NEW RELEASES
for a new year

The World Goes On by László Krasznahorkai         $33
"This collection of stories – a masterpiece of invention, utterly different from everything else – is hugely unsettling and affecting: to meet Krasznahorkai’s characters, to read his breathless, twisting sentences, is to feel altered." - The Guardian
"The narrators in The World Goes On find themselves wandering in a world of forgotten revelations and corrupted messages, blindly groping toward ineffable essences that forever remain out of reach." - Music & Literature 

From Here to Eternity: Travelling the world to find the good death by Caitlin Doughty          $35
As a practicing mortician in a society that fears and seldom looks directly at death, Doughty is keenly curious about societies that have a greater intimacy with and acceptance of our inescapable fate. In this book she travels the world surveying the death practices, mourning rituals and attitudes to mortality of a wide range of cultures. 

A New Map of Wonders: a journey in search of modern marvels by Caspar Henderson       $45
Do we overlook wonder in the modern world? This remarkable illustrated book reawakens our curiosity about the world we live in, and about our place in it.

Mandelbrot the Magnificent by Liz Ziemska         $25
"Bottomless wonders spring from simple rules repeated without end.” - Benoit Mandelbrot
A fictional pseudobiography of Mandelbrot as he flees into deep mathematics to escape the rise of Hitler. Drawn into the infinite promulgations of formulae, he sinks into secret dimensions and unknown wonders. 
>> Some pleasantly zoomable fractals. 

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's quest to transform the grisly world of Victorian medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris         $40
In Victorian operating theatres, half the patients failed to survive the experience. This was an era when a broken leg could lead to amputation, when surgeons often lacked university degrees, and were still known to ransack cemeteries to find cadavers. While the discovery of anaesthesia somewhat lessened the misery for patients, it actually led to more deaths, as surgeons took greater risks. Doctors remained baffled by the persistent infections that kept mortality rates stubbornly high. Joseph Lister, a young Quaker surgeon made the claim that germs were the source of all infection and could be treated with antiseptics.  

Frankenstein, Or, The modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, illustrated by David Plunkert        $33
A 200th anniversary edition, fully and imaginatively illustrated. 
>> Visit the illustrator's website (recommended). 
>> Plunkert animation. 

Urban Potters: Makers in the city by Katie Treggiden and Ruth Ruyffelaere        $60
More than thirty young and passionate ceramicists in New York, London, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Sydney and Sao Paulo introduce us to their work, their studios and their inspiration. Beautifully photographed and presented. 

The Best American Nonrequired Reading, 2017 edited by Sarah Vowell        $33
A compilation of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics and genreless pieces selected by US high-school students and notable for its range and liveliness. 

"One wonders how the world might be different if works in The Best American Nonrequired Reading were indeed required." - USA Today

Beyond the Map: Unruly enclaves, ghostly places, emerging lands, and our search for new Utopias by Alastair Bonnett        $33
Geography is in greater flux than ever, with what qualifies as a place being redefined with every artificial island, hidden settlement, proto-state and micro-nation. Bonnett takes us just beyond the reach of maps, and considers the emergence of new trends in geographic thinking. 

A Chill in the Air: An Italian war diary, 1939-40 by Iris Origo         $28

The awful inevitability with which Italy stumbled its way into a war for which they were ill prepared and largely unenthusiastic is documented here by one of the twentieth century's great diarists.

Defending the Rock: How Gibraltar defeated Hitler by Nicholas Rankin         $45
Menaced on all sides by Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Vichy France and Francoist Spain, Gibraltar had to let thousands of people cross its frontier to work every day. Among them came spies and saboteurs, attempting to blow up its 25 miles of secret tunnels. In 1942, Gibraltar became US General Eisenhower's HQ for the invasion of North Africa, the campaign that led to Allied victory in the Mediterranean.

Janesville: An American story by Amy Goldstein          $29
This insightful book studies the impact of the closure of the General Motors factory in Janesville, Wisconsin, upon the workers, families, communities, educators, support workers and local businesses, and reveals a wider variety of responses than we might assume. 
"Moving and magnificently well-researched. Janesville joins a growing family of books about the evisceration of the working class in the United States. What sets it apart is the sophistication of its storytelling and analysis." - The New York Times

Catch Me When You Fall by Eileen Merriman        $20
Seventeen-year-old Alex Byrd is about to have the worst day of her life, and the best. A routine blood test that will reveal her leukaemia has returned, but she also meets Jamie Orange. A well-written YA novel from the NZ author of Pieces of You about finding love on the borders of life and death.

Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty          $37
"Midwinter Break is a work of extraordinary emotional precision and sympathy, about coming to terms - to an honest reckoning - with love and the loss of love, with memory and pain. Full of scenes that are rendered with exquisite accuracy and care, allowing the most detailed physical descriptions to be placed against the possibility of a rich spiritual life, this is a novel of great ambition by an artist at the height of his powers." - Colm Toibin

Soul at the White Heat: Inspiration, obsession and the writing life by Joyce Carol Oates         $33
Where does writing come from? What is the relationship between the writer and her source of inspiration? In this series of incisive critical and personal essays, Oates examines her own writing practice and that of Virginia Woolf, John Updike, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, J. M. Coetzee, Margaret Atwood, Joan Didion, Zadie Smith, and many others.
"Oates's writing has always seemed effortless: urgent, unafraid, torrential. She writes like a woman who walks into rough country and doesn't look back." - The New York Times

Emilia's Colours: The gift of autism by Ali Beasley          $24
A very helpful and affirming book written by the parent of an autistic girl to help other parents and professionals better understand the needs and gifts of autistic children. 
>> The author's website. 
>> Other books about autism at VOLUME. 

Off the Deep End: A history of madness at sea by Nic Compton         $30
Why are sailors seven times more likely to suffer from mental illness than the rest of the population? Interesting.

Children's Writer's Notebook: 20 great writers and 70 writing exercises by Wes Magee        $23
Notable for its range of writing exercises devised specifically for those writing for children.

Mischling by Affinity Konar        $23
Pearl and Stasha Zagorski take refuge in their identical natures, comforting themselves with the private language and shared games of their childhood. In 1944 the arrive at Auschwitz and become part the experimental population of twins known as 'Mengele's Zoo'. What happens when one of twins disappears? 
"Mischling is a paradox. It's a beautiful novel about the most odious of crimes, it's a deeply researched act of remembrance that somehow carries the lightness of a fairy tale, and it's a coming-of-age story about children who aren't allowed to come of age. If your soul can survive the journey, you'll be rewarded by one of the most harrowing, powerful, and imaginative books of the year." - Anthony Doerr

The Visiting Privilege by Joy Williams        $25
Williams is a devastating observer of social vacuities, and yet manages to induce great sympathy for the ways in which her characters desperately attempt to shore up their dissolving realities.
Now in paperback.
>> Williams’s essay on writing, ‘Uncanny the Singing that Comes from Certain Husks’, has the same merciless sympathy as her stories. 

BOOKS@VOLUME #55 (30.12.17)
Read our latest NEWSLETTER.
Find out what we've been reading, and our Books of the Year.
Find out the last new releases for 2017 (more to come in 2018).

Our Book of the Week this week is Gavin Bishop's hugely impressive pictorial history Aotearoa: The New Zealand story. Spanning our history from the Big Bang until tomorrow, this is a book that should be on every bookcase (whether there are children in the house or not). 

>> Bishop at The Sapling (includes page spreads).

>> Visit Gavin's website. 

>> RNZ interview with Gavin Bishop. 

>> Bishop's The House that Jack Built also tells a New Zealand story. 

{Review by STELLA}

Lauren James’s The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is a gripping teen read. What seems to be a teen romance via remote communication has complex psychological layers and a thrilling climax. Romy Silvers is sixteen and alone in space. The crew has died, her parents are long gone. Romy, born in space, on her way to Earth II, keeps in touch with NASA through a series of daily audio communications from Molly - messages that takes years to get to her. When she receives a message saying that Earth is at war and communications will have to cease, Romy’s link to any world outside the confines of The Infinity - her spaceship - are dashed. When another spaceship is launched, it seems like Romy won’t be quite as lonely as she feared. Romy strikes up a friendship with J via email. J’s spaceship, The Eternity, high-tech and faster than Romy’s, is due to reach her in a year. The novel opens with a countdown, 365 until The Eternity reaches The Infinity. As the days count down and J becomes a greater presence in her everyday life, Romy finds herself increasingly enamoured by J. Is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never met, who is travelling through light years to reach you? Romy is fascinated by Earth and keen to finally meet someone from Earth and to have someone to share the responsibility of the mission with. On The Infinity are hundreds of embryos in deep freeze ready for the new planet. Romy’s job, as the sole survivor, is to keep them safe until they reach Earth II. This is a fascinating read on several levels: the idea of being in deep space, isolated and bored - the days are scarily similar; the romance that is flourishing - is it real?: the psychological impact of what has happened; the reason why Romy is alone - you’ll have to read the book to find out -  raises questions about the pressure of responsibility. This is fast-paced, charming (Romy will be a hit with most readers), and quietly disturbing - the edgy climax moves the book from a space romance to a thriller of compelling motives.

