Showing results by publisher "Penguin Random House Australia Audio" in All Categories

Like a lot of footy blokes, having a chat has always come easy to Dylan Buckley. But how to move beyond banter to the deeper conversations he didn't know he needed is something he's only learned more recently - a hard-won skill developed through his podcast and the career reboot it gave him after injury and anxiety cut his AFL career short. Honest Chat is filled with all the best insights and wisdom from the Dyl and Friends podcast, plus humorous and poignant stories from Dyl's own life.

As a boy living in a tribe in what is now South Sudan, the youngest country in the world, Ayik Chut Deng was a member of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA). During his time as a child soldier, he witnessed unspeakable violence and was regularly tortured by older boys. At age 19, he and his family escaped the conflict in Sudan and resettled in Toowoomba, Australia. But adjusting to his new life in small-town Queensland was more difficult than he anticipated.

Marnie Fairchild is the brains and talent behind Wish & Co, a boutique store that offers a bespoke gift-buying service to wealthy clients with complicated lives. Brian Charlesworth is Marnie's most prized customer, and today she's wrapping the perfect anniversary gift for his wife, Suzanne, and a birthday present for his mistress, Leona. What could possibly go wrong?

Danny Mulberry is a man who 'could do better'. Better at life, better at taking on responsibility and most definitely better at being a grown-up. But when a misleading photo of Danny appears in the newspaper, people around the country start to think this apparently enlightened man could be the one with all the answers. Letters begin to flood in from strangers seeking his guidance.

'They said he was their boy. And so he was....' In 1913, on a summer’s day at Half Moon Lake, Louisiana, four-year-old Sonny Davenport walks into the woods and never returns. The boy’s mysterious disappearance from the family’s lake house makes front-page news in their home town of Opelousas. John Henry and Mary Davenport are wealthy and influential, and will do anything to find their son. For two years, the Davenports search across the South, offer increasingly large rewards and struggle not to give in to despair.

Roughy is the story of a footballer who lived the dream, the country boy who not only became an AFL star, but was a key player in a Hawthorn team that will be remembered as one of the greats of any era. Success didn't change him, which made him all the more relatable, as if in spirit he was still having a kick with the Leongatha Parrots and a beer with his mates at the local pub. When in 2015 a spot on his bottom lip was diagnosed as melanoma, we could relate to him all the more.

Brothers Thom and Archie are the best of friends and never disagree, until the beautiful, young and very headstrong Molly James comes into their life. Molly might be playing a game with the brothers - but when war strikes and they both join up to fight, it isn't a game anymore. Based on the true story of the author's grandfather's wartime experiences, At the Going Down of the Sun explores the intense bond between soldiers and brothers fighting in war, and a love that may tear them apart.

When Sidonie's guardian dies, she flees Paris rather than submit to a forced marriage, seeking sanctuary in the home of her estranged aunt in Dole. Apolline left behind a violent and troubled past, hoping for a new life with her husband, where she can sell her herbs and assist women from the privacy of her forest home. But it is dangerous to be different, and as Sidonie and Apolline's lives become intertwined, they are soon both being hunted.

After cancelling a destination wedding in Sri Lanka at the eleventh hour, most people would take a moment to regroup. Not Sashi - insisting she's unfazed, she plunges into working with international refugee organisations around the world. Those sleepless nights are for reflecting on chaotic romances, work stress and transient lifestyles, right? After one too many messy experiences, Sashi must accept that life is at a standstill. She returns to Australia where her reality stinks. But that just might be where she needs to be.

Psykhe has always been different. Fair as Venus, the goddess of love, and with the hard-won ability to save the lives of those of mortal blood, she is both shunned and revered. When she unwittingly provokes Venus, she and her sisters lose everything. Psykhe must find a way to make amends and support her family. Befriended by an old woman, Nokturna, Psykhe finds herself irresistibly drawn to her young friend, Ambrose. But neither is what they seem.

Edwina Dawling is the golden girl of Australian television. The former pop singer is now the country's most popular actress, an international star thanks to the hit TV soap The Glitter Game. But behind the seductive glamour of television is a cutthroat world where careers are made or destroyed with a word in the right ear...or a night in the right bed. Where success breeds envy and corruption, concealed in the flashing smiles at every premier event, every party.

It's been a long winter in a creaky house in Brunswick, where a young man has devoted himself to recreational showers, staring at his phone, and speculating on the activities of his best friend and housemate, Dan. But now summer is coming, and Dan has found a boyfriend and a job, so the young man is being pushed out into the world, in search of friendship and love. The Adversary is a sticky summer novel about young people exploring their sexuality and their sociability, where everything smells like sunscreen and tastes like beer, but affections and alliances have consequences.

Cael O'Donnell is a former mental health therapist who now uses his abilities as a psychic medium to help hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to find guidance from the universe and tap into the resources already within them. From manifestation and dreams to spirit guides, the tools are all around us if we know how to identify and use them. Exploring the three interconnected aspects of our existence, Cael explains how we can find our true purpose in life, develop trust in our intrinsic sense of direction and deal with the loss of loved ones and other challenges life throws at us.

A sport unlike any other in the world, football has always been Australia's bellwether. But at a time when politics is increasingly conducted like sports, football is the one institution that's more relevant than ever. And it's Richmond that's out in front of the pack. Before it could win the 2017 premiership, the club had to change how it thought about good leadership.

Oxford 1863: young Samuel Speed sets a barley stack alight in the hope it will earn him a bed in prison for the night. He wants nothing more than a morsel of food in his belly and a warm place to sleep off the streets. What he receives is a sentence of seven years' servitude, to be served half a world away in the penal colony of Fremantle, Western Australia.

Phoenix Rose is a 35-year-old neurodivergent teacher who is at a crossroads in her career and in her relationship with her boyfriend, Zack. With her sick leave finished, her principal demands she return to school, whether Phoenix feels ready or not. But when she receives an urgent plea from a friend in Tasmania who needs to rehome her beloved animals, Phoenix, who has always led with her heart, spontaneously decides to help.

Felix refuses to shower. Last time, he ended up in another world. But Dad and Olly have noticed he smells pretty bad. At least he's prepared this time, wearing bathers just in case. He turns on the shower and . . .

Kate Jones and Mandy Hose have experienced the highs and lows of parenting - and they wouldn't change a thing. The pair met a decade ago and bonded over their premature twins with additional needs and their remarkable capacity for love, laughter and swearing like a trooper. As the mothers grew closer, however, they confided that they felt 'on-the-floor lonely' sometimes because nobody was talking about what it was like for families like theirs. It was time to give their community a voice.

The mind is a marvel. It's at the centre of our most rewarding experiences. It lets in awe and laughter, love and wisdom, and helps us overcome life's great trials. It's our greatest asset, but it can also be our greatest adversary, allowing in self-doubt, anxious thoughts and depression. It can magnify our fears and undermine our best intentions, and lead us into life's darkest corners. Based on James O'Loghlin and Professor Ian Hickie's popular podcast, Minding Your Mind is an exploration into everything you've ever wanted to know about how the mind works.

John Wood grew up in working-class Melbourne; when he failed out of high school, an employment officer told him, 'You have the mind of an artist and the body of a labourer.' And so John continued to pursue his acting dreams in amateur theatre, sustaining himself by working jobs as a bricklayer, a railway clerk and even in the same abattoir as his father. When he won a scholarship to NIDA, in Sydney, it moved John into a new and at times baffling world, full of extraordinary characters.