Reddit mentions: The best books about australian people

> but not children's books because she is at an adult reading level.

It is great that she is precocious, but she is still a little girl. There are things you won't understand until after puberty and, besides, who doesn't like a good story?

Have her read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. It should be perfect for her and she will love it.

Also get her a copy of Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl. One of the best adventure books ever written. It's a touch slow in the beginning, but once they get to sea you can't put the book down.

If you want to give her something a little bit on the mature adult side, The Universal Traveler is an extremely unique and interesting book. It is mature and adult in terms of abstract concepts. No sex or violence. Nothing offensive whatsoever. Not sure if it would interest her, but it's a terrific method for channeling creativity and working through processes. And much more. She might get more out of it at 14 or 15, but there is something useful inside for everyone. One of my favorite books.

NAH, it's okay and normal to feel frustrated about this kind of thing. There are books and support groups out there for people like you. I know more about support for children with disabled siblings, but it's a similar principle -- it's very normal to love your disabled parent AND sometimes feel frustrated, sad, and even angry that you're missing out on some parts of a "normal" life. There's an excellent book called "Being the Other One" that's about being the typical sibling of a disabled child; it's not directly on point for you, but the discussions of the complex emotions you feel will be very familiar.

This is something you can definitely talk to a therapist about, who can help you come to terms with your emotions -- these are not bad or wrong things to feel, they are normal and justified and you feel what you feel. You aren't an asshole or a bad person, because you haven't acted on them. But talking with a therapist and exploring these feelings more completely can help you work through them and feel more comfortable with them and understand better how to cope with them without worrying that you're a bad person -- because you're not, we all have complicated feelings about things like this! You can love your mother with all your heart and still sometimes be sad or angry about the situation -- that's normal, and human, and if you can treat yourself with compassion and care when you feel those feelings, you can become a more empathetic and kind human being that others will turn to for support because of your compassion and understanding.

Random selection of some of my favorites to help you expand your horizons:

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan is a great introduction to scientific skepticism.

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris is a succinct refutation of Christianity as it's generally practiced in the US employing crystal-clear logic.

Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt is the best biography of one of the most interesting men in history, in my personal opinion.

Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski is a jaw-dropping book on history, journalism, travel, contemporary events, philosophy.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is a great tome about... everything. Physics, history, biology, art... Plus he's funny as hell. (Check out his In a Sunburned Country for a side-splitting account of his trip to Australia).

The Annotated Mona Lisa by Carol Strickland is a thorough primer on art history. Get it before going to any major museum (Met, Louvre, Tate Modern, Prado, etc).

Not the Impossible Faith by Richard Carrier is a detailed refutation of the whole 'Christianity could not have survived the early years if it weren't for god's providence' argument.

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman are six of the easier chapters from his '63 Lectures on Physics delivered at CalTech. If you like it and really want to be mind-fucked with science, his QED is a great book on quantum electrodynamics direct from the master.

Lucy's Legacy by Donald Johanson will give you a really great understanding of our family history (homo, australopithecus, ardipithecus, etc). Equally good are Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors by Nicholas Wade and Mapping Human History by Steve Olson, though I personally enjoyed Before the Dawn slightly more.

Memory and the Mediterranean by Fernand Braudel gives you context for all the Bible stories by detailing contemporaneous events from the Levant, Italy, Greece, Egypt, etc.

After the Prophet by Lesley Hazleton is an awesome read if you don't know much about Islam and its early history.

Happy reading!

edit: Also, check out the Reasonable Doubts podcast.

I know literally nothing about Everest, and have never gone anywhere you can't plug in a hairdryer, but I've read a few books about climbing, and I'm pretty sure it's nowhere near that simple. Mountains aren't perfect triangles. You have to climb up and down and up and down, and sometimes you start climbing down and realize you're facing a crevasse and you have to go back up, or you have to spend days scrambling across a field of rocks.

In this case, the girlfriend fell early on and may have been too injured to walk, and within a pretty short timeframe they both would have been too weak to make it down alive. It probably made more sense to find shelter and wait for rescue.

