Smiths Alternative Bookshop - part of beautiful, clever, thoughtful, political Canberra

Click here to see our latest catalogues and check out the events in the events information page just above these words (and to the left a little)

Click here to see information on our 2010 Book Clubs.

Click here for information on POETRY IN THE SHOP EVERY WEDNESDAY BETWEEN 1PM & 2Pm

21 Jan 2010 Who likes Irish tucker?? Who think that Irish food is basically potatoes and bread and .... lamb and....well that's about it. Well you (like me) are WRONG. This book (The Country Cooking of Ireland ) has all the Irish food and it is fantastic - OK some of it might be nouveau Irish cuisine but it is still good - things like Marinated Venison Loin or Crubeen Tortellini with Almond Butter or even Dublin Coddle and good old fashioned Ulster Fry! sláinte & Éirinn go Brách & Póg mo thóin!

13 Jan 2010 Baby it's hot in here because our air conditioner has BROKEN DOWN AAARRRRGGGHHHH (It will be fixed by Friday). But that's Ok because lots of novels and books are about hot things and sweaty difficult situations. Although our books on Antartica have all melted, the gardening section looks a bit sad (except for the books on sustainable gardening), the books in the environment section look very concerned, the books in the politics area are all fighting among themselves and the books on global warming are all looking very smug indeed.

Also we have free samplers of the 2010 Musica Viva concert series - available with every purchase.

9 Jan 2010 Remember we have a whole heap of local Zines here. See what the emerging poets, authors, satirists and drawers are emerging with, these people are in the main unfettered. We also have some very Indi CDs by local bands and musos. Come in and see and listen and feel and then buy. What is a Zine? Huh?

7 Jan 2010 Can you pick the subliminal message hidden in the comments below?
Canberra's big shopping centres are all the same, buy books, reading is good for you, buy books, drugs are bad, buy books, smoking kills, buy books, governments often have no idea, buy books, big banks are blood sucking parasites of society, buy books, the people who work in banks are fine people it is the senior management of big banks who aren't, buy books, big retail developers aren't very nice, buy books, most people on the planet are poor, buy books, most people on the planet are nice enough, buy books, love hurts sometimes, buy books, climate change is real, buy books, woman and men are different, buy books, kids are our future, buy books, rap music is awful, buy books, vegetarians are not weird, buy books, it doesn't matter what is causing climate change what matters is what we are doing about it, buy books, Gay and Lesbian people are not always obvious, buy books, racism exists in every society, buy books, glass is often fragile, buy books, coffee is good for you unless you drink a lot of it, buy books, chocolate is the way to a woman's heart, buy books, sex sells, buy books, the Canberra Roller Derby is awesome, buy books, Antarctica is very cold, buy books, smiths alternative bookshop is also awesome, buy books, people from Belconnen look down their noses on people from Tuggeranong, buy books, people from central Canberra and Weston Creek don't care about Belconnen or Tuggeranong, buy books, Queanbeyan should be visited at least once a year, buy books, Pauline Hanson wasn't that clever but struck a chord with other not clever people, buy books, folk music will always have a place, buy books, James Joyce is awesome but cannot be understood by many people, buy books, Shakespeare was very impressive, buy books, Tim Winton is very, very Australian, buy books, never trust big business, buy books, most people don't like the Australian Taxation Office but it is actually pretty good, buy books, the Chairman of the ACCC has no idea about small business, buy books, a well rounded community has lots of independent shops and cafes, buy books, an interesting community has strip shopping, buy books, Canberra is not designed that well, buy books, Koalas are cute but only to look at, buy books, toy poodle crosses make excellent pets, buy books, the Wig and Pen pub is the place to drink beer, buy books, getting really old sucks, buy books, teenagers can be hard work but very interesting, buy books, possessive parents are asking for trouble, buy books, glandular fever is awful and should be avoided, buy books, Buddhism sells very well, buy books, books about conservative politicians do not sell well, buy books, books about kites make people happy, buy books, bread and cheese with a green salad makes a nice meal, buy books, a meat pie at a footy game is pretty good, buy books, life has ups and downs, buy books, enjoy the ups, buy books, manage the downs, buy books, watch out for too much chemicals in your food, buy books, if you buy books from the internet then society will fail, buy books, broccolini is better than broccoli, buy books, Australia has excellent food and restaurants, buy books, George Bush was an idiot, buy books, Winston Churchill had a full life, buy books, Leonard Cohen is the greatest poet ever, buy books, poetry is making a comeback, buy books, tree houses are cool, buy books, hairdressing salons are nice places to be, buy books, good friends care about your well being, buy books, fathers are also important, buy books, violence is bad, buy books, a yo-yo fad hasn't been seen in many years, buy books, fast food, to be honest, is not that healthy, buy books, at a piece of fruit every day, buy books, mangoes are excellent fruit, buy books, a good movie is worth seeing, buy books, special effects can be awesome, buy books,

