Staff Reviews

Who Owns the Moon? by A C Grayling

Available in print 

Silicon for microchips; manganese for batteries; titanium for missiles.

The moon contains a wealth of natural resources. So, as the Earth's supplies have begun to dwindle, it is no surprise that the world's superpowers and wealthiest corporations have turned their eyes to the stars. As this new Space Race begins, A.C. Grayling asks: who, if anyone, owns the moon? Or Mars? Or other bodies in near space? And what do those superpowers and corporations owe to Planet Earth and its inhabitants as a whole?

From feudal common land, through the rules of the sea, to the vast, nationless expanse of Antarctica, Grayling explores the history of the places which no one, and therefore everyone, owns. Examining the many ways this so-called terra nullius has fallen victim to 'the tragedy of the commons' – the tendency for communal resources to be exploited by a few individuals for personal gain at the expense of everyone else – Who Owns the Moon? puts forward a compelling argument for a bold new global consensus, one which recognises and defends the rights of everyone who lives on this planet.

Top Stocks: Special Edition: Ethical, Sustainable, Responsible by Erica Hill

Available in print

A handbook for investing with impact and building a share portfolio that reflects your values

When it comes to share investing, how you choose to invest your money can create real global impact. Your investments can make a difference for urgent issues like climate change and human rights. But how do you know which companies are living up to their promises for a greener, brighter future? In Top Stocks Special Edition – Ethical, Sustainable, Responsible, you’ll discover essential information for growing a profitable portfolio that aligns your investments with your values.

This book reveals the ethical and sustainable impact of top Australian companies. Inside, sustainable investing expert Erica Hall provides clear explanations for key metrics on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and on carbon emissions. With this book, you’ll learn how to evaluate risk and momentum for more than 60 best-in-class companies across the major industry sectors of the ASX. And you’ll discover which companies have strong accountability, a clear pathway to decarbonisation, and robust, transparent ESG reporting.

• Learn how to identify what companies are best-in-class for responsible and ethical investing
• Understand the different challenges faced by each sector in achieving goals for impact
• Explore current issues in ESG and sustainability, from business ethics to public policy, the supply chain, environmental operations, and more

An invaluable resource for novices and professionals alike, Top Stocks Special Edition – Ethical, Sustainable, Responsible provides clear, accessible tables for easy reference to essential ESG ratings and data points. With this handbook, you’ll learn how and where your investments can make a positive difference in the world — so you can make wiser, well-informed decisions for building your wealth.

iPad for Seniors in easy steps 13th edition by Nick Vandome

Available in print

This bestselling guide, iPad for Seniors in easy steps, 13th edition, is updated for iPadOS 17. Written in larger type, it'll help senior folks learn how to use and enjoy myriad iPad features with ease:

• Choose the right model for you, master Multitasking Gestures, and customize the iPad for your needs
• Use your iPad to keep in touch with family and friends. Make video calls; send fun messages; take and share photos
• Shop and order food and more online; take a virtual tour of your favourite art galleries and museums; plan and book your trips
• Explore the new and enhanced features in iPadOS 17, such as the Health app, and make the most of your new device!

Written in large type, in full colour, and using non-technical language, iPad for Seniors in easy steps 13th edition will help you get much more out of your iPad - so you don't have to ask the kids anymore!

Teach Yourself Visually MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, 7th Edition by Guy Hart-Davis

Available in print

The visual learner's guide to getting up and running with your Apple laptop

Teach Yourself VISUALLY MacBook Pro and MacBook Air covers all the vital information you need to start working on your MacBook. With this highly illustrated and easy-to-follow guide, you'll learn to navigate the macOS interface like a pro; customize your desktop with the widgets you need; and get your MacBook working with iCloud, your iPhone, and your iPad. This book's graphical, step-by-step instructions walk you through everything from installation to troubleshooting, helping you to get the most out of the investment you've made in your MacBook.

This fully updated edition helps you become a power user of the latest MacBook models and exploit the features in macOS Sonoma, Apple's state-of-the-art operating system, and the apps that come with it. If you prefer to learn visually, this is the book you need.

• Get up to speed with the latest macOS version, Sonoma, and its new features
• Perform everyday tasks quickly and easily
• Customize settings to make macOS and its apps work the way you prefer
• Communicate via audio and video with FaceTime, via instant messaging with Messages, and via email with Mail
• Organize your life with Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Notes, and Maps
• Make the most of your iCloud account

Instead of confusing tech-speak and vague instructions, this guide is packed with screenshots, easy-to-follow instructions, and a practical sensibility. Grab Teach Yourself VISUALLY MacBook Pro and MacBook Air and explore all that your MacBook can do.

