Books & Media

Dan Jones’s epic new history tells nothing less than the story of how the world we know today came to be built.

An impossible decision in the chaos of D-Day.

Ripples that cascade seventy-five years into the present.

And two lives transformed by the tenuous resolve to reach out of the darkness toward fragments of light.

Cancer stole everything from Ceelie—her peace of mind, her selfimage, perhaps even her twenty-three-year marriage to her college sweetheart, Nate. Without the support of Darlene, her quirky elderly friend, she may not have been able to endure so much loss.

So when Darlene’s own prognosis turns dire, Ceelie can’t refuse her seemingly impossible request—to find a WWII paratrooper named Cal, the father who disappeared when Darlene was an infant, leaving a lifetime of desolation in his wake.

The search that begins in the farmlands of Missouri eventually leads Ceelie to a small town in Normandy, where she uncovers the harrowing tale of the hero who dropped off-target into occupied France.

Alternating between Cal’s D-Day rescue by two French sisters and Ceelie’s present-day journey through trial and heartbreak, Fragments of Light explores a timeless question: When life becomes unbearable, will you surrender to the darkness or dare to press toward a lingering light

A rich collection of poetry that celebrates the beauty and symbolism of flowers.

This exquisite book is a revised and updated edition of a classic collection which contains over 50 poems accompanied by beautiful illustrations of a range of different flowers. From verses celebrating the beginning of spring with the emergence of the snowdrops, daffodils, and bluebells to poems that honour the summer colour of asters, the heady scent of jasmine, and the brazen sunflower.

The classic poets are featured including Shakespeare, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Seamus Heaney. There's also range of rich poetry from less-famous names which have stood the test of time and evoke nature's beauty, as well as contemporary poets such as Lemn Sissay, Imtiaz Dharker, Wendy Cope and Ada Limon.

Prove you are the most cultured person in the room with 500 true trivia facts about pop culture. These facts are so absurd some might even say that they sound like bull$#*t! Explore the scandalous and the secretive in this all access addition to the True Facts series that spills all the gossip of your favorite celebrities, movies, music, and more. Give the gift that keeps giving to friends, family, fathers, or grads and test your knowledge

Knowledge is power! Crush the competition at trivia night or start the most interesting conversation ever with real facts that are hard to believe. This astonishing collection of facts is so wild and unexpected, it seems like pure fiction. True Facts That Sound Like Bull$#*t: Pop Culture is your all-access pass to uncovering the craziest stories, facts, and trivia about your favorite celebrities, movies, music, and more. From the unthinkable behind-the-scenes tales of Hollywood to the most surprising celebrity quirks, this compendium dives deep into the heart of pop culture’s most bewildering mysteries and phenomena. Whether you’re a pop culture aficionado, a trivia enthusiast, or simply in search of a good laugh, this book is an essential addition to your collection.

Inside you’ll discover facts such as:

• The iconic scream of the TIE fighters in Star Wars was actually made by combining an elephant's call with car tire screeches on wet pavement.
• Before hitting it big, Elvis Presley was a truck driver, and Jim Carrey once worked as a janitor.
• The famous "I'll be back" line from The Terminator was almost "I will return."
• Michael Jackson attempted to buy Marvel Comics in the 1990s because he wanted to play Spider-Man in his own produced movie.

The first YouTube video was uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim, featuring him at the San Diego Zoo and titled "Me at the zoo."

Sure to be THE debut thriller of 2025, The Peak is a nailbiting and unputdownable read, a powerfully taut, gripping and fast-moving international thriller that weaves a story of friendship, love and betrayal together with the ruthless geopolitics of China's rise, set in the last 24 hours of the world as we know it.

'Now I'll tell you what happened, as best I can. No spin. No agenda. If I get something wrong, it's not because I'm being evasive. It's simply because I'm still trying to understand what happened today ... It's to explain, as best I can, what Sebastian has done, and why tomorrow when you wake up, it will be the end of the world.'

Political hatchet man Charlie will do anything to protect Sebastian, government minister and his best friend since their brutal private school days. Rising to power and prominence through international diplomatic postings and then the rough and tumble of Australian politics, they are as close as brothers - or so Charlie thinks - while both keep the secret that lies at the very heart of their relationship - a secret that in one way or another will change the world.

But then a single phrase in Mandarin is spoken in Sebastian's ear and he does the unthinkable. As Charlie tries to piece it all together - from their youth spent in Hong Kong to the recent past in Beijing and Washington - things in the outside world start to fall apart too. Planes can't land, the phone lines go down and the power is out. Then the secret intelligence services comes knocking. Charlie wonders, what the hell did Sebastian do?