Think about it and buy books..................OK!

29 December - what will sell in 2010? We haven't got a clue but we reckon it might be that book being written by that woman about that stuff. Or it could be:

The First Rule by Robert Crais. Joe Pike and Elvis Cole set out on an investigation that entangles them both in a web of ancient grudges, blood ties, blackmail, vengeance, double crosses, and cut throat criminality.

Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky. High school principal Susan Tate's daughter is pregnant, and now folks are wondering whether Tate is sufficiently in control to be running their school.

Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage, by Elizabeth
Gilbert. Gilbert's memoir is a clear-eyed celebration of love with all the complexity and consequence that real love, in the real world, actually entails. (nonfiction)

A Whisper to the Living by Stuart Kaminsky. Porfiry Rostnikov, the chief inspector of Russia's Office of Special Investigations, pursues a serial killer-the Bitsevsky Maniac.

MThe Unbearable Lightness of Scones: A 44 Scotland Street Novel by (of course)Alexander McCall Smith. The witty and utterly delightful follow-up to the national bestseller, The World According to Bertie.

A Fair Maiden Joyce Carol Oates, Sixteen-year-old Katya is spending the summer working as a nanny in a wealthy Jersey Shore community when she meets Marcus Kidder and a bizarre romance ensues.
Preston, Douglas. Impact. Former CIA operative Wyman Ford returns in this thriller involving radioactive gemstones, a meteorite, and murder.

Doors Open by Ian Rankin. Three art-loving friends-a retired software mogul, a bored banker, and an art professor-aim to liberate several paintings from the National Gallery.

Noah's Compass Anne Tyler. One man's search for wholeness and redemption as he picks up the shards of a life shattered by the crashing waves of aging.

February
Secret Whispers - V. C. Andrews. The second and final book in the Heavenstone series.

Secrets of Eden: A Novel - Chris Bohjalian, . . Alice gets baptized and goes home to her husband, who kills her and then himself-but is her death what it seems?

On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System. Henry M. Paulson. Paulson's first-person retelling of the key decisions that had to be made with lightning speed during the perfect economic storm. (nonfiction)

Big Girl. Danielle Steel. Danielle Steel celebrates the virtues of unconventional beauty while exploring deeply resonant issues of weight, self-image, sisterhood, and family.

MARCH
Caught - Harlen Coben. A reporter who chases down sexual predators starts questioning her rush to judgement after a child advocate she helps get arrested later disappears, evidently victimized by vigilantes.

The Silent Sea: A Novel of the Oregon Files - Clive Cussler. On the lookout for a crashed satellite, Juan Cabrillo finds something shocking that leads him to another discovery made in the 1940s-and then to a Chinese curse hundreds of years old.

Deception: An Alex Delaware Novel. Jonathan Kellerman. Milo Sturgis receives a DVD of a battered woman who accuses several fellow teachers at an exclusive private school of horrific sexual predation-later she is found dead.

House Rules: A Novel - Jodi Picoult. The story of a teenager with Asperger's syndrome-a smart, quirky kid with a passion for crime scene analysis-who winds up on trial for murder.

