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Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Five Masks of Dr. Screem - Goosebumps Hall of Horrors #3 (R.L. Stine)

The Five Masks of Dr. Screem - Goosebumps Hall of Horrors #3
R.L. Stine

Blurb: Monica Anderson thinks her biggest problem is taking her karate-chopping younger brother, Peter, trick-or-treating on Halloween. But she is wrong. After knocking on the door of an old, creepy house the kids are met by a strange woman pleading for their help. The evil Dr. Screem is after five horribly ugly ancient masks. These artifacts have the power to manipulate the world around them. Monica and Peter don't want to help, but they must retrieve the masks and defeat Screem. Unfortunately, nothing on Halloween is what it appears to be...

ISBN: 9780545289368 (Paperback)
Year: 2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 173 (Fiction)

Links

Friday, December 30, 2011

Mr. Squiggles' Halloween Party - Zhu Zhu Pets (Various)

Mr. Squiggles' Halloween Party - Zhu Zhu Pets
Various

Blurb: Mr. Squiggles is having a Halloween party - complete with a special costume contest! Who will be the big winner? Find out in this adorable book complete with a special fold-out surprise in back!

ISBN: 9780545262309 (Paperback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 24 (Fiction)

Links

Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Krakken - Ben 10 (Mina Bolouri)

The Krakken - Ben 10
Mina Bolouri

Blurb: Ben is attacked by a legendary lake monster that no on - including Grandpa Max and Gwen - believes actually exists! That is - no one but the obsessed Captain Shaw, who has spent 30 years chasing the mythical beast! Can the 10-year-old superhero unravel the mystery and prove the creature is real?

ISBN: 9781407593777 (Paperback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: Parragon
Pages: 52 (Fiction)

Links

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Postcard Killers (James Patterson & Liza Marklund)

Postcard Killers
James Patterson & Liza Marklund

Blurb: NYPD detective Jacob Kanon is on a tour of Europe's most gorgeous cities. But the sights aren't what draw him - he sees each museum, each cathedral, and each cafe through the eyes of his daughter's killer.

Kanon's daughter, Kimmy, and her fiance were murdered while on holiday in Rome. Since then, young couples in Madrid, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Athens and Paris have been found dead. Little connects the murders, other than a postcard sent to the local newspaper prior to each attack.

Now Kanon teams up with the Swedish reporter, Dessie Larsson, who has just received a postcard in Stockholm - and they think they know where the next victims will be.

ISBN: 9781846057670 (Paperback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: Century
Pages: 420 (Fiction)

Links

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

General George Washington: A Military Life (Edward G. Lengel)

General George Washington: A Military Life
Edward G. Lengel

Blurb: Much has been written in the past two centuries about George Washington the statesman and 'father of his country.' Less often discussed is Washington's military career, including his exploits as a young officer and his performance as the Revolutionary War commander in chief. Now, in a revealing work of historical biography, Edward G. Lengel has written the definitive account of George Washington the soldier.

Based largely on Washington's personal papers, this engrossing book paints a vivd, factual portrait of a man to whom lore and legend so tenaciously cling. To Lengel, Washington was the imperfect commander. Washington possessed no great tactical ingenuity, and his acknowledged 'brilliance in retreat' only demonstrates the role luck plays in the fortunes of all great men. He was not an enlisted man's leader; he made a point of never mingling with his troops. He was not an especially creative military thinker; he fought largely by the book. By no means a professional, he was a citizen soldier who, at a time when warfare demanded that armies manoeuvre efficiently in precise formation, had little practical training handling men in combat.

Yet despite his flaws, Washington was a remarkable figure, a true man of the moment, a leader who possessed a clear strategic, national, and continental vision and who inspired complete loyalty in his fellow revolutionaries, officers, and enlisted men. America could never have won freedom without him.

