Review: Kataraina, by Becky Manawatu

Review: Honey, by Honey Hireme-Smiler

...'the book is for anyone who doesn’t have it all together but keeps putting one foot in front of the other. Hireme-Smiler reveals her troubled childhood and candidly describes the heart-breaking tragedies that have peppered her life – and almost seems to be saying: If I can prevail, you can too....'

Review: No One Will Know, by Rose Carlyle

Rose Carlyle is back with her second novel, a new twisty thriller packed with secrets, lies, and boats, set in a remote part of Tasmania. Greg Fleming shares his thoughts in this review.

Review: The Invasion of Waikato: Te Riri Ki Tainui

'This book will go a long way towards restoring the Waikato War to its rightful place in our history, and to stimulate discussion about how we can best remember and honour it...'

Review: Modern Women: Flight of Time

'Julia Waite, from Auckland Art Gallery, should be commended for the breadth and depth of the research which lies behind both exhibition and publication, and for her interesting selections which are bound to arouse discussion and debate for their inclusions and omissions...'

Review: This is the F#$%ing News

'He's most impressive when he's most vulnerable: his own tribulations; his Mum's death; his involvement with Al Noor Mosque survivors and families; his work on behalf of cystic fibrosis. You watch him cry – and swear. You want to hug the guy...'

Review: Better Left Dead, by Catherine Lea

Kerikeri author Catherine Lea has crafted a terrific heroine in Detective Inspector Nyree Bradshaw and, in a second outing for what deserves to be a long series, spins a page-whirring tale while soaking readers in some of the problems lurking beneath the Far North’s picturesque landscapes.

Review: Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist

'Massey University Press’ gorgeous new book on Collier is a comprehensive introduction to her life and art which follows on from Joanne Drayton’s excellent biography published in 1999...'

Ngā Hapa Reo nā Hona Black rāua ko Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell

'Ngā Hapa Reo, e puta ki te ao mārama hei nanao atu mā te hunga ako e whai nei kia pakari ake, kia Māori ake, kia tika ake ō rātou nā reo...' 

Ringakōreko

Ngā arotake a ngā kaipānui tamariki. 'Ko Poaka taku tino kiripuaki, nā te mea he pōrangi rawa atu ia...' 

Te Repo (The Mires), nā Tina Makereti i tuhi

'Mārama ana tā te kaituhi whakaatu i ngā kiripuaki me te kōrero whānui, rumaki tonu atu te kaipānui ki roto, nā runga i te hiranga o te tuhituhi a Makereti...'

Tā Tātou e Mōhio nei (All That We Know), nā Shilo Kino i tuhi

‘He mea pei ia ki ētehi āhuatanga kāore i tonoa e ia, kāore hoki e paingia ana e ia, ā, kua hōhā, kua tūhāhā hoki a Māreikura Pohe.’

Ko Tama me te Taniwha

Ngā arotake a ngā kaipānui tamariki. 'He kupu hou, pēnā i te whakamahinehia, te tukutahi, me te paratītanga, engari he pai ngā kupu...'

Te Hauhake a Nanny Mihi | Nanny Mihi's Harvest

Ngā arotake a ngā kaipānui Tamariki. 'Ko te tino kiripuaki, ki ō mātau whakaaro, ko Nanny, nā te hātakēhi o āna kōrero...' 

Rere Atu Taku Poi!

Ngā arotake a ngā kaipānui tamariki. 'I pai māua ki te māia o Rangi, nā te mea i whakaohooho ia i a māua...'

He Tārū Kahika

Ngā arotake a ngā kaipānui tamariki. 'He kupu ātaahua, pēnā i ngā kupu nei, i te hoa piripono, ka mau te wehi, tētehi, me te kōpatapata...'

Te Wheketere Moemoeā

Ngā arotake a ngā kaipānui Tamariki. 'He pai ki a mātou ngā whakaaro i ngā pikitia. Te maha hoki o ngā tae me ngā mea ka kitea...'

Ko Ngā Whetū Kai o Matariki: Tupuānuku rāua Ko Tupuārangi

Ngā arotake a ngā kaipānui tamariki. 'He maha ngā kupu hou, pēnā i te makawe pākura, te karapetau, te whaupa, me te kūpā. He pai tērā, nā te mea ka ako koe i ngā kupu hou...'

Review: The Twisted Chain, by Jason Gurney

'In his first book, Jason Gurney does a remarkable job of weaving his own family story with the story of rheumatic fever prevention and control in Aotearoa...'

Review: A House Built on Sand, by Tina Shaw

'Maxine reminds us repeatedly that she still has all her marbles, thank you very much, just one or two have been misplaced, like that important file from her job as a social worker...'

Review: Pātea Boys, by Airana Ngarewa

'Regardless of which end one starts from, in either language, Ngarewa’s storytelling is lyrical and evocative, offering us a window into a world rich with culture and history; of afternoons at the local pool, and of knowing everybody from the lifeguards to the cops as ‘aunty'...'

Review: View from the Second Row, by Sam Whitelock

'The book is staunchly laconic and always keen to get to the point. Whitelock epitomises the quintessentially stoic All Black, reminding us that in his role as unflappable world-class lock he always seemed far more comfortable letting his on-field actions do the talking...'

Review: Sam the Trap Man, by Sam Gibson

'You learn about a roaring horn and a hummel; how a single snapped ponga frond can spook a deer. If your steak has grown green edges, then trim them and rub with horopito leaves...'

Review: The Mermaid Chronicles, by Megan Dunn

Mermaids and new motherhood: Claire Williamson reviews artist Megan Dunn's latest book.

Review: The Girls in the Red House are Singing

Tracey Slaughter's new book's vibrant cover hints at the psychedelic. Inside, the poetry doesn’t disappoint,

Review: Koe: An Aotearoa ecopoetry anthology

'Koe refers to the cry of a bird. H.W. Williams’ Dictionary of the Māori Language also defines ‘koe’ as a scream; a disturbing scream from the forest, or the shore, or the marshes, or the bush-lined gullies and gorges...'

Review: undressing in slow motion

'brave, heartbreaking, and darkly comedic. Undressing in slow motion is full of these revealing moments...'

