Our best bargain picks for Christmas gifts
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping. Here is a list of great books available at super special prices.
Keating by Kerry O'Brien
$16.95 ()
Sadly, they don’t make politicians like this any more – so here is the next best thing. Keating is the life of one of Australia’s most intriguing public figures, former Prime Minister Paul Keating, as told to the country’s most influential political interviewer. Kerry O’Brien spent many long hours with Keating, teasing out the stories, testing the memories and the assertions, and this book is a treasure trove of anecdotes, insights, reflections and occasional admissions.
Patisserie: Master the Art of French pastry by Mélanie Dupuis & Anne Cazor
$29.95 ()
This cookbook is enormous, sumptuous and very, very French. In this essential baking bible, patissiere Mélanie Dupuis and molecular gastronomist Anne Cazor demystify the art of French baking for home cooks, giving them the tools, instructions, and recipes to create the most delicious and elaborate desserts. People will be queuing up for your croissants before you know it…
Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris by Graham Robb
$13.95 ()
Lose yourself in a Paris that you never even knew existed. From the Revolution to the present, Graham Robb has distilled a series of astonishing true narratives, all stranger than fiction, of the lives of the great, the near-great, and the forgotten. Taking us from 1750 to the new millennium, Parisians is a resonant, intimate history book that reads like a novel.
The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge
$14.95 ()
In this follow-up to his groundbreaking bestseller, The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge shares more fascinating insights into the way our brains cope with trauma. The Brain’s Way of Healing presents exciting, cutting-edge science with practical real-world applications, and illustrates how anyone can apply the principles of neuroplasticity to improve their brain’s performance.
The History of Australia in 100 Objects by Toby Creswell
$19.99 ()
Learn the history of our nation through a fascinating array of objects. Former Rolling Stone editor Toby Creswell takes each object as a starting point to tell the stories that make up our national history. From Ned Kelly’s armour to Henry Lawson’s pen and Julia Gillard’s glasses, Creswell’s objects are sometimes iconic, sometimes unexpected and quirky – but the mix creates a compelling, multi-layered story.
Emporium: Selling the Dream in Colonial Australia by Edwin Barnard
$12.95 ()
Be transported back in time through images and words, and take a wander through the shops of colonial Australia. Advertisements appeared in the first issue of Australia’s first newspaper in 1803, as unscrupulous manufacturers and retailers vied with each other in making more and more outrageous claims. Emporium explores the highways and byways of this neglected aspect of nineteenth-century life.
Abandoned India: The Mansions of Shekhawati by Kip Scott
$16.95 ()
This stunning art book is a rare and evocative photographic portrait of India, and specifically Shekhawati’s ‘abandoned’ mansions. Here we glimpse courtyards, living spaces, frescoes, vast interiors, both lovingly restored and bordering on ruin. Scott’s images capture the complex nature of change, of sublime beauty and decay.
The Australian Women’s Weekly: Fashion - The First 50 Years by Deborah Thomas with Kirstie Clements
$12.95 ()
Australian fashion has been depicted in the pages of the Australian Women’s Weekly for many years – from the elegant outfits of the 1930s to the Hollywood-inspired evening gowns of the 1950s; from the psychedelic patterns and micro-minis of the 1960s to the bold and bohemian styles of the 1970s. This book charts its evolution during the iconic publication’s first 50 years. This is nostalgia at its best.
A Single Tree by Don Watson
$16.95 ()
A Single Tree assembles the raw material underpinning Don Watson’s award-winning The Bush. This collection comprises diary extracts, memoirs, journals, letters, histories, poems and fiction. These diverse and haunting voices span the four centuries since Europeans first set eyes on the continent. A Single Tree is an essential companion to its brilliant predecessor.
Royal Visits to Australia by Jane Connors
$12.95 ()
Do any of your friends or family have a fondness for the Royal family? Perhaps they even remember lining up to see the Queen in 1954? Out of Australia’s total population of around nine million, an estimated seven million people turned out to catch a glimpse of the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II during this historic visit. This keepsake book recalls this visit and others that occurred between 1867 and 1954.
Macquarie Dictionary: 6th edition
$19.99 ()
While it’s true that you can always Google a word, there is nothing quite like looking it up in Australia’s most authoritative dictionary – and at this price it is a steal! A comprehensive and up-to-date account of our variety of English, it not only includes all those words and senses peculiar to Australian English, but also those common to the whole English-speaking world.
The Botanical Wall Chart by Anna Laurent
$19.95 ()
You probably can’t afford to gift everybody the magnificent Joseph Banks’ Florilegium (as much as you might like to!) and this beautiful collection of botanical wall charts from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries is far from being a poor cousin. Compiled by botanist Anna Laurent, The Botanical Wall Chart will delight anyone with an interest in the natural world.
Charlie and Lola: A Pair of Two Extremely Classic Stories (Gift Slipcase) by Lauren Child
$24.95 ()
Charlie and Lola are mightily loved by small people and this gorgeous slipcase edition contains two of Lauren Child’s most popular stories: I Will Not Never Eat a Tomato is an innovative and fun-filled book about fussy eating, and I Am Not Sleepy and I will Not Got To Bed is an original tale about the problem of tricky bedtimes.