Washington, a trained surveyor, mastered topography and used his superior knowledge of battlegrounds to maximum effect. He appreciated the importance of strong allies in times of crisis, and understood well the benefits of coordinating ground and naval forces. Like the American nation itself, he was a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts - a remarkable everyman whose acts determined the course of history. Lengel argues that Washington's excellence was in his completeness, in how he united the military, political. and personal skills necessary to lead a nation in war and peace.

At once informative and engaging, and filled with some eye-opening revelations about Washington, the war for American independence, and the very nature of military command, General George Washington is a book that reintroduces readers to a figure many think they already know.

ISBN: 1400060818 (Hardback)
Year: 2005
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 450 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Monday, December 26, 2011

Captain Kirk's Guide to Women (John 'Bones' Rodriguez)

Captain Kirk's Guide to Women
John 'Bones' Rodriguez

Blurb: Cassanova, Don Juan, James Bond - these are men of legendary romance, but only one man can boast that his seductive powers take him boldly where no man has gone before: James T. Kirk.

Captain Kirk's status as an interstellar stud is proven by his ability to seduce any woman, in any situation, in any part of the galaxy. From high-society princesses to unbalanced Orion slave girls, from gender-switching shape-shifters to emotional-deprived androids - they all swoon, acquiesce, and malfunction from just one kiss.

But a single question remains in the minds of millions: How does he do it?

Captain Kirk's Guide to Women is the first book to answer this question by probing deeply into Kirk's character, charisma, and seductive techniques, making it possible for any man to model himself after the Casanova of the Cosmos. It is also the only warp-powered romance manual written with enough wit, charm, and humor to help the female of the species make first contact.

Employing meticulous research, along with fanatic-level detail and the kind of pointy-eared logic even a Vulcan would find fascinating, Captain Kirk's Guide to Women shows you how to be as effective as Captain Kirk.

ISBN: 9781416543152 (Paperback)
Year: 2008
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages: 86 (Fiction)

Links

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Open Season (Jason Akermanis with Gary Smart)

Open Season
Jason Akermanis with Gary Smart

Blurb: Say what you like about Jason Akermanis - legend, troublemaker, showman, show-off - there's no denying that he's made an impression in his 16 years as an AFL star player. Now, after more than 325 games, three premierships and a Brownlow Medal, the curtain has come down on his extraordinary career.

No longer restrained by contractual obligations and free to speak at last, Aker reveals a no-holds-barred look at a stellar sporting career, including behind-the-scenes details of his falling out with Leigh Matthews, his move from the Brisbane Lions to the Western Bulldogs and his explosive final season, which was cut short amid very public controversy. Interwoven through the highs and lows of an outstanding professional life is his personal story of finding and reconciling with his biological father - a married man with a family of his own who lived next door to Aker's childhood home.

Told with trademark honesty and passion, this tell-all memoir is a must-have for all footy fans.

ISBN: 9781740668248 (Hardback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: Hardie Grant Books
Pages: 296 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Saturday, December 24, 2011

The Wide World of Ken Sutcliffe (Ken Sutcliffe with Ian Heads)

The Wide World of Ken Sutcliffe
Ken Sutcliffe with Ian Heads

Blurb: He's been a fixture in Australian lounge rooms for decades - the face of sport on the Nine Network for 30 years. He's presented the sports report on the evening news, been the long-time host of The Wide World of Sports and acted as the network's anchorman at many of the world's biggest sporting events, including the Winter Olympics, The Commonwealth Games, Wimbledon and the US Masters.

He has been a legendary survivor in an industry notorious for its fickleness and has worked closely with some of the biggest names in Australian television and sport. Who could forget his almost nightly fits of giggles as Graham Kennedy's 'straight man' co-host?

He is Ken Sutcliffe, much-loved journalist, sportscaster and personality.

The story of Ken's life also takes in many landmark events in Australian sport and television, and it is told with characteristic good humour and larrikin charm. His firmly help opinions on all things sport are fascinating and insightful, and included here is his insider's view on the Matthew Johns and Cronulla Sharks scandal that threatened to blow rugby league apart.

