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Book Review: More Six Feet Down Under by Chris Mann

Feb 112012

More Six Feet Down Under by Chris Mann, ISBN 978047316325, RRP$24.95, Available now. Ah, self publishing. I could write a whole post on the phenomenon… but it’s taken me a while to just get this post done, so one step at a time. There’s self-publishing and then there’s self-publishing. Chris Mann has now managed to produce two books in the former category. Er, that’s the good one. More Six Feet Down Under is a simple follow up to Six Feet Down Under (a book which I really enjoyed) and Mann uses the same formula to produce another interesting read. He writes reasonably well, he tells a good yarn and he knows a lot about an industry we all come in contact with in one way or another – that of death. Yes, Mann was a funeral director for many years and More Six Feet Down Under answers many of the [...read more...]

Book Review: Gangsta Granny by David Walliams

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Jan 292012

Book Review: Gangsta Granny by David Walliams

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams, Harper Collins, ISBN 9780007443888, RRP $24.99, Available now. I know there are plenty of people who don’t like David Walliams and don’t enjoy his comedy, but me? I love him. I love his big blousy lady dress-up, love his slightly creepy sexy-man schtick, love his selling out (well, he was in Dinner for Schmucks and he’s going to be on Britain’s Got Talent, for god sakes). And since I read The Boy in the Dress, I’ve also loved his writing for kids. Gangsta Granny is a proud addition to Walliams’ oeuvre (The Boy in the Dress, Billionaire Boy, Mr Stink), and like all the others is evocatively and hilariously illustrated by Tony Ross. Here’s a little taster of the story: After a few moments the front door opened slowly, and out stepped a figure dressed entirely in black … A black balaclava disguised the face, [...read more...]

My first Book Watch column for 2012

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Jan 192012

Originally published in the New Zealand Herald on Sunday, 15 January 2012. Reproduced here courtesy of the NZ Herald. Snuff By Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, $55) Long time readers of my blog know well my fondness for Sir Terry Pratchett, so it will come as no surprise that I loved Snuff. Pratchett returns us to the City Watch of Ankh Morpork, and more specifically to Commander Sam Vimes who is about to go on holiday. Vimes isn’t much good at holidays, however, so it’s just as well that crime seems to follow him, wherever he goes. Sam Vimes has become a complex, admirable and likeable character, and I’d venture to say one of the best in modern writing. Pratchett never disappoints. The Glass Harmonica – a sensualist’s tale By Dorothee E. Kocks (Rosa Mira, $11, ebook) Music, love, virtue, sex, desire – it all comes together in The Glass Harmonica, a [...read more...]

Book Review: Ruby Blues by Jessica Rudd

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Jan 012012

Ruby Blues by Jessica Rudd, Text Publishing, RRP $37, ISBN 9781921758560, Available now. Funny. Smart. Exhausting. Ruby Blues starts with a bang (ah-ha, pun) and keeps an incredible momentum. How did Jessica Rudd managed to write a story with this much pace and not go mad? Well, her Dad is an Aussie ex-PM (yes, that Rudd), I guess. My lovely Henchperson Rachel reviewed Campaign Ruby (the prior “Ruby” book) and found it oddly ambiguous (ridiculous plot, good book), so when I saw this title coming out I couldn’t resist trying this one myself. And, true to good Henchperson form, Rachel’s summing up of Campaign Ruby still applies here: ridiculous plot, good book. The plot is a total blast from go to whoa, literally hurtling from Canberra to Melbourne to New York, with several love interests, blackmail, political suicide, political resurrection, Twitter, childbirth and an intern character who is so “right now” it [...read more...]

2011: A Year in Books

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Dec 302011

My picks for the best books I’ve read this year (in order of “how I found the links on the site”): Snuff by Terry Pratchett and I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett: I’ll get these out of the way first. Read the reviews. ‘Nuff said. The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kaufman: So much whimsy in such a little, beautiful, wonderful book. The Fly Papers Book One: The Flytrap Snaps by Johanna Knox, Illustrated by Sabrina Malcolm: Great NZ writing for kids, with an original story and a sense of fun. Tupaia: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator by Joan Druett: Highly readable history combined with serious non-fiction and a load of research. La Rochelle’s Road by Tanya Moir: Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. NZ to its core with a fascinating story. The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan: Literature with blood and guts. Funny and immensely well-written. Help! How to Become Slightly [...read more...]

Book Review: 21st Century Dodos by Steve Stack

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Dec 232011

Book Review: 21st Century Dodos by Steve Stack

21st Century Dodos : A Collection of Endangered Objects (and Other Stuff) by Steve Stack, The Friday Project (Harper Collins NZ), RRP $26.99 or 99p as an ebook from Amazon.co.uk, ISBN 9781906321734, Available now. You may remember Steve Stack from such guest posts as Guest Post: Steve Stack on Copyright Pages, and uh… that’s it actually. So you know he’s funny. Because you read the post, right? Lucky little readers are us then, because the funny Mr Stack also writes books! And this is his newest endeavour… an endangered list for inanimate objects (and ideas). Of course, it’s much more than just a list, it’s a pleasant jaunt down memory lane. Particularly if you were a 70s or 80s child. Mix tapes? BASIC? Computer tapes? Teletext? Intermission? Cap guns? If any of these things mean anything to you, you’ll enjoy 21st Century Dodos’ journey with these stops and more along the way! [...read more...]

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