From the jostling streets of Hong Kong to Beijing's shadowy halls of power and the backstabbing Machiavellian workings of Parliament House in Canberra, The Peak is a powerful, propulsive and nailbitingly tense international thriller. Written with an extraordinary insider knowledge of China, the realities of global power and the inner dealings of the Australian Government, The Peak has the authenticity and moral complexity of a Le Carre novel and the narrative power of an Australian Robert Harris.

'Rewrites the script for spy fiction in the 21st century' Nigel Inkster, former director for operations and intelligence for MI6

Gripping, propulsive and intelligent, The Revisionists is a tour de force, an absorbing, unputdownable novel about ambition - and how we curate our own stories and rescript our memories in order to survive.

Upper East Side, Manhattan, 2023: Christine Campbell, former journalist, turns on the television to watch a documentary paying homage to her Pulitzer Prize–shortlisted coverage of the unrest in 1999 in the North Caucasus. She is newly widowed, wealthy and attempting to write a memoir celebrating her bold life and significant achievements in writing about the silencing of women during conflict.

But truth has a way of resurfacing, even when buried deep beneath money, memory and reinvention. When Dr Frankie Pearson, Christine's oldest - and estranged - friend, knocks on her door, the pair must reconcile their memories and come to terms with the far-reaching and disastrous decisions they both made over twenty years ago. What really happened in that small mountain village in Dagestan in the dying days of the millennium, while Christine was hellbent on getting the scoop of a lifetime?

An elegant, thrilling and brilliantly compelling novel of the consequences of the conflict between a person's principles and their desire for acclaim, The Revisionists examines the malleability of memory and the slippery nature of the truth - and the lengths that people will go to to avoid facing both.

'A beautifully crafted story ... the immense detail and beauty in the writing create an altogether genuine setting for the reader to become absorbed in. A powerful examination of truth, memory and ambition ... a sophisticated novel that both overtly and subtly turns the spotlight on the oft-overlooked keepers of knowledge: women.' Books+Publishing

WHAT IF A MEMORY COULD GET YOU KILLED?

Imagine the past returning to you in fragments.

A hotel room, a pillow, a lifeless body.

Your ordinary, innocent life upended by one flash of memory.

You can’t remember what led to the crime.

All you know is that you must return to the scene, to the clues that lie waiting in Room 11.

But this is a mystery that goes far beyond that room, that night, that murder.

Are you ready to unlock the truth?

***

Readers are hooked on A MURDER IN PARIS:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book grips you from the very first page and doesn’t let go’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Another edge-of-your-seat thriller which keeps you guessing’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A fantastic, fast-paced thriller full of unexpected twists’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A compelling and emotional read’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Absolutely riveting … I couldn’t put it down’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I loved this from the start’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Gripping, twisty and addictive’

An isolated, empty ski resort in the off-season. A woman who doesn't want to be found. A man who may not be who he appears to be. A game of cat and mouse - with deadly consequences.

On the run from a controlling husband and his underworld associates in Melbourne, Charlotte has adopted a new identity and found a job as an off-season caretaker in a tiny, deserted alpine resort. Some dangerous people are looking for Charlotte and so she's lying low, tending to the lodges, happy to be alone, but jumping every time a floor creaks or the wind whistles through the empty buildings. She's trying to convince herself she's okay, that she got away. But then strange things start happening around the resort. And Charlotte starts to realise that every escape route is being sealed off, one by one.

From Gabriel Bergmoser, the master of propulsive, page-turning storytelling, The Caretaker will have readers second-guessing themselves at every turn. What's real and what isn't? Who's dangerous and who isn't? And who will survive? A menacing, nail-biting, nerve-racking psychological thriller.

'Strap yourself in for a fast high-octane ride. With excruciating tension on every single page, mind-bending twists, and a deliciously clever plot, The Caretaker is everything we've come to expect from Gabriel Bergmoser's novels: unpredictable, wild, and impossible to put down' - Lyn Yeowart, author of The Silent Listener

'Warning: do not start this book if you have other things to do because I can tell you now they will not get done. The Caretaker is completely absorbing, highly addictive and supremely unsettling; also whip-smart and darkly funny. This is Bergmoser at his unputdownable best' - Anna Downes, author of The Shadow House

'Bergmoser does it again. A cracking read. A fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller. I'll never look at a ski lodge in the same way again' - Margaret Hickey, author of Broken Bay

