Book picks similar to
Pip and Houdini by J.C. Jones


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Blood on my hands: A surgeon at war


Craig Jurisevic - 2010
    It is hardly to be credited that the enlightened nations of Europe are allowing this nightmare to occur only sixty minutes by jet from Paris and London. The forces of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic have swept into Kosovo on the Balkan Peninsula leaving a trail of death and heartbreak. Scenes of Milosevic’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ play out on television screens all over the world; haunted figures huddled behind barbed wire fences, bodies heaped in ditches.Adelaide surgeon Craig Jurisevic recalls his grandfather’s ordeal in a Nazi concentration camp and resolves to honour his memory by offering his skills as a surgeon to the victims of the conflict. Leaving behind a wife and son, Jurisevic flies to the Balkans under the auspices of the International Medical Corps. Struggling to maintain his moral bearings, Jurisevic’s journey from Adelaide to the hell of Kosovo has become a descent into the heart of darkness. Blood on My Hands, co-written with award-winning author Robert Hillman, tells a story of terrible suffering, of extraordinary heroism, and of the savagery that lies coiled in the human heart.

Diamonds and Dust


Sheryl McCorry - 2008
    When she was 18 her family moved to Broome, and it was the first time she'd ever used a telephone or seen a television.A year later, only hours after being railroaded into marriage by a fast-talking Yank, Sheryl locked eyes with Bob McCorry, a drover and buffalo shooter. When her marriage ended after only a few months, they began a love affair that would last a lifetime and take them to the Kimberley's harshest frontiers.Sheryl became the only woman in a team of stockmen. She soon learned how to run rogue bulls and to outsmart the neighbours in the toughest game of all – mustering cattle. The playing field was a million acres of unfenced, unmarked boundaries.Sheryl went on to become the first woman in the Kimberley to run two million-acre cattle stations, but her life was not without its share of tragedy. Her story is an epic saga of life in one of the toughest and most beautiful terrains in Australia – a story of hardship, drought, joy and triumph.

Country Roads


Nicole Hurley-Moore - 2017
    But Bec's father, who's been in a wheelchair since a farming mishap, keeps second-guessing her decisions. Now, to add Bec's woes, her unfaithful ex-boyfriend has started lurking around, and the adjoining farm she'd hoped to buy has been snapped up by a guy from the city called Matt Harvey.After leaving his job in advertising, Matt became a bestselling novelist. But since the death of his fiancee in a car accident, he's had severe writer's block and is desperately hoping his move to the country will help him deal with his grief and allow him to focus on completing his next book. Problem is, he seems to have started off on the wrong foot with his new neighbour, Bec Duprey.Bec isn't quite sure when she started feeling attracted to Matt, but she's determined not to succumb to his charms. And Matt isn't sure when his feelings changed about Bec; all he knows is he can't get her out of his mind. Can Bec and Matt overcome their fear of loss to find love and happiness with each other...?This absolutely compelling novel deals with betrayal, tragedy, love - and how first impressions aren't always right.

Unbound Justice: Australian Historical Fiction Novel


Michael Beashel - 2021
    He sails with revenge in his heart—his beloved sister has been raped by her landlord, William Baxterhouse, who escapes on another ship with even grander plans for success in New South Wales. In Sydney, hard workers like Leary and ruthless newcomers like Baxterhouse find a city fired by the Gold Rush and dedicated to creating the finest buildings in the colony. Leary has a double motive to make his construction company succeed: he has fallen in love with the beautiful Clarissa McGuire, whose family despise him, and Baxterhouse continues to rise in wealth and influence, seemingly untouchable. Meanwhile another woman, Beth O’Hare, is in love with John Leary, and he makes some hard choices—including a climactic showdown with Baxterhouse.This is the first novel in The Sandstone Trilogy: a new, magnificent view of nineteenth-century Sydney from the ground up.Three novels, Unbound Justice, Unshackled and Succession, span 37 years of Sydney life in the second half of the nineteenth century. They follow the fortunes of 20-year-old John Leary, who in 1850 leaves his rural home in Ireland and sails as an assisted immigrant to New South Wales.His trade is carpentry but his ambition is boundless. By hard work, talent and opportunism he manages to create his own construction company, never ceasing the struggle to become the biggest and the best. The building industry becomes a metaphor for his chosen city, with its mixture of squalor and grandeur, of corruption and high ideals.The Sandstone Trilogy is a historical drama with a rich cast of compelling characters. It is also a family saga, in which love, revenge and tragedy all come to influence the Learys’ destiny.‘Well-written and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s a love story with a vivid background of those early days of European settlement—and all the drinking, hard work, treachery and jostling for position that was mandatory in those times. You warm to the characters as they make their way in this new land. More of it!’Wendy O’HanlonAustralian Provincial Newspapers