Review: anthology (n.) a collection of flowers

'The collection's obsession with the flora of Te Wai Pounamu will delight lovers of Aotearoa’s native plants, as will the blooming colour images...'

Review: Vultures, by Jenny Rockwell

'this book is about / a glow in the dark / statue of the virgin mary / with a busted nose / a red ribbon shoelace / a queer torso slick with glitter / a hell-bound harlot...'

Review: Tarot, by Jake Arthur

Jake Arthur tackles the riotous nature of the 1909 Rider Waite tarot deck in his second collection, Tarot.

Review: The Mires, by Tina Makereti

“You will find me in the meeting point between open seas and solid land, in the seam of sky and earth, between what you think you know and what you don’t...”

Review: Home Truths, by Charity Norman

Scott Denby is on a search for answers. He knows they're out there, and if he falls into YouTube on the way, nae's the bother. He's grieving, he needs time... but what will he find, deep in the depths?

Review: Whaea Blue, by Talia Marshall

'Much of the book reads like te reo Māori transposed into English, with the structures and features of our reo, our worldview and our thinking pushed through the prism of our new tongue...'

Review: Rēwena and Rabbit Stew

'Memoir is combined with data to create a complex, nuanced description of how rural Aotearoa New Zealand, both Māori and Pākehā, lived and ate between 1800 and 1940...'

Review: The Anaconda Attack

Snakes on the page: Libby (11) and her mum Kirsteen discuss book one in the new Miles and Jones graphic novel series.

Review: The Road to Chatto Creek, by Matt Chisholm

'Chisholm leads the reader straight into the realities of farming life, hilariously and accurately describing the frustration of moving lambs just a day after weaning them from their mothers...'

Review: Ōkiwi Brown, by Cristina Sanders

'The book gets off to a cracking start, with a suspected murderer — Scottish body-snatcher William Hare — escaping the death penalty in Edinburgh and being set loose to wander who knows where. In this imagining, we are asked the question: why not Wellington?'

Review: Pipi and Pou, by Tim Tipene

'Cousins Pipi and Pou, aided by their Nana, are kaitiaki of the environment. They protect the natural world using their shapeshifting abilities, transforming into a pouākai and a taniwha...'

Review: Mawson in Antarctica, by Joanna Grochowicz

'Trials and tribulations occur as the team is transferred to the ice at a headland they name Cape Dennison, and begin to build the base they’ll stay in for most of the year. The relentless wind and weather hampers their work...'

Review: 17 Years Later, by JP Pomare

'If you think you’ve figured out who did it in a Pomare novel, well sorry, but you’re probably wrong...'

Review: The Mess We Made, by Megan O'Neill

'O’Neill has done a brilliant job of portraying the total mess the three main characters ... have made of their lives as they navigate life and friendship.'

Review: The Bookshop Detectives, by Gareth and Louise Ward

'Like the Sherlocks, the novels’ authors are police officers turned book shop owners. Gareth and Louise Ward, too, are originally from England, and have made their home in Hawke's Bay, complete with dog. This work is the first in The Bookshop Detectives series...'

Review: Sight Lines, by Kirsty Baker

'Sight Lines features a wide range of contributors, and it is this genuine polyphony of voices that defines the book. Baker, in this sense, is a weaver, stitching together the contributions of others into a cohesive whole.'

Review: All that We Know

'Thrust into circumstances she didn’t ask for and doesn’t like, Māreikura Pohe is frustrated and disconnected'

Review: The Survivors, by Steve Braunias

Accidental courtroom lurker Steve Braunias brings the gavel down on his terrific trilogy of true crime books, grappling with himself alongside his investigations into the variegated lives of others.

Review: Bad Archive, by Flora Feltham

'Feltham’s debut collection, Bad Archive, features thirteen intricate essays that explore the space between what remains and what happened. ‘How do you plunge your eyes and hands into the world around you?’ she wonders.'

Review: More from a Quiet Kitchen, by Nici Wickes

'Cooking, or “the clatter of cockles, the sizzle of bacon, the blipblap of something simmering”, is an essential ingredient in Nici Wickes' recipe for a contented life. Why rush to be ‘perfect’, Wickes asks, when you can find happiness in pottering along and being ‘good enough’?'

Review: Migration, by Steph Matuku

'Migration has echoes of things I know: the word ‘ngāti’ attributed to different groups of people in the same way as we’d have the British class system, and ‘māma’ and ‘pāpā’ for mum and dad. The wānanga itself is a strict military training academy complete with the same squabbles and hierarchy you’d find in the dorms of many boarding schools...'

Review: The Raven's Eye Runaways, by Claire Mabey

'Fittingly, it's a narrative with books at the core. Getwin and her Mum work at stitching, stamping and clandestinely reading them. Lea and others slave at copying them. A nasty, entitled social elite schemes at restricting access to them...'

Review: Nell, by Penelope Todd

'Eleanor Preston – aka Nell – is born in 1897 on a South Island sheep farm homestead. During childhood, her world is the blue mystery of the hills, the sense of accomplishment of moving stock on horseback, of ice skating and cocoa – anything and everything is possible.'

Review: Nothing Significant to Report, by Dario Nustrini

'Nustrini somehow manages to find new narrative ground thanks to a likable, laconic Kiwi perspective that turns it all into something interesting and entertaining rather than just another sortie through well-trodden territory....'

Review: Performance, by David Coventry

'Novel, autofiction, creative non-fiction or memoir, this work eludes the boundaries of conventional expectation and form. It's also a cracking story, displaying the fine novelistic impulse that has won Coventry literary awards.'