That's enough predicting for now (although we do predict there will be an election this year - ssshhhh, you heard it here first)

23 December - what is selling? Well! Birds of Canberra Gardens is selling like hot cakes - mainly because it is excellent and would create and support conversations around the outside setting about the birds that surround us all.

Invention of the Jewish People is selling like hot bagels - mainly because it is controversial - a best seller in Israel.

How to Make Trouble and Influence People is selling like hot dogs at a sit in - mainly because it is about making trouble.

16 December 2009 Our Xmas Catalogue is now available here . Some of the books include:
John Dies at the End by David Wong - the latest Indie fiction from New York.

Our Circus Presents by Lucian Dan Teodorovici. Nice translation of a deep and thoughtful book. (The catalogue contains a nice mix of foreign fiction, that has been translated of course, you silly duffers.)

Preserving the Italian Way by Pietro Demaio. Some nice pickling and bottling being done here.


14 December 2009 - Xmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, who'll put a book in the old man's hat, if you haven't got a book then a local zine will do, if you haven't got a zine then god bless you.

We hope all our customers and even our non customers have a great Xmas and an excellent 2010 with the necessary ups and downs to help you know you are alive. May the downs not be too far down and may the ups be long lasting.

Performance Poetry EVENT Thursday 3 December at 6.00pm. We in Canberra are very aware of performance based pay but what is better and fairer and easier to show is good old fashioned Performance based poetry. This book is by the poetically named Kylie-Maree Weston-Scheuber. Bring the kids and have a great time - This book on performance poetry would make a great present - one good reason is that it doesn't need a battery or any power at all except the power of the brain and the body - and that is a lot of power!!!

12 November 2009 - sorry for no recent updates as the doer of this page has been away in the land of the great speckled Kiwi, the green lipped mussel, the extinct moa and the whitebait sandwich - that's right, New Zealand, great place.

But we are selling tickets for the next roller derby on 21 November and have almost sold out so you better get in quick!!!

10 October 2009 Woooahh - we have sold out of all our Roller Derby tickets - apparently they have sold over 800 tickets - and we have had over 50 phone calls from people wanting more!! Roller Derby in Canberra is more popular than Bon Jovie or the Beatles!!! See Whip It which is a book about an indie roller derby chick to see just why it is sooooo popular.

EVENTS COMING SOON include those that may, or may not, interest people like Writers, Patriots, Astrologers, Poets and Roller Derbyers as well as just ordinary people like me and you.

Thursday 22nd October 6pm:
"undertow: FIRST 2009" - creative writing from U.C. students.
Join us for an evening of readings and live music with poet Melinda Smith and singer/songwriter Cathy Petocz (http://www.cathypetocz.com). Now we don't want to start an inter-varsity war but we also launched the ANU "Block" anthology here. So please DO NOT ASK the question about which one is better - they're all brilliant, OK. Anyway what is this? We aren't some corporation looking for market leverage through pain and suffering. Can't everyone just live peacefully together? (Actually there is no war we just thought we would say this to try and start one and create unethical interest in the event - we know it won't work ..... or will it.....

Thursday 5th November 7pm:
The ACT Fabian Society presents the launch of "Reclaiming Patriotism: Nation Building for Australian Progressives" by Tim Soutphommasane. The book has just arrived in the shop and looks to be well worth a read so come and have a look.
http://www.soutphommasane.com.au/home/book
http://www.fabian.org.au/1.asp

Wednesday 11th November 6pm:
Shane Holst launches his book "Sex, Love, Intimacy & Ego By the Stars: What Astrologers Dare Not Tell You". This is not your average astrology book! This book is astrologically accurate, sharply written, irreverent, a little mischievous and strongly aspiring to keep the readers interest and fascination through providing witty and deep insights. We reckon this event will be lots of fun, and the author has promised games!

Wine and nibblies will be provided at all these events, so come along after work!

We are also selling tickets to the Canberra Roller Derby on Sat 24th October - $10 each.

MORE Exciting news: Fiona McIlroy will become our first Poet in Residence! She will start sometime around late November. Fiona has been running a poetry group at Carlos in Watson which will move here, let us know if you are interested.


