The Heading Dog Who Split in Half: Legends and tall tales from New Zealand by Michael Brown and Matt Tait $39.99
In the overlooked margins of New Zealand history lie stories whose proportions extend beyond the limits of plausibility and into the realms of folk mythology. These stories reveal something quintessential about the breadth of vernacular experience that cannot be intimated by factual histories. They are also great fun. Michael Brown has collected tales of phantom waka, romantic escapades in the whaling days, magical sheepdogs and gargantuan crayfish, and these have been brought to graphic life by comic artist Matt Tait.
Through the pages of this wonderful collection of over 500 postcards, the concerns, developments and desires of a pivotal period in New Zealand history are available in a fresh, unmediated way. Thoughtfully curated, this book will provide hours of browsing and study.
>> We have a few signed copies - hurry!
This is an unusual and very interesting book. The authors have travelled the country documenting examples of unselfconscious design - bike-stands, manhole covers, playground benches - that resonate deeply with the experience of living in this country. Innovation and invention occur in response to specific need, and result in a strong aesthetic. Recommended!
The true and fascinating story of Susannah Noon, who stole some stocking in Colchester in her early teens as was transported to Australia as a convict in 1811. She later moved to New Zealand, first living on a whaling station before organised colonisation, and then in Marlborough and the Nelson area.
In 1858, Koch brought to New Zealand one of the country’s first lithographic printing presses and became one of the finest mapmakers in the colony. During his career as a draughtsman for the Department of Lands & Survey, he produced hundreds of plans, sketches and maps of all kinds. He printed some of his maps on his own press; later, in Wellington, they were often printed by the Government Printing Office. Of the multitude of maps he drew for Public Works only a fraction have survived, but they form an impressive collection, mirroring the process of colonisation and the technical advancement of mapmaking. He also produced illustrations for important works by Hochstetter, White and Mackay. This large-format volume is a fitting tribute to a hitherto-neglected figure.
Sheep have been the excuse for human habitation of this austerely beautiful area in the central South Island highlands since James Mackenzie herded his stolen flocks there over 150 years ago. This stunning book will will give you a feel of life in an area deeply embedded in the New Zealand psyche.
On the surface, the Paul family are living the liberal, middle-class dream in Helsinki. Max Paul is a renowned sociologist and his wife Katriina has a well-paid government job. They live in a beautiful apartment in the centre of the city. But look closer and the cracks start to show. As he approaches his sixtieth birthday, the certainties of Max's life begin to dissolve.
"Shot through with understated black humour and nicely balanced between tender and acerbic, this impressive novel is a forceful reminder that there is much more to Scandinavian writing than crime fiction." - Sunday Times
Pamuk is to Istanbul what Joyce is to Dublin - they are very different writers but these are very different cities. With a delicate melancholy, this novel tells the life of a street vendor and the unrequitible love that makes him feel separate from the people around him. Everywhere the texture of life in this changing yet changeless city is evoked with the subtlety that won Pamuk the Nobel Prize in 2006.
Explore the world's wildest habitats and discover a plethora of amazing animals. Beautiful engravings and a special colour-printing technique make the reading of this astounding large-format book a heightened and memorable experience.
Photography was invented the year before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Within a few years, cameras were charting the life and times of people at this end of the planet. See What I Can See is a celebration of the camera, the New Zealand that it captured, and the artists who wielded it. Gregory O'Brien is the perfect host to other people's ways of seeing, and this beautiful book is bursting with memorable and astounding images.
An frank and revealing portrait of one of the most able yet enigmatic New Zealand Prime Ministers.
"A resonatingly beautiful, unsettling graphic biography of both the discoverer of radioactive elements, and the searing, destructive elements themselves. What are the unseen forces that attract people to each other, and what are the unseen forces that slowly destroy all life they come in contact with? This is a thoughtful and fascinating book." - Thomas
Lewis Chopik has at last graduated from university. Having been dumped by his girlfriend and in flight from the pressures exerted by his ambitious professor father, Lewis returns to Wichita in search of respite at the home of his New-Ager mother, Abby. But when Abby picks Lewis up from the airport, she reveals that she's starting a storm-chasing business and then passes Lewis a graduation gift of $5000, which turns out to be the proceeds of a feminist Ponzi scheme called The Birthday Party.
