Transit Lounge: 71 books

A fresh and sparkling book that strikes deep notes as it flows along.’ Helen Garner. ‘Like the suburb it depicts, On Brunswick Ground teems with lives at once familiar and strange, all beautifully lit by the glint and warmth of Saint Phalle’s prose. Shadowed by local tragedy, we come to care...

Cast adrift by loss, Monica Sparrow is marooned in her semi in Neasden, the so-called ‘loneliest village in London’, her home stuffed with nothing she needs. Is it time for her to finally get her house in order? Can she isolate what really matters, and clear the junk? And while it’s too late...

At the time of the construction of Borobudur in the ninth century, Buddhism had been established in Java for several centuries. Mackenzie’s Borobudur, an exquisite long poem, tells the story of its legendary architect, Gunavarman, and of Indonesia’s mystical monument with cultural understanding,...

Winner of the Travcom/Whitcoulls Travel Book of the Year 2010 Runner- up, Ashton Wylie Book Award 2010 ‘This is a wonderful story of mid-life opportunity. Jane Carswell is a courageous woman and a spirited writer. Her book is a warm invitation to us all to risk a deeper kind of journey.’...

He’s been expelled from Syria on suspicion of terrorism, been dragged from the Hungarian parliament in handcuffs and interviewed the editor-in-chief of al-Jazeera, all during a remarkable two-year journey by wheelchair across Eurasia. Walkley Award-winning journalist Ken Haley’s travels take...

‘Garry Weare is enigmatic, funny and he has an enormous conscience. He brings into the story of his Himalayan traverse a succession of vignettes about people’s lives that he meets along the way, relevant history, natural history observations and a delightful sprinkling of his inimitable sense...

James Murray recounts nine days spent in the remote and beautiful landscapes of the Northern Territory, yet this is much more than a book about bushwalking. A delicate hymn to the wilderness of Northern Australia, it is also a journey of personal exploration and self-discovery, and a passionate...

Sing, and Don’t Cry is Cate Kennedy’ s sensual and touching evocation of her time spent working as a volunteer in small town Mexico. The people in Tequisquiapan she comes to love, and their gusto for celebration, pilgrimage and family, force her to cast a penetrating light on her own Western...

‘Beautifully written and very funny, the perfect combination of Hanoi, sexual taboo and gender politics.’ Emily Maguire (Bestselling Australian author) 'Original and quirky, a warm-hearted and very funny tale of noodles, sexual longing and cultural misunderstanding in the new Vietnam'...

‘At a certain point in illness care is the only thing we have. Care for those we love, care for ourselves.’ Roger Ebert, US film critic and screen writer. ‘To be vulnerable is to live.’ In Tales from the Cancer Ward renowned filmmaker Paul Cox celebrates the beauty and fragility...

‘A powerful and mesmerising voyage into darkness. Atlantic Black creates an indelible portrait of humanity sailing towards war.’ ~ Heather Rose, Winner of the 2017 Stella PrizeIn this haunting new novel, Katerina Klova and her mother are crossing the Atlantic by ocean liner. When Anne suffers...

In June 1969 seven assisted migrants stepped out of the plane that had touched down in a strange place called Hobart. Jenny Williams was one of those adults. From that time on nothing of what they knew was of any use to them. Like newborns they had to learn to exist in a different world. Jenny's...

One woman’s adventurous search for love, meaning and connection.  In the ‘70s travel scenes of Afghanistan, India and Thailand, Elsie discovers adventure, friendship and freedom. After three years she returns to her welcoming and loving family in suburban Australia where time seems...

Two young Australians arrive unannounced on a remote Melanesian island and ask its residents if they can live with them for a year. Granted this request, cut off from the outside world, living without electricity, telephones, running water, two-way radios or even access to an ocean-going...