1) That'd Be Right - William McInnes

William McInnes brings the World, or at least Australia, into our backyards as he writes about families and sport and politics and life in his familiar style that makes you feel as if he is sitting down talking to you. Both funny and insightful That d Be Right is part memoir, part personal history of Australia over the last thirty years. It s a biographical trip told through sport, and families and William s own experiences. He writes: As with A Man's Got to Have a Hobby I weave in and around the events that have held such fascination for this country over the last thirty years or so, connecting them all with the progression of a life. Some of these events would be considered momentous, some small and personal. And all are seen through William's eyes. They range from a day at the Melbourne Cup with his mother where too many champagnes and too few winners were picked; a swimming carnival early in the morning after a gloomy and long federal election the night before; watching truly surreal Grand Final moments in a pub with a group of odd and unknown bar companions. Sailing on a massive yacht during the Sydney Olympics while listening to the conversation of an elderly lady from Texas in the cabin below. William also writes about a night at the cricket with his son, which shows how things can change and oddly come full circle.

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2) All the Colours of Darkness - Peter Robinson

A beautiful June day in the Yorkshire Dales, and a group of children are spending the last of their half-term freedom swimming in the river near Hipswell Woods. But the idyll is shattered by their discovery of a mans body, hanging from a tree. DI Annie Cabott soon discovers he is Mark Hardcastle, the well-liked and successful set designer for the Eastvale Theatres current production of Othello. Everything points to suicide, and Annie is mystified. Why would such a man want to take his own life? Then Annies investigation leads to another shattering discovery, and DCI Alan Banks is called back from the idyllic weekend he had planned with his new girlfriend. Banks soon finds himself plunged into a shadow-world where nothing is what it seems, where secrets and deceit are the norm, and where murder is seen as the solution to a problem. The deeper he digs the more he discovers that the monster he has awakened will extend its deadly reach to his friends and family. Nobody is safe.

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3) James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2009 Edition - James Halliday

James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion is the No.1 bestselling guide to wineries and wine in Australia. Keenly anticipated by winemakers, faithful collectors and wine lovers alike, the 2009 edition has been completely revised and updated to bring you up-to-the-minute information. Halliday shares his extensive knowledge of wine via detailed tasting notes, each of which includes vintage-specifi c ratings and advice on optimal drinking, as well as each wine's closure, alcohol content and price. He provides important details on wineries - including opening times, contact details and web addresses - in addition to biographies on each, and information about the winemakers. An indispensable reference for all enthusiasts of Australian wine, the Australian Wine Companion is a must-have for anyone planning to visit a wine-growing region or to replenish their cellar or wine rack. It is the most authoritative and entertaining guide to Australian wine.

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4) Running the War in Iraq - Major General Jim Molan

An Australian General; 300,000 troops; the bloodiest conflict of our times. The ultimate insider account about what really is going on in Iraq. It's the most controversial conflict of our time: a war which has divided citizens, politicians, and militaries, resulted in headlines about torture and suicide bombings, death and destruction. There's no single identifiable enemy and no exit strategy. So how will the war in Iraq be won? What will victory look like? In 2004, when Australian Major General Jim Molan was deployed to the war to oversee a force of 300,000 troops, including 155,000 Americans, he faced these and other questions on a daily basis. In Running the War in Iraq he gives a gripping insider's account of what modern warfare entails - the ghastly body count, the complex decisions which will mean life or death, the divide between political masters and foot soldiers - and the small, hard-won triumphs.

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5) Devil May Care - Sebastian Faulks

"My novel is meant to stand in the line of Fleming's own books, where the story is everything." said Faulks, "In his house in Jamaica, Ian Fleming used to write a thousand words in the morning, then go snorkelling, have a cocktail, lunch on the terrace, more diving, another thousand words in late afternoon, then more Martinis and glamorous women. In my house in London, I followed this routine exactly, apart from the cocktails, the lunch and the snorkelling." Picking up from where Fleming left off in 1966 with 'The Living Daylights' and 'Octopussy', Faulks has written the perfect continuation of the James Bond legacy. 'Devil May Care' is set during the Cold War and features all the glamour, thrills and excitement that one would expect from any adventure involving Bond ... James Bond.

