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When it comes to books, come to PS News.
On these pages each week PS News will review some of the latest, most popular and most relevant books of interest to PS News readers – either at work or at home – in our ongoing effort to keep you informed, entertained, challenged or simply relaxed.
This week’s selections are...

Book Reviews

From Carr to Keneally: Labor in office in NSW 1995-2011
Edited by David Clune and Rodney Smith
REVIEW: An emotive introductory chapter from former NSW Labor minister Rodney Cavalier proclaims the death of State Labor laying the blame for its demise with the party secretariat. In particular, it was ...more »

Time’s Long Ruin
By Stephen Orr
REVIEW: It was a tragedy that occurred 46 years ago, but this award-winning novel successfully reworks an actual urban nightmare that has haunted the Australian consciousness in all that time ...more »

The Top Five Regrets of the Dying
By Bronnie Ware
REVIEW: Not many of us think of our own mortality—until calamity comes knocking at the door. Death touches all of us and that’s why the insight gained through this book is an eloquent reminder of the ...more »

Debates in Peace Journalism By Jake Lynch
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Us and Them: On the Importance of Animals By Anna Krien
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Idea of Home By John Hughes
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Stability in Mind By Neil Cole
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking By Susan Cain
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

An Opening: Twelve Love Stories About Art By Stephanie Radok
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Path of Infinite Sorrow: The Japanese on the Kokoda Track By Craig Collie & Hajime Marutani
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Spirit of Progress By Steven Carroll
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Animal Tales #1-4 By Random House
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Women of the Land By Liz Harfull
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Vietnam: The Australian War By Paul Ham
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Images of the Interior: Seven Central Australian Photographers By Philip Jones
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Sweet Spot: How Australia Made Its Own Luck and Could Now Throw It All Away By Peter Hartcher
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

To Reason Why: From Religion to Philosophy and Beyond By John Burnheim
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Max Your Memory: The Complete Visual Programme By Dr Pascale Michelon
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Time Bomb: Work rest and play in Australia today By Barbara Pocock, Natalie Skinner, Phillipa Williams
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Ending War, Building Peace By Lynda-Ann Blanchard & Leah Chan
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

How to get anything you want - Just Like That! By Janet Poole
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Mary Thomas: Founding Mother, The life and times of a South Australian pioneer By Beth Duncan
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Into the Woods: The Battle for Tasmania’s Forests By Anna Krien
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Wonder By R.J. Palacio
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Aiming for the Skies By Fay Marles
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Financial Times Essential Guide to Business Writing By Ian Atkinson
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Ruby Blues By Jessica Rudd
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Rupert Murdoch: An Investigation of Political Power By David McKnight
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Pocketbook of Aussie History By Brendan Gullifer
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Dr Karl’s Brain Food By Karl Kruszelnicki
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Roma the First: A biography of Dame Roma Mitchell By Susan Magarey & Kerrie Round
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Australian War Dogs: The Story of Four-legged Diggers By Nigel Allsopp
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Cardboard Girl: Gives Bullying the Flick By Marika Spaseska
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Rook By Daniel O’Malley
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Modern Manglish: Gobbledygook Made Plain By Neil James & Harold Scruby
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Griffith Review 31 By Julianne Schultz
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely: Australia’s Prime Ministers By Mungo MacCallum
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Last Man in Tower By Aravind Adiga
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Answers to everyday questions about relationships: When to stay, when to go, and how to make it work By Jo Lamble
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Meanjin 4: Volume 70 By Sally Heath
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Only Lesson By Bill McKenna
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Manage Your Pain: Practical and positive ways of adapting to chronic pain By Dr Michael Nicholas, Dr Allan Molloy, Lois Tonkin, Lee Beeston
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Griffith Review 30 By Julianne Schultz
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Tamil Tigress By Niromi de Soyza
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Empire for Liberty By Terri Sedmak
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Man-Made World: Choosing between Progress and Planet By Andrew Charlton
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Hazel: My Mother’s Story By Sue Pieters-Hawke
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age By Dale Carnegie & Associates with Brent Cole
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Enigma By Geoffrey Edelsten
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Life Without Limits: How to live a ridiculously good life By Nick Vujicic
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Eating and Drinking Sydney 2012 By Elizabeth Meryment, Helen Yee and Anna Fedeles
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Panic By David Marr
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography By Julian Assange
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the cult of risk By Satyajit Das
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Bad News: Murdoch’s Australian and the Shaping of the Nation By Robert Manne
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Griffith Review34: The Annual Fiction Edition By Julianne Schultz
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

101 Ways to Build a Successful Network Marketing Business By Andrew Griffith and Wayne Toms
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

In the Sea there are Crocodiles By Fabio Geda
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

PetRescue’s Amazing Dog Stories By Vickie Davy and Saskia Adams
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Milton Black’s Horoscopes 2012 By Milton Black
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

