September 2015 Reading Guide

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September Reading Guide 2 0 15 bet terread.com.au

Welcome to our Better Read Than Dead September Reading Guide!

The big end of year releases are flooding in already; from the new Jonathan Franzen and Salman Rushie novels to cookbooks from Ottolenghi and Jamie Oliver! We think it’s time to start writing those Christmas wish lists.

Rush Oh! by Australian director and screenwriter Shirley Barrett has been selected as our Book of the Month, and is a delightful, original read which explores a part of our history that is rarely considered.

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September is a month full of exciting events!

Fiona McIntosh, Humans of Newtown, Mark Dapin, Stephanie Bishop and Kate Llewellyn are just a few of the authors we’re hosting! Head to our events site to find out more by clicking the link on the adjacent page.

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AUSTRALIAN FICTION All our content for each category is linked directly. All you have to do is click on a tab!

To check out our upcoming events, you can click the link below.

FICTION CRIME FICTION GRAPHIC NOVELS SCI-FI/FANTASY COOKING BIOGRAPHY NON-FICTION ART & DESIGN BRTD

BETTER READ EVENTS

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Australian Fiction Rush Oh! | Shirley Barrett | $32.99 | Pan Macmillan In Eden, New South Wales 1908, during a difficult whaling season, Mary the eldest daughter of a whaling family sets out to document the misadventures of her family from the sidelines of the boat. The arrival of John Beck, a traveling whale man, places Mary in the hold of an allconsuming crush and a domestic crisis. Her voice is strong, original and relatable despite the hundred year separation from our world where she drives the story to an unexpected conclusion.

Book of the Month

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Fever of Animals | Miles Alinson | $29.99 | Penguin

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Dreamy and philosophical, the journey undertaken by Miles as he travels through Romania researching the disappearance of surrealist painter Emil Bafdescu will dazzle readers with thoughtful reference to art, history and mythology. A multilayered and observed story about a man coming to terms with the death of his father.

“will dazzle readers with thoughtful reference to art, history and mythology.�

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Australian Fiction Waiting Room | Leah Kaminsky | $32.99 | Random House Melbourne born family doctor Dina lives in Haifa, Israel. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, she has attempted to leave her past behind. However her new life in the Promised Land finds her own family pulling apart, her marriage suffering and her sanity fraying in the ever present threat of terrorist attack. A novel of inter-generational trauma that resonates with truth.

“A novel of inter-generational trauma that resonates with truth.”

Stories from Other Places is a wonderful collection of short stories that take the reader all around the world.

The collection begins with the novella Oddfellows which is an account of a horrifying episode in Broken Hill during the First World War. Other stories range through Canada, Argentina, Africa, and India and they all show Shakespeare’s insight, his gift for drama, as well as his fascination with connection, disconnection, and cultural misunderstanding.

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Stories from Other Places | Nicholas Shakespeare | $35.00 | Random House

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Fiction Purity | Jonathon Franzen | $32.99 | Harper Collins Murder, fidelity, and idealism figure prominently in Franzen’s latest book. The novel follows a young Californian woman, Pip trying to sort out the pieces of her identity and paternity. An internship in South America brings her into contact with the Julian Assange-like figure, Andreas Wolf, an experience that unwinds and brings into question her understandings of right and wrong. Ambitious in scope, Franzen’s Purity is a daring and intriguing read.

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Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty Eight Days | Salman Rushdie | $32.99 | Random House

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After a cataclysmic storm hits New York City, it sparks a series of strange happenings. The lines between the human world and the magical world of the jinn have been reopened: a landscape architect is alarmed to find out his feet no longer touch the ground, a baby’s presence at the mayor’s office allows corruption to be identified on the skin of the guilty, and mysterious entities begin to appear.

What follows is inventive and satirical tale of an epic war spanning two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights.

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Fiction Submission | Michel Houellebecq | $32.99 | Random House Submission is a notorious book by a notorious author and the English speaking readers have been eagerly anticipating this translation since the book topped French charts at the beginning of the year.

