Lindy was awarded the Australian Bookseller Association Text Publishing Bookseller of the Year in 2011.

$29.99 $26.99

ABBEY'S CHOICE MAY 2013 ----- If you enjoyed Hilary Mantel’s account of Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII and need something to fill in the time until the third book in the trilogy, then I commend this novel as a fine alternative! Told in an immediate and vivid style, this will do for the Borgias what Mantel has done for Cromwell: bring historical figures into colourful life. Rodrigo Borgia is a complicated man full of roaring life and passion, not to mention an insatiable appetite for power; a Spaniard in Rome who buys his way to the Papacy, holy in theory, but corrupt in practice. He uses his children as pawns in his ambition to create a dynasty, and lets nothing get in the way of his desires, either political or personal.

I became thoroughly immersed in the time and characters and it was such an enjoyable experience that I had trouble finding something new to read after having lived in renaissance Rome! Having read a bit of history I found the novel managed all those complicated alliances and cross-currents very smoothly and felt very 'true' when dealing with the Borgias themselves. The imagery was lush and almost touchable, but as I am an admirer of Dunant's writing I expect that of her, so I wasn't disappointed. Like Mantel's interpretation of Cromwell, I find myself very much looking forward to the concluding novel. Even though I know what happens in historical accounts, I want to know how Dunant will tell their story, and having to wait a couple more years to find out seems unfair! Lindy

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Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance Sarah Dunant now takes on the era's most infamous family: the Borgias. By the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched by its brutality and corruption, nowhere more than in Rome and in the Church. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: he is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic, consummate politician with a huge appetite for life, women and power must use papacy and family to succeed. His eldest son Cesare, a dazzlingly cold intelligence and an even colder soul, is his greatest - though increasingly unstable - weapon. Later immortalised in Machiavelli's The Prince, he provides the energy and the muscle. His daughter Lucrezia, beloved by both men, is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens, hers is a journey through three marriages: from childish innocence to painful experience, from pawn to political player. Stripping away the myths around the Borgias, Blood & Beauty is a majestic novel that breathes life into this astonishing family and celebrates the raw power of history itself: compelling, complex and relentless.

Me and Rory Macbeath

Richard Beasley

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Rose Avenue, Adelaide, 1977. A strange new kid and his family moves into the dilapidated rental house at the end of the street. Jake, who has lived there all the twelve years of his life, is not convinced he needs to make friends with Rory MacBeath, but Jake's best friend Robbie is more accepting. Rory is hard for Jake to work out – he knows certain things really well, like how to make a slingshot or catch a fish– but stuff that any normal kid would know how to do, like swim or play cricket, Rory has problems with. He also has problems with his father, a man so disappointed in life that he resorts to alcohol and violence; even when that's no longer a secret, no-one can help Mrs MacBeath, the main brunt of his vicious temper. Jake's mother (my favourite character in the novel – I wanted more of her!) is an unconventional woman, a chain-smoking, hard drinking, passionate criminal lawyer, and she certainly tries – and so does Rory, who seems to have no fear. This is a strong coming-of-age novel, and while it doesn't capture any of the particular flavour of Adelaide and could have been set in any Australian city, it does convey very well, that time in life when everything is on the cusp of change, and that certain helplessness associated with being unable to influence wider events. Lindy

Ashenden

Elizabeth Wilhide

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- A fine house, Ashenden is the centre of a number of interlinked stories. Starting in the present, when the newly inherited house is going to cost more money to repair than the siblings who inherit it have, the story goes back in time. Each chapter is a different period of time, from the elegant Georgian days when the house was constructed, through the 19th and 20th centuries with all their social upheavals and incremental changes, and follows the fluctuating fortunes of the various owners. I enjoyed this absorbing novel, and the ways the different characters were brought to life and how their stories were linked (some of the episodes were worthy of entire novels unto themselves!). Lindy

Verity Sparks, Lost and Found

Susan Green

$16.95 $15.25

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Verity, who we first met in the award winning The Truth About Verity Sparks, has been reunited with her father, and is living in St Kilda. It is 1879 and her Papa is very eager for 14yo Verity to be accepted into society, and thinks the best way for that to happen is that she attends Hightop House Academy for Young Ladies. While Verity has found a loving father who can provide for her, she has lost the thing that made her special – her gift for finding lost objects by merely thinking of them. When she learns about a missing heiress, Verity becomes fascinated by the case, but danger lurks as she becomes involved in the investigation. It isn’t necessary to have read the first book to read this one, but it will delight those young readers who enjoyed the first adventure of this plucky girl. ~ Lindy

It Wasn't Me

Oliver Jeffers

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I think any parent who has had to stop an argument between siblings will find this picture book wryly amusing! The Hueys (who starred in The New Jumper last year) almost always get along, but just sometimes they don’t. When Gillespie comes across some of his colleagues in loud disagreement, he tries to solve their argument – easier said than done. Of course, there is always one guaranteed way to break up a fight… Jeffers’ trademark drawings are deceptively simple but highly expressive, and this will delight the myriad of fans, young and old. ~ Lindy

Truly Tan: Jinxed!

Jen Storer

$16.99 $15.30

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Tan, the sassy young girl who is very good at spying and solving mysteries, has found another puzzle to solve. Her Dad has bought a tram called Miss Havisham, and put it in the backyard with a big sign warning all stickybeaks to stay away. Tan is convinced the tram is haunted, and then when strange things start happening she is told it is jinxed! Using all her special skills as a spy and detective, and with the help of her best friend Gloria, an amulet, her collection of special pens and occasionally, one of her sisters, Tan sets out to lift the curse. A lot of fun, great for girl readers 8-11. ~ Lindy

Bad Dog Flash

Ruth Paul

$15.99 $14.40

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Flash is full of life, and unwittingly, mischief – very typical for a young puppy! Cats, sticks, bones, shoes, washing on the line: there are lots of temptations even when you don’t mean to be naughty! Gently rendered illustrations and text that incorporates simple concepts and is delightfully playful to read out loud, this would be a fine book to share with the pre-schooler in your life. ~ Lindy

Park Lane

Frances Osborne

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Grace has moved to London in early 1914 to find a secretarial job to help support her family in grimy Carlisle, but the only job she can find is exactly the one her mother didn't bring her up to do - domestic service, at 35 Park Lane. It is an elegant home full of beautiful and costly things, including the daughter of the house, Beatrice, who has been jilted and is both angry and despairing. In her desire to break out of the restraints her family impose upon her, Beatrice secretly joins the suffragette movement, becoming embroiled in the increasingly violent demonstrations. Grace and Beatrice may be from opposite ends of the social spectrum, but they have a lot more in common than they know - including a man... A good solid read with interesting characters and settings and the first novel by the author of the bestselling The Bolter. Lindy

A World of Other People

Steven Carroll

$24.99

ABBEY'S CHOICE APRIL 2013 ----- Set mostly in 1941 in London, the main character is Iris - young and impetuously embracing life, as all her cohort are, in the face of threat and constant reminders of death, defying the thin-lipped 'others' who would condemn their behaviour. She has half-heartedly promised to marry an old friend, who is stationed somewhere overseas, and while she is very fond of him, is it love? She volunteers for fire-watching duties with someone she knows through her church – the poet T S Eliot – at his workplace, dreaming of the time her writing is submitted for publication. Together they witness something that seems like a dream, a bomber with a dove painted on its fuselage. Some time later, Iris meets an Australian airman, Jim, and in a short time comes to understand what love should be; but war and its effects will not be denied. After reading this, I had to reacquaint myself with Little Gidding which has a pivotal part in the plot. The style is slightly hectic when told through Iris' voice, but it works very well to convey the feeling of life rushing and threatened. Highly recommended - but I would also say, ignore the cover which has nothing to do with the story! Lindy

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Set in 1941 during the Blitz, the novel traces the love affair of Jim, an Australian pilot in Bomber Command, and Iris, a forthright Englishwoman finding her voice as a writer. The young couple, haunted by secrets and malign coincidence, struggles to build a future free of society's thin-lipped disapproval. The poet T S Eliot, with whom Iris shares firewatching duties, unwittingly seals their fate with his poem Little Gidding, one of the famous Four Quartets.

Steven Carroll is always interesting to listen to when he talks about his books. The same thoughtful, mesmeric quality that comes through in his writing, is also there in his speech. He spoke with Michael Cathcart in this ABC Books & Arts Daily interview about A World of Other People, and mentions that his character Iris was inspired by Iris Murdoch, as he had been reading Peter Conradi's biography, Iris Murdoch: a Life: The Authorized Biography. He also mentions the biography, The Imperfect Life of T S Eliot by Lyndall Gordon.

An Abbey's Great Reading Trail

A World of Other People by Steven Carroll

Iris Murdoch: a Life: The Authorized Biography by Peter J Conradi

In a small town on the land's edge, in the strange space at a war's end, a widow, a poet and a doctor each try to find their own peace, and their own new story. In Thirroul, in 1948, people chase their dreams through the books in the railway's library. Anikka Lachlan searches for solace after her life is destroyed by a single random act. Roy McKinnon, who found poetry in the mess of war, has lost his words and his hope. Frank McKinnon is trapped by the guilt of those his treatment and care failed on their first day of freedom. All three struggle with the same question: how now to be alive. Written in clear, shining prose and with an eloquent understanding of the human heart, The Railwayman's Wife explores the power of beginnings and endings, and how hard it can be sometimes to tell them apart. It's a story of life, loss and what comes after; of connection and separation, longing and acceptance. Most of all, it celebrates love in all its forms, and the beauty of discovering that loving someone can be as extraordinary as being loved yourself.

The Secret Lives of Men

Georgia Blain

$27.95 $25.15

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This collection of short stories examines the small moments of life that have a greater impact than first suspected. A couple take their daughter on a play date none of them wants to go to, with consequences beyond anticipation. A woman discovers something almost redemptive about the man who dreadfully scarred her, physically and emotionally. A man is faced with a morally difficult decision - to keep the new love he’s finally found, or destroy the one that’s kept him attached to life. Written in Blain’s trademark cool, almost detached, certainly non-judgmental style, this may not appeal to everyone, but the connoisseurs of restrained, observant and precise prose will appreciate these stories. Lindy

Petite Mort

Beatrice Hitchman

$27.99 $25.20

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- After she files a newspaper article about the rediscovery of a copy of an infamous silent film long thought destroyed, Juliette is contacted by the reclusive actress who starred in the film all those decades ago. Adele wants to finally tell her side of a scandalous story, one involving the brightest stars of pre-war French cinema, a lowly seamstress, affairs and murder. Switching backward and forward in time, can Juliette actually trust the story Adele is slowly revealing? Or is there something essential being deliberately concealed? A colourful tale of deception, as practiced in film and life… Lindy

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Scandal, intoxication and lies flourish in the silent film studios of Paris. A silent film, destroyed in a fire in 1913, before it was seen even by its director. A lowly seamstress, who makes the costumes she should be wearing, but believes her talent - and the secret she keeps too - will get her a dressing room of her own. A beautiful house in Paris, with a curving staircase, a lake, and locked rooms. A famous - and dashing - creator of spectacular cinematic illusions, husband to a beautiful, volatile actress, the most adored icon of the Parisian studios. All fit together, like scenes in a movie. And as you will see, this plot has a twist we beg you not to disclose...

