THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

This is the first in our quick reviews - a list of goodies for your beach bag or bach beanbag reader list.  Ditch the streming channels, socials and screens and pick up some of these thrillers for you holiday hooplahs instead.  Night Will Find You - Julia Heaberlin (Penguin) In this new thriller from the author of the bestselling ‘We Are All the Same in the Dark’, a brilliant young astrophysicist with an uncanny gift is asked help out in a search for a girl who’s vanished.   This story focuses on Vivvy Bouchet, who was only ten when she saved a boy's life by making an impossible psychic prediction.  She can’t explain these powers or even admit to them.  doesn't want to explain it.  A wunderkind scientist, Vivvy wants to be left in peace to scan the desert Texas sky with her telescopes.  But when the boy she saved, now a Fort Worth cop, begs for her help on a cold case, she can't turn him down. Heaberlin has written a brilliant and unforgettable he...

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Here's a Christmas stocking filler for the sailor or nautical buff in your life.   Graham (Scarlet Women) is a prolific researcher and writer of of science, technology, and history.  His work takes readers on a nautical voyage across the seas and around the world.   This book takes readers through 50 magic or significant moments in the invention and utilisation of ships and sea vessels.  His text moves from the ancient Egyptian barges of Pharaoh Khufu to the modern MS Allure of the Seas, which was the largest passenger ship ever built (way bigger than the Titanic!).   I loved flipping through the fascinating book of records, facts, figures and historical references.  Only, being from Aotearoa, I wanted to see something about waka and the voyages of Kupe or the migrations from Rarotonga, etc.  It's like the Pacific cannot feature in here.  Only Thor's Kontiki exhibition, long debunked as a failed theory, appears.  And that ...

In the first major national history of Aotearoa New Zealand to be published for 20 years, Professor Michael Belgrave advances the notion that New Zealand's two peoples — tangata whenua and subsequent migrants — have together built an open, liberal society based on a series of social contracts. Frayed though they may sometimes be, these contracts have created a country that is distinct. This engaging new look at our history examines how. 'This history of Aotearoa New Zealand," writes historian Michael Belgrave, "is a response to crisis: the masscre of 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 and the ongoing uncertainty which followed."   This was a reponse to a question and a statement doing the rounds on social media at the time: 'Who are we?' And 'This is not us!'   Unfortunately, if you look back at our history, at how we treated Maori, Chinese, Samoans, Tongans, and Moslems, our Colonial past, our racism, our bigotry, our 'whi...

Times garden journalist and writer Ann Treneman investigates the incredible world of plantlife from all angles in the incredible diverse amalgam of fun-facts, data points, literary quotes and  foliage foibles.  It's both a plant geek's bible and a novice's introductory gift book.  Beautiful illustrations with useful diagrams and explainations that help you learn almost by stealth as you dive in.   The first chapters look at the beauty of botany - why particular flowers or plants attract polinators - whether they are bees, insects, or even, in the case of grasses, the wind. It's a mix of science, botany and literature.  For instance the explanationof how inflorences work (i.e how flowers are arrangd on the floral axis of a plant.  Or which are the oldest flowers on the planet - the first flowering plants were Monsechia found in spain) and Archafrutus China) which were both aquatic.  Who knew? There's the 'doctrine of signatures', meaning that, at p...

So, here's the premise: There are two murders, decades apart.  Two bodies, skeletons, barely bones, found in the sand dunes.  In a similar place.  Ex-cop Hana Westerman has left her job in Tāmaki Makaurau and moved back to her whenua, remote Tāta Bay, somewhere south of the big smoke, leaving her career and detective duties behind her.  She's now settled into a quieter lifestyle.  Until... This is Bennett’s brilliant sequel to his debut in the genre, 'Better the Blood'.  It's a series that follows Hana Westerman, an ambitious detective who, in the last book, 'Better The Blood'  cornered a serial killer but had suffered traumatic events during the investigation that led her to resign and move back to  the West Coast of the North Island, in part to be near her ageing father. Along the way she brings her daughter, Addison and her bestie, PLUS ONE, who is non-binary.  In a scene similar to the opening of the TV show 'Broadchurch' Addison dis...

