STATIONERY

In *Mermaid Singing & Peel Me a Lotus*, Charmian Clift invites you into the sunlit, hand-to-mouth adventure of her family’s 1950s escape from Australia to Greece, gathered here in one beautiful new edition. After time in London, Clift and her husband, novelist George Johnston, set out with their two small children to live cheaply and write—first on Kalymnos, then on Hydra. What follows is a vivid travel memoir of daily island rhythms: water hauled, meals shared, friendships forged, and the steady push-pull between making art and making a life. Clift writes with sharp humour and an eye for the telling detail, capturing both the generosity and the hard edges of traditional Greek island life. Perfect for readers who love literary memoir, Greece travel writing, bohemian expatriate stories, and family life observed with honesty and style. Settle in and let Clift’s islands work their quiet spell on you.

Love Stories WINNER, INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR Trent Dalton, Australia's best-loved writer, goes out into the world and asks a simple, direct question: 'Can you please tell me a love story?' A blind man yearns to see the face of his wife of thirty years. A divorced mother has a secret love affair with a priest. A geologist discovers a three-minute video recorded by his wife before she died. A tree lopper's heart falls in a forest. A working mum contemplates taking photographs of her late husband down from her fridge. A girl writes a last letter to the man she loves most, then sets it on fire. A palliative care nurse helps a dying woman converse with the angel at the end of her bed. A renowned 100-year-old scientist ponders the one great earthly puzzle he was never able to solve: 'What is love?' Endless stories. Human stories. Love stories. Inspired by a personal moment of profound love and generosity, Trent Dalton, bestselling author and one of Australia's finest journalists, spent two months in 2021 speaking to people from all walks of life, asking them one simple and direct question: 'Can you please tell me a love story?' The result is an immensely warm, poignant, funny and moving book about love in all its guises, including observations, reflections and stories of people falling into love, falling out of love, and never letting go of the loved ones in their hearts. A heartfelt, deep, wise and tingly tribute to the greatest thing we will never understand and the only thing we will ever really need: love. 'It's the kind of book that has some impact on the reader ... a Chaucerian endeavour, a rich caravanserai of real, living people with something important to tell.' Sydney Morning Herald

<p><strong>The national bestseller, <em>Phosphorescence </em>is a beautiful, intimate and inspiring investigation into how we can find and nurture within ourselves that essential quality of internal happiness – the 'light within' – which will sustain us even through the darkest times.</strong></p> <p>Over the last decade, we have become better at knowing what brings us contentment, well-being and joy. We know, for example, that there are a few core truths to the science of happiness. We know that being kind and altruistic makes us happy, that turning off devices, talking to people, forging relationships, living with meaning and delving into the concerns of others offer our best chance of achieving happiness. But how do we retain happiness? It often slips out of our hands as quickly as we find it. So, when we are exposed to, or learn, good things, how do we continue to burn with them?</p><p>And more than that, when our world goes dark, when we're overwhelmed by illness or heartbreak, loss or pain, how do we survive, stay alive or even bloom? In the muck and grit of a daily existence full of disappointments and a disturbing lack of control over many of the things that matter most – finite relationships, fragile health, fraying economies, a planet in peril – how do we find, nurture and carry our own inner, living light – a light to ward off the darkness?</p><p><strong>An intimate, achingly beautiful and inspiring exploration of the ways we can pursue awe, wonder and purpose, from one of our best, most perceptive writers.</strong></p><p>'Like spending an evening with a wonderful friend, with unlimited time and a glass of good wine in hand … A beautiful and rallying read' <em>The Australian</em></p><p>'Julia Baird's new, beautiful consideration of the things that glow through the murk … a book such as this one – one that aims to provoke delight and wonder and comfort, that is at its heart trying to find answers or modes of connection, or light – is of the moment in the best possible way' <em>The Guardian</em></p><p>'Intelligent and emotionally astute ... Many will find sustenance in reading it<em>' Sydney Morning Herald</em></p><p>'That is the beauty of this profound book. It transports you into all the deep, inner yearnings you've had for a long time, and then articulates them for you ... I could rave about this gem of a book forever. We need this book. You need this book. It is the perfect gift for us all right now. It is perfect' <em>Better Reading</em></p><p>'Julia Baird is an alchemist, turning the dross of her life's harshest blows into shimmering prose. Both timeless and timely, this is a book of wisdom and wonder.' Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of <em>March </em>and <em>Caleb's Crossing</em></p><p>'This book is a love letter to the world by a brilliant writer who nearly left it. Julia Baird has gone into the depths of human experience-her own, and others'-and come back with this luminous and profound celebration of people and the planet. <em>Phosphorescence</em> is a treasure to read and re-read your whole life.' Anna Funder, author of <em>All That I Am</em> and <em>Stasiland</em></p><p>'I loved this book. A cupped hand full of light in a darkened world. A collection of glittering curios. I'll hold it close in trying times.' Cal Flyn, author of <em>Islands of Abandonment</em></p>

