Oliver Sacks writes about treating a mysterious epidemic

 

Excellent condition. PB. 408pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Oliver Sacks, M.D. was a physician, a best-selling author, and a professor of neurology at the NYU School of Medicine. The New York Times has referred to him as “the poet laureate of medicine.”

He is best known for his collections of neurological case histories, including The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain and An Anthropologist on Mars. Awakenings, his book about a group of patients who had survived the great encephalitis lethargica epidemic of the early twentieth century, inspired the 1990 Academy Award-nominated feature film starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.

Dr. Sacks was a frequent contributor to the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. He died in 2015.

A very funny book about cricket

 

For cricket tragics. One of Australia’s finest cricket writers. Excellent condition. PB. 189pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Meet Moof, Womble, Castaway, Churchyard and One Dad, a dog called Six Bitsm and a van known as the Bog Roll Express.

Every summer weekend, the parks of Australia turn themselves over to countless thousands of club cricket matches. One of those clubs is the Yarras.

This is the inside story of their most memorable season, told by the vice-president, chairman of selectors, newsletter editor, trivia-night quizmaster, karaoke impresario and club greyhound shareholder, Gideon Haigh.

The Vincibles is about playing for love, winning with grace, losing with humour, valuing your community, and other anachronistic notions. It features 69 ducks and 257 dropped catches. (Not that we're counting.)

The spirit of cricket isn't dead. It's just upped and moved to the suburbs.

About the Author

Gideon Haigh has been writing about sport and business for more than 20 years. He wrote regularly for The Guardian during the 2006-07 Ashes series and has won the Australian Cricket Society's Literary Award five times. He has written or edited more than 20 books, including The Cricket War, Inside Out and The Racket.

The File by Timothy Garton Ash

 

Excellent condition. PB. 259pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

" Eloquent, aware and scrupulous . . . a rich and instructive examination of the Cold War past." --The New York Times

In 1978 a romantic young Englishman took up residence in Berlin to see what that divided city could teach him about tyranny and freedom.

Fifteen years later Timothy Garton Ash--who was by then famous for his reportage of the downfall of communism in Central Europe--returned.

This time he had come to look at a file that bore the code-name " Romeo." The file had been compiled by the Stasi, the East German secret police, with the assistance of dozens of informers. And it contained a meticulous record of Garton Ash's earlier life in Berlin.

In this memoir, Garton Ash describes what it was like to rediscover his younger self through the eyes of the Stasi, and then to go on to confront those who actually informed against him to the secret police.

Moving from document to remembrance, from the offices of British intelligence to the living rooms of retired Stasi officers, The File is a personal narrative as gripping, as disquieting, and as morally provocative as any fiction by George Orwell or Graham Greene. And it is all true.

"In this painstaking, powerful unmasking of evil, the wretched face of tyranny is revealed." --Philadelphia Inquirer

The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier

 

Very good condition. PB. 256pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

"I have no wish to play the pontificating fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's questions. Quite that contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise in self-questing. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set."

-Sidney Poitier

In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career.

His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence of that work are indicative of the character of the man behind the many storied roles.

Sidney Poitier here explores these elements of character and personal values to take his own measure--as a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor.

Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world.

“In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it."

Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.

Poitier was uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life that would honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents.

Just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career.

Committed to the notion that what one does for a living articulates to who one is, Poitier played only forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition.

Here is Poitier's own introspective look at what has informed his performances and his life. Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, price and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity.

What emerges is a picture of a man in the face of limits--his own and the world's. A triumph of the spirit, The Measure of a Man captures the essential Poitier.

SOLD The Care Factor by Ailsa Wild

 

SOLD

Mint condition. PB. 230pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

The Care Factor tells the story of one incredible nurse – one among many – who chose to meet an unprecedented global health crisis on the frontline.

Simone Sheridan has one of the most sought-after skills today. As a nurse, her skill is to care.

When Covid-19 began to spread across the world in 2020, Sim volunteered to retrain to work in Melbourne’s intensive care units.

And as she prepared to go back to ICU and case numbers began climbing, Sim started talking to her friend Ailsa.

Through the exhaustion, the confusion, the many tears and the surprising moments of hilarity, Sim kept talking.

And Ailsa started writing.

In The Care Factor, Ailsa walks behind Sim as she faces the realities of the coronavirus. The result is a deeply human account of what the pandemic has really meant, not just for Sim and her fellow health professionals, but also for their patients, their families and friends, and the many who faced life in lockdown.

