The ultimate guide to the best books to gift this Christmas
We’ve found more than 35 books perfect for every family member, from kids to grandma and that hard-to-please bibliophile. Don’t head to the shops without it. SEE THE LIST
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Looking for the perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life? We have rifled through the shelves to bring you a sackful of fiction and nonfiction treats to pop under the tree.
BOOK REVIEWS: LIANE MORIARTY, ANN CLEEVES, CAROLINE OVERINGTON
THE LOST MAN IS JANE HARPER’S BEST BOOK YET
10 TITLES TO PUT ON YOUR READING LIST
NOVELTY
AUSTRALIA REMEMBER THIS TOO!
BOB BYRNE
Enjoy hours reminiscing on Christmas Day about the Coles Cafeteria, Mello Yello yo-yos, Professor Julius Sumner Miller, Nintendo’s original handheld Game & Watch and Singer sewing machines. A terrific time capsule.
NEWSOUTH, RRP $35
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?
JAMES BALL
Have you ever noticed that some of the most popular and memorable songs ever written are also some of the most famous questions ever asked? How many roads must a man walk down; are you lonesome tonight; do you know the way to San Jose? Ball’s brilliant book gives definitive, hilarious answers to questions from 88 songs spanning decades.
PAN MACMILLAN, RRP $20
I CAN’T REMEMBER THE TITLE BUT THE COVER IS BLUE
ELIAS GREIG
ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP $20
This is a delightful book for anyone who has ever worked in retail or had to deal with the public in their job. Greig has collated strange stories from his time working at a bookshop — from a customer who ate an apple and carrot while perusing an expensive architecture tome to a woman who asked for wrapping for books bought elsewhere.
THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A CROC!
HACHETTE AUSTRALIA, RRP $25
From the cheeky NT News comes a second collection of legendary front pages. Who could forget “Millman Rogers Federer”, “Why I’ve Got a Coin in My Groin” or “Why I’ve Got Some Sticky Near My Dicky”?
MAKING IT UP
NICOLE THOMPSON
NEW HOLLAND, RRP $50
Our teen selves are obsessed with this ultimate guide to applying make-up from a cosmetics artist and global brand ambassador for MAC. Master dark lips, bronzing, glitter eyes, pop colour liner and do brows like a boss.
MOVE WITH BILLY SLATER AND COACH MICHAEL CHAPMAN
EBURY AUSTRALIA, RRP $35
This is fabulously old-school. The NRL champ and his family take you through 32 workouts that don’t require exercise equipment. Choose from 10, 20 or 30-minute workouts with a photo of each exercise. And you can try to beat Slater’s scores.
COFFEE TABLE
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO AUSTRALIAN BIRDS
GEORGE ADAMS
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE, RRP $45
This is an introduction to the varied species found in Australia and its immediate territories, grouped by families and habitat to help with identification. Colour photos of the birds in the field make a visual feast, complemented by notes around habitat, bird-watching and species preservation.
SIX DECADES OF HOLDEN VERSUS FORD
DAVE MORLEY
HARDIE GRANT, RRP $50
Holden vs Ford — it’s the ultimate Aussie rivalry. Packed full of photos, this book takes a nostalgic trip from the beginning of Holden and Ford in Australia through to the production of the last family cars here. In between, it looks at the Peter Brock phenomenon and the competition between these motoring icons.
SURFING — WATER IS FREEDOM
RUSSELL ORD & ANTHONY PANCIA
NEW HOLLAND PUBLISHERS, RRP $50
Anyone who’s ever spent 10 minutes on a surfboard will be mesmerised by this photographic essay. Along with short stories on surfers who ride death-defying waves, there are amazing surfing shots. But the book’s real stars are the waves.
REMARKABLE
MELINDA WILLIAMS
THAMES & HUDSON, RRP $60
The title relates to the more than 100 Australian National Living Treasures featured, but it could easily describe the book itself. Highlighting the contributions of Aussies from Dr Peter Hollingworth and Evonne Goolagong Cawley to Walter Mikac and Sir Gustav Nossal, it is complemented by Michel Lawrence’s photos.
MUSIC
WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH: 50 YEARS OF LED ZEPPELIN
MICK WALL
HACHETTE, RRP $33
Rock writer Mick Wall has used Led Zeppelin’s 50th anniversary to knock out an updated version of his brilliant biography. As Wall notes, in the decade since he first published Giants, Zeppelin still lives large in our memories but the reality is the band remains as blown apart as the day drummer John Bonham died.
BEASTIE BOYS BOOK
MICHAEL DIAMOND & ADAM HOROVITZ
FABER, RRP $50
Adam Horovitz, Michael Diamond and Adam Yauch joined forces in the 1980s to create one of the most successful US hip-hop bands ever. The Beastie Boys sold tens of millions of albums but it all stopped when Yauch died in 2012. This autobiography leaves nothing out. There are rare photos, illustrations, a cookbook, graphic novel and mixtape playlists.