How a boy living in a tent beside a railway line grew to become one of our most familiar faces and respected names makes for an entertaining and revealing read. He is the man behind the face of Australian sport and his is a great Australian story.

ISBN: 9781741757903 (Paperback)
Year: 2009
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Pages: 289 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Friday, December 23, 2011

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (Michael Lewis)

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Michael Lewis

Blurb: When we first meet him, Michael Oher is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, Evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional football into a game where the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability, his blind side.

ISBN: 9780393338386 (Paperback)
Year: 2006
Publisher: W.W. Norton and Company
Pages: 339 (Non-Fiction)

Links
1. Buy from Amazon

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Bad Twin (Gary Troup)

Bad Twin
Gary Troup

Blurb: Paul Artisan knows trouble when he sees it. As a private detective, he spends his life seeking out dark places where demons lurk. But lately he's been drifting along, taking on cases about insurance fraud or medical malpractice. Until Clifford Widmore walks into his office, and changes everything.

Clifford, an adult scion to the vast Widmore fortune, needs Artisan's help. Clifford's twin brother, Alexander, has vanished. Although 'Zander' has alienated himself from his family in the past, Clifford believes that this time foul play is involved.

The closer Artisan gets to finding answers, the more danger his life is in. He soon descends into a mirro-world where friends and enemies have a way of looking very much alike. Artisan hatches a plan to uncover the truth. He sets off on a journey across the globe and, along the way, learns the Widmore family is full of dangerous secrets. Some even worth killing for.

Soon an unknown enemy seems to want Artisan off the case - by any means necessary. Undeterred, Artisan continues on his course. But will he get to the truth before the monsters lurking in the shadows get to him?

In Bad Twin, Gary Troup spins a mesmerising tale of mystery and suspense, weaving clues throughout the story that are far more consequential than they seem. Touching on themes of good verses evil, purgatory, and redemption, Bad Twin shows how fate can turn when all seems lost.

It is with a mix of pride and sorrow that Hyperion presents Bad Twin, the last novel by a wonderful author who was taken from us in the very prime of his writing life. As many readers are already aware, Gary Troup has been missing since September 2004, when the jetliner that was carrying him from Sydney to Los Angeles crashed somewhere over the South Pacific. While nothing is more human than to hope for miracles, reason tells us that the author and his fellow travellers cannot have survived that disaster.

In addition to his many novels of mystery and crime, Gary Troup authored several non-fiction books, including The Valenzetti Equation. His disappearance is mourned by all who knew him and enjoyed his work.

ISBN: 1401302769 (Hardback)
Year: 2006
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 258 (Fiction)

Links

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

How to be a Vampire: A Fangs-on Guide for the Newly Undead (Amy Gray)

How to be a Vampire: A Fangs-on Guide for the Newly Undead
Amy Gray

Blurb: Here the secrets of the undead are revealed, from how to be turned to how to fill eternity once you've been bitten. including;

Telling your family that you're a child of the night

Dressing like the mysterious creature you are

Dos and don't of dating a mortal

Escape mortality, embrace the darkness, become a vampire.

ISBN: 9781742119182 (Hardback)
Year: 2009
Publisher: Five Mile Press
Pages: 141 (Fiction)

Links

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A Decade of Pride: The History of the Brisbane Lions (Mark Opolion)

A Decade of Pride: The History of the Brisbane Lions
Mark Opolion

Blurb: An historic merger between the Fitzroy and North Melbourne football club seemed inevitable, but on 4 July 1996 the football world was shocked by the AFL's acceptance of the Brisbane Bears' proposal to merge with Fitzroy.

In their 10th season, the Bears were just becoming a force to be reckoned with, while Fitzroy, a proud and traditional club with eight premierships to its name, was in receivership. The Bears finished one game short of the 1996 Grand Final and Fitzroy collected the wooden spoon with just one win. Many long-time Fitzroy supporters vowed never to follow the Brisbane Lions. Bears supporters had reservations.