This is a celebration of nursing, of friendship, and of the layers of connection and care that allow us to keep going when it feels impossible.

Between Stations by Kim Cheng Boey

 

Mint condition. PB. 320pp. $30 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Signed by the author. I hate to part with this beautiful book.

Kim Cheng Boey was born in Singapore and became an established poet in his home country before migrating to Australia in 1997. He has had many volumes of poetry published.

Between Stations is his first collection of travel writing. He currently lectures on creative writing at the University of Newcastle.

Cheng Boey was known in Singapore for his political writings and had become disillusioned with Singapore’s rapid economic growth, which he felt came at a cost to its places of tradition.

The selection of writings here focuses on his experiences travelling and working in China, India, Egypt and Morocco.

Here are 11 stories to transport you to a particular place and state of mind.

The phrase ‘between stations’ can mean something different to anyone who has migrated: the feeling of being somewhere which still after many years can feel new.

The place of your birth – no matter your feelings – holds a sense of strong nostalgia that can never be lost.

The definitive guide to Australian nationalism

 

Mint condition. PB. 464pp. $35 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Very rare book.

SOLD Down the Amazon on a raft!

 

SOLD

Good condition. PB. 320pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Three men set out on the adventure of a lifetime when they decided to raft down the Amazon from its source high in the Andes to its mouth on the Atlantic coast of South America.

The journey from source to sea had only ever been completed by three people before them, all of them assisted by first-class training, state of the art equipment and six figure budgets.

Ben Kozel from Australia, Colin Angus from Canada and Scott Borthwick from South Africa-all in their mid-twenties-were attempting the epic journey with fourteen thousand Australian dollars between them, some second-hand camping gear, a couple of weeks training in white water rafting and large dose of blind optimism.

Six months and 7,000 kilometres later, they arrived at the Atlantic Ocean, having survived some of the planet's most dangerous white water, wild storms, disgusting tropical diseases, several hundred species of venomous insects and reptiles, not to mention being pursued and shot at by guerrillas from Peru's murderous Shining Path rebel movement and mistaken by paramilitary police for drug smugglers.

Three Men in a Raft is both a travel book and an adventure story, laced with humour, danger and vivid description.

Like a strange hybrid of Survivor and Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Raft is unlikely, endearing and enthralling.

Apparently men just don't listen!

 

Mint condition. PB. 300pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Have you ever wished your partner came with an instruction booklet?

This international bestseller is the answer to all the things you've ever wondered about the opposite sex.

For their controversial new book on the differences between the way men and women think and communicate, Barbara and Allan Pease spent three years traveling around the world, collecting the dramatic findings of new research on the brain, investigating evolutionary biology, analyzing psychologists, studying social changes, and annoying the locals.

The result is a sometimes shocking, always illuminating, and frequently hilarious look at where the battle line is drawn between the sexes, why it was drawn, and how to cross it. Read this book and understand--at last!--why men never listen, why women can't read maps, and why learning each other's secrets means you'll never have to say sorry again.

The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge

 

Mint condition. PB. 427pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable.

Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've transformed people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable.

We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed.

Doidge takes us onto terrain that might seem fantastic. We learn that our thoughts can switch our genes on and off, altering our brain anatomy. We learn how people of average intelligence can, with brain exercises, improve their cognition and perception, develop muscle strength, or learn to play a musical instrument — simply by imagining doing so.

Using these marvelous stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an immensely moving, inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.

About the Author

Norman Doidge, M.D., is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, author, essayist and poet.

He is on the Research Faculty at Columbia University’s Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, in New York, and the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry.

He is a native of Toronto.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

 

Mint condition. PB. 216pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

An exceptionally powerful novel exploring the themes of betrayal, guilt and memory against the background of the Holocaust. An international bestseller.

For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined.

The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. For Hanna is not all she seems.

Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realize that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman he had loved is a criminal.

Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, and terribly, it does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret.

The New Breed - a book about volunteering in the 21st century

 

Mint condition. PB. 278pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

The world of volunteers has changed. But have you changed, too?

Across the country, volunteer ranks continue to grow, but people are volunteering differently. They're working online, seeking flexible schedules, and pursuing a role in defining how projects should be completed. They want to feel a sense of responsibility for your organization's overall mission.

Put simply, these volunteers don't want to simply make a contribution; they want to make a difference!

