Australia Books

although I was a little too young to remember 1964, (I was born in 1959) this book is an absolute must for anyone interested in discovering or just revisiting the vibes from 1964 Australia particularly Sydney. A beaut read!!!

...but it's still available from Pan MacMillan in Australia for less than AU$20

This is the most accurate view of life in sydney during the sixtys. Forget all the others , this one has sex, violence, and stacks of ROCK AND ROLL! I was at the aztecs shows, I saw the fights and had the women. Don't bother with anything else. P.S. there is a HUGH surprise on the last page!

287 Pages, 11.5" x 8.75", Hardback. A simply superb book, lavishly illustrated in full color, beautifully demonstrating the power and magic of the shields of New Guinea and the surrounding islands. Hundreds of full-color items and 14 maps.

It is a bit sad that the people living in such an idyllic location as the islands of the South Pacific. But of course there were people there and that means that there was conflict.

Among the many differences in these shields from those commonly seen in European collections is that the South Pacific islands had no iron, no metals of any type. While the Europeans were constantly innovating and improving their weapons, the islanders were still making fighting equipment from organic materials such as animal hide, bark, wood, rattan. That means, among other things that these shelds were made relatively recently when compared with European exhibits.

Surprisingly, although this book is titled Shields of Melanesia, many of the areas of what is now called Melanesia such as Vanuatu and New Caladonia never developed shields at all. This book will represent the definitive work on this class of shields, it is beautifully printed and illustrated.

A great work about the various shield types of Melanesia. The book deals mostly with mainland New Guinea, but also with surrounding Islands and the Solomons. There are beautiful pictures in color of the shields and old b/w field photographs. It includes also many distribution maps of the different shield types. Until now, this is the first reference book about Melanesian shields, and a must for anybody who is interested in that field. Not only the allready well known regions like Sepik-, Asmat and Highlands of P.N.G. are described, it deals also with lesser known areas like Digul or Waropen.
Barry Craig had long-time field expirience at the Min region (see his other book about that region „Art and Decoration of Central New Guinea". The austrian Harry Beran, is an expert about the Massim Art.
It's a pitty, that the book is not available from the original publisher in australia. He is a specialist for books about Melanesia-New Guinea. Without his enthusiasm, many books about that field, would not have been published.

Pinney's account of jungle warfare in New Guinea and Borneo ranks among the finest war novels ever written. It's one minor drawback is that is is written in Australian English, and while the author does provide a glossary of slang terms, he omits common Aussie slang such as "whiteant". Any who have ever had the privilege of serving with Australians will immediately feel at home with the characters. These were a tougher bunch, having grown up in depression era Australia, but that old Digger self-sufficiency, distrust of authority, and biting humor shines through. Their speech will send hackles down the spines of the politically correct, but beneath the multi-hued skins of "boongs, murries, and burries" they see men much like themselves, locked in a struggle for survival, as much against nature as against the strange white and yellow armies fighting on their soil. Pinney's keen eye provides a myriad of details that move the reader from the blinding greens of the jungle, back to the routine of base camp, to a jungle pool covered with phosphorescent butterflies. He catches the wonder, the boredom, the fear, and the fatigue. Probably the best fictional account of war in the Pacific. If Mel Gibson ever wants to make an Australian World War II movie, this is it.

Peter Pinney kept a diary while fighting in New Guinea and Bouganville that would have got him court-martialed if it had been found. Fortunately for all of us, it wasn't, he wasn't, and we have been given an unbelievably realistic view of what it was really like as a private soldier in a commando unit fighting in the jungles of the Pacific.

The is "Survivor" without a TV crew and with very real risks to life and health. Like being in an ambush with enemy soldiers just feet away. If they happened to see you, you are dead. Yet he does this repeatedly and survives.

How does it feel to kill someone? Find out. How does it feel to lose a close friend? Find out. How do you fill the long periods of boredom between action? Find out. This is a truly amazing book.

One of the best books written on the subject, Peter Pinney writes easily and candidly about his experiences as a Signaller with the Australian Imperial Forces in PNG and The Solomons. Creeping through jungles, seeking the feared Japanese 'warrior', Pinney relates the thoughts and fears of his companions, from the pompous officers to the blood thirsty soldier and coward alike, he draws the characters with a simple, life giving ink and paints the steaming jungle backdrop with a magical brush.

Fact and fiction interweave, I suspect, but the resulting story is of high class.

Even if you are not interested in the subject, this is still a fantastic trilogy and one that at least every Australian should read!

When Dane Waites was born in 1974, tolerance towards autism was just starting to move out of the shadows and into the light. His behavior was autistic from infancy; he smiled at trees and at the shadows they made on his walls. Largely nonverbal, he reached some milestones at a later rate, e.g. mastering toileting at age 7.

