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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 Weirdness of the World The Weirdness of the World Eric Schwitzgebel
Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press, 2024
Do we live inside a simulated reality, or a pocket universe embedded in a larger structure about which we know virtually nothing? Is consciousness a purely physical matter, or might it require something extra, something nonphysical? The answers to these fundamental questions lie beyond our powers of comprehension. We can be certain only that the truth – whatever it is – is weird. Philosophy can aim to reveal possibilities we had not previously appreciated or to narrow down to the one correct theory of the phenomenon in question.
According to his complementary 'Universal Dubiety' thesis, there is no general theory of the relationship between mind and cosmos compels rational belief. Might the United States be a conscious organism with a group intelligence of a rabbit? Might virtually every action we perform cause virtually every possible type of future event, echoing down through an infinite universe? What, if anything, is it like to be a garden snail? Schwitzgebel makes a persuasive case for the thrill of considering the most bizarre philosophical possibilities.
Natural Curiosity: Unseen Art of the First Fleet Natural Curiosity: Unseen Art of the First Fleet Louise Anemaat
Sydney, NSW, Australia: NewSouth Publishing, 2014
Parrots and lorikeets swoop down, vivid, bright and colourful. Black swans glide through the air. Owls stare out from pages, wide-eyed. A sense of awe swept through natural history circles in 18th-century London when the first ships returned from Sydney with their cargo of exotic animals, birds and plants – and striking watercolour illustrations.
The sudden emergence, in 2011, of many these watercolour illustrations has revealed much about the early years of the colony. In Natural Curiosity , Louise Anemaat uncovers never-before-published works from the artists of the First Fleet, including convicts-turned-watercolourists Thomas Watling and John Doody, and the anonymous 'Port Jackson Painter'. She unravels the complex network of natural history collectors who spanned the globe – eagerly acquiring, copying and exchanging these artworks – from New South Wales Surgeon-General John White to passionate British collector Aylmer Bourke Lambert.
The Hope and Vision of J. Robert Oppenheimer The Hope and Vision of J. Robert Oppenheimer Michael A. Day
Hackensack, NJ, USA: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd, 2016
Incorporating elements from history, science, philosophy and international relations theory, this book takes a fresh look at the life and thought of Robert Oppenheimer. The author argues that not only are Oppenheimer's ideas important, engaging and relevant, but also more coherent than generally assumed. He makes a convincing case that Oppenheimer has much to say about 21st century issues, and his voice should be brought back into the public forum.
The book recovers and reconstructs what Oppenheimer said and wrote during the 1940s, 50s and 60s with the goal of identifying what might be of general philosophical interest today. It considers not only Oppenheimer's thought, but also his life using philosophical ideas developed by contemporary philosophers. In addition, to deepen and broaden the discussion and demonstrate the relevance of Oppenheimer's vision for the present, his views using contemporary international relations, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. This examination reveals ways in which Oppenheimer's reasoning was prescient of current work being carried out to control, and possibly move beyond, the nuclear revolution.
The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka Clare Wright
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Text Publishing, 2013
It's one of Australia's foundation legends yet the story has always been told as if half the participants weren't there. But what if the hot-tempered, free-spirited gold miners we learned about at school were husbands and fathers, brothers and sons? What if there were women and children right there beside them, inside the Stockade, when the bullets started to fly? And how do the answers to these questions change what we thought we knew about the so-called 'birth of Australian democracy'? Who, in fact, were the midwives to that precious delivery?
Locust Summer David Allan-Petale
Freemantle, WA, Australia: Fremantle Press, 2021
Shortlisted for The Australian Vogel's Literary Award, Locust Summer celebrates the wide-open beauty of Australia's regions while exploring the heartbreaks that come from living on the land.
On the cusp of summer, 1986, Rowan Brockman's mother asks if he can come home to Septimus in the Western Australian Wheatbelt to help with the harvest. Rowan's brother Albert, the natural heir to the farm, has died and Rowan's dad's health is failing. Although he longs to, there is no way that Rowan can refuse his mother's request as she prepares the farm for sale.
This is the story of the final harvest – the story of a young man in a place he doesn't want to be, being given one last chance to make peace before the past, and those he has loved, disappear.
101 Best Australian Beaches 101 Best Australian Beaches Andrew D. Short and Brad Farmer
Sydney, NSW, Australia: NewSouth Publishing, 2012
Which Australian beach is made entirely of shells, millions of them, several metres deep? Which beach has the biggest waves? Where is the world’s biggest sand dune? And why does Australia have the best beaches on the planet? This book answers all of those questions and more.
Between them, authors Andy Short and Brad Farmer have visited every one of Australia’s 11,761 mainland beaches, making them uniquely qualified to tell us which are the ones we have to see before we die. This superbly illustrated and thoroughly researched book will make you want to start the journey right now.
Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen If We Don't Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen If We Don't Sally Rippin
Richmond, Victoria, Australia: Hardie Grant Children's Publishing, 2022
In this exploration of dyslexia, ADHD and neurodivergent people, Australian Children's Laureate Sally Rippin asks: What happens to kids who don't learn how to read? And how can we help?
When Sally Rippin discovered her child was struggling to read, the best-selling children's author assumed it would sort itself out over time. She couldn't have been more wrong. Her son's dyslexia and ADHD went unsupported for years, leaving him further and further behind his peers, and labelled as ‘difficult' by an education system that couldn't easily cater to neurodivergent kids. By the time Sally learned how to advocate for her child, it was – almost – too late.
This book is about how we learn to read and what can happen if we don't, through the eyes of a parent who started out by doing everything the wrong way. Through meticulous research, interviews with educational experts and conversations with neurodivergent adults, Rippin shares her eye-opening insights into how we can help all kids find the joy in reading, and advocate for them within our schooling system. After all, they say school isn't for everyone, but if everyone must go to school – then why not?
Summer Shorts Jon Bauer, Peggy Frew, Melanie Joosten, Cate Kennedy, Meg Mundell, Chris Womersley
Brunswick, Victoria, Australia: Scribe Publications, 2011
Summer Shorts boasts stories from six of Australia's finest writers, showcasing emerging talents alongside established names. There's whimsical humour, drama, and even a thought-provoking vision of the future. Whether you're at the beach, on the train, or just lounging at home on a lazy afternoon, this lively story collection is the perfect e-read this summer.
Authors in this collection: Jon Bauer, Peggy Frew, Melanie Joosten, Cate Kennedy, Meg Mundell, Chris Womersley.
