Showing results by narrator "Anna Steen" in All Categories

A beautiful, haunting evocation of the medieval Japan of Lian Hearn's imagination, this thrilling follow-up to Grass for His Pillow and Across the Nightingale Floor delves deeper into the complex loyalties that bind its characters from birth.... In the third volume of the phenomenal series that began with the best-selling Across the Nightingale Floor and then Grass For His Pillow, the teenage lovers, Takeo and Kaede, are now married.

An international best seller, Across the Nightingale Floor is the first book in the Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn. In his black-walled fortress at Inuyama, the warlord Iida Sadamu surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard. The youth Takeo has been brought up in a remote mountain village among the Hidden, a reclusive and spiritual people who have taught him only the ways of peace.

Praised for its epic scope and descriptive detail, Across the Nightingale Floor, the first book in the Tales of the Otori series, was an international best seller and critical success. With Grass for His Pillow, we return to the medieval Japan of Lian Hearn's creation - a land of harsh beauty and deceptive appearances. In a complex social hierarchy, amid dissembling clans and fractured allegiances, there is no place for passionate young love.

I don't know you at all. I wouldn't recognise you from a hole in the ground. If I was telling this story to some friends, then they would already know Kiffo and they would know me and they would know the school and everything. I'd just be able to get straight into what happened when a new English teacher, the Pitbull, slobbered and snarled her way into our class. But you don't know anything. No offence.

A funny, tender and wise story about nearly 13-year-old Cedar B. Hartley - who loses her dog, finds a new friend, becomes an acrobat and learns some bitter sweet truths about family, community and herself. Cedar B. Hartley is not easily accepted by her peers. Her dog Stinky is her best mate. Things start to change when she meets a boy called Kite and finds they have a lot in common - both have single parents, both are loners with colourful inner lives, both like beanies, dogs and acrobats. Together they form a circus troupe which unifies the inner city community.

Emma, a nurse and busy mother of three, has always dreamed of having a sister. Michelle, at 46, wonders if it's too late to fall in love and find her birth parents. Sarah, career woman and perfectionist homemaker, struggles to keep up with the Joneses. Bill, 72, feels left behind after the death of his adored wife. Adam can't stop thinking about the father he never had. These five very different people are all connected but separated by secrets from the past.

Friendship is a million little moments, but can it survive this one? Three friends embark on a luxury cruise to celebrate their 10-year reunion in this heartfelt story of how long-held secrets can catch up with even the best of friends. Life was about living, experiencing and emotions. The good and the bad. You had to laugh to cry. You had to love to hurt. You had to jump to fall or fly.

Western Australia, 2019: The Bennets are a farming family struggling to make ends meet. Lizzy, passionate about working the land, is determined to save the farm. Spirited and independent, she has little patience for her mother's focus on finding a suitable man for each of her five daughters. When the dashing Charles Bingley, looking to expand his farm holdings, buys the neighbouring property of Netherfield Park, Mrs Bennet and the entire district of Coodardy are atwitter with gossip and speculation. Will he attend the local dance, and is he single?

Great Australian Aviation Stories is a collection of dramatic true stories and colourful accounts of our fascinating aviation history. These stories also show the "human" side of aviation...how it changed the lives of ordinary people, workers, and travellers. Included are amazing stories of history-making flights by Kingsford Smith and Ross and Keith Smith, and accounts of the exploits of Bert Hinkler, Amy Johnson, Nancy Bird, and our early outback aviation pioneers.

Speedy is the fastest, cleverest dolphin ever to swim the waters around Kangaroo Island. To 10-year-old Mike and his fisherman father, Ben, he is also a very special friend, always there to meet their boat and lead her home into the harbour. Speedy soon becomes a tourist attraction in their small fishing town. But not everyone loves him as much as Ben and his friend Sally, and one day they realise that the friendly dolphin is in deadly danger.

Calma Harrison is in love. Not just with herself but also with the handsome checkout guy at Crazi-Cheep. But when Calma gets a job at Crazi-Cheep, her cynical approach to customer service makes headlines. And then there's the small matter of the rest of her life, which is falling apart; her absent father turns up unexpectedly and wants to talk; her mother, The Fridge, is keeping secrets; and her new best friend, Vanessa, is hiding something horrible.