THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

The Bulford Kiwi - Colleen Brown (Bateman $39.99) The Bulford Kiwi, claims author Colleen Brown, has become a monument built by soldiers, for themselves and their mates but also an emblem to be proud of and a cherished link to home.  Home a place that was so far away, so distant to the troops located at Sling Camp, post WWI.   Home was not England, as it was sold to us later in the post war years.  Home was New Zealand, Aotearoa - the rolling hills the coast line and the place of families, whanau and aroha of every kind.   The Kiwi was constructed on Beacon Hill overlooking Sling Camp (now gone), part of Bulford Camp, during the occupation of the Camp by New Zealand troops which began in June 1916. After the war was over the troops were eager to return home, but no troop ships were available. In the wake of riots by disaffected New Zealanders, officers decided that the troops should be kept busy carving an enormous kiwi into the chalk of the hi...

This highly eccentric debut from Irish author Danny Denton mashes up Guy-Richie styled gangster ballads and Orwellian 'noir dystopia'.  And then mixes in some deeply the self-conscious experimental writing stolen from the rich vein of Irish literature.  Phew! The story is set in an exceptionally dark version of Dublin where it never stops raining.  Immediately it feels like Frank Miller's Gotham, with North Irish accents and pessimism.  He's created a post-apocalyptic country with whole sections sinking into the sea.  Agricultural industry is destroyed and 92.46 per cent precipitation counts as the “thinnest and firmest in yonks. A bare tremble.” People only witness the sun through videos.  UV booths or sun rooms pop up to meet demand, a bit like oxygen bars in the neo-pollution of Tokyo. The  that is characters are, understandably affected by this damp water world.  One character even keeps a slug as a pet.  But it's not a cleansing...

Is it a bird? A plane? Or a comic/pop band tie in?  You decide. There’s no band in the world like BABYMETAL, the metal dance unit, whose hit songs like KARATE ,  Gimme Chocolate ,  and Megitsune  have captured the imaginations of fans around the globe.  And now publishers Z2 Comics , Hollywood film and TV production company Amuse Group USA , and BABYMETAL’s producer KOBAMETAL are collaborating on a brand new, original story for the graphic novel APOCRYPHA: THE LEGEND OF BABYMETAL , featuring art by award-winning illustrator GMB Chomichuk. This concept band is not new.  They were formed in 2010.  BABYMETAL is a metal dance unit made up of three performers, known as (wait for it) SU-METAL, YUIMETAL, and MOAMETAL. The publicity goes "With their combination of powerful metal sound and dance performances, they are by far the most unique band out there. Since its inception, the Japanese metal dance unit has developed a devoted fan base that d...

"The baby is dead. It only took a few seconds" Note: This book is also known as The Perfect Nanny and   Chanson Douce She has the keys to their apartment. She knows everything. She has embedded herself so deeply in their lives that it now seems impossible to remove her. When Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family's chic apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau. Building tension with every page, The Perfect Nanny is a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity, an...

Codename Suzette is one of the untold stories of the Holocaust, an account of extraordinary courage in the face of evil.  It's about Suzanne Spaak, who was  was born into an affluent Belgian Catholic family.  She then married into the country's leading political dynasty.  Her brother-in-law was the Foreign Minister and her husband Claude Spaak was a playwright and a patron of the renown painter Rene Magritte. Then the Germans came.  In occupied Paris Spaak moved among the cultural elite.  Her neighbor,  Colette, France's most famous living writer, and writer/thinker Jean Cocteau were also part of her circle of intimates. But Spaak lived a double life.  Her friendship with a Polish Jewish refugee led her to her real life's purpose. It seems that when when France fell and the Nazis occupied Paris, she was moved to feel compelled to act.  She joined the Resistance and used her fortune and social status to enlist allies among wealthy Parisia...

Eileen is the author of Pieces of You , a first-time YA novel that produced quite a bit of critical aclaim.  All worthy, as it was a great read.  Her second novel will be just as, if not more, successful and establish this Kiwi author as a top YA writer on our library and bookshop shelving. Merriman has honed her writing skills over the last few years, with work appearing in many a number of national and international journals, as well as anthologies. She also has several short fiction awards under her belt. She did a fiction writing course with Creative Hub in 2013. Like Pieces of You , this story looks at teenagers with huge, almost insurmountable problems.  Our 'hero' 17 year old Alex Byrd has just discovered her childhood illness leukemia has returned.  This is devastating.  Yet, in a hospital waiting room she meets love, in the 'shape Jamie Orange.  Only later does she learn he is bipolar disorder.  However, despite their problems, the pai...

For a short time , in the 1990's and early 2000's we all thought the nuclear threat had dissipated.  After all, Russia was being split up, the Wall in Berlin had fallen, the Cold War was thawing.  But then new powers like Iraq and Iran, were gaining power and rattling their sabers.  Then, most recently Pres.Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un waving their dicks in public and threatening mass world destruction.  The threat is back.  Just like a new Marvel or DC Super Hero film - except this is not block buster anyone really wants to be part of.  So, long story short, the Nuclear threat has never really gone away. Enter Daniel Ellsberg, author of the revelations in his book Pentagon Papers starts his new release with another revelation.  It seems that when he copied that groundbreaking Vietnam-era study, which upended the Nixon administration and transformed Ellsberg into a celebrity whistle-blower, he also went ahead and copied many other documents made d...

A patent filing in 2016 described how records could be made with a superior quality to standard vinyl. It said that the LPs would boast higher audio fidelity, higher volume and longer playing times. Now, founder and CEO of Rebeat Innovation, Günter Loibl, has told Pitchfork that the new format could hit record stores as early as 2019. How does it work? According to the official HD vinyl site, the process converts audio digitally to a 3D conversion. Once optimized, the 3D topographic map will be engraved onto a ceramic plate. Read more at: http://www.nme.com/news/hd-vinyl-is-coming-20192289508-2289508#U30IDFctxEWwiBPv.99

Come and celebrate 50 years of literary history at the Festival and find out who will win the big prizes at the 2018  Ockham New Zealand Book Awards!  This year's finest books across fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction will be celebrated as the Festival's first public event and you are all invited!  The New Zealand Seashore  by John Morton and Michael Miller took this country's very first literary honour in 1968. Who will take home this year's $50,000 Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize? Find out at the  Ockham New Zealand Book Awards . For the literary aficionados among us, and those who like a bit of fun, join  Te Radar  in  The Great NZ Lit Quiz  on Friday 18 May. Come and test your grey matter across Godzone's lively literary landscape. Gather a team together or come alone and grab a seat! She's recited to the Queen, been the subject of documentary, and is feted at Festivals all over the world. Our curre...

With New Zealand Festival 2018 Writers & Readers over we thought it might be a good time to round up some of the writers recently featured at the a readers and Writers week at Te NZ Festival.  So, we’ve compiled this special selection of the latest titles from some of this year’s speakers. So, take a look, all of these are available at NZ libraries around the country, place your reserves and get reading. Hera Lindsay Bird / Hera Lindsay Bird. Bird turns her prescient eye on love and loss, and what emerges is like a helicopter in fog…or a bejewelled Christmas sleigh, gliding triumphantly through the contemporary aesthetic desert…this is at once an intelligent and compelling fantasy of tenderness…heartbreaking and charged with trees…without once sacrificing the forest…Whether you are masturbating luxuriously in your parent’s sleepout…or pushing a pork roast home in a vintage pram…this is the book for you. Drawn out : a seriously funny memoir / Tom Scott Tom Scott ...