New Releases

Christopher ‘Pip’ Fallow was born in the coal-miner’s cottage where his family of eight lived, in a village near Durham. Pip was destined to join his father and brothers down the pit, but the closure of his village’s mine in the 1980s saw him at the back of the dole queue like the rest. This is Pip’s story of being ‘dragged up proppa’, living by his wits, working and travelling the world before finally settling a few miles from where he grew up.

The Endless Country takes a journey through Turkey’s past – the nation the author’s father left decades ago and he returns to as a young man. It is not about Erdogan or Atatürk, the two towering Presidents who have book-ended that history, and at times have appeared impossible to escape. Instead Sami Kent’s book goes deep beyond them, revealing a history as rich, layered and absurd as his family’s favourite dessert, künefe: a shredded wheat pastry with a core of melted cheese, a topping of pistachios, and a drowning of syrup.

I grew up in Raleigh county, in a little town called Beaver, in the state of West Virginia. I lived on a 100-acre farm in a family of ordinary means. When I look back to my childhood I realize how fortunate I was to have clean air, clean water, vegetables from a thoroughly organic garden, fresh cow's milk, butter, and buttermilk—fresh every day. We gave the hogs what was left from each day so we raised great pork. Recycling was a part of life, not something you had to work into your habit.

Michael and Mary Shelley are Christian fanatics who loathe their fellow Australians - especially their foul language, reckless indulgence in alcohol, and obsession with idiotic ball sports. Lenore and Tom Blaine are working-class Queensland publicans raising a large family in a raucous, loving, rugby-league-obsessed home. There's just one problem. The Blaines are foster parents to three of the Shelleys' children, who were removed from Michael and Mary as infants. And the Shelleys are prepared to do anything to get them back. Anything.

Ani Gjika was born in Albania and came of age just after the fall of Communism, a time when everyone had a secret to keep and young women were afraid to walk down the street alone. When her family immigrates to America, Gjika finds herself far from the grandmother who helped raise her, grappling with a new language, and isolated from aging parents who are trying in their own ways to survive. When she meets a young man whose mind leans toward writing, as hers does, Ani falls in love-at least, she thinks it's love.

Dogs of all shapes and sizes visit Ruth Shaw's three wee bookshops in Manapōuri in the far south of Aotearoa New Zealand. Local dogs, holiday house dogs, travelling dogs – many have great stories, be they funny, sad, strange, bemusing, quirky or sweet. Woven throughout are tales of the very special Hunza, the dog who worked with troubled teens alongside Shaw when she was a youth worker.

Traveler says, "Take a poetic journey with me through the highs and lows of life, one verse at a time. Experience my world through the eyes of poetry, as I reminisce on life's unforgettable moments, and on the choices I have made and still make with what I do with my remaining years. The imagination tree is wide, come and sit awhile. You’re so welcome to be here. Would you like some spring tea and shortbread?" This is Traveler's second book of poetry and 75th published work. She has honed her craft to a fine point and her books are read all over the world; she is enjoyed for her wit, ...

Poems and stories from before the war in Syria and during the war by a Damascene experiencing the war first-hand. The pre-war poetry reflects the rich and joyful life that exsited then, and the poems and stories written later reflect the starkness and fearfullness of life that now surrounds Damascus and its inhabitants.

Don’t Take Your Love to Town is a story of courage in the face of poverty and tragedy. Ruby recounts losing her mother when she was six, growing up in a mission in northern New South Wales and leaving home when she was 15. She lived in tin huts and tents in the bush and picked up work on the land while raising nine children virtually single-handedly. Later she struggled to make ends meet in the Koori areas of Sydney.

Don’t Take Your Love to Town is a story of courage in the face of poverty and tragedy. Ruby recounts losing her mother when she was six, growing up in a mission in northern New South Wales and leaving home when she was 15. She lived in tin huts and tents in the bush and picked up work on the land while raising nine children virtually single-handedly. Later she struggled to make ends meet in the Koori areas of Sydney.