She Rises

Kate Worsley

$27.99 $25.20

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Louise Fletcher is a dairymaid, but she has been unexpectedly offered the chance to work as a lady’s maid in a bustling port town. Her mother has always warned her against the sea, as it had stolen both her father, and her brother Luke, but the opportunity to see more of the world is irresistible, so Louise takes the position. Her new mistress is barely older in years but is certainly wiser to the ways of the world. An alternating narrative tells of Luke, press-ganged into His Majesty’s navy, and what he has to do to survive long enough to get back to the girl he loves. The dual narrative that tries to make this a clever novel didn’t work for me, but I found it a very interesting depiction of life in the mid-18th century and worth reading for that alone. Lindy

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It is 1740 and Louise Fletcher, a young dairymaid on an Essex farm, has been warned of the lure of the sea for as long as she can remember - after all, it stole away her father and brother. But when she is offered work in the bustling naval port of Harwich, as maid to a wealthy captain's daughter, she leaps at the chance to see more of the world. There she meets Rebecca, her haughty young mistress, who is unlike anyone Louise has encountered before: as unexpected as she is fascinating. 15-year old Luke is drinking in a Harwich tavern when it is raided by His Majesty's Navy. Unable to escape, Luke is beaten and press ganged and sent to sea on board the warship Essex. He must learn fast and choose his friends well if he is to survive the brutal hardships of a sailor's life and its many dangers, both up high in the rigging and in the dark below decks. Louise navigates her new life among the streets and crooked alleys of Harwich, where fine houses concealing smugglers' tunnels are flooded by the Spring tides, and love burns brightly in the shadows. And Luke, aching for the girl he left behind and determined to one day find his way back to her, embarks on a long and perilous journey across the ocean. The worlds they find are more dangerous and more exciting than they could ever have imagined, and when they collide the consequences are astonishing and irrevocable. A breathtakingly accomplished love story and a gripping search for identity and survival, She Rises is a bold, brilliant and utterly original novel.

Evan's Gallipoli

Kerry Greenwood

$15.99 $14.40

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Evan has been accompanying his father on his country business trips since he was young. Mr Warrender is rich enough not to have to travel, but since his wife died, he prefers to escape their fine home, peddling both his natural remedies and his faith. When he reads about the unfolding events in Gallipoli, he hatches a desire to go there and assist, taking Evan with him. Once there, Evan has to find great reserves of strength to deal with what is happening, and even more so when his father decided to parley with the Turks. Caught behind enemy lines, Evan must disguise and shepherd his increasingly erratic father back to safety on a route through Turkey and Greece, keeping more than one secret safe... Full of fine historical detail, and believable characterisations, this is pitched at teen readers, but will be enjoyed by the legion of Greenwood fans of all ages. Lindy

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The gripping story of an incredible journey behind enemy lines - told in diary form. Fourteen-year-old Evan Warrender travels with his father to the Dardenelles, where they intend to provide succour to the Allied soldiers. When they are captured by the Turks, they are launched into an epic journey, living on their wits and the kindness of strangers as they escape and travel through Turkey, back to Greece and finally home to Australia. Along the way they meet unlikely friends and companions, some of whom have deep secrets. And when Evan's own secret is revealed, we realise just how incredible the journey has truly been. Evan's fascinating survival story takes readers beyond the frontline and creates an all-encompassing account of this significant time in Australian military history. Impeccably researched, this is an eye-opening adventure story that cleverly explores both sides of the war.

My Brother Jack

George Johnston

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In this new collection of short stories, Saunders scratches away at the surface of worlds shot-through with confusion, illuminating figures lost in a labyrinth of troubling preoccupations. A family member recollects a backyard pole dressed for all occasions; Jeff faces horrifying ultimatums and the prospect of Darkenfloxx' in some unusual drug trials; Divisional Director Todd Birnie sends round a memo to employees he thinks need some inspiration; and in an auction of local celebrities Al Roosten hides his own internal monologue behind a winning smile that he hopes will make him popular. Although, as a young boy discovers, sometimes the voices fade and all you are left with is a frozen hill on a cold day in December... Laced with wry humour and stark sensitivity, Tenth of December is a masterly exploration of human experience, dazzling and disturbing in all its haunting eloquence.

Remembering Lionsville

Bronwyn Bancroft

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Bronwyn Bancroft is one of our most celebrated Indigenous illustrators, and this fine book tells the story of her family. In a settlement nestled in the north of NSW, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people lived and worked together, and this book vividly evokes a way of life that is mostly vanished now. Bancroft directly addresses the reader to follow her in her memories of the country and her grandparents, aunties and uncles. Her trademark flat and highly decorative bordered style is complemented with collages of family photographs. A beautiful celebration of family history and its importance. Lindy

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The Handbook for Gyfted Children

Lee Bacon

$16.95 $15.25

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is a rollicking good tongue-in-cheek read! Joshua has moved many times in his life, and changed his surname just as often, because his parents – kind, loving and concerned – are supervillains and intent on destroying the world. As you do! Their main nemesis is the super-shiny, highly marketed, Captain Justice; and it turns out the new girl at school, Sophie, who Joshua is attracted to, is his daughter. Even more inconveniently, Joshua’s body is starting to play tricks on him. It turns out he is Gyfted: Genetic Youth Fluctuation, Triggering Extraordinary Development – and his gyft? Spontaneous combustion – which comes in handy when his parents disappear and he, Sophie, and his best friend Milton have to outwit a lot of really bad guys! An enjoyable fast-paced read for ages 10-13. Lindy

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When your parents are supervillains, it's hard to have a normal life. In the past two days, Joshua's parents have tried to destroy the world, the houseplant has threatened to kill him and he's discovered something weird is happening to him. Super weird. Pencils explode in his hand. He leaves scorched butt marks on the carpet. And he can send bullies crashing into lockers. Turns out Joshua has a superpower. But he doesn't have to use it for evil, right?

Dance of Shadows

Yelena Black

$15.99 $14.40

Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly - and she must be very careful who she trusts ...Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school - the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances - she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames ...Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead - and the burning forces about to be unleashed ...

The One and Only Ivan

Katherine Applegate

$14.99 $13.50

Winner of the Newbery Medal 2013 Inspired by a true story, this is the beautifully written tale of how a mighty gorilla wins his freedom. A winning blend of humour and poignancy that will appeal to fans of Michael Morpurgo. Ivan is an easy-going gorilla who has spent his life performing for the crowds at the Exit 8 shopping mall. He rarely misses life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly thinks about it at all. But everything changes when a baby elephant called Ruby arrives and Ivan realises he must find a new life for them both. Told from Ivan's perspective this is a stand-out novel with a pertinent message for readers of 9+.

The Taste of Apple Seeds

Katharina Hagena

$27.99 $25.20

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Iris returns to the small northern German town that she grew up in, for her grandmother’s funeral. She learns that she is to inherit the family home, and not sure whether it’s a blessing or a curse, stays on while she decides what to do. Of course there are a lot of family stories attached to the surroundings, and this gentle novel unfolds the history of Iris and her relatives. As she lingers there, she makes the reacquaintance of people from her past, and perhaps of love… There are touches of magic realism – the stunningly beautiful aunt born during a violent storm, who can’t touch others without giving them electric shocks, the garden that reflects loss and happiness in flowering and fruiting appropriately, the house itself with its shadows and mysteries. A beautifully translated novel suffused with longing and acceptance, this has been a bestseller in Europe, and I can see why! Lindy

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For Iris, childhood memories are of long hot summers spent playing with her cousin Rosmarie in her grandmother's garden, a place where redcurrants turned to pale tears on the branches of trees and beautiful Aunt Inga shook sparks from the tips of her fingers. But now her grandmother is dead and, along with inheriting the property, Iris finds that she also inherits her family's darkest secrets. Reluctant to keep it, but reluctant to sell, Iris spends one more summer at the house. By day she swims at the local lake, where she rediscovers a childhood companion. Alone at night she roams through the familiar rooms, exploring the tall black shadows of the past. In the flicker between remembrance and forgetting, Iris recalls an enigmatic grandfather who went to war and came back a different man, the night her cousin Rosmarie fell through the conservatory roof and shattered her family's lives, and a moment of love that made all the trees in the orchard bloom over night.

Where Wine Flows Like Water

John McAneney

$19.95 $17.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Some people tramp the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago de Compostela for spiritual reasons, some for the challenge and the history, some because they have midlife crises, but this entertaining account (though all of the preceding reasons are valid enough for the writer) is just as much concerned with the food and wine of the region. Accompanied by a good friend, meeting up with others they know along the way, the pair eat and drink their way successfully across Spain! With recipes at the end of each chapter (which are obviously tried and tested, not mere lists of ingredients and method) the reader can feel part of the pilgrimage themselves, without the sore feet and irritations of fellow travellers… Lindy

Flight Behaviour

Barbara Kingsolver

$32.99 $29.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Dellarobia is a young mother so discontented with her poverty-stricken life on a failing farm in the Appalachian Mountains that she impulsively decides to have an affair. On her way to consummate it, she stumbles across something so impossible as to be a miracle. But is it? Or is it a sign of something more disturbing – a freak of nature that indicates how far out of whack the world really is? With the Christians of her community celebrating it as one, and visiting researchers treating it as the other, Dellarobia finds her life totally transformed. Thoughtful, powerful and quietly compulsive reading – highly recommended. Lindy

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Discontented with her life of poverty on a failing farm in the Eastern United States, Dellarobia, a young mother, impulsively seeks out an affair. Instead, on the Appalachian mountains above her home, she discovers something much more profoundly life-changing - a beautiful and terrible marvel of nature. As the world around her is suddenly transformed by a seeming miracle, can the old certainties they have lived by for centuries remain unchallenged? Flight Behaviour is a captivating, topical and deeply human story touching on class, poverty and climate change. It is Barbara Kingsolver's most accessible novel yet, and explores the truths we live by, and the complexities that lie behind them.

Bring Up the Bodies

Hilary Mantel

$32.99 $29.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Following on from Wolf Hall ($19.99), which won this same award in 2009, here is the next instalment in a planned trilogy. I recommended this unreservedly when it first came out in May, so it’s nice that the Man Booker judges agreed with me! All jokes aside, this novel is a worthy winner and a fabulous read. Thomas Cromwell is playing the dangerous game of managing Henry VIII’s capricious whims, navigating through the slippery politics of the court and pandering to Henry’s desire for Jane Seymour. After all, Anne Boleyn and her faction are no friends of Cromwell’s… Immediate, involving and brilliant writing! Lindy

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WINNER: THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2012. Bring Up the Bodies continues the vivid tale of the life of Thomas Cromwell and is the sequel to the Man Booker Prize 2009-winning Wolf Hall.

'My boy Thomas, give him a dirty look and he'll gouge your eye out. Trip him, and he'll cut off your leg,' says Walter Cromwell in the year 1500. 'But if you don't cut across him he's a very gentleman. And he'll stand anyone a drink.' By 1535 Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith's son, is far from his humble origins. Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife, for whose sake Henry has broken with Rome and created his own church.

But Henry's actions have forced England into dangerous isolation, and Anne has failed to do what she promised: bear a son to secure the Tudor line. When Henry visits Wolf Hall, Cromwell watches as Henry falls in love with the silent, plain Jane Seymour. The minister sees what is at stake: not just the king's pleasure, but the safety of the nation. As he eases a way through the sexual politics of the court, its miasma of gossip, he must negotiate a 'truth' that will satisfy Henry and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge undamaged from the bloody theatre of Anne's final days.

In Bring up the Bodies Mantel explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history: the destruction of Anne Boleyn. This new novel is a speaking picture, an audacious vision of Tudor England that sheds its light on the modern world. It is the work of one of our great writers at the height of her powers.

Lost Voices

Christopher Koch

$32.99 $29.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This richly rewarding novel is set in Hobart in the 1950s and the 1850s. Hugh Dixon has approached an estranged uncle, Walter, to avert his father’s disgrace. Impressed by Hugh, Walter encourages him in his desire to be an artist, and instructs him in the family history. Walter's father Martin participated in a notorious bushranger's Utopian settlement. Parallels exist: history repeats. This is a multi-layered book with a slowly unfolding, beautifully textured, style. It will be on all the literary award lists – read it before it wins! Lindy

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Twice winner of the Miles Franklin Award, Christopher Koch returns with a remarkable novel of gripping narrative power. Young Hugh Dixon believes he can save his father from ruin if he asks his estranged great-uncle Walter - a wealthy lawyer who lives alone in a Tasmanian farmhouse passed down through the family - for help. As he is drawn into Walter's rarefied world, Hugh discovers that both his uncle and the farmhouse are linked to a notorious episode in the mid-19th century. Walter's father, Martin, was living in the house when it was raided by members of an outlaw community run by Lucas Wilson, a charismatic ex-soldier attempting to build a utopia. But like later societies with communitarian ideals, Nowhere Valley was controlled by the gun, with Wilson as benevolent dictator. 20-year-old Martin's sojourn in the Valley as Wilson's disciple has become an obsession with Walter Dixon: one which haunts his present and keeps the past tantalisingly close. As Walter encourages Hugh's ambition to become an artist, and again comes to his aid when one of Hugh's friends is charged with murder, the way life's patterns repeat themselves from one generation to another becomes eerily apparent. Dramatic, insightful and evocative, this is an intriguing double narrative that confirms Koch as one of our most significant and compelling novelists.