Review — Old Black Cloud, by Jacqueline Leckie

‘Jacqueline Leckie’s latest book Old Black Cloud: A cultural history of mental depression in Aotearoa New Zealand is a highly accessible, uniquely insightful, and in-depth exploration of mental depression as an intrinsic part of our national fabric…’

Review — Still Is, by Vincent O’Sullivan

Vincent O’Sullivan’s literary career was long and glittering. Still Is has an added poignancy because so many of the poems would have been written with the poet knowing that his end was not far away. Given this however, there is no sense of doom in the work…

Review — Life of Dai, by Dai Henwood

'In this book, Henwood has generously and bravely let us know more of the 'private Dai' behind the popular clown. For all that his outrageous comedy persona has brought him popularity and accolades over the years, this will probably make you like him even more. '

Review — At the Grand Glacier Hotel, by Laurence Fearnley

‘A tender and beautifully written story about learning to live again. The writing is gently humorous, while also tinged with a deep sense of loss… June 2024 release

Review — A Life Less Punishing, by Matt Heath

‘There was a period of time, not that long ago, when no one in their right mind would take advice from DJ and TV personality Matt Heath…’

Review — Max, by Avi Duckor-Jones

Max is about to finish high school. On the surface it appears he has everything, but underneath he is floundering. Grappling with questions about his birth parents and his sexuality, he feels that there is a seed of badness deep within him that will inevitably be exposed.

Review — A Better Place, by Stephen Daisley

People in the district would often say Roy Mitchell was not quite the same after he come back from the war. There was a twin brother, Tony. Killed on Crete in 1941. The hut he built when he returned was on a bit of flat ground above the Mangawhero Creek. He called it his whare. Corrugated-iron chimney on the south wall.’

Review — First Things, by Harry Ricketts

‘When a brilliant polymath like Harry Ricketts takes to memoir, you just know it is going to be something special…’

Review — AUP New Poets 10

Distinctive, fresh and compellingly present, AUP New Poets 10 features three exciting new voices. Hebe Kearney gives Kete the lowdown on this three-chapbook collection.

Review — Otherhood, edited by Alie Benge, Lil O’Brien and Kathryn van Beek

‘Why are we so obsessed with the childbirth and child-rearing capabilities of others?’ Jackie Lee Morrison reviews the ‘beautiful and tragic and funny and compelling, not all easy to read,’ Otherhood.

Review in Conversation: Gracehopper, by Mandy Hager

Eighteen-year-old Grace has struggled all her life with her place in this family and in the world. Obviously of Asian descent, she has been unable to get the truth about her parentage from her mother, a woman who is struggling with her own demons, that date back to her life in Taiwan where she survived an earthquake while giving birth to Grace.

Review — Marilynn Webb Folded in the Hills

Marilynn Webb: Folded in the hills is a substantial bilingual publication to mark the monumental retrospective of Ngapuhi, Te Roroa and Ngati Kahu artist Marilynn Webb (NZOM) (1937-2021) at Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

Mother-daughter review: Brown Bird by Jane Arthur

Warmth, humour, and depth in a ‘quiet, kind book about a quiet, kind kid.’ A new mother-daughter review from 11 year-old Libby and (slightly older) Kirsteen.

Review — Tidelines, by Kiri Piahana-Wong

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.

Review — Return to Blood, by Michael Bennett

Two murders. Two decades apart. One chance to get justice. Hana Westerman has left Auckland and her career as a detective behind her. Settled in a quiet coastal town, all she wants is a fresh start…

Review — Dame Suzy D: My Story

“Over my lifetime I have given most things a crack when presented with the opportunity,” Susan Devoy writes in her funny and fascinating new biography, Dame Suzy D: My Story. From self-described ‘working-class girl’ to Dame, Race Relations Commissioner to reality TV star, unbeatable squash world number one to all-too-relatable mother of four…

Review — A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa

Editors: Catherine Hammond, Shaun Higgins Reviewer: David Veart 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?April 2024 release

Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand

‘Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand is the latest in a decades-long line of anthologies of Pasifika poetry written in English. The title is a neologism created by editors David Eggleton, Vaughan Rapatahana and Mere Taito, referencing the Rotuman verb to navigate and the tūī, bird of two voiceboxes.’

Review — Ash, by Louise Wallace

‘Ash is a bruising portrait of what boils in the belly of a woman who is “coping”, revealed with humour and a rare candour.’

Review — Dear Colin, Dear Ron: The Selected Letters of Colin McCahon and Ron O'Reilly

‘This substantial book of letters selected by esteemed Colin McCahon scholar Peter Simpson shines a light on one of the most remarkable relationships in New Zealand art. 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…’

Review — Evolving: Finding health and happiness as we age by Judy Bailey

'A deep dive into an area that affects all of us, if we’re lucky.' Catherine Milford reviews Evolving by journalist, news anchor, television presenter, and mother of the nation, Judy Bailey and finds solace in the book’s running thread ‘that getting older doesn’t have to mean becoming invisible.'

Review — Amma by Saraid de Silva

‘Intergenerational, diasporic story-telling that is polished and compelling. I consumed it greedily within a few days, much like the young queer character Annie consumes her grandmother’s delicious Sri Lankan cooking.’

Review — Black Silk and Sympathy by Deborah Challinor

David Hill weighs in on how Deborah Challinor's latest novel strikes the right balance between the familiarity of the now and the foreign land of the past.

Review — Take Two by Danielle Hawkins

“Take Two is light and sweet, but never cloying or sickly. Like getting the tea from your school bestie after you've been out of touch for a few years, accompanied by a slice of your favourite cake.”

Review — Te Ata o Tu The Shadow of Tumatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa

This selection transcends its colonial origins literally in 'The Colonial Museum' creating a powerful narrative using the artefacts woven together with subtle curation and a strong Māori voice, a voice which doesn't simply murmur 'ghostly' echoes from the past but instead speaks truth powerfully into the present.

Review — The Call by Gavin Strawhan

Strawhan's crime novel is cinematic, which comes as no surprise given his previous writing credits. The co-creator of Go Girls and Nothing Trivial, he also has form in the TV crime thriller genre, including Bad Mothers and This Is Not My Life. While The Call doesn't read like a screenplay, it could easily become one. The scenes are sharp, ending with an eye to the cut: a wry line and then a clean shift to a deserted beach, a flashback, or a suburban gang house.

Review — When I Open the Shop

“The format is intriguingly diverse: emails, texts, passages of verse are scattered throughout. An immediate, coming-at-ya present tense keeps the plot belting along. Dissanayake knows when to pause, to leave things for the reader...”

Review — On Call: Stories from my life as a surgeon, a daughter and a mother

“Being entrusted with another person’s life, plunging your hands into their body cavities while they are in a sedated coma, takes a lot of nerve. A confident exterior belies the very human doctor underneath. This beautifully written memoir deftly paints human flesh and vulnerability onto those God-like creatures we see in scrubs and reminds us that medical professionals do bring their whole selves into each patient encounter.”

