THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

This is NOT one of Madeline Hunter's romance novels. There may well be crowns, tiaras and castles.  Love, hope, happiness and heartbreak.  But that is a completely different series. This is a magical real life fairytale.  Sort of.   Emma Watkins, known as the Duchess of Rutland tells us the true story of her life.  She shows us that life in a castle isn't always the fairytale Disney told us it was.  In her own charming, humorous and eye-opening autobiography she reveals what really goes on behind the portcullis.   Never in her wildest dreams did Watkins, who grew up a Pony mad Welsh farmer's daughter, imagine she'd marry into aristocracy.  But then she fell in love with David Manners, who is heir to the duchy of Rutland.  She found herself part of a a strange, glamorous, traditional new 'old' world.  When David inherited the dukedom, Emma becomes 'chatelaine' of Belvoir Castle.  A building with and illustrious history, ove...

Why is art important and what impact does it have on society? Wild Kinship: The Makers takes us on a journey to find out just that. A collection of over twenty-five chapters The Makers speaks with artists from all walks of life to discover the impact that arts and creativity have on the cultural wellbeing of society and that of our own. It explores what it means to be a creative today and explains why it is essential to our wellbeing through thought provoking, inspiring conversations that implore you to begin to take note and to notice the small things that bring us joy and make life meaningful. Following on from the success of Wild Kinship: Conversations With Conscious Entrepreneurs , The Makers focuses on the wellness of our minds. It serves to inspire and awaken the creative in all of us, it is a celebration of art and pays homage to the importance of holistic wellbeing in our everyday lives. This stunning hardback showcases 26 diverse artists working now in Australia and Aotearoa....

Sedef Ecer. Portrait by Brigitte Baudesson Randell Cottage have just announced their new French writer in residence.  Franco-Turkish novelist, playwright and screenwriter, Sedef Ecer, has been selected as the 2023 French artist-in-residence at Randell Cottage and will join the residency programme early in the New Year. During her stay in Wellington, she hopes to explore an exciting subject: a novel that will focus on the role of New Zealand and Turkish women and the fighting at Gallipoli – her parents live close to the site, and the project is something she has had in mind for some years. Born in Istanbul, Sedef Ecer grew up in the world of movie-making, theatre and television. Her latest book, Trésor national, was published by JC Lattès in 2021. She writes in different genres and in two languages: she has written more than 500 articles or opinion pieces for the press, novels, screenplays, explored new genres and translated Montaigne, Charlotte Delbo and Saint-Exupery’s works into ...

First up.  Publishers, if you are reading this, you need to option this book.  It's brilliant! Period!    It's a meticulous study in police procedural crime in the late 1970's.  Ron Fox's cover photo shows the hulking carcass of the BNZ Building.  It's construction permanently halted by a boilermakers strike.  Early 80's and the power of the unions in the day.  Of course, Jim Bolger's government came in a little later and destroyed unions and employee equality for ever.  It sets the scence for the incompetence and infighting that coloured our authorities in the Muldoon years.   We know about the Gliding On years.  This is like the darker 'cop stories' from that same time. With an incredible eye for details Luke takes us back to the Wellington of 1977 and 1978. I was in Standard 4 but I really felt like I was back there, none the less.  Detective Lucas 'Lu' Cole is the main character. The book revolves aroud his personal an...

Matthew Goody and Hamish Kilgour - Photo Tim Gruar On Thursday night we got along to Flying Nun Records in Newtown to see Hamish Kilgour in conversation with Canadian author and FN uber-fan Matthew Goody who has just released the definitive book on the early years for our beloved Flying Nun Records.   This book is a real labor of love, featuring photos from personal artist's collocations, many never seen before,  and the back story to virtually every release from '81 - 88.  It is truly is a richly illustrated Flying Nun discography – all the records from ‘Tally Ho!’ to Bird-Dog. So many great bands - The Clean, The Verlaines, the Headless Chickens, Look Blue Go Purple, The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience and many, many more. Canadian music fanatic, record collector, editor and publisher Matthew Goody has just released a book on Flying Nun - it's a labor of love - a comprehensive discography including the bands and the songs from 1981 to 1988. Matthew Goody - Photo Tim Gr...

  This Wednesday gone Dame Fiona Kidman, a 'founding member' of the NZ Book Council - now Read NZ Te Pou Muramura delivered her lecture/pānui, called 'The Heart Of The Matter' to a packed house at the National Library Theatre, in celebration of Read NZ's 50th Anniversary.  In it, she celebrated her own life in literature, from a 6 year old who learned to read in hospital to a librarian at Rotorua and being interviewed by legendary book seller Roy Parsons as Secretary of Aotearoa's first Book Council, a not-for-profit organisation that presents a wide range of programmes to promote books and reading in New Zealand.  Their special name expresses the concept of moving from darkness into light, as told in the Māori creation story. This metaphor can also be used to describe what happens during the process of reading. 'Muramura' is a glowing ember, flame or blaze, and 'pou' is an upright supporting post or pole. Te Pou Muramura speaks to the sustenance...

WOMAD NZ  Announces The 2023 World Of Words  Programme    The World of Words celebrates diverse and exciting voices designed to inspire people to think, talk, laugh, listen and learn. WOMAD NZ 2023, March 17-19 Celebrating 20 years, 17 Festivals And Over 1500 Performers Be Part Of Global History.  WOMAD 2023 tickets On Sale Now From  www.womad.co.nz Image credit - Charlotte Curd  Download  media assets WOMAD's World Of Words  is a series of spoken sessions featuring novelists, poets, comedians, critical thinkers, entrepreneurs and more from around Aotearoa. The WOMAD NZ 2023 World Of Words speakers in alphabetical order are journalist and author of "The Great Successor"  Anna Fifield,  New Zealand's poet laureate  Chris Tse,  poet and multi-disciplinary artist  Daren Kamali,  one of New Zealand's best-known painters,  Dick Frizzell (MNZM) , multi-award-winning comedian  James Nokise,...