GREAT EVENT EVENT EVENT 'The Music of Dissent: Songs of Struggle and Solidarity' HAS ROUSED A LOCAL RABBLE

Yep we changed the times, we blew in the wind, we counted what we were fighting for, we lifted the roof with the Internationnale, we went looking for where all the flowers had gone and if we had a hammer we would have been hammering in the morning, the evening and, well, all over the land. Thank you Margaret and Graeme and the people who turned up!!

EVENT EVENT EVENT 'The Music of Dissent: Songs of Struggle and Solidarity' - Come gather round people where ever you roam and come to this bookshop you can confirm your attendance by phone - or email or even drop into the shop and tell us.

On Friday 25 September at 6.30pm (cost $20) we have a performance of intelligent thought creating and entertaining songs performed by Margaret O'Connor and Graeme Adler*. Their music will draw upon material with some themes that were once a focus of free thinking clever, intelligent people and have finally returned as true issues of our time - songs with gender, feminist, environmental, anti-war and civil rights protest themes. On this, the fortieth anniversary of Woodstock, bring your protest banners, peace signs, and stories about dissent and activism and enjoy or perhaps even sing-a-long. (We could even have a new Woodstock experience and 12,000 people could turn up!)

*Margaret O'Connor and Graeme Adler are two prodigiously talented local Canberra performers who play violin, guitar, keyboard, sing, recite poetry, compose music, improvise, organize rallies, plan revolutions, and much more. Their music has been a useful adjunct to their activism - Graeme went to his first Vietnam war protest rally at fourteen and Margaret has been National Spokesperson for Friends of the ABC. They are rabble rousers with talent - if you always wanted to be part of a rabble that is roused come to this event!

The 2009 Booker Prize Shortlist has been announced
Here is a link to the Guardian Website with the current odds.
Odds on: the Booker's favourites

What is selling this month (August09)?

Friendly Fire by Alaa Al Aswany. (does he have more letter a's in his name than any other author??)


Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. The name says it all.


Ghostly Subjects by Maria Takolander.


The Briefest English Grammar Ever by Ruth Colman. For English speakers who didn't learn English at school.


M Is For Metal by Paul McNeil and Barry Divola. The loudest alphabet book on earth.

19 August 2009 We are selling some of our books for 80% discount !!!!! OMG has the owner gone mad? Well? Has he? Does he even know??? Well, you see, what happened is we are over stocked and we have a stock take and we decided to move some of the older stock (although still of the highest quality). Thus we have a select sale of books. You better hurry or they'll all be gone. Our sale includes books like:
VINYL CAFE UNPLUGGED now only $6.00 instead of $29.95.

RUNNING HOT now only $5.60 instead of $27.95.

TRAVELLING ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIA now only $5.00 instead of $24.95. How did this book stay on the shelf so long?? Huh? This isn't a rhetorical question, we really want to know - WHY?

and a lot more books of this calibre and (sadly) price.

Nice picture of the shop. Former Canberran Chab Gassie does pictures like this one!



and for those people that find happiness a strange thing try these books





Carbon Sequestration -(or as it is known by normal people "Carbon Storage") Smiths Alternative Bookshop has the latest in carbon storage devices and if you purchase them you could eventually sell carbon credits through the emissions trading scheme. These devices have the personal support of the Prime Minister. They store carbon in a safe steady state for extremely long periods (unless the device is burnt* or buried, in which case the carbon will be either rapidly or slowly released into the environment). Many people call these devices "books". These "books" have other parallel storage abilities, they can also store useful data, stories, fictional accounts of events and lives, history, politics, spiritual guidance and opinions. So now you can purchase a "book", join the carbon trading market, save the environment and inform or entertain yourself, and others. Or better still you could purchase a lot of books and develop a large carbon sequestration chamber of your own, also known as a "bookshelf". If your storage facility is large enough it may be called a "library". And here is a quote from one of these "books" - Between the Monster and the Saint - "Of the many illuminations of art, an important one is the way it helps us realise that we are not alone in our struggles and confusions: others have been there too, and sometimes it helps to read about what they have been through.".
* We are very opposed to the burning of books. History shows that people who burn books are likely to also undertake mass murder and genocide, as well as general destruction and suppression of free thinking. These people have also contributed to the decline of our environment.

