#1 Jasper Jones

Craig Silvey grew up on an orchard in Dwellingup Western Australia. He now lives in Fremantle, where at the age of 19 he wrote his first novel, Rhubarb, published by Fremantle Press in 2004. Jasper Jones is his second novel and Winner of the 2009 Indie Book Award.
Late on a hot summer night in the tail end of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish boy of thirteen, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep-out. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan. Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steals into the night by his side, terribly afraid but desperate to impress. $24.00

#2 Nomad: A Personal Journey Though the Clash of Civilizations

Ayaan Hirsi Ali caused a worldwide sensation with her gutsy memoir Infidel. Now, in Nomad, she tells of coming to America to build a new life, an ocean away from the death threats made against her by European Islamists, the strife she witnessed and the inner conflict she suffered. It is the story of her physical and emotional journey to freedom - her transition from a tribal mindset that restricts women′s every thought and action to life as a free and equal citizen in an open society. Through stories of the challenges she has faced, she shows the difficulty of reconciling the contradictions of Islam with Western values. $35.00

#3 How To Be An Explorer of the World

From the author of "Wreck This Journal" comes an interactive guide for exploring and documenting the art and science of everyday life. The mission Smith proposes is to document and observe the world around you as if you have never seen it before. Focus on one thing at a time and record what you are drawn to. Beautifully hand-illustrated two-color package, readers will enjoy exploring and discovering the world through this gorgeous book. $19.95

#4 Sustenance

In a small hotel on an island renowned for its hospitality and beauty, the Balinese staff and their Western guests are unexpectedly taken hostage. During the overnight siege, the hotel's cook is compelled by the crisis to provide spiritual and physical sustenance as best she can to the guests, staff and their poorly nourished captors. The event has a different impact on each person, but all will view life differently from this day forward. Reflecting on individuals' struggles to find meaning and love in the face of death, Sustenance is a compelling novel that reveals surprising ways in which people redeem themselves through fear and grief. $32.95

#5 To Kill a Mockingbird

'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird'. Atticus Finch gives this advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this classic novel - a black man charged with attacking a white girl. Through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Lee explores the issues of race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s with compassion and humour. She also creates one of the great heroes of literature in their father, whose lone struggle for justice pricks the conscience of a town steeped in prejudice and hypocrisy.

This is a special hard-cover edition to celebrate 50 years since the first publication of this unforgettable classic. $49.95

#6 Enlightenment To Go

The Dalai Lama always recommends a classic text by the Buddhist sage Shantideva as essential reading for those seeking a practical approach to Buddhism. With its life-changing psychological tools and transcendent wisdom, it is one of the world's great spiritual treasures.
In Enlightenment to Go, David Michie provides a lively, accessible introduction to the 'best of' Shantideva. He shows how modern psychology confirms the insights of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, and he unpacks its powerful antidotes to contemporary problems, including stress, anxiety and depression. He also offers a structured meditation program to help readers integrate transformational insights at deeper levels of consciousness where genuine change becomes possible. Recounting stories from his own journey, Michie illustrates the relevance of Shantideva's breakthrough teachings to a typically busy Westerner, with warmth and humour. Whether you are a newcomer to Buddhism or a seasoned practitioner, Enlightenment to Go offers a glimpse of a radiantly different reality. $27.00

#7 Lights Out in Wonderlad

Gabriel Brockwell, aesthete, poet, philosopher, disaffected twenty-something decadent, is thinking terminal. His philosophical enquiries, the abstractions he indulges, and how these relate to a life lived, all point in the same direction. His destination is Wonderland. The nature and style of the journey is all that's to be decided.
Taking in London, Tokyo and Berlin, Lights Out In Wonderland documents Gabriel Brockwell's remarkable global odyssey. Committed to the pursuit of pleasure and in search of the Bacchanal to obliterate all previous parties, Gabriel's adventure takes in a spell in rehab, a near-death experience with fugu ovaries, a sexual encounter with an octopus, and finally an orgiastic feast in the bowels of Berlin's majestic Tempelhof Airport. Along the way we see a character disintegrate and re-shape before our eyes.
Lights Out In Wonderland carries you through its many corridors of delight and horror on the back of Gabriel's voice, which is at once skeptical, idealistic, broken and optimistic. An allegorical banquet and a sly commentary on these End Times and the march towards insensate banality, DBC Pierre's third novel completes a loose trilogy of fictions, each of which stands alone as a joyful expression of the human spirit. $33.00

#8 36 Arguments For The Existence Of God

In 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein explores the rapture and torments of religious experience in all its variety. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and intellectually captivating, it is a luminous and intoxicating novel. $30

#9 Hide and Seek Sydney

Hide & Seek Melbourne appeared on the Sydney Morning Herald's list of Top 10 travel publications for several weeks. And now Explore Australia has followed up with a second guidebook in this series. Hide & Seek Sydney is a funky and compact guide to the city's hidden treasures. From restaurants and shops to bars and galleries, the book features 40 secret and intriguing places that you won't find in any regular Sydney travel guide. And none of these places will burn a hole in your wallet. Written by a team of in-the-know Sydneysiders, each of the 40 selected places features over a double-page spread with a review, images and a handy locator map. Blank pages at the back of the book allow readers to record their own secret Sydney discoveries as they explore this wonderful city. $14.95

#10 Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest

The Final of the Millennium Trilogy. Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared off the secluded island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger family. Harriet's uncle, Henrik, is convinced that she was murdered by someone in her own family - the deeply dysfunctional Vanger clan. $32.95