Running with Sherman - The Donkey Who Survived Against All Odds and Raced Like a Champion by Christopher McDougall

$22.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

Bestselling author of Born to Run rehabilitates a donkey to winning success. When barefoot running guru Christopher McDougall takes in a neglected donkey, his aim is to get Sherman back to reasonable health. But Sherman is ill-tempered, obstinate and uncooperative - and it's clear his poor treatment ha s made him deeply fearful of humans. Chris knows that donkeys need a purpose - they are working, pack animals - and so when he learns of the sport of Burro Racing or running with donkeys, he sets out to give Sherman something worth living for. With the aid of Chris's menagerie on his farm in rural Pennsylvania, his wife Mika and their friends and neighbours including the local Amish population, Sherman begins to build trust in Chris. To give him a purpose, they start to run together. But what Sherman gains in confidence and meaning is something we all need: a connection with nature, the outdoors, with movement. And as Chris learns, the side benefits of exercise and animal contact are surprising, helping with mental and physical health in unexpected ways. ...Show more

Trafficked Girl: Abused. Abandoned. Exploited. This Is My Story of Fighting Back. by Zoe Patterson; Jane Smith

$19.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

When Zoe was taken into care at the age of 13, she thought she was finally going to escape from the cruel abuse she had suffered throughout her childhood. Then social services placed her in a residential unit known to be 'a target for prostitution', and suddenly Zoe's life was worse than it had ever bee n before. Abused and ostracized by her mother, humiliated by her father's sexual innuendos, physically assaulted and bullied by her eldest brother, even as a young child Zoe thought she deserved the desperately unhappy life she was living. 'I've sharpened a knife for you,' her mother told her the first time she noticed angry red wounds on her daughter's arms. And when Zoe didn't kill herself, her mother gave her whisky, which she drank in the hope that it would dull the miserable, aching loneliness of her life. One day at school Zoe showed her teacher the livid bruises that were the result of her mother's latest physical assault and within days she was taken into care. Zoe had been at Denver House for just three weeks when an older girl asked if she'd like to go to a party, then took her to a house where there were just three men. Zoe was a virgin until that night, when two of the men raped her. Having returned to the residential unit in the early hours of the morning, when she told a member of staff what had happened to her, her social worker made a joke about it, then took her to get the morning-after pill. For Zoe, the indifference of the staff at the residential unit seemed like further confirmation of what her mother had always told her - she was worthless. Before long, she realised that the only way to survive in the unit was to go to the 'parties' the older girls were paid to take her to, drink the drinks, smoke the cannabis and try to blank out what was done to her when she was abused, controlled and trafficked around the country. No action was taken by the unit's staff or social workers when Zoe asked for their help, and without anyone to support or protect her, the horrific abuse continued for the next few years, even after she left the unit. But in her heart Zoe was always a fighter. This is the harrowing, yet uplifting story, of how she finally broke free of the abuse and neglect that destroyed her childhood and obtained justice for her years of suffering. ...Show more

Able: Gold Medals, Grand Slams & Smashing Glass Ceilings by Dylan Alcott

$22.99 AUD

$39.99 (42% off)

Category: BIOGRAPHY

The incredible life of an astonishing athlete   Dylan Alcott has never let his disability get in the way of what he wanted to achieve. His family treated him no differently to any other kid, and it was the best thing they ever did. Growing up, Dylan always had a positive attitude to life. So when he d iscovered sport, he'd have a go at anything and could always be found at the centre of the action, giving his best and playing to win. Then he tried wheelchair basketball and tennis and was hooked.     Fast forward ten years or so, and the now three-time Paralympic gold medallist, Order of Australia recipient, Grand Slam tennis champion and philanthropist combines elite sport with a love for music (he's a triple j radio announcer and is famous for his crowd surfing). But Dylan's greatest passion is changing the way those with disabilities are perceived, and to inspire young people - whether they have disabilities or are able-bodied - to achieve their dreams. It's a passion that drives him every day of his life.     In Able, Dylan shares his story. It's the tale of someone who's proud of who he is, who has a go, does everything with heart and soul, who always sees the upside and never takes himself too seriously. As inspiring, honest and funny as its author, Able proves that for every one thing you can't do, there are 10,000 other things that you can.   ...Show more