23 July 2009 Nothing much to report. Books still selling, war still happening, governments still have no idea, most people are still honest and fair dinkum, OH YEAH, HANG ON - check this out

19 July 2009 Too many remainders have come into the shop but they are of the highest quality - either ring and ask what we have in different genres or call into the shop. And we also have some very cheap Wordsworth classics - they are excellent value. And just for something completely different -
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

14 July 2009 What's selling??? You ask? Huh? Well it is a lot of different books including:

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. This book has won several awards (prestigious awards at that) and is a novel about the relationships between children and adults, and the new Australian multicultural middle class. It involves a slap at a BBQ and the aftermath.

Celestial Gallery by Romio Shrestha & Ian Baker. We sell a lot of this most beautiful book even though it costs $139.95 (and probably $15.00 for postage). It is soul touching.

Iron Kingdom This is a history of Prussia, which is the only 'great power' of the 1800s to disappear. Why?

2666 by Nobel Prize winner Roberto Bolano. One of our more deep and literate employees ordered this in and it was a winner!!! Hooray for that staff member (but sorry no financial reward just an anonymous mention on the website).

7 July 2009 Sorry there has been such a delay between entries on this page but we have been busy with the end of financial year and (insert other lame excuses). Enough of that - Poetry is selling so well. It is just great to see a resurgence of interest in poetry - both old and new. Some poets and/or books that have been selling well include:
Taste of a Poem edited by our own local poet and poetry guru Geoff Page;

Basho The Complete Haiku and that Basho was the greatest Haiku-ist ever is probably not debateable and he continues to sell -

By lonely roads
this lonely poet marches
into autumn dusk.

Our attempt at a politically activist haiku is:
large shopping malls
chernobyl, global warming
all the same result

Taste of a Poem by our local, lovely, deep, meaningful Fiona McIlroy.

Collected Poems of Les Murray which is a huge collection of the poems of the great poet.

Our waking dreams feature money everywhere
but in our sleeping dreams
it is strange and rare.

How did money capture life
away from poetry, ideology, religion?
It didn't want our souls.

And the others that sell well include Rumi, Cohen and Neruda. Just stick their name in the search engine (to your right and up a little) and voila the book list will appear.

25 June 2009 poetry event!!! We are hosting the Canberra launch of a fabulous book of poetry, Taste of a Poem, by the wonderful Fiona McIlroy, this Monday the 29th of June, at 6pm. There will be drinks and nibblies provided, as well as music and of course, poetry.

Fiona is currently a cafe Poet in Residence at Carlos in Watson, and her poetry reflects her experiences of connection to the land, environmental activism, community involvment, and family.

Hope you can join us here on Monday.

17 June 2009 - Bob Ellis The iconic iconoclast, Mr Bob Ellis was excellent! Challenging, forthright, controversial and deeply thoughful. We believe he talks like Leonard Cohen sings (we mean that as a compliment), he walks the walk like Jack Kerouac and he puts pen to paper in a way that might attract comparisons with Hunter S Thompson. But we do know he is a hard man to offend because he is ALWAYS offended by something that is offensive. And so it went. Buy the book, discover stuff you didn't know, have a chuckle, be informed, be outraged, maybe be offended - it is well worth the read.

16 June 2009 - Bob Ellis Yep tonight at 6pm the iconoclast hisself, Mr Bob Ellis talking about his latest book And so it went. "It seems little of our life on earth and the heroes we briefly worship that Bob Ellis, rumpled, ubiquitous court jester, has not thought about or illumined with warmth, commonsense and occasional gusts of humour." Will he say something controversial? Is my insurance policy up to date? I'll just go check - See you here.

