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1001 Australian Nights

by Dave Graney

In his memoir, 1001 Australian Nights, legendary rock showman Dave Graney takes us on a journey about growing up, finding your voice and hitting the right pitch

Bearings

by Leah Swann

In this affecting novella and collection of stories, Leah Swann burrows deep into the souls of her characters to reveal universal complexities, frailties and strengths. 

The Slow Guide to Melbourne (second ed.)

by Simone Egger and Martin Hughes

Refashioned, refreshed and fully recharged, The Slow Guide to Melbourne is the perfect tonic in these accelerated times.

Rock and Hard Places

by Andrew Mueller

Andrew Mueller couldn't decide between being a rock journalist, travel writer or foreign correspondent, so he hit upon the idea to be all three at once. Rock and Hard Places is a retrospective of the backstages, front lines and assorted stageshows he's encountered over the last 20 years. 

Having Cried Wolf

by Gretchen Shirm

'A major new talent has arrived ... Shirm is a gifted practitioner of restraint.' - Kerryn Goldsworthy, Sydney Morning Herald

'A born storyteller.' - Cate Kennedy

Small towns harbour secrets. Rising and returning like the tides lapping the coastal town of Kinsale, the stories in this collection revolve around Alice and Grace, friends since childhood, who grow to live vastly different lives.

When we think about Melbourne: The imagination of a city

by Jenny Sinclair

What exactly makes Melbourne unique? And where does it get its x-factor? 

When We Think About Melbourne is a wry and whimsical survey of our city’s creativity. It observes with a keen and appreciative eye the changing physical, social and cultural landscape of Melbourne through its film, literature, music, art, maps and transport.

Known Unknowns

by Emmett Stinson

'These stories contain beautiful passages of writing.' - The Australian

Set largely in Washington DC immediately after September 11, these are engrossing stories that tap into the zeitgeist of disconnection, isolation and the loss of meaningful identity after these world-changing events.

Slow London

Salve for the soul, Slow London is an inspirational lifestyle guide for Londoners who want to live more and fret less. It celebrates all that's unique, local, natural, traditional and sensory in the  city.

Slow Dublin

Salve for the soul, Slow Dublin is an inspirational lifestyle guide for Dubliners who want to live more and fret less. It celebrates all that's unique, local, natural, traditional and sensory in the fair city.

The Mighty Bras

by Paul Connolly

In the summer of 2003, a mob of mature Melbourne women threw caution, asthma inhalers and orthopaedic inserts to the wind and formed a football (soccer) team to play in the lower division of the metropolitan league. The Mighty Bras - as the Brunswick Zebras became known - have defied the odds and their old bones ever since to prove that, well, winning isn't everything...

Peace of Wall

by Chris Parkinson (with foreword by Jose-Ramos Horta)

‘Deeply moving and beautifully presented, the raw expression here tells the harrowing and inspirational story of East Timor.' - Anthony LaPaglia

The images and words adorning the walls of East Timor reflect the country's tumultuous history, precarious present and hopeful future. They endow the social landscape with a rawness and honesty absent from their media, and echo the struggle towards new nationhood. Peace of Wall is widely contradictory, emotionally charged, instantly engaging and consistently dramatic. It's life in East Timor.

Nineteen Seventysomething

by Barry Divola

‘Barry Divola hides meticulous attention to the detail of an era in prose that is disarming and real, and reads as though it came without effort. This is a book for anyone who ever owned a Dragstar bike or marvelled at a Valiant Charger.' - Nick Earls

Against a backdrop of buzzing cicadas, Dragstar bikes, schoolboy rock bands, church youth groups, and Top 40 radio, Barry Divola deftly evokes that awkward, exhilarating journey from childhood to adolescence.

Under Stones

by Bob Franklin

‘What a bruising collection this is ... Franklin turns a coolly amused and beautifully composed eye on the darkest, saddest, oddest and most ordinary corners of the world.' - Sonya Hartnett

Dip into the world of Bob Franklin's fiction at your own risk. The calm surface belies a swift undertow and snags galore. These are not horror stories in the traditional sense; they are more unsettling than that.  

Advice to Young People on Leaving Home

by Grace Lax

‘Don‘t leave home without it.' - The Age

If you or your spawn are looking for guidance about the right way to leave the family home, find ‘digs‘, make friends, influence people, express yourself artistically, eat, drink, procreate, get ahead and, finally, die and be buried... then this darling compendium will steer you through the rest of your days. It is the latest offering from world-famous knowist, Grace Lax, OBE.

From Sometimes Love Beth

by Beth Sometimes

‘Is this book a pretentious gimmick or an exciting exploration of a new form? Sometimes both, sometimes neither, but there‘s plenty to engage attention and provoke thought.' - The Age

From her new home in Central Australia, on the eve of 2008, postcard author Beth Sometimes embarked on a daring challenge: to write a postcard to somebody, everybody, anybody and anything every day for the next year.

Paradise Updated

by Mic Looby

‘Think of a better Phaic Tan, a satirical package with political nous and a social conscience ... sharp and brave.' - The Sunday Age

There are precious few places still untouched by tourism. Paradise Lost? Chance would be a fine thing. More like Paradise Packaged, Marketed and Sold in Easy-to-Enjoy Portions. And if there's money to be made shining light into the darkest corners of the world, SmallWorld wrote the book on it.

Mic Looby's masterful debut novel weaves a hilarious and hair-raising tale of compromised idealism and corporate skullduggery. You'll never open another guidebook without reading between the lines.

50 Reasons to Quit/Keep Smoking

by Fiona Scott-Norman

A guide to quitting smoking. Or not.

One book with two covers, 50 Reasons to Quit/Keep Smoking is an audacious attempt to tackle the touchy subject of smoking with humour and logic.

Lines of Wisdom

‘I cannot remember when I last read a book with more heart.' - The Canberra Times

Lines of Wisdom is a heart-to-heart between people at opposite ends of the path of life. Evocative and engaging, sincere and irreverent, it provides a gentle mediation on the march of time and on the history of Australia itself. It contains wise words but, most poignantly, it's an enduring reminder to us all to listen while we can.

From Little Things Big Things Grow

From Little Things Big Things Grow gives Gurindji children the opportunity to retell their story to a new generation, and is a collaboration embodying the spirit of the song.

All profits will be funnelled back to the community through Ian Thorpe's Fountain for Youth to establish literacy and cultural programmes for Gurindji youth in Kalkarinji, NT.

Lame Claims to Fame

A small book with its sights set on the big time, Lame Claims to Fame revels in, and roots out, the cult of celebrity. Funny, reverential and downright silly, it takes giddy delight in real encounters with unreal people, liberating mere mortals to celebrate their own ephemeral brushes with fame.

Herding Kites

‘Full of originality and energy.' - Sydney Morning Herald

Marking ten years of the National Young Writers' Festival (NYWF), Herding Kites is a new anthology celebrating the breadth, originality and dynamism of Australian writing.

Slow Guide to Sydney

The Slow Guide to Sydney is an inspirational lifestyle guide for Sydneysiders who want to slow down and live it up. Salve for the soul and a manual for managing in hectic times, it's like making a sea-change without shifting postcode.