Keith Murdoch: Founder of a Media Empire by R.M. Younger

$13.95 AUD

$49.99 (72% off)

Category: BIOGRAPHY

Fifty years after Keith Murdoch's death his career and influence remain the measure of the man. Founder of the Murdoch media empire Keith Murdoch came from humble beginnings as the son of a Scottish minister. He began his journalistic career on a Melbourne paper and first made a name for himself when he was responsible for reporting on the withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli after reporting the dreadful conditions and failure of the operation. A dedicated journalist brilliant editor and a remarkable entrepreneur Keith Murdoch was also passionate in his support for libraries and the visual arts. This portrait of Keith Murdoch is based on impeccable research and highlights the remarkable extent of Murdoch's influence revealing the true face of the man behind the empire. ...Show more

Any Ordinary Day: Blindsides, Resilience and What Happens after the Worst Day of Your Life by Leigh Sales

$24.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

As a journalist, Leigh Sales often encounters people experiencing the worst moments of their lives in the full glare of the media. But one particular string of bad news stories - and a terrifying brush with her own mortality - sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-cha nging event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next? In this wise and layered book, Leigh talks intimately with people who've faced the unimaginable, from terrorism to natural disaster to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Expecting broken lives, she instead finds strength, hope, even humour. Leigh brilliantly condenses the cutting-edge research on the way the human brain processes fear and grief, and poses the questions we too often ignore out of awkwardness. Along the way, she offers an unguarded account of her own challenges and what she's learned about coping with life's unexpected blows. Warm, candid and empathetic, this bookis about what happens when ordinary people, on ordinary days, are forced to suddenly find the resilience most of us don't know we have. ...Show more

Jacinda Ardern - A New Kind of Leader by Madeleine Chapman

$34.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern is a leader for a new generation, one tired of inertia in the face of pressing issues such as climate change, immigration and the rise of far-right terrorism. Ardern was catapulted onto the international stage with her grace and compassion following the Chri stchurch mosque shooting. Oprah Winfrey invited us to 'channel our inner Jacindas' as praise for Ardern flooded headlines and social media. The world's youngest female head of government, and only the second elected world leader to give birth while in office, Ardern describes herself as a progressive and a social democrat. In this revealing biography, journalist Madeleine Chapman discovers the woman behind the headlines. Politically engaged from an early age, Ardern has encountered her fair share of sexism, but rather than let that harden her she advocates 'rising above' critics. In her first press conference, she announced an election campaign of 'relentless positivity'. The tactic was a resounding success- donations poured in and Labour rebounded in the polls. But can Ardern live up to her promise? What does her new style of leadership look like in practice? And what can we learn from the world's reaction to this inspiring leader? ...Show more

Where the Past Begins A Writer's Memoir by Amy Tan

$32.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

From New York Times bestselling author Amy Tan, a memoir about finding meaning in life through acts of creativity and imagination In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan reveals the ways that our memories and personal experiences can inform our creative work. Drawing on her vivid impressions of her upbringing, Tan investigates the truths and inspirations behind her writing while illuminating how we all explore, confront, and process complex memories, especially half-forgotten ones from childhood. With candor, empathy, and humor, Tan sheds light on her own writing process, sharing her hard-won insights on the nature of creativity and inspiration while exploring the universal urge to examine truth through the workings of imagination--and what that imaginative world tells us about our own lives. Where the Past Begins is both a unique look into the mind of an extraordinary storyteller and an indispensable guide for writers, artists, and other creative thinkers.   ...Show more