Deep Water by James Bradley

Available in regular print 

"The ocean has shaped and sustained life on Earth from the beginning of time. Its vast waters are alive with meaning and connect every living thing on Earth.

Deep Water is a hymn to the beauty, mystery and wonder of the ocean. Weaving together science, history and personal experience, it offers vital new ways of understanding not just humanity's relationship with the planet, but our past -- and perhaps most importantly -- our future."

Force of Nature by Kate Parker

Available in regular print

“Mothers lifting up their daughters. Sisters standing their ground. Classmates lending a helping hand. Here are more than 150 full-color and black-and-white images of girls and women in the process of speaking up and speaking out. Force of Nature, the third installment in the Strong Is the New Pretty series by bestselling author-photographer Kate Parker, is split into four chapters-Find Your Voice, Use Your Voice, Amplify Your Voice, and Sustain Your Voice. The book and its subjects tackle issues big and small with the power and wisdom of their voices and their confidence in themselves.”

Personal Politics by Leigh Boucher

Available in regular print

“The achievement of marriage equality in Australia in 2017 was hailed by many as the crowning event of a fifty-year story of hard work by activists, which began with campaigns to decriminalise sex between men in the early 1970s. In that same five decades, feminist activism, including campaigns for abortion rights, the reform of family law and forms of welfare to support survivors of domestic violence, has similarly remade the rights and entitlements of Australian women. But has that story been one of continual progress and success? And who has been excluded from the privileges of Australian citizenship in the process? “

Personal Politics brings together the voices and campaigns of a diverse set of activists who employed ideas about gender and sexuality to remake modern Australia. Beginning in the pivotal decade of the '70s in which the 'personal became political', this book critically examines the wins and losses of these new ways of imagining citizenship and provides a revised political history of the past fifty years.”

Heresy by Catherine Nixey

Available in regular print

“In the beginning was the Word,' says the Gospel of John. This sentence - and the words of all four gospels - is central to the teachings of the Christian church and has shaped Western art, literature and language, and the Western mind. Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered.

There were many different Jesuses, among them the aggressive Jesus who scorned his parents and crippled those who opposed him, the Jesus who sold his twin into slavery and the Jesus who had someone crucified in his stead. Moreover, in the early years of the first millennium there were many other saviours, many sons of gods who healed the sick and cured the lame.

But as Christianity spread, they were pronounced unacceptable - even heretical - and they faded from view. Now, in Heresy, Catherine Nixey tells their extraordinary story, one of contingency, chance and plurality. It is a story about what might have been."

The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables by Jessica Sowards

Available in regular print

Jessica Sowards, is the perfect teacher for new gardeners, offering not just know-how but inspiration and time-management tips for success. Before you sink your hands into the soil, she’ll answer all those questions rolling around inside your head including where do I put my new garden? How do I prepare the soil? What vegetables should I plant? Is it better to start new plants from seed or should I buy transplants?

What about watering, feeding, and taking care of my garden? What do I do if bugs show up? Not only will you learn how to prepare, plant, and tend your first vegetable garden, but you’ll also learn how to design an eco-friendly layout, how to grow with the seasons, how to maximise your harvest, even if you only grow in a small space. Jessica wants your first food-growing experience to be a positive one, and she’s prepared to go the distance to make sure tending the earth becomes your new favourite hobby.

The Little Veggie Patch Co: an A-Z guide to growing food in small spaces

Available in regular print

After years of helping clients grow fruit and vegetables, the Little Veggie Patch Co. crew believe anyone can grow their own food, in most areas in Australia. And in this easy-to-use guide they show you how simple it is!

Fundamentals such as soil, climate, watering, composting, worm farms, saving and sowing seeds, and raised garden beds and crates are all covered comprehensively - each with fully illustrated step-by-step plans that show how to create your own little veggie patch in any space.

A complete A-Z of edible plants gives you vital information on more than 40 vegetables (and fruit trees), including detailed planting information, ongoing maintenance advice, tips on best companions and when to harvest. And the weekend activities scattered throughout the book will get the kids involved too, whether they're making a scarecrow, building a spud tower or growing beans in a bean can. Lots of fun, and packed full of all the knowledge you'll need - plus recipes and some hilarious stories - this colourful guide is for anyone interested in growing their own food.

The Ultimate Seed Saving Guide by Hector J Furr.

Available in regular print

This informative guide is designed to help novice gardeners with the essential knowledge and techniques to successfully save seeds from their plants. With step-by-step instructions, expert gardening advice, and comprehensive explanations, this guide is your one-stop resource for seed saving. This guide takes you through every step of the seed saving process, from selecting the right seeds to harvesting and storing them.

