THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

Making history come to life, this popular factional series of diaries covers major New Zealand historical events.  A re-jacketed and re-titled edition of a bestselling 'My Story' book, formerly titled Abandon Ship! (1968). Debbie Atherton keeps a diary and writes to it as if it were a pen pal, telling of her frustrations at school, of her older cousin Val and her exciting life, and of her home life. When she gets glandular fever she is sent to Christchurch to recuperate, accompanied by Val. Val and Debbie return to Wellington on the Wahine. During the night of the storm, as the Wahine lolls in the entrance to Wellington harbour, Val and Debbie become separated. Each experiences the tragic night of the sinking of the Wahine in different ways and not all of the group survive. Afterwards Debbie finds comfort in talking to her friend Bronwyn about her experiences — the feelings of guilt at their survival and the horror of watching others struggle to survive. Shirley’s first...

"A re-release of Canterbury Quake for a new audience. Anyone would think Maddys world had crumbled when she didnt get a cell phone for her eleventh birthday. But Maddy soon has far more important things to worry about. In the dark of night, with a terrifying rumble and a deafening roar, the world turns upside down! Suddenly, words like 'liquefaction,' 'aftershocks' and 'state of emergency' bubble to the surface of her vocabulary. As Maddy navigates the bumps and crashes of life after the big quakes, she discovers how strong family ties can be, and finds friendship in the most unlikely of places" Maddy has just turned eleven and is a typical New Zealand 11 year old. She goes to school, loves singing and hanging out with her best friend Laura. However, Maddy’s normal life changes in an instant when there is a massive earthquake in Christchurch in September 2010. Maddy and her family are lucky; their house is not badly damaged and they can stay there....

The fifth book in the Miss Peringrine's series picks up right where A Map of Days left off with Jacob abandoning his friends to rescue an American peculiar named Noor (much to Miss Peregrine’s chagrin).  Noor is is vital.  She's supposed to fulfill a prophecy which states that she and six others will save 'peculiardom' from the coming doom.  Even though they don't exactly know what that peril is.  But, when Jacob and Noor return to Devil’s Acre (their HQ) they learn that the wights they’d captured have broken free and are headed to America to cause major chaos.  Of course, they can't act without their their leader, Caul, who's trapped in a collapsed loop.  At least we're led to believe he is.  Jacob begins to hear voices in his head.  Miss Peregrine hears them, too.  He wonders if Caul is really gone or has somehow come back.  The American peculiars don't exactly behave as they should.  Jacob, Miss Peregrine, and oth...

Statement from the organisers. Auckland Writers Festival regrets to advise the cancellation of its May 2020 Festival, owing to the critical Covid-19 situation and the Government’s ban on mass public gatherings. We’re immensely proud of the programme for our 20 th  Festival that was launched just last week. We are extremely sad not to have the opportunity to deliver it to our writing and reading community, but the health and well-being of all must be our paramount concern at this difficult time. All purchased tickets will be fully refunded via Ticketmaster, and we will be in touch with all stakeholders over the coming days to discuss our change of plans. Thank you for your ongoing support for the Festival and we look forward to seeing you again in 2021.

A shortlist of finalists has been announced for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.   Judges call this year's filalist list "cheeringly excellent year for New Zealand fiction". FIinalists include Owen Marshall, Becky Manawatu, David Vann, Kolokesa U Māhina-Tuai, Stephen Toussaint, Sarah Myles, Carl Shuker, Shayne Carter and Helen Rickerby.  There are 16 finalists in total - four of which will vie for the $55,000 fiction award. The list was narrowed down from 170 entries and a longlist of 40 titles.  Finalists are across fiction, poetry, illustrated non-fiction and general non-fiction. The 2020 finalists for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction are:  Auē  by Becky Manawatu,  Pearly Gates  by Owen Marshall,  A Mistake  by Carl Shuker and  Halibut on the Moon  by David Vann. Mark Broatch, spokesperson for the fiction judges, said the novels and short story collections comprised a great range, depth and surprise. ...

Find a friend and sing and laugh along to this gentle waiata, sung by June Pitman-Hayes in collaboration with Pio Terei and illustrated by Minky Stapleton. For children and whanau of all backgrounds, this new release is a celebration of Kiwi community spirit and resilience. ''We join our hands in friendship, thats how we get along. All around our gentle land, no matter where were from ... we fill the air with laughter and our kia kaha song! Find a friend and sing along to Aotearoas catchy KIA KAHA song." A year on from the horrendous events in Christchurch comes a book about standing strong together, celebrating diversity and supporting one another.  Aimed at young children, the images clearly set out to put children from Māori, Pākeha and Muslim backgrounds on the cover but inside they work and play alongside Asian, Indian, Chinese, Pacific and Middle Eastern and European backgrounds all together on the same page.  There are people of many cultures.  "We join...

It's their 20th Anniversary and their going on tour! Join Festival Director Anne O'Brien for a preview of the Auckland Writers Festival programme and which books should be on your 2020 reading list. ALL WELCOME The highly-anticipated programme for the 20th Auckland Writers Festival will be revealed in a few weeks, on Wednesday 11 March. It will comprise over 200 events, and showcase over 230 international and local writers, illustrators, poets and playwrights, along with many, many wonderful books. With the full programme under her arm, long-time Festival Director Anne O’Brien will then take the show on the road, promoting the event to bibliophiles at bookshops and libraries across the country. “It’s our 20th Festival this year and we thought it was high time we got out of Auckland and hit the provinces. Although 20% of attendees were visitors to Auckland last year, the Festival would like to see that number increase. “This Festival is not just for Auckland, it’s f...

Today, we start a new series focussing on some of the best independent book stores.  A realative new comer to the Wellington book scene Schrödinger’s Books is a small, perfectly formed shop in Jackson Street, Petone. Mary and the team at Schrödinger’s Books opened in August last year in a beautifully refurbished building.  They stock a wide range of new books including many Science titles of GNS and STEMM interest as well as those for the general reading enthusiast. They are also building up their Children’s section with books for all ages, as well as Young Adults, General Fiction, Crime fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy, NZ Fiction & Poetry, Politics, History, Travel, Health, Medical & Psychology, Sustainable Living, Natural History, Cookery, Gardening, Music, Art and, of course, Aotearoa. They are open seven days a week, but Snday's a re definitely the day to go.  A facebook page is up and running  - best place to go for details of aut...