Touching the Void by Joe Simpson is a gripping non-fiction adventure story that pulls you straight into the thin air and high stakes of mountaineering in the Peruvian Andes. In June 1995, Simpson and his climbing partner Simon reach the summit of the remote Siula Grande—then everything unravels on the descent. When a devastating accident strikes, Simon faces an agonising choice that will haunt him, while Simpson is left fighting for life in a landscape that offers no mercy. Told with remarkable clarity and restraint, this survival narrative explores endurance, judgement under pressure, and the complicated bond between friends tested beyond measure. Perfect for readers who love true stories of survival, mountain climbing memoirs, and psychologically rich accounts of leadership and loyalty in extreme conditions. Add this modern classic to your shelf and discover why it’s kept readers turning pages for decades.

In **The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel**, a true crime–tinged work of narrative non-fiction, readers are drawn into the strangely compelling life of Christopher Knight, a young man who walked into the Maine wilderness in 1986 and didn’t speak to another person for nearly thirty years. Finkel pieces together Knight’s days and nights in near-total solitude: the practical problem-solving, the brutal winters, and the careful raids on holiday cabins for food, fuel and books. Those quiet break-ins unsettled a small community, building a local legend that grew wilder with every unanswered question. When Knight is finally discovered, the story turns to what it means to re-enter society after choosing to step away for so long. Perfect for readers who love **survival stories**, **true crime**, **psychology**, and books about **solitude and identity**. Add it to your basket if you’re curious about the limits—and the cost—of living life on your own terms.

The incredible autobiography of Yeonmi Park- a North Korean defector who escaped across the Gobi desert and is now a leading spokesperson for human rights at just 24 years old  Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn't even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die - from starvation, or disease, or even execution. This book is the story of Park's struggle to survive in the darkest, most repressive country on earth; her harrowing escape to South Korea through China's underworld of smugglers and human traffickers; and her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday.

In **Strangers** by **Belle Burden**, an intimate memoir meets clear-eyed social critique, tracing one woman’s life as it splits in two and then rebuilds itself from the inside out. If you’re drawn to emotionally honest writing that reads with the drive of literary fiction, this is the kind of book that pulls you close and stays with you. In March 2020, as the pandemic unsettles the world, Burden’s twenty-year marriage ends without warning. The person she trusted most—partner, co-parent, companion—becomes suddenly unknowable. In the aftermath, she navigates grief, rage and reinvention, while interrogating the quiet expectations placed on “good” women. Perfect for readers who love **Modern Love**-style storytelling, feminist memoir, and books about marriage, betrayal and personal transformation—especially fans of Glennon Doyle. Add **Strangers** to your shelf for a fiercely observant, deeply human reading experience.

Life in Progress by Hans Ulrich Obrist is a vivid memoir of creativity and curiosity from one of the contemporary art world’s most influential curators. It begins with a childhood accident that kept Obrist in hospital for weeks, where art became both comfort and catalyst—setting him on a remarkable path towards artists, ideas and making exhibitions happen. As he recovers and grows, Obrist starts travelling alone on overnight trains to visit artists in their studios across Europe, learns by asking fearless questions, and stages his first exhibition at home in Zurich. Along the way, we glimpse the behind-the-scenes rhythms of curating, the intensity of artistic friendship, and the moments that shaped his way of looking—right down to writing hundreds of postcards while snowed in by an avalanche. Perfect for readers who love art history, cultural biography, and thoughtful coming-of-age stories, especially anyone drawn to Europe-set literary nonfiction. Step into Obrist’s life and see how art can expand a world.