PRAISE FOR THE INHERITANCE

'A heroine you can't look away from, pure thrills and wallop, wilder and gamier than your average Aussie noir, this is fierce storytelling' - Kyle Perry, bestselling author of The Bluffs

'The Inheritance captures the pedal-to-the-metal pace and thrills of Bergmoser's first book, but adds a more substantial plot and richer characters. The story unfolds quickly, and it swiftly builds to an explosive climax. A ferocious tale' - Canberra Weekly

PRAISE FOR THE HUNTED

'This slice of outback noir is ... at once exhilarating, gleefully vicious and totally race-to-the-finish-line unputdownable' - The Observer

'An audacious walk on the wildest side of outback noir ... a vivid thriller' - Sydney Morning Herald

'A perfectly paced, thrilling read with an unrelenting sense of dread and menace' - Books+Publishing

When an old friend asks art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon for help with a baffling murder investigation, Gabriel finds himself pursuing a powerful and dangerous new adversary.

Charlotte Blake, a celebrated art history professor, appears to be the victim of a serial killer who has been terrorizing the Cornish countryside. But there are a number of telltale inconsistencies, including a missing mobile phone. And then there is the mysterious three-letter cypher she left behind on a notepad in her study.

Professor Blake was searching for a looted Picasso worth more than a $100 million, and Gabriel takes up the chase for the painting as only he can - with six Impressionist canvases forged by his own hand and an unlikely team of operatives that includes a world-famous violinist, a beautiful master thief, and a lethal contract killer turned British spy.

A stylish and wildly entertaining mystery that moves at lightning speed from the cliffs of Cornwall to the enchanted island of Corsica and, finally, to a breathtaking climax on the very doorstep of 10 Downing Street.

Praise for Daniel Silva:

'A cross between Jason Bourne and James Bond' Daily Mail

'Literate, top-notch action' Kirkus Reviews

'Silva has few rivals in the realm of the big blockbuster spy story' The Age

Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-confessed recluse, she finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and she worries about them – especially her grandmother Yun whose memory has begun to fade.

Monica has become intent on tracking down her grandmother Yun’s long-lost cousin, Meng, before it’s too late. In her search, Monica connects with a young woman archivist who presents her with a single pencil that holds a clue to a hidden family history. Through this discovery Monica comes to learn of her grandmother’s years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company.

As WWII raged outside their door, Yun and Meng came into a power unique to the women in their family: the ability to reclaim stories from the pencils they were written with. But when government officials uncovered their secret ability, they were both forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people’s stories to survive. These shocking revelations set Monica on a path that will change all their lives in ways she can scarcely imagine.

At once a sweeping family epic and a powerful love story with deep emotional resonance, Allison King’s brilliantly inventive debut novel pushes us to question how well we really know our own stories and the many beguiling ways they can connect our lives.

Hatushaly, last scion of the Firemane dynasty, his beloved Hava, and their dubious friend Donte have been transported across space and time from the war-torn world of Garn to the relative peace of Midkemia.

There, on Sorcerer's Isle, under the guidance of the magician Magnus and his erstwhile father Pug, in his reincarnated form, Hatu will explore and expand his unique magical abilities.

With the evil Pride Lords defeated, the Church of the One has risen to bring death and destruction to his home world. The Church is sending forces against Marquensas, where Daylon is now king, and Declan Smith finds himself suddenly and unexpectedly raised to the status of prince and war commander.

But an even greater menace than the Church of the One lies in wait, a creature from the Void, bent on the destruction of all living things.

Pug, Nakor and Magnus will need to join forces with Hatu, Hava and Declan if they are to save the worlds of Midkemia and Garn from everlasting darkness…

A spectacular new epic series from the globally bestselling author of MAGICIAN.

Evie Emerson has worked hard to build a fashionable clientele for her hats. But when an ex-paramour employs underhanded tactics after his attempt to coerce an engagement fails, Evie's reputation is in tatters. On the heels of having to put a case together to defend herself in court, Evie's life is thrown into further turmoil when the disappearance of her sister takes her to Cobram.

Roving reporter Fitzmorgan O'Shea has troubles of his own: his involvement in uncovering police corruption has placed a target on his back. And while Fitz is hunting a new story in Cobram his problems collide with Evie's when his research exposes malicious intimidation and threats designed to make local landholders give up their properties.

For Raffety Dolan, he accepted long ago it's Fitz Evie loves - and his feelings will remain unrequited. But when a disgraced ex-policeman comes searching for revenge, Raff is ready to go save his friends.

There, on the banks of the mighty Murray, with so much misunderstood history and secrets between the three friends - plus the legitimate threat of being shot at - will they survive long enough to discover the truth?

