The Wheel Spins is the novel about young and bright Iris Carr, who is on her way back to England after spending a holiday somewhere in the Balkans. After she is left alone by her friends, Iris catches the train for Trieste and finds company in Miss Froy, chatty elderly English woman. When she wakes up from a short nap, she discovers that her elderly travelling companion seems to have disappeared from the train. After her fellow passengers deny ever having seen the elderly lady, the young woman is on the verge of her nerves. She is helped by a young English traveler, and the two proceed to search the train for clues to the old woman's disappearance. Ethel Lina White (1876-1944) was a British crime writer, best known for her novel The Wheel Spins, on which the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Lady Vanishes, was based.

A delightful look at the history of the information wheel

When entrepreneur Len Forkas learned that his nine-year-old son had leukemia, his own life changed forever. In 2003, Len founded Hopecam, a nonprofit that uses technology to connect young cancer patients with their friends at school. Ten years later, Len's fight against childhood cancer rose to a new level. He qualified as a solo competitor in Race Across America, a 3,000-mile bicycle race that traverses scorching deserts and 11,000-foot mountain elevations. As Len fought to finish the race is just 12 days, an all-volunteer crew supported him around the clock. What Spins the Wheel is a true story about fatherhood and fortitude, business grit and growth - and the power of combining the right mission with the right team to help others.

Lucky's is a story of family. A story about migration. It is also about a man called Lucky. His restaurant chain. A fire that changed everything. A New Yorker article which might save a career. The mystery of a missing father. An impostor who got the girl. An unthinkable tragedy. A roll of the dice. And a story of love - lost, sought and won again (at last). Following a trail of cause and effect that spans decades, this unforgettable epic tells a story about lives bound together by the pursuit of love, family, and new beginnings. WINNER OF THE READINGS PRIZE FOR NEW AUSTRALIAN FICTION 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE MUD LITERARY PRIZE 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR ABIA MATT RICHELL NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARDS FOR FICTION 2021 HIGHLY COMMENDED FOR 2021 ARA HISTORIAL NOVEL PRIZE Praise for Lucky's 'Andrew Pippos has written an unforgettable epic with Australian humour and Greek tragedian turns on every page. Such skill and heart and love pulses through this debut!' - Alice Pung 'A sweeping, sprawling family epic of heartbreak, hope, and redemption. This is the debut of a born storyteller.' - Liam Pieper 'Affecting, authentic and tender' - Rebecca Starford 'A gorgeous novel of wonderful characters, Lucky's is the real deal and I didn't want it to stop. I was so caught up in the casual charm of this book that I kept being sideswiped by the excellent turns of its plot, and the wise, sometimes disturbing things it has to say about fate, luck and family over the sweep of decades.' - Ronnie Scott 'From the first pages of this debut novel, it is clear that we are in the hands of a wise, perceptive, and highly-skilled storyteller. Pippos brilliantly distills multiple stories to those pure moments of love, despair, passion and folly that make up the essence of a life, and his fierce and fragile characters will remain in your heart long after the final page. The writing is fresh and fairly crackles with energy. Lucky's is one of the best Australian novels I've read in years!' - Emily Bitto 'Crisp and evocative' - Rick Morton 'A mouthwatering tale that encapsulates family drama, true crime and Greek tragedy - with pathos-filled characters that pop' - Guardian 'A hugely entertaining, tender, rollicking yarn. Part immigration story, part love story, part adventure, it's a multi-layered original Australian story.' - Sydney Morning Herald 'Lucky's is a bold novel, both backwards- and forwards-looking, a strong start to a career, and a timely reminder that an individual's life story can be quietly vast.' - The Australian 'Pippos writes towards myth while grounding his book in deeply human themes. Lucky's is concerned with the stories we tell ourselves and the chasm between fact and fiction, the space where happiness may lie.' - Australian Book Review 'This is a novel that I'd like everyone to read...Lucky's is a beautiful reminder that lives can be reinvented, that the bad things will eventually give way to the good ones, and that the change we seek could be right around the corner.' - Kill Your Darlings 'One of the most impressive and appealing Australian debuts novels of 2020 - or, frankly, any year, and you can scratch the adjective "debut" from that description too.' - Readings 'From reading this magnificent debut, it's clear that Andrew Pippos will go down as one of the finest Australian storytellers of his generation ... Pippos dictates the conventions of our humanity perfectly, giving to us the definition of a Greek tragedy interpersed within what is sure to become an Australian classic.' - Glam Adelaide 'Grand, evocative and generous storytelling mark out Lucky's as one of the most rewarding Australian debuts of 2020 ... A wild and sprawling story is rendered with precision and depth. Every page is a reward for the reader.' - Booktopia

Asleep at the Wheel will jolt you, trouble you, and trample your senses and sensibilities from start to finish. With the Pentagon and World Trade Center tragedies as horrible reminders, John R. Hanny describes the evil forces that plague the United States today. He then dares to take the next frightening steps that fear prevents most readers to even think about.Corrupt political power, greed, and religious fanaticism are aligned against the virtuous honor and unswerving allegiance to respect the dignity of all humankind. This is a consuming tale that clearly distinguishes the good guys from the bad N for the most part.Hanny's prescient insights about worldwide terrorism are unnerving in both scope and intensity, but his tale is bolstered by hope, determination, and resolve. After being frightened by extraordinarily heinous events and lifted by heroic deeds, the reader will not easily forget the emotional maelstrom that is Asleep at the Wheel.

A reinvention of the Rumplestiltskin story -- one spinner uses a stolen wheel, crippling his leg as he makes straw into a glittering dress for his beloved, whom he loses. A second spinner named Saskia becomes a master spinner -- until she too is forced to spin straw into gold. When they meet, a new tale must be spun.

There is no part of our bodies that fully rotates—be it a wrist or ankle or arm in a shoulder socket, we are made to twist only so far. And yet there is no more fundamental human invention than the wheel—a rotational mechanism that accomplishes what our physical form cannot. Throughout history, humans have developed technologies powered by human strength, complementing the physical abilities we have while overcoming our weaknesses. Providing a unique history of the wheel and other rotational devices—like cranks, cranes, carts, and capstans—Why the Wheel Is Round examines the contraptions and tricks we have devised in order to more efficiently move—and move through—the physical world. Steven Vogel combines his engineering expertise with his remarkable curiosity about how things work to explore how wheels and other mechanisms were, until very recently, powered by the push and pull of the muscles and skeletal systems of humans and other animals. Why the Wheel Is Round explores all manner of treadwheels, hand-spikes, gears, and more, as well as how these technologies diversified into such things as hand-held drills and hurdy-gurdies. Surprisingly, a number of these devices can be built out of everyday components and materials, and Vogel’s accessible and expansive book includes instructions and models so that inspired readers can even attempt to make their own muscle-powered technologies, like trebuchets and ballista. Appealing to anyone fascinated by the history of mechanics and technology as well as to hobbyists with home workshops, Why the Wheel Is Round offers a captivating exploration of our common technological heritage based on the simple concept of rotation. From our leg muscles powering the gears of a bicycle to our hands manipulating a mouse on a roller ball, it will be impossible to overlook the amazing feats of innovation behind our daily devices.