Book picks similar to
Blast The Bush by Len Beadell


non-fiction
16-unread
australia
australian

Minefields: A life in the news game - the bestselling memoir of Australia's legendary foreign correspondent


Hugh Riminton - 2017
    It is proof that, 'if you go looking for trouble, you'll probably find it'. Over nearly 40 years as a journalist and foreign correspondent, Hugh Riminton has been shot at, blown up, threatened with deportation and thrown in jail. He has reported from nearly 50 countries, witnessed massacres in Africa, wars and conflicts on four continents, and every kind of natural disaster. It has been an extraordinary life. From a small-town teenager with a drinking problem, cleaning rat cages for a living, to a multi-award-winning international journalist reporting to an audience of 300 million people, Hugh has been a frontline witness to our times. From genocide in Africa to the Indian Ocean tsunami, from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to slave-trading in Sudan, Hugh has seen the best and worst of human behaviour. In Australia, he has covered political dramas, witnessed the Port Arthur Massacre and the Thredbo disaster and broke a major national scandal. His work helped force half-a-dozen government inquiries.Entertaining, deeply personal and quietly wise, MINEFIELDS is a compelling exploration of a foreign correspondent's life. 'His story is a triumph' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

The Summer of '82


Dave O'Neil - 2016
    The Summer of ’82 is the hilarious and heartfelt story of a boy becoming a man in suburban Australia.Dave O’Neil is one of our most loved comedians. He has been performing stand-up for over twenty-five years, has been part of some of Australia’s most successful FM radio teams, and is a regular on our TV screens, where he holds the honour of having the most guest appearances on ABC’s iconic Spicks and Specks (over fifty!). He is also a successful writer, columnist and actor. The Summer of ’82 is his fifth book.

Travels of an Ordinary Man Australia


Paul Elliott - 2013
    Heading to Australia after selling everything that he owns, apart from the contents of his rucksack, the story follows Paul Elliott’s four month journey around the continent.It chronicles his adventures and the myriad of people that he encounters in a humourous and entertaining way. Not only does he begin to find a direction for his life, he also begins to find his true self in an ultimately uplifting adventure.

El Infierno: Drugs, Gangs, Riots and Murder: My time inside Ecuador’s toughest prisons


Pieter Tritton - 2017
    I hurled myself through the doorway and into the room. I didn’t look back.”Caught in an Ecuador hotel room with 8kg of cocaine, Pieter Tritton was no mule or dupe. He had planned and organised everything. The consequence: a 12-year sentence inside one of the world’s deadliest prison systems, where gun fights, executions and riots are a part of everyday life. As a Brit banged up abroad, Pieter had to learn how to survive – and fast – because one wrong move would mean death.This is the insider account of what it’s like to live in a place worse than hell and come out a changed man on the other side.

See You in September


Joanne Teague - 2013
    Three kids. One trip of a lifetime. Meet Jo Teague, a woman fighting against the odds. See You in September is a hilarious and uplifting true life adventure across Europe. With visions of a second honeymoon snatched away by circumstance, the Teague family find themselves faced by riots and strikes, robbers on the beach, tantrums and taxi drivers, snakes and spiders, and other strange happenings. This book will resonate with every parent who’s ever travelled on holiday with their kids. Unlike most family trips this one is tinged with sadness. Just a few months before setting off Jo was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos – a rare and still incurable, life-threatening condition. The fun and adventure was tinged with a sense of fragility of happiness and, indeed of life itself. A great holiday read and a fantastic travel book full of the ups and downs of parenthood. Will appeal to fans of Karen Wheeler, Bill Bryson and Alec le Sueur. Now with an updated epilogue.

The Beardless Adventurer and her inconvenience: A first-time cycle trip across Europe


Donna Marie Ashton - 2017
    Armed with little knowledge but much determination, they attempt a self-supported cycle tour, carrying everything they need and camping along the way, normally the domain of hardy, beardy adventurers or Olympic athletes. Join The Beardless Adventurer and her inconvenience on their epic and often highly amusing trip through Europe, wondering if they will even make it through the first night or week, let alone 5,000km. Laugh and cry along with them in the both sublime and ridiculous situations in which they find themselves, mainly due to their own incompetence but also to the magnetism they seem to possess when it comes to eccentric or colourful characters. Whether you are a well-seasoned cyclist, or someone who doesn’t know your sprocket from your elbow, you’re sure to enjoy the antics of The Beardless Adventurer and her inconvenience.