Officially 'born' on 1 November 1996, the Brisbane Lions were expected to be an instant powerhouse, yet only limped into the finals before a disastrous 1998 - both on-field and off-field - netted a wooden spoon.

Enter Leigh Matthews as coach.

A former Hawthorn champion, widely regarded as the VFL/AFL's greatest player, Matthews had coached Collingwood to a drought-breaking premiership in 1990. The Matthews regime commenced in 1999 and realised a history-making flag in 2001. But that was nowhere near enough for the hungry Lions.

A Decade of Pride is a chronicle looking at the ground-breaking merger, initial problems and disasters and acceptance from previously disgruntled supporters. It is a fascinating look into all of the Brisbane Lions' major on-field and off-field developments en route to claiming an amazing three consecutive premierships, with a host of champions, including Michael Voss, Alastair Lynch, Jason Akermanis, Simon Black, Nigel Lappin, Jonathan Brown and Justin Leppitsch.

A Decade of Pride also looks at how this brilliant Lions unit - regarded by many as the greatest of all time - has begun the rebuilding process on the back of losing their attempt at equalling Collingwood's long-standing record of four straight flags.

ISBN: 1920997024 (Paperback)
Year: 2006
Publisher: Pennon Publishing
Pages: 328 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Monday, December 19, 2011

Game of Thrones: Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire (George R.R. Martin)

Game of Thrones: Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire
George R.R. Martin

Blurb: Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men. All will play the Game of Thrones.

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plot, lusts and intrigues; to the vast frozen north where a 700-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. The Game of Thrones. You win, or you die.

Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire begins the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age.

ISBN: 9780007428540 (Paperback)
Year: 1996
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Pages: 801 (Fiction)

Links

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Thing Under the Bed - Bone Chillers #13 (Betsy Haynes)

The Thing Under the Bed - Bone Chillers #13
Betsy Haynes

Blurb: Otis is a pig - and he knows it. He eats all the time, even under the covers at night. And when he's done, he throws his garbage under his bed. Now the trash is starting to stink. And it's making weird noises, too.

Then Otis sees something slimy slither across his floor. It snatches an old chicken bone off the carpet and slides back under the bed. If the thing gets hungry again, will Otis be its next snack?

ISBN: 0061064289 (Paperback)
Year: 1997
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Pages: 133 (Fiction)

Links

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Private (James Patterson with Maxine Paetro)

Private
James Patterson with Maxine Paetro

Blurb: The police can't help you, the press will destroy you. Only one place to turn: Private.

Former US Marine Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily - and his staff of investigators use the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases.

In L.A., Jack is already deep into the investigation of a multimillion-dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of eighteen schoolgirls, when he learns of a horrific murder close to home: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer.

But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, Morgan has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans.

With a plot that moves at death-defying speeds, Private is James Patterson's sleekest, most exciting thriller ever.

ISBN: 9781846057694 (Paperback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: Century
Pages: 385 (Fiction)

Links

Friday, December 16, 2011

In the Sea there are Crocodiles - The story of Enaiatollah Akbari (Fabio Geda)

In the Sea there are Crocodiles - The story of Enaiatollah Akbari
Fabio Geda

Blurb: If you hold a wish up high, any wish, just in front of your forehead, then life will always be worth living.

One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah's mother tells him three things: don't use drugs, don't use weapons, and don't steal. The next day, the ten-year-old Afghan boy wakes up to find she has gone. He is on the border of Pakistan, and he is all alone.

In this remarkable true story, Italian novelist Fabio Geda describes Enaiatollah's five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy. His ordeal takes him through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Greece, enduring unimaginable hardships and challenges. Enaiatollah's engaging voice is brilliantly captured by Geda, and his search for a place to call home becomes a universal story of courage in the face of fear.

