The Magician of Lhasa by David Michie Hay House Matt Lester works at the Imperial Science Institute in London as a research manager for creating nanobots – highly functioning robots of microscopic size. When he moves to Los Angeles with his partner for a job opportunity, his life doesn’t pan out as smoothly as he […]
The Quokka’s Guide to Happiness by Alex Cearns ABC Books Unique to Rottnest Island and small areas of the West Australian coast, the quokka is a gentle, friendly creature that is very approachable and very photogenic. With mouths that curve upwards and open to help them breathe and cool off (like dogs), they appear to […]
The French Art of Not Trying Too Hard by Ollivier Pourriol Profile Books “Hard work has its own rewards” is a mantra often given to students, burdened by expectations that they have to succeed in school to achieve anything or be anyone. Learning a language, playing a musical instrument and working hard in a chosen […]
Bananarama: Really Saying Something Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin Penguin In the late 1980s, Bananarama entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful girl group of all time. Not only did they have a swag of hits around the globe, they also wrote many of their songs, refused to be treated as sex […]
Contacts by Mark Watson HarperCollins Forty year-old James boards the London to Edinburgh sleeper train just before midnight. He has two pork pies, six beers and a packet of chocolate digestives for the journey. Just before the train departs, he sends a message to all 158 people in his contacts list, telling them he intends […]
Note to Self: The Secrets of Calm by Rebekah Ballagh Allen & Unwin Rebekah Ballagh is a qualified counselor who created the popular Instagram page called Journey to Wellness – @journey_to_wellness_ – when she wanted students at the school where she was counseling at to have something better than leaflets. Her book is a beautifully […]
The Time of Our Lives by Robert Dessaix (Brio Books) Audio book narrated by Paul English (Wavesound) Robert Dessaix is at a Yogyakarta hotel when he starts contemplating growing old. At 76 years of age, he is watching a 25 year-old Balinese wellness instructor on the lawn with a group of elderly hotel guests as […]
The Book of Two Ways By Jodi Picoult Allen & Unwin Dawn Edelstein knows a lot about death. As a death doula (a death midwife), she helps people on their final journeys and tries to fulfill their last wishes. Fifteen years earlier, before she married and had a daughter, she was a graduate student in […]
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason Fourth Estate Martha writes a funny food column for a magazine, but her editor keeps taking out her jokes, so it might just be a food column. Turning 40, she realises that she has lost touch with school, university and work friends simply because they all had children and […]
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Canongate Sixteen year-old Nora Seed sat in the warmth of the school library in Bedford, playing chess with the librarian Mrs Elm. Nora was worried about her future but felt she could talk to the librarian who had so much wisdom to share. Suddenly, there was a phone call […]
