Book picks similar to
Australia 55: A Journal of the M.C.C. Tour by Alan Ross
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No Time To Cook
Donna Hay - 2008
time poor and tired from a busy day - but don't want take away? No problem, look at the yummy options of Assembled Dinners. Nothing much in the pantry, no time to do a proper shop? take heart from the simple combinations in Donna' Fast Flavours chapter which needs a few ingredients, a grill pan or a barbecue, and a few minutes to let intense flavours unfold. Hate the thought of washing up pans and pots? the One Pot chapter lets you prepare gastronomic delights in one pan, and One Dish serves up flavour combinations for dinner in a single dish. No good at planning for later? turn to Donna's chapter on Freezing with Flair, something she's re-discovering as working mum. there's all this plus cheat's notes, hints on styling which still let you make simple special, plenty of short cuts and of course the mouth-watering photography you expect from the world's leading cookbook writer.
The Peppered Moth
Margaret Drabble - 2001
Precocious and refined in a land of little ambition and much mining grime, Bessie waits for the day she can escape the bleak, coarse existence her ancestors had seldom questioned. Nearly a century later Bessie's granddaughter, Faro Gaulden, is listening to a lecture on genetic inheritance. She has returned to the depressed little town in which Bessie grew up and wonders at the families who never left. Confronted with what would have been her life had her grandmother stayed, she finds herself faced with difficult questions. Is she really so different from the South Yorkshire locals? As she soon learns, the past has a way of reasserting itself-not unlike the peppered moth that was once thought to be nearing extinction but is now enjoying a sudden unexplained resurgence. The Peppered Moth is a brilliant novel, full of irony, sadness, and humor.
Golden Earrings
Belinda Alexandra - 2011
A disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet, Paloma lets little get in the way of her career until she receives a visit from an otherworldly being who leaves her with a pair of golden earrings.Sensing that she has been given a quest, Paloma begins exploring her own Spanish heritage and makes the connection between the visitor and ‘la Rusa’, a woman who rose from poverty to become one of the great flamenco dancers of modern times.La Rusa died while living in Paris in 1952. Her death was ruled a suicide but as Paloma begins to unravel the secrets of the past, she discovers more than one person who had good reason for wanting la Rusa dead, including Paloma’s own grandmother. GOLDEN EARRINGS is a story that moves between two great cities: Barcelona in the lead up to the Civil War and Paris in the 1970s. It is the story of two women and the extremes to which they are willing to go for love. It is a story of great passions -- and great betrayals -- where nothing is quite as it seems.Praise for TUSCAN ROSE:‘Impeccable research into the terrible times of Mussolini’s Italy makes this story of sacrifice and salvation unforgettable’ WOMAN’S DAY
Underbelly: True Crime Stories
John Silvester - 1997
This book delves into the crimes that police have to deal with day after day. Murderers, hitmen, kidnappers, and drug dealers all feature in this collection of true crime stories. Take the drug dealer who walked out of a restaurant bragging that he's killed a man—unaware that his fellow diner was an undercover policeman. Or the young mother, whose death was written off as suicide, but which subsequent investigation proved to be something much more sinister.
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.
The Call of the High Country
Tony Parsons - 1999
As a young married couple, Andrew and Anne work together to make the very best of their property, High Peaks, but at what cost to their happiness? In time, the property will pass to their son, David. Handsome and hardworking, David is determined to become the best sheepdog handler in the land. Nothing is going to stand in his way-not even the beautiful Catriona Campbell, daughter of the wealthy graziers next door. The Call Of The High Country is an inspiring and heartwarming saga of a family battling through hard times, of a love that defies all odds, and of dreams that won't be broken.
The Wave
L.E. Luttrell - 2020
When they meet in Phuket in December 2004 and share their troubles, the future begins to look more promising. Lucy devises a plan to help Kelly escape from her controlling and violent partner. But a tsunami sweeps through the resort causing tragedy and chaos.After recovering from her injuries, Lucy, whose husband died in the tsunami, travels to Llandudno in Wales to visit her in-laws. Thirteen years later, still in Llandudno and having established a successful business there, an unexpected visitor turns up on Lucy’s doorstep who turns her whole world upside down. She then has to consider how far she will go to protect all she holds dear.The Wave is a psychological thriller set in: Phuket, Thailand; Melbourne, Australia and Llandudno, Wales.
Judgment Day
Penelope Lively - 1980
The result is wonderful writing." Judgment Day takes us into the life of Clare Paling, who has just moved with her family to Laddenham, a seemingly drowsy village enlivened by sideshows of adultery and gossip. An avowed agnostic, Clare is nonetheless caught up in the restoration of the church, even inciting the villagers to put on a pageant that re-creates the church's dark past. With flawless precision, Lively brings the village and its inhabitants to life as an unpardonable death reminds them all that the world is a very uncertain place. "Penelope Lively exhibits an almost Hardyesque concern with fate and its mysterious workings.... A stimulating novel." - William Boyd, The Times Literary Supplement "A beautiful and brilliant novel." - Auberon Waugh "Marvelous observation, wit, control and zest." - The Observer (U.K.)