ISBN: 9780857560087 (Hardback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Pages: 211 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Voyages of Imagination - The Star Trek Fiction Companion (Jeff Ayers)

Voyages of Imagination - The Star Trek Fiction Companion
Jeff Ayers

Blurb: Through four decades, five television series comprising over seven hundred episodes, ten feature films, and an animated series, fandom's thirst for more Star Trek stories has been unquenchable. From the earliest short-story adaptions by James Blish in the 1960s, followed by the first original Star Trek novels during the seventies, and on throughout the eighties, nineties, and into the twenty-first century, fiction has offered an unparalleled expansion of the rich Star Trek tapestry. But what is it that makes these books such a powerfully attractive creative outlet to some and a compelling way to experience the Star Trek mythos anew to others?

Voyages of Imagination takes a look back on he first forty years of professionally published Star Trek fiction, revealing the personalities and sensibilities of many of the novels' imaginative contributors and offering an unprecedented glimpse into the creative processes, the growing pains, the risks, the innovations, the missteps, and the great strides taken in the books. Author Jeff Ayers has immersed himself in nearly six hundred books and interviewed more than three hundred authors and editors in order to compile this definitive guide to the history and evolution of an incomparable publishing phenomenon. Fully illustrated with the covers of every book included herein, Voyages of Imagination is indexed by title and author, features a comprehensive timeline, and is a must-have for every fan.

ISBN: 9781416503491 (Paperback)
Year: 2006
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages: 782 (Fiction)

Links

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

People's Republic -Aramov CHERUB #1 (Robert Muchamore)

People's Republic - Aramov CHERUB #1
Robert Muchamore

Blurb: What links a drugs smuggler, a corrupt customs official and the illegal immigrant who made your lunchtime sandwich?

Ryan Sharma's about to find out.

Ryan is the newest recruit to CHERUB. Twelve years old, just out of basic training and as green as grass. He's got his first mission: befriending Ethan Aramov, a spoilt rich boy living in California whose grandmother just happens to run a billion-dollar criminal empire. Ryan's got no idea that his routine first mission will turn into one of the biggest in CHERUB history...

ISBN: 9781444906103 (Hardback)
Year: 2011
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Pages: 407 (Fiction)

Links

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Footy Almanac 2010 (John Harms & Paul Daffey)

The Footy Almanac 2010
Edited by John Harms and Paul Daffey

Blurb: When the final siren for the season has sounded, what do you do for the next six months? Don't worry, help is at hand. You can relive the season, game by game, in The Footy Almanac 2010.

Whether your team has been rebuilding, peaking or reinventing itself with yet another five-year plan, this book has something for everyone. You won't find the well-work cliches trotted out in the press - these are the voices of the punters on terraces and in pubs and lounge rooms, as passionate as they are reflective about the teams they love. Leave the earnest analysis to the experts and sit back and enjoy the rollercoaster ride that is the lot of the true AFL footy fan.

ISBN: 9780670075072 (Paperback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: Malarkey Publications
Pages: 514 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Monday, December 12, 2011

Spice Girls Revisited (Wannabe: How the Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame) (David Sinclair)

Spice Girls Revisited (Wannabe: How the Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame)
David Sinclair

Blurb: The Spice Girls phenomenon was a genuine pop music landmark. No group since The Beatles had commanded as much media attention. Ginger, Baby, Posh, Sporty and Scary became international stars and, whether they were adored or ridiculed, they became the ultimate expression of global media fame in the Nineties.

Their 2007/8 reunion world tour reminds us that even in the first flush of fame these five young women always depended heavily on the coordinated efforts of managers, songwriters, production teams, marketing managers, A&R men, lawyers and record executives. In this edition of David Sinclair's much-praised book even their manager Simon Fuller adds his thoughts to the revelations of others from The Spice Girls' support machine to give a complete indsiders' version of events.

