"The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope. In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice--her truth--was...
"A heart-wrenching multigenerational family memoir by an excommunicated member of the Exclusive Brethren After coming out as gay, Craig Hoyle was excommunicated from the New Zealand Exclusive Brethren and forced to say goodbye to his family forever. The...
"By the time of her execution at thirty-six, Maria Mandl had achieved the highest rank possible for a woman in the Third Reich. As Head Overseer of the women's camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, she was personally responsible for the murders of thousands, and for the...
"Despite being hailed as one of the best guitarists of his era, George Harrison, particularly in his early decades, battled feelings of inferiority. He was often the butt of jokes from his bandmates owing to his lower-class background and, typically, was...
"In addition to her celebrated career as a novelist, Hilary Mantel contributed for years to newspapers and journals, unspooling stories from her own life and illuminating the world as she found it. "Ink is a generative fluid," she explains. "If you don't mean...
"Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair's father, a volatile reggae musician and militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, became obsessed with her purity, in particular, with the threat of what Rastas call Babylon, the immoral and corrupting...
"Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. A rollercoaster from the depths of suicidal depression to the...
"An inspirational memoir from the authors of Every Bastard Says No about the peaks and troughs of a life in the high country. In 2017 the Ross family left behind their inner-city lives in Auckland and their successful vodka business, 42 Below, to follow their...
"Nellie Melba is remembered as a squarish, late middle-aged woman dressed in furs and large hats, an imperious Dame whose voice ruled the world for three decades and inspired a peach and raspberry dessert. But to succeed, she had to battle social expectations...
"The internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her own adventurous life story as she enters her eighties In a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, Donna Leon narrates a remarkable life she feels has...
"Wendy Harmer has had an extraordinary life. From being born with a severe facial deformity, to performing as a stand-up comedian, a national television host and then the highest paid woman in the cut-throat world of Sydney FM radio ... Wendy's tale of...
"What if you woke up one morning and found you'd acquired another self--a double who was almost you and yet not you at all? What if that double shared many of your preoccupations but, in a twisted, upside-down way, furthered the very causes you'd devoted your...
Twenty years after leaving London, Nina Stibbe is back in town with her dog, Peggy. Together they take up lodging in the house of writer Debby Moggach in Camden for a year-long sabbatical. It's a break from married life back in Cornwall, or even perhaps a...
"Born in Swaziland in 1957, Richard E. Grant moved to the UK to pursue his acting career, and has been a fixture on screens since his breakout role in 'Withnail and I' in 1987. When his beloved wife Joan died in 2021 after almost forty years together, she set...
"'Making It' is an inspirational memoir about beating the odds and turning things around even when it all seems hopeless. In this book, Jay shares the details of his life, from his childhood growing up sheltered and innocent on a council estate in Hackney, to...
"Sam Kerr is widely considered to be one of the best female footballers of all time. She is famous worldwide for her skills on the soccer pitch - but before she was the Matildas captain and the leading goal scorer for Chelsea, she was just an average Aussie...
When Billy Connolly set out from Glasgow as a young man, he never looked back. He played his banjo on boats and trains, under trees, and on top of famous monuments. He danced naked in snow, wind and fire. He slept in bus stations, under bridges and on...
"A coming-of-age memoir of addiction, ambition and redemption in the high-stakes world of Michelin star kitchens. From reckless drug addict to one of Australia's top chefs and television stars: MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo's powerful life story will shock...
"The incredible account of Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Australian war nurses who survived the bombing of evacuation ship SS Vyner Brooke in February 1942, and subsequently spent three years in Japanese prison camps in Sumatra. During those perilous years...
"In 1962, a Sāmoan family journeyed to New Zealand - a country immigrants once called 'the land of milk and honey' - in search of a better life. Instead, their eldest son, Vitale, arrived in an era of dawn raids by police and immigration officials, and endless...
"Dogs of all shapes and sizes visit Ruth Shaw's three wee bookshops in Manapouri in the far south of Aotearoa New Zealand. Local dogs, holiday house dogs, travelling dogs: many have great stories, be they funny, sad, strange, bemusing, quirky or sweet. Woven...
"Paris, 1940. The City of Light has fallen under German Occupation. Among patriotic Parisians, the pursuit of art, culture, and jazz have become bold acts of defiance. So has forbidden romance for talented and spirited Jewish teenager Annette Zelman, a student...
"Berserk: out of control with anger or excitement; wild or frenzied. Berserkers: an elite Norse fighting corp who, apparently off their tits on hallucinogenic drugs, fought with a particular fury and senseless abandon still present in many Scandinavian heavy...
"Before Steven Joyce entered politics, he had a hugely successful 17-year career building and running the radio network RadioWorks. He learnt to cut deals, compete ferociously, and carefully manage the on-air talent. They were all skills he would put to great...