GARDENING
THE CONTENTED BEE
ORGANIC GARDENER MAGAZINE
HARPERCOLLINS, RRP $35
Beekeeping is one of the buzz words of 2018 as the importance of these insects to our planet’s survival becomes ever clearer. This is an easy-to-follow guide on home beekeeping, from choosing bees, setting up hives, bee care and harvesting honey.
YATES TOP 50 INDOOR PLANTS
ANGIE THOMAS
HARPERCOLLINS, RRP $35
Full of beautiful photos, this is the ultimate guide to indoor plants, how to grow them, maintain them and, most importantly, how not to kill them.
HABITAT
A.B BISHOP
MURDOCH BOOKS, RRP $40
Bishop, a horticulturalist who lives in the Victorian bush within a 6ha “special use zone” dedicated to wildlife, knows her stuff. This book is all about attracting birds, animals and insects to our native gardens and doing our bit for ecology.
AUSTRALIAN DREAMSCAPES
CLAIRE TAKACS
HARDIE GRANT BOOKS, RRP $70
Takacs uses her photographic skills to full effect in this exploration of 22 gardens from Tenterfield to the Murray and Mount Wellington. With stories of the people who created the beautiful settings, this hefty book is sure to inspire and entrance green thumbs.
COOKBOOKS
THE COOK’S APPRENTICE
STEPHANIE ALEXANDER
PENGUIN, RRP $45
A revision of Alexander’s classic The Cook’s Companion and skewed towards younger readers, this collection was inspired by Alexander’s school Kitchen Garden project. Its 56 ingredient chapters start with apples and end in zucchini.
YUMMY, EASY, QUICK
MATT PRESTON
PAN MACMILLAN, RRP $40
One for the at-home cook looking for fresh ideas — especially when feeding the family. The News Corp columnist and MasterChef judge offers 135 recipes that can be whipped up in 30 minutes or less.
FOOD SAFARI: EARTH, FIRE, WATER
Maeve O’Meara
HARDIE GRANT/SBS BOOKS, RRP $60
A whopping 200 recipes are divided into the book’s titular elements from all-star chefs including Rosa Mitchell, Joseph Abboud, Andrew McConnell and Frank Camorra, as well as home cooks. There are vegies plucked from the earth and turned into salads, pastas and curries, firey fare cooked on an Argentinian asado, Indian tandoor or Aussie barbecue, and the water’s bounty in tasty seafood dishes.
SPORT
WINX: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY
ANDREW RULE
ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP $45
In a must-have for racing fans, the Herald Sun’s Rule gets a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s greatest racehorse, including unprecedented access to the champion mare’s owners, trainer and jockey. With a historic fourth Cox Plate win now in her haul, this is a keeper.
NO SPIN
SHANE WARNE
PENGUIN, RRP $50
In his 50th year and more than a decade after shelving the international ball, you might expect a bit of mature circumspection from Warne. You won’t find it in this autobiography. But you will enjoy a line-up of stories covering a brilliant career blotted by the odd scandal. The silliest involves a three-in-a-bed romp while the spin king was playing county cricket in the UK.
THE FINEST GOLD — THE MAKING OF AN OLYMPIC SWIMMER
BRAD COOPER
SCRIBE PUBLICATIONS, RRP $33
Cooper’s sporting story in itself is worth a book, albeit 46 years on from the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he won gold in the 400m freestyle — after initially losing by one-hundredth of a second to Rick DeMont before the US swimmer was disqualified for testing positive to ephedrine. But Cooper’s tale is a lot broader as he recounts a dysfunctional childhood and strained relationship with Aussie coach Don “Ming the Merciless” Talbot.
THE PETER NORMAN STORY
ANDREW WEBSTER & MATT NORMAN
MACMILLAN AUSTRALIA, RRP $35
Webster’s words give new life to a 50-year-old human rights story involving the two finest black US sprinters of the time and a white Melbourne man who split the pair in the 200m at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The trio became friends for life when Norman supported their black power salutes, but this book is about much more as Norman’s life took different directions after he stood on that dais.
TRAVEL
NEW YORK PRECINCTS
PIP CUMMINGS
HARDIE GRANT, RRP $40
This “curated guide’’ to 20 districts by an expat Aussie is well-mapped and stylishly photographed. Cummings has her finger on NY’s “buoyant energy’”, whether directing us to a speak-easy in Soho or a haberdashery in Harlem. A forensic examination of Brooklyn and beyond makes this book especially useful.
