september 2018 – good to read

Matthew L. Pallamary
Introduction by Russell Brand, Preface by Sting
The author’s in-depth analysis of human perception, shamanism, visionary states, cognitive neuroscience, plant and animal consciousness, and sacred geometry, as well as the prehistoric roots of our deepest cultural myths not only lay bare the illusory roots of what we have built our failing society on, it provides a detailed map that points the way through the non-sense hall of mirrors that we currently find ourselves trapped in. Based on a lifetime of research, award-winning author, editor, and shamanic explorer Matthew J. Pallamary enlightens those with open minds courageous enough to question the illusions that most of us think of as real…
Mystic Ink, November 2017

Lexi Freiman
A search for belonging in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs turns into a riotous satire of identity politics in this wildly irreverent coming-of-age story. Starting at a prestigious private Australian girls’ school, fifteen-year-old Ziggy Klein is confronted with an alienating social hierarchy that hurls her into the arms of her grade’s most radical feminists. Plagued by fantasies of offensive sexual stereotypes and a psychotherapist mother who thinks bum-pinching is fine if it comes from the heart chakra, Ziggy sets off on a journey of self-discovery that moves from the Sydney drag scene to the extremist underbelly of the internet to the coastal Bohemia of a long-dissolved matriarchal cult.
Allan & Unwin, July 2018

Cixin Liu
A new science fiction adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Three-Body Trilogy: when Chen’s parents are incinerated before his eyes by a blast of ball lightning, he devotes his life to cracking the secret of this mysterious natural phenomenon. His search takes him to stormy mountaintops, an experimental military weapons lab, and an old Soviet science station. The more he learns, the more he comes to realise that ball lightning is just the tip of an entirely new frontier. While Chen’s quest for answers gives purpose to his lonely life, it also pits him against a beautiful army major with an obsession with dangerous weaponry and a physicist who has no place for ethical considerations in his pursuit of knowledge.
Head of Zeus, August 2018

Thomas Hatsis
There is a long tradition of psychedelic magic and religion in Western civilization. As the author reveals, the discovery of the power of psychedelics and entheogens can be traced to the very first prehistoric expressions of human creativity. Describing how, when, and why different peoples in the Western world utilised sacred psychedelic plants, Hatsis examines the full range of magical and spiritual practices that include the ingestion of substances to achieve altered states. He discusses how psychedelics facilitated divinatory dream states for our ancient Neolithic ancestors and helped them find shamanic portals to the spirit world.
Park Street Press, September 2018

Paul Coelho
Drawing on the rich experience of his own life, best-selling author Paulo Coelho takes us back in time to relive the dreams of a generation that longed for peace and dared to challenge the established social order. In Hippie, he tells the story of Paulo, a young, skinny Brazilian with a goatee and long, flowing hair, who wants to become a writer and sets off on a journey in search of a deeper meaning for his life: first on the famous ‘Death Train’ to Bolivia, then on to Peru, later hitchhiking through Chile and Argentina. Paulo’s travels eventually take him to the famous Dam Square in Amsterdam where he meets Karla: love at first sight. They end up travelling to Kathmandu together with a small group of friends and their «Magic Bus».
Knopf-Doubleday, September 2018