Book picks similar to
Driving Stevie Fracasso by Barry Divola


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Afternoons with Harvey Beam


Carrie Cox - 2018
    The words aren’t coming out right, Harvey’s mojo is fading and a celebrity host is eyeing his timeslot.Back in Shorton, Harvey’s father Lionel appears at long last to be dying. It seems it’s finally time for Harvey Beam to head home and face a different kind of music.In wading through a past that seems disturbingly unchanged, the last thing he expects is a chance encounter with a wonderful stranger …

One of Us Buried


Johanna Craven - 2021
    She is put to work at the female factory of Parramatta; a place where the women’s only hope of food and lodgings is to offer their bodies to the settlement’s men. Nell is given shelter by Lieutenant Blackwell, a brooding soldier to whom she is inexplicably drawn. Despite warnings from the other women, Blackwell’s motives seem decent, and beneath the roof of a military officer, Nell sees a chance to become more than just a convict woman sent to the factory to be forgotten. But tensions are high in New South Wales, with the young colony teetering on the edge of a convict rebellion. And as Nell treads a dangerous line between obedience and power, she learns the role of a factory lass is to remain silent – or face a walk to the gallows.

We Don't Live Here Anymore


Matt Nable - 2009
    In this startling debut novel, Matt Nable follows the fortunes of Charlie, Tess, and their families and neighbours. Their lives intertwine, unravel, straighten, and become tangled again. A father tries to relive his football career through his son; a mother deserts her children in an attempt to find herself; a daughter purges to take control of her life.This is a portrait of plans gone wrong, a lament of what could have been, a salute to the power of redemptive love, and a brave examination of contemporary society.

Confessions of a Once Fashionable Mum


Georgia Madden - 2015
    Facebook-worthy baby? Tick. Bikini-body six weeks after giving birth? Um … not so much.Fashion PR exec Ally Bloom got her happy ending. Okay, her marriage might be showing the odd crack, her battleaxe mother-in-law might have come to stay, and she might not be the yummy mummy she'd imagined, but it's nothing a decent night's sleep and a firm commitment to a no-carb diet won't fix.But when Ally returns to work and finds she'll be reporting to a 22-year-old airhead, she decides to turn her back on life as a professional fashionista and embrace her inner earth mama instead.So it's out with the Louboutins and champagne and in with the sensible flats and coffee mornings with the Mummy Mafia. From attending her first grown-up dinner party only to discover that placenta is top of the menu to controlling her monster crush on local playgroup hottie Cameron, Ally must find her feet in the brave new world of the stay-at-home mum.

Sex, Drugs & Opera


Roland Orzabal - 2014
    With his gorgeous, successful wife, Jenny, his country pile, and gold discs hanging in his plush bathroom, he seems to have it all. But all is not well between Jenny and Solomon; as her business continues to grow, her affection for her husband begins to diminish, and soon divorce is on the cards. To try and win Jenny back, Solomon throws his bruised heart into trying out for a reality TV show that turns lapsed pop acts into opera singers. The ace up his sleeve is an eccentric octogenarian opera coach he employs to get ahead of the competition but, to his surprise, Solomon learns far more than how to improve the quality of his vibrato; especially when his coach asks Solomon to duet with newly single Samantha... Sex, Drugs & Opera is the debut novel of Tears for Fears musician, Roland Orzabal.

Flying The Coop: A Free Range Tree Change or Has She Made the Worst Mistake of Her Life


Ilsa Evans - 2007
    So soon Chris finds herself in the country. Where the neighbours have deep secrets, her teenage daughter is bent on world domination, the bookkeeper is bent on revenge, and the alpaca is psychotic. By flying the coop she may have put all her eggs in one basket. And they’re each about to hatch.

Cricket Kings


William McInnes - 2006
    With these characters William will make us laugh and cry. And never again will we think that someone is just a regular bloke - everyone can be a king or a queen in their own suburb.

Articles on Novels By George R. R. Martin


Hephaestus Books - 2011
    This book contains articles available free on Wikipedia and other free sources.

Kalinda


Evan Green - 1991
    The book starts with Adam living openly with his voluptuous half-caste lover on his desert station in the outback, and gradually the fates of succeeding generations intertwine in this Australian family saga.

Driving Jarvis Ham


Jim Bob - 2012
    Jarvis may be an all-round irritant, but he's harmless & deep down he's got a heart of gold. As his oldest (& only) friend reflects on his life with Jarvis Ham, he wonders what it would have been like if they had never met.

Well-Behaved Women


Emily Paull - 2019
    A woman grapples with survivor’s guilt after a body is found in her garden bed; an ageing beauty queen contemplates her past; a world champion free-diver disappears during routine training...In moments disquieting or quietly inspiring, this collection considers the complexity of the connections we make—with our family, friends and neighbours, and with those met briefly or never at all.In her timely debut, Emily Paull voices a chorus of characters that reveal and re-evaluate the expectations of women in Australia today—after all, well-behaved women rarely make history.

If I Should Lose You


Natasha Lester - 2012
    Here is a story that resonates long after reading.’ — Andrea Goldsmith‘I was captivated by this honest, beautiful story that fuses love and art with the most profound challenges of motherhood. Written with extraordinary emotional wisdom and intelligence.’ — Liz ByrskiCamille is a nurse specialising in supporting families through the difficult decision to donate the organs of their dying loved ones. Camille’s mother is a gifted but uncompromising transplant surgeon determined to make it in a man’s world until her own life falls apart. And Camille herself is a mother to Addie – five years old, critically ill and in desperate need of the very organs her mother and grandmother work with.

The Book of Ordinary People


Claire Varley - 2018
    " ReadingsA grieving daughter navigates the morning commute, her mind bursting with memories pleading to be shared.A man made entirely of well-cut suits and strictly enforced rules swims his regular morning laps and fantasises about his self-assured promotion.A young lawyer sits in a fluorescent-lit office, typing indecipherable jargon and dreaming of everything she didn't become.A failed news hack hides under the covers from another looming deadline, and from a past that will not relent its pursuit.And a young woman seeking asylum sits tensely on an unmoving train, praying that good news waits at the other end of the line...In this charming, moving and affectionate novel, Claire Varley paints a magical portrait of five ordinary people, and the sometimes heartbreaking power of the stories we make of ourselves.PRAISE FOR THE BIT IN BETWEEN"Tragic, mysterious, insightful, sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking." Daily Telegraph"Varley writes with confidence and brio, and her main characters are believable and loveable." The Age"Full of heart and humour." West Australian

The Fighting Season


Bram Connolly - 2016
    Matt Rix, the ultra tough commando who led the ambushed platoon, swears vengeance. Rix is one of Special Forces' most lethal operators. He'll neutralise Rapier - whatever it takes.But in Afghanistan's brutal war, not all things are as they seem.'The Fighting Season is military fiction of the first order: as tough as nails and packed with the insider knowledge of someone who has done it for real.' - Matthew Reilly'Action packed, gritty and authentic to the core.' - Merrick Watts

The Quickening


Fiona McIntosh - 2014
    In this superb trilogy, Fiona McIntosh weaves a gripping story of action and intrigue.