Submission is the story of an aging literary academic faced with his own increasing impotence as well as a new order in France that has seen a Muslim president elected and a nationwide adoption of traditionalist Islamic values. Although at first glance the material may seem incendiary many critics have praised the book for its mischievous tilt at the manipulable venality of modern metropolitan man.

James’ Pick

Ex-artist Oliver Orme has a diabolical way with words and describes himself as a thief. He is the untrustworthy narrator and scene-stealing central character of trustworthy master prose stylist Banville’s sixteenth novel. Retreating from an affair with the wife of his best friend, Oliver has gone into reclusion for a year to get straight the story of his life, past and present. In these pages he shares the telling, which, when it strays from outward reality, wonderfully conveys the reality of Oliver’s complex narcissism.

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The Blue Guitar | John Banville | $32.99 | Penguin

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Make Me | Lee Child | $32.99 | Random House

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Jack Reacher is back. He has no place to go and all the time in the world to get there when he finds himself in the tiny village of Mother’s Rest. Why’s it called Mother’s Rest?! Reacher wants to know too, and soon he’s embroiled in a thrilling chase through Chicago, the darkest corners of the internet, Paris, and San Francisco and bouncing thugs and crooks all the while until he ends up right back where he started, but is forced to confront his worst nightmare.

Walking away would have been easier, but with Reacher there’s one rule: ‘If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to Make Me!’

X | Sue Grafton | $29.99 | Pan Macmillan X is the eagerly anticipated novel number 24 in plot-wrangler Grafton’s long-running alphabetically-titled series. Kinsey Millhone is drawn into an unfinished case when some very disturbing clues are decrypted from the paperwork of recently-murdered fellow P.I. Pete (‘W’) Wolinsky. Kinsey already has plenty of personal and professional business on her plate. Has she bitten off more than she can chew when the psychopathic killer behind the emergent web of evidence realises she’s on the trail?

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Dean’s Pick

The debut comic by British vlogger Joe Sugg, Username Evie is a tech thriller in the vein of ExistenZ and 1990s Sandra Bullock thriller The Net. Young Evie discovers that her recently deceased father was moments away from completing a virtual reality world. The population of this e-world responds to the emotional state of its user. Will a fabulous story of tech mayhem ensue? It all depends on the creative skills of one vlogger and his creative team.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl | Phoebe Gloeckner | $32.99 | Random House “I don’t remember being born. I was a very ugly child. My appearance has not improved so I guess it was a lucky break when he was attracted by my youthfulness.” So begins the wrenching diary of Minnie Goetze, a fifteenyear-old girl longing for love and acceptance and struggling with her own precocious sexuality. This provocative, critically acclaimed novel is now a major motion picture, and this new edition has been updated to include photographs and illustrations from the author’s childhood, including some of her own diary entries.

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Username Evie | Jow Sug | $35.00 | Hachette

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Sci-Fi/Fantasy The House of Shattered Wings | Aliette deBodard | $29.99 | Hachette A great war in Heaven has reduced the streets of Paris to ruins, blackened the Seine, and left behind, debris, and ashes. Paris is controlled by a number of noble Houses, power bases for fallen angels. Once the most powerful, House Silverspires is in disarray, as a self-destructive alchemist, a Fallen angel, and a young man whose powers are from unknown sources, come together to save the Houses of Paris and the city from darkness and destruction.

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Twelve Kings | Bradley Beaulieu | $29.99 | Hachette

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This first volume in the Shattered Sand trilogy is a gateway to an intricate and exotic tale. It’s the beginning of a richly imaginative story set in a refreshingly unique fantasy setting and although it’s dark it’s shaken itself loose from the euro-medieval conventions of the genre in such a way that allows a contemporary attitude to gender and culture. Ceda scrapes a living by fighting in the pits, but when a mysterious creature confides in her a secret, Ceda realises that this new knowledge might be just the weapon she needs to overthrow the tyrannical and quasi-immortal kings.

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Sci-Fi/Fantasy The Shepherd’s Crown | Terry Pratchett | $45.00 | Random House Deep in the Chalk, Tiffany Aching and the animals that surround her sense unease. An old enemy signals their return. Tiffany must summon all the witches to help protect her land from the fairy horde. This novel is the last of the Discworld series by the late Terry Pratchett, whose brilliance and prolificness earned him millions of fans.