"Wichita” is a novel about expectations and outcomes, about what is open and what is veiled. Its emotional terrain is touching and vast. Whereas you might begin the book drawn in by its sense of humor, its ending will unhinge you, as if a storm has ripped through you. This is a charming, smart and devastating book." - New York Times
Terry Teo is not your average schoolboy - he's a skateboarding super-sleuth about to embark on his very first adventure! When he stumbles headfirst into the criminal schemes of the villainous Ray Vegas, Terry finds himself embroiled in a dastardly gun smuggling operation. Along with his karate-chopping sister, Polly, and older brother Ted, Terry must use all his street smarts to avoid Vegas' henchmen, defeat the smugglers, and save the day!
New Zealand's answer to Tintin first appeared in 1982.
>> He doesn't wear a shiny suit or fly across the street.
"Erewhon is a place with a strong respect for the past, its forebears and the way they eked an honest living from the land, working with the weather and rivers. These soaring mountains and cavernous valleys look the same as when Butler and others explored on horseback 150 years ago - only the seasons change."
Well? Young children will enjoy guessing the birds (and will inadvertently learn a lot about them in the process).
>> And also in hardcover.
Alex Kerr brings to life the ritualized world of Kabuki, retraces his initiation into Tokyo's boardrooms during the heady Bubble Years, and tells the story of the hidden valley that became his home. But the book is not just a love letter. Haunted throughout by nostalgia for the Japan of old, Kerr's book, first published in Japanese, is part paean to that great country and culture, part epitaph in the face of contemporary Japan's environmental and cultural destruction.
"One of the finest books about Japan written in decades." - Insight Japan
A vast amount of information not only about individual plants but about a range of coastal habitats and the interactions between the flora that are suited to them. This much-needed and attractive book is very clear and helpful for those who wish to plant and curate a natural coastal garden.
A shift from the archetype to the stereotype, from the exalted to the everyday, Pop Art brought Modernism to the masses, making art sexy and fun.
New Zealand's rail network has retracted considerably since its heyday. This fascinating book explores forgotten branch lines reaching far into the back country and far into history, some dating back to the 1870s, and tells their stories. Includes the Glenhope line.
A wonderful introduction to the varied and vital food eaten in the real Japan.
A stunning book of reproductions from stunning books, and a stack of stunning prints, all cased. This would make a wonderful gift.
This is a wonderful book, presenting a distinctive, almost gritty, aesthetic to floral arrangement. Flowers and tools come together to create memorable works of floral art, the processes of time suspended not only in the arrangements but in the photographs as well. This book will change the way you think about flowers.
Once there was a Fox who lived in a deep, dense forest. For as long as Fox could remember, his only friend had been Star, who lit the forest paths each night. But then one night Star was not there, and Fox had to face the forest all alone. This is an absolutely exquisite and irresistible book from an award-winning designer.
Long sought after by Maori, these beautiful, fighting fish are second only to snapper as New Zealand's most caught recreational fish species. You can catch kahawai from the shore and at tidal river mouths, while out on the water 'work-ups', the feeding frenzies where huge numbers of these fish go wild chasing prey, are legend among fishers. Kahawai: The people's fish is Hindmarsh's celebration of this under-appreciated fish. With history, information on biology and behaviour, fishing stories, vital tips on how best to catch them, details on how to prepare them for eating and smoking them, this book will tell you everything you need to know about kahawai. It also includes over 30 recipes from Melanie Walker.
Lloyd’s wife Shirley, having so often heard him say, “I went there on me bike”, insisted he record the intrepid cycling journeys he made around New Zealand as a young man in the 1930s and ’40s. You'll be very pleased she insisted: this is a fascinating book.
How to cook fantastic, authentic Latin American food utilising locally available ingredients. Venezuelan-born New Zealand-based chef Grace Ramirez shares her interpretation of traditional recipes from throughout Latin America. Utilising readily available ingredients, Grace recreates the authentic tastes she grew up with in contemporary dishes full of bold flavours.
Turner brings a poet's eye and an outdoorsman's passionate sensibility to this celebration of the Central Otago landscape and the people to be found within it. This is a collection of thoughts, recollections, evocations and impressions, both in poetry and prose, with great photographs by Steve Calveley.
Very appealing, and packed will easily assimilated historical information, this story of the newspaper of a generic New Zealand town from 1840 until today is an outstanding graphic history for children.