"When Penny Moodie hears people say that they're 'a bit OCD' about cleaning or tidying, she can't help but feel frustrated. It took her twenty-three years to be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder - a debilitating mental health condition involving...
"Andrew Bagshaw was many things - a genius-level geneticist, keen cricketer and sailor, private pilot, much-loved son, brother and uncle, as well as a hugely brave and principled idealist who risked everything to travel from Christchurch to Ukraine to work as...
"A stunning memoir of one man's search for his birth parents, which uncovered an astonishing global scandal at the heart of the Catholic Church. Brendan Watkins was eight years old when his parents told him he was adopted. When he was in his late twenties, he...
"This is the first biography to focus exclusively on Neil Finn, the man who wrote the timeless hits of Split Enz and Crowded House. In early 1980, 21-year-old Neil Mullane Finn wrote 'I Got You', which became the signature song and biggest hit for the Kiwi...
"Carl Hayman, All Black 1000, once the most highly prized player in world rugby and a giant of the game in every sense - someone who was always respected, even feared. But at the end of seventeen years as a professional rugby player, the last eight played with...
"From award-winning writer Dr Emma Espiner comes this striking and profound debut memoir. Encompassing whanau, love, death, '90s action movies and scarfie drinking, There's a cure for this is Espiner's own story, from a childhood spent shuttling between a...
"Dr David Galler tells stories of life and death from his position as Intensive Care specialist at Middlemore Hospital. Written lyrically and warmly, these stories are based on real life events describing the everyday dilemmas and challenges that doctors and...
"Dusty Springfield was one of our greatest pop singers. From 60s hits like 'I Only Want To Be With You', 'Son of a Preacher Man' and 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me' to her 80s collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys and beyond, she was a musical pioneer and...
"Laurie Zaleski never aspired to run an animal rescue; that was her mother Annie's dream. But from girlhood, Laurie was determined to make the dream come true. Thirty years later as a successful businesswoman, she did it, buying a 15-acre farm deep in the...
"This is the compelling story of Nigerian physician Ike Anya's path to becoming a doctor, from his intensely demanding studies to his beginnings as a newly qualified doctor. Moving, often humourous and always revealing, his account lays bare the challenges and...
"Brought face to face with the author of his obituary and his own inevitable mortality, Edward Stourton is prompted to reflect on the life he has led and the events that have shaped him. Ed was born into a life of privilege: the son of expat parents in...
"On 9 August 1918, at Chipilly Spur overlooking the Somme River, an entire British Army Corps is held up by German machine gunners. The battle has raged for 30 hours and more than 2000 men have fallen. Then, two Australian sergeants, Jack Hayes and Harold...
"Jessica Kirkness has traversed the boundary between deaf and hearing cultures all her life. Her memoir tells the story of her grandparents who grew up deaf in a hearing world--one where sign language was banned for much of the twentieth century--and weaves in...
"Dean Karnazes is an internationally recognised endurance athlete who has pushed his body and mind to inconceivable limits. In this remarkable memoir, he recounts the personal events that have led to him becoming an extraordinary athlete. The seeds of his...
"Gen's early teenage years were the hardest of her life. Struggling with anorexia and poor mental health, she spent time in and out of hospitals and clinics, which also had a huge impact on her family. But with treatment and support, Gen was able to turn her...
"What would you do if you were told by the people you loved the most that the way you were born was evil and wrong? For Shaneel Lal, this was their reality from the time they were five. Growing up in a tiny, traditional village in Fiji, Shaneel always knew...
"Amelia Dalton, fresh from touring the Scottish islands, takes on the world and sets up exclusive holidays in remote places for a new cruise ship. As she scopes out her itineraries, she explores inaccessible islands and survives a hotel fire, a bomb in a...
"Anna Bibby owned a successful art gallery in New Zealand until one day, on holiday in France, she bought a falling-down house in a picturesque medieval village. So began the process of renovating her beautiful old house which, of course, wasn't without its...
"In 2010, New Zealand met its remotest family, through the writing of Robert Long — aka Beansprout — and we were intrigued. Now Beansprout's wife, Catherine Stewart, tells her story, and answers many of our questions. Why did she decide to join him on the wild...
"The definitive account of the disastrous siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, featuring never-before-seen documents, photographs, and interviews, from former investigative reporter Jeff Guinn, bestselling author of Manson and The Road to...
"Alba Donati was used to her hectic life working as a book publicist in Italy, a life that made her happy and allowed her to meet prominent international authors, but she was ready to make a change. One day she decided to return to Lucignana, the small village...
"This is the life story of Silva McLeod, the first Tongan woman to become an airline pilot. She's still one of only a handful. Told by Silva with frankness and wit, it's quite a story. Silva takes us on a journey of cultural change from her beginnings as a...
