Dave Perrin has been in practice for two days in the Creston Valley, and already he's found trouble. He has encountered William, the aggressive billy goat, and Theo, the intrepid Doberman. (Theo has recently discovered the delight of chasing chickens on the neighbour's property.) "Sweet" William and Theo are just two of the fabulously entertaining characters that the country vet encounters. There are times he's not sure if he's in the right business, even though he's wanted to be a veterinarian since he was a kid growing up on a mountain farm near Trail, British Columbia. The fascinating human characters he befriends help him through his first year of practice. Don't Turn Your Back in the Barn focuses on the humorous incidents that inevitably happen in a rural practice that treats cows in the morning and kittens in the afternoon. He relies on Doris, his steadfast assistant, to help him in the surgery and to organize the daybook, but even she sometimes has trouble balancing his hectic schedule. This first volume of stories provides a real-life look at the rigours of practising veterinary medicine in a country setting. Pathos is a given as Dr. Perrin deals with his own emotions and those of his human clients, who must often make hard decisions about their beloved animals. The introduction to this best-selling collection says, "Dave Perrin is not afraid to display his emotion in his writing nor to reveal his own frailties. But the element that runs through each story is his passion—for his work, for his patients, and for the mountains and fertile flat lands that surround the Kootenay River."

    Resolute, self-possessed and a penetrating thinker on subjects from workplace relations to foreign affairs, she is admired by members of parliament and the public from across the political divide.In this first-ever biography of Penny Wong, acclaimed journalist Margaret Simons traces her story: from her early life in Malaysia, to her student activism in Adelaide, to her entry into the male-dominated chambers of federal parliament, to her leading role as a voice of reason and respect in the polarising campaign to legalise same-sex marriage – and to her current position, poised to become Australia’s future minister for foreign affairs. What emerges is a picture of a leader for modern Australia, a cool-headed, cautious, yet charismatic figure of piercing intelligence and a personal history linking back to Australia’s colonial settlers and through to its multicultural present.Drawing on exclusive interviews with Penny Wong, and her Labor colleagues, parliamentary opponents, close friends and family, this scintillating portrait of an Australian politician without precedence promises to be one of the most talked-about political biographies of the year.

    His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing - not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days - could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about. Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was only nine - they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university. Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugee tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination - a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it. - Happiest Refugee: My Journey From Tragedy To Comedy By Anh Do (Paperback)

    This book will take you back to the holidays you had as a kid and remind you of the ones you've had with your own family or friends or even the ones where you've flown solo. Holidays are the runway to possibilities - a romantic sunset, the spare seat at breakfast being taken by an attractive stranger, a miraculous airline upgrade - or missing bags, unfortunate rashes and wrong turns that lead to places you definitely did not intend to go. Whether you are away from home and somewhere exotic or just in your own backyard on a lilo in an above-ground pool, whatever happens, you know that life is sweet because you're on HOLIDAYS. Whatever kind of holiday you've got planned, make sure you pack this warm and funny celebration of Australia's favourite national pastime. PRAISE for William McInnes's previous books: 'skilfully constructed...insightful, understated and very funny' Sydney Morning Herald on "The Laughing Clowns"'The Making of Modern Australia is a ripper' The Canberra Times'William McInnes compels with the sheer delightfulness of his memoir, and with his fine ability to spin a damn funny yarn' Sunday Telegraph on "A Man's Got To Have a Hobby"'funny and clever' Daily Telegraph on "That'd Be Right"'A big-hearted novel with character' Sunday Telegraph on "Cricket Kings"

    A self-confessed workaholic, she regularly put 'knife before life', knowing it was all going to be worth it because it would lead to her longed-for career.But if the punishing hours in surgery weren't hard enough, she also faced challenges as a young female surgeon navigating a male-dominated specialty. She was regularly left to carry out complex procedures without senior surgeons' oversight; she was called all sorts of things, from 'emotional' to 'too confident'; and she was expected to work a relentless on-call roster - sometimes seventy hours a week or more - to prove herself.Eventually it was too much and Yumiko quit.Emotional Female is her account of what it was like to train in the Australian public hospital system, and what made her walk away.Yumiko Kadota is a voice for her generation when it comes to burnout and finding the resilience to rebuild after suffering a physical, emotional and existential breakdown. This is a brave, honest and unflinching work from a major new talent.

    The injuries she sustained that evening ended her gymnastics career, and eventually manifested in life-long chronic illnesses, which medical professionals now believe can be caused by untreated trauma.In a brilliantly researched and deeply affecting essay, Osborne-Crowley invites the reader to her on decade-long journey to recovery: from the immediate aftermath of the assault, through years of misdiagnosis, to the solace and strength she found in writers like Elena Ferrante.The author’s investigations reveal profound societal failures – of law, justice, education and the healthcare system. An essential contribution to the field of literature on assault and trauma, I Choose Elena argues that it is only through empathy than we can begin to address the self-perpetuating cycle of sexual violence.