PRAISE FOR DARRY FRASER:

'Fraser has established herself as one of Australia's most loved historical fiction authors.' - The Herald Sun

'In The Milliner of Bendigo, Fraser delivers another enthralling adventure, sweeping us along on the remarkable journey of a woman determined to forge her own path.' - Better Reading

'Darry Fraser is at the top of her game with her latest Australian historical ... The Milliner of Bendigo is another wonderful tale to immerse yourself in.' - Great Reads & Tea Leaves

From mega-bestseller Mia Sheridan comes an all-new epic second-chance new adult romance with a gritty speculative twist.

When the world is plunged into darkness,

Who would you turn to?

Amid the sun-drenched orange groves of California, childhood friends Tuck Mattice and Emily Swanson shared a bond that seemed unbreakable — until life ripped them apart.

Thirteen years later, Emily is a rising pop sensation in need of security, and Tuck, a brooding ex-con, is in need of a fresh start. When fate brings them together once again, Emily hires him on as her new bodyguard. They butt heads and bicker, just like the old days — yet neither can deny the heat rekindling between them.

But when a cataclysmic solar flare disrupts the electrical grid, society is suddenly plunged into chaos and darkness. For Emily, the familiar comforts of fame and fortune crumble, but for Tuck, this stark new reality could be the chance he needs to finally prove himself. As they come to terms with all they’ve lost and the bitterness that’s kept them apart, they must find their way back to one another and discover a new place, under the sun.

In one of the most luxurious cities on earth…

A billion-dollar deal is about to go badly wrong. A lavish night out is about to end in murder. And the British government is about to be plunged into crisis.

In the heart of the British establishment…

Lord Hartley, the latest in a line of peers going back over two hundred years, lies dying. But his will triggers an inheritance with explosive consequences.

Two deaths. Continents apart. No obvious connection.

So why are they both at the centre of a master criminal's plot for revenge?

And can Scotland Yard's William Warwick uncover the truth before it's too late…

About the Author

Jeffrey Archer is one of the world's bestselling authors, with sales of over 300 million copies in 115 countries and 48 languages.

Famous for his discipline as a writer who works on up to fourteen drafts of each book, Jeffrey also brings a vast amount of insider knowledge to his books. Whether it's his own career in politics, his passionate interest in art, or the wealth of fascinating background detail - inspired by the extraordinary network of friends he has built over a lifetime at the heart of Britain's establishment - his novels provide a fascinating glimpse into a range of closed worlds.

A member of the House of Lords, the author is married to Dame Mary Archer, Chancellor of The University of Buckingham, and they have two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons. He splits his time between London, Grantchester in Cambridge, and Mallorca, where he writes the first draft of each new novel.

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A country town, a brutal murder, a shameful past, a reckoning to come... The injustices of the past and dangers of the present envelop Aboriginal policewoman Renee Taylor, when her unwilling return to the small outback town of her childhood plunges her into the investigation of a brutal murder.

Renee Taylor is planning to stay the minimum amount of time in her remote hometown - only as long as her mum needs her, then she is fleeing back to her real life in Brisbane.

Seconded to the town's sleepy police station, Renee is pretty sure work will hold nothing more exciting than delivering speeding tickets. Then a murdered woman is found down by the creek on the outskirts of town.

Leading the investigation, Renee uncovers a perplexing connection to the disappearance of two young women thirty years earlier. As she delves deeper and the mystery unfurls, intergenerational cruelties, endemic racism, and deep corruption show themselves, even as dark and bitter truths about the town and its inhabitants' past rise up and threaten to overwhelm the present...

The final volume in the bestselling Library Trilogy, following THE BOOK THAT WOULDN'T BURN and THE BOOK THAT BROKE THE WORLD.
The secret war that defines the Library has chosen its champions and set them on the board
The fate of an infinite library hangs on one book, a book that holds the power to break the unbreakable. In the face of such forces, fragile things like hearts, family, and the world seem certain to fail.
The people most vital to Livira are scattered across time and space, lost, divided into factions, in mortal peril. Somehow, she must bring them together and resolve the unresolvable argument that fuels the library's war. The bond between Livira and Evar has stretched and stretched again. Can it hold at the end, when things fall apart? Can it bring them together against impossible odds? This is the last chapter, the final page. The end threatens and no one, not characters, readers, or even the author, will emerge unscathed.
'If you like dark, you will love Mark Lawrence' Robin Hobb, bestselling author of Assassin's Apprentice
'Gripping mystery and beautiful worldbuilding' - Publishers Weekly/em></p>

