All the emailing and texting going on these days must make it hard for the budding stamp collectors out there, which is really a shame. When I was a kid, bills arrived with stamps on the envelopes, as did birthday cards and Christmas cards, letters from pen pals. Now, bills have prepaid numbers and the […]
The stories behind our stamps Read Post »
It is an astonishing fact of modern media that a Facebook site set up by a guy opposing Double Down burgers one month could, the next, persuade 50,000 Kiwis to urge the banning, unread, of a soon-to-be-published book. That site has now been removed and the book is out, available at Whitcoulls and doubtless other
Chilling narrative of tragic family dysfunction Read Post »
This is the fourth volume in the bestselling “World According to Clarkson” series by Top Gear frontman Jeremy Clarkson. His columns are always full of strong opinions and a good dose of humorous observation about the absurdities of life and the awesomeness of horsepower and this collection is not going to disappoint. I’m a bit
Strong opinions won’t disappoint Read Post »
Author Caroline Paul has drawn on the real-life experience of having her moggy companion Tibula, also known as Tibby, go walkabout to produce a cute and quirky tale. Incidentally, Tibby’s feline sibling is named Fibby (short for Fibula), and it was while the author was recovering from breaking her own tibia and fibula in a
When the cat’s away … Read Post »
By now, most people will know the name Julie Powell, her efforts to work her way through Julia Child’s recipes having been immortalised on film in Julie & Julia. This time around Powell decided to try a new challenge. Because after all that French cooking we’d all be ready to face fresh challenges, right? Her
Carving up her goals Read Post »
Julie Powell wasn’t happy with her life. Living in a pokey New York apartment and simply getting on with the daily grind, the author felt like life was passing her by. Now, it’s probably safe to say many of us have felt like this at some stage in our lives. However, Powell’s solution was certainly
Cooking up a change Read Post »
We really do have a passion for Zephyrs and Zodiacs in New Zealand and I doubt there are many of us who haven’t either owned one or had parents who owned one (my dad and brother were both big fans of these classy machines). There are clubs honouring these cars all around the country and
A New Zealand passion Read Post »
We all know someone who seems to absorb weird and wonderful facts so here’s the perfect book for all the those sponges of knowledge. This latest Guinness offering is the book of the decade version, and includes new content and features that recognise the record-breaking achievements of the noughties. Apart from all the usual longest,
Best, worst and beyond Read Post »
We all love to hate a villain and Piers Morgan has presented American TV viewers with a prime example of lovable small-screen rogue. Morgan first appeared on international TV as part of one of those talent show programmes. I can’t remember which one, since there are so many of them, but it wasn’t Idol. That’s
Entertaining diary from lovable rogue Read Post »
Jeremy Clarkson is a bloke who is probably the envy of every other bloke out there (and a lot of bloke-esses, too, I would imagine): he gets to drive around in cool cars, demolish caravans and take part in ridiculous races that keep us entertained. And he gets paid for it. This book, which is
Fun read from the man with a dream job Read Post »
