The Best of Grand Designs, by Kevin McCloud (HarperCollins, RRP $55): After 14 years of Grand Designs on television, Kevin McCloud has pulled together some of his favourite homes from the TV show and packaged them in this hard cover…
Tag: HarperCollins
Epic sequel not so epic
Bittersweet, by Colleen McCullough (HarperCollins, RRP $50): It’s been 36 years since Colleen McCullough’s epic The Thorn Birds was first published, 30 years since it was made into that massive miniseries starring such luminaries as Richard Chamberlain, Barbara Stanwyck and Christopher…
A classic for the kitchen
Dulcie May Kitchen: Everyday, by Natalie Oldfield (HarperCollins, RRP $45): Following on from the earlier success of her Gran’s Kitchen and Gran’s Family Table cookbooks, Natalie Oldfield has produced another winner packed with recipes that are both desirable and accessible.…
Leggy ones identified
Collins Pocket Guide to New Zealand Minibeasts, by Terence Lindsey and Rod Morris (HarperCollins, RRP $25): I’m a fan of most four, six and even some eight-legged critters so it’s nice to have a book that is so packed with…
Ruby Redfort: heroine extraordinaire
Hang in there Bozo, by Lauren Child (HarperCollins, RRP $5): Ruby Redfort is the heroine of a series of books by Lauren Child: a secret agent, detective, thirteen-year-old kid. And now a survival expert. Subtitled “The Ruby Redfort Emergency Survival…
Waking up to Joe Bennett
Fish Like a Drink, by Joe Bennett (HarperCollins, RRP $25): Joe Bennett is one of those columnists who always manages to improve my mood: if I’m having a rough morning, I always feel better having read his latest offering in…
Fun tale of a geriatric delinquent
Gangsta Granny, by David Walliams, illustrated by Tony Ross (HarperCollins, RRP $25): It’s refreshing to find a book aimed at younger readers that doesn’t focus on either girls and horses or teens and vampires. Little Britain star David Walliams has…
Improbable, but gripping
The Rook, by Daniel O’Malley (HarperCollins, RRP $37): Canberra-based author Daniel O’Malley’s debut novel follows the story of Myfanwy Thomas as she tries to recover her memory of her life as something called a Rook, a high-level operative in a…
Gripping from start to finish
The Drowning, by Camilla Lackberg (HarperCollins, RRP $35): In the latest Camilla Lackberg novel to feature detective Patrik Hedstrom, author Christian Thydell is the recipient of threats after he begins writing a novel. One message, hidden inside a bunch of…
Embrace your inner child
Green Eggs and Ham & Oh, The Places You’ll Go, both by Dr Seuss (HarperCollins, RRP $26.99): People who know about these things (like Oprah) are always telling us how important it is to embrace our inner child and when…