Item category 1: Biographies & Memoirs

"What does it mean to lose your roots--within your culture, within your family--and what happens when you find them? Nicole Chung was born severely premature, placed for adoption by her Korean parents, and raised by a white family in a sheltered Oregon town. From childhood, she heard the story of...

Soldier, journalist, historian, author of forty books, Jan Morris led an extraordinary life, witnessing such seminal moments as the first ascent of Everest, the Suez Canal Crisis, the Eichmann Trial, The Cuban Revolution and so much more. Now, in Allegorizings, published posthumously as was her w...

What is it like to follow the sun as a T20 gun for hire? Dan Christian is one of the world's most sought after cricketers, not only a star for the Sydney Sixers but having been part of teams in premier leagues from India and Pakistan to South Africa and the Caribbean. In The All-Rounder, he takes...

'A few years ago, I asked Tom Petty how his songs had been influenced by his life. As a rule, songwriters aren't keen on unpicking their work, and Petty was no exception. He didn't want to get into specifics. 'Life is so difficult,' he said. 'And easy. It's just a chain of spontaneous events.' Al...

"I am a filmmaker by accident and an author by compulsion," claims Mrinal Sen, who became part of the great triumvirate of Bengali cinema -- along with Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. Throughout his career, he kept that fire of protest burning, his acute political awareness and left-wing orientat...

The story of an urban-based high achieving Wiradyuri woman working to break down stereotypes and build bridges between black and white Australia. I'm Aboriginal. I'm just not the Aboriginal person a lot of people want or expect me to be. What does it mean to be Aboriginal? Why is Australia so obs...

This work draws on the author's vast personal life experiences by highlighting intriguing, interesting and thought-provoking characters and several close death encounters.

The story begins in a public square in New Delhi. On a cold December evening a young European woman of noble descent appears before an Indian street artist known locally as PK and asks him to paint her portrait--it is an encounter that will change their lives irrevocably. PK was not born in the c...

No one outside her immediate family would have guessed that Plymale's childhood was fraught with every imaginable hardship: a mentally ill mother who was in and out of jails and psych wards throughout Stephanie's formative years, neglect, hunger, poverty, homelessness, truancy, foster homes, a ha...

In 1932, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend's flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, a girl with a wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot's license and headed for...

It's the other people around you, says Michael Frayn, who make you what you are. So he would like to say a brief word, looking back on life from his ninetieth year, about a few of the people who have formed his own particular world. Some were friends; some not; some more than friends. Some have h...

A poetically written and bitterly sweet memoir about nature, death, life in Palestine, and the universal concept of home. Palestinian writer Hussein Barghouthi was in his late forties when he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He had feared it was HIV, so when the cancer diagnosis was confirmed, he lef...

In 1993, Michael Azerrad published Come as you are: the story of Nirvana, which stands as the definitive biography of Nirvana, the legendary band that upended the pop cultural landscape with Nevermind, the landmark album that became the soundtrack of Generation X, capturing its confusion, frustra...

In her intense, brief life, Amy Winehouse's music spoke directly to millions. And since her death, her fans have only increased. Amy Winehouse is one of those pop stars that comes along so rarely we're not sure we knew what we had when we had her. Her story speaks to us not because the relentless...

Ten years after her untimely death, this affectionate and evocative visual celebration tells the definitive story of the life and career of Amy Winehouse through photographs and memorabilia and the recollections of those whose lives she touched.

Global icon, six-time Grammy winner, headline-maker, the most talented recording artist of her generation. Much has been said about Amy Winehouse since her tragic death aged just 27. But who was the real Amy? Amy Winehouse: In Her Words shines a spotlight on her incredible writing talent, her wit...

A courageous memoir about the personal toll of seeking justice from the Catholic Church. As a boy, Gerard was sexually abused by a Catholic priest at his local church. As a grown man, he confronts the trauma of the abuse he suffered and the psychological aftermath of the experience, grappling wit...

From Shakespearean actress to 'M' in the James Bond films, from popular sitcoms like "As time goes by" to classic serials such as "Cranford", Judi Dench's professional life has been non-stop acting, leading to numerous awards, including an Oscar for "Shakespeare in love" -- Back cover.

Legendary guitarist Jim Cregan reveals his remarkable life story in this explosive autobiography. Jim Cregan's career as a rock guitarist, songwriter and producer has spanned over fifty years, touring and recording albums with stars such as Elton John, Cat Stevens, Family, Willie Nelson, Steve Ha...

Successful romance author Gaia Anders has a secret: anything she dreams at night is magically written into her novels. After a lonely childhood in foster care, her dream life is the only one she trusts. Gaia's waking life just can't compare -- until she gets caught in one utterly surprising, craz...

From a young age, food was Sumayya's portal to nurturing, love and self-expression. She spent the first eight years of her life at sea, with a father who captained merchant ships and a mother who preferred to cook for the family herself on a tiny electric stove in their cabin rather than eat in t...

In the ever-evolving landscape of Australian football, few figures loom as large as Ange Postecoglou. In this authorised biography, Australia's foremost football journalist Vince Rugari charts the rise of this maverick mastermind and examines his complicated relationship with the game Down Under.

This book is a classic of the Black Power era which resonates just as powerfully today. Long hard to find, it is reissued now with a new introduction, for a new audience inspired and galvanised by her ongoing activism and her extraordinary example. In the book, she describes her journey from a ch...

As a child, Anna Wintour was a tomboy with no apparent interest in clothing but seduced by the miniskirts and bob haircuts of swinging 1960s London, she grew into a fashion-obsessed teenager. Her father, the influential editor of the Evening Standard, loomed large in her life, and once he decided...

Discover the incredible life story of Anne Frank, the courageous young writer who hid from the Nazis during World War II. Anne Frank's diary is read by children and adults worldwide. It tells two stories - one of an extraordinary young girl living in hiding during one of the most fearsome times i...

Annie's boy is a coming-of-age story as seen through the eyes of a boy and his mum living in Scotland in the 1970's and 80's where fear, violence and struggle was an everyday part of life. It is a story of hope and quiet courage and perseverance that will take you on an emotional roller coaster t...

Join author Karen Romano Young on a trip across Antarctica, hanging out with people and animals and learning about how this special place is changing, and what it means for our planet. Hang out with some of the coolest creatures on earth above and below the ice as you meet emperor penguins, kille...

The stunning true story of an untouchable family who become teachers, and one, a poet and revolutionary. Like one in six people in India, Sujatha Gidla was born an untouchable. While most untouchables are illiterate, her family was educated by Canadian missionaries in the 1930s, making it possibl...

The life, work and history of Aphra Behn : seventeenth ­century dramatist, poet of the erotic and bisexual, novelist, political propagandist, spy. Aphra Behn, a spy in the Netherlands and the Americas, was the first professional woman writer. The most prolific dramatist of her age, innovative nov...