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me & Esio Trot


Roald Dahl - 2013
    

Journey of a Thousand Storms: A Refugee's Story


Kooshyar Karimi - 2016
    Until he was kidnapped by the Intelligence Service.Behind his professional success, Kooshyar was a rebel on several fronts. Marginalised since boyhood as a Jew in a fundamentalist Islamic state, he was a member of a political group that opposed the government. He'd also been using his medical skills illegally, to save unmarried pregnant women from death by stoning.Snatched from the street, he was jailed and tortured and then forced to spy for the regime, before finally escaping to Turkey. There he faced a whole new struggle to keep his family safe while awaiting refugee status from the UN. He was forbidden to work and at the mercy of corrupt police, con men and red tape. Then life became more dangerous still, when the Intelligence Service tracked him down and used his mother, back in Iran, as blackmail.Kooshyar's inspiring story of how he managed to forge a new life in Australia is heightened by his largeness of heart, strength of character, and insight into human behaviour, from the unfathomably evil to the selflessly kind. With the skill of a natural storyteller, Journey of a Thousand Storms recounts a life of endurance, compassion and gritty determination.

To The Sea


Christine Dibley - 2016
    Surrounded by family and calm waters, seventeen-year-old Zoe Kennett has inexplicably vanished.Four storytellers share their version of what has led to this moment, weaving tales which span centuries and continents. But Tony needs facts, not fiction: how will such fables lead him to Zoe and to the truth?As Tony's investigation deepens, he is drawn into a world where myth and history blur, and where women who risk all for love must pay the price through every generation.

Long Way Home


Nicola Marsh - 2019
     A prodigal daughter returns to Brockenridge... Eleven years ago Ruby Aston left Brockenridge - and its small-town gossip - for the anonymity of the big city. Now, a grieving Ruby is forced to come home to the place she loathes. But it also means returning to someone she's always regretted leaving behind... Connor Delaney is determined to prove himself and not get by on his family name alone. To do this he needs to acquire the local roadhouse. He never anticipated the owner would be the same 'bad girl' who ditched him at the high school ball and was never heard from again. For Alisha Nathieson, the grief of suddenly losing her dear friend and employer Clara Aston has forced her to examine her choice to stay to support her aging parents. As she battles a growing need to explore her past, temptation wars with duty. And then there are her feelings for handsome chef Harry, who has secrets of his own... If Ruby follows her heart and saves her mother's legacy, will she lose the one man she's longed for all along?

Wayward Heart


Cathryn Hein - 2016
    But her perfect sanctuary is shattered with the arrival of hand-delivered threatening notes. Someone has discovered her secret.When the notes escalate to vandalism, Jasmine's anxiety rises. But in such a small place, telling the police would mean the whole town finding out.Digby Wallace-Jones is stumbling through the motions of life, wrapped in a fog of grief since his fiancee Felicity died. Withdrawn from his family, Digby doesn't care about anything beyond his loss. But in a chance meeting with Jasmine, his sister's best friend who he's known forever, even he can see the tension she carries. Worried and feeling protective, he continues to drop by, but it's more than that. Jasmine soothes him; and, unlike the rest of his family, he can talk to her about his pain without fear of judgement. But as much as he likes Jasmine, Digby's enduring love for Felicity means he has nothing left to give and he pushes Jasmine away.Jasmine knew they were supposed to stay friends 'with excellent benefits' but she can't help her wayward heart from falling for this tortured, kind and sexy man. How can she ever loosen the grip Felicity's memory has on Digby's soul and remind him he still has a life ahead of him?