{Review by Stella}

A Swedish-New Zealand partnership between writers Arne Norlin and Sally Astridge has resulted in Time Twins. Published in Sweden in 2014, where it has been a runaway success, and in New Zealand this year by Makaro Press, Time Twins is a great read for children and younger teens. Norlin writes the voice of Astrid, and Astridge the boy Tamati. Born at the exact same moment, Astrid and Tamati are time twins - linked across distance. When Tamati is twelve, he starts appearing in Astrid’s room in the middle of the night. He’s been trying to make contact for ages, taking himself to the beach to meditate and focus and let his mind free. It’s a little like teleporting. His Koro, who has great ambitions for Tamati, has been giving him pointers. At first, Astrid is understandably confused by a boy turning up in the middle of the night, but, like Tamati, she feels the link between them. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. Astrid’s life at home and school is a little fraught, and Tamati turns out to be a good listener and has some ideas up his sleeve. Life isn’t that rosy for Tamati either, who feels the pressure of being the oldest child in the family, the one who is expected to do well all the time. His Koro believes he is destined to be a great leader and won’t let up on his plans. This is also a story about bullying and doing the right thing. Both Astrid and Tamati are bystanders who find themselves in tricky situations, ones they could avoid or walk away from, but both feel compelled to behave differently. The tie that binds them, being time twins, helps them overcome difficulties and dangers, making them more resilient and stronger. Time Twins is reminiscent of Margaret Mahy’s work for older children, with its real-life problems, relationship development and supernatural elements. The story moves along at a great pace, with plenty of challenges, moments of humour, and two very compelling characters. The writing from both authors works well - it feels seamless - and the local content - Tamati lives in Nelson South and the authors both have local connections - is the icing on the cake.

The Writing of the Disaster by Maurice Blanchot   {Reviewed by THOMAS} “The disaster ruins everything, all the while leaving everything intact.”The Writing of the Disaster concerns the effect upon language, upon literature, so to call it, of what Blanchot, thinking particularly of the Holocaust, calls the disaster: something beyond the reach of language yet sucking language towards it to the ultimate nullification of the meaning that language is usually thought to bear. The disaster does not concern itself with content, the disaster possesses the writing and is not and cannot be the subject of the writing. The writing of the disaster is not so much writing about the disaster as writing in the force-field of the disaster: The Writing of the Disaster concerns itself with the ways in which trauma takes ownership of writing. The ‘of’ in the title signals possession in the same way, perhaps, that all objects possess their subjects and by this relationship contend with them for agency. The disaster is a grammatical phenomenon, a loss of agency through grammar, a relation between elements rather than an element itself. Blanchot is remarkable for identifying the shifts of agency that result from grammatical alteration. It is in grammar, perhaps, that our problems lie, and it is in grammar, perhaps, that we must agitate for their solution. But it is in the nature of the disaster to protect itself with our passivity. “We are passive with respect to the disaster, but the disaster is perhaps passivity.” The disaster robs the writer of agency, cauterises meaning, averts all gazes and renders the usual useless. As Blanchot demonstrates, writing in the ambit of the disaster can only proceed in fragments. Failure and incompletion are both results of and assaults upon the impossible. “It is not you who will speak; let the disaster speak in you, even if it be by your forgetfulness or silence.” When writing of the reading of the writing of the disaster, the semantic degeneration of the disaster exercises itself even through the intervening writer, rendering them transparent. To re-read a passage of Blanchot is to read without recognition, to entertain thoughts quite different from, and rightly quite different from, those entertained on the first reading, or prior readings, of that passage. Thinking about reading about Blanchot writing about how the disaster affects everything but cannot be perceived, I write, “The disaster is that no distinction can be made between disaster and the absence of disaster,” but I cannot determine where this sentence comes from. I cannot find it in Blanchot's text. Whose thoughts are those thoughts thought when reading? If the thoughts cannot be located in the text, are they then the thoughts of the reader? If the thoughts would not have been thought by the reader without the text, to what extent are they the writer’s thoughts? (Do not ask if these thoughts are in fact thoughts. Let us call thought that which does the work of thought, regardless.) Blanchot proceeds around, or towards, the disaster in a fragmentary style, aphoristic but without the sense of completion aphorisms provide, he writes koans, or antikoans, that do not prepare the mind for enlightenment so much as relieve the mind of the possibility of, and even the concept of, enlightenment. Taken in small doses Blanchot is full of meaning but as the dose increases the meaning becomes less, until at the point of his complete oeuvre, I extrapolate, Blanchot means nothing at all. This liberation from semantic burden is entirely in accord with Blanchot’s project, so to call it.

NEW RELEASES
The last new books of 2017. More new books in 2018. 

H(A)PPY by Nicol(a) B(a)rker          $48
Winner of the 2017 Goldsmiths Prize for "fiction at its most novel".
“Nicola Barker’s H(A)PPY is a structural marvel to hold in the mind and in the hands. Line by line, colour by colour, this dystopic utopia is an ingenious closed loop of mass surveillance, technology, and personality-modifying psychopharmaceuticals. H(A)PPY is a fabulous demonstration of what the Goldsmiths Prize champions: innovation of form that only ever enriches the story. In Barker’s 3D-sculpture of a novel, H(A)PPY makes the case for the novel as a physical form and an object of art.” - Naomi Wood, Chair of Judges

The White Book by Han Kang        $28
What is this whiteness in the world? What does this whiteness mark the absence of? What does it provide the space for? Han Kang, who was awarded the Man Booker international Prize for the exquisite and harrowing The Vegetarian, and also wrote the astonishing Human Acts, pulls the emotional threads that connect her to her older sister, who died two hours after birth, and considers the impact of loss and absence on the world and those who continue to exist in it. Can language overcome pain? Can writing about death in some way provide new life? 

Tortot, The cold fish who lost his world and found his heart by Benny Lindelauf and Ludwig Volbeda       $28
A heartless field cook seems immune to the sufferings of war until he gives (without compassion) shelter to a boy who has lost not only his brothers but also his legs. Crazed, moving and wonderfully illustrated. 

In Search of Lost Books: The forgotten stories of eight mythical volumes by Giorgio van Straten          $28
Just because these books have been lost from history for one reason or another hasn't prevented them from being culturally important and the foci of intense speculation. What are we to make of the memoirs of Lord Byron, the magnum opus of Bruno Schulz, the Hemingway novel mislaid at the Gare de Lyon, the second part of Gogol's Dead Souls or the contents of Walter Benjamin's suitcase? 

Insomniac Dreams: Experiments with time by Vladimir Nabokov, edited by Gennady Barabtarlo         $50

For 80 days in 1964-65 Nabokov carefully recorded his dreams in order to test the theories of J.M. Dunne, explicated in the eccentric An Experiment in Time (1927), that time can be thought of as running backwards. The results give remarkable insight into Nabokov's concerns, thought-processes and inner life.

The Alarming Palsy of James Orr by Tom Lee      $28


As James Orr awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed by Bell's Palsy, leaving half his face paralysed. How does the sudden onset of an illness or disability affect the way we think of ourselves and the way others think of us, and the way we behave towards those close to us. A thoughtful and well written novella. 

Savage Theories by Pola Oloixarac         $35
A double-threaded narrative, each thread illuminating the other, concerning, on the one hand, a student pursuing a professor to demonstrate that she understands his Theory of Egoic Transmissions, and, on the other, a sort of sexual picaresque embedded in Argentina's Years of Lead in the 1970s. 
"A stunning vibrant maximalist whirlwind of a novel. Oloixarac's wit and ambition are evident on every page. By comparison, most other contemporary fiction seems a little dull and simple-minded." - Hari Kunzru
"An exuberant blend of political satire and sexual picaresque. This book rewards total immersion: come for the inevitable Borges allusions, stay for the wild ride." - The New York Times

Kai and Culture: Food stories from Aotearoa edited by Emma Johnson          $50
What does the food we eat tell us about who we are? What we eat is a manifestation of our cultural and personal identities and choices, and also an indication of who we are hoping or fearing to be. What ingredients make up our culture (and how long will it keep)? An interesting collection of illustrated essays. 

The Story of Looking by Mark Cousins     $55
What does it mean to look at something? Is looking passive or aggressive, expressive or empathetic? How are we bound to that at which we look? This book looks at the place of looking in our internal and communal lives, and helps us to think more about the visual world in which we find ourselves. 

