Autumn Booklist
	Something to Tell You Hanif Kureishi A wonderfully colourful, warm and epic novel of London life, love, sex and regret from one of Britain's greatest contemporary writers. Something to Tell You follows the fortunes of a successful psychoanalyst who is reflecting on his coming-of-age in 1970’s suburbia; on his first love (a relationship that continues to haunt him), and on a brutal act of violence from which he can never escape. The book brilliantly captures that decade's sense of sexual freedom, the exhilaration of the drug culture as well as the violent struggle between the forces of labour and capital. Something to Tell You speaks directly to our concerns and anxieties, and to our need for love. paperback   $32.95 members      $29.65
	The Biographer Virginia Duigan Greer Gordon now lives in Italy with Mischa Svoboda, a driven Czech-born painter with a booming international reputation. Their explosive love affair began in the 70s and caused Greer to abandon her husband, job and home. Now, twenty-five years later, a young American art critic has been researching a biography of Mischa and arrives in the small Italian community where they now live. Greer is consumed by anxiety, fearing 'the biographer' may have unearthed a hidden secret. A forthright investigation of human frailty and emotion with a plot that keeps you in its thrall until the last word. paperback   $32.95 members    $29.65
	Death At Intervals Jose Saramago On the first day of the New Year, no one dies. This understandably causes great consternation amongst religious leaders - if there's no death, there can be no resurrection and therefore no reason for religion - and what will be the effect on pensions, the social services, hospitals? But will death's disappearance benefit the human race, or will this sudden abeyance backfire? Then, seven months later, death returns, heralded by purple envelopes informing the recipients that their time is up. Death herself is now writing personal notes giving one week's notice. However, when an envelope is unexpectedly returned to her, death begins to experience strange, almost human emotions. In his remarkable new novel, Jose Saramago once again turns the world on its head. paperback   $32.95 members      $29.65
	Nada Carmen Laforet Nada is a Spanish modern classic, first published over sixty years ago and translated into eighteen languages. Andrea, an impoverished eighteen-year-old girl travels to Barcelona to pursue her ambition of studying literature at the university. She arrives in a city that immediately imposes its bleak, post-Civil War atmosphere on her impressionable mind. She makes her way to the home of relatives and before long we realise that she has entered a very strange household indeed. Nada describes a young woman's emergence from a life of cloying despair into the fresh new dawn of post-war enlightenment and promise. The spirit of war-torn, brutalised Barcelona - very different from the confident, prosperous Catalan capital we know today - hovers over this beautifully written and minutely observed novel.. paperback   $27.95 members      $25.15
	The Enchantress of Florence Salman Rushdie A tall, yellow-haired, young European traveller calling himself 'Mogor dell'Amore', the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the real Grand Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the whole imperial capital. The stranger claims to be the child of a lost Mughal princess, the youngest sister of Akbar's grandfather Babar: Qara K”z, 'Lady Black Eyes', a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery. The Enchantress of Florence is the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man's world. It brings together two cities that barely know each other - the hedonistic Mughal capital, and the equally sensual Florentine world,  two worlds, so far apart, but which turn out to be uncannily alike, and the enchantments of women hold sway over them both. paperback   $32.95 members      $29.65
	Disquiet Julia Leigh An elegant young woman stands with her two children at the gate of an austere chateau, locked out. The three have come from Australia, escaping violence, and their arrival is unexpected. The two children have never been here before. The woman, Olivia, has come home. But home is not as it was. Even when Olivia gains entry, what she finds is not what she left. Disquiet is a hauntingly strange and absolutely compelling vision of a family in extremis, a richly imagined and delicately poetic work by one of Australia's most acclaimed writers. hardback     $29.95 members      $26.95