The Watermill by Arnold Zable

$32.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

Ranging from remote provinces in China and Cambodia to pre- and post-war Yiddish Poland, Kurdish Iraq and Iran, and Indigenous and present-day Melbourne, Arnold Zable's quartet of stories depicts the ebbs and flows of trauma and healing, memory and forgetting, the ancient and the contemporary. And ever- recurring journeys in search of belonging. Arnold Zable is a highly acclaimed novelist, storyteller and human rights advocate. His works include Cafe Scheherazade, Scraps of Heaven, Violin Lessonsand The Fighter, which was shortlisted for a Victorian Premier's Literary Award and a New South Wales Premier's Literary Award. Zable lives in Melbourne. 'Zable elevates history into near mythical tales of wonder.' Australian 'This is a man who truly believes in the power of stories.' Age ...Show more

Colourful Life by Sharon Bech

$25.00 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith

$29.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY | Reading Level: near fine

From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids and M Train, a profound, beautifully realized memoir in which dreams and reality are vividly woven into a tapestry of one transformative year. Following a run of New Year's concerts at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland with no design, yet heeding signs--including a talking sign that looms above her, prodding and sparring like the Cheshire Cat. In February, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing with it unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. In a stranger's words, "Anything is possible: after all, it's the Year of the Monkey." For Smith - inveterately curious, always exploring, tracking thoughts, writing - the year evolves as one of reckoning with the changes in life's gyre: with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America. Smith melds the western landscape with her own dreamscape. Taking us from California to the Arizona desert; to a Kentucky farm as the amanuensis of a friend in crisis; to the hospital room of a valued mentor; and by turns to remembered and imagined places, this haunting memoir blends fact and fiction with poetic mastery. The unexpected happens; grief and disillusionment set in. But as Smith heads toward a new decade in her own life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope for a better world. Riveting, elegant, often humorous, illustrated by Smith's signature Polaroids, Year of the Monkey is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times. ...Show more

Jack Charles: Born-again Blakfella by Jack Charles

$34.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY | Reading Level: 3 Biography

Stolen from his mother and placed into institutional care when he was only a few months old, Uncle Jack was raised under the government's White Australia Policy. The loneliness and isolation he experienced during those years had a devastating impact on him that endured long after he reconnected with his Aboriginal roots and discovered his stolen identity. Even today he feels like an outsider; a loner; a fringe dweller. In this honest and no-holds-barred memoir, Uncle Jack reveals the 'ups and downs of this crazy, drugged up, locked up, fucked up, and at times unbelievable, life'. From his sideline as a cat burglar, battles with drug addiction and stints in prison, to gracing the nation's stages and screens as he dazzled audiences with his big personality and acting prowess, he takes us through the most formative moments of his life. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Jack Charles- A Born-again Blakfella is a candid and uplifting memoir from one of Australia's finest and most beloved actors. ...Show more

Grandmothers: Essays by 21st-Century Grandmothers by Helen Elliott

$34.99 AUD

Category: BIOGRAPHY

An anthology of essays by twenty-four Australian women, edited by Helen Elliott, about the many aspects of being a grandmother in the 21st century. It seems so different from the experience we had of our grandmothers. Although perhaps the human essential, love, hasn't shifted much? In thoughtful, provok ing, uncompromising writing, a broad range of women reflect on vastly diverse experiences. This period of a woman's life, a continuation and culmination, is as defining as any other and the words 'grand' and 'mother' rearrange and realign themselves into bright focus. The contributors- Stephanie Alexander, Maggie Beer, Judith Brett, Jane Caro, Elizabeth Cheung, Cresside Collette, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Helen Garner, Anastasia Gonis, Glenda Guest, Katherine Hattam, Celestine Hitiura Vaite, Yvette Holt, Cheryl Kernot, Ramona Koval, Alison Lester, Joan London, Jenny Macklin, Auntie Daphnie Milward, Mona Mobarek, Carol Raye and Gillian Triggs. ...Show more