The Poet's Dog by Patricia MacLauchlan            $23
Teddy was raised by a poet and has an affinity with words, but only poets and children can hear a dog speak. Luckily, when two children are lost in the snow, they understand what Teddy says to them and they hold up in the cabin in which Teddy was raised. A quiet and beautiful story. 

A World Gone Mad: The wartime diaries of Astrid Lindgren, 1939-1945      $23
Provides insights into the Soviet invasion of Finland and the ambiguities of Swedish neutrality, and asks questions about the nature of evil, and our capacity, as individuals, to stand against malevolent forces, and of the everyday as resistance to the extraordinary. 

Lady Fanshawe's Receipt Book: The life and times of a Civil War heroine by Lucy Moore        $45
How did the upheavals, uncertainties and reversals of the mid-seventeenth century affect the lives of women? The records left by this Royalist lady are illuminating. 

The Rise of Rome: From the Iron Age to the Punic Wars by Kathryn Lomas        $55
How and why did a small group of Iron Age huts develop the requisites to establish an empire that would subsume much of the Western world and the Middle East? 
"Lomas's clear narrative and up-to-date archaeological knowledge is just the right combination to illuminate the fascinating story of the emergence of Rome as a world power." - Christopher Smith, Director of the British School at Rome

Rome: A history in seven sackings by Matthew Kneale       $45
The puncturing of Rome by exterior forces, from Gauls to the Nazis, has transformed the city and its place in wider history. Kneale compares the city before and after each attack and shows how each assault has made the city more dynamic and resilient. 

Blood and Land: The story of Native North America by J.C.H. King        $28
An astounding work, eschewing generalisation and instead emphasising and contrasting the great variety of experiences and cultures that populated and populate the United States, Canada and high arctic, from first contact until the successes and challenges of Native American leadership today. 

Untypical Girls: Styles and sounds of the Transatlantic indie revolution by Sam Knee      $45
From punk to postpunk through grunge and beyond, women have been remaking the music scene and assailing male definition of the underground.  
>> Identity!

Building Art: The life and work of Frank Gehry by Paul Goldberger     $45
Gehry has had vast impact on architectural design and practice through his rethinking of the relationship between materials and form. This is his first full biography. 
>> 29 buildings designed by Gehry. 

In the Bonesetter's Waiting-Room: Travels through Indian medicine by Aarathi Prasad    $28
The story of medicine in India is rich and complex: shaped by unique challenges and opportunities, uniting cutting-edge technological developments with ancient cultural traditions, fuelled by political changes which transformed the lives of millions and moulded by the energy of forceful individuals.

Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura          $23
In a coastal village in medieval Japan, a young boy battles to keep his family alive against the odds. With his father gone, Isaku is forced to grow up well before his time. He must learn how to catch fish, how to distil salt, and about all the mysteries of the vast churning sea, not least the legend of O-fune-sama, of ships wrecked offshore providing the village with unexpected bounty.When a ship founders on the rocks, Isaku and the villagers rejoice. But the cargo is not at all the blessing they hoped for. At first mystifying, then terrifying, something dark is coming ashore and it's about to change their lives forever.

The Orchid Hunter: A young botanist's search for happiness by Leif Bersweden       $28
A quest to find and photograph the 52 species of orchid native to Britain and Ireland in the field in one summer. 

>> He's only 19. 

Railways and the Raj: How the Age of Steam transformed India by Christian Wolmar        $55
66000km of tracks were laid in India between 1842 and 1929, enabling the British to control the subcontinent and exploit its resources. The railways have remained integral to the functioning of modern India (transporting over 25 million passengers each day). Stripped of false nostalgia for the Raj and all its deceptions, India's railways still emerge as vital and enabling. 

The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1: 1920-1963 by Ed Ward       $35
"Ward's writing is deeply researched, but conversational in tone. He nerds-out just the right amount, moving briskly from hit to hit and craze to craze, slowing down only to impart a few choice anecdotes. His faithful documentation of the genre's more obscure corners helps to point out that, early on, rock was weird. Ward underscores the vital point that rock was a music invented by people who knew better, but just couldn't help it." - The Washington Post

The Liszts by Kyo Maclear and Julie Sarda      $35
The Liszts (including their pets) make lists, which guide them through every aspect of their lives. What happens when a guest arrives who is not on anyone's list? Stunning illustrations. 

The Written World: How literature shaped history by Martin Puchner       $37
Stories coinciding with recording technologies have produced texts that are integral to wider history. 
"Lucid." - Kirkus

The King in Yellow by R.W. Chambers         $25
The four weird tales in this volume are all linked by a play, the second act of which reveals "truths so terrible and beautiful that it drives all who read it to despair". First published in 1895.
"Altogether one of the greatest weird tales ever written." - H.P. Lovecraft

Inside Out by J.R.         $119
In 2011 activist and artist J.R. embarked on a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work by pasting photographic portrait posters in diverse communities around the world (including Wellington). This remarkable book records the process and the results. 

Eat Me: A natural and unnatural history of cannibalism by Bill Schutt         $37
From the plot of Psycho to the ritual of the Eucharist, cannibalism is woven into our history, our culture and our medicine. And in the natural world, eating your own kind is everything from a survival strategy - practiced by polar bears and hamsters alike - to an evolutionary adaption. 

Against Everything: On dishonest times by Mark Greif       $24
"His generation's finest essayist. Taken as a whole the book is a powerful injunction to look, listen and reflect, our surest means of defiance against the encroaching dimness." - Richard Godwin, Evening Standard 
"Mark Greif writes a contrarian, skeptical prose that is at the same time never cynical: it opens out on to beauty and the possibility of change." - Zadie Smith 
"Mark Greif is the best essayist of my generation. No one is more modern or more classical - or more stylish. This has its alarming effects. When you read Against Everything, you will vow to change your life." - Adam Thirlwell
Now in paperback. 

The Happy Reader #10          $8
Includes an extended interview with bibliophile Jarvis Cocker, and an exploration of Yevgeny Zamyatin's early dystopian novel We.

Nemo's Almanac: A quiz for book lovers by Ian Patterson      $25
The 126th iteration of this annual literary quiz. How will you perform?

Diary Sale
30% off all diaries while stocks last (and the new year hasn't even started yet). Come in or click through to choose. 

The VOLUME GIFT SELECTOR.

Use the VOLUME GIFT SELECTOR to select books to give away, or to keep for yourself. Click to browse our recommendations.

>> Don't forget, you can always come and talk to us, or e-mail us, about your specific gift requirements. 



>> List #1: COOKBOOKS

>> List #2: POLITICS

>> List #3: BIOGRAPHY

>> List #4: SCIENCE

>> List #5: POETRY

>> List #6: FICTION

>> List #7: HISTORY

>> List #8: CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION

>> List #9: CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULTS' FICTION

>> List #10 VISUAL CULTURE

OUR HOURS

Saturday 23rd: 8:30 - 5

Sunday 24th: 9 - 5

Monday 25th: Closed

Tuesday 26th: Closed

Wednesday 27th: 9 - 5

Thursday 28th: 9 - 7

Friday 29th: 9 - 6

Saturday 30th: 8:30 - 4

Sunday 31st: 10 - 2

Monday 1st: Closed

Tuesday 2nd: 9 - 5  

(Normal hours resume)

BOOKS @ VOLUME  #54 (16.12.17).

Find out what we've been reading and recommending.
Use the VOLUME GIFT SELECTOR and keep abreast of the latest new releases. 

Our Book of the Week this week is an outstanding piece of New Zealand social and artistic history, beautifully illustrated: Strangers arrive: Émigrés and the arts in New Zealand, 1930-1980 by Leonard Bell (published by Auckland University Press). From the 1930s to the 1950s, forced migrants - refugees from Nazism, displaced people after World War II and escapees from Communist countries - arrived in New Zealand from Europe. Among them were extraordinary artists and writers, photographers, designers and architects whose European Modernism radically reshaped the arts in this country. How were migrants received by New Zealanders? How did displacement and settlement in New Zealand transform their work? How did the arrival of European Modernists intersect with the burgeoning nationalist movement in the arts in New Zealand? This book introduces us to a group of `aliens' who were critical catalysts for change in New Zealand culture. 

>> Leonard Bell on Radio NZ National. 

>> Was this a lonely exile? (Sally Blundel in the NZ Listener)

>> Some sample pages. 

>> Click and collect from VOLUME.

“New Zealand is neither a country nor a culture, it’s a branch of the Salvation Army.” - Theo Schoon

December hours: Sunday 17th: 10 - 2;  Monday - Wednesday: 9 - 5;  Thursday - Friday: 9 - 7;  Saturday 23rd: 8:30 - 5.  Sunday 24th: 9 - 5.  25th/26th: closed.  27th: normal hours resume. 