Review —The Space Between by Lauren Keenan

“I feel as though I stepped through a portal to glimpse the poverty and hardship experienced in an 1860s Taranaki settlement on the brink of the New Zealand Wars.”

Review — The Three Quicks by Trevor Auger

“Auger keeps the central narrative thread squarely focused on reporting matches, with The Three Quicks subsequently aimed more at the patient test cricket purists over casual white ball enthusiasts with shorter attention spans. Heavily results and statistics-focused, it harks back to a time when cricket almanacs were poured over, and test cricket wasn't staring down the existential threats it now faces.”

Review — The Night She Fell by Eileen Merriman

If you're a fan of slow-burn, character-driven thrillers, you will have a great time with The Night She Fell. There may not be any Jack Reacher action sequences but you'll be on the edge of your seat as you reach the end.

Review — The Secrets of the Little Greek Taverna

This story has love and heart, and gorgeous descriptions of the little magical village make you feel like you're exploring the cobbled streets of Potamia alongside Jory. This is author Palmisano's own supernatural talent, bringing places to life. The delicious passages about food and baking where the language is stripped bare to its raw ingredients are also a treat.

Mother-daughter review: The Grimmelings by Rachael King

When is a horse book not a horse book? When it’s a kelpie book, of course, of course. Kirsteen Ure and her daughter Libby (11) give an unbridled review of Rachael King’s new intermediate-age fantasy book, The Grimmelings.

Review — The War Photographers

This novel incorporates two main timelines, one set in the middle of the 20th century and the other set in 1989. The historical backdrop of war-era Bletchley Park and its remarkable team of codebreakers is fascinating. Author SL Beaumont spends sufficient time developing this setting. Similarly, the Cold War era and its aftermath provide rich material that expands throughout the book's second half.

Jade Kake reviews Bird Child & Other Stories by Patricia Grace

This beautiful new collection by Patricia Grace is divided into three sections, each positioned from a different time or context. Fans of Patricia Grace will be immediately won over by this rich and immensely readable collection, writes Jade Kake.

Review — After the Tampa: From Afghanistan to New Zealand

“Within his story, Nazari pulls back to offer the bigger picture: the history of Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban, convoluted global politics, demonisation of migrants, this country’s generous treatment of refugees, Afghanistan today and the Christchurch mosque killings. But he sketches into his writing small yet telling incidents from that childhood of flight and fear.”

Review — Living Between Land and Sea

This sumptuous social and environmental history of Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour takes the reader around the harbour that separates Ōtautahi Christchurch from Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula.

Review — Gretchen Albrecht: Between gesture and geometry

‘Albrecht, who turns 80 this year, has had a consistently productive and successful career now stretching across six decades … a feast for eye and mind.’

Review — The Dead Are Always Laughing At Us

‘Hoey is making our local literary landscape exciting again and there’s no better proof than this collection…’

Review — Knowledge is a blessing on your mind: Selected Writings, 1980—2020

‘When we are yet again debating the modern meaning of Te Tiriti, with questions on Māori representation on councils, co-governance and suggestions of  a referendum on the future of our ‘founding document.’ Against all this Dame Anne Salmond’s latest book presents a more nuanced point of view …’ release

Review — End Times

Priestley’s new memoir explores the complications of living in a world under threat across two parallel timelines. Her primary, present-tense narrative is a road trip down the South Island West Coast in the company of her lifelong friend Maz in the winter of 2021 – almost a whistlestop tour of various aspects of climate crisis … Interleaved with the weeklong road trip, in the past tense, are the experiences of teenaged Rebecca and Maz in the 1980s...’

Rugby League in New Zealand: A people’s history

‘Bodman makes us realise that rugby league has done well to survive, let alone thrive. The fact it is ensconced as a popular sport in this country is something of a miracle, given the efforts of rugby union over almost a century to stamp it out.’

Review — Checkerboard Hill

‘An impressive debut … Kake paints her novel as much as pens it: there are colours and textures portrayed throughout, while shades of light, passages of penumbra also pervade the pages.’

Review — Mangō: Sharks and Rays of Aotearoa

‘For almost 50 years, ‘the Jaws effect’ has resulted in what psychologists have termed galeophobia — an irrational fear of sharks. Even though statistics show driving to the beach is far more likely to result in injury…’ Alex Eagles reviews this celebration of mangō and whai for young New Zealanders and joins the authors in encouraging others to admire these amazing animals.

Review: Flora: Celebrating Our Botanical World

‘Flora, Te Papa’s showcase of botanical art from its collections, is huge, sumptuous and gorgeous.’

Review: His Favourite Graves

‘His Favourite Graves deserves to win Paul Cleave many more fans; it’s another twisty, gory and disturbing outing (one of the characters suffers from a psychological condition which makes him think he is infested with parasites) and a reminder that Cleave was initially drawn to the horror genre but changed his mind after reading FBI profiler John Douglas’s Mindhunter.’

Review: Despatches

‘In less capable hands, adding Lovecraftian-type monsters to the grim horror of war might have turned the story into an unpalatable mess but Lee Murray plays these disparate elements beautifully against each other. The visceral and heart-wrenching elements of both serve to lift the narrative into the realms of a classical epic tale, echoing Herman Melville’s Moby Dick in its imagery, from which emerges a powerful work which left this reader devastated.’

Review: Bird Life

‘Bird Life’s clipped sentences, taut and crisp, have a spare Japanese aesthetic, like haiku. There is delicate lyrical beauty, precise detail and stark contrasts, like the strange shack of the animal vendor on the roof of the luxury department store where Yasuko goes to find birds and beetles for her rituals.’

Review: The Crewe Murders: Inside New Zealand’s Most Infamous Cold Case

‘…a brilliantly researched and compelling look at one of our most significant unsolved cases, one that also gives readers a fascinating peek into our cultural and legal history.’

Review: Urgent Moments - Art and social change: The Letting Space projects 2010–2020

‘…this is a lively, readable, thought-provoking and occasionally funny account of the central and important subject matter: Art that doesn't just “raise questions” but frequently posits answers.’

