General non-fiction - Books By George

■ REVIEW: Killing Time
Is this raw and gripping account of Dubai prison

Dubai is known for its luxury and excess, but scratch the surface and you’ll find the glitzy tourist destination isn’t quite so bright and shiny. The laws in Dubai are much more strict than in the West, and the consequences of breaking those laws can be brutal, as author and musician Karl Williams found. Is […]

■ REVIEW: Killing Time
Is this raw and gripping account of Dubai prison Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Hanns and Rudolf
True story is gripping reading

General non-fiction

Subtitled “the extraordinary true story of the Jewish investigator who pursued and captured one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious war criminals”, Hanns and Rudolf shows that a true story can be every bit as exciting as any work of fiction a Hollywood scriptwriter could come up with. Hanns Alexander, the son of a wealthy German

■ REVIEW: Hanns and Rudolf
True story is gripping reading Read Post »

■ REVIEW: The Wandering Mind
What do rats dream about?

General non-fiction

As often as I stop to think, then forget to start again, I am also plagued by bouts of my mind wandering off unattended and delivering all sorts of random thoughts that I then share with the world. This is generally not a good thing: it is important to have some sort of filter system

■ REVIEW: The Wandering Mind
What do rats dream about? Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Hack Attack
Revelations rocked newspaper industry

General non-fiction

While the 2011 News International phone-hacking scandal might not have been the huge news here that it was in the northern hemisphere, there’s no doubting the fact that what happened has had a global impact. The arrest of a private investigator and a News of the World journalist back in 2006 for what – at

■ REVIEW: Hack Attack
Revelations rocked newspaper industry Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Empty Mansions
Fairy-tale life that turned sad

General non-fiction, People

It’s human nature that we have a fascination with the lives of the rich and famous, but sometimes the lives of the incredibly wealthy are also incredibly sad. Reclusive heiress Huguette Clark died in 2011 at the age of 104. On the surface, you could assume she had lived a fabulous life, having been born

■ REVIEW: Empty Mansions
Fairy-tale life that turned sad Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Dog Gone, Back Soon
Return to the manor a treat

General non-fiction

I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but I missed the buzz over author Nick Trout’s earlier novels. The biggest buzz of all has been about 2013’s The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs. I eventually managed to catch up on that particular wee gem while I was on holiday in Aussie last year, and fell

■ REVIEW: Dog Gone, Back Soon
Return to the manor a treat Read Post »

■ REVIEW: True Grit Junior Edition
Grylls delivers – and some

General non-fiction, Younger readers

I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy this book but am pleased to say I was proved wrong. Let me begin by owning up to one thing in particular: I’m not greatly enamoured of Bear Grylls. While his fans watch his various “boy’s own adventure” TV shows and no doubt puff out their chest in collective

■ REVIEW: True Grit Junior Edition
Grylls delivers – and some Read Post »

■ REVIEW: The Baby Boom
Satire fails to fire

General non-fiction, Humour

Author P J O’Rourke has a knack for making hilarious observations on life, as shown by his earlier bestsellers, so I was expecting big things from his latest offering. Unfortunately, I was just a wee bit disappointed. Don’t get we wrong, The Baby Boom is still a pretty decent read, it just doesn’t live up

■ REVIEW: The Baby Boom
Satire fails to fire Read Post »

■ REVIEW: A Passion for Flight Vol 3
Martyn a true flight history scholar

General non-fiction, NZ books

No sooner had volume two of this detailed history of early New Zealand history hit the decks after being published in July, 2013, but volume three (A Passion for Flight: New Zealand aviation before the Great War Volume Three: The Joe Hammond Story and Military beginnings 1910-1914) followed, distinguishing Martyn as a true scholar uninterested

■ REVIEW: A Passion for Flight Vol 3
Martyn a true flight history scholar Read Post »

■ REVIEW: Starship: Inside Our National Children's Hospital
Celebrating Starship’s first 21 years

General non-fiction, NZ books

For a generation of young Kiwis, Starship hospital has always been there: the place the the very young and very sick can rely on to provide care for both its patients and their families. However, some of us who are a tad older remember a time when we didn’t have a national children’s hospital in

■ REVIEW: Starship: Inside Our National Children's Hospital
Celebrating Starship’s first 21 years Read Post »