Someone's Wife by Linda Burgess

$37.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography | Reading Level: near fine

A brilliant collection of personal essays from a quietly subversive writer. These pieces read like the freshest of recent novels: clever, restrained and wittily observant. They range across the personal and the observational. There are essays on her lifetime of being an All Black wife (once an AB, alway s an AB); her love of teaching, education and the young; and a powerful essay on the death of her baby, Toby, striking in its honesty.  Linda is interested in family and friendship; shared and sometimes distorted memories. Her personal truths link to universal truths. Linda explores the era in which she grew up, and her experiences are timeless. She looks at living overseas, at children leaving home, at house-hunting in Wellington, at travelling with a grandchild, at Leonard Cohen concerts as tribal gatherings.  In the hands of a writer as accomplished as Linda Burgess, these essays are riveting and engaging. ...Show more

Keepers of History - New Zealand Centenarians Tell Their Stories by Renée Hollis

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography

In 2017, Renee Hollis interviewed 120 people over the age of 100, living in every region of New Zealand. Along the way, she had the privilege of interviewing 23 World War II veterans. Her goal in compiling the book was to preserve New Zealand history by sharing the stories and memories of our eldest cit izens. She wants all people to value the elderly and to read and appreciate their stories and contribution to our society. Most importantly, she wants to ensure that that they are not forgotten and do not become invisible in our communities, but instead are honoured and celebrated. In this collection of interviews, we meet opera singers and farmers, a politician and a racing car driver, a nun and a freedom fighter with Gandhi, and even a member of Hip Operation - the oldest hip-hop group in the world! They have witnessed momentous global events and technological innovations that have changed our world. From the everyday to the extraordinary, these are the stories of people who have lived through history and whose message of resilience and making the best of things has so much to offer the generations that have followed them. ...Show more

Mophead by Selina Tusitala Marsh

$30.00 NZD

Category: Comics & Graphic Novels

An inspirational graphic memoir of growing up Pasifika in New Zealand, written and illustrated by our fast-talking PI Poet Laureate, Selina Tusitala Marsh. At school, Selina is teased for her big, frizzy hair. Kids call her ‘mophead’. She ties her hair up this way and that way and tries to fit in. Until one day – Sam Hunt plays a role – Selina gives up the game. She decides to let her hair out, to embrace her difference, to be WILD! Selina takes us through special moments in her extraordinary life. She becomes one of the first Pasifika women to hold a PhD. She reads for the Queen of England and Samoan royalty. She meets Barack Obama. And then she is named the New Zealand Poet Laureate. She picks up her special tokotoko, and notices something. It has wild hair coming out the end. It looks like a mop. A kid on the Waiheke ferry teases her about it. So she tells him a story . . . This is an inspirational graphic memoir, full of wry humour, that will appeal to young readers and adults alike. Illustrated with wit and verve by the author – NZ’s bestselling Poet Laureate – Mophead tells the true story of a New Zealand woman realising how her difference can make a difference. ...Show more

Driven by the Wind - The Memoir of Captain Henry Rose by Karen Stade

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography

...Christmas Day 1847 we were in a gale of a wind in the Bay of Biscay, the ship being deeply laden made rather bad weather of it. One of the boats was struck by a heavy sea and smashed and the First Mate had his leg broken. The Cook... told me that I would never see my mother again... So began the adve ntures of Captain Henry Rose, who went to sea as a 14-year-old apprentice and rose through the ranks to command some of the fastest clipper ships in the world. He sailed the trade routes between England and China, the West Indies and the American seaboard, carrying soldiers and horses to the Crimea, slavesand coolies to American plantations and convicts to Australia. He was aboard the tea clipper Collinsburgh when she raced her rival Truce around Cape Horn from China to Gravesend, and in 1870 he captained the immigrant ship Merope on her record-breaking voyage across the Southern Ocean to New Zealand. ...Show more

Native Son: The Writer's Memoir by Witi Ihimaera

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography | Reading Level: near fine

This is the second memoir of a remarkable Maori writer and of the living myths that inspired him at the beginning of his career. Look at him, the young man on the cover. The year is 1972, he is 28, his first book is about to be published, and he has every reason to kick up his heels. But behind that joy ful smile, and the image of a writer footing it in the Pakeha world, there is another narrative, one that Witi has not told before. The story of a native son, struggling to find a place, a voice and an identity, and to put a secret past to rest. This sequel to the award-winning memoir Maori Boy picks up where it stopped, following Witi through his triumphs and failures at school and university, to experimenting sexually, searching for love and purpose and to becoming our first Maori novelist. It continues in the same vein described by a reviewer of the first volume- 'a rich, powerful, multi-layered and totally unique story . . . something every New Zealander should read'. ...Show more

