So, it seems someone at Amazon has finally moved their coffee cup off their “Kindle shipping map” and realised that underneath it lay the little old land of New Zealand. “Oh crap, you guys. We forgot New Zealand!” And, lo, they will now ship the new Kindle to New Zealand (on August 27th). 3G and Wifi. Remember when this news might have been exciting? Photo from Engadget.com
Ujala Sehgal at The Millions writes a fricken brilliant essay on The Search for Iago and references lots of books I love, including Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Fan-damn-tastic. Vanda Symon has a nice review of North Pole South Pole by Gillian Turner – sounds like a great non-fiction read. The Well Read Kitty has another review up for The Nile – and this sounds like an amazing read. The Vicbooks blog has a great post about the news that Hodder want to update Enid Blyton. And why did I not know about the Vicbooks website – it’s fantastic, people!
No, it doesn’t really. I was just trying to get your attention. Mean Bookie! So, the 2010 Man Booker Prize longlist of 13 titles has been announced and the … nominees… are (dundahdahDAH!): Peter Carey Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber) Emma Donoghue Room (Pan MacMillan – Picador) Helen Dunmore The Betrayal (Penguin – Fig Tree) Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Books) Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury) Andrea Levy The Long Song (Headline Publishing Group – Headline Review) Tom McCarthy C (Random House – Jonathan Cape) David Mitchell The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Hodder & Stoughton – Sceptre) Lisa Moore February (Random House – Chatto & Windus) Paul Murray Skippy Dies (Penguin – Hamish Hamilton) Rose Tremain Trespass (Random House – Chatto & Windus) Christos Tsiolkas The Slap (Grove Atlantic – Tuskar Rock) Alan Warner The Stars in the Bright [...read more...]
Cannibal Jack : The Life & Times of Jacky Marmon, a Pakeha-Maori by Trevor Bentley, Penguin, RRP$40, ISBN 9780143203827, Available now. Ah, Penguin. It’s a rollercoaster ride with you, isn’t it? So far this year I’ve loved a book, hated a book, and now back to love. And there’s all those odd goings-on with plagiarism and such. They’re like the Microsoft of New Zealand publishing. But, on to Cannibal Jack. What a great book! What a great story! What a great character! Jacky Marmon was a “Pakeha-Maori”, born in Sydney to Irish parents who first jumped ship around 1817 to live with Maori around Kerikeri River and other Ngapuhi hapu around the Bay of Islands. Eventually he ended up with Hongi Hika, survived the Musket Wars and settled in the Hokianga, much later becoming involved with Hone Heke. Cannibal Jack has a great narrative flow – based on two versions [...read more...]
Let’s face it, I spend a lot of time telling you about what I’m reading. Currently it’s Cannibal Jack by Trevor Bentley (great New Zealand nonfiction book BTW, just thought I’d slip that in there). So why don’t you tell me what you’re reading? I’d love to know! Are you enjoying it, hating it, loving it, or just blah? Are you reading a book, an e-book, blogs, newspapers, magazines, email - or just the latest junk mail that’s arrived in your letterbox? Please share!
Soulless, Changeless, Blameless… Meaningless. Aha! I slay me. Changeless and Soulless have bounced around the interwebs for a while so I thought I’d dive in and have a read – Changeless was the first title to become available for me at the library so, despite it being the second in the series, I took it. I’ve been told I really should have read Soulless and I will be when it becomes available. Anyway, actual book? A fun piece of fluffery. Frippery even. Don’t expect much (which I kind of made the mistake of doing), don’t expect writing that extends beyond exposition and you’ll be fine. Does that make me sound like a total po-faced killjoy? Because it reads like it does. Some of the supposed language tics annoyed the frick out of me, the plot was a little slow to begin with but improved immensely, I’m not one for cliffhanger endings, [...read more...]
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