Boxer Billy Graham has paired up with journalist Phil Gifford to produce a guide for parents of teenage boys. It will be available in bookstores next month. Graham says he would have been born on the wrong side of the tracks in Naenae “but my mates had already stolen them.” His book is said to give […]
New book on turning around lives Read Post »
Author/illustrator Ronald Searle is perhaps best known for being the creator of fictional boarding school St Trinian’s and co-creator of the Molesworth series, along with Geoffrey Willans. However, in this latest book the subject matter is much more personal. On New Year’s Eve 1969, Searle’s wife Monica was diagnosed with a rare and virulent form
■ REVIEW: Les Tres Riches Heures de Mrs Mole
A story of hope Read Post »
For those of us who do not live there, it’s hard to imagine the fear and uncertainty that has swamped Canterbury since the quakes. On September 4, 2010, I was at home when the first biggie struck: before heading off to bed I checked the GeoNet website and saw it was a 7.1 in Canterbury.
■ REVIEW: Shaken, Not Stirred: Family Survival in a Quake Zone
Humour tinges sad story Read Post »
Scholar, critic, writer and activist Betty Gilderdale has her memoir (My Life in Two Halves) coming out next month. She became a household name for her Little Yellow Digger books, which have sold more than 350,000 copies, and was also The New Zealand Herald’s children’s book reviewer for 25 years, a lecturer in English at Colleges of Education
Jay Handler has what appears to be a perfect life, with a beautiful wife and children and a successful career. During a romantic dinner with his wife to mark their anniversary, a phone call comes that changes everything: “Something terrible has happened”. That something terrible is the suicide of his nephew Evan, a troubled young
■ REVIEW: Killing Hour
‘Something terrible has happened’ Read Post »
If you could go back in time, would you? If you could change history, fixing what appears to be an incredible wrong, would you? More to the point, should you? English teacher Jake Epping, from the little town of Lisbon Falls, is – like so many of King’s main characters – a decent but complicated
■ REVIEW: 11.22.63
Time-travel romance burrows in Read Post »
On June 20, 1994, David Bain called emergency services to report finding his entire family dead. His parents Robin and Margaret, sisters Arawa and Laniet and brother Stephen had all been shot in their Dunedin home and at first, there was an outpouring of sympathy for the young man who had come home from his
■ REVIEW: Trial by Ambush: The Trials of David Bain
System failings the issue now Read Post »
Dogs have been getting some bad press lately, with a few wayward canines making headlines for all the wrong reasons. However, as the author of this beautiful book points out, the companionship of a dog is the oldest of all human/non-human bonds. I grew up in a home full of kids and pets and the
■ REVIEW: Dogs Make Us Human
Celebrating the bond between man and dog Read Post »
Mike Wingate and his family are thrown into mortal danger when a crippled stranger approaches him at a party and utters the words: “I know you, don’t I?” Those five simple words become threats, which then become attacks that make it clear Mike and his family aren’t safe anywhere. Not even in their own home.
■ REVIEW: You're Next
Thriller blends engrossing with unsettling Read Post »
The fourth novel to feature the haunted and brilliant forensic anthropologist, David Hunter, features a prologue set in the past, when his wife and child were still alive but unfortunately, The Calling of the Grave is probably the weakest of the series. Dr Hunter is asked by police to attend an exhumation on Dartmoor. The
■ REVIEW: The Calling of the Grave
Weakest in the series but still a good read Read Post »
