NEW RELEASES (12.11.26)
All your choices are good! Click through to our website (or just email us) to secure your copies. We will dispatch your books by overnight courier or have them ready to collect from our door in Church Street, Whakatū.
A Thought Without Collision by Adrian Duncan $30
Summer, 1923. Six-year-old Catherine Carolan grows restless on her parents' farm. It's already clear that her intellect will soon outgrow the two-room schoolhouse across the fields. But in post-Civil War Ireland, an education is not an easy thing for a girl to access, and young Catherine is not the only one in her family who will come to tire of rural life. Summer, 1951. To ease him through his final days, Dr. Josef Alois calls for someone from his past. Enter Catherine Carolan, now an Oxford professor. As Alois's mind and body falter, Catherine must decide how far she will follow this man that she loves. A novel in two strands, A Thought without Collision is a beautiful meditation on how we construct our relationship to the world around us. [Paperback with French flaps]
’A brilliant interrogation of philosophy and wonder.’ —Daisy Hildyard, The Guardian
'An original voice, a writer who has come to recreate the world on his own terms.' —Colm Tóibín
'The book is an elegant rarity in contemporary fiction: a novel in which form, voice, style and story are inseparable from each other.' —Cathy Sweeney
’A Thought Without Collision manages to seamlessly intersperse fascinating passages of mathematical philosophy with encounters of profound human tenderness, asking questions of what, exactly, it is that makes us human: the messy, tearaway nature of our thoughts? Our yearning for sense-making? Or the uncontrollable and yet transformative points of connection between us? With formal innovation and elegant, blistering prose, Duncan offers a different model of novelistic causality, with characters that feel alive in their vivid and quiet complexity.’ —Susannah Dickey
>>Slightly on the outside of things.
>>A superfluity of precision.
The Appointment by Herta Müller (translated from German by Michael Hulse and Philip Boehm) $28
'I've been summoned, Thursday, ten sharp.' So begins one day in the life of a young clothing-factory worker during Ceausescu's totalitarian regime. She has been questioned before, but this time she knows it will be worse. Her crime? Sewing notes into the linings of men's suits bound for Italy. 'Marry me', the notes say, with her name and address. Anything to get out of the country. As she rides the tram to her interrogation, her thoughts stray to her friend Lilli, shot while trying to flee to Hungary; to her grandparents, deported after her first husband informed on them; to Major Albu, her interrogator, who begins each session with a wet kiss on her fingers; and to Paul, her lover and the one person she can trust. In her distraction, she misses her stop and finds herself on an unfamiliar street. And what she discovers there suddenly puts her fear of the appointment into chilling perspective. [Paperback]
”Nobody since Arthur Koestler in the 1940s has written more intelligently or with such subtle precision about life under totalitarianism. Muller has an exceptionally rare talent — to turn the terrifying, the distorted and the hideously ugly into something uplifting and beautiful.” —Prospect
O Now! by Niall Williams $25
October in the parish of Faha, County Clare: the beginning of the season of spirits. Four nights a week, Bat Considine calls on his neighbour Mossie Crowe; a beloved widower known to all in the townland of Faha as Ganga. They sit by the fire and, as Bat reads the newspaper aloud, wait to see which of them will die first. But this week, Bat will make a discovery that changes this routine forever. In the coming days, Ganga's small community will gather, and his family travel home from far away — to celebrate a quiet life, in all its miracles. O Now! leads readers back down the road that leads to Faha and explores what it means to live a meaningful life, and what it means to leave it behind. [Hardback]
”A tender portrait of a male friendship, filled with the kind of sentences that make you pause mid-reading. Williams's writing is masterful in its economy, while packing a huge emotional punch.” —Irish Examiner
”I am utterly obsessed with Niall Williams.” —Ann Patchett
We Go to the Park by Sara Stridsberg (translated from Swedish by B.J. Woodstein), illustrated by Beatrice Alemagna $40
The park beckons us to leave our daily routines behind and enter its zone of endless possibility. In the park, the usual rules don't apply. In the park, what matters most is the moment, and losing track of time to the timelessness of imagination, invention, observation, and chance. In the park, there are risks, of course, but also the deepest rewards, to be found in the freedom experienced through play that is both embodied and participatory. It is not the lone ‘I’, but the ‘we’ that goes to the park, where chance encounters might suddenly become moments of deep connection — however fleeting — with others, nature, and ourselves. The text and images work together to transport the reader and widen their world. Beautifully produced. [Hardback]