Review: Remember Me - Poems to Learn by Heart from Aotearoa New Zealand

‘Remember Me is full of poetry to read aloud and remember. For funerals, weddings, occasions, evenings at home etc... There’s long been a gap for this book and Auckland University Press has brought it to life.’

Review: Children of the Rush Book 2

‘I would recommend this book to kids 9 - 13, and people who like dramatic fiction. You don’t have to particularly like history to enjoy it. I find history boring but the Children of the Rush series made me want to learn more. It was interesting, fun, dark and heartwarming.’

Review: Robert Lord Diaries

‘Given Robert never got round to writing the book about New Zealand and his life, Robert Lord Diaries fills the bill in ways that are sometimes tantalising, making this reader feel like a director or actor, seeking clarity and deeper truths in the subtext, and prompting further searches via the internet which Robert never got to experience. As such it is informative, evocative and curiously engaging.’

Review: The Forgotten Forest

‘The latest book from bestselling natural history author Robert Vennell is a fantasy foray through the forests of Aotearoa, full of fascinating facts about fungi, lichens, liverworts, mosses and slithery slime moulds.’

Review: Articulations

‘Articulations is a collection of Bollinger’s essays, many of which were originally published in Salient as the column they established there, Token Cripple. It’s relatively short, 131 pages with 19 chapters spaciously typeset. Bollinger has said they hoped to make it small and light enough to take to a café to read. This is indeed what I did and recommend doing.’

Review: Vintage Aviators: Aircraft of the Great War

‘Vintage Aviators evokes superlatives. Not just the subject matter but the whole physical object. It’s a beautiful amalgam of all that is best in modern photography, printing and bookbinding technology. ’

Review: Transposium

‘Dani Yourukova’s debut poetry collection Transposium has a striking cover: one that promises a fascinating book within. And the poetry definitely doesn’t disappoint; it takes Plato’s Symposium and brings it to life into modern form, incorporating concerns and problems from 2023 to make a playful, philosophical and thoughtful book.’

Review: Don Binney: Flight Path

‘Hot on the heels of Francis Pound’s great book on Gordon Walters, Auckland University Press has published another superb art historical monograph, this time on Don Binney, a comparably significant figure in New Zealand art history, by writer and art historian Gregory O’Brien.’

Review: Light Keeping

‘Adrienne Jansen’s work is poignant. There is no getting away from the all too believable grief and we feel much sympathy for the plights of all our four. With an extensive and detailed narrative, it is easy to be drawn in.’

Review: When I Reach For Your Pulse

‘Originally from the United States, Vyas’ composes a work in which an instance of traumatic personal loss acts as a starting point to poetically examine and dismantle the private and public impacts of British colonialism, American imperialism, patriarchy and caste hierarchies. The result is a politically charged meditation upon the world we live in and the world we might bequeath to those who come after us..’

Review: Untouchable Girls: The Topp Twins’ Story

‘Untouchable Girls is a rollicking, intimate, uproarious romp through the triumphant lives of Jools and Lynda that will make you want to sing, to go on the road, ride horses, fall in love and never stop laughing.’

Review: Emergency Weather

‘The devastating results of climate change are clear and obvious - but how does a writer, let alone a writer slash activist, fashion a compelling thriller from the subject?’

Review: Root Leaf Flower Fruit: a verse novel

‘I enjoyed reading this slim volume. Why? Not just because the plot momentum and machination transported me swiftly through the pages, augmented as they are by much of the script being written in unrhyming free verse, but because Nelson writes well, scribes skilfully. The book is easy to explore.’

Review: The World I Found

‘The World I Found is Wellington author Latika Vasil’s first YA novel, and she’s included a lot of her local landscape here. She’s had a number of short stories published, and I look forward to seeing her fiction repertoire grow and develop.’

Review: Backwaters

‘Like many first novels, Backwaters feels as if it slices very close to personal truths – non-fiction wrapped and teased in layers of fiction - but Sidnam employs deft skill and assurance as well as lightness of touch.’

Review: Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai

Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai is philosophical, smart, wry and highly recommended.

Review: Little Doomsdays

‘Little Doomsdays, whatever it is, is a tour-de-force of the power of art to capture and express complex, heavy ideas and spark deep contemplation and conversation.’

Review: Gordon Walters

‘This huge (464 pages), dense, richly illustrated book tells you everything you could possibly want to know about the great New Zealand abstract painter Gordon Walters (1919-95). Art lovers, students and specialists will relish the almost obsessive degree of attention to every detail about Walters’ work.’

Review: How To Disappear Completely

‘Moving with a relentless and increasing sense of foreboding, Nicholas Sheppard’s How To Disappear Completely is an extensive diagnosis of a disturbing disorder in recent American life. It is not a novel where the ends are neatly tied – instead it opens a social and psychological world to exploration.’

Reviews: A Long Road Trip Home and Night Shifts

‘Why don't I read more poetry? Partly it's narrow-mindedness. I don't write poetry, so it's not my first choice to read. Laziness also features, I don't focus enough; I read extensively rather than intensively. I find the linear movement of fiction and most non-fiction easier. I miss out by not reading more poets. These two new selections from Roger Hickin's Cold Hub Press – and all hail to that faithful servant / practitioner – prove the point.’

Review: Rewi: Āta haere, kia tere

‘Rewi navigates a variety of wonderful easy-to-read mediums which positions itself as a fun book with colours, pictures, drawings, texts and interviews that aim at collating the voices of some of the industry’s leading professionals and academics. The book draws the reader in, like the design of an interesting house or an abstract painting.’

Arotake — Hiwa: Contemporary Māori Short Stories

Nā Paula Morris i ētita me Darryn Joseph. Nā Mikaia Leach I arotake. ‘Ko tā Hiwa he pōhiri i te kaipānui ki te ao o ngā kaituhi (Māori) tautōhito, tautata hoki.’ ’Hiwa beckons the reader to the world of both known and new Māori writers.’

Arotake: Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau

Tā Pou Temara. Nā Maumahara Horsfall i arotake. ‘He tirohanga onamata ki te wā i ō tātau tīpuna me te rerekē rawa atu o te ao i nohoia e rātau.’ ‘a window to the past, to the time of our ancestors and the very different world that they lived in.’

