Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home by Joanna Nell

$32.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction

The joyous, charming and utterly irresistible new novel from the author of mega-bestseller The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village At nearly ninety, retired nature writer Hattie Bloom prefers the company of birds to people, but when a fall lands her in a nursing home she struggles to cope with the loss of independence and privacy. From the confines of her 'room with a view' of the carpark, she dreams of escape. Fellow 'inmate', the gregarious, would-be comedian Walter Clements also plans on returning home as soon as he is fit and able to take charge of his mobility scooter. When Hattie and Walter officially meet at The Night Owls, a clandestine club run by Sister Bronwyn and her dog, Queenie, they seem at odds. But when Sister Bronwyn is dismissed over her unconventional approach to aged care, they must join forces -- and very slowly an unlikely, unexpected friendship begins to grow. Full of wisdom and warmth, The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home is a gorgeously poignant, hilarious story showing that it is never too late to laugh -- or to love. ...Show more

The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman (PB) by Julietta Henderson

$32.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction

It will make you laugh, it will make you cry - definitely one of the best books we've read! What do you get when you cross a painfully awkward son, lofty comedic ambition and a dead best friend? Norman. Norman and Jax are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a five-year plan to perform at the Edinbu rgh Fringe by the time they're fifteen. But when Jax dies before they turn twelve, Norman decides paying tribute to his best friend just can't wait... so he rewrites their plan: 1. Look after mum 2. Find Dad 3. Get to the Edinburgh Fringe Sadie knows she's never going to win Mother of the Year, and not knowing exactly who her son's father is doesn't help. But when she finds Norman's new plan, all she wants is to see her son smile again... So they set off on a pilgrimage to Edinburgh, making a few stops to find Norman's dad along the way.   ...Show more

It's Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian

$32.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction

A quirky, feel-good romantic comedy about creating the life you want. Noni didn't expect to be starting over again at the age of thirty-six. But eighteen months after the end of her long-term relationship, she knows it's time to find out what's next. While an encounter with a sexy blonde firefighter is a welcome entry back into the dating world, Noni soon realises she's looking for more than just a series of brief-if pleasurable-encounters. That's how she finds herself travelling to Europe to track down the one that got away- the alluring, elusive Molly. But Europe has other surprises in store, not least of which is Beau, a tall, sexy, tattooist from Edinburgh...   ...Show more

Dear Girls - Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

$22.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Non-fiction

In her hit Netflix comedy special Baby Cobra, an eight-month pregnant Ali Wong resonated so strongly that she even became a popular Halloween costume. Wong told the world her remarkably unfiltered thoughts on marriage, sex, Asian culture, working women, and why you never see new mum comics on stage but you sure see plenty of new dads. The sharp insights and humour are even more personal in this completely original collection. She shares the wisdom she's learned from a life in comedy and reveals stories from her life offstage, including the brutal single life in New York (i.e. the inevitable confrontation with erectile dysfunction), reconnecting with her roots (and drinking snake blood) in Vietnam, tales of being a wild child growing up in San Francisco, and parenting war stories. Though addressed to her daughters, Ali Wong's letters are absurdly funny, surprisingly moving, and enlightening (and gross) for all. ...Show more

Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke

$19.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction

In this sparkling romantic comedy, a young journalist tampers with her magazine's horoscopes to win her friend's heart - and sets in motion an unpredictable and often hilarious ripple effect . . . When Justine Carmichael (Sagittarius, aspiring journalist and sceptic) bumps into her old friend Nick Jord an (Aquarius, struggling actor and true believer) it could be by chance. Or perhaps it's written in the stars. Justine works at the Alexandria Park Star - and Nick, she now learns, relies on the magazine's astrology column to guide him in life. Looking for a way to get Nick's attention, Justine has the idea of making a few small alterations to 'Aquarius' before it goes to print. It's only a horoscope, after all. What harm could changing it do? Charting the many unforeseen ripple effects of Justine's astrological meddling - both for herself and others - Star-crossed is the funny, super-smart, feel-good novel of the year! 'The funny, clever, big-hearted love story of the year. Brilliant!' Heather Rose, bestselling author of The Museum of Modern Love 'This delightful debut will leave you with a warm glow . . . In every way a delight, Star-crossed was so much fun this reviewer fell head over heels for it. If you loved David Nicholls' One Day, go out and buy this now.' Herald Sun 'An absolutely adorable Australian romcom . . . the very definition of feelgood.' Red Magazine (UK) ' A glorious romantic comedy . . . This is one dazzling, versatile writer, working with impeccable skill, sharp wit and frolicsome charm.' Weekend Australian 'I loved this completely . . . a bright, brilliant, joyful little love story that spreads into the size of a small town, with its chorus of voices. A total triumph.' Josie Silver, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December 'Simply unputdownable. A joy to read, addictive as all heck, this has got to be my favourite book of 2019 thus far.' Samantha Bond, Glamadelaide.com.au ...Show more

This Has Been Absolutely Lovely by Jessica Dettmann

$29.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction

Family is forever, and there's nothing you can do about it.The charming, hilarious and all-too-relatable new novel from the author of How to be Second Best Molly's a millennial home organiser about to have her first baby. Obviously her mum, Annie, will help with the childcare. Everyone else's parents ar e doing it. But Annie's dreams of music stardom have been on hold for thirty-five years, paused by childbirth then buried under her responsibilities as a mother, wage earner, wife, and only child of ailing parents. Finally, she can taste freedom. As Molly and her siblings gather in the close quarters of the family home over one fraught summer, shocking revelations come to light. Everyone is forced to confront the question of what it means to be a family. This Has Been Absolutely Lovely is a story about growing up and giving in, of parents and children, of hope and failure, of bravery and defied expectation, and the question of whether it is ever too late to try again. Praise for Jessica Dettmann:'A totally engaging and disarmingly charming writer' Kathy Lette 'A natural knack for humour' Better Reading 'Blends the family drama of Liane Moriarty with the humour of Sophie Kinsella' Newtown Review of Books 'Ultimate summer read' Herald Sun 'Heartwarming yet biting' Sunday Telegraph 'Sharp and crisp and funny. I was dazzled.' Mia Freedman ...Show more

Senior Moments by Kevin Brumpton; Angus Fitzsimons

$29.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Non-fiction

The Hungover Games by Sophie Heawood

$35.00 AUD

Category: Biography & Memoir

'The Hungover Games deftly explores expectations of modern womanhood through a beautiful, wild, painfully honest, hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking story. Full of adventure and awe, Sophie Heawood has written a soulful, truthful homage to a life lived with appetite, intensity and wonder.' Dolly Alde rton I had no idea how to commit to another human being. I could barely commit to reading a magazine, and I wrote for magazines for a living. My specialist subject was celebrities, and my own relationships made their marriages look eternal. I'd never paid a household bill that didn't mention bailiffs, and my idea of exercise was to go and stand outside a famous person's house and stare until I'd convinced myself that I lived in it. But my life in LA was happy; free of care and consequence. That was, until I came down to earth - with a bump. So this is the story of how I staggered from partying in Hollywood to bringing up a baby in Piss Alley, Dalston; how I never did find a copy of What To Expect When You Weren't Even Fucking Expecting To Be Expecting, and why paternity testing is not a good topic for a first-date conversation. People always said I'd find love where I least expected it. I always said they were idiots. **AN EVENING STANDARD AND COSMOPOLITAN BEST BOOK OF 2020** **AN OBSERVER NON-FICTION BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2020** ...Show more

The Department of Sensitive Crimes (#1 Detective Ulf Varg) by Alexander McCall Smith

$19.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction | Series: Detective Varg Ser. | Reading Level: near fine