"Taking a deep look into the emotional life of children, this thoughtful narrative uses spare, poetic language in a lyrical first-person perspective. Thickly layered illustrations further encourage an emotional response, as the vivid, sometimes jarring colors demand attention and add to the tone of instability. The narrator recognizes that the park, like life in general, is a place of many possibilities, a situation that is both frightening and thrilling." —Booklist
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You Won’t Get Free of It: Stories of mothers and daughters by Rachel Aviv $60
You Won't Get Free Of It tells the stories of mothers and daughters searching for each other (and for themselves). With uncanny depth of perception, Aviv explores the complexity of this relationship in seven essays, six originally published in the New Yorker and reconceived for this intimate, revelatory book. Aviv writes about one mother searching for her vanished daughter; another who sacrifices herself for her daughters by working as a nanny for other parents' children. In the final story, a daughter's traumatic experience is erased by her family, only to be recast by her mother — the writer Alice Munro — in stories celebrated around the world. You Won't Get Free Of It is an astonishing investigation of the competing dynamics of knowing and unknowing, recognition and refusal, that shape our most foundational relationship. Illuminating ineffable registers of human experience, Aviv asks piercing questions about how disowned knowledge forms and deforms families and lives. [Hardback]
”These essays struck deep notes when I read them in the New Yorker; she is simply brilliant.” —Anne Enright, Guardian
”I admire her rigor and eloquence but also her restraint — she makes vivid experiences we can't explain.” —Ben Lerner
”Being a mother doesn't make you better or more sage, but in Aviv's care, at least, it seems to have brought new depths to her already excellent journalism.” —The Times
>>The most complex bond of all.
>>The problem does not lie with the sentences.
The Book of Genocides by Dana Mashoian Walrath $48
In this haunting graphic narrative, an award-winning writer, artist and descendant of genocide survivors brings history's darkest horrors to life, calling on us to remember, repair and resist. The Book of Genocides is a haunting graphic narrative that compels readers to confront the most harrowing chapters of human history not as distant events, but as visceral experiences. Dana Mashoian Walrath covers ten major atrocities across five centuries: the mass slaughter of the First Peoples of the Americas; the brutalisation of Black Americans; the devastation of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders; the Armenian genocide; the Holocaust; the Cambodian killing fields; the Rwandan genocide; the Bosnian genocide; the deadly persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar; and the genocide in Gaza. Walrath makes plain that the purpose of genocide is always a land grab, and its central apparatus is dehumanisation: each chapter delves into how dehumanisation operates, not just through violence but through the political and intellectual systems that enable it. The book's unique interactive design allows readers to reshape images of victims into grotesque forms mirroring the mental mechanisms of dehumanisation. With each page turn, the victims' humanity is restored, making their suffering undeniable. The Book of Genocides is an unsettling experience, shot through with the emotional gravity of horrific events — not just historical memories but ongoing realities, painful truths that shape our world and demand our action. [Paperback with French flaps]
>>Look inside.
>>Visit the book’s website.
Hiapo: Past and present in Niuean barkcloth by John Pule and Nicholas Thomas $60
A landmark study of one of the Pacific’s most remarkable yet little-known art traditions. ‘Hiapo’ is the Niuean word for barkcloth or tapa. Produced primarily in the nineteenth century, these extraordinary painted cloths combine striking visual beauty with rich cultural and historical significance. Drawing on years of research in museum collections, fieldwork in Niue, and conversations with elders, authors John Pule and Nicholas Thomas trace the history of this distinctive art form and the people who created it. From bold geometric designs to detailed depictions of plants, people and ships, these works offer a vivid window into life in Niue during a period of profound cultural change and growing contact with the wider world. This beautifully redesigned edition features an updated introduction and new material reflecting two decades of further research and discovery. [Paperback with French flaps]
>>Look inside.