John Saturnall's Feast

Lawrence Norfolk

$32.99 $29.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is my favourite historical novel of the year, along with Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies. It is 17th century England and John has the extraordinary ability to determine ingredients in any dish. When he and his mother, the village wise woman, are driven out by religious bigots, he gains refuge after her death in Buckland Manor. His talents see him rise from scullery boy to head cook, but he is driven by the need to fulfil his mother’s vision and create a Grand Feast, no matter how many years it takes… His recipes (for which Heston Blumenthal was consulted!) are interspersed throughout the book. A story of love and redemption, and a colourful recreation of the times, this is a fine feast for any reader of delicious prose! Lindy

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From the bestselling author of Lempriere's Dictionary, Lawrence Norfolk is back with an astounding novel of seventeeth-century life, love and war; the story of an orphan who becomes the greatest cook of his age. The village of Buckland, 1625. A boy and his mother run for their lives. Behind them a mob chants of witchcraft. Taking refuge among the trees of Buccla's Wood, the mother opens her book and tells her son of an ancient Feast kept in secret down the generations. But as exquisite dishes rise from the page, the ground beneath them freezes. That winter, the boy's mother dies. Taken to Buckland Manor, John is put to work in the house's vast subterranean kitchens where his talent raises him from the scullery to the great house above. A complex dish served to King Charles brings him before Lady Lucretia Fremantle, the headstrong daughter of the house. He must tempt her from her fast. But both encounters will imperil him. As the Civil War begins and the New Order's fanatical soldiers march, John and Lucretia are thrown together into a passionate struggle for survival. To keep all he holds most dear, John must realise his mother's vision. He must serve the Saturnall Feast.

Behind the Sun

Deborah Challinor

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Four women are transported to Sydney in 1829. Friday, a whore with a temperament to match her copper hair; Sarah, a mistrustful, talented jeweller and pickpocket; kind-hearted Harrie, who made one dreadful mistake; and Rachel, beautiful, naïve and wronged. This unlikely quartet bond in Newgate Prison and on the convict ship, but once in Sydney they will be separated. I really enjoyed this, as much for the deep historical research as for the characters, and it was satisfying to learn there will be a sequel… Lindy

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Irreverent and streetwise prostitute, Friday Woolfe, is in London's notorious Newgate gaol, awaiting transportation. There, she meets three other girls: intelligent and opportunistic thief, Sarah Morgan, naive young Rachel Winter, and reliable and capable seamstress, Harriet Clarke. On the voyage to New South Wales their friendship becomes an unbreakable bond -- but there are others on board who will change their lives forever. Friday makes an implacable enemy of Bella Jackson, a vicious woman whose power seems undiminished by her arrest and transportation, while Harriet is taken under the wing of an idealistic doctor, James Downey. Rachel catches the eye of a sinister passenger with more than honour on his mind, whose brutal assault leaves her life hanging in the balance. When they finally arrive on the other side of the world, they are confined to the grim and overcrowded Parramatta Female Factory. But worse is to come as the threat of separation looms. In the land behind the sun, the only thing they have is each other ...

The Girl from Snowy River

Jackie French

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Set in a community devastated by the influenza epidemic and the losses of WWI. Flinty McAlpine disguises herself as a boy to earn money on the brumby muster headed by Clancy of the Overflow. Seeing a colt’s potential, she buys him; it will be the catalyst for her future as well. A stirring historical novel from one of our best writers for young readers. Lindy

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Flinty McAlpine is 16 and, while WW1 ended almost a year ago, it still resonates for Flinty and her family, who lost so much. Years of war and drought have left the district in chaos and local families are doing their best to rebuild lives and land. With both parents dead, Flinty is bringing up her younger siblings, as her brother Andy has 'gone with cattle' to Queensland. Money is tight, but as the best rider in the family, Flinty seizes the opportunity to make a quick 100 quid. Disguised as a boy, she talks her way into a brumby muster headed up by the legendary Clancy of the Overflow. Among the herd there is an unbroken colt that Flinty buys as she can see his enormous potential. But for a young girl, there is still so much of life to be lived and while she has hints of her future, she never imagines what life can really hold for her. The second title in The Matilda Saga, this book is a love song to the beautiful Snowy Mountains and a tribute to Australia's poets, who immortalised so much of our land.

Robin Hood

David Calcutt , Grahame Baker-Smith

$17.99 $16.20

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Robin Hood, champion of the downtrodden and destitute, is a hero for all times, and this lavishly illustrated volume introduces his daring feats and his band of Merry Men to a new generation of readers. From how Robin became an outlaw to his last battle, this graceful retelling is enhanced by finely rendered illustrations from Greenaway Prize-winner Baker-Smith. Ages 8-12 Lindy

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The champion of the destitute and downtrodden rides again. Meet young Robin Hood before he becomes the hero of Sherwood Forest, and follow along with his band of merry men as his adventures become the stuff of legend. This lavishly illustrated picture book makes a wonderful gift title to complement Arthur of Albion and The Arabian Nights, and features nine tales including: Robin Becomes an Outlaw, Robin Meets Little John, Robin and the Widow, and Robin's Last Battle.

Also available in hardback

Alexander the Great

Jamila Gavin

$32.95 $29.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- There’s a great exhibition at the Australian Museum in November (2012) on Alexander the Great and this is the perfect book to accompany it! It tells of Alexander’s exciting life and achievements, and interleaves the biographical and historical details with myths and legends that resonated for Alexander himself. It also relates stories that sprang up in his wake as he conquered a fair chunk of his world. A bold and stirring story, enhanced by decorated pages and energetic illustrations. Lindy

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Who was Alexander? Myth or man? God or devil? He claimed to be the son of Zeus, and even in his own lifetime wild legends sprang up about him. Above all, he was a hero - brave, wily, handsome and inspiring. This richly illustrated biography skilfully interweaves accounts of his battle campaigns with legends from each newly conquered country. From Greece and Egypt to Persia and India, the stories of the great mythical heroes of Achilles, Gilgamesh and more provide revealing echoes to Alexander's own charmed life.

Monsieur Albert Rides to Glory

Peter Smith , Bob Graham

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK -----

Albert decides that even if he is 60, he will compete in the bike race from Paris to Nice. After all, he’s fit and has a good bike, so why not? Although not the fastest cyclist, with perseverance and a bit of bonne chance, Albert does ride to glory! Told in rhyme which reads out loud beautifully, and with delightfully witty illustrations provided by Bob Graham (look out for his ever-charming trademark vignettes), this is a book made to share. Lindy

ABBEY'S READER REVIEW -----

"Dear Abbey's,
I collected the copy of Monsieur Albert Rides to Glory this morning and was lucky enough to be able to get it signed by the author. It is a brilliant book. Brilliantly written - warm-hearted, exciting and witty, brimming with insight into character, glorious in its whimsy and sense of adventure, and inspiring in its celebration of bicycles and of the pleasure of being alive, no matter how old you are. And on top of that the language is a joy to read - great humour and fun in the superbly crafted rhythm and rhyme.

Please pass on my grateful thanks to Peter Smith and to Bob Graham too, as the illustrator, for his special skills. Every page is a delight. Looking forward to the next one!

Cheers, Alison"

And if the author below looks familiar to some of our readers, that is because Peter can often be found at Abbey's where he works as one of our booksellers. So all of Abbey's is giving Peter a hearty "Salut Peter!" and we do hope that you will soon be reading the tale of Monsieur Albert with your young ones and be marvelling at the beautiful lines of Bob Graham's illustrations.

Latin for Gardeners

Lorraine Harrison

$35.00 $31.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is both a beautiful book, and a useful one, and both the gardener and the Latin scholar will enjoy it. Arranged alphabetically, each entry notes masculine (and where applicable, feminine and neutral) versions, pronunciation guide, meaning and example. There are plenty of colourful historic botanical illustrations, ‘Latin in action’ breakout boxes, plant profiles and themes, and stories of plant hunters. A splendid gift! Lindy

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This is an informative, entertaining and beautifully illustrated unravelling of the mysteries of botanical Latin. Over 3,000 Latin names are listed alphabetically, showing how botanical Latin can reveal where a plant originally comes from (and thus its preferred growing conditions), along with such properties as its shape, form, colour, taste and smell. Each name is clearly defined and accompanied by a pronunciation guide, and the pages are filled with attractive botanical illustrations. Fascinating feature spreads retell the adventures of important plant hunters such as Sir Joseph Banks and Alexander von Humboldt, explaining how their discoveries affect the way our gardens look today. Individual plants are also profiled throughout, showing how their names can illuminate their hidden histories. Aided by this book, every gardener, and their garden, will benefit from uncovering the wealth of information that lies within the remarkable world of Latin binomials.

The Silver Brumby Centenary Edition

Elyne Mitchell

$32.99 $29.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I adored the Silver Brumby books as a youngster and this very fine edition contains the original four stories (Silver Brumby / Silver Brumby’s Daughter / Silver Brumbies of the South / Silver Brumby Kingdom), as well as a biography of the author, who was born in 1913. Set in the Australian Alps, they concern Thowra, the magnificent stallion, and his struggles to remain free and wild. Full of glorious descriptions of the country and its animals, with a strong environmental message, these are timeless tales. Lindy

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To many people the name Elyne Mitchell is synonymous with The Silver Brumby, the timeless classic that has captivated the hearts and imaginations of young readers since it was first published in 1958. This special edition has been published to commemorate the centenary of Elyne Mitchell's birth and contains The Silver Brumby and three other favourite Brumby books, Silver Brumby's Daughter, Silver Brumbies of the South and Silver Brumby Kingdom. These much-loved classics tell the story of Thowra, the magnificent silver stallion, king of the brumbies. Whether you are enjoying the Silver Brumby series for the first time or rediscovering it after many years, this is a book to be treasured. Also included in this beautiful edition is a specially commissioned biography of Elyne Mitchell, who was born in 1913 and went on to become one of Australia's most successful and popular authors. The biography also contains photographs that depict Elyne in many other areas of her long and distinguished life, including that of daughter, wife, mother, sportswoman, horsewoman, farmer and environmentalist.

A biography, Elyne Mitchell: A Daughter Remembers by Honor Auchinleck is also available.

See also On the Trail of the Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell, the best of her non-fiction writing about her beloved high country.