{Review by STELLA}

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a classic that is having a revival since the very successful TV series. When a very handsome volume arrived in the bookshop (red edged hardback with a stunning black cover) it seemed like a good time to re-read this novel. (In fact, I realised on beginning to read that I knew the story but hadn’t read the book). Offred is living in the era of Gilead. She has a choice: breed or be sent to the colonies to die slowly from toxic poisoning or overwork and starvation. As a fertile woman, she is in demand and can be a handmaid - a special class of woman (both cherished and despised) whose role it is to provide their commanders and their wives with offspring. Offred’s memoir takes us into a bizarre world where women’s rights have been obliterated and arcane rules keep everyone in line, where as a woman you are either a wife, a martha (servant) or a handmaid, unless you are outcast or a jezebel. As Offred attempts to navigate her life without her husband or child (who has been taken from her) she finds herself increasingly mystified by the behaviour of those around her, particularly her commander, who behaves in unorthodox ways. Meetings and sexual contact are tightly controlled and ritualistic, so the Commander’s insistence that she meet him in his library puts her in great danger. The longer she stays in the household, the more tenuous her links to the past. Is there an escape from this situation in which she is obliterated as a person? Can she trust her fellow handmaiden Ofglen, or Nick the chauffeur? And what is Mayday? Atwood explores ideas of patriarchy, power and control over reproduction in this tautly told tale. If you’ve read this already or seen the TV series, you should read excellentThe Power by Naomi Alderman, and for younger teen readers, Maresi is worth investigating. And if you're looking for more Atwood, there’s a stunning new edition of Alias Grace.

Insane by Rainald Goetz    {Reviewed by THOMAS} "What do I have to think to really understand what I feel when I see what happens?" asks Rainald Goetz. Insane, first published in German in 1983 and only now appearing in English, in a translation by Adrian Nathan West published by the remarkable Fitzcarraldo Editions, interrogates the validity of the distinctions society makes between sanity and insanity, between the acceptable and the unacceptable, between what we call order and the rest of what we call chaos. If it is not the case that there is no such thing as insanity, as had been proposed by the antipsychiatry movement, it would be more reasonable to assert that there is no such thing as sanity, that in reality there is nothing but insanity, that distinctions between sanity and insanity are non-actual, an artifice wrought by the powerful privileging and ring-fencing a portion of the territory and calling it sanity, despite the irony. The border between one thing and its opposite, when laid across a continuous field, falls in the greyest area between the two, the zone of least distinction, and therefore these borders are constantly and often brutally defended. The more brutally and the more desperately they are defended the more they seem to exist, and the border is dotted with institutions which, by helping those who are held over the border, even though such distinctions are matters of scale rather than of kind, give validity to and guard that border. An institution dictates the currency of exchange within it and between it and its hinterland (or, rather, the currency of exchange dictates the institution and its relations with its hinterland), but the criteria of preference within that institution, however, are marked equally and completely upon all members of that institution, who are to some extent, because of this, interchangeable. Distinctions of scale are the most mutable distinctions. The first of the three sections that comprise Goetz’s novel contains a multitude of unattributed voices expressing metal states that would generally be classified as insane (or in any case dysfuntional) if classification were to be made, and notably in this section it is not, interspersed with others seemingly from doctors attached to a psychiatric hospital, one of the last in Germany in which electroconvulsive therapy is still practised, lecturers and theorists addressing madness and psychiatry. The classification regimes of psychiatry (“countless diagnoses but only five drugs”) are destabalised, the writing clinically precise but without presumptive diagnoses, Goetz dealing only particulars without generalities or labels, providing a sort of anti-DSMguide to psychological dysfunction. The second section follows the path to disillusionment of a young doctor, Raspe, who learns, with increasing despair, that he is in fact incapable of helping the patients. “You must constantly stifle the burning sorrow of your helplessness. Habit grows alongside weakness in the doctor and becomes his crutch. A man erased did the work of a doctor.” The third part applies the nondiagnostic approach beyond the institution to the narrator himself (though to call him Raspe or even the narrator by this stage is problematic). “After years of differentiation I had only just learned non-differentiation,” he says. Without the institution, without diagnoses, without the prescription of medication, without the divided roles of doctor and patient, the illusion of the sane society is dissolved. And without these in this novel there can be no first person, only a mutable third person, each individual observing themselves from without in the same way they observe other persons, like persons observed in a film, unable to make adequate distinction between themselves and other persons. The pace now becomes (even more) manic, the tone pugnacious and mocking, that of a frustrated joke approaching a punchline it will never attain. The introduction in this section of the ‘Rainald’ character, appearing either as the author himself or as a character narrated by Raspe, undercuts all we had previously presumed about Raspe and destabilises the momentum, so to call it, call it vibratory energy rather, of the later part of the novel. Raspe/Goetz left psychiatric medicine when he realised that his interests were inquisitive rather than therapeutic (that he was more a writer than a doctor). “Rainald no longer believed he was capable of helping the patients. They were interesting, though. Through them, he was trying to understand how we must learn to talk about ourselves again, without psychiatry.”   >> A trailer for the 2017 film Irre (Insane). >> Goetz cuts his head open for the 1983 Ingeborg Bachmann Prize (a sort of Germany's Got Talent).

NEW RELEASES

Impossible Inventions: Ideas that shouldn't work by Alexandra Mizielinska, Daniel Mizielinski and Malgorzata Mycielska      $35
Just because something is impossible is no reason not to invent it. Throughout history, humans have dreamed up some improbable ideas. Some of them, while laughed at in their time, have been remarkably prescient of technology of the world centuries in their future. This wonderfully illustrated book, from the inventors of Maps, H.O.U.S.E. and D.E.S.I.G.N. rewards hours of rapt attention. 
>> A comic review. 

The Domain by Gavin Hipkins         $70
Early in his career, New Zealand artist Gavin Hipkins was described by fellow artist Giovanni Intra as a ‘tourist of photography’. This epithet has been used repeatedly by commentators on Hipkins’ work to describe two intertwined aspects of his practice. As art historian Peter Brunt puts it, Hipkins is a constantly travelling photographer, ‘an iconographer of desire, travel, time and modern communities’, and a tourist within the medium, ‘a great manipulator of the photographic artefact itself’.

>> See some of the photographs on the Dowse website.

Island Time by Damon Salesa         $15
New Zealand is a nation that exists on Pacific Islands, but does not, will not, perhaps cannot, see itself as a Pacific Island nation. Yet turning to the Pacific, argues Damon Salesa, enables us to grasp a fuller understanding of what life is really like on these shores. What would it mean, this far-sighted book asks, for New Zealand to recognise its Pacific talent and finally act like a Pacific nation?

Witchfairy by Brigitte Minne and Carll Cnutt    $30
What do you do if you're tired of being a fairy? Can you be a witch? Can you be both a fairy and a witch? 

Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann     $39
A remarkable piece of scholarship, unearthing the long-overlooked lives of free Africans in Renaissance England. 

Telling the Real Story: Genre and New Zealand literature by Erin Mercer      $40
What modes of writing have been deemed more appropriate than others at particular times, and why? Why have some narratives been interpreted as realist when there are significant aspects of them that relate to other genres, such as romance, science fiction and Gothic? What meanings are generated by the meeting points in a text, where one mode meets another?

The Tiger Who Would Be King by James Thurber, illustrated by JooHee Yoon      $30
When the Tiger, against the advice of his mate, sets out to overthrow the current political order for the wrong reasons, things can hardly go well. 

One House for All by Inese Zandere and Juris Petraskevics        $30
Raven, Crayfish and Horse have always been best friends. They're grown up now and would like to start a family. They want all their families to live together and start planning to build a house. But what should that house look like? Will they find a solution that works for all of them?

The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero       $28
When a doll  comes to life in a toy shop in Krakow in 1939, she must not only heal the dollmaker's heart but together they must use their magic to save Jewish children from the fate intended for them by the Nazis. 

Tell Me How It Ends: An essay in forty questions by Valeria Luiselli        $17
"It is not even the American dream they pursue, but rather a more modest aspiration: to wake up from the nightmare into which they were born." An impassioned and revelatory account of the experiences of children who have entered the United States illegally from Mexico and Latin America. The book concentrates on both the hardships of the originating country and the harsh reception they receive in the US. 
"The first must-read book of the Trump era." - Texas Observer
"With anger and lucidity, Luiselli depicts the nightmares these children are forced to flee in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, as well as the destructive ignorance and bigotry that awaits them in America." - Chicago Tribune

Blankets by Craig Thompson        $45
An autobiographical graphic novel describing Thompson's emergence from a childhood of abuse, social isolation and evangelical Christianity through first love and into adulthood. 
"A superb example of the art of cartooning: the blending of word and picture to achieve an effect that neither is capable of without the other." - Bloomsbury Review
"Thompson manages to explore adolescent social yearnings, the power of young love and the complexities of sexual attraction with a rare combination of sincerity, pictorial lyricism and taste". - Publishers' Weekly

Africa: A modern history, 1945-2015 by Guy Arnold        $80
From decolonisation through independence to disappointment and new hope. 
"Vast and brilliant. Orderly but still managing to nip down a fascinating byway when necessary. A groundbreaking book." - Giles Foden, Guardian

Diary of an Ordinary Schoolgirl by Margaret Forster      $38
When Margaret Forster was 15 she did not know she would end up writing such best-selling books as Georgy Girl and Diary of an Ordinary Woman, but she did write her own diary, brimming with detail and lively expression. 