>>See also Tapa.
Lonasei and the Mystery of Origin Grove by Kenneth Chapman $28
Eleven-year-old Lonasei is lonely — she wishes her older sister Eva Grace wasn't so mean, and that her mum, Aria, didn't have to work so much. But when Aria inherits her childhood home, Lonasei discovers she can enter her late Aunt Malia's paintings and experience the memories within. Through them, she discovers that her mother had another sister, Agnes, who went missing as a child. Lonasei's questions about the lost aunt she never knew existed lead her to explore the basement at Origin Grove, where she discovers a whole new world of possibility, and a chance to steal precious moments from the life that could have been. [Paperback]
”Haunting and tender. You will never look at paintings (or basement walls!) the same way again.” —Gracie Kim
>>Putting a Polynesian character in a fantasy world.
Lozhka: Eastern European soups, stews, and other things we eat with a spoon by Alissa Timoshkina $65
Alissa Timoshkina celebrates Eastern Europe through one of its most humble and powerful symbols: the spoon. Blending soulful recipes with rich storytelling, she brings together history, memory and cookery in a portrait of the region that is both deeply comforting and strikingly contemporary. From herb-scented soups and hearty grain stews to pillowy dumplings and custard-soaked desserts, each dish carries a sense of meaning, memory and belonging. Drawing on a wide range of traditions, including Ukrainian, Jewish, Tatar, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and Roma, amongst others, Lozhka reveals a borderless cuisine shaped by resilience and generosity. Vibrant, vegetable-led and full of smoky, tangy and creamy flavours, these recipes are made for today’s kitchens while honouring centuries of tradition. More than a cookbook, Lozhka is a journey through kitchens, cultures and shared histories — an invitation to slow down, gather round and savour the stories carried in every spoonful. Nicely presented. [Hardback]
”I couldn’t love this book more.” —Diana Henry
”Just as you would tuck into a bowl of Alissa’s quince borscht or linger over her boozy, chocolate and smetana-layered trifle, I promise you will want to do the same with this deeply felt gem of a book.” —Polina Chesnakova
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Gloria of Greymouth by Dam Duckor-Jones $60
In 2020 sculptor and poet Sam Duckor-Jones bought an abandoned church in Greymouth and named her Gloria. With yarn-bombed rafters, a costume bazaar, a plush loft, papier-mâché parishioners in the pews and pink neon light bouncing off a rhinestone piano, Gloria has become a celebration of queer creativity. In this record of Gloria's establishment, Sam wrestles with solitude, religion, intimacy, art and identity. He finds community in fellow artists and friendly locals, and solace in the rhythms of a quiet life. Gloria of Greymouth is a chronicle of a magnificent transformation, a manifesto for play and pleasure, and the story of an artist's being. Lusciously illustrated throughout. [Cloth-bound hardback]
>>Look inside.
>>Visit Gloria’s website.
Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings: A serious exploration of art history’s silliest expressions by Matthijs Van Mierlo $49
Famous paintings are celebrated for their beauty and depth, but they're also a treasure trove of ridiculous faces. From bewildered angels to screaming cats, stunning paintings are chock-full of weird expressions. In Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings, Matthijs Van Mierlo takes you on a journey to the strangest corners of the art world, uncovering the stories behind 50 wacky faces — stories about religion, love, vanity, and just one very confused unicorn. Why does Vermeer's ‘The Girl with the Wine Glass’ look so bug-eyed? Who let Frida Kahlo paint a disturbingly dazed toddler? And why does baby Jesus look like he's about to file your taxes? This is the art history book to answer those questions and more. [Hardback]
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>>You want spectacular?