On the Trail of the Silver Brumby

Elyne Mitchell

$49.99 $45.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is one of the most gorgeous books you’ll see this year! There are archival images and glorious photographs of the high country taken by Mitchell’s grandson, James Auchinleck, to complement a fine selection of her non-fiction writings. Mitchell was a committed conservationist, champion skier and knew the Australian Alps like few others could. Best known for her Silver Brumby books, this shows another side to a remarkable writer. Lindy

$12.99 $11.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK -------- This book has won its debut author a number of awards in America, and it is a worthy winner. Cullen Witter is in his final year of high school. His small hometown Lily, Arkansas, is dull and ordinary and like many a teenager he wants more. While he's academically gifted, his younger brother Gabriel is not only intelligent, but open-hearted, content and believes nothing evil about others. Which makes his sudden disappeareance all the more inexplicable. As the Witter family deals with the uncertainty of his fate, the town fills up with birdwatchers chasing the sighting of the Lazarus Woodpecker, a bird thought extinct for decades. Weaving in and out of this storyline is the search of a young college student for the destiny of humankind, an obsession that grows out of an apocryphal book of the Ethiopan Orthodox bible. This is a great read, the characters and their struggles are both real and believable, and the clever narrative line keeps the reader intrigued. One of those young adult novels with wider appeal. Lindy

Puzzles and Words

David Astle

$14.99 $13.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- The devilish ‘DA’ (no, I can’t always get the Friday crossword out!) presents more than 170 original brain teasers (torments?) and 200 word stories. A fiendish mixture of quirky dictionary and puzzle book, with anagrams, riddles, rhymes and challenges, this will keep any word nerd or frazzled puzzler occupied for hours (or in my case, days…) Lindy

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Word nerds and puzzle nuts welcome - this is a book to keep your mind tickled. With over 170 original brain teasers and 200 word stories, this has something for all ages. From agenda to zumba, this collection tells you how words came to be. Puzzles such as anagram challenges, riddles, rhymes and brain teasers will keep you amused for hours. A quirky dictionary and puzzle book in one pocket-sized volume.

Topsy Turvy World: How Australian Animals Puzzled Early Explorers

Kirsty Murray

$29.95 $26.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- The first Europeans in Australia were mightily puzzled by the weird animals they found here: the water creature with a duck’s bill at one end and a beaver’s tail at the other; the greyhound hopping on its back legs; the bird that brayed like a donkey. Trying to make sense of such oddities by comparing them to more familiar animals led to any number of misunderstandings! This colourful and lively book presents 15 animals and is full of fascinating stories and facts. Perfect for the young naturalist in your life! Lindy

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To the first Europeans who came to Australia, everything seemed topsy turvy. Christmas was in the summer and trees shed their bark but not their leaves. And the animals were bizarre. There was a bird that laughed like a donkey and a type of greyhound that bound along on its hind legs like a hare. There was an animal in Tasmania whose nocturnal screeches sounded like the devil and a river creature that had a ducks bill at one end and a beavers tail at the other. The Europeans had never seen anything like these animals before and gave them names similar to those of the European creatures they already knew. They drew and painted odd pictures of them, showing they did not understand the animals habits. In one illustration, a wombat is standing on its back legs and in another a Tasmanian tiger is wrestling with a platypus of the same size.

100 Stories from the Australian National Maritime Museum

Australian National Maritime Museum

$39.95 $35.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- There are thousands of stories contained within our National Maritime Museum and many of the best are included in this superb book. Divided into sections such as First Mariners, Explorers & Settlers, Migrants & Refugees, Sail & Steam, Sport & Play, each chapter presents various objects and their attached history. Clean, crisp layout, full-colour photos and fascinating information makes this a special gift for anyone interested in our history, maritime or not! Lindy

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From a small silver medallion beautifully engraved by a First Fleet convict to the 119-metre Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Vampire, in 20 years the Australian National Maritime Museum has built an incredibly diverse collection of more than 130,000 items. Here the museum's curators reveal the fascinating stories behind many amazing objects, including the kit of a 19th-century ship's surgeon, the fastest vessel in the world (Spirit of Australia), a boat made from 2,000 beer cans, the remarkable Saltwater Collection of bark paintings from Arnhem Land, and surfboards inspired by the Bra Boys and the 2005 Cronulla race riots. The objects tell of unforgettable people, both famous and lesser known, whose lives were shaped by the sea. Their stories are part of our history and live on in our culture today.

When God Was a Rabbit

Sarah Winman

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- One of the very best contemporary novels you'll read. A wonderful novel about what constitutes family - love - friendship. Often funny, sometimes deeply sad but always beautifully done. Lindy

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This is a book about a brother and a sister. It's a book about secrets and starting over, friendship and family, triumph and tragedy, and everything in between. More than anything, it's a book about love in all its forms. In a remarkably honest and confident voice, Sarah Winman has written the story of a memorable young heroine, Elly, and her loss of innocence-a magical portrait of growing up and the pull and power of family ties. From Essex and Cornwall to the streets of New York, from 1968 to the events of 9/11, When God Was a Rabbit follows the evolving bond of love and secrets between Elly and her brother Joe, and her increasing concern for an unusual best friend, Jenny Penny, who has secrets of her own. With its wit and humor, engaging characters whose eccentricities are adroitly and sometimes darkly drawn, and its themes of memory and identity, When God Was a Rabbit is a love letter to true friendship and fraternal love. Funny, utterly compelling, fully of sparkle, and poignant, too, When God Was a Rabbit heralds the start of a remarkable new literary career.

Alice Springs

Eleanor Hogan

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I'm a real fan of this series of 'City' books, all of which so far have been about our capital cities. This new title is a welcome addition! As with the others, it is written by someone who has lived and worked there for many years, and it is organised as an unfolding of a year. The author has a background in Indigenous policy and research, and has insights into that fraught area, without condescension or naïve enthusiasm. Her matter-of-fact, clear-eyed relation of some of the problems faced by the Indigenous population is careful, and caring; but this is not a book concerned wholly with those difficulties. It is also a finely written book that celebrates the landscapes and the natural beauties of the area, considers the non-Indigenous cultures of the town, and is an affectionate tribute to a place that gets under your skin. Highly recommended. Lindy

Underwater Dogs is award-winning pet photographer Seth Casteel's exploration of the world of man's best friend. Whether they are swimming, diving, fetching or exploring below the water's surface, Seth's remarkable ability to interact with his subjects has allowed him to create a wealth of extraordinary images. With over 80 photographs of dogs of every size, shape and breed in a variety of moods - silly, focussed, surprised, primal - this is a truly unique depiction of our canine companions.

101 Best Australian Beaches

Andy Short , Brad Farmer

$39.99 $36.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- One of the things I loved about this book is it doesn’t include my favourite beach! But if you’re looking for ideas, or confirmation that your best beach is included, then you will have other reasons to love this glorious book. It has something for everyone, from locality to best beaches for shells, waves, geological features and more. Complementing the fascinating text are photographs that will make you want to go, and go now - or just make you breathe deeply and relax… Lindy

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Which Australian beach is made entirely of shells, millions of them, several metres deep? Which beach has the biggest waves? Where is the world's biggest sand dune? Where do loggerhead turtles come to lay their eggs? And why does Australia have the best beaches on the planet? This book answers all those questions and more. Between them, authors Andy Short and Brad Farmer have visited every one of Australia's 11,761 mainland beaches, making them uniquely qualified to tell us which ones we have to see before we die. This superbly illustrated and thoroughly researched book will make you want to start the journey right now.

Australian Backyard Naturalist

Peter MacInnis

$29.95 $26.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Lots of things live in even the smallest, most urban, backyard and this book enthusiastically reveals what you can find if you just go out and look! Plenty of illustrations and photographs to complement the information about everything from the tiniest and slimiest, to the cutest and furriest! With projects for all ages, this lively and entertaining book also contains anecdotes and history. A fine companion to Australian Backyard Astronomy and Australian Backyard Explorer. Lindy

The New Jumper

Oliver Jeffers

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Rupert knits himself a nice new colourful jumper. Which shouldn't be so extraordinary, except that he is a Huey, and Hueys all look the same, dress the same, think the same - and what will happen if one of them does something different? And what happens if everyone does the same different thing as well? Jeffers does charming and slightly skewed books, and his deceptively simple illustrative style can sometimes hide decidedly sophisticated concepts. Lindy

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos

$14.95 $13.45

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- It is 1962 and Jack is looking forward to the summer holidays in his quiet and dwindling home town. However, after an unintended incident involving his father's souvenired Japanese rifle and the local drive-in showing a war movie, Jack is grounded for the duration. He is allowed out only to help old Miss Volker across the road write her history columns and obituaries for the town newspaper. Norvelt, a co-operative town set up by Eleanor Roosevelt, is suddenly witnessing the deaths of its last remaining original residents and soon Miss Volker may be the only one left. Apart from the officious and unlikeable Mr Spizz… A charming, funny and delightful book, winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal. Lindy

Red

Libby Gleeson

$15.99 $14.40

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- After a cyclone devastates Sydney, a young girl comes to. She has absolutely no idea who she is, where she is or what happened. Found by a streetwise boy who names her Red after her T-shirt she struggles to make sense of her surroundings as strange pieces of what might be her past surface through her amnesia. What seems to be a pendant around her neck turns out to be a memory stick and a message from her father - trust no-one, get this to Melbourne. With the help of Peri and a re-discovered, but unremembered, friend, Red sets off to deliver information that is vital to a commission into police corruption. Combines mystery with a road story. Lindy

Animal People

Charlotte Wood

$23.99 $21.60

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Stephen is not an animal person. He's allergic to them. Nor can he understand how people treat animals better than humans. In fact, on this one stifling summer's day, Stephen can't understand anything about the world, or even himself. Why does he want to escape the one woman who truly loves him and who accepts him unquestioningly? I loved this novel - its cutting and incisive look at contemporary city life, its flawed and believable characters, and its clear-eyed prose. Lindy

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Charlotte Wood takes a character from her bestselling book The Children and turns her unflinching gaze on him and his world in Animal People. Set in Sydney over a single day, Animal People traces a watershed day in the life of Stephen, aimless, unhappy, unfulfilled - and without a clue as to how to make his life better. His dead-end job, his demanding family, his oppressive feelings for Fiona and the pitiless city itself...the great weight of it all threatens to come crashing down on him. The day will bring untold surprises and disasters, but will also show him - perhaps too late - that only love can set him free. Sharply observed, hilarious, tender and heartbreaking, Animal People is a portrait of urban life, a meditation on the conflicted nature of human-animal relationships, and a masterpiece of storytelling.

The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Jonas Jonasson

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is one of my favourite books of the year – and as it has sold millions in Europe, I’m not alone! It also shows that Swedish writers aren’t all focused on dreadfully dark and ugly crime that will give you nightmares!

Allan Karlsson doesn’t want to be 100 and he hates the Director of the nursing home he lives in who treats the residents like stupid children and he certainly doesn’t want to have a birthday party - especially if there isn’t going to be any vodka! So he escapes from the home, absconds with a suitcase from a fellow traveller at the local bus station and embarks on an adventure. But as we find out, Allan has had plenty of adventures in his century of living; he lives by the motto 'que sera, sera', so is never really surprised at what happens. This combined with his expertise in explosives and his extraordinary ability to meet the most interesting people of the 20th century have contributed to a remarkable life - and even at 100 there is plenty more to do. Funny, ebullient, immensely diverting – a truly charming and joyful read! Lindy

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Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, Allan Karlsson is waiting for a party he doesn't want to begin. His one-hundredth birthday party to be precise. The Mayor will be there. The press will be there. But, as it turns out, Allan will not ...Escaping (in his slippers) through his bedroom window, into the flowerbed, Allan makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving a suitcase full of cash, a few thugs, a very friendly hot-dog stand operator, a few deaths, an elephant and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, Allan's earlier life is revealed. A life in which - remarkably - he played a key role behind the scenes in some of the momentous events of the twentieth century. This is a charming, warm and funny novel, beautifully woven with history and politics.

Limoncello and Linen Water

Tessa Kiros

$59.99 $54.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Tessa is well known for her gorgeous, evocative cookbooks and this does not disappoint. Paying homage to her Italian mother-in-law, it is redolent of family gatherings around the table. Full of superb photographs, the true beauty of this book is that the recipes are for food you not only want to eat, but can also cook quite easily! Lindy

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Much-loved author Tessa Kiros celebrates the heritage of Italy, the country she has chosen to call home, in Limoncello and Linen Water. This whimsically feminine book is a tribute to the women in our lives - mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers - and the important lessons we learn from them. With accessible, delicious recipes ranging from robust family dishes to quirky cakes and old-fashioned preserves, this book is a precious heirloom to treasure.

