Kiwi Garages; Inside New Zealanders’ Happy Places
George Lockyer
Bateman
RRP $45.00
Ah, the humble garage. Once purely a home for the family car, these days you never know what you’ll find in a Kiwi garage. Craft rooms, man caves, home theatres, bars, mini-museums — or even perhaps something a little more ‘private’… This room reveals a world of fascinating personalities, and self-confessed garage enthusiast George Lockyer has travelled the country to find some of the best, and most intriguing. Simply by turning up on their doorstep and asking, Lockyer discovered that in many cases, the garage is the most fascinating room in the house. In this book you’ll meet machine lovers, colourful characters like ‘The Tin Man’ and ‘The Hot-rodding Baker’, creative types like sculptor Fiona Sutherland Kand and potter Mandy Gargiulo. And then there’s the garage named ‘Dominatrix, Red Fox’…
Take One Fish
Josh Niland
Hardie Grant
RRP $55.00
Creating a superb fish dish is the stuff of nightmares for some, starting right from the moment you have to fillet it. As for using the whole thing with no waste — where do you start? James Beard award-winning chef Josh Niland has written a book of 60 recipes, using just 15 varieties of fish, including groper (hāpuku), sardines and gurnard. The recipes range from the simplest dish to the most elaborate creations — and as with his first book, The Whole Fish, he aims to utilise 90% of every fish, scales, tail and all. Chapters are divided into species, then split according to the fish’s size, with each recipe celebrating the drips, the crunchy bits and even the scraps. This is a great gift for the angler or cook in your life that loves a challenge, and can embrace the unlikely; for example, tuna ribeye with fish fat Yorkshire puddings, anyone?
Dragonflies
Jennifer Mayne & Bruce Miller
Pacific Trust Holdings
RRP $36.99
Transport yourself to Naples, Florida, for this gripping read of sex, intrigue, gangsters and golf. Enthusiastic male golfers Lance, Jude, Tom and Chris live life in the fast lane. Like dragonflies flitting around in search of a mate, these four play the same game with women, creating a world of lust, drama and crime. Co-written by Jennifer Mayne and Bruce Miller, this book offers up both the male and female perspectives, tackling the topic of what men and women really think of each other. With Miller in Napier and Mayne in Auckland, much of this book was written by email; the pair only ever met twice before the manuscript was finished. The result is a book about new beginnings and chance, as well as hope and love.
The Family
Naomi Krupinsky
HarperCollins
RRP $32.99
Sofia Colicchio is a free spirit, loud and untamed. Antonia Russo is quiet and thoughtful, always observing the world around her. Best friends since birth, they live in the shadow of their respective fathers’ unspoken community: The Family. Nothing can separate the girls, who gather with the rest of the Italian mafia to feast, discuss business and renew the intoxicating bond that comes from blood and love — until Antonia’s father disappears. This captivating debut novel depicting 20th century Mafia is tense and engrossing; be prepared to stay for a while once you pick up the book, because you won’t want to put it down.
The Wild Twins
Amber & Serena Shine
HarperCollins
RRP $39.99
Fans of the Discovery Channel’s Naked And Afraid will recognise the Amazonian redheaded Kiwi twins as the pair who survived naked in the African wilderness for 21 days. They’ve also run the world’s highest marathon on Mount Everest, walked with jaguars in the Amazon, sailed the high seas from Hawai’i to San Francisco, navigated ice falls while climbing Mount Cook, and raced 322kms on a dogsled. If reading that just made your eyes widen, you’ll love The Wild Twins, where Amber and Serena share their most extreme achievements, and talk about what makes them who they are. These inspiring sisters are all about getting outdoors and reaching your potential, and coming home covered in mud, with a great story to tell.
Worse Things Happen At Sea
John McCrystal
Bateman Books
RRP $39.99
Few stories hold a crowd like legends of nautical misadventure, mystery and survival. Worse Things Happen At Sea is a collection of 24 tales from New Zealand and around the world, told sensitively and cleverly by shipwreck enthusiast and writer John McCrystal. Here you’ll find profiles of shipwrecks that have consumed our imaginations for years, including the mysterious abandoned Mary Celeste, the USS Indianapolis (regarded as the world’s worst ever mass shark attack), and the Wahine disaster. His stories include enduring mysteries that may never be solved, and examines a story that will doubtless feature in this summer’s news: when an expedition to the Auckland Islands will seek to lay to rest the 150-year-old mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the American gold ship, the General Grant.
