NEW RELEASES
Bina by Anakana Schofield $38
Schofield's 74-year-old narrator has finally, she thinks, seen the last of the lodger who has dominated her life for a decade, but can she fathom the secret operations of 'the Group'?
“Insightful. Inventive. Hilarious. Genius.” —Eimear McBride
"Anakana Schofield’s Bina is a fiction of the rarest and darkest kind, a work whose pleasures must be taken measure for measure with its pains. Few writers operate the scales of justice with more precision, and Schofield is no less exacting in what she chooses to weigh. The novel’s themes — male violence, the nature of moral courage, the contemporary problems of truth and individuality, the status of the female voice — could hardly be more timely or germane. Schofield’s sense of injustice is unblinking and without illusion, yet her writing is so vivacious, so full of interest and lust for life: she is the most compassionate of storytellers, wearing the guise of the blackest comedian." —Rachel Cusk
>>"No-one should die unwitnessed."
The Reed Warbler by Ian Wedde $35
Drawing from his own family history, and the experiences of others, Wedde's new novel tells of a young woman from northern Germany who straddled two worlds and ended up in New Zealand at the turn of the twentieth century, and asks, how reliable are memories? and what is the nature of stories?
"Epic, engrossing and richly patterned, The Reed Warbler explores complex migrations: the way human lives move inexorably towards their futures while at the same time doubling back on their pasts. In tracing the story of Josephina and her family, Ian Wedde invites us to consider the threads that tether us to our own histories." —Catherine Chidgey
>>"Billed as a masterpiece."
>>Ian Wedde talks with Paula Morris.
One Day I'll Tell You Everything by Emmanuelle Pagano $37
Adèle and her younger brother Axel grew up in a hamlet in the spectacular mountains of the Ardèche region in south-east France. Ten years later, they have returned to their childhood home and Adèle now drives the school bus. Adèle is desperate to keep the secret of her past--of when she was a boy. No one recognises her here now, but when a terrifying snowstorm strands the bus on the mountain, Adèle and her passengers take shelter in a cave, and that's when the stories come out.
"Pagano writes about siblings, about love and lies, about life slipping away, and about adolescents who are full of life. She speaks about bodies transforming, seasons changing, and memories that never fade. This extraordinarily beautiful novel, both sensitive and thoughtful, has an astute and deeply affecting ending." —Livre et Lire
Pagano's Faces on the Tip of My Tongue was listed for the 2020 International Booker Prize.
Te Wheke: Pathways across Oceania edited by Ken Hall $40
A selection of art looking at Aotearoa New Zealand's connections with the Pacific, with texts investigating the journeys and tensions that shape this world. Te wheke means octopus in te Reo. Te Wheke features work by more than 70 artists from Aotearoa and the Pacific, including Shane Cotton, Fatu Feu’u, Charles Goldie, Bill Hammond, Lonnie Hutchinson, Yuki Kihara, Colin McCahon, Ani O’Neill, Fiona Pardington, Michael Parekowhai, Lisa Reihana, Bill Sutton, and Robin White.
Eating for Pleasure, People and Planet by Tom Hunt $50
"This book is like a hybrid of Michael Pollan and Anna Jones. It combines serious food politics with flavour-packed modern recipes. This is a call-to-arms for a different way of eating which seeks to lead us there not through lectures but through a love of food, in all its vibrancy and variety.'" —Bee Wilson
Free Day by Inès Cagnati $30
Gagnati's novel, based on her own experiences as a child, refuses to mitigate the pain and isolation of growing up in the French countryside with a brutal father and incompetent mother. As 14-year-old Galla cycles home from her boarding school, we learn of her predicaments and her hopes.
>>"The countryside is a place where tough, alienated people scratch out a thankless existence."
Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston $28
Zora Neale Hurston's candid, exuberant account (first published in 1942) of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural South to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. 's candid, exuberant account of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural South to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. New introduction by Jesmyn Ward.
Soviet Space Graphics: Cosmic visions from the USSR edited by Detlef Mertens $58
Presenting more than 250 illustrations depicting discoveries, scientific innovations, futuristic visions, and extraterrestrial encounters.