  The Beth's are set to headline WOMAD 2025 along with Nitin Sawney, The Veils &  NZ Trio, Black Comet, and Queen Omega Following the success of its incredible first lineup in September,  WOMAD Aotearoa  has unveiled 13 new acts for the 2025 festival.   This lineup transcends geographical and musical boundaries, bringing together artists from Aotearoa to Scotland, Brazil to Palestine, Cuba to Niger,   blending traditional and contemporary sounds and   ranging from classical to electronic and desert rock to folk .  WOMAD Aotearoa  once again brings together art and music, celebrating the world’s diverse cultures over three memorable days of excitement, discovery, joy, and unity.  Joining the 2025 festival lineup are trailblazers of the Shamstep music movement,  47Soul  from Palestine/Jordan; Cuba's  Ana Carla Maza,  who brings her soulful cello and emotive songwriting, seamlessly merging classical training wit...

A fascinating insight in the amazing ways animals use their senses to survive in the natural world. This wonderfully illustrated book is for 8 to 12 year age group. I feel that sometimes kids books talk down to their readers, or assume topics are too complicated and heavy for them. Or maybe gross, technical or maybe even a bit dry.   Barraud doesn't think that way at all.  He mixes questions, diagrams, illustrations and ponderings, speaking directly to the reader (or in the case when read alound, the listener).   This is about exloring the ways animals, birds and fish use ther superpowers - sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and other sensory abilities to understand and nivigate their worlds.   Along thee way we discover some amazing facts.  Did you know butterflies can taste with their feet?  Does that mean they get their big toes stuck in their icecream cones? Did yoou know that a bumblebee can 'see' a flower's ultraviolet colours?  O...

Image: Fane Flaws Quirky treasures for adults and children alike await with the digital re-release of legendary art project  THE UNDERWATERMELON MAN AND OTHER UNREASONABLE RHYMES. But first, we are treated to a rereleased recording  of ‘ The Hide & Seeky Bird ’, featuring late great Aotearoa comedian  John Clarke !  The cherished collection of songs is set to be digitally released for the first time this November, 25 years from its original CD release which features some of Aotearoa’s finest musicians and entertainers including  Neil Finn ,  Tim Finn ,  Chris Knox ,  Bic and Boh Runga, Dave Dobbyn ,  Jenny Morris, Don McGlashan  and many more.  Now, as a tribute to its creator NZ artist  Fane Flaws ,  who passed away in 2021,  THE UNDERWATERMELON MAN AND OTHER UNREASONABLE RHYMES  will be released for the first time via all streaming services worldwide.  What started as a series of illustrations and rhym...

Curious readers, passionate book lovers, conversationalists and art fans, all!  We at Groove Book Report are over the moon that the   Verb Readers and Writers Festival 2024 programme  is NOW OUT!  International writers are back!  Writers are coming to Verb from the  USA, UK, Ireland, China  and  Australia , including a  Carnegie Medal winner  (Patrick Ness), a  Granta Best of Young British Novelist  (Jenni Fagan), a  Booker Prize longlister  (Elaine Feeney), and an  Orange Prize longlister  (Kathryn Heyman). The festival will feature international leaders in  Indigenous publishing ,  activists  who have changed our country for the better,  rangatahi  who are proudly extending literary art forms in exciting new directions, and an incredible line up of  brilliant writers and artists from across Aotearoa .  Read on for highlights, or you can take a deep dive into the festival ...

Performing at WOMAD Aotearoa 2025  -  From Trinidad and Tobago, Queen Omega  In anticipation of the full 2025 festival line-up, WOMAD Aotearoa is excited to reveal the first artists confirmed for the event and in true WOMAD style, there’s some incredible international names, alongside some outstanding local talent.  From Trinidad and Tobago, Queen Omega will command the stage, bringing one of the most valued voices in the world-reggae scene. Joining the line up will be Nitin Sawhney from the UK, a highly acclaimed musician, composer, and producer celebrated for his eclectic and genre-crossing work. In a special collaboration, The Veils, led by the captivating Finn Andrews, will team up with the talented NZTrio - Amalia Hall, Ashley Brown, and Somi Kim. Also announced for the 2025 festival lineup is Australia's folktronic act Amaru Tribe.  These unique performers represent a dynamic mix of global talent,...