These are strange days, but we have five new books this month to escape with. Our latest titles include two fantastic Australian fiction titles, The Animals in That Country and Small Mercies, as well as substantial nonfiction on geopolitics and bushfire an eye-opening approach to mindfulness, which we hope will be a balm in these stressful times. Read about them below, and to win a copy head to our Facebook page or Instagram and let us know which one you’d most like to read and why.
If you're the kind of person who likes reading about a pandemic during a pandemic (and we know there are plenty of you out there), then this one is for you. Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. As disturbing news arrives of a pandemic sweeping the country, Jean realises this is no ordinary flu: its chief symptom is that its victims begin to understand the language of animals — first mammals, then birds and insects, too.
Bold, exhilarating, and wholly original, The Animals in That Country asks what would happen, for better or worse, if we finally understood what animals were saying.
‘This is a game-changing, life-changing novel.’
— CERIDWEN DOVEY
A husband and wife living on a severely drought-afflicted property take a brief break, only to find that their relationship is parched, too.
Told with enormous heart, Small Mercies by Richard Anderson is a tender love story. It is a story of a couple who feel they must change to endure, and of the land that is as important as their presence on it.
‘A fine-grained study of a marriage and a land in crisis. A wonderful book.’ — JOCK SERONG
In 1993, a newly appointed CIA director warned that Western powers might have ‘slain a large dragon’ with the fall of the USSR, but now faced a ‘bewildering variety of poisonous snakes.’
The Dragons and The Snakes is a compelling, counterintuitive look at the new, vastly complex global arena. Soldier-scholar David Kilcullen reshapes our understanding of the West’s foes, and shows how it can respond.
Australia not only has regular bushfires, but in no other country has fire made such an impact on the national culture. Over the past two decades, bushfires have reasserted themselves as an environmental, social, and political presence. And now they dominate the national conversation.
The Still-Burning Bush traces the ecological and social significance of the use of fire to shape the environment through Australian history.
In this eye-opening book, co-founder and CEO of the Mindsight Institute, Caroline Welch, takes readers on a mindfulness journey to help us de-stress and cultivate inner peace. According to Welch, we do not need countless hours sitting in silence to be more present in our lives — the key is to practice mindfulness wherever we are and whenever we can.
The Gift of Presence reveals that we already hold the keys to a more harmonious life.
To win a copy of one of our new releases, head to our Facebook page or our Instagram. Entries close Sunday 5 April.