No Higher Honour: A Memoir of My Years in Washington By Condoleezza Rice
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The untold story behind Schapelle Corby’s ill-fated drug run By Eamonn Duff
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Looking for the Light on the Hill: Modern Labor’s Challenges By Troy Bramston
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

American Wife By Curtis Sittenfeld
Reviewed by Jacqueline Jago ...read review

Ray Martin’s Favourites: The Stories Behind the Legends By Ray Martin
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Organic: Don Burke’s Guide To Growing Organic Food By Don Burke
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Leonard Maltin’s 2012 Movie Guide By Leonard Maltin
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

All Above Board: Great Governance for the Government Sector By Julie Garland McLellan
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Staying Sane in the Fast Lane By Antony Kidman
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Too Much Luck: The Mining Boom and Australia’s Future By Paul Cleary
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Lies of Sarah Palin By Geoffrey Dunn
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Fine Romance: 75 Years of Royal Weddings By Lisette du Plessis
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Junior MasterChef Australia: The Cookbook, Volume 1 By MasterChef
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Fog on the Hill: How NSW Labor Lost its Way By Frank Sartor
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Trivial Pursuit: Leadership and the End of the Reform Era By George Megalogenis
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems By Stephen R. Covey with Breck England
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Private Life: Fragments, Memories, Friends By Michael Kirby
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Rift in Time: Travels with My Ottoman Uncle By Raja Shehadeh
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Year in the Life of Bindi By Bindi Irwin and Jess Black
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Tony Abbott: A Man’s Man By Susan Mitchell
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Australians: Insiders and Outsiders on the National Character since 1770 By John Hirst
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Making Money: the Keys to Financial Success By Paul Clitheroe
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Inside Pine Gap: The Spy Who Came in from the Desert By David Rosenberg
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Sean Connery: The Measure of a Man By Christopher Bray
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Eye of the Storm By Patrick White
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Commonwealth Government Records about the Northern Territory By Ted Ling
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Power Trip: The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd By David Marr
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Griffith Review33: Such is Life By Julianne Schultz
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Art of Living in Australia By Philip E. Muskett
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Pearl Jam Twenty By Jonathan Cohen and Mark Wilkerson with Pearl Jam
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Babycenter Pregnancy: from preconception to birth By Dorling Kindersley
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Radical Hope: Education and Equality in Australia By Noel Pearson
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Nanberry: Black Brother White By Jackie French
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life By Martin Meredith
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Germans By Peter Monteath
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Machine Man By Max Barry
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Custody By Manju Kapur
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Black Ties, Red Carpets, Green Rooms By Richard Wilkins with Carrie Hutchinson
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Well May We Say ... The Speeches That Made Australia By Sally Warhaft
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Media, Politics and Public Life By Geoffrey Craig
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Unholy Pilgrims By Tom Trumble
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Got To Go Guide: Exploring Wine Country Tasmania By Trudie Michels
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Families Behind Bars: Stories of injustice, endurance and hope By Kay Danes
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Grow Your Own Medicine: A guide to growing health-giving plants in your own backyard By Mim Beim
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

You Know Me By Robbie Williams and Chris Heath
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Man Bites Murdoch: Four Decades in Print, Six Days in Court By Bruce Guthrie
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Perfect Victims By Bill James
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Legacy: An Elder’s Vision for our Sustainable Future By David Suzuki
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight By Robert Mnookin
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Campaign Ruby: Meet Ruby Stanhope, life of the party By Jessica Rudd
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Sydney in a Week: The Ultimate Guide to Sydney By Wendy Moore
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Riddle of Father Hackett. A life in Ireland and Australia By Brenda Niall
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Fair Cop: Christine Nixon By Christine Nixon with Jo Chandler
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs By Malcolm Fraser
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

What’s Right? The Future of Conservatism in Australia By Waleed Aly
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Unique & Unspoilt By Bernadette Hince
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

How to Write and Talk to Selection Criteria: Improving your chances of winning a job By Ann Villiers
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Preventing Workplace Bullying: An evidence-based guide for managers and employees By Carlo Caponecchia and Anne Wyatt
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Little Book of Unscientific Propositions, Theories & Things By Surendra Verma
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Aboriginal Self-Determination: The Whiteman’s Dream By Gary Johns
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Best Australian Stories: A Ten-Year Collection By Black Inc.
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Butcher, the Baker, the Best Coffee Maker... By Gaye Weeden & Hayley Smorgon
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Brain Rules By John Medina
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Madeleine By Kate McCann
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Ready, Set, Go? By Kathy Walker
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark By Mark McKenna
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World By David Kirkpatrick
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Reel Locations: The Ultimate Travel Guide to Aussie Films By Anthony Roberts
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Australia in International Politics: An Introduction to Australian Foreign Policy By Stewart Firth
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Studying Film By Nathan Abrams, Ian Bell, Jan Udris
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Chocolate Diet: How To Eat Chocolate & Feel Great About It By Dr John Ashton & Dr Lily Stojanovska
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Gold! The Fever That Forever Changed Australia By David Hill
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

