

Natural Born Keller


Amanda Keller - 2015
    By turns hilarious and moving, Amanda Keller takes us on a nostalgia filled journey through her life. From her childhood in sunny Brisbane to her daggy teen years in suburban Sydney. Then onto heady college days in Bathurst, where wine was called 'claret' and came in a box, and finally to establishing a stellar career in TV and radio.Along the way she falls in love with 'a nice Kiwi boy' who becomes her husband and she tells the story of the arrival of their two hard-won sons. But without too many icky bits.Amanda also takes us behind the scenes of her TV career - from the challenge of turning on a typewriter at Simon Townsend's Wonder World! to the fun of travelling the globe for Beyond 2000, despite having no scientific background and absolutely no sense of direction. More recently she was able to officially represent an entire generation on Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation and share a couch with three blokes and the odd snake on The Living Room.Amanda loves 'the wireless' and looks back on twenty years of radio. From sharing a mic with Andrew Denton on Triple M to topping the breakfast show ratings with Jonesy on WSFM.Vivid, funny and hugely entertaining, Natural Born Keller will have you laughing out loud, nodding in recognition and occasionally bawling uncontrollably - in a cathartic sort of way.

The Insider: The scoops, the scandals and the serious business within the Canberra bubble


Christopher Pyne - 2021
    

The Millionaire Castaway


Dave Glasheen - 2019
    After a series of catastrophes, he needed to take drastic measures to restore himself. Opting out of the rat race, he cast himself away to a deserted island off the north-east tip of Australia, as far off the grid as was humanly possible. He has lived there ever since.One annual supermarket shop, a sketchy internet connection and enough ingredients for a home-brew satisfy Dave’s material needs. He catches fish, traps rainwater and cooks on an open fire. For company he tames dingoes, meets with friends from the Aboriginal community 40 kilometres away and entertains drop-ins such as Russell Crowe sailing past on his honeymoon. Then there’s Dave’s running feud with Boxhead, an antisocial saltwater crocodile who just won’t leave him in peace.Between heartbreak and hair-raising adventures, Dave has found happiness on Restoration Island. Brimming with humour, eccentricity and hard-earned wisdom, The Millionaire Castaway will give you a whole new view on life.

Party Animals: The secret history of a Labor fiasco


Samantha Maiden - 2020
    If you thought the 2019 election was just about a death tax that didn’t exist, you’re in for a surprise.From the dark arts of the dirt units to the role of billionaire Clive Palmer, this is the untold story of an election debacle. The Labor Party was the unbeatable favourite to win the 2019 election right up until the polls closed and voters delivered the surprise verdict. If the results staggered pundits, they also shocked Bill Shorten and his frontbench, who had spent the final weeks of the campaign carefully planning for their first days in office.Party Animals uncovers the secret history of a Labor fiasco, the untold story behind Scott Morrison’s miracle

Scandalands


Kyle Sandilands - 2012
    This is the book Kyle's fans have been waiting for, straight from the man himself. From his difficult childhood in Brisbane, through to his steely determination to succeed in radio and the successes and disasters he's experienced along the way, Kyle tells his full life story with disarming honesty. The King of Controversy also spills the beans on the various on-air "incidents" that he has become notorious for – taking the blame when it's deserved (which is often) and giving us the sometimes surprising real stories behind the multitudinous "Vile Kyle" headlines. Along the way Kyle shoots straight from the saddle on everything from celebrity gossip and his famous co-host Jackie O, to his failed marriage to pop star Tamara Jaber and allegations of misogyny, as well as giving us an insider's view into the cut-throat breakfast radio. Funny, frank and very revealing, Kyle's memoirs give us a very different view of one of Australia's best-known and most controversial media figures.

Goose Girl


Joy Dettman - 2001
    Sally De Rooze is almost thirty. She survived the accident that killed her father and brothers. Her mother never forgave her for that. But she survived her mother too. Surviving is what she does best. Farmer Ross Bertram, who offers her his acres and safety, is the answer for a while. Until he starts pushing for a wedding. Sally wants ... wants more. Wants to know great love. Wants to find herself. One year. That's what she wants. One year of freedom in the big, bad city. Her survival skills are tested in the urban sprawl and she discovers more about herself than she had ever dared to imagined.