One Trick Pony by Nathan Hale      $25
The aliens have arrived. And they're hungry for electricity. In the Earth of the future, humans are on the run from an alien force - giant blobs who suck up electrical devices wherever they can find them. Strata and her family are part of a caravan of digital rescuers, hoping to keep the memory of civilisation alive by saving electronics wherever they can. Many humans have reverted to a pre-electrical age, and others have taken advantage of the invasion to become dangerous bandits and outlaws. When Strata and her brother are separated from the caravan, they must rely on a particularly beautiful and rare robot pony to escape the outlaws and aliens - and defeat the invaders. A notable graphic novel for children.

Works, 2007-2017 by Tracey Emin         $149
A full exploration of the wide range of Emin's work, all assailing the division of private and public lives. Moving chronologically through a prolific decade of work from major public installations to recent reflective paintings and sculptures this book shows a coherent vision that defies the idiosyncrasies of Emin s evolution as an artist. The same mixture of anger, hope, curiosity, and vulnerability that informs her delicate drawings and handwritten neon works can be felt in the darker tones of recent monoprints and the weight of later bronze pieces.

Voices in the Dark by Ulli Lust and Marcel Beyer        $50
Germany, in the final years of the Third Reich. Hermann Karnau is a sound engineer obsessed with recording the human voice in all its variations-the rantings of leaders, the roar of crowds, the rasp of throats constricted in fear-and indifferent to everything else. Employed by the Nazis, his assignments take him to party rallies, to the eastern front, and into the household of Joseph Goebbels. There he meets Helga, the eldest daughter - bright, good-natured, and just beginning to suspect the horror that surrounds her. An outstanding graphic novel.

Searches for Tradition: Past and present in New Zealand music edited by Michael Brown and Samantha Owens        $40
In Douglas Lilburn's famous address to the 1946 Cambridge Summer School of Music, the composer described his `search for tradition' in the music of New Zealand and spelled out his hopes that a distinctive art music might yet emerge here. Sixty years on, this collection of scholarly essays brings together various perspectives on what `tradition' means in the context of the music of Aotearoa New Zealand. Searches for Tradition presents case studies drawn from a broad spectrum of genres, cultures and historical periods, from investigations of New Zealand's colonial music to fresh consideration of Lilburn's legacy, from corners of the jazz scene to the contemporary revitalization of taonga puoro. The focus on `tradition' leads in some instances to critical issues of nationalism and biculturalism, while others uncover little-discussed aspects of local music history, performance practice or composition. It will be stimulating reading for all enthusiasts of New Zealand music's past, present and future.

Akelare: New Basque cuisine by Pedro Subijana      $75
Excellence and innovation applied to seasonal ingredients results in a magical array of dishes appropriate for a restaurant named after a coven of witches. 
>> Visit Akalare. 

Film Posters of the Russian Avant-Garde by Susan Pack      $45
Overwhelming.

The Day Before Happiness by Erri de Luca            $24
A young orphan boy grows up in Naples, playing football, roaming the city's streets and hidden places. The older boys call him 'monkey' because he can climb anywhere. He is alone, apart from Don Gaetano, the apartment caretaker, who feeds him, teaches him to play scopa, and tells him stories about the dark secrets of Naples' past.

Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: The inventions that changed the world by Jean-Marie Donat     $40
Blueprints and technical drawings from the patents office record a world obsessed with innovation. 

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott            $27
A novel tracing the experiences of three generations of an Irish immigrant family in Brooklyn, New York. 
"McDermott's highly crafted writing - her poised sentences, finely wrought imagery, intricate structuring and emotionally laden detail - is not just clever, but poignant." - Sunday Times

Fresh Ink: A collection of voices from Aotearoa New Zealand        $28
Exciting new authors of stories, poems and novel extracts, from Cloud Ink Press. 

What a Fish Knows: The inner lives of our underwater cousins by Jonathan Balcombe       $22
The mental lives of fish are surprisingly complex and rich. 

Virtue and Terror by Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre    $22
The French Revolution is widely celebrated as the birth of modern political society, so how should we read this justification of political violence by one of its chief architects? Slavoj Zizek gives a few pointers. 

Why Time Flies: A mostly scientific investigation by Alan Burdick        $38
A rethinking of our concept of time would throw all our other problems into a different light. Burdick examines why we think of time as we do, and how this shapes our experience of everything else. 

"In his lucid, thoughtful, and beautifully written inquiry about time Burdick offers nothing less than a new way of reconsidering what it means to be human." - Hanya Yanagihara

New French Table: A fresh take on classic recipes by Giselle and Emily Roux     $45
At the heart of French gastronomy are the recipes that have been passed down through the generations. At each generation, however, and in each region, these recipes have been rethought, re-evaluated and rewritten, still bearing the je-ne-sais-quoi that underscores their authenticity, 

Incredibly Hot Sex with Hideous People: Diary comics by Bryce Galloway        $20
The cat has herpes, the kids have worms, the chicken has mites, and Bryce has an assortment of ailments beyond his digestive tract, including a spasming eye, aching knees, haemorrhoids, stiff neck, tinnitus, fleas, and, possibly, dementia. Luckily his wife is there to keep Bryce on his toes and burst his art-martyr bubble. 
>> Being a comic book antihero is an ongoing burden. 

List #10: VISUAL CULTURE

A selection of books on art, architecture, photography and design. 

Come in or click through to browse our full selection, or ask us for our recommendations for your specific needs. 

Aalto by Robert McCarter       $95
Architecture, furniture, glassware, textiles, product design: Alvar Aalto brought a clarity and humanity to every project. This lovely book surveys the full range and depth of his activities.
>> Visit the Alva Aalto Foundation.
>> Meet Alvar Aalto. 

Aberhart Starts Here by Laurence Aberhart and Lara Strongman     $40
An excellent selection of photographs from Aberhart's early career in the 1970s and 1980s, demonstrating his developing concerns and technique (and recording some extraordinary buildings and interiors). 

Looking for Lenin by Niels Ackerman and Sebastien Gobert        $45
The Ukraine was once bristling with statues of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin. Political changes have left these toppled, broken, vandalised and stored in sheds and back rooms. Ackerman and Gobert have set about recording these statues, and the residual attitudes towards them amongst the Ukrainians.

Frozen Dreams: Contemporary art from Russia edited by Hossein Amirsadeghi and Joanna Vickery       $105
A generous and varied survey. Some of these works you may have seen before, but many will come as a complete surprise. 

Bad Hair Day        $15
Artworks selected from the Christchurch Art Gallery selected for their exemplary treatment of hair. Fun. 

Strangers arrive: Émigrés and the arts in New Zealand, 1930-1980 by Leonard Bell          $75
From the 1930s to the 1950s, forced migrants - refugees from Nazism, displaced people after World War II and escapees from Communist countries - arrived in New Zealand from Europe. Among them were extraordinary artists and writers, photographers, designers and architects whose European Modernism radically reshaped the arts in this country. How were migrants received by New Zealanders? How did displacement and settlement in New Zealand transform their work? How did the arrival of European Modernists intersect with the burgeoning nationalist movement in the arts in New Zealand? This book introduces us to a group of `aliens' who were critical catalysts for change in New Zealand culture. An outstanding piece of social and artistic history, beautifully illustrated. 

Marcel Beuer by Robert McCarter        $210
The most comprehensive book on architect and designer Marcel Breuer (1902-1981), looking in detail at all the houses, furniture, and public buildings he designed In Europe and the United States–from his beginning at the Bauhaus through his collaboration with Walter Gropius, and the establishment of his own practice in the USA.

The Burning Hours by Kushana Bush        $59
With influences ranging from illuminated manuscripts, Persian miniatures, naive artists, European art history and popular culture, this Dunedin artist's distinctive work teems with figures and throngs with disconcerting detail.
>> Visit the artist's website. 

My All by Sophie Calle          $45
A retrospective survey of the projects of this photographer in the form of 110 postcards, one for each of her experiments in the ambivalences of photography and memory.  

Blind Spot by Teju Cole       $45
In Known and Strange Things we learned of Cole's interest in the practices of photography, and in Blind Spot we can see what he sees from behind his camera. The results are impressive, and will add another dimension to your understanding of this interesting author. 