Claire’s Pick

Crucible of Souls | Mitchell Hogan | $24.99 | Harper Collins Aurealis Award-winning fantasy ebook, now available in print! This first instalment in the Sydney writer’s planned Sorcery Ascendant sequence portrays a world of magic and dark malevolence. Orphaned Caldan is raised by monks who initiate him in arcane mysteries of sorcery.

When at last he sets out in search of his origins he discovers darker realms than he’d ever imagined. Evil reigns, forbidden powers are unleashed, destruction looms. Caldan is challenged to find his role in events and, perhaps, to alter their course.

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“Deep in the Chalk, Tiffany Aching and the animals that surround her sense unease.”

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Cooking Nopi | Yotam Ottolenghi & Ramael Scully | $59.99 | Random House The wait is over! The bestselling cookbook author of Plenty is back with a distinctive new twist.

Ramael Scully – long-time collaborator and head chef of the Soho-based restaurant Nopi – brings a little taste of Asia to Ottolenghi’s signature dishes.

Including over 120 recipes – from mouth-watering Beef brisket croquettes to Persian love rice – adapted from the Nopi kitchen and made possible for the home cook, Ottolenghi has most definitely created another go-to cookbook for all levels of experience. A delectable collection that is sure to inspire, challenge, and delight.

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The Blue Ducks: Real Food | Darren Robertson & Mark La Brooy | $39.99 | Pan Macmillan

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Cooking with wholefoods has never been this delicious! Robertson and LaBrooy are passionate about growing, sourcing, and making their own food. Including a series of how-to sections, showing you how easy it is to create your own basics from scratch, and a comprehensive user’s guide to grains, nuts and seeds, as well as sections on cooking with spices (you can’t beat a good curry night!). But this is most definitely a quirky and fresh take on wholefood cooking, with all dishes guaranteed to be bursting with flavour, colour and goodness!

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Cooking Everyday Super Food | Jamie Oliver | $55.00 | Penguin Jamie Oliver has formulated the perfect collection of recipes for a healthier lifestyle. The book offers well-rounded, nourishing food that does the hard work for you. Divided into breakfast, lunch, and dinner chapters, the recipes are nutritionally balanced with daily allowances in mind. This tasty collection of recipes makes everyday healthy eating super fun and super easy.

Karma’s Pick

“...makes everyday healthy eating super fun and super easy.

Edible City offers imaginative and transformative options for small spaces, tiny balconies, and urban areas that upon first glance would not be thought of as host to innovative and memorable spaces. Join Indira as she visits sky gardens, community gardens, and rooftop worm farms and offers 40 delicious recipes and practical advice on beekeeping, worm farming, composting, and setting up your own community garden.

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Edible City | Indira Naidoo | $45.00 | Penguin

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Biography

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Everytime a Friend Succeeds, Something Inside Me Dies | Jay Parini | $55.00 | Hachette

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This new biography is nicely timed to coincide with the new Vidal documentary, Best of Enemies. Biographer and friend of Vidal, Parini offers a warm account of this giant of American letters. From his childhood as the grandson of a US senator and son of a carousing mother, to his years as the enfant terrible of the American Literary scene, and far beyond into his twilight years, Parini covers it all with panache.

Flesh Wounds | Richard Glover | $29.99 | Harper Collins Compared to the formidable work, Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James, Australian radio presenter journalist AND Guinness World Record holder has written an engaging self-reflective memoir of unexpected sadness. ‘Flesh Wounds’ is also full of Richard Glover’s trademark humour and optimism. According to the jacket, this book is for anyone who didn’t get the family that they ordered…

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Liz’s Pick

Rosie Waterland’s side-splitting recaps of the Bachelor were my introduction to this comic genius. Her memoir would be bleak: growing up in a housing commission, both parents addicts slash involved in illegal business, but for her wicked sense of humour. Let Rosie share her stories that show her ultimately embracing and celebrating being the anti-cool girl.