The Making of Julia Gillard: Prime Minister By Jacqueline Kent
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Fair Share: Country and City in Australia By Judith Brett
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War By Joe Bageant
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Red Silk. The Life of Elliott Johnston QC By Penelope Debelle
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Stories of Love & War: From the Collection of the Australian War Memorial By Rebecca Britt
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Power of Your Spirit: A Guide to Joyful Living By Sonia Choquette
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Heartland: On the Side of Angels By Terri Sedmak
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Speechwriting for Government in Australia By James Groves
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Little Book of Australia: A Snapshot of Who We Are By David Dale
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Fast Living Slow Ageing: How to Age Less, Look Great, Live Longer, Get More By Kate Marie & Christopher Thomas
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Creative Writing Handbook: Developing Dramatic Technique, Individual Style and Voice By Derek Neale
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Australian Made: A Multicultural Reader By Sonia Mycak and Amit Sarwal
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

SmartyCat: Tricky Questions, Simple Answers By Jeannette Rowe and Louise Park
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Un Amico Italiano: Eat Pray Love in Rome By Luca Spaghetti
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

The Best Australian Essays: A Ten-Year Collection By Black Inc.
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Powerscape: Contemporary Australian Politics By Ariadne Vromen, Katharine Gelber, Anika Gauja
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

10 Career Essentials: Excel at Your Career by Using Your Personality Type By Donna Dunning
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Finding Santana. A Perilous Journey in Search of an East Timorese Guerrilla Hero By Jill Jolliffe
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Sideshow: Dumbing Down Democracy By Lindsay Tanner
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Happiest Refugee By Anh Do
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness By Deepak Chopra
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

In Bligh’s Hand: Surviving the Mutiny on the Bounty By Jennifer Gall
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

The March of Patriots: The Struggle for Modern Australia By Paul Kelly
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Stop at Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull By Annabel Crabb
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Three in a Bed in the Med By Ann Rickard
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Wikileaks and the Age of Transparency By Micah Sifry
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Australia: Moments in History By Victor Swain
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast By Jamie Oliver
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Making Trouble: Essays Against the New Australian Complacency By Robert Manne
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Thinking Reed By Barry Jones
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Notebooks By Betty Churcher
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Pozières: The Anzac Story By Scott Bennett
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Power in Coalition: Strategies for Strong Unions and Social Change By Amanda Tattersall
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Milton Black Horoscopes 2011 By Milton Black
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Rudd Government: Australian Commonwealth Administration 2007-2010 By Chris Aulich & Mark Evans
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Australian Policy Handbook By Catherine Althaus, Peter Bridgman, Glyn Davis
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

The Happy Life: The Search for Contentment in the Modern World By David Malouf
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Suddenly, Last Winter: An Election Diary By Bob Ellis
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Re-Awakening Languages: Theory and practice in the revitalisation of Australia’s Indigenous languages By John Hobson, Kevin Lowe, Susan Poetsch and Michael Walsh
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

William & Kate: Celebrating A Royal Engagement By Robin Nunn
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Lazarus Rising: A Personal and Political Autobiography By John Howard
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Government in Australia: How Our Democracy Works By Melissa Kennedy
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Matter of Opinion By Alan Ramsey
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Australian Prime Ministers By Michelle Grattan
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Australian Story: Kevin Rudd and the Lucky Country By Mungo MacCallum
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Leonard Maltin’s 2011 Movie Guide By Leonard Maltin
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

God Under Howard: The Rise of the Religious Right in Australia By Marion Maddox
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Backstage Politics: Fifty Years of Political Memories By Phillip Adams
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

A Dictionary of Australian Politics By Robert Corcoran and Jackie Dickenson
Reviewed by Rama Gaind ...read review

Colonial Cousins: A Surprising History of Connections Between India and Australia By Joyce Westrip and Peggy Holroyde
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Bittersweet: Lessons from My Mother’s Kitchen By Matt McAllester
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic... But Didn’t! By Tim Malton with Eloise Aston
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Lost in Laos By Lydia Laube
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

An Edible History of Humanity By Tom Standage
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Journeying and Journalling By Giselle Bastin et al
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Heart & Soul: Australia’s First Families of Wine By Graeme Lofts
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Walking the Gallipoli Peninsula By Tony Wright
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Australian Wine Vintages 2011 By Robert Geddes MW
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

Sinners, Saints and Settlers. A Journey through Irish Australia By Richard Reid & Brendon Kelson
Reviewed by Christine Salins ...read review

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