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6) Plague Ship - Clive Cussler

For four novels, Clive Cussler has charted the exploits of the Oregon, a clandestine spy ship completely dilapidated on the outside, but on the inside packed with sophisticated weaponry and intelligence-gathering equipment. Captained by the rakish, one-legged Juan Cabrillo and manned by a crew of former military and spy personnel, it is a private enterprise, available for any government agency that can afford it - and now Cussler sends the Oregon on its most extraordinary mission yet. The crew has just completed a top-secret mission against Iran in the Persian Gulf, when they come across a cruise ship adrift in the sea. Hundreds of bodies litter its deck, and as Cabrillo tries to determine what happened, explosions rack the length of the ship. Barely able to escape with his own life and that of the liner's sole survivor, Cabrillo finds himself plunged into a mystery as intricate - and as perilous - as any he has ever known, and pitted against a cult with monstrously lethal plans for the human race... plans he may already be too late to stop.

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7) Bomb, Book & Compass - Simon Winchester

Before fate intervened, Joseph Needham was a distinguished biochemist performing research at Cambridge University, married to a fellow scientist and an ardent member of the local Communist party. In 1937 he was asked to supervise a young Chinese student named Lu Gwei-Djen, and in that moment began the two greatest love affairs of his life - Lu, and China. At Lu's insistence, Needham travelled to China where he immersed himself in the country's history and culture. For the next fifty-eight years, he established himself as the pre-eminent China scholar of all time, documenting everything from Chinese medicine to philosophy to nautical history, and formulating the belief that China would one day achieve world prominence - a belief that is being born out today. By the end of his life, Needham had become a truly global figure, travelling endlessly and honoured by all except the university where he worked. And in 1989, after a fifty-two year affair, he finally married the woman who had first inspired his passion.

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8) Pacific Fury - Peter Thompson

Pearl Harbour. Kokoda. The fall of Singapore. Curtin's fight with Churchill. The bombing of Darwin. The Battle of Midway. POWs. Kamikaze. Hiroshima. These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia herself was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on one hand and British apathy on the other. Until now the history of the Pacific War has largely been written from the American perspective. Now, for the first time, Peter Thompson places Australian voices and action at the heart of a struggle that took an unimaginable number of lives and only ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen. Drawing on original research and written with all the pace and verve you would expect of a master storyteller, Thompson brings both the people and the battles to life in a sensational history not to be bettered for a generation.

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9) Top Gear Great Adventures US Special DVD

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond travel to the US of A In Top Gear Great Adventures. The team arrives in Florida for a road trip that will see them travel from Miami to New Orleans. Each are given $1,000 to buy a car that will carry them to their destination. The trio decide to spice up the trip by spray painting inflammatory statements on the sheetmetal. Statements like "I'm bi", "NASCAR Sucks" and "Hillary for President" until a stop for gas turns ugly. Words were said, rocks were thrown, and somebody's "bros" were called in. The Top Gear crew fleed for its life the chase ensued on the highways of the rural South. The boys decide to pull over and scrub off the incendiary taunts with some towels and Coke.

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10) Glenn McGrath Line and Strength - Glenn McGrath with Daniel Lane

From working the land in Narromine to winning cricket's World Cup three times, Glenn McGrath has always faced life with fierce determination and an unerring will to succeed, despite the odds. Now, following his retirement from international cricket, McGrath shares the story of his life - in cricket and off the field.
Known as 'Pigeon', he won his baggy green cap in Perth in 1993 and went on to forge a brilliant career, retiring as cricket's most successful fast bowler with 563 Test wickets. McGrath entered Ashes folklore in 1997 when he destroyed England by taking 8 for 38 at Lord's, and he even scored a Test half-century with the bat. With leg spinner Shane Warne, he formed the most devastating bowling combination in Test history.

Glenn McGrath's most meaningful achievements, however, have been off the field. With his wife Jane, a survivor of breast and bone cancers, he established the McGrath Foundation, a major fundraiser for and supporter of people with breast cancer. Here, in their own words, the McGrath's discuss their ongoing battles with the disease.

LINE AND STRENGTH is the tell-all story of an Australian country boy who took on the world.

After battling cancer for 11 years, Jane died on 22 June 2008. Donations can be made to the McGrath Foundation at any branch of the National Australia Bank or at www.mcgrathfoundation.com.au

On all copies of the book, Random House Australia is paying an additional 2% of the Australian published price to the McGrath Foundation.

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