The Warrior Queen is a subversive, funny novel about modern middle-class marriage. Kate Wildburn is in trouble. She is an extrovert, a lateral thinker and a talented pianist. She is also a good wife and mother, and an attractive woman who enjoys being a woman. Richard, her surgeon husband, is balding, aggressive, hard on his children – and is he having an affair? The Warrior Queen is a subversive look at modern middle-class marriage, a guerrilla war of the sexes fought in well-heeled Auckland among the trendy homes and chic cafes of Remmers and Parnell. With her fine ear for male bluster and female bitchiness, and her subtle observations of family life, Barbara Else has created an elegant black comedy to entertain – and warn – readers from either of the warring camps.
Chosen. Saviour. Queen Reeling after the battle of Black Court, Saraya must come to terms with the decision she has made. But the Green Reaper is still out there and with all his cunning, will stop at nothing to destroy everything she holds dear. All Saraya has is her mother's frantic instructions and her own sheer strength of will. She must win Lobrathia back at all costs or the entire human realm will fall. But at what cost? Join Saraya and Drake on their epic romantic adventure in the final instalment of The Warrior Midwife Trilogy. Please note that due to mature themes, this novel is best suited to readers ages 18 and over *Illustrated cover is a separate listing
Gianna Romano is known as the African Italian American high fashion icon. She is famous for her outrageous behaviour and colourful life choices. In reality, she is a woman with no racial identity, a dysfunctional family, and the victim of a horrific rape.
Award-winning epic ecofantasy, like Avatar crossed with The Handmaid’s Tale. Perfection kills. But only one misfit girl and 50,000 bees can see the deadly truth. ‘Beautiful yet tense… continually surprising and exciting.’ 10 out of 10 The Booklife Prize Condemned to permanent childhood and servitude while her peers pass the Maturity Test, Mielitta the foundling, expects her eighteenth birthday to be just another drab day in the Citadel. The first shock is a mysterious gift. The second is murder. The third is Mielitta’s transformation by bee stings in the Forbidden Forest. With her new bee-shifting powers, Mielitta sees the world differently. This bond works both ways and the bees need Mielitta’s help as the enmity grows more violent between Forest and Citadel. Time is running out. Block Nature out and she'll force a way in. ‘Fabulous world-building and spellbinding intrigue,’ Karen Inglis 5***** 2020 Kindle Book and Wishing Shelf Awards Finalist. 2020 Royal Dragonfly and IPPY Award winner. Queen of the Warrior Bees is the first book in a completed young adult epic fantasy series ideal for readers who love stories involving: nature, classic fairy tales, sorcerer competitions, dystopian settings, slow-burn romance, and elemental magic.
In 1978, Harvey Milk asked Gilbert Baker to create a unifying symbol for the growing gay rights movement, and on June 25 of that year, Baker's Rainbow Flag debuted at San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day Parade. Baker had no idea his creation would become an international emblem of liberation, forever cementing his pivotal role in helping to define the modern LGBTQ movement. Rainbow Warrior is Baker's passionate personal chronicle, from a repressive childhood in 1950s Kansas to a harrowing stint in the US Army, and finally his arrival in San Francisco, where he bloomed as both a visual artist and social justice activist. His fascinating story weaves through the early years of the struggle for LGBTQ rights, when he worked closely with Milk, Cleve Jones, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Baker continued his flag-making, street theater and activism through the Reagan years and the AIDS crisis. And in 1994, Baker spearheaded the effort to fabricate a mile-long Rainbow Flag—at the time, the world's longest—to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York City. Gilbert and parade organizers battled with Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the right to carry it up Fifth Avenue, past St. Patrick's Cathedral. Today, the Rainbow Flag has become a worldwide symbol of LGBTQ diversity and inclusiveness, and its colorful hues have illuminated landmarks from the White House to the Eiffel Tower to the Sydney Opera House. Gilbert Baker often called himself the "Gay Betsy Ross," and readers of his colorful, irreverent, and deeply personal memoir will find it difficult to disagree.
The Dark Swan series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Richelle Mead is together at last in this complete bundle! Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants... Storm Born--Book One Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl's got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy--one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie's first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it. Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne'er-do-well, and the ones who don't want to knock her up want her dead. She finds formidable allies in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her... Thorn Queen--Book Two Eugenie Markham is paid to bind and banish creatures from the Otherworld. But after her last battle, she's also become queen of the Thorn Land. It's hardly an envious life, not with her kingdom in tatters, her love life in chaos, and Eugenie eager to avoid the prophecy about her firstborn destroying mankind. And now young girls are disappearing from the Otherworld, and no one--except Eugenie--seems willing to find out why. Eugenie has spilled plenty of fey blood in her time, but this enemy is shrewd, subtle, and nursing a very personal grudge. And the men in her life aren't making things any easier. Her boyfriend Kiyo is preoccupied with his pregnant ex, and sexy fey king Dorian always poses a dangerous distraction. With or without their help, Eugenie must venture deep into the Otherworld and trust in an unpredictable power she can barely control. Reluctant queen or not, Eugenie has sworn to do her duty--even if it means facing the darkest--and deadliest--side of her nature... Iron Crowned--Book Three Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land's queen, she's fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear... Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown's ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril... Shadow Heir--Book Four Eugenie Markham strives to keep the mortal realm safe from trespassing entities. But as the Thorn Land's prophecy-haunted queen, there's no refuge for her and her soon-to-be-born-children when a mysterious blight begins to devastate the Otherworld... The spell-driven source of the blight isn't the only challenge to Eugenie's instincts. Fairy king Dorian is sacrificing everything to help, but Eugenie can't trust the synergy drawing them back together. The uneasy truce between her and her shape shifter ex-lover Kiyo is endangered by secrets he can't--or won't--reveal. And as a formidable force rises to also threaten the human world, Eugenie must use her own cursed fate as a weapon--and risk the ultimate sacrifice...
Books in the Life of a Child explores the value of books and reading in the stimulation of children's imagination and their fundamental importance in the development of language and true literacy. It examines not only the vast range of children's books available but also how to introduce young people to the joys of reading in the home, the school and in the community. The book has been written as a resource for all adults, especially teachers, student teachers, librarians and parents, and those who care about the value of literature for children. It is a comprehensive and critical guide, with chapters on the history of children's literature and an analysis of its many forms and genres, from poetry, fairytale, myth, legend and fantasy, through realistic and historical fiction, to humour, pulp fiction and information books.
""No popular culture. No gossip. Loved it."" -Clare Stephenson ""l like the history in this book"" -Michael Nally We spend a summer with an unlikely collection of strangers for whom, for whatever reason, the past is important; but it is more important than they imagine. The strands of their lives unexpectedly interweave. Each is a piece of a living jig-saw. They eventually put us in the picture. These extraordinary, ordinary people share with us a world where life's casual and inexplicable mysteries are discussed and accepted as commonplace. O'Brien explores themes of life, death, belief in a warm-hearted and easy style that is both beguiling and funny. Her undemanding intellect brings 'ologies and 'osophies out to play. There is an unworldly, fascinating mischief afoot here. You can't help but think out of the box.