Arotake: Rōmeo rāua ko Hurieta

Nā Te Haumihiata Mason i whakamāori. Nā Racheal McGarvey i arotake. ‘Ko te paki mō te aroha aukati me ngā whānau hoariri nō mai iho, engari ko te whakapuaki me te whakaahua i te wairua o tēnei whakaari ki te reo Māori ki tōna tino taumata e e titikaha ai ki te ngākau tangata, he tino ekenga tēra.’‘… to articulate and illustrate the messages of this play in te reo Māori in a way that, in my opinion, resonates with te ao Māori is a feat.’

Arotake: There’s a Cure for This nā Dr Emma Espiner

Kaituhi: Dr Emma Espiner. Nā Hineko Kingi i arotake.‘Mā te wairua whakakatakata o Espiner e kaingākautia ai te kōrero nei …’‘Espiner's dark humour keeps it interesting…’

Arotake: The Artist nā Ruby Solly

The Artist nā Ruby Solly. Nā Robert Sullivan i arotake.He takinga kōrero mā te toikupu mō ngā iwi whakahirahira o Te Tonga 'and ways of knowing grounded in whakapapa'.An account in poems of our great Southern iwi 'and ways of knowing grounded in whakapapa'.

Arotake—Head on: An All Black's memoir of rugby, dementia, and the hidden cost of success

Kaituhi: Carl Hayman; Dylan Cleaver. Nā Michael Burgess i arotake.‘Kāore a Hayman e pupuri, engari kē ia ka tuku ia i tana katoa.’’Hayman spares nothing and gives everything.’

Arotake: Kāwai – For Such A Time As This

Kaituhi: Monty Soutar. Nā Dan Rabarts i arotake.‘I ētahi wā he whanokē ngā kōrero pono i ngā kōrero paki, ā, he pērā rawa ngā kōrero a Tākuta Monty Soutar i roto i tana pakimaero tuatahi e whakaatu ana he whakatumatuma, he taumaha ake pea te hītori i te pakiwaitara.’‘…Dr Monty Soutar has demonstrated in this impressive first novel that history, likewise, can be more confronting, and more challenging, than fiction.’

Arotake: Freestyle The Israel Adesanya Story nā David Riley, ko ngā pikitia nā Ant Sang

Kaituhi: David Riley. Nā Milo Lilo Morrison i arotake.‘Ka whakaatu tēnei pukapuka i te manawatītī, te aumangea, te kaha me te māia.’ ‘This book was an amazing way of showing determination, resilience, strength and bravery.’

Review: Re-food: Exploring the troubled food system of Aotearoa New Zealand

Author: Emily King. Reviewer: Lauraine Jacobs.‘… nothing could be as good as this book being required reading for every thinking person and, of course, for elected officials of government, both local and national.’June 2023 release

Review: Erebus the Ice Dragon: a portrait of an Antarctic volcano

.‘…an ambitious book, written by a polar adventurer who knows this volcano inside out – after all, in 1978 he was the first person to abseil down into the Inner Crater of Erebus.’

Review: Shadow Over Edmund Street

Author: Suzanne Frankham. Reviewer: David Gadd.Engaging characters and a puzzle that gets murkier the deeper police dig make this tightly written murder mystery just what you want in crime fiction - a story told so well that you want to keep reading it in one go.May 2023 release

Review: Walking With Rocks, Dreaming With Rivers - My Year in the Waikato

Walking With Rocks, Dreaming With Rivers is a book that is more than a book, one of those rare works which transcends itself and takes the reader on a journey of discovery and reflection.

Review: Āria

“One of the most profoundly bisexual pukapuka I’ve ever read. An immersive sense of ‘both/and’ permeates the whole work: Māori and Pākehā, land and sea, she and they.”

Review: The Waters

Immersive, incisive and beautiful, The Waters is a gradually unfolding tale of shifting sympathies and nuance, involving you intimately in the family’s fate.

Review: The Bone Tree

Author: Airana Ngarewa. Reviewer: Jack Remiel Cottrell. The Bone Tree is an exquisitely written book, the story of two boys – Kauri and Black – and the depth of secrets that have been hidden from them their entire lives. August 2023 release

Review: We Need to Talk About Norman: New Zealand’s Lost Leader

Author: Denis Welch. Reviewer: David Herkt.In We Need to Talk About Norman: New Zealand’s Lost Leader, Denis Welch focuses on the New Zealand Labour Party Prime Minister, Norman Kirk, who died in office in 1975. He ventures into this relatively recent history and finds new importance. In Welch’s version, Kirk is a gauge for our age.June 2023 release

Review: Hannah & Huia

Author: Charlotte Lobb. Reviewer: Dionne Christian. Author Charlotte Lobb has been open about writing Hannah & Huia to highlight mental health topics and to provide hope for those in need. To succeed, one needs a strong story that resonates with readers and, for me, there must be hope alongside the heartbreak. Hannah & Huia more than hits the mark. July 2023 release

Review: Blood & Dirt: Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand

Author: Jared Davidson. Reviewer: David Veart. This powerful book describes yet another hidden layer in the history of these islands, a place where imprisonment, labour, punishment, class and ethnicity all combine to create a narrative at odds with any imagined story of sturdy pioneers and well earned progress. Blood & Dirt: Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand is recommended reading in a time where the urge to imprison and punish remains strong undeterred by the failure of the system to do anything but that. August 2023 release

Review: One of Them

Author: Shaneel Lal. Reviewer: Demi Cox.‘For me, there are not enough words to describe just how stunning One of Them really is.’July 2023 release

Review: Dice

'Baylis brings an academic’s rigour to Dice; the courtroom questioning of the complainants is relayed in detail but more interesting is how this is filtered through the various personalities on the jury and how each hears and sees the same scene differently. In doing so, Baylis examines issues of race, justice, bias and class.'

