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Did you know that the Library has a huge range of free ebooks – 200,000 and counting! – which you can either read online or download for up to seven days?
To get started, browse our latest selection of ebooks and watch this space for new additions. You can also scan the list of past Ebookshelf titles or browse for even more free ebooks !
For tips and advice, read our Get started guide or watch our video on using ebooks.
To access ebooks from home, you need to be a State Library member with a Victorian home address. (Terms and conditions of use apply.)
The smell of fresh rain: the unexpected pleasures of our most elusive sense The smell of fresh rain: the unexpected pleasures of our most elusive sense Barney Shaw
Icon Books, 2017
Smell is the most emotional and evocative of our senses: it can bring back memories faster and with more immediacy than a photograph – so why is it so little understood? Armed with a hungry curiosity and a willingness to self-experiment, author Barney Shaw goes in search of the hidden meanings of smells.
Using plain words to describe what he finds, he investigates the chemistry, psychology, history and future of this underappreciated sense. Journeying around boatyards, perfume shops and memories, Shaw opens your nose to the world, breaking down “chords” of smells into their component notes and through them revealing new ways of understanding the spaces through which we move. An investigation into the biology, psychology and history of smell, and a search for effective ways to put into words scents that we instantly relate to but find strangely ineffable.
Everyday madness Susan Midalia
Fremantle Press, 2021
Life sucks when you are a vacuum cleaner-salesman facing redundancy, and your wife of nearly 40 years fills your days and nights with incessant chatter. But when Gloria suddenly and alarmingly stops talking, the silence is more than 59-year Bernard can bear. In desperation, Bernard turns to his ex-daughter-in-law for help.
Meg has issues of her own, and her bright and funny daughter Ella sometimes wonders if her mum is trying so hard to keep her safe it stops them both from spreading their wings. Will Meg's suspicious nature thwart her chance encounter with the kindly but enigmatic Hal? And is there still hope for Bernard and Gloria on the other side of silence?
Protecting pollinators: how to save the creatures that feed our world Protecting pollinators: how to save the creatures that feed our world Jodi Helmer
Island Press, 2019
We should thank a pollinator at every meal. These diminutive creatures fertilise a third of the crops we eat. Yet half of the 200,000 species of pollinators are threatened.
Protecting pollinators explores why the statistics have become so dire and how they can be reversed. Along with inspiring stories of revival and lessons from failed projects, readers will find practical tips to get involved. They will also be reminded of the magic of pollinators—not only the iconic monarch and dainty hummingbird, but the drab hawk moth and homely bats that are just as essential.
One: valuing the single life One: valuing the single life Clare Payne
Melbourne University Publishing, 2018
More adults than ever before are now living alone - one quarter of all households in Australia are currently single-person households. They are forging new ways of having contented and connected lives.
One gives insight to the once maligned and now increasingly chosen status of being single. It is an inspiring call to politicians, business leaders and individuals, challenging us all to recognise the worth and standing of One.
Curing affluenza: how to buy less stuff and save the world Curing affluenza: how to buy less stuff and save the world Richard Denniss
Black Inc, 2017
Affluenza is that strange desire we feel about spending money we don't have, to buy things we don't need, to impress people we don't know.
A truly modern affliction, affluenza is endemic in Western societies, encouraged by those who profit from a culture of exploitation and waste.
So how do we cure ourselves? In this sparkling book of ideas, Richard Denniss shows that we must distinguish between consumerism, the love of buying things, which is undeniably harmful to us and the planet, and materialism, the love of things, which can be beneficial.
The getting of garlic: Australian food from bland to brilliant, with recipes old and new The getting of garlic: Australian food from bland to brilliant, with recipes old and new John Newton
NewSouth Publishing, 2018
The white colonisers of Australia suffered from Alliumphobia, a fear of garlic. Local cooks didn't touch the stuff, and it took centuries for that fear to lift. This food history of Australia shows we held onto British assumptions about produce and cooking for a long time, and these fed our views on racial hierarchies and our place in the world. Before garlic we had meat and potatoes; after garlic what we ate got much more enjoyable. But has a national cuisine emerged? What is Australian food culture?
Renowned food writer John Newton visits haute cuisine or fine dining restaurants, the cafes and mid-range restaurants, and heads home to the dinner tables as he samples what everyday people have cooked and eaten over centuries. His observations and recipes show what has changed and what hasn't changed.
Arthur Boyd: a life Darleen Bungey
Allen & Unwin, 2008
Arthur Boyd's legacy is a collection of masterpieces that define Australian art history in the last century. But the man himself - enigmatic, inarticulate, modest - has remained in the shadows until now. Based on over six years of meticulous research and hundreds of interviews, Darleen Bungey sweeps us into the intimate circle of one of Australia's most fascinating families.
From Victoria's bohemian enclaves to the heady swirl of Melbourne and London in the years of artistic and social revolution. This is a journey into the mind and heart of a complex man whose absolute commitment to his art thrust aside personal adversity in the relentless pursuit of his work.
A grain of salt: the science and pseudoscience of what we eat A grain of salt: the science and pseudoscience of what we eat Dr Joe Schwarcz
ECW Press, 2019
Bestselling popular science author Dr Joe Schwarcz debunks the baloney and serves up the raw facts in this appetising collection about what we eat.
Eating has become a confusing experience. Should we follow a keto diet? Is sugar the next tobacco? Does fermented cabbage juice cure disease? Are lectins toxic? Is drinking poppy seed tea risky? We all have questions, and Dr Joe Schwarcz has the answers, some of which will astonish you.
Guaranteed to satisfy your hunger for palatable and relevant scientific information, Dr Joe separates fact from fiction in this collection of new and updated articles about what to eat, what not to eat, and how to recognise the scientific basis of food chemistry.
