Museums are interesting places and it is the natural history collections that are often the most interesting. Author Brian Gill has taken on the task of telling the stories of 15 intriguing objects in New Zealand museums: how they got there, why they are of interest and their impact. He has done a fantastic job, […]
Behind the scenes at museums Read Post »
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. All too often, modern cookbooks tend to feature ingredients that no normal person has in their pantry or food that looks like it’s been painted
A classic for the kitchen Read Post »
Dunedin-based children’s author Diane Miller has used the Josephine, the 21-tonne steam locomotive that has been on display at the Otago Settlers Museum for years, as the inspiration for this story. Josephine gets to realise a long-held fantasy, and escapes her museum display. She Heads off down the tracks in the hops of helping a
Otago tale brings local star to the fore Read Post »
Leonard Cohen is many things to many people: a poet, a prophet, singer, songwriter, author, peacemaker and all-round good bloke. Cohen has been touring the world pretty much non-stop for the past couple of years and I have to say, his concert in Christchurch just a couple of months after the September 2010 quake was
Fresh insight into gifted Cohen Read Post »
There has been much written about our long-extinct moa but this book by Dunedin-based writer, domentary film-maker and photographer Quinn Berentson manages to be both comprehensive and accessible. These unusual birds developed in isolation millions of years ago but became extinct fairly quickly after the arrival of the Maori (hope you are listening Gareth Morgan,
Bringing the moa to life Read Post »
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 information on the little creepy crawlies lurking in our fair land. This guide covers more than 120 species of what the authors call “minibeasts”, from earthworms and leeches to springtails and
Leggy ones identified Read Post »
This is the book everyone was getting excited about last year and I can finally say I now understand why. It joins the ranks of dozens of other dystopian stories and has a slight feeling of Stephen King’s Cell at the start but it certainly comes into its own as the story unfolds. It begins
Creepy but intriguing apocalyptic read Read Post »
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 Guide for Some Tricky Predicaments”, this book is packed with helpful hints and tips to deal with all manner of, well, tricky predicaments. There’s everything
Ruby Redfort: heroine extraordinaire Read Post »
With his taste for sharp suits and powerful motorcycles, Bishop Brian Tamaki has an interestingly polarising effect on the average Kiwi. Let me make it clear before I go any further that I have no particular bias for or against any church – my religious views are my own and I don’t feel the need
Man of Destiny: Bishop’s church-building prowess Read Post »
They say you should never judge a book by its cover and I thought I’d been tripped up by doing just that with Wool. With my recent rediscovery of the joys of knitting, I was taken by the title of this novel, and a quick read of the back cover revealed a scant but enticing
Rule-breaking has deadly penalty Read Post »
