WORDS OF WISDOM

LIFE FORCE

By Barry du Bois and Miguel Maestre (with forewards by Amanda Keller and Dr Judith Lacey)

In this unforgettable story of family, friendship, food and cancer, Barry du Bois shares an incredible story that is heart-breaking and life-affirming in equal measures.

Faced with the recurrence of his incurable cancer, Channel 10's The Living Room presenter Barry Du Bois left nothing to chance as he embraced a do-or-die treatment to extend his time with his precious young children and wife Leonie. With the team at Dr Chris O'Brien's Lifehouse and his best mate, TV chef Miguel Maestre, in his corner, Barry shares an incredible story that is heart-breaking and life-affirming in equal measures.

Raised in a fibro house beside a six-lane highway in Sydney's west, Barry retired from his successful building business in his early forties to deal with crippling depression but got a second wind as a television presenter talking about his favourite subjects, building and design, and becoming a later-life father to twins after a long quest via IVF and surrogacy.

Now, during what Barry describes as his 'last episode', he contemplates a gifted life and the lessons learned, including the value of a very special friendship. Published by ECHO and available at all good bookstores. RRP $34.99.

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THE ASTRAL TRAVELLERS HANDBOOK By David Michie

In this compendium of delightful short stories, David Michie draws us into the extraordinary experiences of everyday people as they encounter those tell-tale cracks exposing reality as not quite what it seems. Four female book club members are unexpectedly propelled, by the same black and white photograph, to discover a shared purpose beyond their wildest imaginings. An earnest young seeker finds that drawing aside the veil to an immeasurably more wonderful reality, doesn’t depend so much on the arcane books he reads as on a source much closer to home. A cat-crazy woman, who wishes her beloved felines would talk to her, is shaken when she realises what they have been trying to communicate all along.

Through intriguing storylines and revelations, David Michie offers life-enhancing insights with the same heart-warming benevolence that pervades his Dalai Lama’s Cat books. How better to gently unwind at the end of the day - and to prepare for the infinite possibilities, we may encounter in the realms of our dreams?

David Michie is the best-selling author of The Dalai Lama’s Cat series, The Queen’s Corgi: On Purpose and The Magician of Lhasa, as well as several works of non-fiction. He is also the founder of Mindful Safaris to Africa. David resides in Perth.

Published by Hay House Australia and available at all good bookstores. RRP $18.99.