After All...


Maria Trautman - 2020
    Can a young girl escape a loveless home to seize elusive peace?Portugal. As a baby, Maria Trautman was abandoned at birth by her mother and was raised by her adoring grandmother. But when her grandmother passed away, the distressed child was sent to live with her cruel and cold-hearted mother.After enduring years of physical and emotional attacks, Maria built up the courage to leave her country and emigrated to Canada to seek sanctuary with her aunt. But when her uncle continued the very abuse she was so desperate to stop, Maria feared she would be forever trapped in a never-ending cycle of violence.In a passionate true account exposing unimaginably damaging upheavals, this heartfelt narrative follows Maria’s entry to adulthood and her quest to find one thing that always evaded her: happiness. And through vivid recollection of her own daunting challenges and tragic memories, Maria creates a beautiful tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.Discover the poignant truth of a courageous woman seeking healing through tremendous faith and forgiveness.If you like moving personal accounts, testaments of perseverance and powerful journeys, then you’ll love Maria Trautman’s memoir. Follow her heart wrenching story as she goes from suffering to living in happiness in her shocking memoir, After All...After All... Winner of the Literary Titan Gold book awardBuy After All… to reach the freedom that lies ahead today!

Gone with the Wine: Living the Dream in France's Loire Valley


Rosanne Knorr - 2003
    Along with her husband and pate-loving dog, Folly, they gain insights on the history, people, and daily life. Joyful reading for voyagers and armchair travelers alike!

The Carroll Shelby Story


Carroll Shelby - 2019
    He was born to race —some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway.  Carroll Shelby wasn’t born to run. He was born to race—some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway. The exciting new feature film Ford v Ferrari--starring Matt Damon as Shelby and Christian Bale as fellow racer Ken Miles--immortalizes the small-town Texas boy who won the notorious Le Mans 24-hour endurance challenge, and changed the face of auto racing with the legendary Shelby Cobra. But there’s much more to his high-velocity, history-making story.A wizard behind the wheel, he was also a visionary designer of speed machines that ruled the racetrack and the road. While his GT40s racked up victories in the world’s most prestigious professional racing showdowns, his masterpiece, the Ford Cobra, gave Europe’s formidable Ferrari an American--style run for its money. If you’ve got a need for speed, strap in next to the man who put his foot down on the pedal, kept his eyes on the prize, and never looked back.

Something Quite Peculiar


Steve Kilbey - 2014
    Best known as the lead singer and enigmatic front man, songwriter, bassist of The Church, Steve has experienced both amazing international success and all the excesses that go with it, as well as a well known heroin addiction that delivered some very dark times. The Church has been a significant and constant influence on the Australian music industry and readers will be keen to hear from one of the industry's most successful, creative and long-standing key protagonists. Kilbey is Australian rock and roll royalty and for the first time this is his story. Come inside the world of Steve Kilbey singer songwriter and bassist of one of Australia's best loved bands, The Church. From his migrant ten pound pom childhood through his adolescence growing up during the advent of The Beatles, Dylan and The Stones to his early adventures in garage bands and neighbourhood jams. His misadventures with a full time job and a 9 to 5 life and wild adventures with The Church as they conquer Australia and then the world. The tours. The records. The women. And then the heroin addiction which enslaved him for ten long years. Then the two sets of twins he fathers along the way and branching off into acting, painting and writing. From snowy Sweden to a cell in New York City, from Ipanema beach to Bondi, Kilbey stumbles through his surrrealistic life as an idiot savant that will make you smile as well as want to kick him up the arse. After coming out the other side his tale is simply too good not to be told. Narrated with unusual and often pristine clarity we and with much focus on his considerable musical talent.

Diary of a Foreign Minister


Bob Carr - 2014
    And they all unfold against the gripping, uncertain domestic backdrop of Labor Party infighting, plummeting polls and a leadership change from Gillard back to Rudd.

The Well at the World's End


A.J. Mackinnon - 2010
    Mackinnon quits his job in Australia, he knows only that he longs to travel to the Well at the World’s End, a mysterious pool on a remote Scottish island whose waters, legend has it, hold the secret to eternal youth.Determined not to fly (‘It would feel like cheating’), he sets out with a rucksack, some fireworks and a map of the world and trusts chance to take care of the rest. By land and by sea, by train, truck, horse and yacht, he makes his way across the globe – and through a series of hilarious adventures. He survives a bus crash in Australia, marries a princess in Laos, is attacked by Komodo dragons and does time in a Chinese jail. The next lift – or the next near-miss – is always just a happy accident away.This is the astonishing true story of a remarkable voyage, an old-fashioned quest by a modern-day adventurer.

A Life in Frocks: A Memoir


Kelly Doust - 2010
    For as long as she can remember, Kelly Doust has been passionate about clothes. They are her first, and most enduring, love affair to date. Like many women, she adores the playfulness of fashion and its endless ability to transform. She loves the ritual and drama of getting dressed, assuming different identities in different outfits, and exploring the many facets of her personality. She buys far too many glossy magazines, and puzzles over how she can spend half her life shopping and yet still find herself with nothing to wear. Over the years, clothes have comforted her, given her confidence, lured lovers, made her invisible, secured jobs, aged her, and given back her youth. And yes, they have betrayed her. This is one woman's charming analysis of her fascinating relationship with what she wears.

