Other books that might interest you

• 

  One Bright Moon

  Andrew Kwong

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Winner of the 2021 Michael Crouch Award, debut category of the National Biography Award: From famine to freedom, how a young boy fled Chairman Mao's China to a new life in Australia 
    
  Andrew Kwong was only seven when he witnessed his first execution. The grim scene left him sleepless, anxious and doubtful about his commitment as a revolutionary in Mao's New China. Yet he knew if he devoted himself to the Party and its Chairman he would be saved. That's what his teacher told him. 
  Months later, it was his own father on trial. This time the sentence was banishment to a re-education camp, not death. It left the family tainted, despised, and with few means of survival during the terrible years of persecution and famine known as the Great Leap Forward. Even after his father returned, things remained desperate. Escape seemed the only solution, and it would be twelve-year-old Andrew who undertook the perilous journey first. 
  This is the poignant, resonant story of a young boy's awakening – to survival, education, fulfilment, and eventually to a new life of freedom. 
  PRAISE 
  'An incredibly powerful book' Benjamin Law 
  '[A] moving family saga, shot through with yearning and hard-won joy' Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald 
  'This book will live on in your heart long after you've read the last page' Vicki Laveau-Harvie, author of The Erratics 
  'Heart-breaking, honest, personal, Andrew Kwong's moving journey from oppression to freedom is inspiring' Susanne Gervay, OAM, author 
  'A work of startling clarity ... reminiscent of Angela's Ashes' South China Morning Post Magazine 
  'Deeply moving ... The unique perspective of a child ... places One Bright Moon in the vicinity of Night, Elie Wiesel's pathbreaking memoir of his early life prior to and of his time in German concentration camps' Meenakshi Bharat, IIC Quarterly 
  'A few pages into this compelling memoir proves it was written by a master storyteller' Sharon Rundle, Australian Book Review 
  'A profoundly moving and spellbinding story that perfectly illuminates the terror of the times and the irrepressible yearning for something better' Carol Major, author and writing mentor 
  'One Bright Moon is extraordinary writing that encapsulates long-term hunger as a background feature of daily life in Mao's New China. In the foreground are images of adults and children populating the world of the pre-teenage boy with a photographic memory who would later write of them. The book is rich archival material for the study of China's social history' Mabel Lee, PhD FAHA, writer and translator 
  'Reading this memoir is a healing experience' Devika Brendon, author and editor

  Show book

• 

  Please I Can to the Toilet Go?

  Guy Newmountain

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Ever wondered what it’s like to be a supply teacher? This is the book for you! Artist and illustrator Guy Newmountain, a time-served teacher at the chalk-face for 25 years and a familiar sight to thousands of pupils across the spectrum from nursery to sixth form, tells a succession of school-related anecdotes with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humour. Some are hysterically funny and a few sad; others heart-stopping and deadly serious… 
  Guy even bares his soul regarding personal heartbreak and professional mistakes that others can learn from. An evocative snapshot of real life, every word, even the title – spoken by a tiny infant – is true. A powerful insight into how varied an experience supply teaching can be, the book covers both pros and cons of the vocation, as the author relates a host of unpredictable situations encountered – good and bad – offering a tantalising, honest and refreshing window onto a largely hidden world…

  Show book

• 

  My Life as a Villainess - Essays

  Anonymous

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman, a journalist for many years, collects here her recent essays exploring motherhood as an older mom, her life as a reader, her relationships with her parents, friendship, and other topics that will resonate with a large audience.  Her voice is wry and relatable, her takes often surprising.  
  Meet the Woman Behind the Books…  
  In this collection of new and previously published essays, New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman offers her take on a woman's life across the decades. Her childhood and school years, her newspaper career, her experiences as a novelist—Lippman finds universal touchstones in an unusual life that has as many twists as her award-winning crime fiction.   
  Essays include:  
  ·         Men Explain The Wire to Me  
  ·         Game of Crones  
  ·         My Life as a Villainess  
  ·         My Father’s Bar  
  ·         The 31st Stocking  
  These candid essays offer long-time readers insight into the experiences that helped Lippman become one of the most successful crime novelists of her generation.

  Show book

• 

  Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Story...

