Did you know that the Library has a huge range of free nonfiction ebooks, 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 !
To access ebooks from home, you need to be a Victorian resident with a current State Library card . (Terms and conditions of use apply.)
The barefoot investor The barefoot investor
There are thousands of finance books out there. So, with the end of the financial year looming, what makes this one different?
Rather than suggesting a strict budget that you probably won't follow, the book offers a step-by-step formula for creating a simple but effective financial plan that will help you manage your money in just 10 minutes a week.
The book is full of stories from everyday Aussies – single people, young families, empty nesters, retirees – who have applied Scott Pape's simple steps and achieved life-changing results.
Adulthood is a myth: A Sarah's Scribbles collection Adulthood is a myth: A Sarah's Scribbles collection Sarah Andersen
These casually drawn, perfectly on-point comics by the hugely popular young Brooklyn-based artist Sarah Andersen capture the horrors and awkwardness of young modern life.
Wasting entire weekends on the internet, the unbearable agony of holding hands on the street with a gorgeous guy, dreaming all day of getting home and back into pyjamas – Adulthood is a myth presents many fan favourites plus dozens of all-new comics exclusive to this book.
Like the work of fellow Millennial authors Allie Brosh, Grace Helbig and Gemma Correll, Sarah's frankness on personal issues such as body image, self-consciousness, introversion and relationships makes her comics highly relatable and deeply hilarious.
The fabulous flying Mrs Miller The fabulous flying Mrs Miller Carol Baxter
Petite, glamorous and beguiling, Jessie 'Chubbie' Miller was a remarkable woman – aviator, thrill seeker, heartbreaker. No adventure was too wild for her, no danger too extreme.
When the young Jessie left suburban Melbourne and her newspaperman husband in 1927, little did she know that she'd become the first woman to complete an England to Australia flight. That she would fly in the first air race for women with Amelia Earhart. Or that she would find herself at the centre of one of the most controversial murder trials in US history.
Carol Baxter’s biography tells the spellbinding story of an extraordinary woman who was an international celebrity during the golden age of aviation.
Those were the days: Australia in the sixties Those were the days: Australia in the sixties Ron and Elizabeth Morrison
In photographs and words, this beautifully presented book rekindles memories and offers new insights into the 1960s in Australia.
The Vietnam War and the conscription lottery; the loss of a prime minister by drowning; the building of the iconic Opera House; the change to decimal currency; Aboriginal recognition; the arrival of immigrants from the UK and Europe – these topics and more are explored, capturing this exciting decade of change Down Under.
The accompanying kaleidoscopic selection of images are in both colour and black-and-white, juxtaposed to emphasise the differences that emerged during the era.
Fan phenomena: Twin Peaks Fan phenomena: Twin Peaks Marisa C Hayes, Franck Boulègue (eds)
David Lynch and Mark Frost's seminal television series Twin Peaks debuted in April 1990 and ran only until June 1991. Yet the impact of this surreal, unsettling show – ostensibly about the search for the murderer of homecoming queen Laura Palmer – is far larger than its short run might indicate.
A forerunner of the moody, cinematic television shows that are commonplace today, and celebrating its return to screens in 2017, Twin Peaks ' cult status continues to thrive in the digital era.
The first non-academic collection that speaks to Twin Peaks ' fan base rather than a scholarly audience, the book takes a deeper look at the series' rich cast of characters, its iconic locations and the impact of new media and fan culture on the show's continued relevance.
D-Day in history and memory: The Normandy landings in international remembrance and commemoration D-Day in history and memory: The Normandy landings in international remembrance and commemoration Michael R Dolski, Sam Edwards, John Buckley (eds)
The Allied invasion of north-western France in June 1944 has come to stand as something more than a major battle. A vital component in the Allies' WWII victory, D-Day symbolises different things to different nations.
This book examines the commonalities and differences in national collective memories of the event, and the commemorative activities linked to the battle, as a way of viewing the various belligerents in their post-war years.
Chapters cover the main forces on the day of battle, including the US, Great Britain, Canada, France and Germany. In addition, a chapter on Russian memory of the invasion explores other views. The book reveals that memories vary over time and present-day needs, and have a clear national and cultural specificity.
Traditional Australian verse Traditional Australian verse Richard Walsh (ed)
Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson, CJ Dennis and Adam Lindsay Gordon – these Australian poets were once household names, and most Australians could recite their most famous verse.
Here, for the first time in one volume, are all the great bush ballads, memorable songs and other poetry from the glory days of our bush tradition.
Find out what came next after 'There was movement at the station...' and read the original versions of 'Advance Australia Fair', 'Bound for Botany Bay' and 'The dog sat on the tucker box'.
Selected to entertain and delight newcomers and traditionalists alike, this treasury offers equal parts merriment, calumny, lyricism and gentle melancholia.
Have ye no homes to go to? The history of the Irish pub Have ye no homes to go to? The history of the Irish pub Kevin Martin
The pub has been at the centre of Irish life for centuries. Often plain and unpretentious, the pub is neutral ground, a leveller – a home away from home that has played many roles: restaurant, music venue, job centre and meeting place for everyone from poets to revolutionaries.
