Australia’s Biggest Ever Gold Robbery...

1862. 8 Bushrangers. 77kg of Gold! The incredible true story of Australia’s Biggest Steal. Did that get your attention? It sure got mine. ‘Australian Heist‘ is the title of a brand new book written by James Phelps, who is quoted as being Australia’s #1 bestselling true-crime writer. I’ll admit it’s not a name I was familiar with, but I sure am now!! Written as well as any good fiction book, it really is a non-stop-page-turner, with fascinating characters, and twists all the way through. And yet this is Australian history. It really happened. And it happened in what was our ancestors era. This isn’t an official book review, and I’m not going to spoil the book for you, but I will give you the speil … On 15 June 1862, a gang of bushrangers held up a gold escort at Eugowra, just east of Forbes in new South Wales. They escaped with a pile of cash and 77 kilograms of gold, worth about $10 million today. It remains the largest gold robbery in Australian history. In this riveting re-creation of the events, James Phelps finally tells the full story of how Frank Gardiner, Ben Hall, John O’Meally, Johnny Gilbert, Henry Manns, Alexander Fordyce, John Bow and Dan Charters planned and executed the robbery – and what happened to all that gold. And the map! ‘Australian Heist’ is a thrilling, fast-paced and thoroughly modern take on one of the most extraordinary episodes in the nation’s history. Anyway here’s all the relevant book details for you: Title: Australian Heist Author: James Phelps Format: hardcover Pages: 368 pages Published: 2018 ISBN: 9781460756232 Publisher: HarperCollins Australia Buy the printed book Buy the ebook To give you full disclosure. Yes, I do work in...

Australia’s Biggest Ever Bank Robbery!...

So just when did Australia’s biggest bank robbery occur? Where did it happen? How did it happen? Who was involved? And what was the outcome and ramifications of the robbery? Can you answer any of these questions? I know I sure couldn’t. But you’ll find answers to all of these and many more in Carol Baxter’s book “Breaking the Bank“. I have recently finished reading this book, and like her other titles, it is a true page turner. As with her other titles, this is none-fiction true story is written in the style of a novel. She makes you ‘feel’ the happenings through her words, and she educates you on an amazing part of Australia’s history while doing so. I’m not going to answer the questions above … so this probably isn’t considered a “book review” as such, so I’m not sure if it qualifies for the “Australian Womens Writers Challenge“, however it is a book written by a female Australian author … so it still may. Instead of answering the questions above, I’m going to suggest you either buy or borrow a copy of the book, and read it for yourself. And while I know it is incredibly clichè to say that you won’t be disappointed, but I do truly believe that. Enjoy!! Book Details Title: Breaking the Bank: An Extraordinary Colonial Robbery Author: Carol Baxter ISBN: 9781741754490 Year: 2008 Available from: Carol’s website, and Allen & Unwin’s...

Book Review: Black Widow, Australia’s First Female Serial Killer...

On rare occasions I have done the odd book review, and as I’ve just finished reading Carol Baxter’s “Black Widow: The True Story of Australia’s First Female Serial Killer” (… and wow what a read!), here’s one more for you. Written in Carol’s usual style of “true crime” written as if it was a novel, it is rivetting and most certainly a page turner. The story follows Louisa Collins, mother of seven. Was she really a husband killer? Inquests, trials, hung juries, it’s all here in this book, and it is all TRUE history! If you live crime or thriller novels, and history this is a must for you. Readers are taken into Sydney as it was 1888, and Carol sets the scene beautifully, with little tidbits adding in detail. With details from newspapers, autopsies, trials and so on … the words written are the words the people actually said! You can’t get better than that for a true crime thriller.                         To read more about this title, or to order it,  head on over to Carol’s website www.carolbaxter.com I’m not a prolific reader, of books anyway (blogs and magazines, yes! which doesn’t leave so much time for books). But earlier this year I decided that I wanted to take part in the Australian Women Writers Challenge for 2015, which means reading books written by Australian women authors (fiction or non-fiction) and reviewing it. Sadly it is now September and this is my first one – still, one is better than none. For more about the Challenge, click...

Discovering the “Australian Women Writers Challenge” 2015...