Edit: Into Thin Air, Dead lucky, and Touching the Void are all really good reads, if you're interested. Lincoln Hall's story was made into a documentary, and the 2015 Everest movie is pretty good.

Maybe try out [The Sex Lives of Cannibals] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Sex-Lives-Cannibals-Equatorial/dp/0767915305)? - even if it's just for the first part, about how the author ends up following his girlfriend to a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific because he can't figure out what to do with his life after graduation and collectors are after him about his student loans...(it's funny, and a quick read - plus you learn about a place and people and job you've probably never heard of!)

Or, in a completely different vein - [The Road Less Traveled] (http://www.amazon.com/Road-Less-Traveled-Timeless-Traditional/dp/0743243153/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405947098&sr=1-1&keywords=the+road+less+traveled) - yeah, it's self-help, and maybe a bit new-agey, but it's got some great insights. Again - you don't have to read the whole thing, but the beginning part - about 'life is difficult, and once you accept that, it becomes less difficult' and personal growth and all is great - life-changing for many people.

Maybe you could share a bit more about your interests to get some more ideas? It's hard for some of us to remember being 19 - though I sure remember the anxiety of not knowing what to do with my life, and just bumbling around for a long time. Many (most?) of us felt the same way, and maybe it helps to know that we made it through?

Every time one of these pictures is posted I have to recommend the book Aku Aku by Thor Heyerdahl. It's an amazing and true story/history of the people and culture on Easter Island, how they likely got there originally and how they made these fantastic statues. Ties in with his book Kon Tiki about how Pacific Islanders likely migrated. Good stuff, and an easy, great read for the curious.

Try Krakauer's other well known book Into Thin Air, and because there's some controversy regarding his version of events, also The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev who was a major player that day.

Krakauer's other book Under the Banner of Heaven is a good "true crime" style story about some Morman murders, but may not be enough like Into the Wild to appeal to you.

Over the Edge of the World is more of a history, covering Magellan's circumnavigation of the earth. It was facinating and definately had intrigue, machinations, and survival elements.

Another book on exploration and survival, Endurance: Shakleton's Incredible Voyage

And another one, Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson. I think this is the one I read, but I can't be certain. It doesn't seem to be as well regarded, but i thought it was still interesting.

A book on diving and survival: The Last Dive, Chowdhury

The Hot Zone could be thought of as science survival. Anyway, you'll probably love the opening bits in Africa, although it does slow way down after that.

Far away from survival, but still about travel are the wonderful Bill Bryson's travelogues. Witty and informative. In a Sunburned Country and A Walk in the Woods are particularly recommended.

I like Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - it's a sort of Cinderella story set in the 1930-40's, so the ending might possibly be considered corny, but I loved it. A very happy book.


EDIT: I also found Are You Dave Gorman?, Join Me and Friends Like These very amusing and light-hearted.

Well since you're cousins maybe make a special effort to make the "normal" sibling feel appreciated. Play games with him, hang out with him, let him know he's loved and appreciated too. Also you could read the book The Other One about being the normal sibling in a family with a physically/mentally/emotionally damaged sibling. Parents sometimes don't have a choice but to give the "needy" child a lot of attention, but if they aren't cognizant of the needs of their other children, they could wind up feeling the way I described in my post. 0/10 would not recommend.

I'd also suggest maybe buying small gifts the "normal" kid would enjoy but I can see that leading to parents being pissy about both kids not getting things. I dunno how old you are but I would just say take some time and spend it with the cousin you see struggling. He probably feels resentment and anger at always seeming to come in second, despite being the one without the problem. Taking some time out of your day to take him to the park, or play a game with him, or go for ice cream or something once in awhile, just you two, will make him feel special and like someone is paying attention to his needs too.

You sound like a very caring person and your cousin is lucky to have you.

Well, I don't know very many things, but I read a book about Rupert Murdoch once, and from what descriptions there were in it I gather that it's basically as simple as any other corporate structure. The White House press correspondent person sends an email/holds a conference call with the editors' bosses, they relay the message down the pipe to the editors themselves.

With something like this, I imagine there would have been a literal memo and the memo would essentially say "do not use hot-button phrase 'false flag' in article re: turkey/syria phone leak" except with way more shorthand.