18 Tiny Deaths: The untold story of Frances Glessner Lee and the invention of modern forensics by Bruce Goldfarb $38
Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962) became the 'mother of modern forensics' and was instrumental in elevating homicide investigation to a scientific discipline. She learned forensic science under the tutelage of pioneering medical examiner Magrath, who told her about his cases, gave her access to the autopsy room to observe post-mortems and taught her about poisons and patterns of injury. Lee acquired and read books on criminology and forensic science — eventually establishing the largest library of legal medicine. She went on to create The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death — a series of dollhouse-sized crime scene dioramas depicting the facts of actual cases in exquisitely detailed miniature.
>>Visit the dioramas.
Fake Baby by Amy McDaid $36
Nine Days. One City. Three Oddballs. Stephen's dead father is threatening to destroy the world. If Stephen commits the ultimate sacrifice and throws himself into the harbour, he will save humanity. The last thing he needs is a Jehovah's witness masquerading as a school boy and an admission to a mental health facility. Jaanvi steals a life-like doll called James and cares for him as if he were her dead child. Her husband demands she return him. But she and James have already bonded, and it's nobody's business how she decides to grieve. Lucas, pharmacist and all-round nice guy, is having one of the worst weeks of his life. His employees forgot his birthday, his mother's gone manic, and now his favourite customer is in hospital because of a medication error he made. Can he make things right? Or is life all downhill after forty?
"A darkly funny satire that's both moving and wise." —Paula Morris
>>McDaid introduces the book.
Art is a Tyrant: The unconventional life of Rosa Bonheur by Catherine Hewett $45
Meeting with great success as a painter, Bonheur was remarkable in the nineteenth century as an open lesbian, rational dresser, smoker and scorner of men.
A Nest of Gentlefolk, And other stories by Ivan Turgenev $28
New translations by Jessie Coulson of some of Turgenev's best stories: 'A Nest of Gentlefolk', 'A Quiet Backwater', 'First Love', and 'A Lear of the Steppes'.
How I Make Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz $35
How to use a camera to reclaim the streets as your own, why you need to watch the world always with a sense of possibility, how to set your subjects at ease, and the importance of being playful and of finding a lens that suits your personality.
>>Other books by Meyerowitz.
Choked: The age of air pollution and the fight for a cleaner future by Beth Gardiner $25
Every year, air pollution prematurely kills seven million people around the world, in rich countries and poor ones. It is strongly linked to strokes, heart attacks, many kinds of cancer, premature birth and dementia, among other ailments. Gardiner meets the scientists who have transformed our understanding of pollution's effects on the human body, and traces the economic forces and political decisions that have allowed it to remain at life-threatening levels. She also focuses on real-world solutions, and on stories of people fighting for a healthier future.
I Saw It First! Jungle: A family spotting game by Caroline Selmes $35
300 jungle animals! Fun.
Schofield's 74-year-old narrator has finally, she thinks, seen the last of the lodger who has dominated her life for a decade, but can she fathom the secret operations of 'the Group'?
“Insightful. Inventive. Hilarious. Genius.” —Eimear McBride
"Anakana Schofield’s Bina is a fiction of the rarest and darkest kind, a work whose pleasures must be taken measure for measure with its pains. Few writers operate the scales of justice with more precision, and Schofield is no less exacting in what she chooses to weigh. The novel’s themes — male violence, the nature of moral courage, the contemporary problems of truth and individuality, the status of the female voice — could hardly be more timely or germane. Schofield’s sense of injustice is unblinking and without illusion, yet her writing is so vivacious, so full of interest and lust for life: she is the most compassionate of storytellers, wearing the guise of the blackest comedian." —Rachel Cusk
>>"No-one should die unwitnessed."
Drawing from his own family history, and the experiences of others, Wedde's new novel tells of a young woman from northern Germany who straddled two worlds and ended up in New Zealand at the turn of the twentieth century, and asks, how reliable are memories? and what is the nature of stories?
"Epic, engrossing and richly patterned, The Reed Warbler explores complex migrations: the way human lives move inexorably towards their futures while at the same time doubling back on their pasts. In tracing the story of Josephina and her family, Ian Wedde invites us to consider the threads that tether us to our own histories." —Catherine Chidgey
>>"Billed as a masterpiece."
>>Ian Wedde talks with Paula Morris.