The diverse and desolate country that makes up Mt White Station has held an irresistible allure for men for decades. Many have committed themselves to the extreme weather and isolation of the place only to finally admit defeat, while others have endured, raising families and forming bonds with their fellow station workers and the land itself. From the Riversdale flats to the Puketeraki and Dampier ranges on the Lochinvar estate in the Upper Waimakariri catchment, Mt White has been one of the most successful operating stations since the Long Depression of the 1880s.
Anti-apartheid activist, Bollywood screenwriter, Nazi pin-up, hero of the Wild West: this is Shakespeare as you have never seen him before. From the sixteenth-century Baltic to the American Revolution, from colonial India to the skyscrapers of modern-day Shanghai, Shakespeare's plays appear at the most fascinating of times and in the most unexpected of places. No other writer's work has been performed, translated, adapted and altered in such a remarkable variety of cultures and languages. But what is it about William Shakespeare - a man from Warwickshire who never once set foot outside England - that has made him at home in so many places around the globe?
An unnamed author is invited to the International Congress of Biography and Memory in Jerusalem. In the conference rooms of a luxury hotel, he listens to a series of extraordinary life stories. But it is Jos Maturana - evangelical pastor, recovering drug addict and ex-con - with his story of redemption at the hands of a charismatic tattooed messiah from Miami, who fascinates the author more than any other. But is it true? Hours later however, Maturana is found dead in his hotel room. The narrator, moved by Maturana's life story sets out to discover the truth about his death.
"I don't regret anything, really. I never wanted to live a sensible life. I didn't want a sensible death either." War-torn Africa, a Middle East in crisis, and post-Soviet Eastern Europe form the backdrop to the stories told in The Devil is a Black Dog - stories based on the extraordinary experiences of acclaimed photojournalist Sandor Jaszberenyi. From Cairo to the Gaza Strip, from Benghazi to Budapest, his characters contemplate the meaning of home, love, family, and friendship in the face of brutality.
>> I want to live.
Although its population was less than that of Nelson, Renaissance Florence had a cultural impact of vast breadth and consequence. This magnificent book reproduces every painted work that is on display in the Uffizi Gallery, The Pitti Palace, the Accademia, and the Duomo is included in the book, plus many or most of the works from 28 of the city's other magnificent museums and churches.
The perfect loving phrase the one that tongues
a dazzling parting thought and leaves a vapour trail across the heart
does not force its truths from gravities
(or likelihoods
from similarities)
but weaves an arc of steamy sparkly hold-on-tights-for-godsakes
and from nothing more
than golden-mackled loops
of heady harmonies.
Now in his 80's Bland's poetry continues to delight and amuse.
>> Interview here.
Costume historian Lucy Adlington reveals the rich stories underlying the clothes we wear in this stylish tour of the most important developments in the history of fashion, from ancient times to the present day. Interesting!
The Angry Buddhist approaches all its characters with reliable misanthropy, and its story unfolds with dexterous ease. Even a minor figure like Hard's wife, Vonda Jean, who wears "an expression as nurturing as an oil spill" and always leaves the television on "so she'll have something else to listen to in the event Hard starts talking," is made funny and sharp. The book's women are more cartoonish than its men. But the competition is pretty fierce." - Janet Maslin, New York Times
Nguyen as journeys down the river, immersing himself in the culture and communities of the countries he visits, learning stories and histories from each region as well as sampling and recreating local cuisines.
>> 'Mekong Delta Blues'.
A selection of 400 of Leunig's most hilarious, insightful, relevant, original and poignant cartoons, spanning five decades. Immerse yourself.
A local dignitary is hosting a lavish party at his country house on the outskirts of Cali, Colombia. He observes from afar as his staff prepare the grounds to his liking – the maids carefully arrange the lawn furniture, the chefs plate the oysters and caviar with precision, and the security guards stand poised. Everything is ready when his guests begin to arrive. But, as the sun begins to go down, a sense of unease hangs over the cheerful revelry. His daughter is missing, the resident spider monkey is threatening chaos, and, unbeknownst to our host, a group of nefarious uninvited guests closely watch his every move.
World champion adventure racer Nathan Fa'avae, considered by many to be the best in the history of the sport, shares his life story, and provides a unique insight into this remarkable pursuit. Part-Samoan, Nathan was raised in Nelson, and it was as a wayward adolescent that he discovered outdoor adventure. Since then he has never looked back, and has been a full-time adventurer working as an outdoor educator, the owner of multiple adventure-based businesses, and a professional athlete. Nathan's career as an adventure racer has been made even harder by atrial fibrillation, a heart condition which has threatened many times to stop his sporting endeavours.