7 June 2009 EVENT, EVENT. EVENT WAS SUCCESSFUL!!! The launch of Block #8 was a happening event.

1 June 2009 EVENT, EVENT. EVENT!!! YEP an event is happening right here in this shop The launch of the ANU's fabulous literary journal Block #8 is happening on Thursday 4th July 2009 at 6PM - be here or be no where!!!!! Wine/Food/Poetry/Prose/People/Emerging writers/Stuff

Here is a poem that may have made the Block #8 but didn't because it wasn't entered (a small oversight) but it will be entered for inclusion in Block #9 and it better be included or there will be hell to pay!!!!

As Leonard Cohen may see the issue
if you do not wish to think, if you do not want to choose
then let a stranger pick your make-up and also select your shoes
and do without the sky and wind and see not when it rains
see no begging blind men but see some shallow pain
and see the same old same old every day and the same old every night
constant-ness is nice for some and there is no cause to fight
we all become that citizen that is made to consume
everything is all in view, the goods, the lights, the room
and in the end we will end not by bombs or calamity
we'll be ruined by our sameness and our long stemmed vanity

so rejoice before the altar of mediocrity
and sing the songs we know so well and drink that ersatz tea
and park our cars and pay our dues
and test the rouge and the sugared perfumes
and let's all come when they say come all
and ruin every soul at the shopping mall.


One of our favourite sites.
Former Canberran Chab Gassie has a new site. We like it.

Operation Bludgeon: Operative Journal

and he (Chab Gassie) likes 100 Animals To See Before You Die.

28 May 2009 - Hooray! Graeme Barrow has released his new and updated and latest book on bush walks in Tidbinbilla Exploring Tidbinbilla on Foot Yep Graeme has probably worn out a hundred pair of shoes and three compasses putting this together. The 2003 bushfires destroyed all the old tracks and here are the new ones.

20 May 2009 What's selling? And why? Well to start off with it is Coffee, hot chocolate and Tea which you can't really buy on line (although if you want we will post it to you). In the way of books we are selling:
The Brain that Changes Itself this is a very interesting book about how the brain heals itself, perhaps we could organise some of this activity for some CEOs of banks and big businesses because they have brains that definitely need changing.

Transform your Life by Kelsang Gyatso, Geshe. Maybe CEOs of banks and large companies should read this book and discover a better life or a better way to live their lives?

The Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping 2009. This is selling very well and (you may have already guessed the next comment) the CEOs of large banks and of large supermarkets need to get a copy because they ARE NOT in it and they should transform their lives, change their brains and get into this book.

The Accidental Guerrilla which is about terrorism and how it works (please insert appropriate comment concerning CEOs and terrorism here).

Book of Longing by the great, the fabulous, the well liked Leonard Cohen!!! Wouldn't it be great if that great man became a CEO of a bank, yes I know the bank may go broke but it would do so in a most poetic and thought provoking way. Halleleujiah .... Halleleujiah .....Halleleujiah ....hal lay lew ooooohhhh yar!!


15 may 2009 We recently did another survey of the noises and things we hear from our customers when they walk around the shop. Here are the top five:

1- Wow wee that is fantastic, really really really fantastic

2- Oh My God Oh My God Oh My God oh my god oh my god

3- yes yes yes yes oh ohh ohhhh ohhhhh ohhhhh yes more more more - sorry that's enough please stop

4- yeeerrrkk, I just hate those shopping malls, thank god for shops like this one, oh check out this weird book

5- hicka wicka slicka ticka shreeeeee

Proving that 1 in five of our customers is odd.

4 May 2009 - A selection for dear old Mums (Mothers' day is on the way!!!)

My Brick Oven - lots of Mothers are forever using ovens but we reckon they might want to build their own brick oven. ......

On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt - have Mothers had to deal with shit all their lives? Well have they?? Certainly in the first year or so of my life my Mother dealt with my shit and then when I was a teenager she dealt with further shit so here for Mums is a simple book on the other shit they encounter in life, good old fashioned BULLSHIT!

A Decapitated Coffee Please This books is hilarious and Mothers will love it and use it to hang shit on their kids and partners, you know, they say stuff like "Oh I remember the time when you were 3 and you said 'Mummy can I have a shit sandwich' and other fond memories.

