New Zealand/Aotearoa Recent Picks

November 2007

Click on the underlined title links to check the item's availability in our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.

Island of the Lost : A Harrowing True Story of Shipwreck, Death and Survival on a Godforsaken Island at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett.
"Hundreds of miles from civilisation, two ships wreck on opposite ends of the same deserted island . . . a harrowing true story of man at his best - and at his worst - and a gripping cautionary tale about leadership, endurance, and the fine line between order and chaos.
In January 1864, five seamen from the wrecked schooner Grafton are stranded on an isolated speck of land some 300 miles south of New Zealand. Battling ferocious winds, relentless freezing rain and an impenetrable coastal forest, their chances of survival are slim. But under the leadership of Captain Thomas Musgrave, they miraculously cling to life for nearly two years before building a vessel and setting off on one of the most courageous sea voyages ever. Meanwhile, in May 1864, on the same island but twenty miles of impassable cliffs and chasms away, another ship is wrecked and nineteen men struggle ashore. This crew, however, succumbs to utter anarchy and only three remain to be rescued a year later. Using the survivors' journals, Joan Druett tells a gripping tale about leadership, endurance, and the fine line between order and chaos. 'Those yearning for a classic man vs. nature, triumph-over-terrible-odds story, get ready to set sail.' Paste, US' swashbuckling maritime history.' Kirkus Reviews 'One of the finest survival stories I've read.' Seattle Times.” (Synopsis/Review, Global Books In Print)

Makereti : Taking Maori To The World by Paul Diamond.
"This is a biography of one of New Zealand's first international media celebrities, Makereti (1873 - 1930). The daughter of a Maori mother and a Pakeha father, Makereti was brought up by her Maori extended family until she was sent to boarding school. She became well-known (as Guide Maggie or Maggie Papakura) throughout New Zealand and overseas as a guide at Whakarewarewa, particularly after the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York in 1901. She led visits of Maori concert parties (complete with carved villages and waka) to Australia and England, but dropped out of the public view after marrying for a second time in 1912 and moving to Oxfordshire. Following her divorce in 1924, Makereti enrolled as a student at the University of Oxford and died just before her thesis about traditional Maori life was due to be examined. While her remarkable story has intrigued many people, it is not well recorded. This book - a pictorial record of her life together with a series of essays - will help to rectify this situation." (Synopsis, Global Books In Print)

Piano in the parlour : when the piano was New Zealand's home entertainment centre by John Macgibbon.
"Huge numbers of pianos were in front parlours through Victorian and Edwardian times and into the 1920s. Central to home and community entertainment, they also stoked the flames of love for courting couples. Piano in the Parlour is a musical and social history that looks affectionately at a period when pianos were the most cherished domestic possessions in New Zealand and many other countries. Brought to life by contemporary real-life stories and graphics, Piano in the Parlour recreates a century of home musical culture between the 1820s and 1920s. Who played and sang? What did they play; where and how did they perform? Who looked after them: the music publishers at home and abroad, entrepreneurs and companies including Charles Begg & Co, the Dresden Piano Co and Auckland's Eady stores that serviced and sold pianos, and the old-time piano teachers. Pioneers would go to extreme lengths and spend a fortune to put a piano in their homes, as shown in the Academy Award winning film, The Piano. That was fiction, but similar real-life stories are in this book. Piano in the Parlour also looks at how and why piano culture declined in the 20th century. Words and music (with chord symbols) are included for 17 songs commonly played and sung in the piano's heyday: Rule Britannia!, Auld Lang Syne, Home! Sweet Home, Annie Laurie, Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep, Come Home Father, Beautiful Dreamer, I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen, When You and I Were Young Maggie, On the Ball, Love's Old Sweet Song, The Holy City, Waiting at the Church, Keep the Home Fires Burning, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Love's Garden of Roses, Hine e Hine. Though Piano in the Parlour is set mainly in New Zealand, the piano culture was similar elsewhere in the English-speaking world." (Synopsis, Ngaio Press)

Beyond biculturalism : the politics of an indigenous minority by Dominic O'Sullivan.
"This book is a critical analysis of New Zealand's indigenous Maori public policy. O'Sullivan argues that biculturalism inevitably makes Maori the junior partner in a colonial relationship that obstructs aspirations to self-determination. The political situation of Maori is compared to that of Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians." (Synposis, Global Books In Print)

