April 2011

Museums and Maori: Heritage Professionals, Indigenous Collections, Current Practice by Conal McCarthy $69.99 Te Papa Press
Over the last thirty years, international museums have been grappling with the question of how to reconcile the sometimes conflicting demands of visitors and researchers at their institutions with the concept of guardianship now implicit when indigenous "artifacts" are concerned. Repatriation of human remains, negotiation over the exhibiting of dubiously acquired items and cultural expectations regarding the care of taonga are discussed in terms of both policy and practice. Buy now** This book will be available in April, but a party to launch it is planned for May. Watch this space for more details** 

Last of the Human Freedoms by Keren Chiaroni $39.99 HarperCollins
When Kiwi airman John Sanderson was shot down over France in 1944, Yvette and Emile Patris gave him shelter. But the doctor called in to treat his injuries reported them to the Gestapo, ultimately resulting in Emile's death at Dachau. However, both Yvette and John survived the war, and have corresponded ever since. This book tells their stories, and considers the question of what it means to be human when your liberty is taken away. Buy now

Outspoken: Coming Out in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand by Liz Lightfoot $40.00 Otago University Press
This book documents the experiences of eleven people who have come out as gay or lesbian in the Anglican Church, including two ordained church members. Lightfoot comments that "People's lives are sacred ground and the area of sexuality is one where people are arguably at their most vulnerable". The contributors chose to remain anonymous, suggesting the "don't-ask-don't-tell" culture is still alive. Buy now

Western Line by Airini Beautrais rrp $28.00
vicbooks price $25.00 Victoria University Press
The follow up to Secret Heart, which earned Beautrais the New Zealand Society of Authors Best First Book of Poetry Award in 2007. Split into three sequences, a lyric interlude and four long poems, this collection is a journey through form and memory. Buy now

The Leaf Ride by Dinah Hawken rrp $30.00 vicbooks price $27.00
Victoria University Press
Contemplation, observation and meditation take their turns as the modes of being evoked in this collection. It's not all peace and flowers though - horror, violence, power and joy also play their parts in Hawken's sixth book. Buy now

Mini Modern Classics Box Set by Various Authors $300.00 Penguin Books
Fifty books by modern masters in one great collection. A fantastic present for graduation or another special occasion.  Buy now Also available as individual volumes, $7.00 each.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimée Bender $36.99 Windmill
On her ninth birthday Rose bites into her mother's lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she is able to taste her mother's emotions - and they are despair and desperation. From that moment, eating becomes a minefield - she can sense too much about the people she cares for. But as she grows up she realises that some secrets cannot be tasted. Buy now

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult $39.99 Allen & Unwin (with limited editon CD)
Zoe and Max have been trying to have a baby for years, but when Zoe is finally seven months pregnant, a tragic turn of events ends both the pregnancy and their marriage. Devastated, Max turns to drink and Zoe immerses herself in her work as a music therapist. This brings her into contact with Vanessa, and a work relationship which surprises her by blossoming into love. Still anxious to raise a family, she seeks Max's permission to use one of their stored embryos. But Max has found his own form of new life - in an evangelical church which is violently opposed to the "homosexual agenda" it sees as endangering traditional family values. Buy now

Censoring: An Iranian Love Story by Shahriar Mandanipour $29.99 Abacus
Sara and Dara's love story is told via secret messages and codes within the pages of banned books. This novel reveals the pressures of writing and publishing within the prescribed boundaries set by the Islamic regime, but also taps into and illuminates the rich literary heritage of Iran. A charming and sometimes cheeky love-letter to the world of words, the book affirms the importance of romance and literature. Buy now

The Pale King by David Foster Wallace $50.00 HB
Hamish Hamilton
His final novel, unfinished at the time of his death. In it, IRS trainee David Foster Wallace begins to suspect his bosses are even less human than their public face would suggest. Buy now

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell $29.99 Headline
Lexie Sinclair runs away to become part of the 1950's Soho art scene with her friend Innes Kent. In the present day, painter Elina and her partner Ted struggle with the challenges of parenthood. O'Farrell's deftly written drama highlights the connections between different generations, memory and children's and adult's conflicting needs and experiences of events. Buy now

Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson $29.99 Black Swan
The fourth in Atkinson's loosely connected "Jackson Brodie" novels, this book features security chief Tracy Waterhouse, who accidentally swaps a life of agreeable tedium for one of constant danger and fear. Forming a third side to this uneven triangle is elderly actress Tilly, as the three try to forget the wrong turns of their pasts and predict the bumps in the road to the future. Buy now

The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons $39.99 Sceptre
Elise Landau arrives at the great house of Tyneford in 1938 knowing nothing about England or the duties of a parlour-maid except that they are nothing like her previous life in Vienna. She tries to cling to her former self by wearing her mother's pearls under her uniform, and causes scandal by dancing with a boy called Kit, but the war is coming and eventually Elsie must face the fact that the world is changing irrevocably.
By the author of Mr Rosenblum's List, this novel takes another canny look at Englishness from the viewpoint of an outsider trying to fit in while maintaining an independent identity. Buy now