Collecting Cooper Paul Cleave Penguin Books, $35.00, ISBN 9780143568025 The Laughterhouse Paul Cleave Penguin Books, $38.00, ISBN 9780143568292 The Faceless Vanda Symon Penguin Books, $30.00, ISBN 9780143567202 By Any Means Ben Sanders HarperCollins, $24.99, ISBN 9781869508777 New Zealand crime fiction…
New Zealand in the 20th Century: The Nation, The People Paul Moon HarperCollins, $50.00, ISBN 9781869508043 A declaration of interest: as an archaeologist, I am a consumer of 20th-century history. The beginning of the century (1900) is where our Historic…
Mike McRoberts: Beyond the Front Line Mike McRoberts HarperCollins, $39.99, ISBN 9781869509392 Scrim: The Man with a Mike William Renwick Victoria University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9780864736956 “I like to think I have my father’s courage and humour, and…
Dirt Bomb Fleur Beale Random House, $19.95, ISBN 9781869795467 The Bridge Jane Higgins The Text Publishing Company, $26.00, ISBN 9781921758331 Calling the Gods Jack Lasenby HarperCollins, $24.99, ISBN 9781869509484 These three novels shortlisted for the senior fiction…
The Flytrap Snaps Johanna Knox and Sabrina Malcolm (illus) Hinterland Press, $22.00, ISBN 9780473179960 Just Jack Adele Broadbent HarperCollins, $19.99, ISBN 9781869508869 Super Finn Leonie Agnew Scholastic, $19.50, ISBN 9781869439996 The Puffin Books of my childhood carried…
The Loblolly Boy and the Sorcerer James Norcliffe Longacre, $19.99, ISBN 9781877460692 Sacrifice Joanna Orwin HarperCollins, $26.99, ISBN 9781869509125 It’s rare for a modern children’s writer to create a really original fantasy creature, but James Norcliffe achieved it…
The Last of the Human Freedoms: The French Civilians Who Chose to Help Kiwis during the Second World War Keren M Chiaroni HarperCollins, $39.99, ISBN 9781869508739 In September 1942 Raymond Glensor’s Wellington bomber was shot down near the small…
Expert Witness: Behind the Scenes with a Real-life Forensic Scientist Anna Sandiford HarperCollins, $32.99, ISBN 9781869508753 “The CSI effect” refers to the influence of forensic science-themed TV shows on public perception, particularly when it comes to the courtroom. CSI:…
This Barren Rock: 1875, A True Tale of Shipwreck and Survival in the Southern Seas Sylvie Haisman HarperCollins, $34.99, ISBN 9780733325557 Why do we find survival stories endlessly thrilling? The book under review – a story of survival…