Sir Joseph Banks was a man of passion whose influence spanned the globe. A fearless adventurer, his fascination with beautiful women was only trumped by his obsession with the natural world and his lust for scientific knowledge. Fabulously wealthy, Banks was the driving force behind monumental voyages and scientific discoveries in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and the Arctic. In 1768, as a galivanting young playboy, he joined ...

CAN THEY SAVE THEIR MARRIAGE?Fourteen years, two kids, a big mortgage, and a million moments glue together the marriage of Lou and Josh. But after a particularly fraught family Christmas, Lou starts to wonder if it's worth the effort.Ever the doer, she sets a series of monthly tests, from daily sex to brutal honesty, to help her decide if she should stay or leave. The results are surprising, funny and tender.A propulsive, sometimes uncomfortable, and always insightf...

'My hand in his stops trembling for a moment.' When the paths of a runaway teenage boy, an old hobo and a rich girl intersect in an abandoned train yard, each carries their own personal baggage. Over early mornings, long walks and cheap coffee they discover, no matter how big or small, it's the simple gifts in life that really make a difference. The Simple Gift is a life-affirming look at humanity, generosity and love from an award-winning and acclaimed Australian author.

In the spring of 1949, Stella O'Riain flees her home - a sheep property on the barren edge of the Strzelecki Desert. She leaves behind the graves of her husband Joe and her baby daughter. With no money and limited options, Stella accepts her brother-in-law Harry's offer to live at the O'Riain cane farm in the Richmond Valley. There she hopes to get answers to the questions that plague her about her marriage. However Harry refuses to discuss Joe or the family's secrets, even forbidding her ...

It struck Henry that perhaps he was waiting for the exact right moment to be daring and brave. The exact right moment where he felt no worry at all, not one tiny flicker. But what if that moment never came? Henry Hoobler is a reluctant adventurer who is worried about his summer holiday camping at the beach: bugs, spiders, snakes, stingers, blue-ringed octopi or sharks. Worst of all, his family and friends are pushing him to ride his new silver bike – without training wheels. But when Henry...

It’s a new school term and Eoin Madden has new responsibilities. He’s now captain of the Under 14s team and has to deal with friction between his friend Rory and new boy Dylan as they thrash it out for a place as scrum-half. And away from the pitch Eoin has his hands full. He starts work on a project about Irish-born All Black Dave Gallaher who died in World War I. Then history becomes reality when an old book brings Eoin a lot closer to the rugby legend than he ever thought possible … Fas...

Adventurer Tim Cope had a childhood dream: to travel the 10,000 kilometres from Mongolia to Hungary on horseback - a journey undertaken centuries ago by the legendary leader of the Mongols, Genghis Khan. On this journey, Tim met a dog called Tigon.For more than three years, Tim and Tigon endured searing heat and bitter cold; dark lonely nights when wolves circled their camp; hunger; despair; joy; and the wild beauty of the landscape that changed constantly around t...

The bitter struggles of the Tribe and the clans have left many children orphaned. Among them are Sunaomi and Chikara, sons of Arai Zenko, who face death after their parents' treachery. Their aunt, Kaede, is able to save their lives on the condition they become novice monks and never leave the temple at Terayama. Sunaomi has been brought up as a warrior, yet his grandmother is Muto Shizuka. He cannot escape that he is also a child of the Tribe. As he discovers unimagined talents within hims...

As a boy Arai Sunaomi was known as the Miracle Child and crossed between the worlds to walk among the dead. Now he has put aside his past to follow the way of the warrior. His aunt, Kaede, is considering making him her heir and her General, Miyoshi Kahei, hopes to betroth Sunaomi to his daughter, Kinu. But there is one girl whom Sunaomi cannot forget – Utahime, who has been dead for seven years. Will he dare bring her back to life? Utahime's brother, Masao, is Sunaomi's oldest friend and t...

Jim’s the sort of guy who’d likely die young then be devoured by his domestic short-hair cats. With nothing going for him, a dead-end IT job and a family who mysteriously disappeared, he is barely holding it together. His hopes of a life worth living fizzled around the time he last saw his toes over his huge belly. Now the imminent demise of the world ushers in a feeling of liberation and relief for Jim. Humanity loses all hope for the future and for once, Jim fits right in! Despite all od...

From time as a child in an orphanage to writing speeches for presidents, James Harvey traveled a rocky road to live out the American dream. In this memoir of his childhood, Harvey recreates the strange and remote realities of the daily struggles of life in post-war rural Ireland and bomb-shattered London. Ireland, just 30 years removed from 700 years of British domination, had scarcely emerged from the 19th century. London, meanwhile, shrouded in fog and greasy coal soot with armless and l...

It looks like Eoin Madden’s busiest term ever! He’s Castlerock College’s star player and he’s been called up for Ireland in the Under 16 Four Nations – how will he juggle sport and school work? But his biggest challenge of all goes way beyond his own concerns and right to the heart of Irish rugby. When his oldest and best ghostly friend calls for help, can Eoin and his band of heroes solve their deadliest mystery yet?