The boy also celebrated his first Christmas at age 7. The Waites, wanting him to enjoy Christmas as his peers did, taught him about Santa. Junee Waites even said that once introduced, she feared Santa would be with them forever. By the time Dane reached his teens, he accepted the explanation that Santa only comes to younger children. Dane's poignant comment, "I'm too old for Santa, right" makes one feel a tad sad for him. One cannot help but wonder if Dane still believed. I think another approach would be to tell him, "Dane, Santa is fun pretend and a game many people play with their children as a Christmas tradition" or whatever verbiage got through to him. The remote possibility that Santa might remain an enduring belief far past that of his peers was unfortunate and in which case, it seems the honest approach would be better. Fortunately for all, Dane learned to open gifts without fear of the unknown and participate in holiday activities.

Dane was enrolled in a mainstream kindergarten and it was there he met his lifetime friend, Jenny. She accepted Dane unconditionally; she said that she knew he could talk and when she asked him her name, he said, "Jenny." She was his defender and protector; a photograph of the pair at Dane's 5th birthday party shows Jenny at his side, ready to go to bat for him at any time. I just loved that part.

Jaeger, the German short-haired pointer was another faithful protector Dane enjoyed. The beautiful dog (1983-1992) was an important part of Dane's life and rarely left his side. Her untimely death might make you cry, but you will certainly be cheered by the strides Dane made.

Dane's immediate community accepted him as well. There was a large Italian community in his town and he learned to make many Italian dishes; Junee took conversational Italian and out of this, many friendships were made. Dane was quickly and readily absorbed and accepted by his friendly neighbors; from these friendships came lasting bonds and an abiding respect for Italian food, language and culture.

Dane's world expanded tremendously; the Waites took Dane on trips and moved twice during their son's boyhood. Dane was happiest when outside and enjoying nature. Luckily a farm family with 3 children had him work with them on their farm and Dane thrived in that environment. He also got to travel to the Fiji Islands and appreciated Fijian culture. I like the way he took an open interest in other people.

Junee Waites is wonderfully candid about life with Dane and working within his challenges. She is a person I truly admire and her unflagging faith in her son along with the kind nuns and priest who also taught him and helped him understand and appreciate his faith truly warms the heart. I loved the part when Dane received his First Communion at age 10 and the priest who wrote a lovely account of this in a book. Dane's spiritual development is nicely chronicled as well; an especially moving account of this was when Dane told a man in a wheelchair he would pray for him. Dane also insisted on bringing apples to feed homeless people in a neighborhood park.

The Waites' odessy with autism came full circle when they encountered Jenny, Dane's boyhood friend in a restuarant. By then the manager of the place, Jenny told them how she understood about Dane and knew how to reach him as only a compassionate peer could. That was my favorite part along with Dane's First Communion.

Dane's travel and spiritual development no doubt helped him become a rather well rounded young man. He also demonstrated physical prowess in early adulthood when he took up running; marathon biking and weight lifting. Although still autistic, Dane continues to remain an active, thriving member of his society and has held down jobs since the age of 14.

Junee Waites provides readers with rich descriptions of the parts of Australia where she and her family lived; readers are treated to the places that they visited as travelers. To make a good thing even better, a list of resources as well as descriptions of resources available in Australia are provided. This is truly an outstanding book. It makes me think of the hymn, "On Eagle's Wings" and the song "You Are the Light of the World," as Dane emerged from shadows into the light of conversing and providing explanations of his experience with autism.

I read this book from cover to cover and then I read it all over again. I am a mother of a child with special needs (including autistic traits)and know of many others with young ASD children. This is a book I could recommend to them, for the insight it offers into both autism and a parent's journey. I learned so much, began to see life through the eyes of the ASD child and to understand why he acted as he did, and related it to much of what my friends' children did, or my own. The mother's love shone throughout the book yet she was very honest about how she felt and how hard that journey was at times. Always though, it was a book of hope and of love and remained positive throughout.

Like the previous reviewer, I too would like to write to the author to say how enormously helpful this book is. It should become an ASD classic, to inform and inspire parents, professionals, the general public - and those with ASD themselves.

Thank you so much for this book. Junee is inspiring and warm, her love for her son and respect for his rights is uplifting for any parents dealing with the ups and downs of raising a child with autism. I am a single mother of two autistic children and while reading this book I was touched beyond words, I hope one day to inspire other parents as Junee has for me and many more parents around the world. Is there any way of emailing her or atleast a way for me to say thank you to her and let her know how much she has touched my family?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was packed full of very precise, useful information and the included CD-ROM was a terrific bonus! I especially enjoyed the straight forward approach that the book presents. Sponsorship has evolved and our company's views about sponsorship need to as well. This book provided us with the information and tools that we need to move our corporate sponsorship program into the twenty first century.

This book was indispensable! It helped me understand how wise corporate sponsors determine who gets accepted for a sponsorship! If you are having difficulty obtaining a corporate sponsor, I would highly recommend reading this book. Understanding how businesses make their sponsorship decisions gives you an edge over your competition. I am now better prepared to pitch my presentation and have high hopes of landing a great sponsor! The cards are now stacked in my favor.

This book is outstanding. It has totally revolutionised the way we approach our investment in sponsorship. I had never realised we were so backward until I read this book and it made so much sense. We are now in the process of renegotiating many of our sponsorships to get better results for the brand, not just put our logo in front of people.