France, 1942
Once, Paulette Leblanc spent her days flirting, shopping, and drawing elegant dresses in her sketchpad. Then German tanks rolled into France, and a reckless romance turned into deep betrayal. Blaming herself for her mother’s arrest by the Gestapo, Paulette is sent away to begin a new life in Paris, working as apprentice to fashion designer Sabine Ballard.
But Maison de Ballard is no ordinary fashion house. While seamstresses create the perfect couture gowns, clandestine deals and secrets take place out of sight. Mademoiselle Ballard is head of a vast network of resistance fighters — including Paulette’s co-worker and friend Nicolle Cadieux — who help escort downed military men and Jewish families to safety.
Soon Paulette is recruited as a spy. Working as a seamstress by day, gathering information at glamorous parties by night, Paulette at last has a chance to earn the redemption she craves. But as the SS closes in, and Nicolle goes missing, Paulette must make life-or-death decisions about who to trust, who to love, and who to leave behind...

My name is Kitty Collins and I’m a serial killer.
I don’t want to kill. It’s just so hard to resist. Some men really, really deserve it.
Men like Blaze Bundy, an anonymous influencer spreading misogyny online. He’s making it very hard for me to control my murderous urges.
Meanwhile I’m in the South of France to watch my mother marry a man I’ve never met. I should be drinking cocktails and focusing on my tan, not plotting a murder.
But a woman’s work is never done. Surely one more teensy little kill wouldn’t hurt, would it?
*********************************************

This is a book about what you can't see: the works that have disappeared entirely, whether destroyed by authorities or whisked into people's private art collections to languish on walls or in collector's vaults. These remarkable works are as elusive as their creator, but are returned here for public consumption and enjoyment.
A victim of his own success, Banksy is famous the world over and yet more famously disdainful of the spotlight, preferring to remain anonymous. Considered by many to be one of the greatest living artists in the world and to others a rogue vandal with a political agenda, Banksy has scandalised and enlightened the art world since his acts of guerrilla art began to appear on the streets of Barton Hill in Bristol over 25 years ago. His artworks can now be found on streets across the globe, adorning the walls of some of the world's most distinguished galleries and even being sold for millions at private auctions.

Birdie & Harlow is the story of a baby and a dog. But motherhood is never quite that simple. In Taylor Wolfe’s case, it’s a long, zigzagging and winding road.
Meant to be a last-minute anniversary gift for her then boyfriend (and now husband), the highly-energetic and loud-mouthed Vizla puppy named Harlow turns out to be the best snap decision twenty-year-old Taylor ever makes—and the beginning of the most epic friendship she ever has. As Wolfe’s resistance to 9-5’s and traditional adulthood grows, Harlow becomes the perfect companion for her eccentricities in a world that thrives on conformity. Wolfe’s twenties—full of pitfalls and surprises, sad days and silver linings—led her to the realization that life is too short to spend your days in a crate (or a cubicle), that parks are meant to be enjoyed, and most importantly, she wants to be a mom. But really, isn't she one already
A charming and touching memoir, Birdie & Harlow is a tribute to the many expressions of modern motherhood, to both human and fur babies alike. Taylor’s story reminds all of us that life will surprise you and that families should come in every shape and size.

Sometimes you have to become what you hate to protect what you love.
Danny Ryan is rich.
Beyond his wildest dreams rich.
The former dock worker, Irish mob soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman - a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with.
Life is good.
But then Danny reaches too far.
When he tries to buy an old hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark connections of his own.
Danny thought he had buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull him down. Old enemies surface, and when they come for Danny they vow to take everything - not only his empire, not just his life, but all that he holds dear, including his son.
To save his life and everything he loves, Danny must become the ruthless fighter he once was - and never wanted to be again.
Ranging from the gritty back rooms of Providence, RI to the power corridors of Washington, DC and Wall Street to the golden casinos of Las Vegas, City in Ruins is an epic crime novel of love and hate, ambition and desperation, vengeance and compassion.
'City in Ruins is Don Winslow showing the rest of us how it's done. The novel builds and builds, the drama, the suspense, our feelings for the central characters - and then everything comes together. Actually, everything explodes. It's a beautiful, artful thing.' James Patterson
'An addictive finale ... Winslow's ambitious narrative culminates with an exhilarating climax that beautifully wraps up the series' many plot threads. It's a fitting swan song from a giant of crime fiction.' Publishers Weekly
'With the Danny Ryan trilogy, Winslow seems destined to claim a place beside Mario Puzo's The Godfather on the Mount Rushmore of American crime fiction.' Associated Press