Each step is clearly explained and accompanied by detailed illustrations, making it easy for beginners to follow along. Written by seasoned gardeners, this guide offers valuable insight and tips based on years of experience. Whether you're a complete beginner or have some gardening knowledge, you'll find useful advice to improve your seed saving skills. The Ultimate Seed Saving Guide covers a wide range of seeds, including vegetables, herbs, flowers, and more. No matter what type of plants you're growing, you'll find guidance on how to save their seeds effectively.

Seeds: grow your own cut flowers from scratch by Milli Proust

Available in regular print and ebook

A modern and practical guide to growing your own cut flowers, The Grower's Guide will gently guide you through all the essential steps from sowing and germination to sprouting, re-potting and harvesting your glorious blooms. Including beautiful photography that demystifies the growing process in Milli Proust’s unique style.

Discover how to plant with confidence and fill your life with flowers. Including floral features and seasonal highlights as well as how to tackle the common problems all gardener's face.  This book will show you how to grow cut flowers in a sustainable way. The Grower's Guide is a brand-new gardening series for those who seek an approachable and accessible insight into the wonderful world of flower growing and floral arranging.

Girl Falling by Hayley Scrivenor

Available in Print, BorrowBox eAudio & eBook formats

"Why would my best friend want to destroy my life? Finn and her best friend, Daphne, have grown up together in a small town in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Bonded by both having lost a younger sister to suicide, they've always had a close, sometimes too close, friendship. Now in their twenties, their lives have finally started to move apart.

Daphne is at university and Finn is working in the Mountains, as well as falling in love with a beautiful newcomer called Magdu. Unused to sharing Finn, Daphne starts to act up in ways that will allow her to maintain the control over her best friend she's always relished. Then, one fateful day, Finn, Daphne and Magdu all go mountain climbing, and Magdu falls to her death. Is it suicide, or a terrible accident, or has something more sinister happened?"

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

Available in Print, Large Print & Audio CD formats

"In her work as a 'death doula', Clover Brooks ushers people peacefully through their last days, collecting their final words into three notebooks: "Advice, Confessions And Regrets". But Clover spends so much time with the dying that she's forgotten how to live. Can her clients' hard-won wisdom and the inspiring love story of a spirited old woman named Claudia show Clover the way to a happy ending? After all, what's the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you can't give yourself a beautiful life?"

Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran

Available in Print Format & BorrowBox eBook

"After arriving in Australia seeking asylum, Fina dedicates herself to aiding the refugees held in a detention centre at Port Camden, a remote island outpost. Appalled by the mistreatment of those in custody, Fina speaks out to the media about the poor conditions within the facility, as a result she is arrested, taken from her home in the small country town of Hastings and threatened with deportation.

When a security officer dies under suspicious circumstances, Lucky, a special investigator, arrives to uncover the truth. Her mystery is tied to Fina's fate, and the secrets of the detention centre will divide the town and the nation."

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

Available in Print, BorrowBox eAudio & eBook Formats

"Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class". It's not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course; she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings, but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.

Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them, that is, until they're accidentally sent out. Now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie, Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate."

Ela! Ela! to Turkey and Greece, a journey home through food by Ella Mittas

Available in Print Format

"An original, heartfelt journey through food, culture and belonging by standout young Anglo-Greek writer and cook Ella Mittas. Ela! Ela! is a collection of recipes and stories from cook and food writer Ella Mittas. Inspired by her time working in a village in the mountains of Crete and the hot, loud streets of Istanbul, as well as her Greek heritage, they represent a journey of food, culture and belonging."

Four Good Liars Sarah Wishart

Available in Print, BorrowBox eAudio & eBook Formats

"Layla, Kai, Liam, and Fliss. Terrified big sister. Troubled surfer. Insecure genius. Pampered princess. They have nothing in common, except they were all on the school bus that morning. The morning of the crash, they discovered the dead driver's holdall, containing one million pounds and a gun.

All of them have secrets, and all of them need that money. But someone dangerous is hunting it down and drawing closer every minute. If Layla, Kai, Liam and Fliss want to survive, they'll need to stick together. But can four good liars really trust one another? Or are some truths just too powerful to stay buried?"

Organic vegetable gardening by Xanthe White

Available in print 

In this classic bestseller, expert landscape designer Xanthe White takes readers by the hand and walks them from backyard bombsite to productive vegetable garden in a single year. White’s month-by-month guide demystifies organic gardening and offers invaluable advice on seed-raising, planting, composting, mulching, chemical-free pest and disease control, companion planting, soil rotation, essential varieties and much more.

This inspirational and practical guide is perfect both for beginners who want to grow their own food and seasoned gardeners looking for new ideas. The only book you’ll ever need for delicious vegetables from garden to table.

Sort your property out & build your future by John Pidgeon

Available in print

A handbook for investing in property in a smart and strategic way.

