Blog Archives

Revisionist urges, Anna Rogers

Posted on September 1, 2006 by NZ Books

The Rope of Man Witi Ihimaera Reed, $34.99, ISBN 0790008947 It’s surely a disconcerting and disturbing notion: that a writer’s early books can be rewritten many years later to take account of changes in his life, or in the evolution…

Tagged with: Anna Rogers, Issue 75, Reed, Spring 2006, Witi Ihimaera
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Picture books, the cunning genre, Norman Bilbrough

Posted on June 1, 2006 by NZ Books

Papa’s Island Melanie Drewery, illustrations Fifi Colston Reed, $16.99, ISBN 1869485947 Nobody’s Dog Jennifer Beck, illustrations Lindy Fisher Scholastic, $16.99, ISBN 1869437284 Haere – Farewell, Jack, Farewell Tim Tipene, illustrations Huhana Smith Huia, $16.99, ISBN 1869691040 Uncle Jack Kate De…

Tagged with: Ben Brown, Fifi Colston, Gavin Bishop, Helen Taylor, Huhana Smith, Huia, Issue 74, Jacqui Colley, Jean Prior, Jennifer Beck, Kate De Goldi, Lindy Fisher, Melanie Drewery, Norman Bilbrough, Pamela Allen, Puffin, Reed, Scholastic, Tim Tipene, Trapeze, Winter 2006
Posted in Children, Literature, Review

Deep footprints, Jack Perkins

Posted on December 1, 2005 by NZ Books

In the Air Henare te Ua Reed, $34.99, ISBN 0790010119 Henare te Ua, grandson of Sir Apirana Ngata, cousin of Witi Ihimaera, takes us on a journey spanning the period from the 1930s to the end of the century; through…

Tagged with: Henare te Ua, Issue 72, Jack Perkins, Reed, Summer 2005
Posted in Autobiography, Non-fiction, Review

Calls for re-enchantment, Paul Morris

Posted on September 1, 2005 by NZ Books

Celebrating the Southern Seasons: Rituals for Aotearoa Juliet Batten Random House, $34.95, ISBN 1869417348 Tohunga: The Revival of Ancient Knowledge for the Modern Era Samuel Timoti Robinson Reed, $49.99, ISBN 079001002X The election is finally over and we have a…

Tagged with: Issue 71, Juliet Batten, Paul Morris, Random House, Reed, Samuel Timoti Robinson, Spring 2005
Posted in Māori, Non-fiction, Religion, Review, Sociology

Carnage on the coast, Paul Millar

Posted on September 1, 2005 by NZ Books

Nine New Zealand Novellas ed Peter Simpson Reed, $39.95, ISBN 0790009927 I’m not going to begin with a long, theorised discussion if the novella; there’s plenty of that around, and Peter Simpson’s introduction explores some of the key issues surrounding…

Tagged with: Issue 71, Paul Millar, Peter Simpson, Reed, Spring 2005
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

The sparkling, the homely and the cool, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins

Posted on June 1, 2005 by NZ Books

Built for Us: The Work of Government and Colonial Architects, 1860s to 1960s Lewis E Martin University of Otago Press, $49.95, ISBN 1877276642 We Call It Home: A History of State Housing in New Zealand Ben Schrader Reed, $39.99, ISBN…

Tagged with: Ben Schrader, Charles Walker, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, Issue 70, Lewis E Martin, New Zealand Architectural Publications Trust, New Zealand Institute of Architects, Otago University Press, Reed, Winter 2005
Posted in Architecture, History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

A particular dedication, Hilary Stace

Posted on June 1, 2005 by NZ Books

Books in Maori: An Annotated Bibliography, 1815-1900/ Nga Tanga Reo Maori: Nga Kohikohinga Me Ona Whakamarama compiled in the Alexander Turnbull Library by Phil Parkinson and Penny Griffith Reed, $120, ISBN 079000951X New Zealand has traditionally lacked “bibliodensity”. This term…

Tagged with: Alexander Turnbull Library, Hilary Stace, Issue 68, June 2005, Penny Griffith, Phil Parkinson, Reed
Posted in History, Language, Literature, Māori, Review

One of the survivors, Tony Simpson

Posted on June 1, 2005 by NZ Books

A Radical Writer’s Life Dick Scott Reed, $39.99, ISBN 0790009765 The society in which I grew up largely no longer exists, immolated in the “reforms” of the 80s and 90s. It would be wrong to consider that an entirely bad…

Tagged with: Dick Scott, Issue 70, Reed, Tony Simpson, Winter 2005
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Once upon a time in West Auckland, Denis Welch

Posted on June 1, 2004 by NZ Books

Black and White John Tamihere (with Helen Bain) Reed, $29.95, ISBN 0790009641 Few politicians these days have lives interesting enough to write about, let alone turn into saleable books. No one is going to queue up at Whitcoulls for Steve…

Tagged with: Denis Welch, Helen Bain, Issue 66, John Tamihere, Reed, Winter 2004
Posted in Autobiography, Non-fiction, Review

Over there, Tony Simpson

Posted on March 1, 2004 by NZ Books

New Zealand and the Second World War Ian McGibbon Hodder Moa Beckett, $40.00, ISBN 1869589548 A Fair Sort of Battering: New Zealanders remember the Italian Campaign ed Megan Hutching HarperCollins, $40.00, ISBN 1869505050 The Desert Railway Brendan Judd Penguin, $29.95,…

Tagged with: Autumn 2004, Bee Dawson, Brendan Judd, Christopher Pugsley, HarperCollins, Hodder Moa Beckett, Ian McGibbon, Issue 65, Jim Rolfe, Megan Hutching, Penguin, Reed, Tony Simpson
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, War