	The Spare Room Garner Helen    Helen awaits the arrival of her friend Nicola, who is flying down from Sydney for a three-week visit. But this is no ordinary visit - Nicola has advanced cancer. She is coming to Melbourne to receive treatment she believes will cure her. From the moment Nicola steps off the plane, Helen becomes her nurse, her protector, her guardian angel and her stony judge. The Spare Room tells a story of compassion and rage as the two women - one sceptical, one stubbornly serene - negotiate their way through Nicola's gruelling illness. An extraordinary work of fiction from one of Australia's best-selling and most admired writers. hardback     $29.95 members      $26.95
	Who is Lou Sciortino? Ottavio Cappellani Metropolitan Catania and Tony's barbecues are a neighbourhood sensation. Each weekend the party girls rub shoulders with elegant Mafiosi. But when a policeman is shot in uncle Mimmo's shop, it isn't your ordinary murder. Lou Sciortino –newly arrived from his safe job laundering mob money in New York – finds more in the Old Country than he'd bargained for. This is sunny Sicily, where no one is truly anyone's friend, the nicest people can still bring on the apocalypse, and grandfathers are to be feared above all men... Meet the family that makes the Sopranos look like the Waltons. paperback   $23.95 members      $20.65
	Brida Paulo Coelho This is the story of Brida, a young Irish girl, and her quest for knowledge. She has long been interested in various aspects of magic, but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom, who begin to teach her about the world. Her teachers sense that Brida has a gift, but they cannot tell her what that is. Meanwhile, Brida pursues her course ever deeper into the mysteries of life, seeking to answer questions about who she is and her destiny in life. This enthralling novel incorporates themes fans of Coelho will love. It is a tale of love, passion, mystery and spirituality. paperback   $29.99 members      $26.99
	Last Evenings on Earth Roberto Bolano This is  the first collection of stories in English by Bolano, who is considered to be the finest Latin American writer of his generation. The fourteen stories here are set largely in the world of the Chilean diaspora in Central America and Europe, and are imbued with 'the melancholy folklore of exile'. The narrators of these stories are usually writers grappling with private quests and living on the margins. Reading Roberto Bolano “is like hearing the secret story, like watching art and life merge and linger like a dream from which we awake inspired to look more attentively at the world.” paperback   $27.95 members      $25.15
	Nine Andrzej Stasiuk Nine is a brilliant novel from one of Poland’s finest writers. It tells of a post-communist generation of young Poles among whom the strictures of the old collide daily with the freedom of the new, adrift in moral space and disconnected from family and friends. It is the story of Warsaw, a hostile landscape of apartment blocks, factories, and suburban wastelands and Pawel, a young businessman, in debt to loan sharks. In prose that is at once colloquial and lyrical, Stasiuk portrays a people in transition and a nation in the re-making. paperback   $27.95 members      $25.15
	Come On In! New Poems Charles Bukowski   Bukowski's unmistakable charisma - an ex-down-and-outer who wrote of booze and loneliness in maverick, confident free verse - made him one of the world's most popular poets long before he died in 1994. This collection is selected from an archive of verse that the author left to be published after his death. It includes poems of love and sex, advice to so-called losers, gambling laments and humbling poems accepting his own imminent, ultimate full stop. A collection you'll want to read from beginning to end, Come On In! is Charles Bukowski at his sad, hilarious, renegade best. paperback    $32.95 members      $29.65
	Crime Fiction
	Nothing to Lose Lee Child Two small towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, nothing but twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher can't find a ride, so he walks. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets are four redneck deputies who want to run him out of town. What is the secret the locals seem so keen to hide? A hard man is good to find. Ex-military cop Reacher is today's most addictive hero. Now he pulls on a tiny, loose thread, to unravel conspiracies that expose the most shocking truths. paperback   $32.95 members      $29.65
	Biography
