Southern connection in highly recommended poetry collection 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…
Author: Naida Mulligan
■ REVIEW
Columnist’s early life a fun read
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,…
Excellent teen fiction from NZ author
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…
Secrets and judgements at weekend wedding
Someone Else’s Wedding, by Tamar Cohen (Random House, RRP $38): Fran is in her mid-forties and having a weekend away with her husband and two adult daughters at the wedding of a family friend. She is the first person narrator and,…
A romping good read
The Inheritance, by Tilly Bagshawe (HarperCollins, RRP $30): This book has enabled me to tick the box on my summer reading bingo card (courtesy Invercargill Public Library), “a book by an author new to you”. It could add, “but will definitely read…
Kiwi history makes this a page-turner
Fitz: The Colonial Adventures of James Edward Fitzgerald, by Jennifer Roberts (Otago University Press, RRP $40): The subject of this biography is an important figure in the settlement of Canterbury. He was the province’s first superintendent, a politician, a watercolourist and founder…
Bookmarks: short non-fiction reviews
A roundup of short general non-fiction reviews: My Gentle Barn, by Ellie Laks (Penguin, RRP $28): This is non fiction at its best. Ellie Laks runs a rescue mission for animals near Los Angeles and this is the story of her early…
Excellent NZ fiction for teens
Night Vision, by Ella West (Allen & Unwin, RRP $19): Award-winning Mosgiel-based author, Ella West, was born in Invercargill and studied at the University of Otago. In her new thriller for younger readers, 14-year-old Viola has a genetic condition whereby…
African saga a welcome improvement
One Hundred and Four Horses; A Memoir of Farm and Family, Africa and Exile by Mandy Retzlaff (HarperCollins, RRP $30): After the last, very bad, African saga I read, I decided that I would read no more about that troubled…
A must-have for hunters
Wild South, Hunting and Fishing the Southern Hemisphere, by Peter Ryan (Bateman, RRP $40) Written from the heart, this beautifully produced book is a must-have for hunting enthusiasts, both practising and armchair. He doesn’t exactly detail how he’s managed it,…