The Potter's Hand

A. N. Wilson

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Josiah Wedgwood is synonymous with fine quality pottery, and this absorbing novel tells the story of his genius. It also tells of the sweep of the Industrial Revolution through Wedgwood's efforts, and those of his circle - people like Erasmus Darwin and the Wollstonecrafts - but through the device of Josiah's nephew Tom, also tells the story of the American Revolution. There is also the story of a Cherokee woman, who has her own genius for clay, and these disparate stories are all moulded into one. This is a great big sweeping novel, full of colour and richness and a wonderful sense for the feeling of the times. It is the story of a real family, and the outlines of the story are true, so sometimes you have to remind yourself you are reading fiction! Recommended highly. Lindy

Zombie Tits, Astronaut Fish and Other Weird Animals

Rebecca Crew

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This vastly entertaining book introduces the reader to some rather amazing denizens of the animal kingdom: critters like frogs with gender-specific language, lizards that squirt poisonous blood from their eyes, the loudest insects in the world (and you’ll never guess what they use...) It contains facts and serious science, but also on the side, sassy light-hearted ruminations anthropomorphising the creatures – a blend of humour and research which is energetic and enjoyable. Lindy

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Did you know that the peacock mantis shrimp has the most powerful punch on Earth? That vampire spiders are attracted to your smelly socks? That the lesser water boatman is the loudest animal in the world? Or that concave-eared frogs have a secret language that only males can hear? From the mother-eating, black-lace weaver spiders to Texas horned lizards that can shoot jets of poisonous blood from their eyes, this book from fearless science blogger Becky Crew introduces you to a menagerie of the world's weirdest animals.

Birds of Prey of Australia: A Field Guide

Stephen J.S. Debus

$39.95 $35.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is a completely revised and updated field guide of a classic first published fifteen years ago, and so draws on a lot of new data. It has been reformatted, so that it is a comprehensive guide to the diurnal raptors, and contains a brief overview of the biology and the threats, conservation and future of Australian raptors. Illustrated by Jeff Davies, the plates show adult, juvenile and dimorphic differences in plumage, as well as drawings of the flight pattern (often as fellow birders know, the only way of seeing the birds!) and distribution maps. There are also illustrations of difficult species pairs so you can see the difference between an adult brown goshawk and a collared sparrowhawk for instance. Photographs are also included in a separate section, drawn from some of our best bird photographers. Overall, a very valuable book equally useful in the field, or as a reference. Lindy

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This book is an illustrated field guide to diurnal raptors, a bird group that many people find among the most difficult birds to identify. Raptors are popular and iconic birds, and important ecologically as well as in legislation, with some species listed as threatened. Birds of Prey of Australia will enable people to more easily identify them. It also provides a brief overview of the biology of raptors and an indication of the current state of knowledge on them. The book has been completely revised and updated, with 15 years of new data, a section on difficult species-pairs (split-images providing direct contrast), and rearranged in modern field-guide format, making it easy to use and enabling rapid identification of 'difficult' raptors. Birds of Prey of Australia will appeal to a wide range of readers, including ornithologists, raptor biologists, birdwatchers, wildlife rescuers/carers, raptor rehabilitators, zookeepers, naturalists, bushwalkers, ecological consultants, fauna authorities, park rangers, state forestry personnel, and students.

Foal's Bread

Gillian Mears

$22.99 $20.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK -----

Northern NSW in the Depression is no place for soft dreamers. Noah is tough and independent with a talent for highjumping horses. She catches the eye, then the heart, of Rowley Nancarrow, the Australian champion highjumper. Their marriage is full of inarticulate love and ambition, but when Rowley survives his third lightning strike with permanent and accumulating loss of physical control, he and Noah face insurmountable difficulties. A powerful, remarkable, hauntingly beautiful novel, with pitch-perfect writing. My pick of the year (2011). Lindy

The sound of horses' hooves turns hollow on the farms west of Wirri. If a man can still ride, if he hasn't totally lost the use of his legs, if he hasn't died to the part of his heart that understands such things, then he should go for a gallop. At the very least he should stand at the road by the river imagining that he's pushing a horse up the steep hill that leads to the house on the farm once known as One Tree. 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.

The Orchardist

Amanda Coplin

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Early in the 20th century in an isolated corner of the Pacific Northwest, a fruit grower finds his solitude disturbed by two young - and pregnant - runaway girls. Gradually he wins their trust, but their tenuous peace is shattered and tragedy strikes. Already scarred by the disappearance of his only sister many years before, the farmer must disrupt the order of his life to heal and make amends. A lyrical and assured novel of great depth. Lindy

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At the turn of the 20th century in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a solitary orchardist, Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. A gentle man, he has found solace in the sweetness of the fruit he grows and the quiet, beating heart of the land he cultivates.

One day, two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit from the market, later returning to the outskirts of his orchard to see the man who gave them no chase. Feral, scared and very pregnant, the girls take up on Talmadge's land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Just as the girls begin to trust him, men arrive in the orchard with guns and the shattering tragedy that follows sets Talmadge on an irrevocable course to save and protect, and also to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.

Transcribing America as it once was before railways and roads connected its corners, Coplin has woven a tapestry of secluded people who come together in the wake of unspeakable cruelty and misfortune. She writes with breathtaking precision and empathy and has crafted an astonishing debut novel about a man who disrupts the lonely harmony of an ordered life when he opens his heart and lets the world in.

Alif the Unseen

G. Willow Wilson

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- There are some novels where a bald explanation of the plot does no justice to the story, and I think this may well be one of them. Which is a shame, as this has definitely been one of my favourites this year! Set in an unnamed, but obviously Arabic, country, sometime about now, the main character (in more senses of the word than his name) is Alif. He is a hacker extraordinaire, a mercenary of the cyberworld who will work for anyone who pays him. He has no particular political affiliations except the nameless one to see the rulers of his country disappear. In the course of his work he has come into contact with a girl out of his social league, and they had embarked on a dangerous liaison - one she breaks off when her father arranges for her to marry an older, wealthier man - but not before sending Alif an ancient book. Broken-hearted, Alif begins to not only delete every trace of her from his computer, but to write a programme which will identify the merest trace of her identity in cyberspace, and delete any communications from her as well. But in doing that, he formulates a new sort of logic - one that is encoded in the ancient book. This, The Thousand and One Days, turns out to be a book of knowledge belonging to the other world - that which is populated by Jinn - and in turn it leads Alif into contact with powers just as dangerous as the corrupt regime of his homeland… This weaves strands of new and old, timeless and original, everyday and metaphysical into a truly enchanting, magical-carpet sort of story. Highly recommended! Lindy

Rural Australian Homes

Leta Keens , Simon Griffiths

$89.99 $45.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I’m the first to admit my idea of interior decoration is a wall full of books, but this splendid production had me turning the pages in rapt attention and dreaming of finding somewhere as special as the homes featured. And they are homes, not sterile and uncomfortable showcases, although some are certainly excellent examples of the architect’s vision. From an artist’s studio to a sheep station, a shed-by-any-other-name to a house of connected pavilions, these rural residences all invoke a beautiful way of living. Lindy

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Most Australians live in cities, clinging to the coast and looking outwards towards the ocean. Yet almost all of us feel closely connected to the country, even if we hardly ever visit it. Many of us dream of moving to rural areas - there's a harshness to much of the Australian landscape and yet we still feel a sense of romance about it. For Rural Australian Homes, Leta Keens travelled around Australia to find the 18 homes featured in the book - a wide-ranging and appealing selection that includes a sheep station that has been in the same family for 100 years, a converted general store, an adapted shed, and award-winning architect-designed contemporary houses. Covering every state and the Northern Territory, Rural Australian Homes gives a compelling insight into contemporary life in rural Australia, and offers a glimpse into some of the history that has defined it.

Food Lover's Guide to the World

$49.99 $45.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Travelling the world is a wonderful idea, but journeying through its cuisines? Even better! Culinary regions, cities and countries are featured, and there are usable basic recipes scattered throughout to give you a taste for the regional specialties. This fabulous book is good enough to eat: the irresistible photographs will have you salivating and booking your next trip! Lindy

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The world is your oyster. Or hot dog. Or camembert. When we travel, it is often love at first bite. This book presents a lifetime of eating experiences that will lead you from one end of the globe to the other. Take your taste buds on a tour around the world and cook up you next great culinary adventure. Includes introductions by Mark Bittman and James Oseland, celebrity food-lover contributions, best places to find local dishes in cities great and small, cultural tips and how-to-eat etiquette, plus more than 50 recipes to cook back home.

City

James Roy

$19.95 $17.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Like his best-selling and awarded Town this is a series of interconnecting and tangential stories. A minor character in one story may take centre stage in another, later tale; or may never be seen again: but that's life in the big city. Connections are tenuous, but place links all the characters. From the young man writing to allay his mother's fears, to the shadowy graffiti artist; from the girl who knows her African music, to the one mistaken for a credible street performer; the young lads in the red-light district for a night of looking, or the pregnant student writing about vultures, this is a swirling collection. Older readers 14+ Lindy

Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor

Jacqueline Harvey

$12.95 $11.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Harvey is best known for her Alice-Miranda series, and this (the first of a new series) is aimed at younger readers aged 6-8. Clementine-Rose lives in a big house with a kind guardian, Lady Clarissa, who needs to run the house as an upmarket hotel to pay for the upkeep. Clemmie is sweet-natured, but does tend to get into trouble without trying, so when the imperious Aunt Violet arrives, things will not go to plan. A nice read for the youngsters, nothing too scary or challenging. Lindy

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Clementine Rose was delivered not in the usual way, at a hospital, but in the back of a mini-van, in a basket of dinner rolls. So begins the story of a lovely little girl who lives in Penberthy Floss in a large ramshackle house with her mother, Lady Clarissa, Digby Pertwhistle the butler and a very sweet teacup pig called Lavender. When her scary Aunt Violet arrives unexpectedly, the household is thrown into disarray. What is it that Aunt Violet really wants and what is she carrying in her mysterious black bag?

Peggy

Anna Walker

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Peggy the chook has a nice quiet routine life. She's happy doing the same thing everyday (including watching the pigeons) so when a big gust of wind blows her away from her suburban street into the Big City, Peggy is quite confused. Still, she gets to experience all sorts of new things, and a lot of them are enjoyable; but she does want to go home. Eventually she does, with the help of the pigeons... A charming little tale, with softly expressive illustrations, which gently introduces the young reader to the joys of moving outside your comfort zone. Lindy

The Getting of Wisdom

Henry Handel Richardson , Germaine Greer

$12.95 $11.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Another wonderful title added to the Text Classics range! You might remember the charming movie from the 1980s which was fairly true to the book, but reading will give you more insight into the characters. Laura Rambotham, with her homemade dresses and rustic ways, is sent to an exclusive girls' school. Eager to be accepted, she is ridiculed and belittled for her lack of worldliness, and as many a youngster has done, she foregoes her better nature to fall in with the crowd around her. All the pain and confusion of growing up, of getting wisdom, come hard, but this novel abounds in a lightness of touch that allows the reader to sympathise, and eventually to cheer for Laura, as she finds her own way. Lindy

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One of the most memorable characters in Australian fiction, Laura Rambotham, aged twelve, enters the portals of an exclusive girls' school eager to be accepted. But this precocious country girl is snubbed and ridiculed by her fellow students, who are richer, more attractive and more adept at dealing with life's hypocrisies. The Getting of Wisdom, a wicked and satirical novel on the pain and confusion of growing up, first appeared in 1910. A century later it has lost none of its bite. In her splendid introduction Germaine Greer describes this classic as 'Richardson's only great book precisely because the subject is, like the rest of us, ordinary, and therefore deeply important'.