From my perspective as a low-level employee of a large corporation, it makes perfect sense. The writer is essentially the checkout boy, and the boss tells him 'Say "Thank you for shopping as BigStore, come again soon!" instead of any other phrase. There will be the occasional upstart who says "No! I will not bend to your corporate will! I will use my own words to convey the same message, but more effectively because I will be genuine!" but then that boss gets his boss, and that gets sorted out quite quickly one way or the other, as they say.

But most of the time, the low-level workers have already been in an environment like this, and they understand that keeping their head down and obeying all the rules is really the only alternative to being shunned out of the building, so they don't take it there. As mentioned above, there are really only a handful of actual separate companies that own the major media outlets, so you just tap into each of them from the top and let each sub-boss along the way enforce his links of the chain.

Again, disclaimer, I am not a smart man.

In Bill Bryson's travelogue Down under, also known as In a sunburned country, he describes one moment where he was doing boogie-boarding or something like that, but he sank like a stone because he was obese. His traveling companions had a good laugh at his expense. :)

You have GOT to rad this book! It's funny and really interesting and talks quite a bit about their government and customs, but in an entertaining way. His other book about Kiribati is great, too and I highly recommend it.

Its funny because I actually came here to suggest another Bryson book called In a Sunburned Country which chronicles Bryson's visit to Australia- thought this was relevant as OP's love interest is either en route to or already in Australia I figured she'd get a kick out of it.



If you want something that has a mix of love/romance, action, thrill, check out The Shadow of the Wind. I thought this was a good book and is very well written. Zafon is able to paint images with his words in a way that puts you in the story like no other author i've encountered.

If you like to read you should check out Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country. Although it's a little outdated (published in 2001), Bryson is an incredible author and an even better travel writer. While it wouldn't necessarily be helpful with money or visa tips, it would be a great lead in to your travels.

Good luck!

I second the Horwitz nomination and add Richard Grant, author of "God's Middle Finger" and "Crazy River."
Both of those demonstrate a spirit for and enjoyment of adventure that was the core energy in Bryson's "In A Sunburned Country" and "A Walk in the Woods".

I would highly recommend the book! It's absolutely amazing. Additionally, if you dig it, check out Fatu Hiva, in which Thor Heyerdahl comes up with the inspiration for the Kon-Tiki expedition.

In lieu of actually going to those places, I found two books which describe Kiribati and Vanuatu from a Western perspective. If you're interested in the area please read The Sex Lives Of Cannibals, and Getting Stoned With Savages. Although I prefer the latter, they're both great books and give an interesting perspective on the region.

If you're interested in what Kiribati is like, this, is a great travel novel written by an american who went to live there

Any of Bill Bryson's books are very good, but in a similar vein try:

Notes From a Small Island, an account of his time in the UK while traveling the length of the country.

In a Sunburned Country his travels in Austrailia.

Neither Here nor There his travels in Europe.

And though it is not a travel book, my personal favorite by Bryson is a A Short History of Nearly Everything, a history of science along the lines of the the Edmund Burke TV show "Connections" that is how every science textbook should be written. Spring for the Illustrated edition as long as you don't want to carry it everywhere you read, it's too big and heavy to be a good coffee shop read.

Favorite books on amazon... Fear And Loathing and Hell's Angels or Getting Stoned With Savages!! All three are excellent in my opinion!

It's not artsy or anything, but I think Getting Stoned with Savages might help you get in the right mindset to enjoy yourself.

I recently finished The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost. I found it to be an immensely fun read. It's a travelogue that gives great perspectives on the history Western influence on South Pacific nations and the sociology of modern island nations.

There's a great book about Heyerdahl's crossing, written by Thor himself. It's AWESOME. I read it when I was about 10, and have have wanted to make a raft like that one ever since.

I can't see it being a problem. Here's a Goodreads collection of cannibalism books if you need comps. Some appear to be YA.

For research purposes, I would recommend chapters in Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (non-fiction). Contrary to popular belief, The Sex Lives of Cannibals doesn't contain cannibalism. It is hilarious South Pacific travel writing though.

