The Night The Rat Stepped Out, poems by Gary Elford, artwork by Tui Johnson (RRP $20): Christchurch based poet Gary Elford taught at three different schools on the Regent Street site now occupied by Aurora College, Invercargill, for 16 years, so many of you will know him. I thoroughly enjoyed this, his second poetry collection....
Chocolate Cake For Breakfast, by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin) Set in rural New Zealand, Chocolate Cake For Breakfast is an easy read that has a Bridget Jones feel about it. It’s about Helen McNeil, a vet from small-town New Zealand who has a love of cows. While escaping from a dull girl at...
The Chronicles of Narmo, by Caitlin Moran (Random House, RRP $20): First published by Corgi in 1992 and republished in January 2014, this delightful home-school romp was written by 16-year-old Caitlin Moran who is now an award-winning The Times critic, interviewer and columnist. She has authored two other novels in the intervening years. My...
Broken, by Elizabeth Pulford, illustrated by Angus Gomes (Walker Books): Zara is in a coma, immersed in a subconscious world where she has to come to terms both with the terrible accident that took her brother’s life and a traumatic event from her childhood. The first-person narrative is always Zara’s voice but the varying...
The Winter Sea, by Di Morrissey (Pan Macmillan Australia, RRP $35): I wouldn’t say Di Morrissey is a lazy author but The Winter Sea has a real paint-by-numbers feel to it. An everlasting love, a new love and a family secret roll around together in this plot as the lead character Cassie Holloway, fresh from...
Explore New Zealand: 101 Must-Do’s for Kiwis, compiled by AA (Random House NZ, RRP $45): The school holidays are now all but over, with the young ‘uns heading back to class on Monday, so maybe it’s time to start some pro-active planning for the next break. And with that next break being the biggie...
The Happiness Trap Pocketbook, by Dr Russ Harris and Bev Aisbett (Exisle Publishing, RRP $25): A few years back, Dr Russ Harris came up with the novel concept of the happiness trap and told us all how to avoid it. This little book is a pretty much the same concept but all compacted and...
Latest chapter