The tools and checklists that are included in the book and on the CD-ROM have made changing our approach much easier. They work on all sizes and types of sponsorship. We have even customised some of them for our regional marketing people so that they can do a better job on the smaller sponsorships that they invest in.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in sponsorship.

I have all four of the Mary Leunig books and this is better than One big Happy Family and FAR better than Black & White & Grey. Whatever happened to her? You only hear about her brother now, and he doesn't have her edge at all.

Mary leunig is one of the most interesting artists in Australia. Her work is confronting and precise. Leunig does not conform to current restrictions in the media,as does her brother,Michael. We can only hope that her work will emerge somewhere else soon.

Every housewife/mother will appreciate and relate to these depictions of everyday life and emotions. Not for the feint-hearted but seriously funny!

This is one of those rare books where I felt genuinely sad to finish. As a bit of an armchair traveller whose never been all that attracted to packaged tours but too timid to engage in all out adventures, this is a humourous, wild, scary and easy to read way to partake in Ben and his mate's adventure in a tiny way.

Fantastic read and glad Ben & Co made it out alive.

Kozel does a fantastic job of describing the nature of travelling in underdeveloped countries. This book makes a perfect travelling companion. Light reading at its best, it can be put down while you have your own adventures and manages to quickly real you back in the moment you resume reading.

Having recently traveled to Peru, Kozel's descriptions of the landscape and people are dead-on accurate. For anyone who's walked the market in Belen, this book is a must read.
His willingness to describe the trials and tribulations of himself & fellow rafters creates an engaging story of three guys who kind of knew what they were doing, but ended up accomplishing far more than they really thought they could.

Hartnett has done a wonderful job again in giving us this haunting story of another dysfunctional family. You can almost hear Tin as he moves about underground, expanding that world as he leaves this one.

'Thursday's Child' is a good example of a book that is not necessarily historical fact, but brings a beautiful portrayal of a family unit through hard times. Although it can get depressing at times, the darkness is expected (the family is not living in the most happiest conditions) and the story is full of realistic plot that lets the reader really get to know the characters. The only character that remains shrouded in mystery (although the main character, Harper, gives us some insight to his true intents throughout the book of his digging) is Tin, who still remains one of the most meaningful aspects of the book.

An easy, enjoyable read.

James Augustin Barnabas Flute, otherwise known as "Tin," was born on a Thursday. Which, according to his older sister Harper who narrates this dark coming-of-age novel, fated him to his wanderings. An older Harper looks back on her not quite seven-year-old self and remembers the day when her youngest brother Caffy was born - the day when Tin stopped being the impoverished family's baby, which is also the day when Tin learned how to dig.

The family's story from then on diverges from Tin's, as the small boy slowly transforms into a wild creature whose home is a self-created network of tunnels beneath their shanty. Most of the time Tin is invisible to the others, a person lost - less and less human, as time passes - yet still loved. Still one of their own.

This literary novel's premise borders on speculative fiction, with wonderfully creepy effect. Tin's life intersects with those of his family at crisis points throughout the story, as their already difficult existence becomes ever more so. What will this wild and often frightening child bring his loved ones in the end? Will he be their doom - their salvation - or both?

Despite its darkness, which at times feels extreme, "Thursday's Child" is a book beautifully written and a story expertly told. I recommend it highly, although not to young readers prone to nightmares!

- Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of "Love, Jimmy: A Maine Veteran's Longest Battle"

My 9-year-old son enjoyed this book a lot. It is quirky and funny, and pleased a fussy reader!

My 10 year old son has read all the Toad books and loved them. He is not a book lover either...wish there were more.

My 9 year-old son and I read these books together and fall apart in fits of laughter. Just good, clean fun!

I saw Glenn Murcutt speak at USGBC's GREENbuild 2004 conference. He absolutely lit hearts on fire with his passion for his craft. This book is a GEM and it the lucky person who finds this treasure!

'Touch This Earth Lightly' is a compilation of Murcutt's various comments about certain aspects of his own architecture and architecture in general. Murcutt, who is a minimalist dealing with mostly house projects in coastal Australia, is one of the very few people who respond to nature this friendly. His designs encompass very economic use of resources, in addition to great integration with nature.
He responds to the structure in nature, and not the beauty in it. His shapes are defined to this respect. He thinks that there are no styles in architecture, but rather there are only ideas beneath designs. Read his book, and you'll learn a lot more his ideas. Well written, well illustrated, and well edited...

There are no books in architecture that are this sincere, candid, and honest. Glenn Murcutt's words through his interviews with Philip Drew are expressive and quite refreshing. In his own words, he explains how, where, and most importantly why he has developed his worldview. In the world of overenphasized aesthetics, Murcutt expresses his design philosophies in a more down to earth vocabulary and design. His upbringing in PNG, his parenting, and all of the experiences that he has had (traveling in Europe and around the World) has lead to his unique point of view of architecture and the world.

This is a great book to read. It is very easy to read, and it emphasizes the things that are truly important in life.