Dead by Friday


Derek Pedley - 2012
    Two mothers talk murder outside a primary school and suddenly down-payments are being made on contracts to kill. From the Adelaide suburbs that spawned the Snowtown killers, enter the hitman, a man who eats speed for breakfast and murder contracts for lunch, on a sandwich. For the first time, the truth about the lovers who wanted their partners dead, but didn't count on shrewd detectives, a brave husband and a shattered family - all determined to bring three killers to justice.

Harlow & Indiana (and Reese): A True Story About Best Friends...and Siblings Too!


Brittni Vega - 2015
    She had no idea how things worked in her new family, but like any good older sibling, Harlow explained how they celebrated holidays, took family vacations, and remembered their sister, Sage who had gone on to doggie heaven before Indiana was born. Over time, Indi started to get the hang of it all, and she found herself growing up. In Harlow & Indiana (and Reese), it’s Indi’s turn to be a big sister when baby Reese arrives. Reese is tinier than Harlow and Indiana could ever have imagined, and they have a lot to get used to with a new sibling in the house. Narrated by the sassy and rabble-rousing Indiana, Harlow & Indiana (and Reese) is as adorable and charming as Harlow & Sage, filled with more jokes, more adventures, and even more sibling love than before. Richly illustrated with entirely new images of the highly photogenic pups, Harlow & Indiana (and Reese) is a new story about the furry friends that have captured hearts across the globe.

Paris in Bloom


Georgianna Lane - 2017
    From elegant floral boutiques to lively flower markets to glorious blooming trees and expansive public gardens, flowers are the essential ingredient to the lush sensory bouquet that is Parisian life. With beautiful photography, Paris in Bloom transports readers on a stunning floral tour of the city, and provides recommendations to the best flower markets and a detailed guide to spring blooms. Timeless in content, Paris in Bloom is a book for Paris lovers to savor again and again, one to keep on the nightstand to conjure fond memories of their first visit and inspire dreams of the next. Also Available: Paris in Bloom 2019 Wall Calendar (ISBN: 978-1-4197-3004-7)

Michael Jackson: 1958-2009: Life of a Legend


Michael Heatley - 2009
    As with Elvis and John Lennon, everyone will remember where they were when they heard about the death of Michael Jackson. He was just fifty when he died, yet had become a superstar by the time he was eleven, ensuring his music was part of the fabric of everyone's life.Though his days of greatest success were behind him, Jackson was standing on the threshold of what could well have been one of the biggest comebacks in showbiz history. It wasn't to be, but the music, sales figures and the number of current stars who queued to pay tribute to his influence underlined the fact that, for all his controversial personal quirks, Michael Jackson was indeed one of the greats.This picture-packed tribute charts the life of a legend, from his earliest days as a hyperactive child protégé fronting family group the Jackson Five, to the assured superstar looking out from the cover of Thriller, still the best-selling album of all time. It analyses the magical stage moves like the Moonwalk that made him a sensational live act, celebrates the intoxicating music that made him the King of Pop and follows his life right through to the comeback that was to be cruelly cut short before the curtain could rise.MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009: LIFE OF A LEGEND tells the larger-than-life story of a unique character whose musical legacy will never die.

FOUND Magazine #1


Davy Rothbart
    Check out a list of teacher-stalking license plates (maybe yours is in there). Look to found resumes for inspiration in your own job hunt. Learn all about Hawaii from one woman's vacation log. Read the inaugural FOUND interview with Lynda Barry. And of course, the find that started it all: Page Me Later. All that, plus loads of found photos, notes, drawings, and more!

The Monocle Book of Japan


Tyler Brule - 2020
    From day one, the magazine has maintained a Tokyo bureau, which today also encompasses a Monocle shop and radio studio.Over the past decade, the magazine and its team have continued to build upon their appreciation for and understanding of the nation of Japan. Monocle’s stories have covered everything from a live journey on the emperor’s jet and the tastiest places to eat in Kagoshima to the fashion designers challenging conventions and the businesses with remarkable stories untold outside Japan.The Monocle Book of Japan reveals the best of the country in the run-up to the 2021 Olympics. Complete with striking photography and captivating essays, this volume showcases some of Japan’s most intriguing splendors.