Countryman's Lot: Tales from the Dales


Max Hardcastle - 1991
    One day, they'll sell their cramped city-centre antiques shop and the overflowing upstairs flat and relocate to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. When a smallholding in a remote Dales village comes on the market, it seems like the answer to their prayers.

Credlin & Co.: How the Abbott Government Destroyed Itself


Aaron Patrick - 2016
    Her strength as a chief of staff was a sign of his weakness as a prime minister: she gave him the option of disengaging. Credlin allowed Abbott to be who he wanted to be: the good bloke, the philosopher, the weekend fire-fighter, the surfer, the orator, the man of action. If Abbott was a natural leader, it could have worked. But he lacked the most important attribute of all: judgement.Tony Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, ran a brilliant campaign in opposition. But their approach led to disaster in government.When Abbott became prime minister, he and Credlin ruthlessly controlled ministers, backbenchers, the public service and the media. They shut out voices that questioned Abbott’s way. Everything started to unravel.Credlin & Co. is the story of a relationship that determined the fate of a government. It shows in stunning detail the disastrous consequences of power abused, and the broken people left in its wake.Aaron Patrick is the print editor of the Australian Financial Review and author of Downfall: How the Labor Party Ripped Itself Apart (2013).

The Empty Nest


Fiona Palmer - 2014
    But this year won't be the same. Her daughter, Gracie, has joined her brother Jack at boarding school and Sandi dreads waking up to a quiet house. Even her husband, Paul, seems distant and preoccupied with farm work. So she never could have guessed what the day has in store...

On Fairness


Sally McManus
    Why then do we have creeping inequality in the land of the fair go? The answer lies in stagnant wage rises, gender pay inequity, insecure work and the lack of real opportunities for all while corporations are still consuming large profits and executives claim record bonuses. Sally McManus confronts these truths every day. In On Fairness, she explores the true cost of social injustice and argues for advancing Australia fair.

Mainly by Bike: A Senior Cyclist Tours the World


Ann Wilson - 2017
    Her first bike was stolen in Bulgaria, she was knocked down by a buffalo cart in India and battled with a parasitic illness in Malaysia. These were some of the challenges she had to deal with, but above all, what stood out for Ann was the depth of human kindness she experienced throughout her travels.

On Disruption


Katharine Murphy - 2018
     The internet has shaken the foundations of life: public and private lives are wrought by the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week news cycle that means no one is ever off duty. On Disruption is a report from the coalface of that change: what has happened, will it keep happening, and is there any way out of the chaos?

Half Fast: (mis) Adventures in Slowly Sailing around (on) the World


Randy Baker - 2019
    With little money and even even less nautical experience they leave their small-town home in Arkansas to embark on an adventure they hope will last for a year or two but which evolves into a quarter-century voyage of discovery spanning half the world. Come along with Randy and Cheryl as they cruise their small boat to intriguing destinations that you won’t find in any tourist brochure. Along the way they discover the best and worst the sailing life has to offer as they visit twenty-nine countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America and the South Pacific. Their adventures and misadventures include encounters with hurricanes, thieves, drug smugglers and a disastrous tsunami as well as lasting new friendships formed with local people and fellow sailors all along their route. Cruising under sail is a lifestyle like no other and though there are sometimes hardships, those who take the plunge will be rewarded with a life of adventure and freedom that may be impossible to find any other way in the modern world.

Araluen


Judy Nunn - 1994
    Corruption... Movie-making. Judy Nunn weaves an intricate web of characters and locations in this spellbinding saga of the Ross family and its inescapable legacy of greed and power.

Teardrops and Tiny Trailers


Douglas Keister - 2008
    The demand for vintage trailers-the smaller the better-has risen dramatically in recent years, with the most in-demand trailers being "teardrops," first manufactured in the 1930s and containing just indoor sleeping space and an outdoor exterior kitchen. Also profiled in the book are "canned ham" trailers, whose shape resembles the profile of a can of ham; small-size examples of America's most beloved vintage trailer, the Airstream; miniscule gypsy caravans in Europe; and fiberglass trailers made in Canada. Two hundred color photographs showcase these trailers' sleek exteriors, retro-styled interiors, and, in many cases, the restored classic cars that tow them. Teardrops and Tiny Trailers includes a resource section chock-full of places to locate vintage trailers, clubs to join, and rallies to attend.