Bestsellers for February 2012
1 Inherited Amanda Curtin UWA Press $26.95
A dancer in a wheelchair. A collector of corks. One woman seduced by a mountain and another by Freddo Frogs. A man who hears his dead wifes voice. A poet whose voice has disappeared. A photographer distilling grief in his lens. A sound designer stealing the sound of a room. These are stories concerned with the gifts and burdens we inherit from those we love and from the world at large; and what we, in turn, leave behind. Families, relationships, memory, secrets, memorialisation, creativity, collecting, ageing and obsession all weave themselves through these nineteen short gems.
2 Lazarus Rising John Howard Harper Collins $35.00
John Howards autobiography, Lazarus Rising, is the biggest-selling political memoir Australia has seen. In it he talks about his love for his family, his rollercoaster ride to the Lodge and how - as prime minister - he responded to issues like climate change and the war on terrorism. Drawing on his deep interest in history, he paints a fascinating picture of a changing Australia. In this new revised edition, he also analyses the cataclysmic lead-up to the 2010 election and the vexed political paradigm that emerged. From the future prospects of the Greens and Independents to the performance of Barnaby Joyce, Howard pulls no punches. No stranger to power struggles himself, he is uniquely qualified to note the remaking of the Nationals, decode Tony Abbotts strategies and understand the pressures facing Julia Gillard and the comeback prospects of Kevin Rudd.
3 The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes Random House $29.95
Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life. Now Tony is in middle age. Hes had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. Hes certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyers letter is about to prove.
The Sense Of An Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the mutable past. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity and insight, it is the work of one of the worlds most distinguished writers.
4 The Street Sweeper Elliot Perlman Vintage $32.95
Recently released from prison, Lamont Williams, an African American probationary janitor in a Manhattan hospital and father of a little girl he can't locate, strikes up an unlikely friendship with an elderly patient, a Holocaust survivor who had been a prisoner in Auschwitz-Birkenau. A few kilometres uptown, Australian historian Adam Zignelik, an untenured Columbia professor, finds both his career and his long-term romantic relationship falling apart. Emerging out of the depths of his own personal history, Adam sees, in a promising research topic suggested by an American World War II veteran, the beginnings of something that might just save him professionally and perhaps even personally. As these two men try to survive in early twenty-first-century New York, history comes to life in ways neither of them could have foreseen.
5 The Dovekeepers Alice Hoffman Simon & Schuster $29.99
The lives of four sensuous, bold and remarkable women intersect in ŝe year 70AD, in ŝe desperate days of ŝe siege of Masada, when supplies are dwindling and ŝe Romans are drawing near. All are dovekeepers, and all are keepers of secrets - about who ŝey are, where ŝey come from, who faŝered ŝem, and whom ŝey love. There is Yĉl, ŝe aßaßin's daughter whose heartbreak leads to her true paŝ in ŝe ruins of ŝe desert; Revka, ŝe baker's wife who loses her dearest treasure on earŝ and yet finds ŝe strengŝ to protect her family; Aziza, ŝe warrior's beloved who leads a secret life not even ŝose closest to her could imagine; and Marit, beautiful witch of Moab, a woman as loyal as she is dangerous.
6 The Widower's Tale Julia Glass Anchor $21.99
Seventy-year-old Percy Darling is settling happily into retirement: reading novels, watching old movies, and swimming naked in his pond. But his routines are disrupted when he is persuaded to let a locally beloved preschool take over his barn. As Percy sees his rural refuge overrun by children, parents, and teachers, he must reexamine the solitary life he has made in the three decades since the sudden death of his wife. With equal parts affection and humor, Julia Glass spins a captivating tale about a man who can no longer remain aloof from his community, his two grown daughters, orto his great shockthe precarious joy of falling in love.
7 Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography Walter Isaacson Little Brown $45.00
From bestselling author Walter Isaacson comes the landmark biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. In Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, Isaacson provides an extraordinary account of Jobs' professional and personal life. Drawn from three years of exclusive and unprecedented interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs as well as extensive interviews with Jobs' family members, key colleagues from Apple and its competitors, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the definitive portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.
8 Hare With Amber Eyes Edmund De Waal Random House $24.95
264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox: potter Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in the Tokyo apartment of his great uncle Iggie. Later, when Edmund inherited the netsuke, they unlocked a story far larger than he could ever have imagined In this stunningly original memoir, Edmund de Waal travels the world to stand in the great buildings his forebears once inhabited. He traces the network of a remarkable family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century and tells the story of a unique collection.
9 Paris Janelle McCulloch Pan Macmillan $49.99
It's hard not to be smitten by Paris. The city of love and light is one of the most enchanting in the world, but it also has a tendency to keep its best spots well hidden. After spending the last 20 years exploring the city, journalist and photographer Janelle McCulloch has discovered all of Paris' secret gems and shares them in this beautiful guide. From the stylish boutiques on Champs-Elysees to the irresistible cafes, tea salons and patisseries that make up the fabric of the city, you will find everything you need to know to have a true insider's experience of Paris. 'Paris' begins with an atmospheric guide to the arrondissements, each with their distinct personality, like the sophisticate 1st with its magnificent architecture and perfectly clipped trees, or the hipster 3rd with its avant garde artisans and cool cafes.
10 Foal's Bread Gillian Mears Allen & Unwin $32.99
Set in hardscrabble farming country and around the country show high-jumping circuit that prevailed in rural New South Wales prior to the Second World War, Foal's Bread tells the story of two generations of the Nancarrow family and their fortunes as dictated by the vicissitudes of the land. It is a love story of impossible beauty and sadness, a chronicle of dreams 'turned inside out', and miracles that never last, framed against a world both tender and unspeakably hard. Written in luminous prose and with an aching affinity for the landscape the book describes, Foal's Bread is the work of a born writer at the height of her considerable powers. It is a stunning work of remarkable originality and power, one that confirms Gillian Mears' reputation as one of our most exciting and acclaimed writers.
Previous Bestsellers Lists
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1 January 2012
28 October 2011
1 October 2011
1 September 2011
1 August 2011
1 June 2011
5 May 2011
1 May 2011
30 September 2010
3 September 2010
3 August 2010
4 July 2010
Book of the Month
February 2012
Sunburnt Country
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