Every Day a Picnic in the Bush by John Gilbert

$37.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography

A Way Home by Jillian Sullivan

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography

When life as she knew it ended, with her marriage over and her last child off into the world, writer Jillian Sullivan set out to fulfil a long-held dream of building a strawbale house. She settled in a small community in Central Otago, and A Way Home tells the story of how she eventually managed to buil d her new home. With her son-in-law Sam as her builder and mentor, and she as the apprentice, Jillian describes the process of having to learn how to use tools, how to be strong and to be safe and, more importantly that there is no such thing as can¿t. The house that arises through this memoir is a physical testament to the rebuilding of a life, of finding your place in a community, and of the unexpected joyousness in joining with others on a building project. People come from all over New Zealand to help ¿ from Nelson, Auckland, Queenstown, from next door and from the next valleys. There are poets and artists, a magician and finance analyst, grandmothers and grandchildren, old friends, new friends and strangers. Each person brings their unique skills and gifts and leaves with new ones. The house absorbs their creativity and kindnesses. A Way Home reflects on our need for home, for community, and for finding a way to live sustainably in this rapidly changing world. The story evokes life in a harsh climate in a small village, the struggle to overcome lack of skills and strength, and to move past loneliness and loss to find a place to call home. This is an affecting story, quietly inspirational and beautifully told by a deft and skilled writer. ...Show more

Nathan Fa'avae: Adventurer at Heart by Nathan Fa'Avae

$42.00 NZD

Category: Sport

It takes a Tour de France cyclist about 90 hours of cycling, spread over three weeks with rest days, to win the race. To win an adventure race can take up to 160 hours of non-stop racing over six days, with virtually no sleep or rest. To excel at this sport requires an elite level of skill in mountain r unning, cycling, biking, kayaking, rafting and navigation but, above all, an almost superhuman capacity to endure suffering and pain. In this book, world champion adventure racer Nathan Fa'avae, considered by many to be the best in the history of the sport, shares his life story, and provides a unique insight into this remarkable pursuit. Part-Samoan, Nathan was raised in Nelson, and it was as a wayward adolescent that he discovered outdoor adventure. Since then he has never looked back, and has been a full-time adventurer working as an outdoor educator, the owner of multiple adventure-based businesses, and a professional athlete. His career has taken him all over the world, and he has raced in the deserts of Africa, Mexico and the Emirates, the plains of Tibet and China, and the peaks and valleys of Nepal, Ecuador, Brazil, Patagonia, Russia, the European Alps, and New Zealand. Nathan Fa'ave: Adventurer at heart is a story of courage and perseverance, and of overcoming tremendous challenges. Nathan's career as an adventure racer has been made even harder by atrial fibrillation, a heart condition which has threatened many times to stop his sporting endeavours. Nathan Fa'avae is a remarkable New Zealander, and this book is a moving and inspiring account of what it takes to become a world champion. ...Show more

Relentless: a Story of Grit and Endurance from the First Person to Kayak the Tasman Solo by Scott Donaldson

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography

The story of Scott Donaldson's relentless journey to be the first person to cross the Tasman sea solo in a kayak. Unpredictable and unforgiving, the Tasman Sea is one of the most hostile stretches of water in the world. An Australian adventurer attempted to kayak across in 2007, disappearing without a trace. In 2018 Kiwi adventurer Scott Donaldson spent two months alone at sea to achieve a world first. It was his third attempt, having fallen a heartbreaking 80 kilometres short in 2014. Donaldson's world first is an inspirational story of dogged perseverance, true Kiwi grit and relentless endurance. 'There are some accomplishments that are difficult to fathom - like crossing the Tasman solo in a kayak. I'm pretty sure Scott Donaldson has stunned us all. Truly amazing.' - Jacinda Ardern ...Show more

Alone in the Tasman: Tony Allan's True Story of Survival at Sea by Les Hill

$38.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography

The longest-known survival on the Tasman Sea in a life raft. After competing in the Solo Tasman Yacht Challenge 1974, Christchurch man Tony Allan was sailing back to New Zealand from Mooloolaba when his boat, Rebel II, capsized two days into the journey, leaving him adrift in his life raft for 20 days. Alone in the Tasman, as told to Les Hill, is an inspiring story of survival as Tony battled through nightmares, hearing voices, loneliness, and absolute vulnerability. Tony's is the longest-known survival on the Tasman Sea in a life raft. ...Show more

The Wind at My Back by Josh Komen

$30.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography

`I was a lost little boy, trapped in a world where I didn't belong, one that would tear me apart and build me back into someone new . . .' Twenty-three-year-old Josh Komen is on track to represent New Zealand in running at the next Commonwealth Games when he is diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. In a single moment, the course of his life has changed irrevocably. What follows are years of excrutiating pain, brutal treatments both in New Zealand and Australia, and shocking side-effects that send a young man to the brink of despair and back innumerable times. Ultimately, it is the enduring love of his close-knit family and friends, the incredible medical professionals who treat him, his spiritual beliefs, and his passion for nature that carry Josh through the hardest of challenges. The life lessons Josh gathers along the way are an inspiration for us all. This is an incredible story of courage, love and endurance. ...Show more

The Audrey Story by John Ewan

$35.00 NZD

Category: NZ - Biography