Australia Locked up by John Nicholson
23 April, 2006
John Nicholson's information-rich, nonfiction picture books have been highly commended for years. Following his award-winning format, Australia Locked Up combines detailed illustrations with Australian nonfiction and is aimed at upper-primary­age children.

Asbestos House: The Unauthorised Story of James Hardie Industries by Gideon Haigh
12 March, 2006
Asbestos House, a monumental history of James Hardie Industries and its 107 -year relationship with a most useful and deadly substance, treads a fine line between exposing problems and attaching blame. Although reports from as early as 1930 suggested a link between asbestos and lung diseases, a succession of Hardie staff persisted in the belief that the problem could be overcome, or ignored until a later time.

Bernard Shaw: A Life by A.M. Gibbs
12 March, 2006
George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856, the only son of an alcoholic corn merchant and a leading amateur soprano. He died at the age of 94 in 1950, and was, as A M Gibbs states, a 'herald and creator of cultural and social change.' Despite showing promise in his early years as a novelist, Shaw began a successful career as a playwright in his 30s, and became a major influence on the theatre of his time and after.

Tucker Track by Warren Fahey
19 December, 2005
Warren Fahey’s Tucker Track draws together some of the lore, songs and recipes that he has gathered in his many years of roaming this country as one of Australia’s premier folklorists. It’s a ragtag collection of bits and bobs, organised thematically into chapters and then in varying-length sections, listed in alphabetical order. I found myself wondering exactly what its purpose was.

South by Northwest by Granville Allen Mawer
19 December, 2005
G A Mawer is the author of numerous books about exploration and seafaring adventures, his most recent being The Life and Legend of Jack Doolan, the Wild Colonial Boy. Now he turns his attention to the last continent, Antarctica, a continent that became the last Holy Grail for so many.

Spain by the Horns by Tim Elliott
19 December, 2005
An encounter with a bullfighter in Sydney leads Tim Elliott to Spain, hot on the trail of Jesulin, a young, charismatic and talented bullfighter dubbed ‘the Beckham of bullfighting.’ Elliott already has a passion for Spain and the Spanish and, through Jesulin, he hopes to uncover even more about this flamboyant country and perhaps even get to the heart of its colourful people.

A Fair Field and No Favour by Gideon Haigh
19 December, 2005
If the prospect of reading numerous newspaper reports about the Australian cricket team’s recent downfall in the Ashes series fills you with dread, fear not. Gideon Haigh not only has a commanding knowledge of cricket and its intricacies, but also possesses the rare ability to convey hours of cricket coverage and make it sound like something spectacular.

Asbestos House: The Unauthorised Story of James Hardie Industries by Gideon Haigh
11 December, 2005
Asbestos House, a monumental history of James Hardie Industries and its 107-year relationship with a most useful and deadly substance, treads a fine line between exposing problems and attaching blame. Although reports from as early as 1930 suggested a link between asbestos and lung diseases, a succession of Hardie staff persisted in the belief that the problem could be overcome, or ignored until a later time.

The Perfect Glass of Wine by Ben Canaider
11 December, 2005
It sounds like a good life to me—being paid to travel the world, drink wine and write about it in a witty and iconoclastic way. Ben Canaider has carved a nice niche for himself as the groovy, unpretentious, tell-it-like-it-is guy in a field that is all too often pompous and opaque.

Waves: Great Stories from the Surf, edited by Tim Baker
11 December, 2005
I’d love to find this book in my Christmas stocking! Here’s the perfect gift for your favourite Gidget or Moondoggy. From the full-on surf journalism of Nick Carroll, Matt Griggs and Sean Doherty to the lyrical writing of Tim Winton and Fiona Capp, Waves is a terrific collection of surf stories, recollections, profiles and articles that will be sure to please all surfers, from the weekend warrior to the committed ‘I’ll surf in winter hail if the waves are there’ grommet.

The Wreck of the Batavia and Prosper by Simon Leys
11 December, 2005
The story of the wreck of the Batavia has been the inspiration for many works of fiction, nonfiction and film. Leys’ essay on the wreck begins with a curious introduction. He explains a long-held desire to write the tale of the Batavia; nervously reading all the other publications on the topic; and concluding none of them hit the mark.