Welcome to Normal

Nick Earls

$29.95 $26.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Nick Earls is one of my favourite Australian writers, so a new collection of his short stories was a real treat for me. Some of the stories turn out to be linked, which adds to the enjoyment of Earls' deft and sympathetic treatment of his characters. In the title story, a man travels through mid-west America on a business trip with his boss, and learns that in Normal, his boss was something else other than the boring, normal person he now is. The longest story in the collection has two men on a small group tour, who tell outrageous lies about each other in a personal game of payback which ultimately reveals the closeness of their difficult relationship. Other tales take place in Brisbane, and overseas destinations, but each one contains a small truth within the smooth storytelling. HIghly recommended. Lindy

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Jesse Andrews

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Greg is just waiting for high school to be over so he can get on with whatever life holds for him. He prides himself on not being part of any of the school cliques, while being friendly towards all of them. Really he only has one friend, Earl, a verticallychallenged Afro-American with a seriously dysfunctional family. Together they make their own versions of cult classic films. When his mother forces him to spend time with a girl he has avoided since adolescence first hit, he has to move out of the self-protective bubble he's constructed. Rachel has leukaemia and has decided to stop treatment; and in an awkward attempt to cheer her on, Earl and Greg make a film of her life. This is a funny, profane (warning: lots of swearwords!) entertaining and poignant novel for mature readers. Lindy

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time--when not playing video games and avoiding Earl's terrifying brothers-- making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don't make them for other people. Until Rachel. Rachel has leukemia, and Greg's mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl make her a movie, and Greg must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It's a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school by a prodigiously talented debut author.

A frequently hysterical confessional...Debut novelist Andrews succeeds brilliantly in painting a portrait of a kid whose responses to emotional duress are entirely believable and sympathetic, however fiercely he professes his essential crappiness as a human being. Though this novel begs inevitable thematic comparisons to John Green's The Fault in Our Stars (2011), it stands on its own in inventiveness, humor and heart. It is sure to be popular with many boys, including reluctant readers, and will not require much selling on the part of the librarian.

Soonchild

Russell Hoban , Alexis Deacon

$27.95 $25.15

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Sixteen Face John is the local shaman to a community somewhere beyond the Arctic Circle. His wife is expecting their first child, but something is wrong - it can't hear the Worldsongs, which are the only reason children are born: the beauty of the songs entices them to enter this world. John must confront his own wrongdoings, venture into worlds and lifetimes beyond number, and find bravery to set things right again. Beautifully illustrated by Alexis Deacon, the playfulness of the dialogue, married to beautifully descriptive language of the senses, combine to make this book a pleasure to read. An imaginative story with a wellspring of philosophy and ethics; and knowing it was Hoban's last book adds to the poignancy of the tale. Fans will love it; ages 14 and onwards! Lindy

Australian Story: An Illustrated Timeline

Tania McCartney

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Timelines are a good way to give children a cohesive overview of the sweep of history. This book traces the geological beginnings of Australia over the first few pages, deals with pre-contact society in a double-page spread, then follows European discovery and settlement in 22 pages of miscellaneous information (when capital cities were founded, minerals discovered, technological advances, inventions, sporting achievements - a real mix!). Aimed at very young readers and copiously illustrated with fine, full-colour images drawn from the National Library's collection! Lindy

A Day to Remember

Jackie French , Mark Wilson

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Tracing the 25th of April through the years, this starts with double-spread pages describing the landing at Gallipoli in 1915, and how the legend of the day started. Named Anzac Day in 1916 to enlist men and generate more support for the war effort, by 1918 it had a more contemplative aspect; in 1919 the Dawn Service tradition began. As years pass, and other wars erupt, Anzac Day changes, until the bitter years of involvement in Vietnam almost negate its memorial reasons. Then another shift occurs and pride regathers. A touching and respectful telling of the day, finely illustrated, that does not skirt around the horrors, nor negate the need for remembrance. Primary school ages. Lindy

The Oldest Song in the World

Sue Woolfe

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- The characters in Sue Woolfe's novels are always outsiders who don't quite make sense of the world, and this new novel is no different in that regard. Kate has never really gotten over her childhood, where her beloved rogue of a father died of a terrible disease, and her mother died in an accident with (or caused?) by her father's lover. She has also never gotten over her first love, even though she has tried to wipe out her memories by indulging in unwise sexual encounters. So when a university lecturer discovers Kate reading her treatise on linguistics, she gives Kate the chance to attend university, and then to visit a remote Aboriginal community in search of the speaker of an ancient form of language - or as one of the workers on the community calls it, the oldest song in the world. Kate only goes when the contact name she is given sounds like he might be her long-lost love. Out in the red dirt of the desert, she starts to slowly learn from her mistakes. Sometimes, as a reader, I got so frustrated with the character (but not as thwarted as she herself is!) so the feeling of relief when Kate finally learns to think and act, instead of feel and react, was a great pleasure - as is reading the evocative descriptions of the landscape. Lindy

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

William Joyce

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This was the story that inspired the Academy Award winning short film (if you haven't seen it, it's well worth looking for). A bit like Shaun Tan's Lost Thing, in that the illustrations are used to wonderful effect to tell a simple but deceptively sophisticated tale. Morris Lessmore loved words, books and order. One day though, his nicely arranged world is upset, and even the words in his book are scattered. Not knowing what else to do, he sets off aimlessly, and spies a lovely lady being towed by books, who sends him her favourite book. It leads the way to a building where other books nest, and Morris finds his true place in the world. One of those gorgeous books that any reader of any age will enjoy, and which every reader should own! Lindy

Horrible Harriet's Inheritance

Leigh Hobbs

$13.99 $12.60

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Harriet is one of Leigh Hobb's wonderfully subversive characters (she invented Mr Chicken!) and in this entertaining, slightly anarchic style Hobbs has made his trademark, Harriet's story is expanded in this young reader. Harriet is descended from a long line of interesting people - vikings, royalty, vampires - and she decides to learn more about her infamous ancestors. With many crazy drawings, this is a vastly enjoyable story which will appeal to primary aged readers (and to their parents with a slightly skewed sense of humour)! Lindy

The Owl and the Pussycat and Other Nonsense Rhymes

Edward Lear , Robert Ingpen

$29.95 $26.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICKS ----- Edward Lear's charming nonsense poems are presented here in one of the handsome volumes that Robert Ingpen has been illustrating for Walker books these past few years. Apart from the Owl and Pussycat in their peagreen boat, there are the Jumblies, the Dong with the luminous nose, and Bong Tree Land, amongst others. Issued to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Lear's birth, there can be no better memorial to his poems than this finely illustrated and presented book. A must for any collector, but a book to be shared and enjoyed by readers of all ages. Lindy

The Glass Canoe

David Ireland , Nicolas Rothwell [intro]

$12.95 $11.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- When the Text Classics range was first announced, this was the book that really got me excited! I consider David Ireland to be one of THE best writers and it has always staggered me that the works of this three-time winner of the Miles Franklin Award have been allowed to go out of print. So you can be forgiven if you don't know them - and more so if you read this novel, the 1976 Miles Franklin winner. Lance, better known as Meat Man, is chronicling his 'tribe' - the habitues of the Southern Cross Hotel, somewhere in bluecollar Northmead. Theirs is a life of casual attitudes to sex, work and violence, centred around alcohol and their own particular watering hole, but there is also loyalty (no matter how misplaced) and inarticulate tolerance towards each other (unless they transgress - as one character does). Meat Man is capable of appreciating nature with an almost pagan and poetic sensibility, but it is the colourful tales of the characters that makes an unforgettable, impressionistic portrait of working class life. The story is in the glimpses, and the power of it is in the reading. See for yourself! Lindy

The Messenger Bird

Rosanne Hawke

$19.95 $17.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Tamar can't make sense of the world: her beloved brother has died in a car crash, her mother is in hospital suffering depression, her father has thrown himself into restoring their old farmhouse in an attempt to forget his sorrow. Even her cherished music holds no consolation. When her father discovers a hand- notated music manuscript, Tamar is drawn to the melancholy beauty of the piece. Playing it opens a window onto a former inhabitant's life - Nathaniel, who lived in the farm house when it was first built. Nathaniel becomes her lifeline, and his past holds answers for her future… A rather lyrical exploration of transcending grief, with a delicate air of mystery. Suitable for 14+ Lindy

Ten Scared Fish

Ros Moriarty , Balarinji

$12.99 $11.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This delightful book introduces early childhood concepts. The boldly coloured, playful and attractive illustrations are by Balarinji (the Indigenous art studio best known for covering Qantas planes with vibrant indigenous motifs). This book not only counts to ten but introduces prepositions as the fish make their way down a river to the sea. Perfect for youngsters here or overseas! Lindy

Kangaroos Hop

Ros Moriarty , Balarinji

$12.99 $11.70

Kangaroos Hop helps children identify favourite Australian animals in the Australian landscape. The kangaroos hop, the butterflies fly, the echidnas shuffle across the land and down to the water's edge where a sleepy crocodile lies...Shhhh! The lively illustrations and cumulative text help readers identify animals as well as verbs.

Do Not Forget Australia

Sally Murphy , Sonia Kretschmar

$29.95 $26.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Billy lives in Melbourne, and Henri in Villers-Bretonneux. These young boys do not know each other, but their lives will touch in the events of the Great War, and the echoes of their stories come down through the years. A lovely, moving story of how the people of different countries form a link, and something positive can be forged in the brutality of war. Beautifully illustrated by Sonia Kretchmar in strong, bold colours. Perfect for Anzac Day and ages 7-10. Lindy

Wonder

R. J. Palacio

$21.95 $19.75

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Augie has been home-schooled, but now it's time for him to attend middle primary. He's a funny, cheerful, intelligent and observant boy, loved by his family but with little experience of dealing with other children. A genetic disorder caused him to be born without a 'normal' face, and years of surgery and being stared at have meant he's kept to himself. Going out into the world will mean he has to find a bit more bravery… Told in different voices, this is a truly lovely novel, with more than the obvious moral to not judge a book by its cover. A young reader of my acquaintance wouldn't put this book down - we both found it equally absorbing and a wonderful read! 12+ Lindy

Overseas

Beatriz Williams

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Don't read this if you want a historically accurate and sensible novel! But if you want a divertisement on a rainy day with your favourite box of chocolates and pot of beverage at your left elbow, go for it! Kate is a 20-something financial analyst in a Wall Street bank, overworked and under-respected, so when the legendary and mysterious businessman Julian Laurence insists on working with her, she is more than surprised. His handsome frame and courtly old-fashioned manners win her over, but he (of course!) has a strange secret - he is really the celebrated soldier-poet of WWI who disappeared on the Somme, presumed killed. An American woman appeared to him on the eve of battle and foretold his fate… The timeslip element doesn't hold up to scrutiny, but it isn't why you read these sorts of novels! As I said earlier, it's a fine distraction from the everyday world. Lindy

My Hundred Lovers

Susan Johnson

$27.99 $25.20

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Turning 50 can make anyone look back on their life, and in 100 short chapters, the narrator of this novel tells of her many loves and reveals the way her life has turned out. Not all of the hundred are lovers; as often as not it is the woman's recollection of sensual moments, rather than erotic, and of her responses to them. A novel of self-awareness, hard-won wisdom, and tender forgiveness and acceptance of self. Lindy

Lyrical and exquisite, My Hundred Lovers captures the sheer wonder of life, desire and love. A woman, on the eve of her fiftieth birthday, reflects on her days with one hundred scenes from a life adding up to a simple human truth. Character and sexual identity entwine and after all the emotion, the love, the hatred and the despair is done with, the great and trivial acts of her bodily life reveal an imperfect, yet whole self. By turns humorous, sharp, haunting and wise, this is an original and exhilarating novel from one of Australia's premier writers.

