I enjoy my daily perusals through the many MANY great blogs on the web (some to do with books, some not), and amongst them this morning I found this slightly older but still sparkly gem of a post from Editorial Anonymous (the comments are a mixture of hilarious and awesome also): http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/09/enough-for-love-of-mike.html Yes. Indeed.
Keeping in the New Zealand Book Month theme, a young adult fantasy novel from one of New Zealand’s greatest authors. Description: When twelve-year-old Garland Maddigan asks Timon and Eden where they have come from, she is overwhelmed by their answer: the future. In a post-apocalyptic time, Garland’s family’s traveling circus troop, Maddigan’s Fantasia, leaves the city of Solis once a year to perform and earn a living. However, this year Solis has given the Fantasia the crucial task of obtaining a new solar converter, the only power source in Solis, because the old one is failing. Misfortune finds the Fantasia in their travels, and Garland’s father dies in an attack by Road Rats. Then suddenly two mysterious boys, Timon and Eden, appear with their baby sister, claiming to be from the future — a world in which the Fantasia has failed in its mission and the evil Nennog has taken [...read more...]
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know I’m a bit resistant to the idea of e-books and digital book readers (see http://www.bookiemonster.co.nz/2009/06/digital-publishing/ and http://www.bookiemonster.co.nz/2009/06/digital-publishing-in-which-bookiemonster/ and http://www.bookiemonster.co.nz/2009/07/more-e-book-discussion-and-engadget-podcast-recommendation-from-bookiemonster/) and lately, I’ve had the chance to put my feelings to the test. I was lucky enough (love you J and B!) to acquire an Ipod Touch, and downloaded the free Stanza app, along with some free public domain titles (mostly classics, some Jane Austen, Grimms Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Anderson, Dickens so far), and so in this manner I’ve been reading *gasp* e-books. The Touch is admittedly smaller than some of the dedicated e-book readers (a la the Kindle, the Sony E-reader, etc) but I don’t have any major issues with the screen size, font readability, ”page” lighting so far. I like that I can get free public domain works to read that I probably wouldn’t otherwise simply because they are [...read more...]
With summer and warm weather on the way here are a few new book suggestions from BookieMonster: Summer is the best time to be out in the garden and then in the kitchen making the most of your fresh garden goodies! Purchase the New Kitchen Garden : Organic Gardening & Cooking for just $35.95 Are you planning some home renovations for summer months? Get the best guide to planning a new eco-friendly kitchen. Purchase Good Green Kitchens for just $47.95! Camping is a good Kiwi summer tradition, along with endless days of baked beans – try Blue Sky Kitchen for some inspiration and help with more food ideas with the Kiwi camper in mind! Purchase Blue Sky Kitchen for $18.95 Of course summer in New Zealand has more than its fair share of rain – and when you get sick of watching the same blockbuster movies you want to find [...read more...]
This week we are keeping many lost and lonely books warm and dry on your behalf – so have a look through our secondhand book listings and choose your new favourite best friend book. Vampires, pah! Zombies are where it’s at – did our review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies catch your eye? – it can be yours. It’s New Zealand Book Month – and I’ve been reading and reviewing and spotlighting New Zealand books to celebrate. If In My Father’s Den sounded like a New Zealand book you should read (and you should) you can purchase it this week. The second novel of the recently Booker Prize shortlisted author Sarah Waters was Affinity - and it was a BookieMonster Highly Recommended Read! You can buy this great Victorian mystery now. This is just a teeny-tiny selection of the many secondhand books we have on offer this week – and don’t [...read more...]
Description: Here is the life story of Dick Scott, arguable New Zealand’s foremost popular historian and certainly among this country’s leading writers. The book focuses on Scott’s career as a historian and writer. Retracing his early life in Manawatu, his role in the Communist party and the 1951 Waterfront dispute, and his many later political and literary endeavours. Scott reveals information about seminal events and figures that has never before been published. His telling of his own “Parihaka Story” is fascinating, as are his portraits of legendary figures, from Jock Barnes to Tony Fomison. The book is illlustrated throughout with historical photos and illustrations. Born in Palmerston North in 1923, Dick Scott was a sharemilker and journalist before becoming a publisher and writer. Now in his eighties, he continues to produce outstanding prose based on rigorous research of the standard that gained an ONZM award and made books like 151 Days [...read more...]