AUSTRALIA’S BEST NATURE ESCAPES
LEE ATKINSON
HARDIE GRANT TRAVEL, RRP $40
This directory of Australia’s natural wonders, from the Gibb River Road and Glass House Mountains to the Gippsland Lakes and Grampians, is divided into chapters that include walking, mountain top, island getaway, glamping and outback. Each site has fast facts about how long you need to explore it, when to go and why.
EPIC HIKES OF THE WORLD
LONELY PLANET, RRP $45
From Iceland’s back country to Moroccan mountains and the Gold Coast hinterland, this book, with its wildly different walks in terms of degree of difficulty and cultural experience, is a perfect gift for adventurers.
FICTION
THE SHEPHERD’S HUT
TIM WINTON
HAMISH HAMILTON, RRP $40
Jaxie is a loveable rogueon the run through Western Australia’s goldfields after the death of his scumbag father. Jaxie’s voice and the landscape are the real heroes of this novel. But when Jaxie meets an unlikely friend, things get complicated.
BRIDGE OF CLAY
MARKUS ZUSAK
PAN MACMILLAN, RRP $33
Zusak’s labour of love requires us to pay attention, particularly in the opening chapters, to settle into the rhythm of its timelines and themes. But once in, readers will be cheering on a tale filled with beauty and brutality, Homer’s Odyssey, long-distance running, horse racing, bridge building and the love between blood brothers.
LESS
ANDREW SEAN GREER
HACHETTE, RRP $20
Oh what fun is this romp through literary vanity as hapless, gay, middle-aged Arthur Less, a minor novelist, finds himself with a broken heart, stalled career and a 50th birthday looming. The winner of this year’s Pulitzer for fiction, Less has an unlikely hero who starts off as irritating, but eventually steals your heart.
CRIME/THRILLER
THE RUIN
DERVLA McTIERNAN
HARPERCOLLINS, RRP $25
Garda Cormac Reilly, first week on the job, discovers two neglected children and their dead mother. Jump 20 years and he is a detective in Galway, where he is confronted with the reopening of the case he has tried to forget. McTiernan’s first novel is a cracking police procedural where morally upright Cormac finds himself in the middle of an explosive murder plot.
LETHAL WHITEL
ROBERT GALBRAITH
SPHERE BOOKS, RRP $33
The fourth in the Cormoran Strike series is set amid the pride of the 2012 London Olympics. After the success of his last case, private investigator Strike is a reluctant celebrity. With partner Robin, he pours time into a potential child murder case with political blackmail and intrigue on the side. At 650-odd pages, Lethal White this
is a thumper, but Galbraith’s (aka Mrs Harry Potter herself , J.K. Rowling) Strike is a loveable rogue , and with troubled relationships and love colouring the story , it’s worth conquering this page mountain.
SCRUBLANDS
CHRIS HAMMER
ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP $33
This masterfully crafted thriller follows journalist Martin Scarsden, who arrives in the godforsaken town of Riversend a year after a mass murder. But with his arrival also come a bushfire, the discovery of two bodies in a dam and a fatal car accident. This sprawling and explosive Outback thriller is a masterpiece. Strap yourself in for a thrilling ride.
CHILDREN’S
THE SLIGHTLY ALARMING TALE OF THE WHISPERING WARS
JACLYN MORIARTY
ALLEN AND UNWIN, RRP $23
Moriarty spins a fantastical tale in Spindthrift, where children are disappearing, witches invading and warring tribes of kids from the Orphanage School and snobby Brathelthwaite Boarding School must join forces to defeat evil.
I AM THE SEED THAT GREW THE TREE
POEMS SELECTED BY FIONA WATERS
ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRANN PRESTON-GANNON
ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP $50
This hardcover compilation has a simple nature poem for every day of the year to introduce young children to the joy of the written word. It is complemented by gorgeous illustrations.
THE PUFFIN BOOK OF SUMMER STORIES
PUFFIN, RRP $30
Find Australian children’s book greats such as Pamela Allen, Alison Lester and Hazel Edwards together in this inexpensive hardcover collection of eight picture books. There’s Allen’s Grandpa and Thomas, My Hippopotamus is on Our Caravan Roof Getting Sunburnt, by Edwards, and Lester and June Factor’s Summer.
TALES FROM THE INNER CITY
SHAUN TAN
ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP $35
Full of Tan’s mesmerising paintings, this is no mere picture book. It is ideally suited to young adults as Tan pays homage to animals and explores the relationship between them and humans. And it is not always pretty.
WUNDERSMITH, THE CALLING OF MORRIGAN CROW
JESSICA TOWNSEND
HACHETTE, RRP $17
The second book in the Nevermoor series proves Townsend is no one-hit “wunder”. Morrigan Crow (who escaped her perilous fate in book one) has moved to magical Nevermoor, discovered she is a Wundersmith (someone with very high magic) and made new friends. But her life is not quite as magical as it seems. With great power comes responsibility, temptation and envy.
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