In the past 12 years, I've reread this gem 4 times - and look forward to the next time. The leading characters are superbly portrayed, as the good guys try to protect a deceased scientist's uncanny system that predicts Aussie weather, 12 months in advance.. The manuscripts are protected by two binge drinkers, both in their eighties, both with colorful cattle drover backgrounds. A key aspect of the plot: Upfield offers colorful insights into the differing psychological nightmare/illusions associated with various types of liquor - and gets these distinctions into the unraveling of the plot.. The central old-timer comes across much like the old geezer prospector in Treasure of Sierra Madre. Plus: Bony's wily ability to outsmart his police-bosses is top-rate here. Don't miss this one!

ok, I have always wanted to go to Australia and New Zealand, there is just something magical about those two countries in the southern hemisphere isolated from the rest of the world. I just got this book today, and wow!! All the houses are awsome! of course all the houses look amzing and the picturs are so detailed you can almost imagine you are right there in Aus or NZ standing on the deck looking at the house from a sunny beach down under!! My only complaint is that they should have dedicated more pictures for houses in NZ! they had plenty of Aus. So, if your like me (lol) and don't have anything better to do than dream you have a fantasay house down under, or yur just curious to what the houses look like down there, or you just want a fun picture book, buy this book!!!!!!!

In all the books written about The Beatles, the Australian tour of July 1964 is usually dismissed with the three word reference "Far East Tour". This book was the first attempt to redress that injustice. Quite simply, the Beatles tour turned Australia upside down. In Adelaide 600,000 people gathered outside the hotel where they were staying (Adelaide had a population of 1.4 million). John Lennon told reporters "This is the greatest reception we've had anywhere in the world". In this book, acclaimed rock historian Glenn A. Baker chronicles the tour, and the visit to New Zealand. There is one glaring inaccuracy - it is claimed that the group slept with hundreds of young girls during the tour. This has been discredited by Ringo and George. Anybody familiar with the group would know that there was simply no time for this type of funny business, besides Brian Epstein kept them on a tight reign and wouldn't have allowed it. This part was probably included to get some cheap headlines in Australia's more salacious tabloids. One interesting section is the information on Jimmy Nicol, the stand-in drummer who filled in for Ringo during the first half of the tour. There is also the devastating photo showing Nicol sitting in a deserted airport terminal waiting for the flight back to England. All in all this book is a must for any serious Beatle afficionado. It gives a stark illustration of a country still coming to grips with not only a rock tour but a whole social phenomenon.

Lydia Laube in her adventures "Behind the Veil: An Australian nurse in Saudi Arabia" has captured the essence of her experience. She begins by taking the reader on her journey, as she enters Saudi Arabia as a travel nurse on a one year contract assignment. Her love of adventure shines through as she relates to the reader the unique culture shock and customs of this closed country. Her story, for many travelers will be all that they may experience of this oil rich nation that does not admit tourists. Laube successfully pulls the reader into the very essence of the culture, language and customs of the Muslim daily life. She candidly shares the challenges of health care in a nation, plagued by ineffieciency, where women have no rights, censorship is the norm and capital punishment is strickly enforced. Laube remains strong with determination to improve her surroundings, and the level of care at this hospital, a challenge especially as a woman in a culture that does not respect women. She shares the triumphs and sorrows of daily life. Laube relates the misfortunes of expatriates from the Philippines, Sudan, India, Korea and European countries and of recruiting agencies misguided promises. Laube's candid book is a must read for every nurse or health care professional considering a term in Saudi Arabia. Also an excellent resource for expatriates planning a term of service.

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This book was shortlisted for the 1994 "Picture Book of the Year Award". If your child is a budding birder here's a book that will both entertain, as well as inform.

Boonaroo Bay is normally a peaceful place but one day the spoonbill, the darter, the cormorant, the curlew and the oystercatcher had a big dispute over who had the best beak in the Bay. But luckily Pelican who is the wisest of the birds was watching this noisy argument and decided to hold a contest to settle the question.

The contest was very cleverly devised since there were five events: - collect shrimp from the mud....spearing fish......extract a pipi (clam) from its shell....find a worm in the sand....and finally catch a slithery eel.

Each bird won the event for which its beak was best suited. This is a very good lesson in life.

Narelle Oliver is both author and illustrator. Her linocut illustrations although very bold contain lots of subtle detail with accurate representations of the characteristics of each of the bird species.

This book would appeal to all children who are developing a love of birding.

This book is a very good addition to the literature in the broad area and the only one of it's type on the Australian situation.

A unique contribution and a must for all students of the area.

I highly recommend this superb illustrated look at the Powerhouse Museum's collection of Central Asian arts and crafts. Included in this large 80-page book are color photographs of rugs, dresses, coats, headcoverings, jewelry, embroidery, architectural drawings, glass pottery, horse covers, bags, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Turkmens. The handcrafted items possess a rich treasure-trove of complex geometric forms and designs. The images are accompanied by helpful introductory texts by Christina Sumner and Heleanor Feltham concerning the history and culture of Central Asian peoples and a large map of the Silk Road routes. The selected bibliography lists 22 books and 4 websites where one can explore Central Asian traditions further.

Beyond the Wild Shores catapults us back to a time when women not only had to work hard at the career of their choice but to work hard justifying having a career outside traditional roles. I love Baily Templeton, who is mistakenly hired as a Head Master of the rugged, Out-back colony of Sydney Cove. Her determination and love for teaching soon win the hearts of those she's seeking to reach as well as those that she is not seeking to reach--the handsome Captain Grant Hogan who is reluctantly but irrersistably drawn to her gentle gumption. Wonderfully inspirational. I loved it!

The sort of book you can't put down once you get started, particularly if business, marketing and sport interest you, Written as an autobiography, in an honest if sometimes basic style, nevertheless a very fascinating & gripping tale of the Olympic selection saga, from getting agreement with Melbourne over one Aussie bid, to competing with other major cities - from Manchester to Beijing.

Shane Molondy is one of Australia's newer and more succesful crime writers. This book is set in the dying days of the Victorian Labour government in the early 90's before it was voted out of office in a landslide. The hero Murray Whelan works as a staffer to a Labour Cabinet minister and faces the problems of a dying government.

In addition to these problems he is divorced and his son goes missing. A short time later the son of a rich transport magnate is murdered and Whelan becomes a suspect.

The book is hysterically funny a sort of Australian Carl Hiaasen.
It also conveys a feel for both the political world and the inner suburbs of Melbourne. One of the more enjoyable crime novels to come out in some time.