Three Short Book Reviews – History, Loudmouths and More History

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Dec 072011
 
Three Short Book Reviews - History, Loudmouths and More History

Three books that have passed over my desk recently and I have passed my eyes over recently… with varying results. People, People, People : A Brief History of New Zealand by Stevan Eldred-Grigg, Bateman Publishing, RRP $24.99, ISBN 9781869538132, Available now. A short and well-produced history of New Zealand, the best part of People, People, People is by far the excellent selection of illustrations, paintings, and photos. The text is aimed at younger students or international students but I’m not sure how well the book will fare in that sector, considering the fairly obvious political bias at work (not surprising with Eldred-Grigg – you get what you get). Does what it says on the cover and does it well. The Two of Me by John Dybvig, Hurricane Press, RRP $29.99, ISBN 9780986468445, Available now. Both publisher and author clearly know the public’s opinion of the subject of The Two of [...read more...]

Book Review: Snuff by Terry Pratchett

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Nov 292011
 
Book Review: Snuff by Terry Pratchett

Snuff by Terry Pratchett, Doubleday, RRP $55, ISBN 9780385619264, Available now.  Every new Discworld book is a cause for rejoicing. When I am old and infirm I will read nothing but Discworld, or possibly listen to them depending on the state of my health. Snuff is the 39th Discworld novel (yes, you read that right, 39th) and it returns us once again to Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh Morpork City Watch. Sam is out of his element in Snuff, however, because he’s on holiday. But this is Sam Vimes, people. And Sam Vimes does not do holidays. Strange things are afoot in the countryside, and I’m not just talking about the locals or the turkeys. And if there’s one thing that Vimes does well, it’s chase crime and bring criminals to justice. Unseen Academicals introduced us to the Discworld version of orcs and Pratchett continues that in Snuff, featuring goblins [...read more...]

Book Review: Privatising Parts by Richard Meros

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Nov 282011
 
Book Review: Privatising Parts by Richard Meros

Privatising Parts by Richard Meros, Lawrence and Gibson, ISBN 978-0-473-18475-9, RRP $20.00, Available now. Privatising Parts is slim volume of that rare beast, local political satire. New Zealand politics is often overshadowed by the more theatrical-style of United States, but as Meros adroitly proves, the home-grown version can be just as absurdist as anything imported. Meros isn’t as bombastic as Jon Stewart on The Daily Show; the send-up of contemporary politics is more effective for it. It’s themed around the Clark government and the perils – or otherwise – of privatisation. This is an incredibly pertinent topic. For those of you who live outside of New Zealand or in New Zealand and under a rock (or hey , under a rock outside of New Zealand; I’m not here to judge you), the centre-right National Government just won a second term in power, beating out the centre-left Labour party. National has [...read more...]

Book review: The Glass Harmonica – a sensualist’s tale by Dorothee E. Kocks

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Nov 232011
 
Book review: The Glass Harmonica - a sensualist's tale by Dorothee E. Kocks

The Glass Harmonica – a sensualist’s tale by Dorothee E. Kocks, Rosa Mira, ISBN 9780986469411, RRP$11 (ebook only), Available as an ebook and Print on Demand. There’s something very wonderful about being a luddite e-book reader (i.e. I don’t have an ebook reader, so I don’t read ebooks) and finding out that you can now read ebooks in this wonderful new format – paperback! And thank goodness, because otherwise I would have missed out on this wonderful tale from Dorothee E. Kocks and Rosa Mira books, a tale that takes its reader from Europe to America, from music to movies, from sin to sensuality. Our heroine in The Glass Harmonica is Chjara Valle: intelligent, feisty, sexy – a very fun heroine, in other words! We meet Chjara as a teenager on Corsica and within the first six pages she’s lost her virginity to the local lovely lad (rather awesome) which [...read more...]

Book Review – Slightly Peculiar Love Stories

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Nov 222011
 
Book Review - Slightly Peculiar Love Stories

  Slightly Peculiar Love Stories, Rosa Mira ebooks, RRP $10.00US, ISBN 9780986469428, Available now. We all know how love stories work. It’s a tale as old as time and just about every love story follows the same broad formula: the couple meets; some obstacle comes between them and/or drives them apart but in the end, love prevails. Slightly Peculiar Love Stories plays with and subverts that idea. Slightly Peculiar Love Stories ties the once-upon-a-time through happily-ever-after narrative arc in knots. Instead, characters love, lose, fail to love, love too much or in odd ways. Slightly Peculiar Love Stories packs in 28 stories – a lovely size for a collection. The authors are drawn from New Zealand, and around the world. A couple of the stories had that noticeably “translated” feel to the writing, but  I enjoyed the added texture that gave the stories (internet book reviewers are a funny lot [...read more...]

Book Reviews – Three Picture Books for the Little Kids (and Big Kids)

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Nov 152011
 
Book Reviews - Three Picture Books for the Little Kids (and Big Kids)

BookieMonster reviews three great New Zealand picture books for little kids – The House That Went to Sea, Beach Bag Boogie and Christmas in the Bush.

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