The Etymologicon : A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth

$30.00 AUD

Category: SECONDHAND BOOKS

The Etymologicon springs from Mark Forsyth's Inky Fool blog on the strange connections between words. It's an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language, taking in monks and monkeys, film buffs and buffaloes, a nd explaining precisely what the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening. ...Show more

The Story of English by Robert McCrum et al

$12.00 AUD

$27.35 (56% off)

Category: SECONDHAND BOOKS | Reading Level: good

This text examines the origins and development of the English language. 2000 years ago, English was confined to a handful of savage tribes on the shores of north-west Europe. Today, in one form or another, it is spoken by a billion people around the world, of whom 350 million use it as their mother tong ue. More widely scattered, written and spoken than any other language in history, English has become a global phenomenon. Based on the award-winning BBC TV series of the same name, this book tells the story of the English language, combining social history, literature and linguistics. ...Show more

Japanese Literature : An Introduction for Western Readers by Donald Keene

$10.00 AUD

Category: SECONDHAND BOOKS

How to Be an Author: The Business of Being a Writer in Australia by Georgia Richter; Deborah Hunn

$34.99 AUD

Category: ENGLISH

Georgia Richter and Deborah Hunn look at the business of becoming an author. In a friendly, informative and practical way they share all you need to know about inspiration and research, preparing to submit to a publisher, creating an author brand, legal, ethical and moral considerations, pitching and ef fective social media and much more. ...Show more

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall (ed)

$20.00 AUD

$45.00 (55% off)

Category: SECONDHAND BOOKS

Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words, Contemporary Cliches, Cant & Management Jargon by Don Watson

$15.00 AUD

$32.95 (54% off)

Category: SECONDHAND BOOKS

At last, the longed-for and much-requested companion volume to DEATH SENTENCE, Don Watson

A Dictionary of Australian English by Edward E. Morris

$30.00 AUD

Category: SECONDHAND BOOKS

THE OXFORD COMPANION TO CLASSICAL LITERATURE by M C HOWATSON

$30.00 AUD

Category: SECONDHAND BOOKS

The Artful Dickens - The Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist by John Mullan

$27.99 AUD

Category: ENGLISH

Discover the tricks of a literary master in this essential guide to the fictional world of Charles Dickens. From Pickwick to Scrooge, Copperfield to Twist, how did Dickens find the perfect names for his characters? What was Dickens's favourite way of killing his characters? When is a Dickens character most likely to see a ghost? Why is Dickens's trickery only fully realised when his novels are read aloud? In thirteen entertaining and wonderfully insightful essays, John Mullan explores the literary machinations of Dickens's eccentric genius, from from his delight in clich s to his rendering of smells and his outrageous use of coincidences. A treat for all lovers of Dickens, this essential companion puts his audacity, originality and brilliance on full display. ...Show more

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell

$14.99 AUD

Category: ENGLISH

A wickedly witty field guide to bookstore customers from the Person Who Doesn't Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover) to the harried Parents Secretly After Free Childcare. It does take all kinds. If you visit bookshops more often than the grocery store, you'll recognize the types. There's the Expert (with subspecies from the Bore to the Helpful Person), the Young Family (ranging from the Exhausted to the Aspirational), Occultists (from Conspiracy Theorist to Craft Woman). Then there's the Loiterer (including the Erotica Browser and the Self-Published Author), the Bearded Pensioner (including the Lyrca Clad), the The Not-So-Silent Traveller (the Whistler, Sniffer, Hummer, Farter, and Tutter), and the Family Historian (generally Americans who come to Shaun's shop in Wigtown, Scotland). Two bonus sections include Staff and, finally, Perfect Customer -- all from Shaun Bythell (author of Confessions of a Bookseller), the funniest sell-and-tell observer in the house of books. This is the perfect read for anyone who ever felt a bookstore was home. You've been spotted! Or have you?   ...Show more

The Bookseller's Tale by Martin Latham

$35.00 AUD

Category: ENGLISH

The right book has a neverendingness, and so does the right bookshop. This is the story of our love affair with books, whether we arrange them on our shelves, inhale their smell, scrawl in their margins or just curl up with them in bed. Taking us on a journey through comfort reads, street book stalls, mythical libraries, itinerant pedlars, radical pamphleteers, extraordinary bookshop customers and fanatical collectors, Canterbury bookseller Martin Latham uncovers the curious history of our book obsession - and his own. Part cultural history, part literary love letter and part reluctant memoir, this is the tale of one bookseller and many, many books. ...Show more

Ex Libris: 100 Books for Everyone's Bookshelf by Michiko Kakutani

$34.99 AUD

Category: ENGLISH

From 'the most powerful book critic in the English-speaking world' (Vanity Fair) comes an inspiring and beautifully illustrated selection of the life-changing books that none of us should miss 'Why do we love books so much?' For legendary literary critic Michiko Kakutani, books have always been an esca pe and a sanctuary, the characters of some novels feeling so real to her childhood self that she worried they might leap out of the pages at night if she left the book cover open. In Ex Libris, she offers a personal selection of over 100 works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, with passionate essays on why each has had a profound effect on her life. From Homer's The Odyssey to The Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale to Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, Ex Libris covers a rich and vast range of classics, old and new, that will help build a well-rounded reader and citizen of the world. With gorgeous illustrations by lettering artist Dana Tanamachi that evoke vintage bookplates leafed between Kakutani's inspiring essays, Ex Libris points us to our next great read - and proves an unmissable reminder of why we fell in love with reading in the first place. ...Show more