Girlosophy - Real Girls Eat by Anthea Paul
10 December, 2005
The first and most striking quality of Real Girls Eat is its glossy, high octane cover. Can't judge a book by its cover? In this instance you can. This is a book designed to appeal to that most style oriented and glamour jaded age group - the mature teen or young adult. Anthea Paul's girlosophy theory is as stylistically appealing as it content rich. The young will instantly be drawn to its bright colours of chartreuse, tangerine and hot pink, and will instantly warm to the clever use of layout and typefaces, and that's before getting into its personal and intimate approach which will inspire trust in teen girls.

Your Child's Emotional Needs by Vicky Flory
10 December, 2005
The author has done a great job of making this important subject, dear to all our parenting hearts, useful and practical from page one. Rarely as parents do we get to look at our children’s emotional needs with such pragmatism.

Fair Field and No Favour by Gideon Haigh **
1 December, 2005
If the prospect to of reading numerous newspaper reports about our recent downfall in the Ashes series fills you with dread, fear not.

Tucker Track - The Curious History of Food in Australia by Warren Fahey **
1 December, 2005
Warren Fahey’s Tucker Track draws together some of the lore, songs and recipes that he has gathered in his many years of roaming this country as one of Australia’s premier folklorists.

South by Northwest by Granville Allen Mawer **
1 December, 2005
G A Mawer is the author of numerous books about exploration and seafaring adventures, his most recent being The Life and Legend of Jack Doolan, the Wild Colonial Boy.

Spain by the Horns by Tim Elliott *
1 December, 2005
An encounter with a bullfighter in Sydney leads Tim Elliott to Spain, hot on the trail of Jesulin, a young, charismatic and talented bullfighter dubbed ‘the Beckham of bullfighting’.

Prochownik's Dream by Alex Miller **
1 November, 2005
Alex Miller has twice won the Miles Franklin award (with Journey to the Stone Country and The Ancestor Game), as well as the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.

Sicilian Summer by Brian Johnston *
1 November, 2005
Before Brian Johnston went to Sicily and prior to my reading his ensuing book Sicilian Summer, we had something very important in common.

A Room in Bombay and Other Stories by Dorothy Wentworth-Walsh *
1 November, 2005
Dorothy Wentworth-Walsh first travelled to India in the 1950s and fell in love with the country, particularly with Bombay.

Plastered by Murray Walding & Nick Vukovic *
1 November, 2005
Late-night runs in the band van with a bucket full of wallpaper paste, a roller and a bunch of posters for the next gig are a rite of rock’n’roll passage, as is avoiding being caught!

The Commonwealth of Thieves by Thomas Keneally
23 October, 2005
The story of British settlement in Australia makes for fascinating reading. The Commonwealth of Thieves is no exception. Tom Keneally’s latest offering provides a vivid account of the first four years—from the appalling state of the British penal system to the difficulty in taming the Australian landscape. Keneally’s exhaustive research is clearly evident and he achieves a fine balance between bullet-point history and engaging narrative.

Is History Fiction? by Ann Curthoys & Joe Docker
23 October, 2005
In this important and timely book, John Docker and Ann Curthoys trace the history of Western historical writing, from the works of the classical Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides to the present day ‘history wars’ that have polarised Australian society. What the current debate about Australia’s colonial past reveals is that because the past cannot be brought back to life, history is always open to the interpretations of those in the present.

Plastered: The Poster Art of Australian Popular Music by Murray Walding with Nick Vukovic
23 October, 2005
Late-night runs in the band van with a bucket full of wallpaper paste, a roller and a bunch of posters for the next gig are a rite of rock’n’roll passage, as is avoiding being caught! Band posters are transitory by nature, but Plastered writer Murray Walding and avid poster collector Nick Vukovic have captured an impressive array of posters for both Australian and touring international acts, covering more than 50 years.

A Room in Bombay and Other Stories by Dorothy Wentworth-Walsh
23 October, 2005
Dorothy Wentworth-Walsh first travelled to India in the 1950s and fell in love with the country, particularly with Bombay. She returned many times over the following 40 years and spent long periods living in the city. Over time, she became more and more involved with the local people and their issues.