Ungrateful Animals by Dave Eggars     $50
Before Eggars was a writer he was an illustrator. In this book he presents a series of animals, both wild and domestic, with plaintive or pseudo-Biblical texts. Odd and rather touching. 

Works, 2007-2017 by Tracey Emin         $149
A full exploration of the wide range of Emin's work, all assailing the division of private and public lives. Moving chronologically through a prolific decade of work from major public installations to recent reflective paintings and sculptures this book shows a coherent vision that defies the idiosyncrasies of Emin s evolution as an artist. The same mixture of anger, hope, curiosity, and vulnerability that informs her delicate drawings and handwritten neon works can be felt in the darker tones of recent monoprints and the weight of later bronze pieces.

Modern Scandinavian Design by Magnus Englund et al         $135

The best full survey of the architecture, furniture, lighting, glass, ceramics, metalwork, woodenware, plastics, textiles, jewelry, and graphic design that has had such an impact on the world since the 1920s. 

Studio kO by Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty        $150
An exquisitely produced volume surveying the raw minimalism and clean lines of the architecture of Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty.
>> The kO website (recommended).

Dior: Catwalk, The complete collections by Alexander Fury and Adelia Sabatini          $110
For the first time, every Dior haute couture collection has been plucked from the catwalk and put into one book. Endlessly stimulating. 
>> Lost in the woods. 

Giacometti edited by Frances Morris, Lena Fritsch, Catherine Grenier and Mathilde Lecuyer     $60
A good survey of his work, well illustrated, with a thoughtful alphabetical exploration of themes and influences. 

Ornament is Crime: Modernist architecture by Matt Gibberd and Albert Hill            $70
"Journeys between the decades to liberate Modernism from its traditional definitions and proposes its continuing presence in the work of 21st century architects. With elegant spreads and striking examples, this is an intriguing manifesto. Quotes from figures as diverse as Leonard Cohen and Kazimir Malevich reframe Modernism as a timeless dialogue." -Aesthetica

The Secret Life of the Pencil: Great creatives and their pencils by Alex Hammond and Mike Tinney          $22
Is there a mainline from the fingers to the brain? The pencil is undergoing a resurgence in designer, artist and writer circles. This book is a collection of portraits of the very various pencils used by creative people. 

The Domain by Gavin Hipkins         $70
Early in his career, New Zealand artist Gavin Hipkins was described by fellow artist Giovanni Intra as a ‘tourist of photography’. This epithet has been used repeatedly by commentators on Hipkins’ work to describe two intertwined aspects of his practice. As art historian Peter Brunt puts it, Hipkins is a constantly travelling photographer, ‘an iconographer of desire, travel, time and modern communities’, and a tourist within the medium, ‘a great manipulator of the photographic artifact itself’.
>> See some of the photographs on the Dowse website.

David Hockney by Chris Stephens and Andrew Wilson       $90
Lavishly illustrated across the full six decades of Hockney's career, and across the full spectrum of media. 
>> How do you paint memorable pictures? 

Type: A visual history of typefaces and graphic styles, 1628-1938 by Cees de Jong et al       $125
A stupendous encyclopedia of typographical evolution and innovation, including not only typefaces but also layout, ornament and aesthetic. Full of information and inspiration. 

On Kawara: 1966           $90
1966 was a pivotal year in the career of one of contemporary art's most radical and rigorous practitioners: it was the year in which the Japanese artist began his series of date paintings, which depict nothing but the date upon which they were painted (the 'Today' series numbered over 3000 on Kawara's death in 2013). 
>> 'Today' discussed. 

Chip Book: Work, 2007-2017 by Chip Kidd      $119
The outstanding graphic designer, best known for his book covers.
>> Portfolio.

Atlas of Another America: An architectural fiction by Keith Krumwiede     $110
A speculative architectural fiction and theoretical analysis of the American single-family house and its native habitat, the suburban metropolis. Mass-marketed and endlessly multiplied, and the definitive symbol of success in America and around the world, the suburban house has also become a global economic calamity and an impending environmental catastrophe. Yet, as both object and idea, it remains largely unexamined from an architectural perspective. This new book fills this gap through projects and essays that reflect upon, critique, and reformulate the equation that binds the house as an object to the American dream as a concept.

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors by Mika Yoshitake      $110
Since 1965's Phalli's Field, Kusama has produced over twenty mirrored installations with an impression of infinite extent. This book surveys her career.
>> Some infinity rooms.
>> Obsessed with dots.
>> Also new: Yayoi Kusama: From here to infinity by Sarah Suzuki   $35: A children's book on the Infinity Mirrors and their creator. 

Paleoart: Visions of the prehistoric past by Zoe Lascaze        $160
How have artists envisaged  human and prehuman life in prehistoric times? Perhaps you have been moved or amused by the often poignant depictions of dinosaurs, mastodons or hominids in the books of your childhood. This vast volume collects the best of such art, in all its poignancy and ludicrosity, from 1830 to 1990. Beneath the dustwrapper, the book is bound in real dinosaur skin (or something very like it).
>> A tour through the book (then resist it if you can).

Pissing Figures, 1280-2014 by Jean-Claude Lebensztejn        $20
An incisive illustrated essay on urinating figures in figurative and sculptural art. 
>> No urinating in the streets of Belgium. 

Portraits, 2005-2016 by Annie Leibovitz       $140
Stunning, as you would expect. Leibovitz's sure and incisive eye captures layers of subtlety beneath each exquisite surface. Sumptuous, large-format production.

Fashion Victims: The dangers of dress, past and present by Alison Matthews David         $39
Clothing has caused illness, injury, madness and death ever since it was adopted, but in some eras more than others. This well-illustrated volume explores the hazards, both of substance and of design and ponders the social forces that have exposed humans to intimate hazards, both known and unknown. 

Being Here: The life of Paula Moderson Becker by Marie Darrieussecq       $38
One of the most important of the early Expressionists, Paula Moderson Becker is most remembered for her searching, sensitive self-portraits.

Alcohol/Алкоголь by Damon Murray $45
A compilation of Soviet counter-alcohol propaganda posters and graphic design. How does the vilification of alcohol differ from society to society?
>> Back in the USSR.

Undreamed of... 50 years of the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship by Priscilla Pitts and Andrea Hotere       $60
Since Michael Illingworth assumed the first fellowship in 1966, Otago University has hosted a sequence of outstanding New Zealand artists. This book surveys, therefore, the changing flavour of New Zealand art in the last half century, and is supported with reproductions, commentaries and interviews.

Paintings in Proust: A visual companion to In Search of Lost Time by Eric Karpeles       $45
A beautifully presented survey of all the artworks mentioned in In Search of Lost Time, with quotes and contextual notes. 

The Camera in the Crowd: Filming New Zealand in pace and war, 1895-1920 by Christopher Pugsley        $80
Both filming and the showing of films transformed the way New Zealanders saw themselves and their world, and also how they saw the relationship between work and leisure. This book is the first time this subject has been fully documented.  

The Red Thread: Nordic design     $110
200 objects from Scandinavia and Finland that exemplify those countries' contribution to modern design. 

Emissaries by Lisa Reihana        $75
An examination of the video installation In Pursuit of Venus [infected], prepared to accompany its presentation at the 57th Venice Biennale. Comprising seven essays, a conversational exchange, and insights into the career of Lisa Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tu), the book provides an account of the sources that influenced the artist and how the Venice exhibition might be understood within the context of transnational indigenous art making.
>>A glimpse of the work.

Firecrackers: Female photographers now by Fiona Rogers and Max Houghton         $66
Features 30 cutting-edge women photographers from around the world.
>>fire-cracker.org/

Mobitecture: Architecture on the move by Rebecca Roke        $35
Full of inventive ideas and creative solutions to practical problems. Includes houseboats, huts, and tricked-out caravans, alongside disaster shelters, wearable structures, and futuristic prototypes.

Artists Who Make Books edited by Andrew Roth, Philip Aarons and Claire Lehmann        $180
500 images, 32 varied and outstanding contemporary artists whose practice includes making books. Impressive, and full of interesting ideas.  
>> Sample pages on our website!

The Illustrated Dust Jacket, 1920-1970 by Martin Salisbury       $55
An excellent and enticing survey of a period of great fertility and change in dustwrapper design, which started off as a way to protect bindings but soon became the arena in which the book's design first and most effectively attracts the eye of readers and buyers. 

Egon Schiele: Drawing the world by Klaus Albrecht Schroder      $95
As well as providing an excellent survey of the artist's distinctive work, Schroder helps the reader to decipher the allegorical nature of many of them and to appreciate the passions and ambivalences that drove the artist.

Beg, Steal and Borrow: Artists against originality by Robert Shore       $28
If "all art is theft" (Picasso), what can we make of art that deliberately appropriates, subsumes, samples or reconfigures other art? Interesting. 