The Thing About Oliver


Deborah Kelly - 2019
    Twelve-year-old Tilly dreams of becoming a marine scientist, but she doesn’t even own a swimsuit. She lives in a drought- stricken town with her mum and younger brother Oliver, who is autistic. Oliver’s meltdowns are making life unbearable. He needs so many different kinds of therapy that there’s never any time—or money—left over for swimming lessons. Tilly knows Oliver’s needs have to come first, but it’s hard feeling invisible all the time. When Mum announces they are moving to the Queensland coast, Tilly is excited at the thought of finally learning to swim— even snorkel! But she is also worried. The thing about Oliver is, he can’t cope with even the tiniest of changes to his routine. It isn’t long before the cracks begin to show. Could so many changes all at once threaten to shatter the whole family?

Socks for Christmas


Andy Andrews - 2005
    In the late 1960s, New York Times bestselling author Andy Andrews thought he was having a very good Christmas… until he got socks from his Aunt Ruth--unarguably a very lousy gift. How could he know that those lousy socks would change Christmas and him forever!Socks for Christmas is great for all ages and will give your family an instant Christmas tradition. This timeless holiday book:Teaches lessons on gratitude, giving, and understanding others during the seasonInspires hearts and brings families togetherStirs nostalgia, tradition, and joy in any heart at Christmas timeSocks for Christmas is a:Safe gift for a boss, co-worker, or employeeThoughtful gift for a family member or loved oneA great option for gift exchangesWhether you read it yourself or listen to Andy on the CD (included with your purchase), Socks for Christmas is a great way to kick off the season.

A Book for Kids


C.J. Dennis - 1921
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls


Justine Ford - 2019
    But not for everyone. Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls tells thirteen stories of people whose luck ran out in the most mysterious of circumstances.It's a journalistic deep-dive into Australia's dark heart by one of Australia's premier true crime writers, Justine Ford, the acclaimed bestselling author of Unsolved Australia and The Good Cop .Why are four people missing from a Western Australian doomsday cult? Who abducted and murdered beauty queen Bronwynne Richardson on pageant night? And why is a cooked chook important evidence in the outback disappearance of Paddy Moriarty?Key players are interviewed, evidence laid out and suspects assessed. Never-before-published information is revealed. Can you help crack the case and solve these mysteries?Hold tight as Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls takes you on a chilling yet inspiring true crime rollercoaster ride where the final destination is hope.

An Uncommon Woman


Nicole Alexander - 2017
    . .It’s 1929, and the world is changing. Cars are no longer the privilege of the rich. Hemlines are rising. Movies are talking. And more and more women are entering the workforce.For Edwina Baker, however, life on her family’s farm in Western Queensland offers little opportunity to be anything other than daughter, sister and, perhaps soon, wife.But Edwina wants more. She wants to see the world, meet new people, achieve things. For while she has more business sense than her younger brother, it will be Aiden who one day inherits the farm.Then the circus comes to town. Banned from attending by her father, Hamilton, Edwina defiantly rides to the showground dressed as a boy. There she encounters two men who will both inadvertently alter the course of her life: pastoralist Mason with his modern city friends; and Will, a labourer who also dreams of escape.And when the night ends in near-disaster, this one act of rebellion strikes at the heart of the Baker family. Yet it also offers Edwina the rare chance to prove herself in a man’s world. The question is, how far is she prepared to go, and how much is she prepared to risk?

Future Girl


Asphyxia - 2020
    But when peak oil hits and Melbourne lurches towards environmental catastrophe, Piper has more important things to worry about, such as how to get food. When she meets Marley, a CODA (child of Deaf adult), a door opens into a new world - where Deafness is something to celebrate rather than hide, and where resilience is created through growing your own food rather than it being delivered on a truck. As she dives into learning Auslan, sign language that is exquisitely beautiful and expressive, Piper finds herself falling hard for Marley. But Marley, who has grown up in the Deaf community yet is not Deaf, is struggling to find his place in the hearing world. How can they be together?