The author was a close observer of the Spice Girls in their heyday and beyond. Writing for The Times in London he met and interviewed them all in the course of reporting on their many highly publicised adventures. His vivd account of their extraordinary story explodes numerous myths as he analyses their unique appeal and places their achievements in the broader context of late 20th century popular culture.

David Sinclair became pop critic at The Times in 1985 and has contributed to Kerrang!, Q magazine, Billboard and Rolling Stone.

ISBN: 9781846090684 (Paperback)
Year: 2004
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Pages: 324 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Captain's Blood - Star Trek (William Shatner with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens)

Captain's Blood - Star Trek
William Shatner with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Blurb: When Spock is publicly assassinated at a Romulan peace rally, Starfleet and the Federation are unable to search for the criminals responsible without triggering an intergalactic war. It falls to James T. Kirk, now retired, to investigate his friend's murder. Given clandestine assistance by Captain Will Riker of the Starship Titan, and accompanied by good friend Jean-Luc Picard, Kirk travels to Romulus as a civilian, along with his five-year-old child, Joseph. On the Romulan world Remus, Kirk unexpectedly encounters an alluring enemy from his past as Picard and he discover that Spock's apparent murder hides an even deeper mystery, literally reaching beyond the limits of the galaxy.

Trapped on an alien world on the eve of a Romulan civil war that could drag the entire galaxy into the conflict, Kirk discovers a hidden Reman fortress. There, he learns of the true threat facing the Romulans, and is forced into the heartrending realisation that for peace to prevail, he must sacrifice the freedom of his son, whose very blood holds a staggering secret.

ISBN: 0671021303 (Paperback)
Year: 2003
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages: 333 (Fiction)

Links

Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Footy Almanac 2009 (John Harms & Paul Daffey)

The Footy Almanac 2009
Edited by John Harms and Paul Daffey

Blurb: Your favourite fraternity of footy nuts has done it again, delivering the latest game-by-game account of the 2009 AFL season.

A collector's item for any die-hard fan, this is hand-on-heart, heart-in-mouth, edge-of-seat stuff from the dedicated Almanackers, who have studiously recorded their one-eyed accounts of all the wins, losses and draws. These are real footy reports from real footy fans, just like you.

With match-deciding kicks after the siren, and upsets, speccies and miracle goals galore, The Footy Almanac 2009 is footy beyond the stats and facts from fair dinkum footy scribes.

ISBN: 9780670074075 (Paperback)
Year: 2009
Publisher: Malarkey Publications
Pages: 518 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Friday, December 9, 2011

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (Steven M. Gillon)

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America
Steven M. Gillon

Blurb: A companion book to The History Channel special series of ten one-hour documentaries.

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America pinpoints pivotal days that transformed our nation. For the series and the book, The History Channel challenged a panel of leading historians, including author Steven M. Gillon, to come up with some less well-known but historically significant events that triggered change in America. Together, the days they chose tell a story about the great democratic ideals upon which our country was built.

You won't find July 4, 1776, for instance, or the attack on Fort Sumter that ignited the Civil War, or the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. But January 25, 1787, is here. On that day, the ragtag men of Shay's Rebellion attacked the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, and set the new nation on the path to a strong central government. January 24, 1848, is also on the list. That's when a carpenter named John Marshall spotted a few glittering flakes of gold in a California riverbed. The discovery profoundly altered the American dream. Here, too, is the day that noted pacifist Albert Einstein unwittingly advocated the creation of the Manhattan Project, thus setting in motion a terrible chain of events.

Re-creating each even with vivid immediacy, accessibility, and historical accuracy, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America comes together as a history of our country, from the first colonists' contact with Native Americans to the 1960s. It is a snapshot of our country as we were, are, and will be.

ISBN: 0307339343 (Paperback)
Year: 2006
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Pages: 262 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Final Testament of the Holy Bible (James Frey)

The Final Testament of the Holy Bible
James Frey

Blurb: He's been called a liar. A cheat.
A revolutionary. A genius.
He's been sued by readers.
Dropped by publishers.
He's also a bestselling phenomenon.
Beloved by readers around the world.