  Sheridan Le Fanu

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was born on August 28th, 1814, at 45 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, into a literary family with Huguenot, Irish and English roots 
   
  The children were tutored but, according to his brother William, the tutor taught them little if anything. Le Fanu was eager to learn and used his father's library to educate himself about the world. He was a creative child and by fifteen had taken to writing poetry. 
   
  Accepted into Trinity College, Dublin to study law he also benefited from the system used in Ireland that he did not have to live in Dublin to attend lectures, but could study at home and take examinations at the university as and when necessary. 
   
  This enabled him to also write and by 1838 Le Fanu's first story The Ghost and the Bonesetter was published in the Dublin University Magazine. Many of the short stories he wrote at the time were to form the basis for his future novels.  Indeed, throughout his career Le Fanu would constantly revise, cannabilise, embellish and re-publish his earlier works to use in his later efforts. 
   
  Between 1838 and 1840 Le Fanu had written and published twelve stories which purported to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. Set mostly in Ireland they include classic stories of gothic horror, with grim, shadowed castles, as well as supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, together with madness and suicide. One of the themes running through them is a sad nostalgia for the dispossessed Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand in mute salute and testament to this history.  
   
  On 18 December 1844 Le Fanu married Susanna Bennett, the daughter of a leading Dublin barrister. The union would produce four children.  Le Fanu was now stretching his talents across the length of a novel and his first was The Cock and Anchor published in 1845. 
   
  A succession of works followed and his reputation grew as well as his income.  Unfortunately, a decade after his marriage it became an increasing source of difficultly. Susanna was prone to suffer from a range of neurotic symptoms including great anxiety after the deaths of several close relatives, including her father two years before.  
   
  In April 1858 she suffered an "hysterical attack" and died in circumstances that are still unclear. The anguish, profound guilt as well as overwhelming loss were channeled into Le Fanu’s work.  Working only by the light of two candles he would write through the night and burnish his reputation as a major figure of 19th Century supernaturalism. His work challenged the focus on the external source of horror and instead he wrote about it from the perspective of the inward psychological potential to strike fear in the hearts of men.  
   
  A series of books now came forth: Wylder's Hand (1864), Guy Deverell (1865), The Tenants of Malory (1867), The Green Tea (1869), The Haunted Baronet (1870), Mr. Justice Harbottle (1872), The Room in the Dragon Volant (1872) and In a Glass Darkly. (1872). 
   
  But his life was drawing to a close.  Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu died in Merrion Square in his native Dublin on February 7th, 1873, at the age of 58.  
   
  01 - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction 
  02 - The Ghost and the Bone-Setter by Sheridan Le Fanu 
  03 - Sir Dominick's Bargain by Sheridan Le Fanu 
  04 - Dickon the Devil by Sheridan Le Fanu 
  05 - Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter by Sheridan Le Fanu 
  06 - An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street by Sheridan Le Fanu

  Show book

• 

  The Story of the American Civil...

  Damien Russell

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The American Civil War was the most defining conflict in U.S. history, shaping the nation’s future forever. From the first shots at Fort Sumter to the surrender at Appomattox, this war saw legendary battles, powerful leaders, and a fight for freedom. 
  This audiobook dives into the key battles, military strategies, and political tensions that led to war. Discover the stories of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and the soldiers who fought on both sides. What were the causes, and how did the war reshape America? 
  The Story of the American Civil War is a must-listen for history lovers, military enthusiasts, and those seeking a deeper understanding of this pivotal time in history.

  Show book

• 

  Hiding in Plain View

  Marcel Clarke

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In the quiet moments of our lives, when the world slows down and reflection takes over, we often ponder the paths we’ve walked and the choices we’ve made. This book delves into the life of a young man who stood at the crossroads of failure and triumph. 
  His journey begins in the shadows of poor decisions, choices that could have defined his existence in ways both limiting and predictable. Yet, within him burned a fierce resilience, an unyielding determination to rewrite his story. It is a tale of relentless perseverance, where every setback becomes a stepping stone, and each failure a lesson in disguise. 
  As you turn these pages, you’ll be drawn into a world where hope battles despair, where dreams challenge reality, and where the human spirit rises against all odds. This is not just a story of success but of transformation, a testament to the power of will and the beauty of redemption. 
  Prepare to be inspired, moved, and reminded that our destinies are not written in stone but forged through the fires of our choices and the strength of our resolve. This is the journey of a young man who defied the odds, a journey that just might change the way you view your own.

  Show book