In the Swedish criminal justice system, certain cases are considered especially strange and difficult, in Malm , the dedicated detectives who investigate these crimes are members of an elite squad known as the Sensitive Crimes Division. These are their stories.   The first case: the small matter of a man stabbed in the back of the knee. Who would perpetrate such a crime and why? Next: a young woman's imaginary boyfriend goes missing. But how on Earth do you search for someone who doesn't exist? And in the final investigation: eerie secrets that are revealed under a full moon may not seem so supernatural in the light of day. No case is too unusual, too complicated, or too, well, insignificant for this squad to solve. The team: Ulf "the Wolf" Varg, the top dog, thoughtful and diligent; Anna Bengsdotter, who's in love with Varg's car (and possibly Varg, too); Carl Holgersson, who likes nothing more than filling out paperwork; and Erik Nykvist, who is deeply committed to fly fishing. With the help of a rather verbose local police officer, this crack team gets to the bottom of cases other detectives can't or won't bother to handle. Equal parts hilarious and heartening, The Department of Sensitive Crimes is a tour de farce from a true master. ...Show more

When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

$19.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction | Reading Level: very good

Sarah Winman's bestselling, critically-acclaimed debut novel WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT continues to captivate and enchant readers. 1968. The year Paris takes to the streets. The year Martin Luther King loses his life for a dream. The year Eleanor Maud Portman is born. Young Elly's world is shaped by those w ho inhabit it: her loving but maddeningly distractible parents; a best friend who smells of chips and knows exotic words like 'slag'; an ageing fop who tapdances his way into her home, a Shirley Bassey impersonator who trails close behind; lastly, of course, a rabbit called God. In a childhood peppered with moments both ordinary and extraordinary, Elly's one constant is her brother Joe. Twenty years on, Elly and Joe are fully grown and as close as they ever were. Until, that is, one bright morning when a single, earth-shattering event threatens to destroy their bond forever. Spanning four decades and moving between suburban Essex, the wild coast of Cornwall and the streets of New York, this is a story about childhood, eccentricity, the darker side of love and sex, the pull and power of family ties, loss and life. More than anything, it's a story about love in all its forms. ...Show more

Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford; Alan Cumming (Introduction by)

$22.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction

A sparkling romantic comedy that vividly evokes the lost glamour of aristocratic life in England between the wars.   Polly Hampton has long been groomed for the perfect marriage by her mother, the fearsome and ambitious Lady Montdore. But Polly, with her stunning good looks and impeccable connections, is bored by the monotony of her glittering debut season in London. Having just come from India, where her father served as Viceroy, she claims to have hoped that society in a colder climate would be less obsessed with love affairs. The apparently aloof and indifferent Polly has a long-held secret, however, one that leads to the shattering of her mother's dreams and her own disinheritance. When an elderly duke begins pursuing the disgraced Polly and a callow potential heir curries favor with her parents, nothing goes as expected, but in the end all find happiness in their own unconventional ways.   Featuring an introduction by Flora Fraser. ...Show more

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

$22.99 AUD

Category: Feel Good Fiction | Reading Level: General Adult

Bernadette is a frightfully intelligent wife and mother whose intense allergy to Seattle specifically, and to people in general, has driven her to hire a virtual assistant in India to execute even her most basic tasks. Then her daughter, Bee, insists on a family trip to Antarctica as her reward for gett ing perfect grades in middle school, and Bernadette is faced with the daunting prospect of actual human interaction. The timing could not be worse. Worn down by years of dealing with Seattle's polite drivers, overzealous moms, and proximity to Idaho (and don't even get her started on Canada), Bernadette is already on the brink of a breakdown. Throw in a feud with her neighbor over Bernadette's rampant blackberry bushes, the scandal that erupts when she runs over another mother's foot at the school's drop-off, and a class fundraiser that goes disastrously awry-and it is all too much. Bernadette vanishes, leaving her Microsoft-guru husband, a horde of angry parents, and questioning police officers to pick up the pieces. Desperate to find her mother, Bee probes her emails, invoices, school memos, private correspondence, and other evidence, conjuring out of those shards a portrait of a woman she never knew before-and a secret that could explain everything. Where'd You Go, Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are. It is also a riotous satire of privilege and an unsentimental but powerful story of a daughter's unflinching love for her imperfect mother. ...Show more