Now James Frey has written his greatest work, his most revolutionary, his most controversial.

They say the Messiah is alive.
He is living in New York.
Sleeping with men.
Impregnating women.
Euthanising the dying,
healing the sick.
Defying the government and
condemning the holy.
If you met him and he changed
your life, would you believe?

Be moved, be enraged, be enthralled by this extraordinary masterpiece.

ISBN: 9781848543188 (Paperback)
Year: 2011
Publisher: John Murray Publishers
Pages: 398 (Fiction)

Links

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Rocket Science - The Biography of Rodney Eade (Kevin Hillier)

Rocket Science - The Biography of Rodney Eade
Kevin Hillier

Blurb: 'He's a lunatic.'

'He's got some stupidity about him.'

'He's a great tactician and strategist.'

'He's a saint.'

'He's very sharp.'

'He grabs his crutch too much.'

Political leader? Stand-up comic? Corporate heavyweight?

None of the above. He is Rodney Eade - AFL player and coach, and a man with a story to tell.

Rodney 'Rocket' Eade is an interesting character. One minute he is on national television screaming irrationally at one of his players, the next he is sitting with supporters before a game calmly having a chat.

He has ridden an incredible football rollercoaster and the ride was not for the faint-hearted. From Premiership success in his first season as a player, to the rumour and innuendo regarding his premature exit from Sydney to a new beginning at the Western Bulldogs. The boy from Glenorchy came to the Hawks in 1976 with littler expectation but has become one of football's most colourful characters. He might have played in the shadows of Dunstall, Dermie and Dipper but he has emerged as a genuine innovator of the game, a deep thinker and a revered figure in football.

Rocket Science uncovers the real Rodney Eade, what his friends and foes say about him, plus his thoughts on the game - past, present and future. The success and failure, the characters, the politics behind the game and the best players he has played with or coached in a career spanning more than three decades.

Football legends Parkin, Kelly, Schwab, Brereton, Jeans, Dunstall, Judge, DiPierdomenico and Johnson - to name a few - talk about the man, the player, and the coach they know as Rocket.

ISBN: 9781405038669 (Paperback)
Year: 2008
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Pages: 184 (Non-Fiction)

Links

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Double Dexter (Jeff Lindsay)

Double Dexter
Jeff Lindsay

Blurb: A witness. Such a simple concept, and yet for Dexter Morgan - a perfectly well-disguised serial killer - the possibility of a witness is terrifying.

As an upstanding blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police, Dexter has always managed to keep the darker side of his life out of the spotlight. An expert at finding truly bad people - murderers who've long escaped justice - and giving them his own special attention. But now someone has seen him in the act. Dexter is being followed, manipulated and mimicked, leading him to realise that no one likes to have a double - especially when his double's goal is to kill him.

Like the five perviously bestselling novels in the Dexter series, in Double Dexter Jeff Lindsay demonstrates the witty, macabre originality that has propelled him to international success.

ISBN: 9781409113508 (Paperback)
Year: 2011
Publisher: Orion Books
Pages: 337 (Fiction)

Links

Monday, December 5, 2011

Collins Street Whores (Peter Ralph)

Collins Street Whores
Peter Ralph

Blurb: Someone has plans for Carmen Minelli...

Attaining a senior position with eminent stockbrokers K.D. Ford and Co. is a major coup for the bright, ambitious and beautiful Carmen Minelli.

Carmen soon discovers the firm has a client with a dubious background and seeks to end the relationship. Surprisingly, the partners of J.D. Ford do not support her.

Someone powerful and ruthless is trying to manipulate her and perpetrate a gigantic fraud. Carmen begins to fear for her life after her predecessor disappears in mysterious circumstances.

Slowly she uncovers a world of secrets, lies and breathtaking greed, and realises she is in great danger.