British Fashion Designers: Paper Dolls This is for the more the more traditional Mother.

Gigs from Hell Lots of Mothers went to rock concerts when they were young (some still do) and we are sure they behaved extremely badly, perhaps even got pregnant and had YOU? Maybe your father is Mick Jagger?? (yeah maybe). This book will bring back memories, ask her to tell you some.

Ethical Shopping This is for women who don't do the shopping so they can tell their partners what to buy.

1 May 2009 Today is May Day and to celebrate you may buy a book. How about this socially aware publication? The Voice is a journal of comment and review which hopes to suggest ways to make a more democratic, participatory and culturally rich world and be part of the processes involved in such changes. Voice seeks to increase the relevance of Ozlit and support the independence of social comment. It is edited by Bill Tully (who does a lot of different things for our community); Ian McFarlane (novelist, poet and critic); and Stephen Matthews (owner of Ginninderra Press). To read a sample issue (available in read-only PDF format), Click here. or you can Click here to buy the latest copy.


We love this book - From Little Things Big Things Grow (Vincent Lingiari must have been an amazingly tough, insightful, forward thinking, patient statesman and the people who wrote this song and did this book are also worthy worthy people)........From Little Things Big Things Grow................From Little Things Big Things Grow................From Little Things Big Things Grow................From Little Things Big Things Grow!!...... (see here for the lyrics)


EVENT Friday 26th April, 6pm. Gen Kelsang Rabten will do a talk on 'Transform your life' by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. The National Spiritual Director of Kadampa Buddism of Australia, Gen Kelsang Rabten has studied meditation for 10 years. He has travelled widely, by taking different positions within the discipline. He is now teaches in various places throughout Australia. On Friday he will be introducing the wonderful book 'Transform Your Life'.

"The best-selling title, Transform Your Life is a relevant and practical guide to help solve our daily problems and attain pure happiness from within. Beautifully written and magically inspiring, Transform Your Life is a must for anyone that wishes for everlasting peace and happiness."

TWITTER - yep we are now on Twitter as Smithsaltbooks. Follow us and we will follow you! (Will it actually be done? We don't know)

What's Selling? Try these fancy books that we seem to have sold more of then we expected: The Canberra & Queanbeyan Cycling & Walking Map (we are a fit lot of people here in Canberra (& Queanbeyan)) .............. The Brain That Changes Itself ........ Zen-Brain Reflections ........ Valley of Grace .........Sea of Poppies ............. .........The Anatomy of Wings by the fabulously credited, award winning colourful author Karen Foxlee ................. .........Food for Thought - very clever use of fruit and veges ........................ .........The Onion's Our Dumb World ................ .........The Great Family Songbook".

EVENT- On Friday 20th March, 6.30pm to 9.30pm Fund Raiser: To help raise awareness and funds towards the wellbeing of indigenous communities in Altai - Central Asia. Altai is known as the 'Pearl of Asia' and is situated in the middle of Euroasia. Its rugged beauty, diverse ecosystems and the local indigenous people of the Altai Republic are under threat from Russian land reforms. Help over 80,000 indigenous people protect their way of life and their ancestral lands. Musicians: Bunna Lawrie is the singer of legendary Aboriginal band 'Coloured Stone'. Trio Encuentro comprises of three talented Latin American musicians that will enchant patrons with their melodies and acoustic guitars.

EVENT- On Thursday 19 March, 5.30pm for 6.00pm - In Government we Trust: Market Failure and the Delusions of Privatisation Come to the book launch and hear author and academic Jane Andrew speak on this important topic. There is a mounting disquiet throughout liberal democracies with the social and political consequences of aggressive free marker economies.
While we began to feel the effects of market meltdown with the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the USA, the authors suggest that events surrounding crises such as the curent economic crisis, 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are stark examples of market failure. This book is a timely investigation of the dangers of unfettered markets and the high-profile markers failures and crises brought about by the privatisation of core public services. In many ways this book says "DON'T TRUST BIG BANKS AND BIG BUSINESS" - we at Smiths Bookshop agree totally!

For archived news stories click here