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October 2011
 As we move towards the Christmas season, more books make their way through our front doors. Here are some of the choice offerings from the latest arrivals. All are in our store (plus so much more) but, if you want to buy them online and we'll freight them for free, anywhere in NZ.
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Stoked: Cooking with Fire, by Al Brown HB - regular price $70, vicbooks' price $59.99 Fishermen and good home cooks alike devoured Go Fish and its winning combination of excellent recipes, great yarns, gorgeous photography, devotion to the stunning NZ coastline and way of life, all with a touch of nostalgia. Now Al Brown applies this same formula to that icon of Kiwi life: the barbecue. But not just any old barbecue: Al explores a wide range of outdoor cooking styles - grills of all sorts, smoking, spits, outdoor ovens (tandoor, pizza) etc, including how-tos. With more than 100 recipes, there's an emphasis on fast and tasty, with recipes for bruschetta, burgers, pizza, fritters, chargrilled seafood, beef, lamb and chicken, ribs, plus slow roasted meats. There's game (venison, duck and goat); plus excellent salads and classic cake tin slices and bikkies. Added to this treasure trove are more classic go-to recipes - sauces and relishes for the perfect finish. Featuring wonderful photography by Kieran Scott shot in NZ's most amazing scenery, including the high country above the Wakatipu Basin in Central Otago; the rugged south Wairarapa coastline; hunting and fly fishing at the 8000-acre Ngamatea Station in the Central North Island; wild porcini mushroom gathering in Canterbury; an outdoor tandoor oven with Indian friends in Wellington, and a hangi up the Whanganui River. This is the complete package, yet again! Buy now |  Empires of Food Feast, Famine and the Rise and Fall of Civilization
by Andrew Rimas & Evan Fraser, pb, $29.99 For thousands of years we have grown, cooked and traded food, and over that time much has changed. Where once we subsisted on gritty, bland grains, we now enjoy culinary creations and epicurean delights made with vegetables from the New World, fish trawled from the deep sea, and flavoured with spices from the Orient. But how did we make that change from eating for survival to the innovations of modern cuisine? How has food helped to shape our culture? And what will happen when global warming and peak oil have their inevitable effect on agriculture? "Empires of Food" is an authoritative exploration of the innumerable ways that food has changed the course of history. The earliest cities, after all, were founded on the creation and exchange of food surpluses, and since then trade routes of ever greater sophistication have developed. We've built complex societies by shunting corn and wheat and rice along rivers, up deforested hillsides, and into the stockpots of history. But we cannot go on forever. As Evan D.G. Fraser and Andrew Rimas compellingly show, the abundance that we all enjoy comes at a price, and unless we think of a more sustainable way to grow, eat and enjoy food, we may find that our civilization reaches its best before date. Buy now |  Harlem is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America
by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, pb, $36.99 "Harlem Is Nowhere is a dazzling series of linked essays on Harlem as the living embodiment of a place and time that might somehow mend the fractured history of African Americans and make it whole. Rhodes-Pitts honours the dreamers imagining what Harlem could be, while never losing sight of how each of them was thwarted by the disconnect between the heaven they envisioned and the reality they lived. It is her ability to not only see Harlem on its own terms but also grasp why Harlem matters that makes this book so exceptional. Rhodes-Pitts has the sharp eye of a reporter in prose, reminiscent of Joan Didion, that manages to be both remarkably cool and distinctly elegiac. She is walking toward a destination she has sought from the beginning - brave enough to seek it, and honest enough to tell us that she may never arrive." - Mike Fischer Buy now |  LEGO Ideas Book: You Can Build Anything!
by Daniel Lipkowitz, HB, $50.00 LEGO is a revolution at your fingertips - remember childhood and the blocky marvel of building robots and castles and dragons and cars and whole worlds and wonders? Be inspired to create and build amazing models in LEGO again! (Or you could give it to your children) The LEGO Ideas Book is packed full of tips from expert LEGO builders on how to make jet planes reach new heights, create fantastic fortresses, swing through lush jungles, have fun on the farm and send space shuttles out of this world! This book is divided into six themed chapters - transport, buildings, space, kingdoms, adventure and useful makes. With over 500 models and ideas, this book is perfect for any LEGO fan - young or young at heart - who wants to make their models cool, fun and imaginative. Buy now |  It's All About The Image
by Dick Frizzell, pb, $65 Take a trip through New Zealand art via Dick Frizzell's point of view. He shines a light on some of the works he's always loved - a number of which have seemed to miss muster in the usual round-ups. It's an eclectic bunch of paintings and begins with images he was drawn to (because that's what it was all about. images) back before he was told what he'd be better off looking at. From Peter McIntyre inviting him up onto the scaffolding to watch him painting the WWII mural in the Hastings War Memorial Library, through to discovering modern art at art school, his first sighting of a McCahon, teaching at Elam with talented students like Karl Maughan and discovering the brightest of bring young things today - this is a wonderful journey. Written in Dick's self-proclaimed gonzo style, this is a fascinating discussion of art history through the eyes of our most mainstream populist artist. Examines the stars of New Zealand painting in a colloquial and revelatory way. Buy now |
|  The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
