Australia Books

Do yourself a favour - buy anything by Lily Brett, and buy it today. She is a superb writer. Just Like That is one of my personal favourites, but any of her books (fiction and non fiction alike) will satisfy if you crave for quality literature with a personal (almost confessional) feel. Her characters are wonderful, you really care about them and feel almost as if you know them. Her poetry is amazing as well. I really cannot do justice to Brett's work....so you had better buy this book yourself.

The heroine is a jewish woman, 2nd generation of the holochaust, kind of overanalyzed by herself and her therapists. The story is written from her perspective. Nothing spectacular happens in the everyday life of a New Yorker, emigrated from Australia, but an awsome reflection of the history of the 20th century makes the book thrilling and interesting. The contrast between this ordinary life and the inner world of a woman born one year after her parents escaped Auschwitz is dramatic. Married to a painter, she writes obituaries. She has three children. Her parents emigrated with her to Australia. Her life seems mainly balanced and secure on the outside, but internally this woman is haunted by the past, which is in most parts not hers but her parents'.

The flow of language is easy but the words are amazingly precisely chosen. Though the heroine's biography is in main points the same as the author's, the book to me never seems like a 'confession'. Perhaps that is why the characters are so believable. The perspective is loving but with the distance of someone who can not take the momentary easiness of life as granted. I liked the emotional depth, the humor. The topics are nothing new but amazingly the perspective did not once make it boring for me. ( -And I can be easily bored!)

The inner state of mind of the protagonist is psychologically believable and seems to me very precise described.

A girlfriend of mine gave me the book. She found the psychology as convincing as I do. I think it will be easier to read for women. I would not recommend that book for people who may seek mere entertainment and action in a book. For us other folks, neurotic, insecure, contemplating, 2nd or third generation: highly recommended. Reads like a biography and though giving insight in an historic process and new aspects towards pychology, it is entertaining.

Since I have all of Tony O'Connor's CDs, there are tracks on each that I prefer. On Kakadu, I really enjoy track 3 with the Aboriginal digerdoo. His ability to transport one to the environment about which he is "making music" is amazing.

We have 9 of T.C's CD's, and each one is a favorite for late night relaxation and good listening. Gave 2 to a friend who was in hospital for 5 days. They made her stay very tolerable and she hasn't given them back. My massage lady plays them in her massage rooms and has had many requests from her clients. Very unusual sounds. I highly recommend any of his CD's. He has a new one, "Live at Sydney Opera House". Wish that I had been there. Tony and his wife are two very talented people.

Koala is a very interesting book from the series Natural World. It was made November 12 2002.

This book is about the habitats, life cycle, food chains and threats for these animals. There were many facts I did not know about koalas until I read this book.

The binding is very strong and good for kids to handle.

So I rate Natural World: Koala 5 stars.

Hi, you can call me StoryMaker. I got Natural World: Giraffe from the library and was pleased so I got some more Natural World books from the library. This book taught me so many facts I didn't know! It tells you all about the life of a koala. It is so fun! If you like marsupials or Australian animals like I do, you're bound to like this book! Did you know that the koala's scientific name means, "ash-colored pouch bear"? Did you know that a koala's pouch is upside-down? You did if you read this fun book! Signed, StoryMaker. "Gotta trust the kid's review!"

Koalas are one of the most beautiful, gentle and loving animals in the world. Sadly, the population is steadily declining due to the destruction of their natural habitats. This book is a wonderful way to learn about these very intelligent creatures. Full of darling pictures, everyone who picks up this book will instantly fall in love with koalas (who, by the way, are not bears)! Read about their habits, diet and social activities, and you will develop a new appreciation for these fuzzy friends!

This is a wonderful book on many counts. Information isabundant, so you can use it for reports. But the best part is thedelightful photos of koalas at sleep, play, and the dinner table. I left out "work" because it doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary. One or two of the views of relaxing, snoozing koalas are alone worth the price of the book. Instead of reciting a mantra or meditating to relax, all you need do is look at those photos. A book for all ages.

John Alcock's status as the dean of animal behaviour studies is delightfully illustrated by this excellent book. A collection of over two dozen essays on the conduct of various animal [and one plant] species relate the findings of an Australian sabbatical. Using his own and other's research he poses questions arising from a medley of animal antics. How have these behaviours come about? He shows how these queries have adaptive evolutionary roots. The beauty of Darwin's idea, he reminds us, is that it provides us with "an adaptationist foundation" for testing hypotheses, arguments and ideas. Adaptations are subtle, often requiring careful perception and analysis. With careful study and cautious speculation he provides some stimulating ideas about the things he observed.

The examples are chiefly birds and insects. The first is Kookaburra, the "alarm clock" of Australian mornings, is famous for its raucous wake-up call. When other birds may sing, caw or carol throughout the day, why does Kooka limit himself [and it's the males doing the laughter] to this brief, but delightful, period? Put simply, it's an energy saving device! Once the territorial claim has been vocally established, he can go on to feeding or courting. Other birds exhibit the immense variation evolution has produced. The Mallee Fowl, a bush dweller may seem "a dream come true" for some. This turkey-sized bird upsets gender patterns. The male bird spends weeks building a five-metre wide nest, enticing a mate to join him, "allowing" her to deposit thirty eggs, then lets her wander off while he meticulously controls the nest environment ensuring a successful hatch. Further north, Bowerbird building is also the male's role. He constructs complex and gaudy structures, although not to the Mallee Fowl's immensity. Here, however, the bower is merely the conjugal boudoir, with the impregnated female left to wander away for both nest building and chick rearing.