Chuck Thompson, i.e. To Hellholes and Back and J Maarten Troost, i.e. The Sex Lives of Cannibals. Hilarious stuff, really good for passing time on planes.

If anyone's interested, the book is "In a Sunburned Country,", by Bill Bryson. It's fascinating (and hilarious).

Hi all. Local here.



Quokkas live here:

http://www.experienceperth.com/destinations/rottnest-island



Come visit. It's awesome. Don't come in February - it's fucking hot. Don't come now, it's pissing down.



Also, if you want to read some great short stories from Perth, have a go of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Shark-Net-Memories-Murder/dp/0141001968/ref=tmm_pap_title_0



There is one in there which is all about Rottnest. You can read it on the plane. Don't worry, we don't get that many serial killers. We're still making TV shows about the one from the 50s :)

Heyerdahls book Kon-Tiki used to be required reading in the Canadian education system. Not sure if it still is or not. If not, that's too bad, it's a great read for everyone.

http://www.amazon.ca/Kon-Tiki-Thor-Heyerdahl/dp/0671726528

In a Sunburned Country - Bill Bryson.

I love me some Bryson.

a fantastic movie: Rabbit-Proof Fence, based on this book written by Doris Pilkington Garimara. You'll learn a lot very quickly by reading This article.

i seem to have recollections of the ACCC being way more badass in the past and for some reason have memories (accurate or not) of them being largely neutered under John Howard. And now maybe they are flexing their power again?

My recollections may be entirely wrong tho, it's just the vibe of my feelings towards the ACCC...?

Edit:

This sort of thing seems to be what was niggling at my memory:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/10/1021002392371.html
There seemed to be a pretty big campaign by a lot of business folks to try and bring down Allan Fels (Head of the ACCC at the time)
http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-157271942/view

Edit 2:
http://www.abc.net.au/austory/transcripts/s659714.htm
This transcript of an Australian Story gives a bit of an overview of Allan Fels and his time at the ACCC.
Basically under Fels the ACCC had a much bigger profile and there was a lot of pressure from business lobbies and sometimes also from the Govt at the time upon the ACCC.
After Fels left it seemed to become a lot more low profile and, seemingly, a lot less aggressive/vocal...

Also this book blurb on Fels sums up a fair bit of the "vibe" around Fels and the ACCC at the time:

> There's one certainty about Allan Fels-- People either love him or loathe him. For much of big business, he was an ogre who made their lives a misery. For consumers, however, he was a modern-day Robin Hood, fighting their battles with business and politicians. As Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Fels should have spent a quiet career behind a desk in Canberra. But, armed with his regulatory powers and a canny exploitation of the media, Allan Fels made an indelible mark on Australia. The Australian Financial Review voted him the third most powerful person in Australia, behind Prime Minister, John Howard, and Treasurer, Peter Costello. Yet behind the headline-hunting Fels lies a story of power in contemporary Australia: how the nation developed a competitive culture: how big business lobbied to corral him: and how politicians became envious of his media prowess. While Allan Fels projected an image of part tough regulator, part a somewhat eccentric academic, in reality he is quietly religious with a self-deprecating sense of humour. Leading journalist Fred Brenchley deftly weaves the compelling inside story of the forces that cut short Allan Fels' career as Australia's competition czar.
https://www.amazon.es/Allan-Fels-inside-Story-Business/dp/1740310705

Hence why I felt perhaps, with hazy recollection, that the ACCC had been 'neutered' under Howard, but wasn't really neutered per se, just the guy who made it what it was at the time was no longer at the helm. You certainly wouldn't refer to any ACCC head since as the "third most powerful person in Australia".

Rupert Murdoch's unauthorized bio by William Shwcross... brilliant.
amazon

For anyone wanting to go to Oz, you should read Bill Bryson's [In a Sunburned Country] (http://www.amazon.com/Sunburned-Country-Bill-Bryson/dp/0767903862). This man writes travel books and he has a wonderful way with words.

https://www.amazon.com/Follow-Rabbit-Proof-Fence-Doris-Pilkington/dp/0702233552

Worth a glance, if you're interested.

