A Life Well Read: Reading List

Earlier this month, Ballarat Library hosted a special Seniors Festival edition of our Wellbeing Matters program – a monthly opportunity for our community to learn, share and connect. Librarian Eloise was joined by George Fong (Chair of Committee for Ballarat) and Tony Chew (local musician, mentor and former businessman) for A Life Well Read, a conversation about biographies and memoirs. 

You can find the complete list of books discussed below, with highly recommended titles featuring an asterisk (*) beside them. Titles available in our library system are linked. Follow the link to our catalogue to place a book on hold to pick up from your closest Ballarat Libraries branch.

Memoirs and Biographies

The Code Breaker – Walter Isaacson*  

The Art of the Deal – Donald Trump  

Lawrence in Arabia – Scott Anderson  

Balcony Over Jerusalem – John Lyons  

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek – Annie Dillard*  

Weaving the Web – Tim Berners-Lee  

Tracy Kidder – The Soul of a New Machine  

The short stories of Isaac Asimov  

Thanks a Lot Mr Kibblewhite – Roger Daltrey  

Charlie’s Good Tonight – Paul Sexton  

Scar Tissue – Anthony Kiedis*  

Me – Elton John  

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China – Jung Chang*  

The Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck   

Mao: The Unknown Story – Jung Chang and Jon Halliday  

The New Emperors: China in the Era of Mao and Deng – Harrison Salisbury  

Repeat: A Warning from History – Dennis Glover  

House of Kwa – Mimi Kwa*

Four Thousand Weeks – Oliver Burkeman  

In Oceans Deep: Courage, Innovation, and Adventure Beneath the Waves – Bill Streever*  

Sidesplitter – Phil Wang  

A Periodic Tale – Dr Karl Kruszelnicki  

I Am, I Am, I Am – Maggie O’Farrell  

Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music – Archie Roach*  

How to Make Gravy – Paul Kelly  

Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl  

If This Is a Man – Primo Levi  

Meditations – Marcus Aurelius  

The Daily Stoic – Ryan Holiday  

The Erratics – Vicki Laveau-Harvie  

A Room Made of Leaves – Kate Grenville  

Into the Magic Shop – James R. Doty