Calling the Shots: Ups, Downs and Rebounds – My Life in the Great Game of Hockey


Kelly Hrudey - 2017
    Kelly made seventy-three saves (to this day an NHL record for most saves made in a playoff game) against the Capitals before Pat LaFontaine scored the winner in the fourth overtime period of Game Seven at two o’clock in the morning. Later that year, Kelly was in the Canada Cup lineup of one of the most talented teams ever assembled on ice. In 1989, he joined Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley on a team that took Los Angeles by storm: the Kings went all the way to the Stanley Cup final against the Canadiens in 1993. Hrudey is now a well-respected hockey analyst and broadcaster and has watched with a keen eye as the game continues to evolve. Through it all, he has seen greatness and missed opportunities, inspiring moments and outright craziness. Working with bestselling author Kirstie McLellan Day, Kelly delivers a lively and thoughtful memoir, rich in behind-the-scenes anecdotes, humour and insight.

Reminiscing About Retail: Confessions of a Cashier


Becky Corwin-Adams - 2013
    Murphy's, Woolworth's, or Newberry's? Discount department stores became very popular in the '70s and dime stores began to close. Stores like Kmart, Grant City, Murphy's Mart, Hills, and Ames provided a great shopping experience for American families. Most of those chains closed their doors in the '80s and '90s. The glory days of department store shopping have faded away and we now live in a big box world. I always loved shopping in downtown Defiance, Ohio when I was growing up in the '60s. My favorite store was G.C. Murphy's. The day I celebrated my 16th birthday, I applied for a job at Murphy's. I was hired a few weeks later. After living in North Dakota for four years as a young Air Force wife, I moved back to Ohio. Retail was still in my blood. I always thought I would go back to work at Murphy's someday. By this time, most of the Murphy's stores had closed and new Murphy's Marts were built to replace the smaller dime stores. We lived very close to Kmart in Bryan. The store was just a short walk across the field near our house. I applied for a job at Kmart and was soon hired, since I had previous retail experience at Murphy's. I worked at Kmart for a total of 17 years. Did you ever wonder what it was like to work in one of these stores? How difficult was it to operate a manual cash register before bar codes and scanners made the task much easier? Read about Halloween costume contests, shoplifting stories, and bluelight specials. Follow the adventures of six family members who all worked at the same store. If you have ever worked in retail, or dreamed of a career in retail, then this is the book for you!

We of the Never Never


Jeannie Gunn - 1907
    An Australian classic. Depicts the enduring hardships of life in the Australian outback and the battles against sexist and racial prejudices.

Unsolved Australia


Justine Ford - 2015
    Along the way you'll meet the 'Unsolved Squad' - the humble heroes and dedicated experts involved in collecting and connecting clues. Unsolved Australia is a chilling, thrilling and inspiring book full of drama, emotion... and hope.

Will to Live


Matthew Ames - 2014
    It will change the way you look at life.For a couple of weeks, Matthew Ames didn't feel well. The busy father of four young children knew things were not quite right but suddenly he was in Emergency, with a severe case of toxic shock syndrome – the common bacteria Strep A had entered his bloodstream and his body had gone into shutdown. He was put into an induced coma and the only way he could be kept alive was to have all his limbs amputated.Diane Ames knew exactly what her husband would want and that he would cope – he had always been optimistic and practical. Despite a one per cent chance of survival, she asked the doctors to go ahead with the radical operation. And so began the inspiring story of an ordinary family's courage and determination to make the most of a terrible situation.What happened to Matthew could happen to anyone. But not everyone would accept what life offers and pursue possibilities in the way that he does. Matthew has astounded doctors with his adaptation to a new way of living, so much so that he is about to become a bionic man. And he has never once questioned Diane's decision – it gave him the chance to truly understand how much family matters and to appreciate humanity.

Jonestown: The Power And The Myth Of Alan Jones


Chris Masters - 2006
    

Light and Shadow: Memoirs of a Spy's Son


Mark Colvin - 2016
    He is the voice of ABC Radio’s leading current affairs program PM; he was a founding broadcaster for the groundbreaking youth station Double J; he initiated The World Today program; and he’s one of the most popular and influential journalists in the twittersphere. Mark has been covering local and global events for more than four decades. He has reported on wars, royal weddings and everything in between. In the midst of all this he discovered that his father was an MI6 spy. Light and Shadow is the incredible story of a father waging a secret war against communism during the Cold War, while his son comes of age as a journalist during the tumultuous Whitlam and Fraser years and embarks on the risky career of a foreign correspondent. Mark was witness to some of the most world-changing events, including the Iranian hostage crisis, the buildup to the first Gulf War in Iraq and the direct aftermath of the shocking genocide in Rwanda. But when he contracted a life-threatening illness while working in the field, his life changed forever. Mark Colvin’s engrossing memoir takes you inside the coverage of major news events and gently navigates the complexity of his father’s double life.

Occy: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Mark Occhilupo


Mark Occhilupo - 2008
    Yet a spiraling descent into drug abuse and depression snuffed his flame out prematurely when he quit the pro tour at just 22. Faltered comebacks, spectacular bursts of free-surfing, and manic breakdowns followed as the surfing world watched a freakish talent self-combust. After years spent immobile and overweight on the couch, Occy eventually emerged from his cocoon, reborn and ready to tackle a whole new generation of surf stars. His celebrated comeback to win the world title in 1999 is a sporting fairytale without equal. In this no-holds barred account, Occy tells the complete, remarkable story of his spectacular rise, terrifying fall, and miraculous rebirth.