Publishing giant Harper Collins is marking its 200th anniversary. The company yesterday announced a worldwide campaign to celebrate two centuries of publishing, with a website hc.com/200 showcasing HarperCollins’ history and influence on readers of all ages, preferences and nationalities as the centrepiece of those celebrations. HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray says the publisher’s goal is unchanged from what […]
Happy birthday HarperCollins Read Post »
DI Logan McRae has a lot on his plate. His girlfriend is lying in hospital, he is living in a caravan park because his flat has blown up, a local criminal godfather type is wanting his help and, to top it all off, there seems to be a psycho murderer on the loose. A bestselling
■ REVIEW: Close to the Bone
Offbeat mix of styles but a sound read Read Post »
The Dorothy that landed in Oz and met the Scarecrow, The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion must be killed. But why would anyone want to kill Dorothy? She’s good right? Well, no, she’s not. At least not in the world that Danielle Paige has created. Turning what we know as Oz on its head,
■ REVIEW: Dorothy Must Die
Brutality enjoyed in Oz re-imagining Read Post »
Addison Goodheart lives below the city, out of sight of people whose first impulse if they see his face is to try to commit violence. Addison reads, and lives quietly, and goes up into the city at night, when the world is quiet. He’s in the library one night – reading being a pleasure he
■ REVIEW: Innocence
A bit saggy but still a good read Read Post »
Scottish author Stuart MacBride has delivered yet another gritty, gruesome and somewhat uncomfortable murder mystery in A Song for the Dying. Detective Inspector Ash Henderson was on the trail of a brutal killer dubbed “the Inside Man”, who abducted and killed four women, and left a further three in critical condition with their stomachs slit
■ REVIEW: A Song for the Dying
Gory, dark but compelling Read Post »
The premise for The Secret Life of James Cook sounds a bit naff. A fictionalised account of the famous navigator’s early life up to his first circumnavigation, based on letters to his patient wife . . . who actually destroyed the letters so no one ever knew the contents. Graeme Lay has recreated Cook’s life,
■ REVIEW: The Secret Life of James Cook
Imagination fills gaps in story of James Cook Read Post »
Dana is a princess in the hidden Kingdom of the Rose, a sheltered, magical land that allows no war or disease to penetrate its borders. Protected by the Guardian – always a woman of the royal family who pays a terrible price – the kingdom is eternally at peace. However, Dana is special. Not just
■ REVIEW: A Necklace of Souls
Good pace in author’s first novel Read Post »
Have you ever wondered what life in France is really like? Is it all garlic and fabulousness? Berets and croissants? What do they do with bidets? Do they really eat horses? In this quirky little book, Piu Marie Eatwell reveals the truth behinds 45 myths about France and its citizens. The author lived in France
■ REVIEW: The Eat Horses Don’t They?
French idioms … and bidets Read Post »
Comedian David Walliams continues to show just what a talent he is in the world of children’s literature with his latest offering, Awful Auntie. We hear so much about the young-adult fiction genre these days, on the back of the likes of Suzanne Collins (the Hunger Games trilogy) and Patrick Ness (the Chaos Walking trilogy),
■ REVIEW: Awful Auntie
The good, the bad, and the fun Read Post »
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 again”. Tatiana has been so badly behaved as a teenager and young adult that her beloved father has more or less
■ REVIEW: The Inheritance
A romping good read Read Post »