Jonathan McKee and Thomas McKee have tapped into their decades of experience with the simple goal of helping you recruit, manage, and lead the new breed of volunteers. They'll guide you to a clearer understanding of what today's volunteers look like, how they want to get involved, and how you can most effectively attract, train, and unleash them within your organization.

You'll also discover a bounty of helpful resources to assist you, including job descriptions, applications, and interview questions; activities, icebreakers, and team-builders for volunteer meetings; community-building activities; and tips for board retreats and planning sessions.

The 21st century calls for a new system and for a greatly expanded definition of what it means to be a volunteer. If you can harness this passion and potential, you'll experience results that will reward both your organization and your volunteers.

Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph

 

Mint condition. PB. 220pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

A word of mouth bestseller which has become one of the best loved and most successful books in the parenting field. Steve Biddulph's Raising Boys is to be re-released this month with some startling new research on what helps - and what harms - boys.

In this expanded and updated edition, Steve Biddulph shares and gives practical and honest advice to parents so they can recognise the different stages of boyhood and learn how to raise happy, confident and kind young men.

Boys need to be parented in a different way from girls with their own very special psychological and physical make-up. Home, society and education have failed boys badly - and these failures lead to unhappy men who cannot fully become happy, responsible, emotionally-confident adults.

While it is essential that boys spend more time learning about manhood from their fathers, Biddulph updates his classic to include helpful information for mothers and single mothers with baby boys.

This extended edition explores some important topics:

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* How ADHD may be caused by stress in the first year of life.

* Whether boys should start school later than girls.

* Help for single mothers raising sons.

* How to choose a sport that does more good than harm.

* What we can do about boys and binge drinking.

* What science can tell us about teenage boys and driving - and how we can keep our sons safe.

Raising Boys offers parents real-life situations, thought-provoking insights, humour and help.

SOLD The Mother of Mohammed by Sally Neighbour

 

SOLD

A book from the days when the word “jihad” was almost as scary as “COVID”.

Mint condition. PB. 358pp. $30

Known in CIA circles as "the Elizabeth Taylor of the jihad" and among her cohorts as the "mother of Mohammed," Australia native Robyn (or Rabiah) Hutchinson lived for twenty years at the frontlines of the jihadist movement, after marrying first an Indonesian leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (the group responsible for the Bali bombings) and then a member of Osama bin Laden's inner circle.

Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al Zawahiri, personally deputized her to run a women's hospital in Kandahar when al Qaeda was still ascendant in Afghanistan.

Hutchinson now lives virtually imprisoned in one of Sydney, Australia's western suburbs, having surrendered to the Australian embassy in Iran after fleeing the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan following 9/11.

Her story is unique—born into a down-and-out lower-class Australian family of the outback, in and out of Christian schools and the 1960s counter-culture, she migrated to Bali and Indonesia and converted to Islam and jihad along her extraordinary personal journey.

With a reputation for tough investigative journalism, Sally Neighbour gained the confidence of Hutchinson through extensive interviews and with an absolute assurance that she would tell this woman's story honestly, fact-checking it to the fullest extent possible.

She reveals how Hutchinson became a trusted insider to the Jemaah Islamiyah, Taliban, and al Qaeda leaderships and Osama bin Laden's inner sanctum.

In the process, Neighbour discovers a world of converts and true believers and offers a unique account of the magnetism of the Islamist cause for women—who have received little attention in the ongoing attempt to understand this potent movement—as well as for men.

Hutchinson's story is also an exemplification of the conditions under which terror networks get started, in amorphous social scenes where people freely drift in and out, making acquaintances, solidifying them around social ties joined to a cause, and going underground from there.

Sally Neighbour is a reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Company's investigative journalism program Four Corners, was a writer for The Australian newspaper and winner of three Walkley Awards, Australia's most coveted prize for excellence in journalism. Her previous book was In the Shadow of Swords: On the Trail of Terrorism from Afghanistan to Australia.

SOLD The Obsessive Traveller by David Dale

 

SOLD

Excellent condition. PB. 192pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

From the Danieli, Fifth Avenue and Arab street markets to Nicolai's Roof Restaurant and the Pere Lachaise cemetery, from dealing with Egyptian taxi-drivers and Parisian doorman to travelling companions and Cornish landladies, this book is a eulogy on the delights and discoveries of travel.

David Dale is the author of "An Australian in America" and "The Official Liar's Handbook".

A Traveller's Alphabet of Essential Places by David Dale

 

Very good condition. PB. 238pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.