Fantastic book about this, and one of the reasons Vanuatu is on my bucket list.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Stoned-Savages-Through-Islands/dp/0767921992

I really enjoyed Into Thick Air by Jim Malusa.

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Thick-Air-Bellybutton-Continents/dp/157805141X

If you want to learn Australiana then check out In a Sun Burned Country by Bill Bryson, defo an entertaining read.

Somme Mud

It's a non-fiction account of an Australian Infantryman in WW1. Very good read.

• J. W. Young: A Technique for Producing Ideas
  
  
• B. Cordell: Designing Audio Power Amplifiers
  
  
• K. Johnson: More Than My Share of It All
  
  
• T. Heyerdal: Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft
  
  
• R. Coram: Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
  
  
• T. Frederiksen (used only): Intuitive IC OpAmps

I especially liked In a Sunburned Country. I find that his European travelogues are much less snide than his American ones.

One big I go back to when I'm feeling down is Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country. Hilarious, very informative, and it really draws you in.
I would recommend any of his travel books, but this one is my favourite by far.

Amazon Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/Kon-Tiki-Across-Pacific-Thor-Heyerdahl/dp/0671726528/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519669788&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=kon-tiki%3A+across+the+pacific+by+rift

Amazon Movie Link: https://www.amazon.com/Kon-Tiki-P%C3%A5l-Sverre-Hagen/dp/B00EBGUPMC/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1519670255&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=Kon-Tiki+movie

This is it, yes? I must read this.

http://www.amazon.com/In-Sunburned-Country-Bill-Bryson/dp/0767903862

Godforsaken Sea - About the Vendee globe race of '96-97

Close to the wind - The same race as above, but from the perspective of Pete Goss

Kon Tiki - Slightly different subject, but similiar period and feeling to the two you mentioned.

Anyone interested in Vanuatu, I highly recommend reading Getting Stoned With Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost

Yeah, that has crossed my mind due to Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country," but I have to assume that's possible if 2,430 live regular season games of baseball are within reach each year.

I plan on watching the new Dev Patel move, Lion, but want to get through the book first - just started it!

There are so many tales of such for Everest, many of which are not exactly pretty. I am not sure how anyone can point fingers to her under such extreme conditions.


Still, I think her response (respect different voices, but disagree the thinking behind such questions) is pretty measured and diplomatic - I guess it comes from being a teacher?

Holding the Man by Timothy Conigrave.

http://www.amazon.com/Holding-Man-Timothy-Conigrave/dp/0978825950

Conigrave's memoir is brutally beautiful and captures the wonder and devastation of the era with unexpected honesty.

I thought that Dead Lucky was more moving.

J. Maarten Troost's "travel" books:

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Getting Stoned with Savages

and Lost on Planet China

[OP didn't write that but you're still in luck.] (https://smile.amazon.com/Sunburned-Country-Bill-Bryson/dp/0767903862)

I had just finished
Mawson and the Icemen.

https://www.amazon.com/Mawson-Heroic-Scott-Shackleton-Amundsen-ebook/dp/B005TD2OPC

Which book is it, this one? http://www.amazon.com/Kon-Tiki-Across-Pacific-Thor-Heyerdahl/dp/0671726528

The men on the Kon Tiki drank turtle blood IIRC. I do know the author said there was plenty of fish and plankton to be eaten simply by skimming the water with mesh pantyhose.

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

you mean this book didn't cover everything?

I'm mentioned in this book.

Demult. Iti recomand o carte.

If anyone wants to read more about this, I recommend a book called The Brown Agenda. It opened my eyes at least.

The thing that's going on at News Corp right now is total, total desperation over this digital stuff

Michael Wolff, author of The Man Who Owns the News, an authorised biography of Rupert Murdoch.

Damnit.. it's completely vile, and I'm loathe to admit it, but when it comes to internationally iconic songs [La Macarena]() should be on or near the top of the list.

Seriously, cassette tapes of that piece of shit actually made it to Kiribati in around 2003. For years that song by itself was the entire music scene of that tiny island nation. Most of those people didn't even have a radio, but they could sing along to that song if it was played.

I refuse to link it out of protest.

Edit: Source: The Sex Lives of Cannibals