Jade Taniwha : Maori-Chinese Identity and Schooling in Aotearoa by Jenny Bol Jun Lee.
"The book is an insightful and often deeply personal account of Māori-Chinese identity in Aotearoa New Zealand. At the heart of the work are the accounts of four Māori-Chinese New Zealanders, recollecting experiences of identity through the lens of schooling.
Author Jenny Bol Jun Lee shows that the identity of this unique cultural group is the result of a fascinating history on the margins of mainstream New Zealand society, one often intersected by racism, exclusion and colonialism. Lee reveals that Māori-Chinese draw strength from their different traditions, taking pride in their unique identity while moving between the different worlds of Chinese, Māori and 'mainstream' New Zealand.
Jade Taniwha provides a detailed historical and sociological context for the emergence of Māori-Chinese in New Zealand, concentrating on the role that schooling has played in the formation of Māori-Chinese identity. Jenny Bol Jun Lee shows how racism in New Zealand's schools has impacted members of this community. The book will provide both scholars and readers with an understanding of Māori-Chinese people in New Zealand." (Synopsis, Rautaki Ltd)

Last line of defence : New Zealanders remember the war at home edited by Megan Hutching.
"In the dark days of the Second World War after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, New Zealand stood vulnerable and exposed before numbers in the home Army, Navy and Air Force were built up, and women joined as WAACs and Wrens and WAAFs. Together they guarded New Zealand on land and sea: some tracked approaching aircraft, some monitored signals, some maintained essential equipment. They were stationed from the far north to the deep south, and together they were our Last Line of Defence. As well as the armed forces, men served in the Home Guard and women in the Women's War Service Auxiliary or Women's Land Service. Some people were held in detention camps because of their conscientious objection to the war. Whether it was carrying out top-secret radar work, making sure that the kitchens at Trentham Army camp were kept supplied, or running the first aid station at Papakura camp, the men and women in this book give us an insight into the vital backroom tasks so necessary in wartime. These moving and evocative stories of a nation at war complete the groundbreaking seven-volume Oral History series which began with A UNIQUE SORT OF BATTLE: NEW ZEALANDERS REMEMBER CRETE and which is destined to become a significant part of our cultural record." (Synopsis, Global Books In Print)

She'll be right : country women battling the odds by Rachel Goodchild.
"This book is a series of profiles of outstanding New Zealand women of the land. There are around 20 of them. In the past few decades there's been a social revolution on New Zealand farms as farming women throw off their traditional roles as cooks, wives and domestic providers, and join the men in working on the land. Author Rachel Goodchild even goes so far as to suggest that today's rural living has ignited the pioneer spirit among rural women. As she says, 'forget about the scones fresh from the oven." (Synopsis, Global Books In Print)

Life among the Larrikins by Terry Sheehan.
"Legendary Kiwi ratbags and hard-bitten bright sparks infest all the stories in this genuinely funny book ... extraordinary practical jokes which were really and truly perpetrated.
Just an instance. Terry Sheehan made himself the King of Devonport, establishing border controls, raking in money for good causes and amusing thousands of people. He himself is a Grade A Larrikin from the worlds of advertising, PR, rugby and yachting.
The tricks and jokes he describes in horrid detail expose a scandalous period in recent New Zealand history when people actually enjoyed themselves and fell about laughing." (Synopsis, Cape Catley Ltd)

The cookbook tour : a NZ tour story (and collected recipes) by Flip Grater.
"In 2006 singer-songwriter Flip Grater went on an epic tour of New Zealand to promote her debut album Cage For A Song. Traveling the length and breadth of the country in her trusty 1988 Lada Stationwagon, she sang for her supper in small towns and big cities, blagging accommodation, food and most importantly recipes along the way. With a cast of unusual characters, this book is the ultimate cookbook/tour diary, and a snapshot of Kiwi subculture punctuated by 48 delicious recipes." (Synopsis, www.thecookbooktour.com)

Previous New Zealand Recent picks edition

Check your card I New fiction, DVD and cd lists I How to place a reserve I Borrowing I Contact us