April 18 - 24, 2021: Issue 490
NLA Ebooks - Free to download
The National Library of Australia provides access to thousands of ebooks through its website, catalogue and eResources service. These include our own publications and digitised historical books from our collections as well as subscriptions to collections such as Chinese eResources, Early English Books Online and Ebsco ebooks.
What are ebooks?
Ebooks are books published in an electronic format. They can be read by using a personal computer or an ebook reader.
This guide will help you find and view different types of ebooks in the National Library collections.
Peruse the NLA's online ebooks, ready to download -
HEREOf Gold and Dust
A memoir of a creative life
by Samantha Wills
Allen and Unwin, March 2021: $32.99
A beautifully written, revealing memoir from one of Australia's most popular and successful business women, Samantha Wills.
I tried so hard to find balance between my creative career and my personal life, but the more I tried to separate them, the more balance eluded me. It was only when I began to fuse the two that I realised there is no such thing as having a creative career and a personal life - there is only a creative life. That realisation, and the freedom it gave me, remains one of the most significant of my life.
Samantha Wills started her self-titled jewellery company on the kitchen table of her share house in the eastern suburbs of Sydney when she was just 21 years old. While her rise to the global stage looked meteoric to many, Samantha has said 'It took me twelve years to become an overnight success.'
Following Samantha's journey, from being named a breakout star by The New York Times to barely being able to breathe on a hotel room floor, Of Gold and Dust is so much more than a business memoir. In her unique, confessional tone, Samantha tells the intimate details of her life and business, sharing her truths with a rare rawness and vulnerability.
Funny, down-to-earth, revealing and heartfelt, Of Gold and Dust is a must-read for anyone who has a desire to start their own business, or a passion to live a creative life and follow their dreams. Her story is an inspiring blueprint for getting out there and finding the magic that awaits you.
Samantha Wills has been in the spotlight as one of Australia's most dynamic speakers and creative personalities since launching her self-titled jewellery brand at Australian Fashion Week in 2004, at just 21 years of age. Samantha has spent the last decade in New York City. Having just returned home to Australia, she now resides in NSW as a creative director and keynote speaker.
How to Endo
A guide to surviving and thriving with endometriosis
by Bridget Hustwaite
Allen and Unwin, March 2021: $29.99
A vibrant, empowering guide to surviving and thriving with endometriosis, from triple j presenter and endometriosis advocate Bridget Hustwaite.
After years of dismissive doctors and misinformation, Bridget Hustwaite finally received a diagnosis for her intensely heavy periods, pulsing headaches and the excruciating abdominal pain that makes her ovaries feel like they are on fire. She has endometriosis - hard to pronounce, hard to diagnose and even harder to live with.
Two excision surgeries and one thriving endo Instagram community later, Bridget knows firsthand how much personal research and self-advocating endo sufferers have to do just to have their pain acknowledged. With her trademark enthusiasm, Bridget has blended her own experience with a raft of tips and strategies from health experts and endo warriors to help you thrive whenever you can, and survive on days when you just can't. Covering everything from diet to acupuncture, fertility to mental health, and surgery to sex, How to Endo is the essential guide to navigating this sucker punch of a chronic illness.
Inspiring, vivacious and completely honest, Bridget's book is for everyone on the endo spectrum: the battle-hardened warriors, the newly diagnosed and those still searching for answers.
Bridget Hustwaite is the Melbourne-based host of triple j's flagship new music program, Good Nights. While she remains a trusted and respected voice in the music industry, Bridget also uses her platform to raise awareness for endometriosis, a condition with which she was diagnosed in 2018. Following the outpouring of support she received for sharing her story on triple j, Bridget launched the Instagram account @endogram, which aims to educate and start conversations about endometriosis with its 20K+ followers.
50 Risks to Take With Your Kids - A guide to building resilience and independence in the first 10 years
by Daisy Turnbull
Hardie Grant Books, February 2021: $24.99
50 Risks to Take With Your Kids is a guide for parents and carers to nurture resilience and independence in kids as they learn to take their own risks. For anyone who wants to combat helicopter parenting and a bubble-wrapped generation, Daisy Turnbull offers an easy-to-use framework with simple, practical challenges for children aged up to 10 years old.
In 50 Risks to Take With Your Kids, you'll find risks that build physical skills, social confidence and character development before kids enter those 'risky' teenage years. You'll also find some all-important parenting risks that will encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and think a little differently about raising children. It may sound counterintuitive to say that the more opportunities you give children to test boundaries, the better they will 'adult', but it's true. The more they are allowed to play in the mud, create games and find their own solutions to problems, the more they will thrive later in life.
Peppered with Daisy's own experiences in teaching, wellbeing and parenting, this warm and funny book is not about developmental KPIs, and it's certainly not about judgement. It's about teaching kids to recognise and assess risks themselves, and readying them to take on life and all that it brings. And it's about having fun and connecting as a family along the way.
Daisy Turnbull is the director of wellbeing at St Catherine's School, Sydney.
Children's Storytime at Mona Vale Library
Mona Vale Library offers storytime for pre-school children every week during school terms. Children and their carers come and participate in a fun sing-a-long with our story teller as well as listen to several stories in each session, followed by some craft. Storytime is held in the Pelican Room of the library in front of the service desk. Storytime is free and no bookings are required. Storytime Sessions
Tuesdays 10.00am - 11.00am
Wednesdays 10.00am - 11.00am
Thursdays 10.00am - 11.00am