"Makine's novel lives in the memory long after the last page is turned. The narrator – like Makine, an orphan – guides us through the totalitarian world of Brezhnev's Soviet Union. Makine's prose is both spare and meditative, and leads us deep into the memories of a world that is now gone. He sees straight into the heart of the Soviet disaster while writing with great sophistication of the things that mattered there." - Gillian Slovo, Guardian
From quiet beginnings in a picturesque seaside enclave, In the Approaches constructs its own anarchic city-state on the previously undiscovered common ground between G.K. Chesterton and Philip K. Dick, and ultimately reveals itself to be a crazed fantasia born of Catholicism and the internet. Completely nuts.
"Barker captures - and lovingly distorts - both the rhythms and banality of language. She is, as it were, Harold Pinter on crack." - Spectator
In soft-rocked areas of Britain paths have been worn by centuries of feet, hoofs and wheels into long clefts, sometimes metres deep, in the surrounding countryside, and now largely hidden. This book tells of two exploratory journeys through one such hollow way.
"The writing is exquisite: everywhere there is a quietness, a weightedness, an enclosedness, and a sense of time overlaid and overlaid until these layers are worn thin and lose distinction. A beautiful little book." - Thomas
"This would have to be one of the most enjoyable non-fiction books that I have read for a long while. This book is written with a delightful wit, and Dave Goulson has a wonderful self-deprecating style of writing. An absolutely absorbing and interesting book." - Peter
"Quiet Dell has all the elements of a murder mystery, but its emotional scope is larger and more complex. It combines a strange hypnotic and poetic power with the sharp tones of documentary evidence. It offers a portrait of rural America in a time of crisis and dramatises the lives of a number of characters who are fascinating and memorable." - Colm Toibin
An astounding digressive exploration of the relationship between mathematics, literature and 'real life', and of the mutually distorting interplay between imagination and memory.
"I am looking forward to reading this!" - Thomas
Roubaud was a quiet star at the recent Auckland Writers Festival.
Hear an interesting interview with him here.
Oslo, 1968. Ambitious young detective Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen investigates the murder of a hero of the Resistance during the Nazi occupation. As K2 begins to investigate, it seems clear that the murderer could only be one of Olesen's fellow tenants in his apartment building. With the help of Patricia - a brilliant young woman confined to a wheelchair following a terrible accident - K2 begins to untangle the web of lies surrounding Olesen's neighbours...
"Irresistible. An intimate anatomy of the pathos, absurdity and perverse splendour of trying to find patterns in the chaos of the world." - Independent
Now in paperback!
Until this morning, Charlotte Pudding was almost happy with her life. Apart from her homicidal toaster, dead parents, and general ennui. Well, maybe not that happy. Either way, now that she's on the run from a shadowy corporation, seeking the secrets of her own family history and tolerating the inanities of a retired god, things are looking a bit more interesting.
Hugely fun, fresh and inventive, and reminiscent of Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series. New Zealand author.
"A mercurial and enriching walk through 'off-script' fatherhood, cerebral palsy, art history and this commonplace mystery, love. The Fall is wise and kind and moving." - David Mitchell
"The Fall is a moving portrait of a relationship with a child and a place. It is a rare book: by turns heartbreaking, angry and lyrical." - Edmund de Waal
A selection of essays looking at the range of ways the past persists, acknowledged or unacknowledged, into the present.
Critically acclaimed author Richard Moore tells the stories behind some of the defining stages in the Tour de France's history, through the eyes of the protagonists: the heroes and villains, stars and journeymen.
An excellent graphic novel account of the enfranchisement campaign, seen through the eyes of Emmeline Pankhurst's (fictional) maid.
"There's a potent mix of hope and brutality here, hammering home the radicalism of those who fought for the vote and the self-satisfied power of those who resisted. Flashes of colour illuminate the black and white panels in a book that combines an academic attention to detail with passionate politics." - Guardian
Visit the website.
The Gestapo was the most feared instrument of political terror in the Third Reich, hunting down and destroying anyone regarded as an enemy of the Nazi regime: socialists, Communists, Jews, homosexuals, and anyone else deemed to be an 'anti-social element'. But how accurate is it to view the Gestapo as an all-powerful, all-knowing instrument of terror? How much did it depend upon the co-operation of ordinary Germans? And did its networks extend further into German society than most Germans after 1945 ever wanted to admit?
Thirteen poems, thirteen shapes of knowing, from this interesting New Zealand poet.
Website here.
Martinez's cerebral palsy gave her a unique perspective on the society she grew up in. Read a sample of this spirited, funny book and you'll want to read the rest. The Wobbly Revolution starts here!
"Her observations and perspective are unique and powerful. This is a funny, compassionate and inspiring story of how 'being different' can become, with the right attitude, an unlikely advantage. Also, it's bloody funny and touching." - Russell Brand
There's lots of tension both above and under the surface between a writer with writer's block, a model who wants very badly to land a serious acting role and her diving instructor. Good accounts of diving protocols, too.
"Deliciously claustrophobic, smart, and unrelentingly intense, this psychological thriller with shades of Patricia Highsmith will leave readers gasping for air."
"Neel Mukherjee has written an outstanding novel: compelling, compassionate and complex, vivid, musical and fierce." - Rose Tremain
"A devastating portrayal of a decadent society and the inevitably violent uprising against it, in the tradition of such politically charged Indian literature as the work of Prem Chand, Manto and Mulk Raj Anand. It is ferocious, unsparing and brutally honest." - Anita Desai
"David Lebovitz is a rare specimen: both a terrific storyteller and a brilliant, uncompromising recipe writer. His lighthearted, almost satirical style is combined with far-reaching knowledge of food and its context. I'd follow him blindfolded on this journey to the City of Light." -Yotam Ottolenghi, co-author of Jerusalem
The wise bunny knows the carrot will not hop to him.
The wise bunny hops even when the way is unclear.
Real food; really fresh! Another excellent cookbook from the (local!) authors of Real Fresh Food.
Two weeks in a remote island villa with America's most dysfunctional family - what could possibly go wrong?
"Witty, big-hearted, and packed with wisdom, The Vacationers is a breezy read that sneaks in its emotional wallops and leaves you smiling for days." - Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette
At last you'll know!
Adolf Hitler despised cricket, considering it un-German and decadent. This is a fascinating account of a very unlikely tour.
Is the CYF fostering system failing the children it is designed to protect? This personal account by a foster parent raises some important questions.
From the 1930s to the present.
"So good that I felt as if the radio had been surreptitiously switched on and I was, in fact, listening to Test Match Special...it is the easiest and most enjoyable of reads." - Sunday Telegraph
Some NZ content.
The truth about professional cycling.
"Interesting and revealing... the most accurate description of what being a highly-regarded domestique in the modern peloton is really like." - Cycling Weekly
Sweetspot Cycling Book of the Year.
Nobody built sports cars like British manufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s. There was something very special about the combination of low-slung open two-seater bodywork with a spartan interior, a slick sporting gearchange and a rorty exhaust note.
A very clear and useful little book.
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