Review: The Words For Her

Author: Thomasin Sleigh. Reviewer: Dionne Christian.The Words For Her is one of the most inventive, provocative and layered novels released this year. In the world Thomasin Sleigh carefully constructs, she builds on uncertainties and ideas to pose successive new and tricky considerations. June 2023 release

Review: Lioness

Author: Emily Perkins. Reviewer: Josie Shapiro.The fifth novel by Emily Perkins, Lioness showcases her skill, charged by a crisp, steady voice punctuated with powerful insight which lures readers into a beguiling tale of a woman unravelling. July 2023 release

Review: Under the Weather: A Future Forecast for New Zealand

The must-read book on what New Zealand's changing climate means for our everyday lives, Under the Weather is a picture of a planet in danger, a reality-check on what that means for this country, and a reminder that the shape of our future is up to us.

Review: Shadow Worlds: A History of the Occult and Esoteric in New Zealand

Author: Andrew Paul Wood. Reviewer: Graham Reid. Shadow Worlds: A history of the occult and esoteric in New Zealand is a fascinating, readable book – if complex, have pencil handy - which illuminates numerous subcultures and belief systems which often found sizeable audiences here. July 2023 release

Review: There’s a cure for this: A memoir

Author: Emma Espiner. Reviewer: Elizabeth Heritage.There’s a cure for this is Dr Emma Espiner’s pukapuka about entering the hothouse world of medical studies as an adult, beginning in 2015. May 2023 release

Review: Head on: An All Black's memoir of rugby, dementia, and the hidden cost of success

Head On is compelling and confronting and sets a new benchmark for sporting memoirs, one that will be hard to top. Carl Hayman spares nothing and gives everything.

Review: Catch A Falling Star

Catch A Falling Star is another thought-provoking, real-world read for young adults by this very able writer, Eileen Merriman.

Review: Rings on Water

Matakana’s queen of crime, Madeleine Eskedahl, returns with the second thriller in her Matakana series, Rings on Water.

Review: Here Upon the Tide

Author: Blair McMillan. Reviewer: Anne Ingram. There are difficult themes in Here Upon the Tide – refugees and their need for a safe home, the loss of a parent, depression and mental health. These matters impact the characters deeply but never weigh the book down. Blair McMillan has explored each theme with understanding and compassion… June 2023 release

Review: Takahē: Bird of Dreams

Author: Alison Ballance. Reviewer: Alex Eagles. ‘Like the birds, Takahē: Bird of Dreams is colourful and heavy-duty; its glossy pages filled with fascinating information and beautiful photos…’ June 2023 release

Review: Night Owls and Early Birds: Rhythms of Life on a Rotating Planet

Written by a world-leading chronobiologist, Night Owls and Early Birds illuminates the fascinating science of biological time and offers a stark warning to anyone giving up on a night’s sleep to get more out of their busy waking hours.

Review: BITER

Filled with hickeys, puttanesca and tart wit, BITER is an apt title for Claudia Jardine’s debut collection of verse where fresh translations of erotic Greek epigrams are threaded through boozy sonnets, ecstatic odes and startlingly vulnerable love poems.

Review: Pet

Author: Catherine Chidgey. Reviewer: Dionne Christian. ‘Catherine Chidgey is causing confusion. Unity Books explains via social media post that when people asking for Chidgey’s new book, they have to clarify whether they want The Axeman’s Carnival, winner of the 2023 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, or Chidgey’s actual newest book, Pet… both are a testament to Chidgey’s virtuoso talent …’ June 2023 release

Review: Through Shaded Glass: Women and Photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860 – 1960

The contribution of women to the first century of photography has been overlooked across the world, including in New Zealand. With few exceptions, photographic histories have tended to focus on the male maker. Through Shaded Glass: Women and Photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860 – 1960 tilts the balance, unearthing a large and hitherto unknown number of women photographers, both professional and amateur, who operated in New Zealand from the 1860s to 1960.

Review: Who Disturbs the Kūkupa?

Author: Kayleen M Hazlehurst. Reviewer: David Hill.Kayleen Hazlehurst brings to us a powerful new wartime novel set in Aotearoa/ New Zealand during World War II. Who Disturbs the Kūkupa? is a sweeping tale of courage, love and awakening during one of the world’s darkest moments in history. June 2023 release

Review: Jack & Sandy

Jack & Sandy is an adventure story told across three generations - a story about friendship, family and the devastating effects of war. Written and illustrated with graphic novel sections by Bob Kerr, the award-winning illustrator of Terry Teo.

Review: Katherine Mansfield’s Europe: Station to Station

Beautifully written and illustrated with maps and stunning photography, Katherine Mansfield’s Europe is part travelogue, part literary biography, part detective story and part ghost story.

Review: The Spanish Garden

Set on a single day in 2016, The Spanish Garden novel tells a story of memory and loss, the fatal history shared between two families, Pākehā and Māori, and a man’s enduring obsession with love.

Review: Dream Girl

Bittersweet and intimate, comic and gothic, Dream Girl is a collection of stories about young women navigating desire in all its manifestations.

Review: Calamities!

In her second, spine-cracking collection, Calamities!, Jane Arthur wants “to get morbid.”

Review: Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts

Plunging the reader into the gruelling world of the long distance runner, Josie Shapiro deftly weaves the coming-of-age story of Mickey Bloom into a gripping account of adult Bloom running the Auckland Marathon.

Review: This is a story about your mother

In her latest collection, Louise Wallace raises an existential eyebrow at pregnancy-birth-motherhood.

Review: From There to Here: A memoir

Joe Bennett is probably Aotearoa's most consummate and (intermittently) funny columnist. I use the parentheses not as a criticism, but because he can also write gloriously excoriating political and social commentary.

Review: The Sparrow

The Sparrow is a powerful new historical novel from one of New Zealand’s best-loved YA authors, Tessa Duder.

Review: Ruin and Other Stores

Emma Hislop’s debut collection of short fiction, Ruin and Other Stories, is a sharp observation of the power dynamics that run through relationships, deftly twisting and turning from exploitation to revenge.

Review: The Deck

A deeply faceted and deeply-mulled literary novel, Fiona Farrell’s The Deck is a relevant, expansive read.

Review: Respirator: A Poet Laureate Collection 2019 - 2022

Respirator is a sumptuous celebration of David Eggleton’s tenure as the nation’s poet-at-large during his time as Aotearoa NZ Poet Laureate (2019–22).