The God of No Good by Sita Walker is a lyrical, funny intergenerational memoir that follows one woman’s search for love, belonging and a way to live honestly with (or without) faith. Shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and winner of the People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year, it’s the kind of book that stays with you for its wit, tenderness and sharp-eyed insight. Raised by five formidable matriarchs in a Bahá’í household, Sita grows up on prayer, sacrifice, turmeric tea and the quiet power of women’s stories. At thirty-five, she’s drifted far from belief and from the idea of “true love” — but she’s still tethered to the women who made her. Moving across Iran, India, Sri Lanka, Europe and Australia, this memoir is perfect for readers who love family stories, cultural identity, migration narratives and heartfelt contemporary Australian writing. Step into Sita Walker’s world and see how love rewrites everything.

Jane Austen’s Remarkable Aunt, Philadelphia Hancock: ‘A Girl of Genius and Feeling’ by Jan Merriman is a richly researched literary biography that opens a fresh window onto the Austen family and the lived realities of eighteenth-century women. It begins with “aunt Phila” as the young Jane’s inspiration for Cecilia Wynne in *Catharine or the Bower*, then follows Philadelphia’s own path with close attention to the choices an orphan could—and couldn’t—make. After a millinery apprenticeship in London, Philadelphia takes the rare gamble of travel to India and an arranged marriage, stepping into the vivid world of the Honourable East India Company. Merriman traces the social circles, encounters and pressures that shaped Philadelphia’s search for security and respectability, while also illuminating the broader Regency-era context and the often-overlooked influence of Philadelphia’s daughter, Eliza. Perfect for Jane Austen fans, Georgian history readers and anyone drawn to women’s history and colonial India. Browse it today and discover the Austen story from an intriguing new angle.

Outback Highways LEN BEADELL OAM was often called the last of the true Australian explorers. As a surveyor and road builder, he worked all over the outback from Arnhem Land to the Gibson Desert. This special commemorative edition of Outback Highways is being released to mark the centenary of Len Beadell’s birth. He was a much-loved author who brought outback Australians onto the page in all their vivid originality. Drawn from his best-selling books, these stories sparkle with humour and paint a fascinating picture of the hard work, the bush characters, and the rollicking adventure that were all part of Len Beadell’s rich experience.

Highways And Byways: From Australian Rock Legend & Bestselling Author Of Working Class Boy, Working Class Man & Killing Time The new book from Jimmy Barnes, the award-winning author of the number-one bestsellers Working Class Boy, Working Class Man and Killing TimeFrom larger-than-life adventures to vivid and poignant tales of the imagination, Highways and Byways is a collection of stories taking readers on an enthralling tour (complete with the odd detour) through the raucous, well-lived life of one of this country's most successful and beloved artists.Told with Jimmy's signature verve and flair, and richly colored by his distinctive voice and wit, Highways and Byways sees him sharing a 1970s Texas stage with a dream line-up of US musicians; flirting with disaster in a Hawaiian high-rise; discovering a life-changing cassette tape; unearthing shattering family secrets in Glasgow; encountering charismatic and not-so-endearing superstars, ghosts of the recent and distant past, superfan traffic cops and shady salesmen; and confronting his own mortality - while pondering the more amusing effects of hospital medication.Charming, personal and poignant, Highways and Byways is a collection that celebrates Jimmy's Scottish heritage, family, friends, music and the adventure of a grand life.

Eight Million Ways To Happiness: Wisdom From The Heart Of Japan'A timely and moving pilgrimage through Japan's spiritual traditions' RUTH OZEKI, Women's Prize-winning and Booker Prize-shortlisted authorIn Eight Million Ways to Happiness, Hiroko Yoda invites readers on a deeply personal and transformative journey into the spiritual heart of Japan. While millions have found inspiration in ideas like ikigai or The Courage to Be Disliked, Hiroko reveals the deeper traditions that quietly shape Japan's culture, drawn from Shinto, Buddhism, and the mountain mysticism of Shugendo.These aren't abstract philosophies. They are living practices that integrate so seamlessly with modern secular life, even natives can forget they are there. Reconnecting with them helped Hiroko find light after profound loss and realise that they offer powerful tools for anyone seeking meaning, connection or peace in their own life.Through vivid storytelling and immersive experiences dancing at Shinto shrines, climbing sacred peaks, and meeting mystics Hiroko shows how Japan's flexible approach to spirituality helps kindle gratitude, connection and kinship with nature. What emerges are practical insights and gentle guidance to spark joy, find balance, and discover what truly matters.Whether you're grieving, searching, or simply curious, this book is a reminder - there are millions of ways to be happy. You just have to find yours.