The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

The Trauma Cleaner is an exploration of the extraordinary life and work of Sandra Pankurst. Born a little boy who was shunned by his adopted family, she’s been a husband and father, drag queen, one of Australia’s first gender reassignment patients, a sex worker, a small businesswoman and a trophy wife… This book focuses on perhaps her most intriguing aspect of all: her job as a trauma cleaner, working with people who’ve suffered their own enormous trauma or loss to give them a practical clean start.

Mayhem by Sigrid Rausing

In the summer of 2012 a woman named Eva was found dead in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans K. Rausing. The couple had struggled with drug addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines. Now, writing with singular clarity and restraint the editor and publisher Sigrid Rausing, tries to make sense of what happened to her brother and his wife. Mayhem is a searingly powerful memoir about the impact of addiction on a family.

Logical Family by Armistead Maupin

In this long-awaited memoir, the beloved author of the bestselling Tales of the City series chronicles his odyssey from the old South to freewheeling San Francisco, and his evolution from curious youth to ground-breaking writer and gay rights pioneer. Carlton bookseller Jason Austin praises the warmth and candidness of Maupin’s delivery, saying, ‘Reading this memoir is like being wrapped in a warm blanket of words and memory.’ Read the full review here.

Ali by Jonathan Eig

Jonathan Eig’s groundbreaking biography presents a stunning portrait of one of the most significant personalities of the second half of the twentieth century. We are not only taken inside the ring for some of the most famous bouts in boxing history, we also learn about his personal life, his finances, his faith and the moments when the first signs of his physical decline began to show. Ali was a symbol of freedom and courage, a hero to many, but this is also a very personal story of a warrior who vanquished every opponent but was finally brought down by his own stubborn refusal to quit.

Coming To My Senses by Alice Waters

Chef and food activist Alice Waters retraces the events that led her to Chez Panisse on 1517 Shattuck Avenue. Moving from a repressive suburban upbringing to Berkeley in 1964 at the height of the Free Speech Movement and campus unrest, Alice was drawn into a bohemian circle of charismatic figures whose views on design, politics, film, and food would inform the rest of her life. Dotted with stories, recipes, photographs, and letters, this memoir is a quietly revealing look at an intriguing woman.

Danger Music by Eddie Ayres

Danger Music is a remarkable story set to an eclectic soundtrack of Bach, Beethoven, Abba and the traditional music of Afghanistan. Eddie Ayres was born Emma Ayres, and was known to Australians as a seasoned adventurer, accomplished musician and much-loved broadcaster at ABC Classic FM. In 2014, during a period of depression, Eddie travelled to Afghanistan to teach at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul. In this memoir, Eddie describes the epic experiences of that year, and shares the journey he took to claim his true identity.

Adventures of a Young Naturalist by Sir David Attenborough

In 1954, a young television presenter was offered the opportunity of a lifetime – to travel the world finding rare and elusive animals for London Zoo’s collection, and to film the expeditions for the BBC. His name was David Attenborough, and the programme, Zoo Quest, not only heralded the start of a remarkable career in broadcasting, but changed the way we viewed the natural world forever. Written with Attenborough’s trademark wit and charm, Adventures of a Young Naturalist is a remarkable adventure tale.

Caroline Chisholm by Sarah Goldman

Caroline Chisholm was instrumental in shaping modern Australian society. From 1838, she worked tirelessly to assist young female immigrants in Australia. She established minimum wages, found jobs and homes and created employment agencies in a dozen rural centres – and she managed to do all this without any assistance from the government of the time. In many ways a proto-feminist and committed social activist, she utterly transformed life in Australia. Here Sarah Goldman presents a long overdue, contemporary and lively reassessment of this forgotten figure.