Australia Books

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!

This is an excellent analysis of Australian bicycling history, written with an Western Australian emphasis, it is a well written, properly reasearched and thoroughly fascinating gem. It covers mainly the heroic exploits but also offers some analysis of the equipment, conditions, and technological issues. Huge amount of marvellous black and white photos. One of the the few books to properly explore the sociological aspects: public servants, shearers transport etc. If you're Australian and own a bike, then this book is a must.

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.

"Big Bother" by Dr. Toni Johnson-Woods examines the Australian "Big Brother" reality television program from a celabratory and popular culture theory perspective. Dr. Johnson-Woods lectures at the University of Queensland, and is (among other hats to wear) an expert in popular contemporary television.

Toni explores "Big Brother" in an international context, the production of of the program, the generic markers of "Big Brother" and reality television genre theory in general, the filmic techniques, the program's content and contestants, the audience, and the numerous media representations of the program. As "Big Brother" was such a successful and pervasive program within Australian television culture, it was very much worthy of investigation as a media case study.

I think that it is wonderful for our academics to be recording significant elements of contemporary culture, and using their research to define WHO we are at the moment, and WHAT we do in our recreation hours. Dr. Johnson-Woods has not only written an educational and informative book, but one that is fascinating to read. Five stars!

I myself have been in the health industry for approximately 18years and have seen books come and go. This is a wonderfully refreshing "No bull" sort of health book. It reads very nicely and what I love most is the real stories and facts that are given. It makes to really relate to what he is telling you. And with the meal plan and other guides in there, it really makes it a fat loss guide as well as a book for good references regarding health. It sold me.

Big Rain Coming is the kind of picture book teachers dream about. It deals with a culture and situation unfamiliar to most of us, but these are revealed as natural background, natural characters, natural situations. The one thing Big Rain Coming does not reek of is the 'shove it down your throat' cross-cultural drudge that is found in far too many books written for young children.
Big Rain Coming tells a beautiful story with incredible lyrical simplicity.
As an author, simplicity is the hardest of all to master. Germein has done it beautifully here.
The location, the characters are wonderfully authentic and I know, because I've lived and worked in such places too.
Big Rain Coming is a wonderful book to use when teaching because all children can relate to the feeling of waiting for rain, yet they can compare many aspects of the people's lives to their own and see huge differences as well as the many similarities.
The artwork is beautiful, although I'm not a great fan of Bronwyn Bancroft's work. It is unfortunate that because she is a well-known artist, much of the acclaim for the book has been directed towards the illustrator, and not the author who created this brilliant piece of literature.
It doesn't get any better than this.

Australian birder Sean Dooley describes his Big Year, an effort to break the record for the most birds seen in Australia (and environs) in a year.

I loved this birding memoir. Dooley is a lively, humorous, engaging writer, and his Australian slang makes his voice particularly come alive, at least for this American reader. He conveys a passion for his pursuit and a concern for wildlife and the environment without sanctimony.

Clearly, there are scads of awesome birds in Australia, and undoubtedly they have the best common names of any birds anywhere. The species list at the back of the book is an entertainment in itself.

I am at a loss, however, to explain Mr. Dooley's difficulty in finding women who bird. Maybe it's a cultural thing?

Definitely recommended, especially for American readers to whom the language and most of the species will be engagingly exotic.

This story is one that I have read many times. It starts off with the girl from the city not knowing anything about the outback. She meets up with a smug rancher who just waits for her to mess up. During their time together they work together, rub each other the wrong way, and learn to respect each other. The surprise ending is entertaining as well as enlightening. The witty repartee is throughout the book and keeps you reading carefully so as not to miss those perfectly stated phrases.

The book was as I expected, it would'd be better ir they show the picture and mention the editon.

We use this book in 8th grade and it really helped me get through Biology! The book plainly states all the ideas and clearly too!