Homesteads: The Story of New Zealand's Grand Country Houses by Debra Millar

$75.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: near fine

A stunning tribute to the grand homes built by New Zealand's pioneering pastoralists, Homesteads shares a remarkable legacy of this country's rural heritage. These houses are among some of the country's most iconic, many of them surrounded by equally notable gardens, and all still lived in today. Jane U ssher's evocative photographs capture the unique character and architectural diversity of each homestead, while Debra Millar explores the stories that have shaped these landmark rural properties through generations. Featured homesteads include Mount Peel Station, Longbeach Estate, Terrace Station, Surrey Hills and Blue Cliffs Station in Canterbury; Gwavas Garden and Oruawharo in Hawke's Bay; Merchiston Station and Pukemarama Station in Manawatu; Puketiti Station on the North Island's remote East Coast; and Kuriheka Estate in Otago. This is a book that showcases an extraordinary range of architecture, interiors and gardens, and brings the past into the present day. ...Show more

The History Speech by Mark Sweet

$32.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

It is 1960s provincial New Zealand, and a set of upper middle class families enjoy the good life together. But just under the surface of the conventionality, there are undercurrents. Adolescent Callum Gow's father is a bully, his mother is having an affair, and there are secrets about abuse, suicide and the past. In amongst this, Callum is trying to understand his growing identity and sexuality. His only refuge is his grandfather, but this is in danger as Callum's father has grandfather wrongfully committed as he won't agree to a merger of the family business. Callum has to resolve his internal conflicts about who he is and resist social conformity to rescue his grandfather, get himself and his mother away from his father's control and tell the truth about the past. ...Show more

Hooked for Life - A Celebration of Fly Fishing by Les Hill

$45.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: near fine

Based on Les Hill’s 63 years of fly fishing in New Zealand, HOOKED FOR LIFE is packed with interesting, amusing and informative anecdotes. The book resonates with the sheer joy of hunting and catching trout, while imparting a lifetime’s worth of invaluable lessons on how to go about it. The reader will not only benefit from the author’s years of experience with nymph and dry fly, but will enjoy soaking up the special atmosphere he evokes and relive vicariously the primal contest between angler and fish. Along the way they’ll learn to think like a trout and understand the nature of the world it lives in; get some tips on streamside photography; and come to appreciate the author’s view that it is often more satisfying to catch one special fish than a large number on a particular day, or that the trout that gets away can provide as much fun as several brought to a net. ...Show more

New Zealanders: The Field Guide by Tom Sainsbury

$37.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: near fine

A revealing guide to the weird and wonderful inhabitants of New Zealand... and the places you'll find them. After years of mimicking various celebrities and stereotypes on his social media platforms, comedian Tom Sainsbury has now compiled his favourite New Zealand personalities into a book. This array of Kiwi heroes includes the useless farmhand that is forever jack-knifing the trailer, the martyr mother who guilt-trips her children, the officious office-worker who narks on the rest of the staff for low level misdemeanours, and the alpha-male teenager who loiters around Mount Maunganui every New Year's. All these descriptions are lovingly collated into a concise, easy-to-read field guide that'll give you a hilarious, in-depth insight into the people of Aotearoa. ...Show more

A Pilot's Story

$35.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

Birds of New Zealand: Collective Nouns by Melissa Boardman

$30.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: near fine

A beautifully illustrated book featuring New Zealand Aotearoa's native birds, each with its very own collective noun.   A tussock of takahe?   A hoon of kaka?   A whistling of whio?   This beautifully illustrated book of collective noun names for our native birds reveals something unique about their cha racter, so we can get to know them better. It also includes information on how they live, so we can help protect them. Birds of New Zealand: Collective Nouns - Nga Manu o Aotearoa: Nga Kupuingoa topu - is a book for all bird-lovers. ...Show more