Wasps display contrasting practices. With these insects, nest building is nearly uniformly a female task. Males, however, make contributions to mating and reproduction in many other ways. One wasp will bring nectar to a potential mate, then take her wingless body around from flower to flower as they seek a nest site. Other males are even more energetic. They will grab a moth or other large insect, then hang from a twig using the capture as bait. Wasp nesting behaviours offer yet more varieties in practice. One species employs a "housemaid" to guard and clean a ground nest. Such maintenance allows the food-bearing mother to fly directly into the nest, thereby avoiding predators.

Alcock's easy style in this book keeps you at his side. His text is enhanced by Marilyn Stewart's fine drawings. Good maps provide location reference and ranges of the subjects. His science is presented in a conversational, almost friendly manner. He wants you to share his awe, his interest, and his conclusions. We must be grateful to him for this, since we're all aware that others, who are as earnest and knowledgeable as he, don't manage to impart that with the same verve. He also notes that his findings aren't confined to the wonders of the island continent. The rules of life he outlines for us apply to the biosphere we inhabit. Read this book and find out what sort of world you live in. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Written by American biologist John Alcock (along with excellent illustrations by Marilyn Hoff Stewart), this book chronicles Alcock animal observations throughout the land Down Under. Alcocok observed the intimate details of the birth, breeding habits, feeding habits, and sometimes death of a large variety of Australian birds, insects, and mammals. Each chapter devoted to a particular species, he covers not only well known species such as the kookaburra, flying fox, and platypus, but lesser known ones (at least to Americans), such as the northern logrunner, resin wasp, and silver gull.

Alcock not only covers the life habits of a number of species, but also during the course of the book, using these species as examples, explores many concepts in biology. Why do birds sing so early in the morning? Are marsupials really primitive and not able to compete with placental mamamls (such as dogs and horses)? Particulary interesting are his speculations on adaptations on animals. Do all the features of an animal, from the cooperative efforts by grey-crowned babblers to raise a brood of young to the red tail feathers in the otherwise black red-tailed cockatoo all surve useful purposes in species (and individual) survival and were the results of evoultion, or is it wrong to atttribute every feature and behavior an animal to direct survival of individuals and the production of new offspring?

A highly worthwhile and readable book, I recommend it.

This map is the best in the market for a clear, concise overview of both New Zealand islands.

Very good product. Durable and has the ability to be written on with laminate pens.

If you are an animal lover you will love this sweet story. Well written one that you can't put down. Highly recommended.

On a wild and steamy night, Annie enters the strange and secret world of birds--a world of ancient tradition and alien lore.

from the cover

After buying The Last Castaways while in London a year prior, I fell madly in love with the adventures of Grandfather and Roo. I had to have more, so the next trip, I bought all the rest of the series. They can be read in any order. Each tale stands alone. They are funny, warm-hearted and clever. Your children will love each one.

What a pleasure to read to my granddaughter a book that was witty, clever and sophisticated. Harry Horse's Last Gold Digger is not your run of the mill children's book. Its humor is at times subtle, a bit eccentric, and just plain fun. And best of all, it's great fun for the adult reading the book to a child.

I have just read the new revised edition of Lavender Sweet Lavender (released for the millenium).It has been much enlarged with new large sections on lavender growing,farms and products in Provence and in the USA, as well as a masterly and comprehensive overview of the genus,its species and hundreds of varieties. The photography is wonderful (all new and from around the world) and the writing is just so evocative.I agree with a previous reviewer.It remains the most authorative text on the subject,but it is also a book to dream over and to read many times.

Covers all aspects of lavender culture,taxonomy,uses,extraction,farming ,world-wide.Plenty of illustrations.Really in depth,very readable,all you ever wanted to know about lavender.Great for any lover of herbs with lots of recipes and lavender products in addition.

Peter Alexander has written a biography that does come close to doing justice to perhaps the greatest living poet in English. It is not only a well crafted account of the details of Murray's hard early life; it is, more tellingly, a compelling yarn about the pain, struggle and triumph of a troubled, stubborn and divine genius.

It can also serve as a useful primer. And not just to some of Murray's more diffcult poems, but to poetry itself. You are put closer to the poet's seemingly impossible aspirations for his words, and thereby participate more keenly in the truth of his poetic gifts in revealing the spirituality of the ordinary.

It is hoped too that this biography is as premature as its title suggests, as I, for one, want to hear a lot more of Murray's poetry in years to come.

Les Murray is the leading poet in the English-speaking world today. This account of his often strange life and work is scholarly, well researched and lifts the lid on some of the dirty tricks of Murray's rivals and enemies in the Australian literary scene (there were unsuccessful attempts to ban it). Sheds light on many aspects of poetry, culture in general, and the human condition.