	Nothing to be Frightened of Julian Barnes Julian Barnes' new book is, among many things, a family memoir, an exchange with his brother (a philosopher), a meditation on mortality and the fear of death, a celebration of art, an argument with and about God, and a homage to the French writer, Jules Renard. Though he warns us that 'this is not my autobiography', the result is like a tour of the mind of one of our most brilliant writers. When Angela Carter reviewed Barnes's first novel, Metroland, she praised the mature way he wrote about death. Now, nearly thirty years later, he returns to the subject in a wise , funny and constantly surprising book, which defies category and classification - except as Barnesian. A brilliant, discursive, very funny book about death and the fear of death, god, nature, nurture and the author's childhood. The closest thing to a memoir Barnes will ever write. hardback     $55.00 members      $49.50
	The Kitchen Readings Untold Stories of Hunter S. Thompson Michael Cleverly & Bob Braudis Warning!* This book contains the following: Unsafe use of powerful firearms in combination with explosives Cultivation of illegal crops Impressionable minors being exposed to illicit activities Piloting of automobiles under impaired conditions Transporting large sums of cash across national borders *Stunts performed in this book were undertaken by professionals. Do not attempt them at home. According to a couple of old buddies of Thompson's, Hunter’s kitchen was the favored place for conversation since the living room had devolved into a squalid, fetid pigsty. That attitude is clearly represented by this book's pair of authors, an artist and a sheriff, who relate numerous tales of paranoid and wanton destruction (often involving cocaine, firearms and too many glasses of Chivas) with the same indulgence one reserves for a dangerously eccentric relative. It's a gentle ribbing; we should all have friends as generous and forgiving as Thompson clearly did. paperback    $27.99 members       $25.20
	Life in His Hands Susan Wyndham In 2001 the brilliant young concert pianist Aaron McMillan was diagnosed with a rare type of brain tumour and given six weeks to live. He was just 24 years old. He underwent 12 hours of emergency surgery; days later he was back at the piano, preparing to perform. Years later, he was still performing. His doctor was Charlie Teo, one of Australia’s most celebrated and controversial neurosurgeons. This is the remarkable true story of a medical maverick and an artist who refused to be daunted by death. paperback    $32.95 members       $29.65
	History
	Metrostop Paris Gregor Dallas The name of every Parisian metro station tells a story. In Metrostop Paris, Gregor Dallas recounts a series of extraordinary but true tales about the city as he leads his readers around the metro. The book includes visits to Paris's catacombs at 'Hell's Gate', the literary cafes and old jazz cellars of Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Pres, trips to the Palais-Royal at the time of the Revolution and the world of opera during Claude Debussy's lifetime. Both the armchair traveller and the visitor will enjoy an illuminating journey in the company of a compelling storyteller and veteran of the city. paperback    $39.99 members       $35.99
	After the Reich Giles Macdonogh In 1945, Germany was a nation in tatters. Swathes of its population were despairing and homeless. Refugees streamed towards the West and soldiers made their way home, often scarring the villages they passed through with parting shots of savagery. Politically, the country was neutered, carved into zones of occupation. After the Reich is the first history to give the full picture of Germany's bitter journey to reconstruction. Giles Macdonogh’s expert narrative unveils shocking truths about how people continued to treat each other, even outside the confines of war. It is a crucial lesson for our times. paperback    $32.99 members       $29.70
	Propitious Esculent The Potato in World History John Reader Baked, roasted, boiled, mashed, steamed, french-fried. We've probably all tried at least one type. The potato is one of the most familiar and ubiquitous foods, and part of our sense of mundane normality. But the story of the solanum tuberosum is darker - one of struggle, disease, dirt and survival. 2008 has been designated International Year of the Potato by the UN, and as global population swells and famine remains a constant risk, Reader asks what role the spud still has to play. Propitious Esculent is a highly readable exploration of the biology, history and social influence of our most humble, versatile foodstuff. paperback     $35.00 members      $31.50
	Forgotten Anzacs The Campaign in Greece, 1941 Peter Ewer  While every Australian knows the legend of the Anzacs, few know about the story of another Anzac force which fought not at Gallipoli, but in Greece a generation later. The Greek campaign had uncanny parallels to the Gallipoli operation: both were inspired by Winston Churchill, both were badly planned by British military leaders and both ended in desperate defeat. This is the first history of the campaign in Greece and Crete written from a truly Anzac perspective. Based on rarely accessed archives and interviews with veterans, this superb book gives overdue recognition to the brave, forgotten Anzacs of 1941. hardback     $59.95 members      $53.95