Do you love reading? And love a blog challenge? If you said yes to both, you’ll certainly love this! Late last year I discovered the “Australian Women Writers” Challenge. This is where readers read books written by Australian women and write reviews about them, through their blog or other means. Why only women you might ask? Well, it seems that the female authors don’t get their fair share of reviews. So the idea of the AWW Challenge was formed and the concept has taken off. By 2014 they were on their way to , and they are now getting several thousand reviews a year. Don’t you love it!! Anyone can participate (men or women), so long as you’re willing to do some kind of review of the book you read afterwards. You don’t have to be a professional reviewer, but just don’t give away the plot in your review. Fiction, or non-fiction, there’s no genre restrictions, and they don’t even have rules on how many book you are to review during the year. So I think I’ll take up this Challenge during 2015, and as my passion is history and genealogy, I’ll go with the genealogy and history genre. Though there does seem to be lack of Australian female authors in this genre – at least at this stage. For more information on the Australian Women Writers Challenge for 2015, visit their website. And be sure to read their About page to learn how it all started, and their FAQ for questions you might have, then head on over to their Sign Up page and fill in your details. And in this world of social media, you can keep up with the latest news (and reviews) by following the Australian Women...

Reality is Stranger than Fiction...

I don’t often do book reviews, but I wanted to share something about this one with you. Having just finished reading Carol Baxter’s book “The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable: A True Tale of Passion, Poison and Pursuit” it leaves me without a doubt that reality most certainly can be far stranger than fiction. A Sydneysider, Carol Baxter is an internationally acclaimed author who has made her mark in the literary world with her unique genre – one I’m not even sure of the title of – but it is  true history written like a novel. Based on what I’ve read I would she’s mastered it. Carol doesn’t write a novel adding in some historical references as some do, but rather the entire story she tells is based on history. As historians we are used to reading documents with names, dates and places, and other tidbits. But to be able to takes those details and transform them into a story is nothing short of skill. And for that I truly admire Carol. In Carol’s own words … “Like Dr Who, I hunt ordinary individuals who unwittingly had such an extraordinary impact on their world that the consequences changed the course of history, then I tell their true stories as true-crime thrillers.” I read this book for two reasons. Firstly I had heard that it was a really good read, and secondly I wanted to see how she manages to write history as gripping as fiction and was hoping to pick up some tips on that. I’m not going to go into the story at all, instead I’ll just let  you read the back cover spiel (as below), but let me tell you there are so many twists that...

Want to Read a REAL Thriller? Then Read this Shipboard Diary …...

The year is 1838, and James Bell a young man from Scotland has said goodbye to his family and the love of his life, and has made his way to Southampton to embark on the voyage of a lifetime. He was one of more than 90 passengers who boarded the “Planter” ship on 23 November 1838, all eager to reach their new homeland South Australia in a few short months. Little did they know what was in store. And if it wasn’t for James Bell writing in his diary, we wouldn’t have known what would have happened on the one of the most adventurous, tragic, exciting, and exhausting voyages ever. Sound intriguing? It is … Titled “A Journey To Australia: A Journal by James Bell“, the book is the diary of a guy who migrated to South Australia in 1839, and in my opinion it’s is just as exciting as any thriller book I’ve read. I would go as far to say that it is one of the most AMAZING books I’ve ever read in my life. In fact I wrote about this title a little while ago when I actually discovered that Mr Lonetester’s 3x great grandparents were on this voyage. Anyway I’ve now finished this book, and what can I say, but WOW!!! It is truly phenomenal, and yet this is no work of fiction. James Bell was one of the passengers on the voyage of the “Planter”, and fortunately for us he was well-educated, and decided to record his voyage. The voyage was long (six-months-long), and tumultuous in every way possible, and James recorded what turned out the be a voyage from hell. He wrote about the condition, the drunken parties, the captain’s “incompetence”, the women...

Genealogy Serendipity … It Happens!...

The dictionary defines serendipity as “the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident”, therefore I would think that genealogy serendipity could be defined as “finding genealogical information by accident” … right? I have read of this happening to others, and through their words could even feel their excitement. Even the happy dancing bit! But seriously this is one of those “it’ll-never-ever-ever-happen-to-me-in-a-million-years” things, which I was cool with, and life goes on. But apparently today was out to prove me wrong. So let me take you through my serendipity moment. One of the many tasks my job entails is typing up all the new titles on to our work  website (www.gould.com.au). This is cool, because it means I get to see every new product that gets added on which helps we with advising customer who have queries etc. Today I was working my way though a pile of new titles that one of my supplier had sent me. They actually send me titles they think would be something we’d like. Some make it online. Some don’t. Anyway one that I came across was a book titled  “A Voyage to Australia: Private Journal of James Bell”. Shipboard diaries aren’t the world best sellers, so I hummed and haared about whether to add this one or not. But it looked interesting so I added it on. The book is the diary written by James Bell and records life onboard the ‘Plantar’ ship which left London in November 1838 and arrived in South Australia in May 1839. The reason for the almost six-month journey partly due to the captain’s incompetence, together with other misadventures such which included much of the crew being lost, as were some passengers and most of the livestock. A...