by Robert L. O'Connell, pb, $29.99 In southern Italy, in 216 BC, during the Second Punic War, Carthaginian troops confronted the largest Roman army yet sent onto a field of battle. What followed was one of the most famous military victories in history - the battle of Cannae. It is a battle many have sought to emulate, won by a general whose name still resonates two thousand years later. Hannibal Barca, a son of Carthage, humbled Rome as no one had before or would again, killing at Cannae almost 50,000 Roman troops in one day; a slaughter that still stands as the single bloodiest day of battle in military history. For good or bad it is admired for that very reason: mass and unbalanced death, executed with a fierce and merciless precision that stunned the ancient world and has since beguiled generations of militarists. It is regarded as perfect.In southern Italy, in 216 BC, during the Second Punic War, Carthaginian troops confronted the largest Roman army yet sent onto a field of battle. What followed was one of the most famous military victories in history - the battle of Cannae. It is a battle many have sought to emulate, won by a general whose name still resonates two thousand years later. Yet to view Cannae purely as a military event worthy only of a macabre voyeurism does the pivotal importance of the sixteen-year Second Punic War a huge disservice... read more or Buy now |  Inheritance: Book #4 of the Inheritance Cycle
by Chris Paolini, TP, $38 Not so very long ago, Eragon - Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider - was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now, the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders. Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances. The Rider and his dragon have come farther than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaesia? And at what cost? Buy now
|  Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth
by Tim Dedopulos, HB, $18.99 This fantastic new puzzle book combines puzzle solving with (should one so choose) the wonders of the magical interweb. If you've not experimented with the enrapturing joys of Google Earth (hours of marvels can be found there, zooming in from orbit on the places of your greatest victories and failures!) then this book offers double the fun for you and your child. The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth, challenges readers to take a virtual adventure right around the world in search of fabulous hidden treasure - weirdly, with the added incentive of a whopping 50,000 Euros prize (kind of a bonus-dream-thing, as the fun contained in the book is the big draw card). The beautiful artwork and teasing text contain a series of clues to places, people and things that, with the help of Google Earth, will lead you to riddles wrapped in enigmas stuffed with giggles. Each clue takes you that bit closer to the solution - and the exact location of the treasure. All you need is an enquiring mind, a little lateral thinking, and decent bandwidth. Oh, and this book. Which is full of cool. Buy now |  Stories of the Wild West Gang
by Joy Cowley, illustrations by Trevor Pye, PB, $29.99 If new fangled, techno puzzle solving doesn't float your boat, then explore the old school, story telling wonders of Gecko Press' latest offering, via the pen of NZ's own Joy Cowley. Michael's cousins, the West family, are everything he's not allowed to be at home - noisy, crazy and very, very messy. Wherever the Wild West Gang goes, adventure is not far behind - and it's the sort of adventure you don't want your parents to know about.
'These are delightful stories of Michael, the son of buttoned-down fun-hating parents, getting down and dirty with his mad cousins, and their devil-may-care parents. The Wests are all about old fashioned, innocent fun, their days packed with picnics and pandemonium, mud and mayhem, not a battery-operated toy or computer screen in sight. These are rollicking reads, perfect for an adult to enjoy with a child, or for newly confident readers to chortle over.' - John McIntyre, The Children's Bookshop/Radio NZ reviewer. Buy now |  Brother/Sister by Sean Olin, PB, $26 Will: How many times do I have to say it? Yes, I see the picture. It's a body, obviously. It's a dead body. Asheley: You have to understand, I love my brother. I'm scared of him too, but ...regardless of what he has or hasn't done, I feel for him, you know. Will: I don't care what happens to me, really, I don't. But Asheley ...she had nothing to do with any of this. Asheley: It's not like it sounds. He had a good heart. He trusted me. And I always did the best I could to help him. Will: It's not her fault. None of it. Okay then. The guy in the photo. I killed him ...but I had to. I had no choice. Why? That's complicated. That'll take a while. "Newly released Young Adult novel Brother/Sister is the story of Will and Asheley, two teenage siblings with an alcoholic mother and an absentee father. A psychological thriller, it puts the reader on edge, constantly guessing what the truth is, and which characters are in danger – or dangerous..." Read the rest of our review, by Liz Gillett, of this title, or Buy now |  My Grandma's Kitchen
by Louise Fulton Keats, HB, $29.99 My Grandma's kitchen is the best place to be. We're ever so busy, Grandma and me. We have all sorts of gadgets that go whizz and whir. And there's always a bowl Grandma needs me to stir. Join Lulu and Grandma in the kitchen, where Lulu helps make all kinds of delicious things, like crepes with lemon and sugar, macaroni cheese (her favourite!) and apricot slice. She learns how to whisk and chop and measure - even beat egg whites for pavlova! Lulu and Grandma also pick vegies from the garden, set up a cafe and host a dinner party where little brother Harry and Teddy are the guests of honour. My Grandma's Kitchen is both children's book and cookbook, featuring a fun rhyming story and whimsical illustrations, along with 30 of Margaret Fulton's much-loved recipes. The food is fresh, simple and perfect for making with children - try pasta with homemade pesto, cheese twists or vanilla cupcakes. My Grandma's Kitchen is a book that children will love to read as well as use in the kitchen, and is perfect for encouraging them to get involved in cooking. Buy now |  The Big Book of Words and Pictures by Ole Konnecke, HB, $29.99 This is a big book. Which has pictures in it. And words. Simple concept, sure, but with lush and detailed images this is a treat for enquiring eyes, minds and vocal chords. This book contains the whole world of childhood. There's a kitchen, and all the things in it. There are planes and ships, plants and animals. Music and sports, colours and clothing ...If you look very closely, you will find enchanting small stories on every page. Pointing and saying, or saying and pointing, it's the perfect thing to have open on your lap or the floor as you create narratives with your children. Buy now |
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