ISBN: 1877059552 (Paperback)
Year: 2004
Publisher: Sid Harta Publishers
Pages: 401 (Fiction)

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Alpha - The Shifters #6 (Rachel Vincent)

Alpha - The Shifters #6
Rachel Vincent

Blurb: Power, revenge and justice - prepare yourself for the final battle!

The unscrupulous new Council Chair has charged Jace, Marc and me with trespassing, kidnapping, murder and treason. Yeah, we've been busy. But now it's time to take justice into our own hands. We must avenge my brother's death and carve out the rot at the heart of the Council.

It's not going to be easy, and loss seems unavoidable, but I have promised to protect my Pride - no matter what. Then there's Marc. And Jace. I need to choose between them.

With a target on my back, I'm heading for a final showdown that can - and will - change everything forever. No decision will be easy, and not everyone will survive this epic fight to the death...

ISBN: 9781921794599 (Paperback)
Year: 2010
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 440 (Fiction)

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Colour of Law & The Abduction: Omnibus (Mark Gimenez)

The Colour of Law & The Abduction: Omnibus
Mark Gimenez

Blurb: THE COLOUR OF LAW
A. Scott Fenney is a rich Dallas corporate lawyer in the prime of his life, with a beautiful house, a beautiful wife and an adored daughter. But when a rich senator's son dies in mysterious circumstances, Fenney is asked by the federal judge to put his air-conditioned lifestyle on hold to defend the accused: a black, heroin-addicted prostitute. Scott believes in justice - but is his belief strong enough to withstand the loss of everything he holds dear?

THE ABDUCTION
When Elizabeth Brice turns up to collect her daughter Grace from football practice, the coach tells her she needn't have bothered, as Grace's uncle has already picked her up. The only problem is - Grace has no uncles. And so begins a furious race against time to save Grace from unknown kidnappers. But secrets from the past make the little girl's survival more uncertain with every passing minute...

ISBN: 9780751544121(Paperback)
Year: 2005 & 2007
Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 465 & 520 (Fiction)

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Friday, December 2, 2011

Inventing a Nation (Gore Vidal, foreword Bob Carr)

Inventing a Nation
Gore Vidal with a Foreword by Bob Carr

Blurb: Inventing a Nation is Gore Vidal's testament to the America he loves and mourns, to its continued promise and troubled future.

Vidal, a master stylist of American literature and one of the most acute observers of American life and history, turns his immense literary and historiographic talent to a portrait of the first three presidents of the United States, George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.

Vidal's splendid and percipient prose animates key moments of decision in the birth of the American nation, and we come to know these men in new ways - their opinions of each other and the wider world, and their concerns about creating viable democracy. Vidal brings America's founding fathers to life and illuminates the force and weight of the documents they wrote, the speeches they gave, and the institutions of government they fashioned.

As one of Australia's leading politicians, Bob Carr, writes in the introduction to this special Australian edition: 'In these shining pages Gore Vidal answers a question that puzzled George Washington himself: what has gone wrong with America?'

ISBN: 052285138X (Paperback)
Year: 2003
Publisher: Melbourne University Press
Pages: 198 (Non-Fiction)

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Razor: Underbelly (Larry Writer)

Razor: Underbelly
Larry Writer

Blurb: In the 1920s and '30s in inner Sydney, some of the most terrifying criminals in Australia's history waged war with razor and gun over the spoils of illegal drugs and alcohol, prostitution, gambling and extortion.

Ruling this savage nether world of ramshackle terraces, alleys, crime dens and nightclubs were the legendary vice queens Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh, and gangsters Norman Bruhn, Frank Green, Squizzy Taylor, Guido Calletti, 'Snowy' Cutmore and Big Jim Devine. As gang fought gang, the streets ran with blood.

The award-winning Razor chronicles this dark past with vivid detail and a brilliantly compelling narrative.

ISBN: 9781742610702 (Paperback)
Year: 2001
Publisher: Pan
Pages: 419 (Non-Fiction)

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