Gordon Walters: New Vision by Lucy Hammonds, Julia Waite, Laurence Simmons et al     $79
Best known for his positive/negative koru stacks, Walters, as this book demonstrates, was a remarkably diverse and accomplished abstract artist.
>> An exhibition by the same name is currently on display at the Auckland Art Gallery.

Monograph by Chris Ware        $119
Whether he is writing graphic novels, making paintings, or building sculptures, Ware explores universal themes of social isolation, emotional torment, and depression with his trademark self-effacing voice. The end result is wry and highly empathetic. This vast and splendid volume chronicles a quarter century of remarkable and very individual creative work.
>> What is he doing now? 

Phantom Architecture: The fantastical structures that the world's greatest architects really wanted to build by Philip Wilkinson       $60
If only.

Frank Lloyd Wright Paper Models: 14 kirigami models to cut and fold by Marc Hagan-Guirey    $40
You will like these.

List #9: CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULTS' FICTION

Scroll this list to select from our recommendations. 

Come in or click through to browse our full selection, or ask us for our recommendations for your specific needs. 

My Dog Mouse by Eva Lindström         $30
A lovely, sensitive picture book about a child's friendship with a very old dog. 

The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen        $28
When a mouse is swallowed by a wolf, a duck already resident in the wolf's belly shows it what a good life can be lived there. How can they defend their home against a hunter? 

Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too) by Keith Negley          $28
It's not easy being a tough guy. Sometimes things just don't work out. Sometimes tough guys can be frustrated and disappointed. But it's OK to show your feelings, even for tough guys. 

The Longest Breakfast by Jenny Bornholt and Sarah Wilkins        $30
Everyone wants something different for breakfast, but what will Malcolm give them? A lovely story. 

Virginia Wolf by Kyo Maclear and Isabelle Arsenault     $30
When Virginia wakes up feeling wolfish and starts making noises that frighten the visitors, will her sister be able to charm her back to humanity by painting her a garden called Bloomsberry?

Witchfairy by Brigitte Minne and Carll Cnutt    $30
What do you do if you're tired of being a fairy? Can you be a witch? Can you be both a fairy and a witch?  

Wolfy by Gregoire Solotareff       $30
A wolf who has never seen a rabbit and a rabbit who has never seen a wolf become the best of friends. What happens when they play at scaring each other? 
>> And here they are!

On a Magical, Do-Nothing Day by Beatrice Alemagna        $28
A beautifully illustrated invocation of the wonders to be found outside on a rainy day. 

Hortense and the Shadow by Natalia O'Hara and Lauren O'Hara      $30
Hortense is irritated by the antics of her shadow, but its ability to take on new forms can be useful when you are threatened by bandits.

The Milk of Dreams by Leonora Carrington        $37
A very surreal picture book written and illustrated by the Surrealist writer and artist for her own children. Meet John, who has wings for ears, Humbert the Beautiful, an insufferable kid who befriends a crocodile and grows more insufferable yet, and the awesome Janzamajoria. 

A Case in Any Case ('Detective Gordon' #3) by Ulf Nilsson and Gitte Spee       $20
Detective Gordon is on holiday, and Buffy is the sole detective at the small police station in the forest. It is not easy for a police officer to be alone. Especially when there are strange noises outside the station at night. The third in this delightful series. 

The World of Moominvalley by Tove Jansson and Philip Ardagh       $65
At last, an encyclopedia of the world of the Moomins and all the other creatures who live alongside them. 

Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Pax was only a kit when his family was killed and he was rescued by 'his boy', Peter. Now the country is at war and when his father enlists, Peter has no choice but to move in with his grandfather. Far worse than leaving home is the fact that he has to leave Pax behind. But before Peter spends even one night under his grandfather's roof he sneaks out into the night, determined to find his beloved friend. 
Illustrations by John Klassen. 

The Ice Sea Pirates by Frida Nilsson      $25
When 10-year-old Siri's younger sister is captured by the Captain Whitehead's Ice Sea Pirates, she must face wolves, frozen landscapes and treacherous sailors and mermaids as she journeys through the north to rescue her. Completely involving.

The Wonderling by Mira Bartok       $28
In Miss Carbunkle's Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, the groundlings (part animal and part human) toil in classroom and factory, forbidden to enjoy anything regular children have, most particularly singing and music. For the Wonderling, a one-eared, fox-like eleven-year-old with only a number rather than a proper name - a 13 etched on a medallion around his neck - it is the only home he has ever known. A bird groundling named Trinket gives the Home's loneliest inhabitant two incredible gifts: a real name and a best friend. The pair escape over the wall and embark on an adventure that will take them out into the wider world and ultimately down the path of Arthur's true destiny.
>> Read Stella's review.
"Every now and then  there is published a book that raises the bar in Children and Young adult literature. This is such a book." - Bob Docherty
>> Visit the Wonderling website. 

The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon       $30
Archer B. Helmsley wants an adventure. No, he needs an adventure. His grandparents were famous explorers (until they got stuck on an iceberg). Now Archer's mother barely lets him out of the house. As if that would stop a true Helmsley. Archer enlists Adelaide—the girl who, according to rumor, lost her leg to a crocodile—and Oliver—the boy next door—to help him rescue his grandparents. Quite delightful, and with illustrations by the author. 
Also available: #2 The Doldrums and the Helmsley Curse. 

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd, illustrated by Levi Pinfold       $23
In 1941 Emmaline is evacuated from London to Briar Hill hospital in Shropshire. There she discovers a hopeful deep secret: there are winged horses that live in a world through the hospital mirrors. 
"A remarkable book." - Michael Morpurgo 

DrawnonwarD: A back-to-front tale of hopelessness and hope by Meg McKinlay and Andrew Frazer       $30
The same situation can have quite different interpretations, depending on your perspective. Read in one direction, this piece of graphic invention is a dismal when read in one direction, but full of hope when read in the other. A change of perspective (or reading direction) is all you need to turn your life around.

Nevermoor: The trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend       $20
Morrigan Crow is cursed. Born on an unlucky day, she is blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks - and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on Eventide. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.
"Plenty of tricks, tumbles, twists and trials. Captivating, magical, daring and very good." - Stella (read her review)

Annual 2 edited by Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris         $40
Everything that was ever good about the children's annuals of the past is good about the annuals of the present compiled by Kate De Goldi and Susan Price to include the best New Zealand writing and illustration for children. Last year's Annual was hugely popular, and this year's will be, too. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander by J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill        $48
A sumptuously illustrated new gift edition with extra content.
"No wizarding household is complete without a copy." - Albus Dumbledore

The Severed Land by Maurice Gee      $20
A thoughtful, fast-paced adventure with a wonderful heroine. The novel opens with Fliss observing some soldiers and their cannon. Never able to break through the invisible wall, they have become increasingly frustrated with their inability to colonise the other side. As mayhem breaks loose, a drummer boy runs from the soldiers only to find himself stuck between the wall and the barrel of a gun. Fliss, for reasons unknown to her, is able to pull the drummer boy through the wall. Can they journey together to rescue the Nightingale (whatever that is)? The great story-line and compelling characters, brave and stubborn, and their interactions with friends and foes will keep you entranced and leave you wanting more.

The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius         $28
Sally Jones is not only a loyal friend, she's an extraordinary individual. In overalls or in a maharaja's turban, this unique gorilla moves among humans without speaking but understanding everything. She and the Chief are devoted comrades who operate a cargo boat. A job they are offered pays big bucks, but the deal ends badly, and the Chief is falsely convicted of murder. For Sally Jones this is the start of a harrowing quest for survival and to clear the Chief's name. 
"I don't know when I last read a book with such pure and unalloyed pleasure. It's ingenious, it's moving, it's charming, it's beautiful, it's exciting, and most importantly the characters are people I feel I know like old friends." - Philip Pullman

Zeustian Logic by Sabrina Malcolm           $25
If only real life could be like as magical as the stars in the night sky, as escapist as the stories of the Greek gods he tells his little brother to help him sleep at night, or as logical as a mathematical equation. Tuttle (Duncan) would rather look at stars, visit the Carter Observatory and play computer games with his mate, Attila the Pun, but life has other, more urgent things in train for our nerdy teen. Tuttle’s Dad, a once famous, now infamous, mountain climber has been missing, presumed dead in a storm on Mt. Everest, accused of leaving his paying customer to die on the mountain. Tuttle is determined to find out the truth, but more pressing still are his mother’s fall into depression, his younger brother’s anxiety, and how to make sure the family are fed, get to school on time and avoid all the hassles of the social worker and the persistent journalist.
>> Read Stella's review. 

