AustLit

'On paper Scotty Hodges had it all.

'In a football career almost without peer, Scott was drafted as a teenager to represent the team he loved, Port Adelaide, and would go on to win a staggering eight premierships.

'He would break the State’s all-time goal-kicking record, win its highest honour, the Magarey Medal, and be headhunted as the star forward in the inaugural Adelaide Crows AFL team. He 'had a beautiful wife, herself the daughter of football royalty, and two gorgeous young kids.

'Behind all this his life was falling apart.

'For years, Scott grappled with undiagnosed mental illness, sending him into a spiral of confusion and isolation, drug and alcohol abuse, anger and violence. He kept this secret from the world, and even began planning his own demise.

'This is the gritty and raw account of how an ordinary man overcame extraordinary demons, and emerged the other side with a message of hope and survival.'(Publication summary)

'In 1948, Ben Carlin set out from New York City with an audacious, lunatic plan to circumnavigate the world in an army surplus amphibious jeep called Half-Safe.
Fuelled by cigarettes and adrenaline, the Australian army major pushed his fragile, claustrophobic vehicle through fierce Atlantic hurricanes, across uncharted North African desert, into dense South-East Asian jungle and over the icy dark swells of the North Pacific. It was a 50,000-mile roll of the dice that by all rights should have killed him. 
When Ben finally pulled into Times Square a decade later, he found himself alone and forgotten, his legacy little more than a wake of women and empty whiskey bottles. And the worst was yet to come.
'Was it all a fool’s errand? Or a pure manifestation of spirit? Where does a dream end and an obsession begin? What’s an acceptable cost to pay, and to what lengths will a person go not to be left with the haunting question: what if? The Last Great Australian Adventurer is the compelling account of Ben Carlin’s attempt to make an enduring mark on the world at the twilight of the Golden Age of Adventure.'

'During a long and decorated career with the Melbourne Storm, Queensland and Australia, Billy Slater has forged a reputation as not merely one of rugby league’s great fullbacks, but as one of the best players in the game’s long history.

'Slater’s story is that of a young country recruit with superb natural talent who rose quickly to the top level, playing with the Storm after just one pre-season in Melbourne and starring for Queensland during just his second season in the NRL. But inside the player who has scored so many audacious tries on the game’s biggest stages is a fierce competitive drive and a relentless work ethic, one inherited from parents who worked tirelessly to provide for their two children.

'In his fourteen years in the NRL, Slater has been confronted by the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal, career-threatening injuries, the disappointment of lost grand finals, his early axing from the Queensland team, a game-losing mistake with the Kangaroos and accusations about his allegedly rough style of play.

'Slater has emerged not merely as a great of the game, but as an even more resilient character, a respected spokesman for his sport, a devoted husband and father, and – in a moment of emotional vindication – a member of the Storm’s defiant 2012 premiership team. Billy’s story is told with contributions from Slater’s family, as well as other rugby league legends like Cooper Cronk, Craig Bellamy, Darren Lockyer and Cameron Smith.' (Publication Summary)

'A goldfish named Ian is falling from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He's longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne. Plummeting toward the street below, Ian witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents. There's the handsome grad student, his girlfriend, and the other woman; the construction worker who feels trapped by a secret; the building's super who feels invisible and alone; the pregnant woman on bed rest who craves a forbidden ice cream sandwich; the shut-in for whom dirty talk, and quiche, are a way of life; and home-schooled Herman, a boy who thinks he can travel through time. Though they share time and space, they have something even more important in common: each faces a decision that will affect the course of their lives. Within the walls of the Seville are stories of love, new life, and death, of facing the ugly truth of who one has been and the beautiful truth of who one can become. Sometimes taking a risk is the only way to move forward with our lives. As Ian the goldfish knows, 'An entire life devoted to a fishbowl will make one die an old fish with not one adventure had.' (Source: TROVE)

'From Cold Chisel to The Angels, from AC/DC to INXS to Australian Crawl, Mark Opitz has left an indelible imprint on the Australian music scene. The producer of such iconic albums as Cold Chisel's East, The Angels' Face to Face, INXS' Shabooh Shoobah and Jimmy Barnes' Bodyswerve, Opitz is one of the most influential figures in the history of Oz Rock.

'Sophisto-punk tells Opitz's remarkable story, from his early days serving a musical apprenticeship as an engineer with AC/DC, under the legendary producers Harry Vanda and George Young. Opitz soon struck out on his own with a little-known Adelaide band, The Angels. He helped shape the group's trademark edgy sound - Mark described it as 'sophisto-punk' - which propelled The Angels to rock stardom and launched his extraordinary career.

'Filled with frequently hilarious, sometimes poignant, anecdotes about Mark's experiences recording with Australia's rock greats, this book is a unique journey inside the bands, tours and studios of the music that defined an Australian generation.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Tracey's long awaited autobiography reveals the highs and lows of a much-loved Australian sports star, candidly and fearlessly. 'Tracey Wickham has the greatest killer instinct in Australian sport.' Dawn Fraser In the water, Tracey Wickham was a marvel. Out of it, she was a mess. As a teenager in the 1970s, she rose to become the brightest star of Australian swimming, set numerous world records, won four Commonwealth gold medals and mixed with celebrities and the sporting elite. But, on the cusp of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Tracey retired at the age of nineteen. From that time on, Lady Luck didn't smile on Tracey Wickham. Her marriage ended in divorce and her new partner bashed her so savagely she was hospitalised. Standing in line at Centrelink, Tracey thought she had hit rock bottom. Worse was to come. Her beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter, Hannah, was found to have terminal cancer and passed away on her wedding day. Tracey spiralled out of control. Broke and alone, she struggled with depression and prescription drug addiction. But our world champion would never give up without a fight and, with humour and determination, this little Aussie battler is winning the toughest race of all: life. Treading Water reveals the lows and soaring highs of a much-loved Australian sports star, candidly and fearlessly.' (Publication summary)

'At the age of 11 Akmal Saleh's parents gathered up their children and left Egypt headed for Australian shores. Growing up in a typical Sydney suburb, Akmal began to recognise the differences between his Arab heritage and the Australian way of life, which would later shape him as a comedian. Akmal began his comedy career going by the name Peter so he could get booked in RSL clubs and it wasn't before long that Akmal displayed his uncanny gift to walk on stage and instantly have the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. After only a few years Akmal become one of the most sort after acts touring with international comedians such as Steven Wright, Ben Elton and The Amazing Johnathan.

'This book, like the hugely successful The Sound Of Laughter by UK comedian Peter Kay, charts Akmal's early life in Egypt with his eccentric family to his first gigs at Bikie conventions (coming on stage before the strippers), his marriage, his ever increasing success both on stage and TV towards becoming one of the best known and loved comedians in Australia.' (From the publisher's website.)