Adèle and her younger brother Axel grew up in a hamlet in the spectacular mountains of the Ardèche region in south-east France. Ten years later, they have returned to their childhood home and Adèle now drives the school bus. Adèle is desperate to keep the secret of her past--of when she was a boy. No one recognises her here now, but when a terrifying snowstorm strands the bus on the mountain, Adèle and her passengers take shelter in a cave, and that's when the stories come out.
"Pagano writes about siblings, about love and lies, about life slipping away, and about adolescents who are full of life. She speaks about bodies transforming, seasons changing, and memories that never fade. This extraordinarily beautiful novel, both sensitive and thoughtful, has an astute and deeply affecting ending." —Livre et Lire
Pagano's Faces on the Tip of My Tongue was listed for the 2020 International Booker Prize.
A selection of art looking at Aotearoa New Zealand's connections with the Pacific, with texts investigating the journeys and tensions that shape this world. Te wheke means octopus in te Reo. Te Wheke features work by more than 70 artists from Aotearoa and the Pacific, including Shane Cotton, Fatu Feu’u, Charles Goldie, Bill Hammond, Lonnie Hutchinson, Yuki Kihara, Colin McCahon, Ani O’Neill, Fiona Pardington, Michael Parekowhai, Lisa Reihana, Bill Sutton, and Robin White.
"This book is like a hybrid of Michael Pollan and Anna Jones. It combines serious food politics with flavour-packed modern recipes. This is a call-to-arms for a different way of eating which seeks to lead us there not through lectures but through a love of food, in all its vibrancy and variety.'" —Bee Wilson
Gagnati's novel, based on her own experiences as a child, refuses to mitigate the pain and isolation of growing up in the French countryside with a brutal father and incompetent mother. As 14-year-old Galla cycles home from her boarding school, we learn of her predicaments and her hopes.
>>"The countryside is a place where tough, alienated people scratch out a thankless existence."
Zora Neale Hurston's candid, exuberant account (first published in 1942) of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural South to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. 's candid, exuberant account of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural South to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. New introduction by Jesmyn Ward.
Presenting more than 250 illustrations depicting discoveries, scientific innovations, futuristic visions, and extraterrestrial encounters.
Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962) became the 'mother of modern forensics' and was instrumental in elevating homicide investigation to a scientific discipline. She learned forensic science under the tutelage of pioneering medical examiner Magrath, who told her about his cases, gave her access to the autopsy room to observe post-mortems and taught her about poisons and patterns of injury. Lee acquired and read books on criminology and forensic science — eventually establishing the largest library of legal medicine. She went on to create The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death — a series of dollhouse-sized crime scene dioramas depicting the facts of actual cases in exquisitely detailed miniature.
>>Visit the dioramas.
Nine Days. One City. Three Oddballs. Stephen's dead father is threatening to destroy the world. If Stephen commits the ultimate sacrifice and throws himself into the harbour, he will save humanity. The last thing he needs is a Jehovah's witness masquerading as a school boy and an admission to a mental health facility. Jaanvi steals a life-like doll called James and cares for him as if he were her dead child. Her husband demands she return him. But she and James have already bonded, and it's nobody's business how she decides to grieve. Lucas, pharmacist and all-round nice guy, is having one of the worst weeks of his life. His employees forgot his birthday, his mother's gone manic, and now his favourite customer is in hospital because of a medication error he made. Can he make things right? Or is life all downhill after forty?
"A darkly funny satire that's both moving and wise." —Paula Morris
>>McDaid introduces the book.
Meeting with great success as a painter, Bonheur was remarkable in the nineteenth century as an open lesbian, rational dresser, smoker and scorner of men.
New translations by Jessie Coulson of some of Turgenev's best stories: 'A Nest of Gentlefolk', 'A Quiet Backwater', 'First Love', and 'A Lear of the Steppes'.
How to use a camera to reclaim the streets as your own, why you need to watch the world always with a sense of possibility, how to set your subjects at ease, and the importance of being playful and of finding a lens that suits your personality.
>>Other books by Meyerowitz.
Every year, air pollution prematurely kills seven million people around the world, in rich countries and poor ones. It is strongly linked to strokes, heart attacks, many kinds of cancer, premature birth and dementia, among other ailments. Gardiner meets the scientists who have transformed our understanding of pollution's effects on the human body, and traces the economic forces and political decisions that have allowed it to remain at life-threatening levels. She also focuses on real-world solutions, and on stories of people fighting for a healthier future.
300 jungle animals! Fun.