November 2010

Book Launch: Tuesday 9th November, 5.30pm, Stout Research Centre, Wai-te-Ata Road, Kelburn Campus.

The Treaty of Waitangi Companion edited by Vincent O'Malley, Bruce Sterling & Wally Penetito $49.99 Auckland University Press

An invaluable book for readers who want to go directly to the heart of New Zealand history, the Companion draws on personal correspondence, published articles and literature along with paintings and cartoons, to capture the diversity of opinion about the signing of the Treaty and its relevance today. Buy now

Book Launch: Wednesday 10th November, 6.30pm, Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus.

No Ordinary Deal: Unmasking Free Trade & the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement edited by Jane Kelsey $39.99 Bridget Williams Books

The essays in this book dissect the implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement between NZ, Australia, Chile, Peru, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States. Kelsey and her fellow contributors contend that despite the agreement being touted as a free trade deal which will open the US market to dairy exports from New Zealand, it is in fact much more likely to impose restrictions on domestic legislation, particularly with regard to food and drug regulation and intellectual property law. Buy now

New Zealand Book Council presents: Lloyd Jones in conversation with Lynn Freeman, 6.00pm, 11th November, Caffe L'affare, 27 College St, Te Aro, Wellington.

A rare opportunity to hear Lloyd Jones discuss his writing, and to celebrate the release of his novel Hand Me Down World at his only public appearance in Wellington. Time for questions and an opportunity to get your copy personally signed will follow the talk. Tickets available from Wellington Central Library or on the door on the night.

For information please contact the Book Council: Phone: +64 4 499 1569; Fax: +64 4 499 1424, or Email: admin@bookcouncil.org.nz.

Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones

$40.00 PB Penguin (above) Buy now OR $55.00 HB Text (right) Buy nowA woman washes ashore in Sicily, having barely survived an illegal passage from North Africa. She is searching for her son, stolen by his father only a few days after his birth. With no money and no friends, she must rely on strangers to survive. Initially the woman is an enigma, but her tenacity, pragmatism and single-minded determination gradually emerge from the impressions recorded by those she encounters as she makes her way to Berlin.

Just My Type by Simon Garfield $35.00 Profile Books

If you want to know the story behind the Fonts of the Baskervilles, Ikea's unpopular decision to use Verdana for their branding, or the relative evils of Papyrus and Comic Sans, this is the book for you. Containing many interesting anecdotes on the history and politics of typographical design, this is bound to influence the way you read the written word. Buy now

The Legacy by David Suzuki $32.99 HB Allen & Unwin

Suzuki draws upon events he has witnessed and evidence uncovered during his lifetime to make a case for putting the natural world above economic concerns - and to warn that unfettered growth is dangerous not only because it leads to resource scarcity and poor ecological outcomes but also because it has the potential to undermine social progress and equality. Buy now

Still Life: Inside the Antarctic Huts of Scott & Shackleton by Jane Ussher & Nigel Watson $89.99 HB Murdoch Books

Since their abandonment at the end of the last great wave of exploration, the huts which Shackleton and Scott used as bases for their polar expeditions have been preserved almost intact, due to the extreme cold and isolation of their locations. Ussher was invited to make a visual record of the sites by the Antarctic Heritage Trust, and this stunning book is the result. Buy now

The Oxford Dictionary of New Zealandisms edited by Tony Deverson $39.99 Oxford University Press

Drawing on a wide range of contexts within New Zealand life, this book collects 6,500 examples of New Zealand words and usages. Edited by Tony Deverson, from Victoria University's NZ Dictionary Centre, this is essential for people interested in the development of language and culture. Buy now

By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham $34.99 Fourth Estate

Peter's life is turned upside-down after he opens the door to the shower, thinking he has seen his wife Rebecca is inside, only to discover it is actually Mizzy, her much younger brother - and he feels both disturbed and intrigued by their subsequent mutual attraction. Buy now

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas $28.99 Allen & Unwin

A man at a barbeque slaps someone else's child, with immense repercussions for all thosewho witnessed the incident. Forced to examine their own values, beliefs and behaviour, they all fall short of their own standards. Buy now

Sunset Park by Paul Auster $39.99 Faber & Faber

28-year-old Miles is in Florida, taking photos of houses abandoned due to foreclosure, and hiding from the guilt he feels about having caused the death of his brother. But when the family of the teenage girl he is seeing threaten to reveal their relationship, he heads back to Brooklyn to face his father. Buy now

The Great House by Nicole Krauss $40.00 Viking

A many-drawered desk, and its various owners (legitimate or otherwise) comes to stand for the idea of inheritance, whether physical, spiritual or intellectual. A novelist, a poet, his possible daughter, an antiques dealer, a man and his dying wife are all tenuously connected in the material world, but more so in the world of dreams and emotions. Buy now

Ape House by Sara Gruen $39.99 Allen & Unwin

Isabel feels much more at home with the American Sign Language-fluent Bonobos she works with at the Great Ape Language Lab than she does among her fellow humans, who she just doesn't understand. An explosion tears the lab apart and the apes are "liberated" only to resurface on a reality TV show which becomes a sensation. They sign for Isabel to rescue them, and the only way she'll be able do that is by connecting with the very-married reporter who was filing a report about the lab at the time. Buy now

2011 Calendars & Diaries  available!

We have a variety of different styles and sizes of Calendars and Diaries for 2011, and a range of undated journals - get started on your planning for next year now!