Author: James Robb Publisher: Steele Roberts Aotearoa

"He devoted his life to free the world from unhappiness, tyranny and oppression," reads Harry Holland's memorial in Wellington. Militant unionist, socialist agitator, writer and organiser, Holland was a firebrand leader of workers - both in Australia, where he was jailed for sedition during the Broken Hill miners' strike of 1909, and in Aotearoa New Zealand, from the time he arrived at the start of the Waihi Strike in 1912, to his death at the tangi of the Maori King in 1933.

April 2024

Author: Sarah Beck Publisher: CP Books

This is a story about love, loneliness and despair. Returning to New Zealand after many years abroad, the author, Sarah Beck - a psychologist- writes about overcoming this despair both in herself and in her clients. She introduces the counselling world to her readers, through client stories and through her own journey to happiness.

April 2024

Author: Schaeffer Lemalu Publisher: Compound Press

The debut collection from a great poet and artist gone too soon. His word is among us, travelling still, full of candour, humility, a loving regard for detail. Includes an introduction by renowned US poet Donald Revell.

28 April 2024

Author: Bob Calkin Publisher: Quentin Wilson Publishing

Tales from the Lucky Generation follows Bob's rise from humble roots in working-class Whanganui to the world of law and business before a spectacular fall from grace landed him with a six-year prison sentence. Imprisonment changed Bob from an ambitious go-getter to a thoughtful, socially conscious man intent on recovering his sense of self-worth by making a positive contribution to society.

Author: Kiri Piahana-Wong Publisher: Anahera Press

Tidelines interweaves the poet's own life with the tragic story of Hinerangi, who lived at Karekare in the distant past. These are poems of Auckland's west coast, reflecting the steady rhythms of daily existence, alongside grief, mental unwellness, disintegration and resolution.

23 April 2024

Author: Pippa Latour with Jude Dobson Publisher: Allen & Unwin

During her time in Normandy, Pippa sent 135 secret messages conveying crucial information on German troop positions in the lead-up to D-Day. Pippa continued her mission until the liberation of Paris in August 1944.

For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats during WWII.

Now, for the first time, her story can be told in full.

Author: Miriam Sharland Publisher: Otago University Press

Heart Stood Still is a record of Sharland's journey towards finding healing in the world's natural beauty, a beauty that we must fight to protect in the current climate crisis. It is both a memoir and a lyrical portrait of Manawatu. Through a series of personal essays that follow the pattern of the seasons, Sharland skilfully weaves reflections on her life and family history with observations on the native and introduced plants and animals about her; all tinged with her experience as 'an unsettled settler' in Aotearoa.

Author: Ngahuia te Awekotuku Publisher: HarperCollins New Zealand

‘In the 1950s, a young Ngahuia is fostered by a family who believe in hard work and community. Although close to her kuia, she craves more: she wants higher education and refined living. But whanau dismiss her dreams. To them, she is just a show-off, always getting into trouble, talking back and running away…’

Author: Peter Langlands Publisher: Penguin Books

New Zealand is full of incredible, edible wild foods - fruit, fungi and seaweed; berries, herbs and more - you only need to know where to look and how to do it safely. Foraging New Zealand is the ultimate guide to unearthing more than 250 of our tastiest wild plants.

Editors: David Eggleton, Vaughan Rapatahana, and Mere Taito Publisher: Massey University Press

To write poetry in New Zealand as a Pacific migrant is an act of wayfinding, a creative process of discovery and negotiation between cultural spaces. This collection of 137 poems by 89 Aotearoa-based Pacific poets explores that navigation.Deep and rich, like Moana Oceania itself, it shows Pasifika poetry to be in a constant state of 'old and new', of haharagi and lelea' mafua, a lively and evolving continuum.

11 April 2024

Author: Peter Walker Publisher: Massey University Press

An eagle, and its place in our history. The legend of Pouakai, aka the extinct Haast's Eagle, takes Peter Walker on a journey from an 1860s Canterbury sheep run to a deep cave near Karamea as he learns the story of the mighty hunter that inhabited a peak in the foothills of the Southern Alps.

Editors: Catherine Hammond & Shaun Higgins Publisher: Auckland University Press

‘In 1848, two decades after a French inventor mixed daylight with a cocktail of chemicals to fix the view outside his window onto a metal plate, photography arrived in Aotearoa. How did these 'portraits in a machine' reveal Maori and Pakeha to themselves and to each other? Were the first photographs 'a good likeness' or were they tricksters? What stories do they capture of the changing landscape of Aotearoa?’

Author: Peter Simpson Publisher: Te Papa Press

‘The painter Colin McCahon and the librarian Ron O’Reilly first met in 1938, in Dunedin, when McCahon was 19 and O’Reilly 24. They remained close, writing regularly to each other until 1981, when McCahon became too unwell to write.

Their 380 letters covered McCahon’s art practice, the contemporary art scene, ideas, philosophy and the spiritual life. Dazzling in their range, intensity and candour, the letters track a unique friendship and partnership in art.’

11 April 2024

Author: Louise Wallace Publisher: Te Herenga Waka University Press

Thea lives under a mountain - one that's ready to blow. A vet at a mid-sized rural practice has been called back during maternity leave and is coping - just - with the juggle of meetings, mealtimes, farm visits, her boss's search for legal loopholes and the constant care of her much-loved children, Eli and Lucy. But something is shifting in Thea - something is burning. Or is it that she is becoming aware, for the first time, of the bright, hot core at her centre? Then comes an urgent call. Ingeniously layered, Ash is a story about reckoning with one's rage and finding marvels in the midst of chaos.

11 April 2024

Author: Susan Devoy Publisher: Allen & Unwin

In her own words - and in the hilarious, straight-up style that won her legions of new fans on Celebrity Treasure Island- Dame Susan tells the story of her life so far: the wins, the losses, the battles . . . and the bonds that got her through life's hardest challenges.

Author: Kyle Mewburn Publisher: David Bateman Ltd

11 April 2024

Author: Matthew Wright Publisher: Oratia Books

'Those Who Have the Courage will be a valuable resource for anyone who is interested in the military and social history of New Zealand. It is a comprehensive history of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps, the Mounted Rifles and predecessor units ...' - Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, from the Foreword.

Author: Judy Bailey Publisher: HarperCollins New Zealand

When beloved broadcaster Judy Bailey signed off her final news bulletin in 2005, she had no idea that the next years would be some of the most fulfilling of her life.
In Evolving Judy shares new science and personal stories that have shaped her own path into older age. She tackles subjects like taking care of your body and mind through to organising finances, navigating health scares, grieving loved ones and enjoying the finer things.

Author: Alice Taylor Publisher: Allen & Unwin

All the classics are included, plus ways to refresh them with a twist here and there.

Alice loves cake, and baking of any kind! She's spent years perfecting these recipes, and shares this essential collection so that you can enjoy them as much as she does.

Author: Peter Rawnsley Publisher: Cuba Press

Peter Rawnsley writes of movement even as his own world becomes increasingly still. He is acutely aware of the natural world around him - its softness and light as well as its brutality - from Karehana Bay to Castlepoint to Tijuana, and of his own place in it. He nods to the inevitable passing of time, but importantly there is still time, and that's something he's grateful for. He feels blessed to be here. Stones and Kisses is a tender, reflective and playful collection from one of Aotearoa's best-kept secrets.

1 April 2024