Under Cover | Craig Munro | $22.99 | Penguin Munro’s book industry CV is impressive: awardwinning biographer; inaugural fiction editor and, eventually, publishing manager at UQP; judge of the Miles Franklin Literary Award; and much more. Here he recounts his close associations with such national literary luminaries as Murray Bail, Peter Carey, Xavier Herbert, David Malouf, Olga Masters and Patrick White. Blending book history with memoir, told with warmth and humour, Under Cover explores the invisible art of editing from an insider’s perspective.

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Anti Cool Girl | Rosie Waterland | $27.99 | Harper Collins

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Non-Fiction Notes on the Death of Culture | Mario Llosa Vargas | $22.99 | Allen & Unwin Grumblings about contemporary culture are rarely as literary as those offered here. Peruvian writer and Nobel-Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa essays a number of issues: from the culture of spectacle, the rise and rise of the Internet, to the prominence of celebrity chefs and fashion designers. The list goes on.

Dynasty | Tom Holland | $55.00 | Hachette

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Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with Rubicon—his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republic—with Dynasty, a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emperors. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman Emperors and it’s a colorful story of rule and ruination, running from the rise of Augustus through to the death of Nero.

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Deep South | Paul Theroux | $34.99 | Penguin In his tenth travel book, Paul Theroux explores the Deep South in this series of road trips that span four seasons. Travelling across rural highways and speaking to mayors, social workers, reverends, the working poor, and farming families, he weaves a fascinating story of a paradoxical place that is sure to inspire curiosity.

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Non-Fiction Atmosphere of Hope | Tim Flannery | $29.99 | Penguin Acclaimed scientist Tim Flannery tackles one of the most important, yet controversially talked about environmental issue of our time. Boldly arguing that Earth’s climate system is approaching a crisis, but - as the title suggests - Flannery saves us from an outlook of complete doom and gloom. Atmosphere of Hope provides not only an accessible snapshot of the trouble we are currently in, but also gives an up-to-the-date analysis of some of the emerging possibilities for mitigating climate change. With his usual eloquence, wit and sincerity, Flannery outlines an array of innovative technologies that give us cause for hope.

The co-author of SAS Sniper now brings us this unique and compelling account of Australia’s Special Forces and intelligence organisations. Right from the early days of the commandos during World War II through to the SAS of today and to the cyber wars of the future. Through exclusive interviews that uncover incredible, daring and sometimes heartbreaking stories of the elite troops that guard our nation, Macklin gives us a thoroughly researched and colourfully written insight into some of Australia’s most renowned intelligence operations. Not only will this gripping read satisfy the reader of action memoirs, it will also be a hit for those interested in broader military history and espionage.

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Warrior Elite | Robert Macklin | $35.00 | Hachette

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Art & Design Mural XXL | Claudia Walde | $45.00 | Thames & Hudson Street art that is fresh and original! These eye popping art pieces are scaled to blow your mind. Sky scrapers adorned with murals, high up and out of reach, this book will make you wonder just how do they do that?

Bricksy | Jeff Friesen | $18.99 | New South

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Underground Brick Street Art springs to life using LEGO. Banksy’s iconic street art is skilfully recreated using LEGO brick diorama photos. An added humourous twist extends the story told by Banksy to create this clever and delightful gift book.

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Art & Design Streets of Papunya | Vivien Johnson | $49.99 | New South Streets of Papunya is the most ambitious showcase of artists from this famed Western Desert arts centre to be presented in Sydney this decade. Curated by eminent scholar of Papunya art, Vivien Johnson, Streets of Papunya celebrates the renaissance of painting that has occurred in one of the best-known locations of art production in Central Australia, since the establishment of the Papunya Tjupi Arts Centre in 2007.

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In particular, the exhibition reveals the remarkable art of the women painters of Papunya today in its contemporary sociological and historical contexts, alongside short films that explore the reality of life in Papunya, and the famous paintings of the current generation’s ancestors. Streets of Papunya includes some of the first women painters in the desert, who joined the original Papunya art movement in the early 1980s, and the daughters of many of the ground-breaking Papunya Tula artists of the 1970s.

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