     The highs and lows of Malcolm Turnbull's remarkable career are documented here in technicolour detail by journalist Paddy Manning. Based on countless interviews and painstaking research, it is a forensic investigation into one of Australia’s most celebrated overachievers, Turnbull's relentless energy and quest for achievement have taken him from exclusive Point Piper to Oxford University; from beating the Thatcher government in the Spycatcher trial to losing the referendum on the republic; from defending the late Kerry Packer - codenamed Goanna - in the Costigan Royal Commission to defending his own role in the failure of HIH, Australia's biggest corporate collapse. He was involved in the unravelling of the Tourang bid for Fairfax, struck it rich as co-founder of OzEmail, and fought his own hotly contested battle for Wentworth As Opposition leader he was duped by Godwin Grech's 'Utegate' fiasco; as the most tech-savvy communications minister he oversaw a nobbled NBN scheme. And now he has assumed the leadership of the Liberal Party for the second time after wrestling the prime ministership from first-term PM Tony Abbott. Will Turnbull crash and burn as he has before or has his entire tumultuous life been a rehearsal for this moment?

    Sharp, sassy and determined not to be broken, she accepts a job as a cook on a fishing boat. Totally inexperienced, both as a sailor and a chef, a girl among tough working men and literally all at sea, Kacey confronts more than just the elements on the journey that follows. Facing a ferocious storm as well as treachery, she learns how to fashion a new story for herself-one in which she is strong enough to be the hero. These are captivating memories of growing up in Australia, and the tribulations Heyman encounters and escapes. Unsentimental and unflinching, she stares down disaster and looks back with a healthy rage and exhilarating intelligence.

    The first of its kind to carry doctors and surgeons who can take the hospital to the patient. Drug addicts, lorry crashes, open-heart surgery, stab wounds, headless chickens, mating llamas, and strip routines - it's all in a day's work for emergency doctor Tony Bleetman and his team.Whether they are landing in the middle of the M1 or at a maximum security jail, Tony and his crew Helimed 999 are the first on the scene in the most critical of emergencies.This gripping read will make you laugh, cry and marvel at the wonders of life (and death) in equal measure.

    First comes the mates, then the ute, then his hat, dogs, horses and last of all the girlfriend. Get that right and you might just stick around. Try to jump the queue and you′re history." The lips smiled at me, but his eyes meant business.′Well then, I′ll just have to be his mate.′′Girls can′t be mates, Alice.′′We′ll see.′A footloose city backpacker who couldn′t tell a bull from a cow was hardly the ideal candidate to answer an ad for a governess on a Mackay cattle station. But Alice Greenup was game for anything, until she was bowled over by a handsome young jackeroo with a devastating smile. It was the start of a whole new way of life as Alice gave up her city-chick persona to embrace the bush and all that came with it: horses, cattle, the obsession with rain - and the correct way to wear a hat.After overcoming more than a few obstacles, the unlikely couple eventually married, moving to Rick′s family farm near Kingaroy. Determined to make their own future, they gambled their dreams on a vast property called ′Jumma′. It was a huge risk but with a lot of love, blood, sweat and tears, they were on their way.But one morning they almost lost it all. When Alice′s horse bucked her out of the saddle in remote bushland, she was gravely injured. Rick was forced to leave her lying alone, drifting in and out of consciousness, to gallop home for help. Flown by emergency helicopter to Brisbane, Alice had serious liver and brain damage. What followed would test their love to the limit.

    On the surface of my skin, a miracle was quietly brewing . . .'Suburban Australia. Sweltering heat. Three bedroom blonde-brick. Family of five. Beat-up Ford Falcon. Vegemite on toast. Maxine Beneba Clarke's life is just like all the other Aussie kids on her street.Except for this one, glaring, inescapably obvious thing.

    

    On June 15, 1862 a gang of bushrangers pulled off the largest gold robbery in Australia's history atEugowra Rocks. The gang escaped with bank notes and 77kg of gold, worth about $10 million today. It remains Australia's largest gold robbery. The story of how Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner, John O'Mealley, John Gilbert, Harry Manns, Alex Fordyce, John Bow and Dan Charters - planned and executed the robbery and what happened to all that gold is the stuff of a brilliant, modern, exciting crime book. This is Australian history on the very best crime-writing steroids from Australia's number one true crime writer.

    The result is a memoir that is at once intellectually provocative and deeply honest; the book that readers of Poppy, The Orchard and Stravinsky's Lunch have been waiting for.

    The personal story of the youngest person to sail around the world single handedly from October 2009 to May 2010 - at the age of 16: 240 days and 23,000 nautical miles.