From the feasts of high kings, through the heady gang-ruled pubs of 19th-century New York, right up to the gay bars and superpubs of today, this is an entertaining journey through the evolution of the Irish pub.
The story of the Irish pub is the story of Ireland itself, and the global export of Irish craic, the pubs’ significance to emigrants, and their portrayal in cinema, television and literature are engagingly explored.
The Turing guide Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, B Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson
Alan Turing has long proved a subject of fascination. Following the centenary of his birth in 2012, the code-breaker, computer pioneer, mathematician (and much more) has become even more celebrated.
This book brings together contributions from some of the leading experts on Alan Turing to create a comprehensive guide and resource for both researchers and the increasingly interested general reader.
The book covers aspects of Turing's life and the wide range and legacy of his intellectual activities, including mathematics, code-breaking, computer science, logic, artificial intelligence and mathematical biology.
Turtles as hopeful monsters: Origins and evolution Turtles as hopeful monsters: Origins and evolution Olivier Rieppel
Where do turtles come from, and why and how did they acquire their shells? These questions have spurred heated debate and intense research for more than 200 years, with proponents of gradual evolutionary change facing off against authors favouring change through bursts and leaps of macromutation.
Brilliantly weaving evidence from the latest paleontological discoveries with an accessible, incisive look at different theories of biological evolution, this book tells the fascinating evolutionary story of the shelled reptiles.
Palaeontologist Olivier Rieppel traces the evolution of turtles from over 220 million years ago, examining their relationship to other reptiles and charting the development of their shell.
A Dagg at my table: Selected writings A Dagg at my table: Selected writings John Clarke
The recent passing of the incomparable writer, satirist and comedian John Clarke makes this collection particularly poignant and pertinent.
The wonderful selection includes poems, radio and television scripts and transcriptions of interviews highlighting 20 years of the wit of John Clarke.
The book ranges from the Fred Dagg radio scripts of the late 1970s to the famous television interviews of the 1990s, peppered with Clarke's brilliant accounts of Australian farnarkeling in between.
I hate the internet: A novel I hate the internet: A novel Jarett Kobek
Crafted as a novel, this searing dissection of the flaws and failures of the modern world takes as its central character Adeline, who in the 1990s achieved a certain level of fame as the author of a successful comic book series.
In 2013, when Adeline aired some unfashionable opinions that made their way onto the internet, the digital world's reaction was predictably fierce.
Set in a San Francisco hollowed out by tech money, greed and rampant gentrification, I hate the internet is a savage indictment of unregulated capitalism and an uproarious, hilarious but above all furious satire of our Internet Age.
The last Crocodile Hunter The last Crocodile Hunter Bob Irwin
When Bob Irwin and his wife Lyn moved their young family to Queensland in the 1970s, they turned their new home on the Sunshine Coast into a combined zoo and wildlife park. Bob's passion for animals had a profound impact on his son Steve, who followed in his father's footsteps and became famous around the world as the Crocodile Hunter.
In this moving memoir, Bob Irwin describes life since Steve's 2006 death in a diving accident as 'moving forward without a map'. The natural world gave Bob the strength to continue Steve Irwin's campaign to protect wildlife and the natural world.
Entertaining, impassioned and inspiring, the book reveals the heart and soul of a great Australian character, father and wildlife campaigner.
Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business Erik Qualman
Socialnomics is essential reading for businesses who want to understand the power of social media and how it can transform their relationship with consumers.
In this revised and updated second edition, author Erik Qualman reveals how businesses can tap into the power of social media to increase their sales, cut their marketing costs and reach consumers directly.
Qualman lists the top 10 easy opportunities that companies and organisations miss. He also describes the necessary building blocks for replicating the success of organisations and individuals who have effectively used social media to transform their business.
Megachange: Economic disruption, political upheaval and social strife in the 21st century Megachange: Economic disruption, political upheaval and social strife in the 21st century Darrell M West
Slow, incremental change has become a relic of the past. Described by author Darrell West as megachanges, today's shifts come fast and big, with dramatic disruptions in trends and policies occuring on a regular basis.
Long-held assumptions have been shattered, and the proliferation of unexpected events is confounding experts around the globe. Many of the social and political institutions that previously anchored domestic and international politics have grown weak or are in need of dramatic reform.
With megachange becoming the new normal, West argues that we need to alter our expectations about the speed and magnitude of political and social change. Domestic and global institutions must develop the ability to tackle the massive economic, political and social shifts that we face.
Testosterone rex: Myths of sex, science and society Testosterone rex: Myths of sex, science and society Cordelia Fine
'Testosterone rex' is the powerful myth that tells us that inequality of the sexes is natural, not cultural. That men and women evolved different natures from an ancestral past that rewarded competitive men and caring women.
Not so, says psychologist Cordelia Fine, who with wit and panache shows us that hormones, culture and evolution work together in ways that make past and present gender dynamics only a serving suggestion for the future – not a recipe.
From the author of Delusions of gender , this is an upbeat, timely and important contribution to the debate about gender in society. Fine's book brings together evolutionary science, psychology, neuroscience and social history to move beyond 'nature versus nurture'.
