Tales from the Ruakituri Valley by Dave Withers

$45.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

The Ruakituri valley is South East of Gisborne, and runs up to the Urewera National Park. The Ruakituri river emerges from the native bush of the park and tumbles through gulleys until it drops three levels over the spectacular 100 metre escarpment, and so down through the beautiful farming area that f orms the Ruakituri Valley of this book. Tales from the Ruakituri Valley is a collection of stories telling of life in the valley and the characters and events that are part of Ruakituri, and indeed typical of most remote farming communities in New Zealand. ...Show more

The Note Through the Wire by Doug Gold

$37.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

An extraordinary true story of a love that emerged, against all odds, from the brutal war in Nazi-occupied Europe.

The Book of Knowing: Know How You Think, Change How You Feel by Gwendoline Smith (Dr Know)

$25.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

Written in an accessible and humorous style, this book teaches you to know what's going on in your mind and how to get your feelings under control. It'll help you adapt and feel better about your place in the world. Psychologist Gwendoline Smith uses her broad scientific knowledge and experience to expl ain in clear and simple language what's happening when you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious and confused. ...Show more

Gene Eating: The Science of Obesity and the Truth about Diets by Giles Yeo

$38.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

Cambridge geneticist, Dr Giles Yeo, has dedicated over 20 years studying how genes influence our eating habits. Instead of looking at how we have become obese, GENE EATING tackles the question of WHY some people eat more than others. The UK has the biggest waistlines in Western Europe and an enormous p roblem of other diet-related illnesses. Our modern lifestyle coupled with the food environment, has made weight-loss the biggest public health quest of today; more of us than ever before are desperately bingeing on unreliable promises made online, on food labels or by the recent proliferation of food 'gurus' who are hungry for a slice of the multi-million pound diet industry. Written with his accessible, good-humoured style, GENE EATING unravels this hugely complex answer and argues that understanding our genes and the biology of our food intake is essential if we are to effectively tackle the obesity epidemic and improve our health. This pioneering book is a ray of light in our murky 'post-truth' climate- a celebration of evidence-based science that everyone can digest. ...Show more

Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy and a Collision of Lives by Adam Makos

$45.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner's journey into the heart of the Third Reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duel--and forge an enduring bond with his enemy. When Clarence Smoyer is assigned to th e gunner's seat of his Sherman tank, his crewmates discover that the gentle giant from Pennsylvania has a hidden talent: He's a natural-born shooter. At first, Clarence and his fellow crews in the legendary 3rd Armored Division--"Spearhead"--thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: The lead tank always gets hit. After Clarence sees his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art "super tank," one of twenty in the European theater. But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: Now they will spearhead every attack. That's how Clarence, the corporal from coal country, finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the "Fortress City" of Germany. Battling through the ruins, Clarence will engage the fearsome Panther in a duel immortalized by an army cameraman. And he will square off with Gustav Schaefer, a teenager behind the trigger in a Panzer IV tank, whose crew has been sent on a suicide mission to stop the Americans. As Clarence and Gustav trade fire down a long boulevard, they are taken by surprise by a tragic mistake of war. What happens next will haunt Clarence to the modern day, drawing him back to Cologne to do the unthinkable: to face his enemy, one last time. Advance praise for Spearhead "The tension, death, and courage that were everyday experiences for American tankers fill the pages of Makos's book. This moving story of bravery and comradeship is an important contribution to WWII history that will inform and fascinate both the general reader and the military historian."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "[Spearhead is] a compelling, exciting adventure . . . An in-the-moment re-creation of the Allied breakthrough of the West Wall into Nazi Germany by a remarkable cadre of tank crewmen of the 3rd Armored Division."--Kirkus Reviews ...Show more

World of Flowers - A Colouring Book and Floral Adventure by Johanna Basford

$28.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

An abundance of fascinating florals awaits in the gorgeous new colouring book from Johanna Basford. Join 'colourist queen' Johanna Basford on a floral adventure around the world and beyond, into the realms of fantasy and imagination. This sensational new colouring book is filled with countless new bloo ms and blossoms, from floating gardens of water poppies in South Africa to delicate cosmos in Japan, ready for you to discover and bring to life in colour. Get ready to show your colours! Johanna has picked a crisp ivory paper that accentuates and compliments your chosen colour palette. The smooth, untextured pages allows for beautiful blending or gradient techniques with coloured pencils, or are perfect for pens, allowing the nib to glide evenly over the surface without feathering. ...Show more

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield

$38.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General | Reading Level: 3 Biography

