SECTIONS

NZ non-fiction

EntertainmentOctober 19

Prisoners' welfare, rehabilitation important to top QC

On October 8, 2014 at 11pm, many New Zealanders will have stepped outside to view a lunar eclipse in a starry sky. Imagine then, lunar eclipse or otherwise, someone who, for 20 years, has not been free to walk outside and simply look at the moon or the stars.
Prisoners' welfare, rehabilitation important to top QC
Prisoners' welfare, rehabilitation important to top QC
EntertainmentOctober 19

Quake science fascinating but disquieting reading

The first thing I looked for in Matthew Wright's impressive book turned up on page 9: where did Dunedin/Otago stand in the earthquake-risk sweepstakes?
Quake science fascinating but disquieting reading
Quake science fascinating but disquieting reading
EntertainmentSeptember 22

Shining light on challenging environments

Polish-born and Wanaka-based author Derek Grzelewski has, to my mind, long been one of our top exponents of the long-form magazine article.
Shining light on challenging environments
Shining light on challenging environments
EntertainmentSeptember 22

Plea for acceptance, understanding

Mary O'Hagan was at the University of Otago when she was first hospitalised with paralysing depression.
Plea for acceptance, understanding
Plea for acceptance, understanding
EntertainmentAugust 29

Seddon at last gets biography of right calibre

Call him what you will, Richard John or ''King Dick'' Seddon, the man dominated the political landscape of a country that he liked to call ''God's Own''. Political scientists and historians regularly vote him top dog.
Seddon at last gets biography of right calibre
Seddon at last gets biography of right calibre
EntertainmentAugust 11

Interesting examination of Anzac Day

A decade ago, Chris Pugsley wrote in The Anzac Experience about the meanings of ''Anzac'' and of Anzac Day and how they are subtly different on each side of the Tasman.
Interesting examination of Anzac Day
Interesting examination of Anzac Day
EntertainmentJuly 4

Focus on lesser-known natural history

In NZ Wild Life, New Zealand biologists Steve Trewick and Mary Morgan-Richards have set out to introduce readers to the country's lesser-known natural history, where the most diversity often lies.
Focus on lesser-known natural history
Focus on lesser-known natural history
EntertainmentApril 11

'Big Norm' still casts oversize shadow

The shadow of Norman Kirk still looms large on New Zealand's political landscape.
'Big Norm' still casts oversize shadow
'Big Norm' still casts oversize shadow
EntertainmentMarch 28

Fascinating perspective on NZ cultural life

How we change with time!
Fascinating perspective on NZ cultural life
Fascinating perspective on NZ cultural life
EntertainmentFebruary 21

The changing face of advertising in NZ

This glamorous production has an attractive cover of a bare-shouldered Maoriland maiden sitting by a pool with snow-covered mountains behind, and she is selling ... apples?
The changing face of advertising in NZ
The changing face of advertising in NZ
EntertainmentFebruary 21

Influential cross-cultural travellers

Our interest in early European explorers and settlers never seems to abate.
Influential cross-cultural travellers
Influential cross-cultural travellers
EntertainmentFebruary 14

Detailed history has links to Otago

This history of New Zealand's World War 1 hospital ships is much more than an account of caring for 47,000 casualties in difficult and dangerous conditions.
Detailed history has links to Otago
Detailed history has links to Otago
EntertainmentFebruary 11

NZ's lost buildings recalled

When it comes to protecting and preserving its heritage buildings, Dunedin has much to be proud of, but it is not, by any means, a blot-free record.
NZ's lost buildings recalled
NZ's lost buildings recalled
EntertainmentFebruary 7

Couple provide fresh view of NZ landscape

''Fresh'' would have been an appropriate title for this book - if another publisher hadn't already had first dibs on the word.
Couple provide fresh view of NZ landscape
Couple provide fresh view of NZ landscape
EntertainmentFebruary 7

Scots migration to Antipodes in clear focus

Unpacking The Kists is a readable, well-researched book described as the first in-depth study of New Zealand's Scots migrants and their impact on an evolving settler society.
Scots migration to Antipodes in clear focus
Scots migration to Antipodes in clear focus
EntertainmentFebruary 7

Story of Scots farming pioneers

Being half-Scot, I enjoy accounts of Otago's pioneering days when mostly Scottish immigrants swapped lives as shepherds and tenant-farmers for the possibility of being landowners and/or self-employed in faraway places.
Story of Scots farming pioneers
Story of Scots farming pioneers
EntertainmentJanuary 31

Intelligent look at human/animal interaction

Let's start with a confession. I am one of the few Kiwis who does not ''own'' a companion animal (pet).
Intelligent look at human/animal interaction
Intelligent look at human/animal interaction
EntertainmentJanuary 24

'Big picture' look at NZ art scene

This is a gorgeous soft-covered book to look at and hold, with its wonderful maniacal image of the subject by John B. Turner in 1969, about the time we should have been buying up works by McCahon and Woollaston.
'Big picture' look at NZ art scene
'Big picture' look at NZ art scene
EntertainmentJanuary 17

School on the hill, warts and all

I'll warrant no secondary school in New Zealand has produced a finer history than this one written by Rory Sweetman, an Irish-born New Zealander and a professional historian with no links to the school about which he has written.
School on the hill, warts and all
School on the hill, warts and all
EntertainmentDecember 20

Dark and autobiographical fable

The Mijo Tree is the last of the late Janet Frame's previously unreleased manuscripts to be published posthumously.
Dark and autobiographical fable
Dark and autobiographical fable
EntertainmentDecember 20

Goldmine of New Zealand history

In 1953, a British reporter covering the Royal tour wrote a piece for the Otago Daily Times portraying New Zealand as a rather dull but in many ways enviable earthly paradise.
Goldmine of New Zealand history
Goldmine of New Zealand history
EntertainmentDecember 20

Journals present 'conversation' with Brasch

This 646-page, elegantly presented hard-bound book is an admirable representative of its academic genre - the scholarly edition of a text.
Journals present 'conversation' with Brasch
Journals present 'conversation' with Brasch
EntertainmentDecember 13

Great story of team-building and pig-hunting

Andy Lyver is an enthusiast.
Great story of team-building and pig-hunting
Great story of team-building and pig-hunting
EntertainmentDecember 13

Amusing anecdotes from 'Big Al' Lester

I have always been a fan of ''Big Al'' Lester's books; I find his writing style very Crumpish.
Amusing anecdotes from 'Big Al' Lester
Amusing anecdotes from 'Big Al' Lester
EntertainmentDecember 13

Something for everyone

Hunter Steuart Laing, of Christchurch, has included something for everyone in this book.
Something for everyone
Something for everyone