Who Killed Channel 9?
Gerald Stone - 2007
Who "they" were and what they did to warrant their boss' stinging disapproval is precisely what this book is about. This is a book about the media like no other. How exactly do you kill a TV network that for three decades dominated the Australian television and media landscape?With Kerry Packer at the helm, and with a host of stars and personalities that made it the envy of its rivals, Channel 9 dominated the airwaves, consistently winning the ratings battle and fostering a unique esprit de corps within its ranks. But in a few short years, it's gone from top dog to also ran – with rock bottom morale, mass redundancies and a resurgent opposition mainly staffed with vengeful former Nine management. Where does the blame lie, and who's brave enough to expose the dysfunction, mismanagement and more than occasional act of bastardry that reads as a how-to of how not to run a business?In this extraordinary book, Gerald Stone gives a truly eye-opening inside account of the death of a television network. The result is a drama far more riveting than anything on television, played out by an incredible cast of characters, most of them household names, some of them business legends, and all of them as you've never, ever seen them before.
The Men and the Girls
Joanna Trollope - 1992
and in their loving relationships with the Girls, who are half their age.Popular British TV personality Hugh Hunter has begun feeling resentful toward his much younger, seemingly perfect wife, Julia. For while his own star is on the wane, Julia's is rapidly ascending. James Mallow, a teacher, has shared eight blissful years with Kate Bain, his junior by a good quarter century. But his devoted longtime partner appears restless these days.Then a freak rush hour accident knocks a fiercely independent spinster from her bicycle -- an event that will have a profound and wildly unanticipated impact on two unorthodox unions.
Barefoot in the Bindis
Angela Wales - 2019
What he lacked in experience and expertise, he made up for in enthusiasm. Or so he hoped.When the family arrived on a lonely hill in northern New South Wales, they had no electricity, no running water, no telephone and no choice but to make that tangle of bush their home. From Angela Wales, eldest of the five kids, comes this extraordinarily vivid and evocative account of the next ten years as they tried to tame six thousand acres and navigate the challenges of country life.Filled with drama and hilarity, joy and back-breaking toil, Barefoot in the Bindis portrays a childhood spent in the bush, and is a sensational picture of Australia past.
The Altar Boys
Suzanne Smith - 2020
A community betrayed ... The whistle-blower priest who paid the ultimate price Glen Walsh and Steven Alward were childhood friends in their tight-knit working-class community in Shortland, on the outskirts of Newcastle, New South Wales. Both proud altar boys at the local Catholic church, they went on to attend the city's Catholic boys' highs schools: Glen to Marist Brothers and Steven to St Pius X. Both did well: Steven became a journalist; Glen a priest. But when Glen discovered another priest was sexually abusing boys, he reported the offending to police, breaking Canon Law and his vows to the Catholic 'brotherhood' in the process. Just weeks before he was due to give evidence at a key trial against the highest cleric to ever be charged with covering up child abuse, Father Glen Walsh was dead. Two months later, his friend Steven also died, only weeks before he was to marry the love of his life. Ensuing investigations revealed that at least 60 men in the region had taken their own lives. Why? What had happened, and why were so many from the three Catholic high schools in the area?By six-time Walkley Award-winning investigative reporter Suzanne Smith, The Altar Boys is the powerful expose of widespread and organised clerical abuse of children in an Australian city, and how the cover-up in the Catholic Church in Australia extended from parish priests to every echelon of the organisation. Focusing on two childhood friends, their families and community, this gripping and explosive story is backed by secret documents, diary notes and witness accounts, and details a deliberate church strategy of using psychological warfare against witnesses in key trials involving paedophile priests.
I, Mick Gatto
Mick Gatto - 2010
Mick Gatto.Gambler.Underworld veteran.Melbourne gangland survivor.Mick Gatto in his bestselling autobiography finally reveals the man behind the headlines.Gatto's unique position-of knowing all the players in the Gangland Wars but not being involved in drug trafficking-gave him a remarkable perspective to watch the battles unfold.I, Mick Gatto is an extraordinary insight into a colourful and mysterious world that few even know exists.Part of the proceeds of each book sold will be donated to the Royal Children's Hospital.
Shallows
Tim Winton - 1984
When Queenie Cookson decides to join an antiwhaling protest group, she defies her husband, her ancestry, and her community. Winner of the prestigious Miles Franklin Award in Australia, this eloquent and moving novel speaks with immediacy and passion of the conflict between the values of a closeknit, traditional society and the evolving mores of the wider world.