>> Nathan will be in our shop from 9-10AM on 31 October (Bookshop Day!). Come and meet hims and have your book signed!
When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible - and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
Never-before-published stories by Haruki Marukami, Louise Erdrich, Dave Eggers, Etgar Keret, Lydia Davis, David Mitchell and others.
Just like fruit, vegetables and meat, cheese is seasonal. Seasonal cheese is about listening to nature, understanding the grazing cycle of the animal that's being milked, knowing what they're grazing on at which time of year, and recognising optimal maturing times. This cookbook introduces the idea of seasonal cheese, starting with a brief introduction to which cheeses are at their prime at which time of year, followed by dozens of exceptional recipes each using an easy-to-find seasonal cheese.
Drusilla Modjeska looks back on the experiences of the past thirty years which have shaped her writing, her reading and the way she has lived. From a childhood in England, growing up with a father she admired deeply but felt she never really knew, to her time as a young newly-wed, living with her husband in Papua New Guinea; arriving as a single woman in Sydney in the 1970s and building close friendships with writers such as Helen Garner, with whom she lived in the bookish 'house on the corner', and the lovers who would - sometimes briefly - derail her, this new book by Drusilla Modjeska is an intensely personal account of a truly examined life.
From the ruins are arising an array of innovative re-made and redesigned houses, embodying both history and hope.
"I've been calling it the After-Room," Benjamin said. "But it's not really a room. The walls aren't really walls, they're like a screen, and beyond is something else. Something farther. My father is there. I think he's keeping himself in that place, somehow. He's stalling, so he can communicate with me. Does that sound stupid?" Janie shook her head. It sounded terrifying, but also somehow wonderful. It's 1955, and Benjamin Burrows and Janie Scott are trying to live a safe, normal life. But soon the advice of a mysterious, unscrupulous magician propels Janie and Benjamin into danger, and towards the land of the dead. The gripping conclusion to the 'Apothecary' series!
Nothing more needs to be said - this is everything you have always wanted to know.
>> The isle is full of noises.
"Hester and Harriet are widowed sisters living comfortably
together, leading quiet lives. But, on their way to a Christmas dinner with
their cousin and his wife, they come across a waif-like young woman and her
newly born baby hiding in a bus shelter. As it is Christmas Day they pick her
up and take her and her baby home to their place. The next day a sinister
stranger comes knocking at their door looking for her, and the sisters play
dumb. Shortly after the stranger's gone, their cousin's 15-year-old son Ben
comes to the door. He's left home and needs somewhere to stay for a short time.
Suddenly the sisters’ comfortable quiet life has taken a dramatic turn and they
are plunged into an unexpectedly exciting few days. This was a lovely, heart-warming
story, and the character development and interaction is splendidly written.
This is lovely and enjoyable read." - Peter
Beneath a range of mountains lies the rural town of Waitapu. Here, sisters Ruby and Rowena reconnect, Mereata feels her tipuna like a breath on the back of her neck and Harriet goes missing from the rest home. This collection of 18 short stories cracks open the image of rural tranquillity to reveal the heartbreak and kindness of everyday lives.
A collection of essays on women in architecture in New Zealand.
Japanese cuisine as featured at Watt's renowned Auckland restaurant.
Tiger claims that stripes are the best. Leopard insists that spots are tops. Their squabble turns into a quarrel; the quarrel becomes a battle; and, by lunchtime, the jungle is a complete mess. A lively new book from the winner of the 2014 Margaret Mahy Book of the Year (for The Boring Book).
"More enthralling than War and Peace." - Elephant
"I can think of no other chef that understands the nuances of Asian, and in particular Chinese cooking, better than Neil." - Heston Blumenthal
In an age of weightless, disposable digital products, here's a book to help you live more fully, one that invites you to explore your beliefs, ambitions, friendships, memories and flights of imagination.
Consciousness-raising post-it notes so you can save the environment and promote human rights without resorting to graffiti per se.
>> Save the world by 2030.
A novel about insecure, fragile, confused men who love women but are not loved back and have nothing in common except their heartache. They meet in Paris once a week, to tell each other their stories of love and loss.
The thing about Dawn French is that she actually is funny. (By the way, this is a novel).
The story of the Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha and how he came to compose the haka 'Ka Mate, Ka Mate'.
>> Also in English.
