New Zealand/Aotearoa Recent Picks

August 2004

Click on the underlined title links to check the item's availability in our catalogue.

	The New Zealand period house : a restoration guide Stuart Arden & Ian Bowman. (2004) "Most New Zealanders still live in timber or masonry detached houses on sections of land that have a frontage to the street, and a back yard. This basic model has traditionally allowed relatively simple additions and alterations to suit any changes in lifestyle. However the idea of heritage has grown over the years - that old house in disrepair is now appreciated and valued by our society. Home owners considering altering and upgrading their houses now try to retain heritage value while still allowing modern standards of living. This book looks at the restoration of the New Zealand house up to and including the 1960s." (RandomHouse)
	Letters from the Bay of Islands : the story of Marianne Williams edited by Caroline Fitzgerald ; foreword by Waiohau Te Haara. (2004) "In 1822, nearly twenty years before the Treaty of Waitangi imposed British control over Maori land, Marianne Williams, her husband, Henry, a missionary, and their three young children, left England bound for the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. A year later they arrived at a remote one-house settlement, where, under the watchful eye of the local Maori chief, they remained for the next thirty years. Marianne's closest shop was over a thousand miles away and their nearest western 'neighbours' so far away that an expedition to see them was usually mounted only once every two or three years. Letters to her family in England were her only contact with the world outside New Zealand." (Amazon)
	Whanau II by Witi Ihimaera. (2004) "First published in 1974, Whanau was Witi Ihimaera's second novel. Thirty years on, Ihimaera presents Whanau II - a courageous and unusual work: Witi has completely revised his original novel, presenting the work from his perspective as a mature writer. This revised edition gains the mature Ihimaera's stylistic refinements and political awareness yet retains all the aroha and anger that powered the 1974 novel. In an author's note, Ihimaera explains this unusual process of revisiting an earlier work and building on it, weaving in threads to strengthen and enrich the fabric of this wonderful novel." (Reed)
	Portraits by Jane Ussher. (2004) "Jane Ussher has worked for the New Zealand Listener for the last twenty-five years and has become known for her sensitive portraits of a wide range of people. She has an outstanding ability to catch people being themselves - she has said that if she is lucky she manages to take a photo at the instant the subject has forgotten that he or she is in front of the camera. Few New Zealand personalities have not been recorded on film by Jane. Portraits include: Edmund Hillary; Bic Runga; Janet Frame; Judy Bailey; Colin Meads; Nikki Caro; David Lange; Jonah Lomu; Michelle Boag; Dave Dobbyn; Michael Fowler; Paul Reeves; and King Kapisi." (RandomHouse)
	Hip hop music in Aotearoa by Gareth Shute. (2004) "Gareth Shute talks to the big names in New Zealand hip hop in this history of what has become one of the biggest and most popular cultural movements in modern New Zealand. The first book to examine New Zealand's hip hop scene, Hip Hop Music in Aotearoa looks at the music's evolution, from its early roots with Upper Hutt Posse, through to MC OJ & Rhythm Slave and 3 The Hard Way in the early 1990s and Che Fu, King Kapisi, Scribe and Nesian Mystik in the present day. The book features interviews with these and other prominent musicians and discusses the journey New Zealand hip hop has taken to become the mainstream, popular art form it is today. Illustrated with stylish black and white photos, many of which have never been published before, this is a book all hip hop fans will want to own." (Reed)

The making of New Zealand cricket, 1832-1914 by Greg Ryan, foreword by Glenn Turner. (2004)
"It is generally forgotten that cricket rather than rugby union was the national game in New Zealand until the early years of the 20th century. This book shows how and why cricket developed in New Zealand and its character changed across time. Greg Ryan examines the emergence and growth of cricket in relation to diverse patterns of European settlement in New Zealand - such as the systematic colonisation schemes and Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the gold discoveries of the 1860s. A central theme is cricketing relations with England at a time that New Zealand Society was becoming acutely conscious of Empire." (Cover)

The Waitangi Tribunal and New Zealand history by Giselle Byrnes. (2004)
"The Waitangi Tribunal and New Zealand History critically consider the work of the Tribunal, not only in terms of how Maori and Pakeha perceive its procedure and efficacy, but also in the context of New Zealand in general.
The book argues that the published Tribunal reports are taking the writing of New Zealand history in new directions by challenging the legitimacy and legacy of colonisation, from within the limitations of a highly adversarial legal environment. The writer suggests that the Tribunal history is a worthy but ultimately flawed experiment." (Book cover)

Stand up & shout! : Kiwi success unplugged by Alastair Ferguson. (2003)
"How well do Kiwis celebrate success? How do you overcome challenges and adversity? In this collection of interviews with successful other enlightened questions. Some of the answers are surprising as men and women from all walks of life openly share their experiences and insights, their wit and wisdom." (Cover)

The House : New Zealand's House of Representatives, 1854-2004 by John E. Martin. (2004)
"This history tells us much about the changing relationship between the people of New Zealand and its political institutions. Parliamentary government would provide a fascinating story as New Zealand's representative institutions evolved. This history of the House of Representatives provides an account of the institution and its practices, and the ferment and drama of politics as they were played out against the backdrop of the House in session. The radical changes of the last two decades with the adoption of MMP are covered in depth; they represent a fundamental shift in the balance of executive Government and Parliament that is central to the theme of this book." (Book jacket)

Capital thirst : Wellington's soft drink industry 1843-1988 by Peter Fisher. (2004)
"Wellington occupies a special place in the history of aerated water bottles in New Zealand. As one of the early colonial settlements it was not long before the first aerated water manufacturers appeared and started using their own embossed bottles. Edward Dixon and Thomas Cooper set the foundations in the 1850s for a series of companies that lasted more than fifty years. This book is more than a reference guide of local bottles used over a 100 year period. It details the stories about the companies and the people behind the embossings; a chapter in the social history of Wellington." (Bernard Orsman-
Forward)

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