The Empty Grave ('Lockwood & Co' #5) by Jonathan Stroud        $25
The final knuckle-whitening volume in this excellent series. Will Lucy, George and Lockwood solve the mystery of the plague of ghosts that has been afflicting London? Genuinely scary, genuinely funny, and with great characters, if you haven't read this, start with The Screaming Staircase.
"Jonathan Stroud is a genius." - Rick Riordan

La Belle Sauvage ('The Book of Dust' #1) by Philip Pullmamn       $35
The much anticipated first novel of a wonderful new series from the world of 'His Dark Materials', set ten years before Northern Lights and telling of the strange events surrounding Lyra Belacqua.
>> Also available in hardback. 
>> "A Triumph." - Read Stella's review. 

Yvain: The Knight of the Lion by M.T. Anderson and Andrea Offermann       $30
In a story drawn from Arthurian lore, Yvain kills a lord in battle and finds his fate entwined with that of the slain man's widow and that of her maid. Luminously drawn, this graphic novel is both an exploration of knightly virtues and of the lives of medieval women.
"A thoughtful, entertaining, and provocative presentation of this centuries-old story." - Booklist

'Iremonger' trilogy: Heap House, Foulsham, Lungdon by Edward Carey      $19 each
A deliciously written and possibly brain-renovating series following the fortunes of Clod Iremonger, scion of the family that rules over the great waste-heap of London, and Lucy, an irrepressible servant, who must withstand both tradition and novelty, secure their birth-objects, retain or reattain human form and somehow achieve freedom and love despite the forces that beset them on all sides. Brimming with ideas, great characters and genuine jaw-dropping moments. 

Thornhill by Pam Smy          $30
Ella is fascinated by the old house she sees from the window of her new room. "Keep Out" say the signs, but, after she sees a girl in the house's garden, Ella just has to go in. What does she find out about the house and its secrets? Will she ever be able to get back out? A chilling graphic novel.

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge         $25
When a creature dies, its spirit can go looking for somewhere to hide. Some people have space inside them, perfect for hiding. Makepeace, a girl with a mysterious past, defends herself nightly from the ghosts which try to possess her. Then a dreadful event causes her to drop her guard for a moment. And now there's a ghost inside her. The spirit is wild, brutish and strong, but it may be her only defence in a time of dark suspicion and fear. As the English Civil War erupts, Makepeace must decide which is worse: possession or death.
From the author of the Costa Award-winning The Lie Tree. 
>> Read Stella's review. 
"Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now." - Patrick Ness

Naondel ('The Red Abbey Chronicles' #2) by Maria Turtschaninoff    $23
In the opulent palace of Ohaddin, women have one purpose - to obey. Some were brought here as girls, captured and enslaved; some as servants; some as wives. All of them must do what the Master tells them, for he wields a deadly and secret power. But the women have powers too. One is a healer. One can control dreams. One is a warrior. One can see everything that is coming. In their golden prison, the women wait. They plan. They write down their stories. They dream of a refuge, a safe place where girls can be free. And, finally, when the moon glows red, they will have their revenge.
>> Read the excellent Maresi first (and read Stella's review)!

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe       $30
14-year-old Dita is confined in the extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The several thousand residents of camp BIIb are inexplicably allowed to keep their own clothing, their hair, and, most importantly, their children. Fredy Hirsch maintains a school in BIIb. In the classroom, Dita discovers something wonderful: a dangerous collection of eight smuggled books. She becomes the books' librarian. Based on a true story.  

We See Everything by William Sutcliffe          $19
In a near-future, war-ravaged London, impoverished inhabitants are herded into “the Strip”, surveilled constantly by drones and periodically bombed into further submission. Gripping YA dystopia.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas     $20
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is a black girl and an expert at navigating the two worlds she exists in: one at Garden Heights, her black neighborhood, and the other at Williamson Prep, her suburban, mostly white high school. Walking the line between the two becomes immensely harder when Starr is present at the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, by a white police officer.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart          $23
Imogen is an heiress, a runaway, and a cheat. Jule is a fighter, a chameleon, and a liar. Imogen is done pretending to be perfect, and Jule refuses to go back to the person she once was. Somewhere between the mansions of Martha's Vineyard and the shores of Cabo San Lucas, their intense friendship takes a dark turn. From the author of We Were Liars. 

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green      $30
Aza Holmes is caught in the ever-tightening spirals of her own thoughts. The book also features lifelong friendship, an unexpected reunion, Star Wars fan fiction, and a tuatara. The long-awaited new novel from the author of The Fault in Our Stars (&c). 

BOOKS@VOLUME #53 (9.12.17)
Find out what we've been reading.
Select seasonal gifts using the VOLUME GIFT SELECTOR.
Learn about the newest books, our December hours, our Book of the Week, and other book news and events.
Enter our sad competition.

This week's Book of the Week can be read safely only in a foil-lined room. 
Like everyone, Megan Dunn had a book inside her. In Dunn's case, that book happened to be Fahrenheit 451, which had already been written by Ray Bradbury. Tinderbox is about the hold of literature on our minds and about the mechanisms by which society attempts to destroy that hold. It is about hope and failure and retail and living in the twenty-first century and failure (it's strong on failure), and it's fun to read. 

>> Read Thomas's review below. 

>> Read an extract. 

>> Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.


>> The 1966 film by Francis Truffaut. 

>> - Why do you write? - I don't smoke. 

>> "Is it a quirky book?" Harry: "I would say it's a very quirky book."

>> Megan's booklaunch speech. 


>> Megan's Julie Christie slide show

>> Megan Dunn's blog.

>> Some films by Megan Dunn. 

>> The Galley Beggar Press website. 

>> Megan Dunn loves merchandise. 

>> A brief biography of the author, former bookseller and former dynamo of Booksellers NZ.

>> And she's written for The Pantographic Punch. 

>> And an interview with Ray Bradbury about Megan's book (just joking). 

Tinderbox by Megan Dunn   {Reviewed by THOMAS} If there had been any rain he would have opened his mouth and tasted the drops but it wasn’t raining and it hadn’t rained for some time. The vegetation everywhere was dry, what they call tinder dry because to be useful tinder needs to be dry, suggesting that dryness is a requisite quality of tinder, though what then to call it when it is wet, he wondered, wandering from the task at hand. It would take only a spark struck from a flint, he thought, trying to climb back aboard his earlier train of thought, to set the whole thing off. But even this wasn’t the thought he had started with. He had been thinking of tasting the raindrops, a sort of conceit for opening a review of the book Tinderbox by Megan Dunn, the raindrops, or rather the tasting of them, an awkward motif isolated by Dunn from the book Fahrenheit 451 and Truffaut's film based on the book upon which her book is based. What was he thinking? Perhaps he would write a story in which a character, call that character Miss Ingram for reasons outlined in Tinderbox, he won’t go into that now, writes, or attempts to write and fails, due to fatigue perhaps, or insufficient time or focus, or perhaps brain-power, a review of Tinderbox by Megan Dunn, which is an account of Dunn trying, and failing, for reasons other than those just listed, to write a novel based on the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, in one iteration a novel of Fahrenheit 451 from the point of view of its female characters, which iteration, when completed, made the Bradbury estate uncomfortable, in a legal sense, leading directly to the non-publication of this iteration and thence to the writing and subsequent publication of Tinderbox, a book about someone writing a book about a book, or, more often, a book about someone writing a book about a film about a book, or about the Spark Notes about that book, or, sometimes, about the actors who play the characters in the film of the book, in other words a metametametametametanovel, but so much fun, with each wheel within the other wheels turning and picking up, in its treads, if that’s the right extension of the metaphor, who wants it, all sorts of stuff in the life of the author-character, the putative Megan Dunn, the outer wheel, so to call it, or the outer wheel at least until the story about the pseudonymous Miss Ingram, or, indeed, the account of the writing of the story about Miss Ingram, who tries and fails to write a review of the book about the putative Megan Dunn, which includes Dunn’s employment as a bookseller in the failing Borders chain, the evanescence of a relationship, her writing of a book based on Fahrenheit 451, the failure to bring this book to readers, the writing of a novel on the NaNoWriMo scheme, a sort of reverse Alcoholics Anonymous programme for writers, and Tinderbox itself, the book about all this, and all that mentioned above, and other things, such as merchandising, that you will need to read the book to find out about, each part or layer or vector or whatever contaminating the others and yet handled so deftly by Dunn, with equal measure of attachment and detachment, to build a subtle depiction of the mutable but enduring force of literature in individual and collective lives and of the forces arrayed against it, not least of them failure, the book is strong on failure, and what could be more compassionate, even to Miss Ingram, who has failed to establish herself as a character in someone's story about failing to write a review of Tinderbox, not that the fault is hers, perhaps that conceit should be abandoned, than treating to failure in all its guises and agencies, failure being an essential quality of anything worth doing. Could writing about failure ever be anything but a success? Dunn knows what temperature books burn at. Half price. Such weighty matters should always be this lightly held.