	381 A D Heretics, Pagans and the Christian State Charles Freeman In AD 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree requirng all subjects to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy, all other interpretations were now declared heretical and for the first time in Greco-Roman civilization, free thought was unambiguously suppressed. Yet, surprisingly, this political revolution has been airbrushed from the historical record. In this groundbreaking new book, acclaimed historian Charles Freeman argues that Theodosius's edict not only brought an end to the diversity of religious and philosophical beliefs but also created numerous theological problems for the Church, which still remain unresolved. AD 381, Freeman concludes, marked 'a turning point which time forgot'. hardback     $59.95 members      $53.95
	Current Affairs
	Suckers Rose Shapiro 'Alternative' medicine is now used by one in three of us. Billions of dollars a year are spent on it and its practitioners are now insinuating themselves into the mainstream. By 2050 its global market is predicted to be worth $5 trillion. Endorsed by celebrities and embraced by the middle classes, alternative medicine's appeal is based on the spurious rediscovery of ancient wisdom and the supposedly benign quality of nature. Surrounded by an aura of unquestioning respect and promoted through uncritical airtime and column inches, alternative medicine has become a lifestyle choice. And what all these therapies have in common is that there is no hard evidence that any of them work. Suckers reveals how alternative medicine can jeopardise the health of those it claims to treat, leaches resources from treatments of proven efficacy and is largely unaccountable and unregulated. In short, it is an industry that preys on human vulnerability and makes fools of us all. paperback     $32.95 members        $29.65
	Common Wealth Economics for a Crowded Planet Jeffrey Sachs   In this sobering but optimistic manifesto, Sachs argues that the crises facing humanity are daunting—but solutions to them are readily at hand. Sachs creates a lucid, accessible and suitably grim exposition of looming problems and concludes that his entire agenda would cost less than 3% of the world's annual income, or, as he notes, a mere two days' worth of Pentagon spending. "Jeffrey Sachs never disappoints. With powerful illustrations and moving words, he describes what humanity must do if we are to share a common future on this planet.” paperback     $32.95 members        $29.65
	The Age of the Warrior  Robert Fisk Robert Fisk has amassed a devoted readership over the years, with his insightful, witty and always outspoken articles on international politics and mankind's war–torn recent history. He is best known for his writing about the Middle East, its wars, dictators and international relations, but these 'comment' articles cover an array of topics, from his soldier grandfather to handwriting to the Titanic – and of course President Bush, terrorism and Iraq. paperback    $29.99 members       $26.99
	Travel
	Summer in Gascony Martin Calder A charming and humourous tale of a summer working holiday that evokes the spirit, sights, smells and sounds of Gascony and all the simple pleasures it offers. Calder describes an extraordinary summer spent working at a Ferme-Auberge in one of the most rural parts of Southwest France. This is a tale of two love affairs: an idyllic summer romance with his fellow stagiere Anja and a lifelong love affair with Gascony – with its village festivals, dusty roads, and its sun-baked wine country, full of colourful characters who take Martin into their home and hearts. paperback    $32.95 members       $29.65
	At My French Table Food, Family and Joie de Vivre in a Corner of Normandy Jane Webster After selling her house in Melbourne, Jane Webster takes her four children out of school and moves across the world to a grand but neglected chateau in Normandy. Initially uncertain as to how they will adapt to their new French lives, the family is soon completely immersed in the tiny village of Bosgouet. Restoring the cheateau to its former glory also gives Jane the opportunity to fulfil her lifelong dream of establishing a cookery school. Filled with exquisite photography, recipes and stories, At My French Table captures the simple pleasures of family life in a beautiful corner of France. hardback     $59.95 members      $53.95

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