Review: Laughing at the Dark: A memoir

From the best-selling and acclaimed author Barbara Else, Laughing at the Dark is a funny, moving memoir about how she rebelled against being a ‘good girl.’

Review: Face to the Sky

In her latest collection, Michele Leggott speaks to the art and writings of 19th century New Zealand painter Emily Cumming Harris. Face to the Sky tells stories of love and loss from two women in the shadow the same mountain, more than a century apart.

Review: Kind

Stephanie Johnson’s contribution to the “pandemic genre,” Kind is a cross between a satire and a thriller that pivots around – before, during and after - that strange silent period of the first lockdown in March 2020.

Review: Landed

A wry, pensive, character-driven novel, Landed is Sue McCauley’s first novel in decades.

Review: Tūī Street Legends

Tūī Street Legends is book three in Anne Kayes’ successful series about a group of young friends who live in a tightknit community where neighbours still greet each other by name and the kids are in and out of one another’s homes, forging close friendships and connections.

Review: The Last Days of Joy

An intimate exploration of the reverberations of family trauma, Anne Tiernan’s The Last Days of Joy is the story of the Tobin family, originating from Ireland but now living in New Zealand, after an long-ago accident that, in its horror, isolated them from their community and made a fresh start desirable.

Review: Below

In Below, a young adult novel by renowned storyteller David Hill, we witness two adolescents who find themselves completely out of their league, trapped in the tunnel.

Review: The Drinking Game

Author: Guyon Espiner. Reviewer: Michael Burgess. Of all the books that will be published in New Zealand in 2023, it’s hard to imagine there will be many more important than The Drinking Game. It’s a gem; thought provoking, startling, persuasive and entertaining, exploring how the way we drink has been shaped by factors far beyond any individual's control. February 2023 release

Review: Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2023 - afterburn

Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook - afterburn, edited by Tracey Slaughter, is an essential, annual collection of terrific new poetry from New Zealand.

Review: One of Those Mothers

Aotearoa New Zealand’s fiction commercial fiction is finally growing up, and Megan Nicol Reed has skilfully captured the ‘think global but write local’ zeitgeist in her excellent debut novel One of Those Mothers.

Review: Say I Do This

C.K. Stead’s new collection, Say I Do This, is a reminder that during his long and fruitful poetic career, he has always been a civic poet, and one of our most lucid and articulate.

Review: How To Get Fired

Evana Belich’s collection of stories, How To Get Fired, gives a voice to what is usually quietly but deeply felt: the clumsily transcendent process of moving on.

Review: The Queen’s Wife

The Queen’s Wife is unlike anything I’ve read. Sure, it’s a memoir but it pushes against the normative structures and account of one’s life in a refreshing way – it’s experimental, novel and undeniably queer – perfectly matching its subject matter.

Review: Letter to ‘Oumuamua

Letter to ‘Oumuamua is polished, clever collection by an accomplished poet.

Review: Birnam Wood

A gripping thriller from the Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries, Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its wit, drama and immersion in character.

Review: Tiaki: A shout-out to Aotearoa’s lesser known creatures

Author: Jean Donaldson. Reviewer: Alex Eagles.This book is a shout-out to the weird and wonderful endangered species in Aotearoa, those lesser-known creatures that don’t regularly make the news. But they are just as important as the ‘stars’ like kākāpō and kiwi, for they are the foundation of our unique biodiversity.November 2022 release

Review: The Ghost House

Bill Nagelkerke has a knack for using creative perspectives and the paranormal as a recurring theme in his work. Both are used well in The Ghost House.

Review: Blood Matters

Blood Matters is a solid read, vivaciously told, outlining any small town in New Zealand through which we may have travelled while on our way to more popular destinations.

Review: My American Chair

My American Chair, Elizabeth Smither’s newest collection, contains the words of a seasoned poet interrogating humanity, her encounters and friendships and observing with great acuity the small oddities that exist in the world.

Review: Vanishing Ice: Stories of New Zealand’s Glaciers

Author: Lynley Hargreaves. Reviewer: Alison Ballance. Written by Lynley Hargreaves, Vanishing Ice: Stories of New Zealand’s Glaciers tells the stories of our glaciers through the lens of human interaction, with chapters moving through time from first Māori discoverers to colonial explorers, mountaineers and modern glaciologists. November 2022 release

Review: Home Is An Island: A Writer’s Tribute to the Islands of Aotearoa New Zealand

Home Is An Island is a writer's tribute to the islands of Aotearoa New Zealand.

He Arotake: A Message for Nasty Nā: Hannah Tunnicliffe

He Arotake: A message for Nasty Nā: Hannah Tunnicliffe

Review: Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay

Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay is an important new history considered through a queer lens.

Review: Always Going Home: Lauris and Frances Edmond: A mother and daughter story

Always Going Home is the compelling personal story of Frances Edmond’s relationship with her ‘beloved, complicated, difficult’ mother, the award-winning poet Lauris Edmond (1924–2000).

Arotakenga: Freestyle The Israel Adesanya Story nā David Riley, ko ngā pikitia nā Ant Sang

The inspiring story of mixed-martial arts world champion Israel Adesanya

Review: Children of the Rush Book 1

Best-selling author James Russell returns with with a new series, Children of the Rush, and it’s so good that it won a Storylines Notable Book Award before it was officially released.

Review: The Crate: A Ghost Story

An expertly told ghost story is a thing to behold, and James Norcliffe has done an exceptional job of reeling his readers in and paying out the line with his latest book, The Crate.

Review: The Physician’s Gun

Author: John Evan Harris. Reviewer: Cullen Wilson.The Physician’s Gun is more than an action-packed western. It has grit, wild spirit and a uniquely compelling story ripped out of Aotearoa’s colonial past. October 2022 release

Review: Secrets of the Sea: The Story of New Zealand's Native Sea Creatures

Secrets of the Sea is the evocative title of ecologist and natural history writer Robert Vennell's new book and a very apt description of our oceans. With an astonishing 80 per cent still unexplored and 70 per cent of species yet to be classified, the Earth's seas are full of mystery.

Review: Always Italicise: how to write while colonised

If I were to review Always Italicise: how to write while colonised as a tweet it would be a row of fire emojis.