Dark Secrets

Hans Rosenfeldt , Michael Hjorth

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Scandinavia has been the revelation of the past few years for crime fiction and this new book from two Swedish writers joins a long list of gripping titles. A teenager is reported missing in a provincial town, though police incompetence means nothing is done for more than two days. Then the body is found – missing most of the heart. To avoid complete scandal, the local police call in the Riksmord, a crack team of investigators from Stockholm. Nothing is straightforward, of course, either with the case or with the team – particularly when its leader, Torkel, brings in an outsider to assist, much to the disgust of the female investigators. Sebastian Bergman is a renowned psychologist notorious for his lack of patience and social skills, and for his sexual misbehaviour, which has worsened since the death of his wife and daughter in the Boxing

Day tsunami. A cynical, damaged man, Bergman is reluctantly back in the town of his childhood where he discovers he may have a child somewhere, and he wants to make contact. The case itself is proving very frustrating, as every lead is discounted and no motive is discernible. Then another murder is committed. This is a strong, police procedural novel with plenty of twists to hold the reader’s attention. I would have liked a bit more fleshing out of the members of the Riksmord team, and a little less extraneous detail about procedure, but this didn’t get in the way of turning the pages as quickly as possible to discover the motivations and identity of the murderer. The first in a series, I’ll certainly look for the second when it comes! Lindy

The Other Child

Charlotte Link

$29.95 $26.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is the first translation into English of one of Germany’s best-selling authors. It starts in 1970 with a social worker venturing on to an English farm alone; a huge mistake. Then the story picks up in 2008, when an attractive man chats to a shy and dowdy woman. That same day, a young woman is brutally murdered; and a few months later, an older woman is killed in a similar way. The victims are not obviously linked and the detective, Valerie Almond, assigned to the first case struggles to make any connections. She does start to discover, though, that the wartime evacuation of children to the area 50 years previously may have something to do with what is currently happening… A suspenseful, psychological thriller best read in one sitting! Lindy

The Other Half of Me

Morgan McCarthy

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Jonathan and Theo grow up on an impressive Welsh estate. They are largely neglected, as their beautiful but remote mother prefers gin to children, their father died when they were tiny, and the servants are busy looking after their own interests. When their glamorous grandmother, Eve, returns to her family home after years in America where she became a legendary - indeed, iconic - feminist and politician, the children's lives improve. At least someone is paying attention to them. As they grow up, Theo's fragile hold on reality starts to unravel and Jonathan finds that not everything falls into his lap as he has been led to believe. Nor is everything they've been told about their past true… A lushly written debut novel of privilege and family secrets. Lindy

The Light Between Oceans

M L Stedman

$19.95 $17.95

WINNER - INDIE Awards 2013 - BOOK OF THE YEAR and CATEGORY WINNER: DEBUT-FICTION

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Tom Sherbourne finds that lighthouse keeping offers him respite from the horrors of his experiences of WWI. He takes on the posting of Janus Rock, far off the Western Australian coast, but he also falls in love with the vivacious Isabel, who marries him on his brief return to the mainland between stints. They have a happy life, but for one thing - none of Isabel’s pregnancies produce a baby who lives for long. Desperate for a child, she persuades the upright and morally unambiguous Tom to not report the most serious incident that ever occurs on the island. A small boat washes up on their rock, with a dead man and a living baby, and for the love of Isabel, he acquiesces to her pleas… A powerful novel of moral choices, beautifully written and highly recommended. Lindy

This mesmerizing novel has been a bestselling book around the world, and Hollywood movie rights were recently snapped up by Dreamworks, with David Heyman (Harry Potter) set to produce.

The Foundling

Agnes Desarthe

$27.99 $25.20

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Jerome is calm and balanced, according to himself; but others find him somewhat cold and unfeeling. When his teenaged daughter’s boyfriend dies in a motorcycle accident, however, Jerome is overwhelmed by an all-consuming grief. Images from his past start to assail him, and his ordered way of life starts to show cracks. He befriends a slightly sinister retired policeman, struggles with his feelings for his ex-wife and a free-spirited new client, and wonders if things really are as they seem. The author has won awards in her native France, and this clever and delicately rendered novel plays with the notion of the wolf-child as an adult. Lindy

The Lifeboat

Charlotte Rogan

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Grace Winter has been married for 10 weeks, widowed for 6, and finds herself on trial for her life. War had broken out, curtailing their honeymoon in Europe, but the liner they were on sank in mysterious circumstances halfway between London and New York. Her rich husband managed to get Grace on to a lifeboat, but it doesn’t take long for the occupants to realise there are too many people crowded on to the lifeboat. Nor does it take long for them to be confronted by moral dilemmas, and as the days turn into weeks, and no sign of rescue is apparent, the veneer of civilisation wears very thin indeed. I very much enjoyed this finely written book. Grace is a well-drawn, but ultimately ambiguous, character who is not as innocent - or as guilty - as she seems. Lindy

Secrets of the Henna Girl

Sufiya Ahmed

$16.95 $15.25

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Zeba has grown up in England, an obedient daughter to her Pakistani parents. She is planning university studies and generally looking forward to life and love. She goes on holiday to visit relations in rural Pakistan, only to find that her father has promised her in marriage to her cousin, without her knowledge or consent. How can she reconcile her lovingly indulgent father with the prideful tyrant he becomes, and how can she escape from the unwanted marriage? An interesting and absorbing novel of cultural expectations and differences. Ages 14+ Lindy

Croc and Bird

Alexis Deacon

$24.95 $22.45

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Two eggs hatch, side-by-side. One has a bird, the other a crocodile, but they don't know they're not brothers, so together they grow and share, teaching each other the skills they need. When the river carries them down to a place with more birds and crocodiles, they realise they're not related, and separate: but do they find happiness

amongst the others who look like them? A deceptively simple, profound and moving picture book, with delightful illustrations that convey cleverness, warmth and whimsy. Lindy

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick

Chris Van Allsburg

$29.95 $26.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Back in 1984, van Allsburg published a mostly wordless and haunting book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. This new book is a collection of well known authors' responses to the loosely related images - people like Sherman Alexie, M T Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Stephen King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka and Lemony Snicket weave their word magic to match the black and white illustrations. A fascinating exercise that will appeal to readers of many ages! Lindy

I'll Save You Bobo!

Eileen Rosenthal , Marc Rosenthal

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Willy doesn't like the book he's just read - the big dinosaur doesn't eat the little one - so he decides to write one of his own, using his toy monkey Bobo as the hero. It would be easier if Earl the cat didn't keep getting in the way... Simply coloured, almost retro illustrations, but the concept is very easily recognisable: who hasn't heard a young boy making up a story with mounting excitement as he keeps adding more and more dangers and details? A lot of fun! Lindy

Pennies for Hitler

Jackie French

$15.99 $14.40

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Georg loves his life in Germany, but his parents realise that Hitler means war and it is not safe for a half-English boy to stay in the country. He is smuggled out to England, where it is no safer; and then across the oceans to Australia. There he has to live a lie, denying his past and his identity - his German background would automatically make him a despised enemy, and his attitudes and what he has been taught to believe in pro-Nazi Germany will find no sympathy in his new home. As always, French writes simply and powerfully and this thoughtful novel will please her fans. Ages 12+ Lindy

The Bellwether Revivals

Benjamin Wood

$29.99 $27.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Oscar Lowe is a bookish, working class boy who has escaped the stifling confines of his unsympathetic family. He works in a Cambridge nursing home and enjoys the friendship of an irrascible resident, Dr Paulsen, who encourages his love of reading and knowledge. One fateful day, Oscar meets Iris Bellwether and is ineluctably drawn into her privileged, somewhat jaded circle of friends, but more importantly, comes to the attention of her self-absorbed, musically talented and dangerously intelligent brother, Eden. He has some very strange qualities and believes in the healing qualities of a particular Baroque composer’s music – are they based in truth, or are they the delusions of a mentally disturbed man? As Eden experiments with his theories, Oscar is increasingly alarmed at what is happening… A beautifully written and beguiling novel. Lindy

This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You

Jon McGregor

$29.99 $27.00

The Cartographer

Peter Twohig

$29.99 $27.00

WINNER: NED KELLY AWARD 2012 - BEST FIRST FICTION
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- The back streets of Richmond, Melbourne, in1959 are full of dangers and wonders if you’re a boy who inhabits the role of superhero - one with an absent father, a grief stricken mother who can barely look at him, and the only adult who listens to him being a petty-criminal grandfather. Having seen his twin brother Tom die in a tragic accident, he wanders his suburb aimlessly, exploring and taking advantage of open doors (and closed ones, as well) climbing fences and spying into windows. On one of his nocturnal adventures, he witnesses a viciousmurder - and the killer sees him watching. From then on, the boy is both drawn back to the house, and tries to avoid the places he has seen the murderer. To this end he draws a map, and takes on the role of The Cartographer, leading him to more mysteries as he observes Richmond’s underlife. His acute observations are tempered by his innocence, and the reader understands more than he does… I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The language is grounded in the vernacular of the time and is highly entertaining, but there is a thread of sorrow and darkness beneath the exuberance. Lindy

The Longing

Candice Bruce

$32.95 $29.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Cornelia is working as an assistant curator on an exhibition for a painter, S P Hart, who breezed into Victoria in the 1850s leaving behind exquisite sketchbooks and a number of paintings which record the properties of landowners. When her supervisor is involved in an accident, she undertakes to interview owners of some of the paintings in the hope of finding out more about the artworks and perhaps acquiring them for the gallery. This story is intertwined with that of Ellis McRorie, the wife of the original land holder. Ellis is isolated in a loveless marriage, has suffered difficult pregnancies and the death of babies, and her only companion is an indigenous woman who has lost more than the well-meaning Ellis can conceive of. When the charming Sanford Hart is commissioned to paint Strathcarron, she feels love and hope for the first time; and Louisa is given the means to preserve her own memories. An interesting and thoughtful novel. Lindy

The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder

J.W. Ironmonger

$32.99 $29.70

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Maximilian, a very rich young philosophy student, decides that his thesis will be to catalogue the memories of the human brain, notably his. A project he envisages will take three years. To do so, though, he needs the assistance of his closest friend, Alex, to keep the world at bay so Max’s memories are not tainted. Thirty or so years later, Alex is standing over the body of his dead friend, ready to fulfil one last, rather grisly, obligation before he calls the police… If you enjoy Paul Torday’s novels (as I do), this one will appeal, with its keen observations, gently obsessive characters and ever-so-slightly quirky sensibility. Lindy

Five Bells

Gail Jones

$19.95 $17.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- One fine and shining Saturday, four people find themselves at Circular Quay. Ellie and James, who were teenaged lovers, are meeting for the first time in years to have lunch. Catherine has recently moved from Ireland to take up a new job, so she’s doing the tourist thing. Pei Xing, who suffered dreadfully in China’s Cultural Revolution, is catching a ferry to visit someone she knows on the North Shore. Each character is struggling with something from their past and, over the course of the novel, this is revealed. And beneath the brightness of the day in the heart of Sydney, there is a dark mystery in play which each of the four catch glimpses of… A lyrical novel, drenched in descriptions of Sydney Harbour and local colour, with some beautifully drawn characters. Lindy

Animal Tales

Dick King-Smith

$24.95 $22.45

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This lovely edition contains five charming illustrated stories. All Because of Jackson is about a rabbit who wants to sail the seas - and ends up in Australia. The Catlady is about Miss Ponsonby, an old lady who keeps many cats and believes in reincarnation. The Guard Dog tells of a scruffy little mutt with a loud and awful voice, and how he finds a home. Hairy Hezekiah is a Bactrian camel who finds a perfect place and great friend because politeness doesn't cost anything. Horse Pie tells of Jenny the donkey who saves the horses that bully her from being stolen. Suitable for confident readers 6-8. Lindy

Sea Hearts

Margo Lanagan

$19.99 $18.00

WINNER - INDIE Awards 2013 - CATEGORY: CHILDREN'S & YA

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Best known for her thoughtful, interesting and slightly surreal short stories, this full-length novel contains elements that Lanagan's fans will recognise. On the island of Rollrock, young boys gather sea hearts for their mothers to eat. They have no sisters, and their fathers are mostly fishermen, but their mothers are all beautiful women with a sense of mystery about them. Misskaella is ugly, but she has what every man on the island needs - the power to bring them sea-wives, and she uses this to bind them all to her. A beautifully rendered and lyrically written tale that takes the myth of the Selkies, and breathes delicate and strange new life into it. Any age from 14 up. Lindy