There’s so much more to investing in property than having a double-digit property portfolio. Whether you’re a home buyer, a beginner, or a seasoned investor. Sort Your Property Out will revolutionise the way you think about property.

When it comes to building lifelong financial security, property investing is about being creative and being prepared. In Sort Your Property Out, you’ll learn exactly what you need to know — and what you need to do — to buy well in today’s markets around Australia.

Some people want to shoot me: a memoir of living in two cultures by Wayne Bergmann

Available in print

I’ve spent the majority of my life fighting for the rights of Traditional Owners. This has put me in the firing line. But I chose this job, I chose this political path. My family did not.’ – Wayne Bergmann

It’s Broome, 2010. Nyikina man Wayne Bergmann has just received a death threat. His wife has watched a friend cross the road to avoid speaking with her. His children are subject to intense schoolyard bullying. Bergmann, a boilermaker by trade, and lawyer, is chief executive of the Kimberley Land Council during the controversial James Price Point gas hub negotiations. His is an electrifying tale of resilience, determination and optimism, which shows what it takes to be an Aboriginal person walking in two cultures in a country where racism runs deep.

Playful pottery: the Mud Witch's guide to creating curvy, colorful ceramics by Viviana Matsuda

Available in print

The ultimate guide to making colourful, whimsical pottery creations!

If you’ve ever dreamed of crafting your own handmade mugs, bowls, or plates but your vision is more bold and colourful than beige and simple, this is your book. Noted potter Viviana Matsuda, also known as Mud Witch, has amassed a devoted following of fans who love her creative, curvy designs. Now, she reveals her knowledge on getting started and unleashing your creativity through pottery.”

Tokyo noir by Jake Adelstein

Available in print 

It's 2008, and it's been a while since Jake Adelstein was the only gaijin crime reporter for theYomiuri Shimbun. The global economy is in shambles, Jake is off the police beat but still chain-smoking clove cigarettes, and Tadamasa Goto, the most powerful boss in the Japanese organised-crime world, has been banished from the yakuza, giving Adelstein one less enemy to worry about - for the time being.

But as he puts his life back together, he discovers that he may be no match for his greatest enemy - himself. And Adelstein has a different gig these days- due-diligence work, or using his investigative skills to dig up information on entities whose bosses would prefer that some things stay hidden.

The leadership compass by Michelle Redfern

Available in print

Award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion leader, Michelle Redfern believes that closing the gender leadership gap is not about fixing women, it is about providing them with a human compass to navigate their way to leadership success. Rather than change their behaviour, they need to learn the skills and gain the confidence required to reach their leadership potential. The Leadership Compass is evidence-based, illustrated with the authors own experiences and those of others, and it provides a proven approach for readers to follow.

Many leadership books are preoccupied with the soft skills of emotional intelligence (EQ) and social intelligence (SQ) and, of course, Michelle covers these in her book. But she believes that many aspiring women leaders are missing the most powerful contributor and that is business intelligence (BQ). Women need to understand the financials and the metrics if they are to reach the highest executive levels in our organisations.

Australia’s lost heroes: Anzacs in the Russian Civil War 1919 by Damien Wright

Available in print

This extraordinary book is both an engaging military history and an enthralling mystery. Australia’s Lost Heroes tells the astonishing little-known story of the Australian soldiers who fought the Red Army in Russia in 1919 and the personal odyssey, 100 years later, to locate and identify the lost grave of Victoria Cross hero Sergeant Samuel Pearse VC MM.

The Anzac volunteers fought an arduous campaign punctuated by fierce ambushes in thick forest, swamps and marshes and attacks on fortified bunkers. They also had to fight a war within, avoiding the treachery and mutiny of White Russian ‘allies’. Remarkably, two Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross, one posthumously. Yet, unlike the reverence, recognition and commemoration afforded to WWI soldiers, not only do the deeds of Anzacs in Russia remain unrecognised, but their graves lie lost and forgotten.

How to win a grand prix: from pit lane to podium – the inside track by Bernie Collins

Available in print

Welcome to Bernie Collins' world. Formula 1 drivers are the public face of Grand Prix racing but behind every driver is a team of several hundred people sharing the same passionate desire to win.

On race day it's the Team Strategist who calls the shots, working under immense pressure to make split second and crucial decisions. Through her eyes and experience as a Performance Engineer and Head of Race Strategy, Bernie takes you behind the scenes of a Formula 1 team - both in the factory and at the races - to uncover what it takes to put two Formula 1 cars on the grid and go racing.

How to Win a Grand Prix gives incredible insight of the entire process from design and construction, through pre-season testing, and how a team prepares for each Grand Prix. For race weekend itself, Bernie recreates it hour-by-hour to plunge the reader behind the pit wall and see what it's actually like to get from grid to podium.