All New Books
Fast Forward Aotearoa: How exponential technology is defining the future of New Zealand… and what we can do about it.
Authors: Ben Reid Publisher: Memia Ltd
In his new book Fast Forward Aotearoa, technology futurist Ben Reid explores the key technologies which are defining New Zealand's future - and the increasingly concentrated control of giant international technology companies - exposing in the process national vulnerabilities stemming from an endemic lack of strategic thinking about technology in our public sector, businesses and education system.
1 May 2024
The Everything Guide: Hormones, health and happiness in menopause, midlife and beyond
Author: Niki Bezzant Publisher: Penguin Books
Every woman's honest, healthy guide to eating, moving and feeling your best - for the rest of your life. Feel your best - for the rest of your life. The essential new book from bestselling health writer and trusted menopause advocate Niki Bezzant, author of This Changes Everything.
The Practice of Mindfulness and Balance
Author: Rita Riccola Publisher: Upstart Press
Life can be challenging and when we feel over-stimulated and disconnected it is costly to our wellbeing. Dreaming of what-ifs and maybes in the future, while regretting and being trapped by our past means we are distracted from living life in the moment. Mindfulness trains the mind to be observant and responsive to the many challenges we face every day.
Otherhood: Essays about being childless, childfree and child-adjacent
Editors: Alie Benge , Lil O'Brien, Kathryn van Beek Publisher: Massey University Press
First Things
Authors: Harry Ricketts Publisher: Te Waka Herenga University Press
In First Things, Harry Ricketts chronicles his early life through the lens of 'firsts': those moments that can hold their detail and potency across a lifetime.
9 May 2024
Consolations of Insignificance: A New Zealand Diplomatic Memoir
Authors: Terence O’Brien Publisher: Te Waka Herenga University Press
Terence O'Brien was a born diplomat - urbane, clever, adaptable and hardworking, with a talent for strategy and negotiation. Although born in England, he was a loyal and dedicated New Zealander and spent most of his life working to improve the country's position internationally.
9 May 2024
Ans Westra: A Life in Photography
Authors: Paul Moon Publisher: Te Papa Press
The photographer Ans Westra, who died in 2023, took hundreds of thousands of images over her long career. Together, those images constitute what is arguably a photo album of Aotearoa. Her dedication and determination sometimes came at a cost but she was focused and driven, overcoming a difficult childhood in the Netherlands and later complex adult relationships to forge her own path.
9 May 2024
Ratana the Prophet
Authors: Keith Newman Publisher: Oratia Books
The Ratana movement gains national coverage every February as politicians make the pilgrimage to its headquarters near Whanganui, yet the history and workings of the religion are less widely recognised. In this new edition of his standard biography, Keith Newman reveals the life and times of Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana and the movement he founded in 1918…
7 May 2024
Organic Vegetable Gardening: A month-by-month guide to growing your own food
Author: Xanthe White Publisher: Penguin Books
The bestselling, expert guide to growing your own vegetables organically. In this classic bestseller, expert landscape designer Xanthe White takes readers by the hand and walks them from backyard bombsite to productive vegetable garden in a single year.
May 2024 release
A Duck-Shaped Octopus: A Family's Journey Through Childhood Cancer
Author: Roanne Barnes Hautapu Publisher: Atuanui Press
In 2013 Quinn Hautapu presented to hospital with the seemingly minor symptom of a limp arm, within a short time she was on a Life Flight to Wellington to work out the cause of a massive bleed on the brain. She was seven years old. A month later, after brain surgery and numerous scans, the Hautapu family was given the shocking news that Quinn had brain cancer. What followed was 12 months of the most intense, emotional and difficult time that a family can experience.
Environmental Defenders: Fighting for Our Natural World
Author: Raewyn Peart Publisher: David Bateman
In 1971, there was little in the way of protection for Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique natural heritage. Progress was the imperative for government and councils, with the land, rivers and coasts simply seen as resources to be exploited. This is the story of how a small organisation took on the establishment and won.
The Trials of Nurse Kerr: The anatomy of a secret poisoner
Author: Scott Bainbridge Publisher: David Bateman
Did New Zealand have a secret poisoner? In 1992, builders demolishing a Devonport home stumbled across a skeleton, triggering an investigation that sent shockwaves across the community. The remains belonged to a woman who had died in the 1930s, and whispers soon emerged of the deadly legacy of Nurse Elspeth Kerr.
Nothing Significant To Report: A Kiwi soldier's hilarious true stories of mischief and misadventure in the New Zealand Army
Author: Dario Nustrini Publisher: HarperCollins New Zealand
When new recruit Dario Nustrini's head was freshly shaved in preparation for the army, he knew nothing about what training to fight, kill and die for New Zealand would look like. Since leaving leaving high school the year before, he had been on a steady diet of spliffs, Speights and the occasional sandwich from the cafe he worked at as a waiter…
The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation
Author: Matthew Scobie, Anna Sturman Publisher: Bridget Williams Books
What do the economics of decolonisation mean for the future of Aotearoa? This question drives the work of Matthew Scobie and Anna Sturman as they explore the complex relationship between tangata whenua and capitalism.
The Antipodean Express
Author: Gregory Hill Publisher: Exisle Publishing
The journey of The Antipodean Express takes in 89 days of travel, on 33 trains, through 19 countries. It begins in New Zealand's North Island, weaves past the volcanoes of Java, through East Asia and on into Europe.
To Free the World: Harry Holland and the rise of the labour movement in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
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
I Only Know Happy People: A Psychologist's Memoir
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
The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens
Author: Peter Sergel Publisher: Phantom House Books
When the city of Hamilton decided to establish a park on its old city rubbish dump, there were initially no plans to make it different from any other public park. However,
through strong community support and sponsorship, a unique space has emerged that’s now being recognised as one of the great gardens of the world.
23 April 2024
Tales from the Lucky Generation: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of a Kiwi Working-class 'Hero' and the Stories that Shaped His Life
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.
The Last Secret Agent: The untold story of my life as a spy behind Nazi enemy lines
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.