There’s no better Christmas gift than a good book. Hilarious, challenging, visually stunning and thought provoking, there’s something for everyone in December’s book roundup.
WIN! We have copies of all six new releases to give away. To be in to win, email competitions@nzmcd.co.nz or message us at facebook.com/mcdmagazine with your choice. Winners drawn on January 20th 2023.
Act of Oblivion
Robert Harris
Penguin Random House
RRP $37.00
From the master storyteller and author of Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, Munich and Conclave, comes this spellbinding historical novel that brilliantly imagines one of the greatest manhunts in history: the search for two Englishmen involved in the killing of King Charles I and the implacable foe on their tail. It’s 1660, and General Edward Whaley and Colonel William Goffe, a father – and son-in-law, cross the Atlantic. They are on the run for the King’s murder; under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, they have been found guilty in absentia of high treason. In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is tasked with tracking the two men down, and he’ll stop at nothing to succeed. A reward of £100 hangs over their heads for capture, dead or alive. This epic new novel is Richard Harris’ first historical novel, and you’ll be enraptured in this page turner of a story about religion, vengeance and power.
Cat Lady
Dawn O’Porter
HarperCollins
RRP $35.00
Hilarious, touching, quirky, funny and challenging on occasion, Cat Lady is a laugh-out-loud ride from beginning to end. Written by British author, journalist, TV presenter and dress designer Dawn O’Porter, the book focuses on Mia, a woman who plays the part people expect. She’s a good wife to her husband Tristan, a doting stepmother, and she slips on her suit for work each morning like a new skin. But beneath the surface, there is another woman clawing to get out – and when a shocking event shatters her carefully honed life, Mia is faced with a choice. Does she live for a society that’s all too quick to judge, or does she live true to herself? And if that means coming across as an independent woman with a cat – single, independent, crazy, aloof – then the world had better be ready. Because as all cat lovers know, a cat lady will always fall on her feet.
The New Zealand Seashore Guide
Sally Carson & Rod Morris
Potton & Burton
RRP $49.99
The Lego Story: How a little toy sparked the world’s imagination
Jens Andersen
HarperCollins
RRP $39.99
Few people aren’t fascinated by how Lego came to be such a worldwide phenomenon. It’s estimated that up to 90 million children around the globe are given a box of Lego every year, while 10 million adults buy sets for themselves. More than a dizzying amount of bricks that can be combined in countless ways, Lego is also an example of how humanity can learn through play. This extraordinary inside story of Lego is based on unprecedented access to the company’s archives, and rare interviews with the founding family that still owns the company. It gives insight into a global company, and a Danish family who for 90 years have defended the rights of children and grownups to play. “This book tells the story of how my family built the Lego brand,” says former President/CEP of the Lego Group and third-generation owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. Beautifully illustrated with images from the family’s private photo archive, this is the ultimate Christmas gift for Lego lovers.
Wild Life
Anna Carlile
Hardie Grant Explore
RRP $37.99
This immensely stunning book will make a wonderful gift for someone who is looking to just disconnect from the hurly burly of everyday life. ‘Rewilding’ – the act of simplifying, unplugging and connecting in meaningful ways – is a growing trend for those wanting to reconnect with their natural selves in meaningful ways. No matter whether you live in the mountains, by the coast, on the banks of a river, in the middle of a city or you’re travelling through a bunch of places in your RV, this book is your passport to take yourself away from the crazy, put your phone down and pick up where your wild self left off. Featuring stunning photography that evokes the magic and healing effects of nature, Wild Life offers 50 accessible projects to bring rewilding into your life. From pressing wildflowers and creating micro-adventures, to using the sky to find north and the trees to find your way out while camping or hiking, this book is truly a breath of fresh air and a chance to reset.
Stella Maris
Cormac McCarthy
Macmillan
RRP $49.99
This second mesmerising novel in The Passenger series by acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy, Stella Maris is an intimate portrait of grief and longing, as a woman in a psychiatric facility tries to understand her own existence. Alicia Western, aged 20 and with a plastic bag containing $40,000, admits herself to hospital at Black River Falls in Wisconsin in 1972. A doctoral candidate in mathematics at the University of Chicago, Alicia has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and she doesn’t want to talk about her brother, Bobby. Instead, she focuses on the nature of madness, the human insistence on one common experience of the world. She recalls a childhood where, by the age of seven, her own grandmother feared for her. Told entirely through the transcripts of Alicia’s psychiatric sessions, this is a searching, intellectually challenging read that will challenge your notions of truth and existence.