"'Solo GP needed for medical clinic, mining town in Pilbara region, Western Australia. Car and accommodation provided. On call paid extra. Close proximity to absolutely nothing.' Going Under, Sonia Henry's autobiographical novel about the stresses and failures...
"Laughton King shares his understanding of the dyslexic mind from his own lived experience as a dyslexic child, an angry adolescent, a therapist and eventually an author. In Laughton King’s formulation, a dyslexic person is like a diesel vehicle. They run...
"An incisive analysis of how our drinking culture is influenced by the government, media and big business, by investigative journalist Guyon Espiner. Four years ago, investigative journalist Guyon Espiner gave up drinking alcohol. He had been a heavy yet...
For over forty years, Sam Neill's name has been a reassuring mark of quality. With starring roles in hit movies including DEAD CALM, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, THE PIANO and JURASSIC PARK, Sam's work has taken him from arthouse to blockbuster, and from cult...
"A revelatory account of how the loving marriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy during World War II, and how they raised their daughter to become Queen Elizabeth II, based on exclusive access to the Royal Archives--from the...
"What do Motörhead, Black Sabbath, Elvis Costello, Rush and Chumbawamba have in common? Kim Hawes, pioneering female tour manager. Through hard work, hard partying and hard times, Kim hurled a TV through the glass ceiling of the male-dominated music industry....
"From Willingdon to Lyttelton, a memoir about love, learning and the journey to thirty. Joe Bennett is the author of countless columns, over twenty books, and now, at long last, a memoir. From There to Here describes a childhood of fishing, cricket, friends, a...
"The highs and heartbreak of caring for the animals we love. You never know who or what is going to walk, crawl or slither through the doors of veterinary hospital ... Clumsy Luna the Greyhound and her fragile front legs; the tortoise in need of a prosthetic...
"A raw and honest story of alcoholism, recovery, and courage in the face of loss. Hayley Holt grew up in the public eye. On our screens for over twenty years, her highs and lows have been aired for everyone to see. Now it's time to share her side of the story....
"A memoir about belonging and motherhood, told through the author's lifelong passion for wild food. When Helen Lehndorf moves to the city after a childhood living off the land in rural Taranaki, she can't help but feel different from her peers and professors....
"What happens when you take your 85-year-old mother to live with you on a Greek island? In life, as in myth, women are the ones who are supposed to stay home like Penelope, weaving at their looms, rather than leaving home like Odysseus. Meet...
"Dan Christian is one of the world's most sought after cricketers, not only a star for the Sydney Sixers but having been part of teams in premier leagues from India and Pakistan to South Africa and the Caribbean. In The All-Rounder, he takes us on a...
"A spectacular story, the making of a dynasty, one of the great untold sagas of a gilded Jewish Bagdadi family-the merchant princes of the orient, that built a vast empire through finance and trade: opium, cotton, oil, shipping, banking, that reached across...
"'I didn't know that you're only supposed to have one personality. I didn't realise that having lots of voices in your head was abnormal. But you are protecting yourself. You are protecting your soul, and that's what I did.' An intelligent, poised woman, Jeni...
"From the Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times reporter who has defined Donald J. Trump's presidency like no other journalist: a magnificent and disturbing reckoning that moves beyond simplistic caricature, chronicling his rise in New York City to his...
"Sonny Bill Williams is a once in a generation athlete – a player with immense sporting talent in rugby league, rugby union and boxing. In his remarkable career, he has won World Cups with the All Blacks in 2011 and 2015 and helped the Kiwis reach the 2013...
"In 2012, whilst working at the Royal Horticultural Society's library, Fiona Davison unearthed a collection of handwritten letters that dated back to 1822. The letters, each carefully set out in neat copperplate writing, had been written by young gardeners in...
"A young man has stopped breathing in a supermarket toilet. A pedestrian with a nasty head injury won't let the crew near him on a busy road. A newborn baby is worryingly silent. An addict urinates on the ambulance floor when denied a fix. This is the life of...
"Hans Asperger, the pioneer of autism and Asperger syndrome in Nazi Vienna, has been celebrated for his compassionate defense of children with disabilities. But in this groundbreaking book, prize-winning historian Edith Sheffer exposes that Asperger was not...
"In 1970, newly qualified vet Bruce Fogle arrived in London from Canada assuming that because he spoke English he would understand the English. He also thought that because he'd graduated from the world's best veterinary school he would understand how to be a...
"'Come by the Hills' follows Cameron McNeish's popular 2018 memoir, 'There's Always the Hills', and celebrates his life on the Scottish hills, his many friendships with hill-goers, writers, broadcasters and active people of all kinds." -- Publisher.