In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholsterer in Vienna, was seized by the Nazis. Along with his teenage son, Fritz, he was sent to Buchenwald in Germany. There began an unimaginable ordeal that saw the pair beaten, starved and forced to build the very concentration camp they were held in.When Gustav was set to be transferred to Auschwitz, a certain death sentence, Fritz refused to leave his side. Throughout the horrors they witnessed and the suffering they endured, there was one constant that kept them alive- the love between father and son.Based on Gustav's secret diary and meticulous archive research, this book tells his and Fritz's story for the first time - a story of courage and survival unparalleled in the history of the Holocaust. ...Show more

Ghost Riders - The Secret Wartime Mission to Save the World's Most Precious Horses by Mark Felton

$33.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

April 1945. As Alliedbombs rain down on Europe, a 400-year-old institution looks set to be wiped offthe face of the Earth. The famous white Lipizzaner stallions of the SpanishRiding School in Vienna, unique and precious animals representing centuries ofcareful breeding, are scattered across rural Austri a and Czechoslovakia inareas soon to be swallowed up by Soviet forces - there, doubtless, to becomerations for the Red Army.   Their only hope lies withthe Americans: what if a small, highly mobile US task force could be sent deepbehind German lines, through fanatical SS troops, to rescue the horses beforethe Soviets arrive. Just five light tanks, a handful of armoured cars and jeeps,and 300 battle-weary GIs must plunge headlong into the unknown on a rescuemission that could change the course of European history.   So beginsOperation Cowboy, the greatest Second World War story that has never been fullytold. GIs will join forces with surrendered German soldiers and liberatedprisoners of war to save the world's finest horses from fanatical SS and theruthless Red Army in an extraordinary battle during the last few days of thewar in Europe. ...Show more

The Good Mothers - The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World's Most Powerful Mafia by Alex Perry

$25.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

We live in their buildings, work in their companies, shop in their stores, eat in their restaurants, and elect politicians they fund. Founded more than 150 years ago by shepherding families in the toe of Italy, the 'Ndrangheta is today the world's most powerful mafia, with a crushing presence in Souther n Italy, a market-moving size in global finance and a reach that extends to fifty countries around the world. And yet, remarkably, few of us have ever heard of it. The 'Ndrangheta's power rests on a code of silence, omerta, enforced by a claustrophobic family hierarchy and murderous misogyny. Men and boys rule. Girls are married off as teenagers in arranged clan alliances. Beatings are routine. A woman who is 'unfaithful'-even to a dead husband-can expect her sons, brothers, or father to kill her to erase the 'family shame.' In 2009, when abused wife Lea Garofalo 'disappears' after giving evidence against her mafiosi husband, prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti realises the 'Ndrangheta's bigotry may be its great flaw. The key to bringing down this criminal empire is to free its women and allow them to speak out and testify. When Alessandra finds two collaborators inside Italy's biggest crime families, she must persuade them to cooperate and save themselves and their children. The stakes could not be higher. Alessandra is fighting to save a nation. The mafiosi are fighting for their existence. The women are fighting for their lives. Not all will survive. ...Show more

Thirty Days Has September: Cool Ways to Remember Stuff by STEVENS, CHRIS (ILLUSTRATOR)

$15.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

Walls: A History of Civilization in Blood and Brick by David Frye

$45.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

For thousands of years, humans have built walls and assaulted them, admired walls and reviled them. Great Walls have appeared on nearly every continent, the handiwork of people from Persia, Rome, China, Central America, and beyond. They have accompanied the rise of cities, nations, and empires. And yet they rarely appear in our history books. Spanning centuries and millennia, drawing on archaeological digs to evidence from Berlin and Hollywood, David Frye uncovers the story of walls and asks questions that are both intriguing and profound. Did walls make civilization possible? Can we live without them? This is more than a tale of bricks and stone: Frye reveals the startling link between what we build and how we live, who we are and how we came to be. It is nothing less than the story of civilization. ...Show more

All the Queen's Corgis - Corgis, Dorgis and Gundogs: the Story of Elizabeth II and Her Most Faithful Companions by Penny Junor

$30.00 NZD

Category: Non-Fiction General

Everyone who loves The Crown on Netflix will enjoy this celebration of Queen Elizabeth II and her beloved canine friends. The Queen has had corgis by her side ever since she was seven years old and persuaded her father to buy one for the family. She also has several dorgis (a cross resulting from an ac cidental liaison between one of the Queen's corgis and Princess Margaret's dachshund) and is a passionate breeder of gundogs. The dogs are the Queen's constant companions, travelling with her by air, road and rail, from one royal residence to another. She walks and feeds them herself, chooses names for them, and at the end of their days, buries them with personalised plaques to commemorate each individual. Penny Junor reveals the scraps and scrapes that the dogs have been involved in - the hierarchy amongst them, the corgis' feisty attitude to footmen and guests, gardeners and innocent passersby. This fascinating and affectionate look at the Queen and her most faithful companions is a book for dog lovers everywhere about what really makes our much-loved and longest reigning monarch truly light up. ...Show more