Blog Archives

Becoming someone else, Diane Hebley

Posted on June 1, 2008 by NZ Books

Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful Brigid Lowry Allen and Unwin, $19.99, ISBN 9781741751604 The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves Fleur Beale Random House, $19.99, ISBN 9781869418366 Duet David Hill Mallinson Rendel, $17.00, ISBN 9781877423062 Full marks to the three well-established authors…

Tagged with: Allen & Unwin, Brigid Lowry, David Hill, Diane Hebley, Fleur Beale, Issue 81, Mallinson Rendel, Random House, Winter 2008
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Young adults

Spot on the sun, David Hill

Posted on March 1, 2008 by NZ Books

The Transit of Venus Marilyn Head (ed) Awa Press, $24.99, ISBN 978095826972 A few years back, I had to review a self-published New Zealand novel. It was seriously rotten, and I wrote that it “tried to be bad, bold and…

Tagged with: Anne Salmond, Autumn 2008, Awa Press, David Hill, Duncan Steel, Hamish Campbell, Issue 81, Marilyn Head, Paul Callaghan, Peter Adds, Richard Hall
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science

Boudicca does it for a jar of mead, David Hill

Posted on September 1, 2007 by NZ Books

A Short History of Sheep in New Zealand Richard Wolfe Random House, $29.99, ISBN 1869418204 Instructions for New Zealanders Richard Wolfe Random House, $34.99, ISBN 1869418506 The Smell of Powder: A History of Duelling in New Zealand Donald Kerr Random…

Tagged with: Australian National Maritime Museum, David Hill, Donald Kerr, Exisle Publishing, Issue 79, John Dunmore, Nicola McCloy, Random House, Richard Wolfe, Spring 2007
Posted in History, Natural History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Wild threads of imagination, Joan de Hamel

Posted on March 1, 2007 by NZ Books

The Unquiet Carolyn McCurdie Longacre, $16.95, ISBN 1877361402 Aim High David Hill Mallinson Rendel, $17.00, ISBN 0958262624 Frog Whistle Mine Des Hunt HarperCollins, $16.99, ISBN 1869505956 Lizzie, Love Brenda Delamain Longacre, $16.99, ISBN 1877361399 Shooting the Moon V M Jones…

Tagged with: Autumn 2007, Brenda Delamain, Carolyn McCurdie, David Hill, Des Hunt, HarperCollins, Issue 77, Joan de Hamel, Longacre, Mallinson Rendel, V M Jones
Posted in Children, Fiction, Literature, Review, Young adults

Opening a vein, Paul Thomas

Posted on March 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Down Boy Joe Bennett Hazard Press, $20.00, ISBN 1877393258 Hillsides: The Best of David Hill Mallinson Rendel, $25.00, ISBN 0958262608 The American sportswriter Red Smith, who produced a daily column for 22 consecutive years, reckoned being a columnist was easy:…

Tagged with: Autumn 2007, David Hill, Hazard Press, Issue 77, Joe Bennett, Mallinson Rendel, Paul Thomas
Posted in Media, Non-fiction, Review

“Girl interested in wave technology”, David Hill

Posted on December 1, 2006 by NZ Books

Bright Star: Beatrice Hill Tinsley Astronomer Christine Cole Catley Cape Catley, $49.99, ISBN 1877340014 I can offer the usual apologia for astronomy. There’s its significance as a global employer (NASA alone pays 20,000 salaries). Its contributions to other sciences, such…

Tagged with: Cape Catley, Christine Cole Catley, David Hill, Issue 76, Summer 2006
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review, Science

Enter a messenger, David Hill

Posted on June 1, 2006 by NZ Books

Our English teacher in form five was a nice, ineffectual guy. He stuttered, so in typically compassionate boys’ school style, we called him “Static”. His discipline was pretty tenuous; some of the second-year fifth formers (this was the 1950s: score…

Tagged with: David Hill, Issue 74, Winter 2006
Posted in Imprints

Taut and twanging, Barbara Else

Posted on March 1, 2006 by NZ Books

Running Hot David Hill Mallinson Rendel, $16.95, ISBN 0908783949 With Lots of Love from Georgia Brigid Lowry Allen and Unwin, $19.00, ISBN 1741143101 Kaitangata Twitch Margaret Mahy Allen and Unwin, $19.00, ISBN 174114485X The Unknown Zone Phil Smith Random House,…

Tagged with: Allen & Unwin, Autumn 2006, Barbara Else, Brigid Lowry, David Hill, Issue 73, Mallinson Rendel, Margaret Mahy, Phil Smith, Random House
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Young adults

The ones that didn’t get away, David Hill

Posted on December 1, 2005 by NZ Books

How to Catch a Fish Kevin Ireland Awa Press, $24.99, ISBN 0958253862 How to Drink a Glass of Wine John Saker Awa Press, $24.99, ISBN 095823582X Discussing Aldous Huxley’s On the Margin in his 2002 biography of that now untrendy…

Tagged with: Awa Press, David Hill, Issue 72, John Saker, Kevin Ireland, Summer 2005
Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Review

Telling it like it was (perhaps), David Hill

Posted on September 1, 2004 by NZ Books

A Life’s Sentences Gordon McLauchlan Penguin, $39.95, ISBN 0143019163 Sorry, I’m a Stranger Here Myself Peter Bland Vintage, $29.95, ISBN 1869416325 Both these books call themselves/are called memoirs. I’ve never liked the word; I find a back-of-hand-to-brow affectation in it.…

Tagged with: David Hill, Gordon McLauchlan, Issue 67, Penguin, Peter Bland, Spring 2004, Vintage
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review