"The moving true story of Dr Amit Patel, who lost his sight in just 36 hours, and Kika, the guide dog who changed his world." -- Publisher.
"Charles Dickens and Prince. Two wildly different artists who caught fire and lit up the world in ways no others could. Where did their magic come from? How did they work so hard and produce so much? How did they manage or give in to the restlessness and...
"The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly shows readers how to prepare for and understand the process of growing older and the joys and sorrows it can bring. Magnusson's ultimate message is that we should not live in fear of death but rather focus on appreciating...
Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was 'just' an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn't? As Lucy Worsley says, 'She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern'. Her life was 'modern' too: she went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast...
"Chaudry was raised with a lot of love -- and a lot of that love looked like food. Delicious Pakistani dishes, and an abundance of American processed foods, caused her family to become alarmed about their chubby daughter's future. How would she ever get...
"The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. Several years before he died in 2008, Paul Newman commissioned his best friend to interview actors and directors he worked with, his friends, his children, his first wife, his psychiatrist, and Joanne...
"After a childhood filled with neglect Ruby yearned for another path. Determined not to let her upbringing limit her, she survived abuse, drugs and tragedy to become one of the most successful women's rugby players in the world. The explosion of women's rugby...
"March 1938: German soldiers are massing on the Austrian border. Many Jews make plans to flee to safety. But one of the most famous men in the world is not among them. His name is Sigmund Freud. 'Saving Freud' is the story of a great man's life, and of the...
"Over the past six decades, Burt Bacharach's legendary songwriting has touched millions of devoted listeners all over the world. In Anyone Who Had a Heart, Bacharach steps out from behind the music to give an honest, engaging look at his life—from his...
"Singing has always been there for us, at the root of what it is to be a human being. Through personal anecdote and scientific fact-finding, this book celebrates the way song inspires and heals us, from the cradle to the grave, and in the process does for...
"A modern love story: whakapapa, archaeology, art and heartbreak. A memoir of a turbulent time — and a chess game that broke all the rules. In 1989, two married women met by chance. They instantly hit it off, but little did they know that their new...
"The beloved star of Friends takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this candid, funny, and revelatory memoir that delivers a powerful message of hope and persistence. In an extraordinary story that only he could tell,...
"A professional at the zenith of the world's most lavish and exclusive industry gives a rare insight into a career that is entertaining, instructive and at times daunting in its scale. The tale of an ordinary boy whose career takes him on a most extraordinary...
"There is a man in your future who is going to love you like nobody's business ... and that man is you! Quirky, kitsch and delightfully camp, Kita Mean - Nick Nash by day - inspires fans around the world to live life as their authentic selves, inside and out....
"It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother's coffin as the world watched in sorrow--and horror. As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes...
In the far south of New Zealand, in the remote Fiordland village of Manapouri, Ruth Shaw runs two tiny bookshops. In this memoir, she weaves together stories of the characters who visit her shops, musings about favourite reads, and bittersweet stories from her...
"Since The Karate Kid first crane-kicked its way into the pop culture stratosphere in June of 1984, there hasn't been a week Ralph Macchio hasn't heard friendly shouts of "Wax on, wax off" or "Sweep the leg!" Now, with Macchio reprising his role as Daniel...
Sheila Hancock seemed to be managing old age. She had weathered widowhood, taking on acting roles that would have been demanding for a woman of half her years. She had energy, friends, a devoted family, a lovely home. She could still remember her lines. So...
"A man. A game. A life. A shambles ... Greg Bruce tells the story of his life growing up and becoming a man in a country and culture obsessed with rugby. From the triumphs and devastations of All Blacks performances during his 1980s and '90s childhood, his own...
"The day Abram and his mother arrived at Auschwitz death camp they both knew it would be her last. In their final moment together, Abram's mum urged her nineteen-year-old son to 'do everything humanly possible to survive, and tell people what happened here.'...
"A timely book about the story of the Pakeha's past, present, and what lies ahead. After more than 200 years of co-existence under the umbrella of a unique treaty, you might think things would be better than ever. In this brilliantly written book, John Bluck...
"A president who governed a divided country has much to teach us in a twenty-first-century moment of polarization and political crisis. Abraham Lincoln was president when implacable secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions inextricably bound up with...
"To any self-respecting sewing fan, Esme Young needs no introduction. The diminutive judge of 'The Great British Sewing Bee' has a sharp eye for a wonky seam, and an even sharper eye for a good necklace. Her life, in many ways, is the story of post-war...
"In 2003, England won the Rugby World Cup. Steve Thompson was there, in England's front row, at the heart of the match, and at the heart of the scrum - one of sport's most destructive, repetitive impacts. But the triumphs came at a cost. When rugby union...
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