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece

Annabel Pitcher

$14.99 $13.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- When Jamie was five, his older sister Rose died in a terrorist attack. Five years on, his parents have split, Rose's twin sister Jasmine is a sullen, pink-haired teenager, and his father has taken them to the country to get away from London and what happened. Life is difficult enough, navigating through everyone else's grief, but then Jamie makes a new friend, one he can't tell his family about - a young Muslim girl. Although this sounds quite grim, it is a warm and honest book about grief, letting go when it's right, and growing up - for the adults as well as Jamie. 12+ readers. Lindy

Memory Wall

Anthony Doerr

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I love the short story form and this collection is proof that it can be a perfect vehicle for expressing the human condition. The title story is almost a novella in length and is set slightly in the future, weaving themes of race, privilege, connection and longing into one woman’s retrieval of her past as she drifts into dementia. In another, a man receives letters from his son at the demilitarised zone in Korea, who retreats from the awfulness of life there by birdwatching. An orphan finds herself relocated to Lithuania to live with her grandparents and in the small village realises the world is bigger than she understood. A Chinese woman who has continued her family’s tradition of seedkeeping watches her way of life disappear as the Three Gorges Dam is built; and an elderly Holocaust survivor is haunted and ultimately consoled by visions of girls she knew in her childhood. Finely crafted, beautifully realised, highly recommended! Lindy

The Underside of Joy

Sere Prince Halverson

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Ella has everything she wants - a loving husband, two adorable stepchildren she’s helped raise, an extended family who unconditionally accept her. But one morning her husband drowns. At his funeral, the mother of his children appears and she wants them back. Struggling with grief, the realisation that Joe wasn’t exactly truthful about his finances and the disintegration of everything important to her, Ella is faced with impossible choices. For fans of Jodi Picoult and the like, this is a good strong read. Lindy

The Tunnels of Tarcoola

Jennifer Walsh

$14.99 $13.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- No fairies! No wizards! No paranormals! Just a good clean adventure, à la Enid Blyton or Arthur Ransome, set in inner suburban Sydney. Kitty, David, Andrea and Martin are mucking around one day and discover an old tunnel, which in turn has an exit at the local derelict house. They explore the tunnels underneath their suburb and discover a stash of documents; but at the same time, sinister thugs start to shadow them. And what is the connection of the old woman in the nursing home to all of this? Excellent for ages 9-12 Lindy

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Jennifer E. Smith

$22.99 $20.70

Stuck at New York's JFK airport, seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan faces being late for her father's second wedding in London. And she's not even met her new stepmother. Then, in the waiting area she meets the perfect boy. Oliver is British, with his own reasons for not wanting to return home to London. He's booked in seat 18C. Hadley is in 18A. On the long flight from New York to London they get on very well...Unfortunately, landing at Heathrow, Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos - and she doesn't even know his last name...

The Princess and the Pig

Jonathan Emmett , Poly Bernatene

$26.99 $24.30

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- A poor farmer's piglet and a rich queen's baby girl are swapped one day. The king knew what had happened, because (as he points to a copy of Sleeping Beauty) it happens all the time in books where bad fairies intervene. The farmer's wife (pointing to Thumbelina) knows she got a daughter because good fairies do that sort of thing all the time in books. A brightly illustrated tale of great charm and cleverness, perfect for the pre-schooler who knows their bedtime stories. Lindy

Grandpa Green

Lane Smith

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Grandpa Green was born a long time ago, before TV or computers, growing up on a farm, going to fight in a war instead of studying, marrying and having kids. His great-grandson tells the story, simply, while playing in Grandpa's garden, which itself tells the story as well, through topiary. Grandpa is forgetting things, but the garden remembers for him. A charming and gentle picturebook about the bonds of family, beautifully illustrated - in green, of course! Lindy

The Future of Us

Jay Asher , Carolyn Mackler

$16.99 $15.30

It's 1996 and very few high school students have ever used the internet. Facebook will not be invented until several years in the future. Emma just got a computer and an America Online CD. She and her best friend Josh power it up and log on - and discover themselves on Facebook in 2011. Everybody wonders what they'll be like fifteen years in the future. Josh and Emma are about to find out.

I Capture the Castle

Dodie Smith , Valerie Grove [intro]

$12.95 $11.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Cassandra Mortmain lives in a beautiful but dilapidated castle and is determined to capture scenes of her everyday life in a journal. She has plenty of material to work with! Her father, who wrote a critically acclaimed novel some years before, is suffering from writer's block, and from a wilful blindness that ignores the poverty his family endures. His second wife, Topaz, a beautiful, fey, ex-artist's model, likes to commune with nature wearing nothing but boots. Cassandra's older sister, Rose, is a scheming romantic; and Thomas, their intelligent younger brother, lives in his own world. When wealthy Americans become their landlords, Rose (who has always wanted to live in a Jane Austen novel), decides she will marry Simon, the heir, despite not loving him. Cassandra chronicles all this in an endearingly clear-eyed style, recording amusing episodes and more serious matters, including her own inconvenient love for Simon… This is a beautifully polished, seemingly effortless, novel, one which I have revisited with a great deal of pleasure many times over the years and which still retains its charms Lindy

Cosmo Cosmolino

Helen Garner , Ramona Koval

$12.95 $11.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Originally published in 1992, this was a stylistic departure for Garner, and puzzled her readers somewhat. Full of long, beautifully constructed sentences, three stories are linked by the characters moving through time - and the appearance of angels. The unnamed narrator of the first grapples with the illness of one of her oldest friends who holds their shared past in his inflexible memory. In the second, an awkward young man does nothing to save his girlfriend from her troubles, and for his carelessness, sees her crumble into ash - literally, after her funeral service at a crematorium. And the third sees three disparate characters collide with misunderstandings on all sides, in a neglected house that was once a vital hub. Re-reading this, I was struck by the beauty of Garner's language and the keen insights she always brings to her writing; and what seemed slightly weird back in 1992 now feels timeless. Lindy

The Home Girls

Olga Masters , Geordie Williamson [intro]

$12.95 $11.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Olga Masters wrote and published towards the end of her life, and in those six or so years she produced fiction that should stand high in our literary consciousness - but as often happens, she is not remembered as she should be. Thankfully Text have republished her first collection of stories in their wonderful Text Classics series. Her short stories are masterful distillations of the human condition, written in an immediately recognisable style. Masters had a way with punctuation that can convey both just as much as needed, and much more than expected. Her subjects are domestic and universal, and one of her talents is the way she can let the reader know that behind a character's small and inarticulate action is a lifetime of experience, hurt, frustration or puzzlement. If you haven't read Masters before, this is a fine introduction; and if you have, this is a reminder of what a great writer could do a choice handful of words. Lindy

-----

The Home Girls is a collection of candid, witty stories about rural and suburban life. Set in the mid-twentieth century, these are tales of ordinary people and domestic life. Masters was, as the Advertiser remarked, 'a natural storyteller'. Between the publication of The Home Girls, in 1982, and her death, Olga Masters was acclaimed as one of Australia's finest writers. Her short stories, distinguished by their acute observation of human behaviour, drew comparison with the finest exponents of the form, such as Chekhov.

Louis Beside Himself

Anna Fienberg

$15.99 $14.40

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- From the bestselling author of the Tashi series comes this delightful book for the upper primary reader. Louis' Dad comes from a wrestling background,a nd he likes nothing better than coaching his son in the finer points of such moves as the Five Star Frog Splash or the Walls of Jericho. Louis would prefer to collect words, because he thinks that’s a better way of arming yourself against unknown terrors. His best friends like basketball and skateboarding, and Louis feels a little out of synch; but when he has to confront a burglar - who turns out to be an older girl called Cordelia, who has run away from home and needs somewhere to stay - he discovers that everyone has unique abilities; they just might not be what you thought they were… Lindy

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

John Boyne , Oliver Jeffers [ill]

$19.95 $17.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- ... The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket… is that he is born to a boringly normal family on the North Shore (yes, Sydney) who do not want to be noticed for anything at all. Which is a pity for Barnaby, who is born defying gravity! His family have to take strange measures to keep him - nailing a mattress to the ceiling, tying him down, weighting his clothes - so he doesn't float off. But one day his mother has had enough of her decidedly un-normal child - and lets him go. Barnaby is off to explore the world, to discover that not only is 'normal' unusual, but probably impossible as well. A fable, a morality tale, and a lovely story. Ages 10+ Lindy

Careful, He Might Hear You

Sumner Locke Elliot , Robyn Nevin [intro]

$12.95 $11.65

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Elliott in his lifetime was a famed writer for stage and screen in America, where he had emigrated to after WWII. He wrote a number of popular and acclaimed novels - some like this one turned into successful movies or screenplays - and all of which have been out of print for ages, and some unjustly faded from consciousness. This was his first novel, and won the Miles Franklin in 1963, and is very closely based on his own life. PS lives with his Aunt Lila in working-class and Depression-era Neutral Bay. His mother died giving birth to him, and his father drifted off without any concern for his son. PS is happy enough, until his beautiful Aunt Vanessa decides that she should have custody of him. She's returned from London and taken a house in privileged Port Piper, and she can give him all the material things Lila can't. PS is pulled between his beloved aunties, and a court case ensues - but can anyone ever win when family is involved? A novel which gives rich textures to a Sydney of the past, and is still an absorbing study of family dynamics and the powerlessness of childhood. Lindy

-----

'Oh, aren't you lucky, PS.' 'Goodness, what a lucky boy.' 'What a treat!' 'Your Aunt Vanessa is coming.' Vanessa was coming all the way from England back to Australia and she was coming on a piano boat. It's the Great Depression. Six-year-old PS is an orphan. He lives in Sydney with his Aunt Lila. But all that is about to change. Now his Aunt Vanessa has decided to take proper care of him. Careful, He Might Hear You is one of the most extraordinary portraits of childhood in Australian fiction.

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses

Ian Falconer

$19.99 $18.00

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Olivia is having an identity crisis, and she is not mollified by her father declaring that she will always be his princess. "That's the problem" she retorts - she doesn't want to be a princess like everyone else. Not a pink fluffy one anyway - there are alternative princesses from other places. Nor does she want to be a fairy princess ballerina - she's trying to develop a more stark modern style (move over Martha Graham!) In her own inimitable way, Olivia finally works out what she could be… Any adult who has had a feisty pre-schooler in their life will recognise Olivia. This is one of those books that grown-ups love just as much as the kids, and it is an absolute delight to read out loud. Highly recommended! Lindy

Around the World in Eighty Days

Jules Verne , Robert Ingpen

$39.95 $35.95

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Continuing with his project of illustrating unabridged classics for a new generation of readers, Robert Ingpen brings to life this enduring tale of the voyage made for a bet by Phileas Fogg. Accompanied by his manservant Passepartout, they use every form of transport to circumnavigate the world. Trailling behind is Detective Fix of Scotland Yard, who thinks Fogg is a criminal mastermind. Full of adventure and excitement, this is also quite funny in places. A beautifully presented and bound edition, printed on lovely paper, and with glorious illustrations which will appeal to those who read the story long ago, or those newly acquainted with it: any bibliophile will love it! Lindy

The Good Mayor

Andrew Nicoll

$24.99 $22.50

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- One of my favourite feel-good read! A bit of magic, a lot of misdirected love, enjoyable, quirky and a pleasure all-round. Lindy

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This magical debut novel is a love story. It is also a story of loss, magic, friendship, wonderful food, a brass band, an Italian witch, a large lawyer, an occasional dog and a car chase at a walking pace. Set in the little town of Dot in a forgotten part of the Baltic, it tells the life of Tibo Krovic, the good and honest mayor of Dot, and his love for his secretary, the beautiful, lonely -- and married -- Mrs. Agathe Stopak. In the quiet, respectable town there is nothing that Tibo can do about his love for Mrs. Stopak. Then one day, when she accidentally drops her lunch into a fountain, everything changes -- and their lives will never be the same. Read The Good Mayor and fall in love again.

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