Living Lightly: The Busy Person's Guide to Mindful Consumption by Nicola Turner

$45.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: very good

How do you reduce your impact when you don't want to compromise your lifestyle? How do you live lighter when you're juggling the motherlode of life? How can you become more mindful of how and what you're consuming? In a previous career, Nicola Turner's job was to convince us to buy more - and now she u ses this insight to help us consume less. With her unique ability to keep it real, Nicola shares how her family now lives with less stuff, less waste and less impact. It's made life simpler, saved heaps of time and money and created a healthier, happier family. Filled with do-able ideas and practical hacks, Living Lightly is for everyday people who want to simplify their life and reduce their impact but feel they're just too damn busy. It's all about making simple changes that work for you - and not letting perfect get in the way of good. ...Show more

Living Hawke's Bay

$9.90 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

New Zealand Coastlines by Darryl & Gillian Torckler

$30.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

A pictorial book of New Zealand’s coastlines, featuring the stunning images of innovative photography of Darryl Torckler, with text commentary from Gillian Torckler. Divided geographically, the photographed areas include: North: Bay of Islands to the Cape, down to 90-mile beach and Hokianga. East: from the Bay of Islands to Napier, including the outer Hauraki Gulf and islands, White Island. Central: Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman District. West: west coast of the South Island to the North Island’s west coast. South: South Island, including all of the southern east coast, Stewart Island, Fiordland. ...Show more

Ambition: What New Zealanders Think and Why it Matters by Julie Fry & Hayden Glass

$28.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

Many commentators say New Zealanders lack ambition, and that aspects of the New Zealandcharacter or our comfortable lives limit our achievements. We are said to be too keen on time off, too concerned about everyone fitting in, suspicious of people who try too hard, enthusiastic about humility, afraid of risk and failure, and relatively unmotivated everywhere but on the sports field. And yet Kiwis achieve at the very highest levels, both at home and overseas. This book looks at what ambition means to New Zealanders. It reviews what has been said about us over the years, and compares these comments with the results of a national survey of nearly 1,300 people conducted in mid 2018. Along the way it explains the connections between ambitionand economic performance, and the science of ambition and achievement. The book is part of a broader project, AmbitionNZ. The authors have filmed interviews with more than 150 people from all walks of life, from farmers and teachers to entrepreneurs and former Prime Ministers. A selection of these interviews will be shared on the ambition.nz website when the book is released. ...Show more

Wild Horses of the World by Kelly Wilson

$60.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

Wild horses have been an important part of wildlife on Earth for centuries, yet many herds now face serious threats - and very few people can claim to have seen them galloping free across the plains, or scaling mountain passes. Kelly Wilson has. For this book, she spent years researching the world's wil dest herds, travelling the globe and living among them. From the remote forests of Canada and snowcapped mountains of America, to the unforgiving deserts of Australia and windswept beaches of New Zealand, Kelly has captured a raw and honest portrayal of these animals - their rugged beauty, their unique way of life, and the harsh, yet picturesque landscapes they call home. Live the adventure alongside her, as Kelly looks into the secret lives of wild horses, how their populations are managed, and the many hardships they must overcome in their fight for survival.   ...Show more

Semper Fidelis by Sandra Gorter

$15.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

Planted in the sea 1200 miles from the nearest significant landmass, New Zealand was always going to be a nation of sailors. As the era of immigrants arriving by boat was coming to a close, those already there had turned again to the sea for their recreation conducting the battles of peacetime on the wa ter. First had been the Logans with their aristocrat Ariki, leading the fleet for three decades. Then came Ranger and another thirty years of men and boats battling for supremacy on the Waitemata. Gradually but surely as the sailors, designers and sailmakers learned from the innovations that were changing the world, a boat would emerge to topple the latest king of the Waitemata. But before that happened, while men still dreamed in timber, a boat did come along that was capable of toppling Ranger. As New Zealanders took their sailing skills to the world a new champion emerged, and after proving she could beat Ranger, instead of confronting the cosy competition on the Waitemata, her owner chose instead to take the competition to the greatest, most vicious ocean race in the world and win the Sydney Hobart. Little did he know that years after, having raced in every condition the Pacific Ocean had to offer, the boat, like so many Kiwis before her, would one day call Australia home, and earn her place as one of the premier classic yachts racing out of Sydney Harbour. Like the ocean she raced on, she could be fickle, harsh, uncompromising and brutal. But she was also a fabulously beautiful boat who captured the hearts and souls of all the men who owned and sailed on her. She was: Fidelis ...Show more