How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee Oneworld When Wang Di was born in Singapore, she wasn’t really wanted by her family as it was a time when girls weren’t valued. In fact, her name means “to hope for a brother”. She was 16 years old when the Japanese army invaded Singapore during WW II and […]
Painting in the Shadows by Katherine Kovacic Bonnier Echo Formerly a veterinarian, Katherine Kovacic is now an art historian who works in a wide range of galleries, museums and private houses. Living in Melbourne with a Scottish Deerhound, she has created art dealer Alex Clayton who finds herself at the centre of a murder mystery […]
Lonely Planet’s The Vanlife Companion by Ed Bartlett and Becky Ohlsen Lonely Planet Vanlife originated in 1950 when Vox Wagon launched its iconic ‘Splitscreen’. Then in the 1960s and 1970s the hippies and surfers used the VW campervan to live in away from the hectic metropolis. Now the internet allows people to connect with stories […]
Man at the Window by Robert Jeffreys Echo A crack of thunder echoes across the night-time quadrangle of an exclusive boys’ school where dormitory windows are crammed with eager, noisy boys. A teacher known as Captain Edmund is also at his window while a ten-year-old boy stands in his pyjamas outside his door, barefoot and […]
Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots by Kate Devlin Bloomsbury Sigma This book that connects intimacy and technology is about being human in a world of machines, now that robots and artificial intelligence that have become integrated into many aspects of our lives. Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana (all female) can do all […]
101 Small Ways to Change the World by Aubre Andrus Lonely Planet Kids Children’s book author Aubre Andrus has come up with an easy-to-read book that has 101 ideas to make a difference to the world. She says that ideas start with one person and you don’t have to be big to make small […]
A Beer in the Loire by Tommy Barnes Muswell Press This is the record of a brave man, the author Tommy Barnes, who left his office job in London to settle in rural France and tries to establish a boutique brewing business. Unfortunately he had a couple of obstacles to overcome – he had never […]
Brutally Honest by Melanie Brown with Louise Gannon Quadrille Responding to a 1994 advertisement for a girl band, Melanie Brown became one of five wannabe nobodies screaming and yelling for girl-power. Mel B was Scary Spice, the cheeky, loud, fearless one who soared to fame and fortune with the Spice Girls. Unfortunately this did not […]
Never Grow Up by Jackie Chan with Zhu Mo HarperCollins Publishers After 200 films in 56 years, Jackie Chan received an honorary Academy Award in 2016. From a junior stuntman on Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon to the voice of Kung Fu Panda, generations of moviegoers know him for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing […]
Life on the Leash by Victoria Schade Allen & Unwin Cora Bellemy gave up a fast-track corporate job run Top Dog, her own dog training business. The 28 year old thrives on organization and has a knack for predicting doggy behaviour. Recovering from a recent break-up, her skills at predicting human behavior are not as […]
