Friday 15 December 2017


NEW RELEASES



Impossible Inventions: Ideas that shouldn't work by Alexandra Mizielinska, Daniel Mizielinski and Malgorzata Mycielska      $35
Just because something is impossible is no reason not to invent it. Throughout history, humans have dreamed up some improbable ideas. Some of them, while laughed at in their time, have been remarkably prescient of technology of the world centuries in their future. This wonderfully illustrated book, from the inventors of Maps, H.O.U.S.E. and D.E.S.I.G.N. rewards hours of rapt attention. 
>> A comic review
The Domain by Gavin Hipkins         $70
Early in his career, New Zealand artist Gavin Hipkins was described by fellow artist Giovanni Intra as a ‘tourist of photography’. This epithet has been used repeatedly by commentators on Hipkins’ work to describe two intertwined aspects of his practice. As art historian Peter Brunt puts it, Hipkins is a constantly travelling photographer, ‘an iconographer of desire, travel, time and modern communities’, and a tourist within the medium, ‘a great manipulator of the photographic artefact itself’.
Island Time by Damon Salesa         $15
New Zealand is a nation that exists on Pacific Islands, but does not, will not, perhaps cannot, see itself as a Pacific Island nation. Yet turning to the Pacific, argues Damon Salesa, enables us to grasp a fuller understanding of what life is really like on these shores. What would it mean, this far-sighted book asks, for New Zealand to recognise its Pacific talent and finally act like a Pacific nation?


Witchfairy by Brigitte Minne and Carll Cnutt    $30
What do you do if you're tired of being a fairy? Can you be a witch? Can you be both a fairy and a witch? 
Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann     $39
A remarkable piece of scholarship, unearthing the long-overlooked lives of free Africans in Renaissance England. 
Telling the Real Story: Genre and New Zealand literature by Erin Mercer      $40
What modes of writing have been deemed more appropriate than others at particular times, and why? Why have some narratives been interpreted as realist when there are significant aspects of them that relate to other genres, such as romance, science fiction and Gothic? What meanings are generated by the meeting points in a text, where one mode meets another?
The Tiger Who Would Be King by James Thurber, illustrated by JooHee Yoon      $30
When the Tiger, against the advice of his mate, sets out to overthrow the current political order for the wrong reasons, things can hardly go well. 
One House for All by Inese Zandere and Juris Petraskevics        $30
Raven, Crayfish and Horse have always been best friends. They're grown up now and would like to start a family. They want all their families to live together and start planning to build a house. But what should that house look like? Will they find a solution that works for all of them?
The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero       $28
When a doll  comes to life in a toy shop in Krakow in 1939, she must not only heal the dollmaker's heart but together they must use their magic to save Jewish children from the fate intended for them by the Nazis. 
Tell Me How It Ends: An essay in forty questions by Valeria Luiselli        $17
"It is not even the American dream they pursue, but rather a more modest aspiration: to wake up from the nightmare into which they were born." An impassioned and revelatory account of the experiences of children who have entered the United States illegally from Mexico and Latin America. The book concentrates on both the hardships of the originating country and the harsh reception they receive in the US. 
"The first must-read book of the Trump era." - Texas Observer
"With anger and lucidity, Luiselli depicts the nightmares these children are forced to flee in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, as well as the destructive ignorance and bigotry that awaits them in America." - Chicago Tribune
Blankets by Craig Thompson        $45
An autobiographical graphic novel describing Thompson's emergence from a childhood of abuse, social isolation and evangelical Christianity through first love and into adulthood. 
"A superb example of the art of cartooning: the blending of word and picture to achieve an effect that neither is capable of without the other." - Bloomsbury Review
"Thompson manages to explore adolescent social yearnings, the power of young love and the complexities of sexual attraction with a rare combination of sincerity, pictorial lyricism and taste". - Publishers' Weekly
Africa: A modern history, 1945-2015 by Guy Arnold        $80
From decolonisation through independence to disappointment and new hope. 
"Vast and brilliant. Orderly but still managing to nip down a fascinating byway when necessary. A groundbreaking book." - Giles Foden, Guardian
Diary of an Ordinary Schoolgirl by Margaret Forster      $38
When Margaret Forster was 15 she did not know she would end up writing such best-selling books as Georgy Girl and Diary of an Ordinary Woman, but she did write her own diary, brimming with detail and lively expression. 
One Trick Pony by Nathan Hale      $25
The aliens have arrived. And they're hungry for electricity. In the Earth of the future, humans are on the run from an alien force - giant blobs who suck up electrical devices wherever they can find them. Strata and her family are part of a caravan of digital rescuers, hoping to keep the memory of civilisation alive by saving electronics wherever they can. Many humans have reverted to a pre-electrical age, and others have taken advantage of the invasion to become dangerous bandits and outlaws. When Strata and her brother are separated from the caravan, they must rely on a particularly beautiful and rare robot pony to escape the outlaws and aliens - and defeat the invaders. A notable graphic novel for children.
Works, 2007-2017 by Tracey Emin         $149
A full exploration of the wide range of Emin's work, all assailing the division of private and public lives. Moving chronologically through a prolific decade of work from major public installations to recent reflective paintings and sculptures this book shows a coherent vision that defies the idiosyncrasies of Emin s evolution as an artist. The same mixture of anger, hope, curiosity, and vulnerability that informs her delicate drawings and handwritten neon works can be felt in the darker tones of recent monoprints and the weight of later bronze pieces.
Voices in the Dark by Ulli Lust and Marcel Beyer        $50
Germany, in the final years of the Third Reich. Hermann Karnau is a sound engineer obsessed with recording the human voice in all its variations-the rantings of leaders, the roar of crowds, the rasp of throats constricted in fear-and indifferent to everything else. Employed by the Nazis, his assignments take him to party rallies, to the eastern front, and into the household of Joseph Goebbels. There he meets Helga, the eldest daughter - bright, good-natured, and just beginning to suspect the horror that surrounds her. An outstanding graphic novel.
Searches for Tradition: Past and present in New Zealand music edited by Michael Brown and Samantha Owens        $40
In Douglas Lilburn's famous address to the 1946 Cambridge Summer School of Music, the composer described his `search for tradition' in the music of New Zealand and spelled out his hopes that a distinctive art music might yet emerge here. Sixty years on, this collection of scholarly essays brings together various perspectives on what `tradition' means in the context of the music of Aotearoa New Zealand. Searches for Tradition presents case studies drawn from a broad spectrum of genres, cultures and historical periods, from investigations of New Zealand's colonial music to fresh consideration of Lilburn's legacy, from corners of the jazz scene to the contemporary revitalization of taonga puoro. The focus on `tradition' leads in some instances to critical issues of nationalism and biculturalism, while others uncover little-discussed aspects of local music history, performance practice or composition. It will be stimulating reading for all enthusiasts of New Zealand music's past, present and future.
Akelare: New Basque cuisine by Pedro Subijana      $75
Excellence and innovation applied to seasonal ingredients results in a magical array of dishes appropriate for a restaurant named after a coven of witches. 
>> Visit Akalare

Film Posters of the Russian Avant-Garde by Susan Pack      $45
Overwhelming.
The Day Before Happiness by Erri de Luca            $24
A young orphan boy grows up in Naples, playing football, roaming the city's streets and hidden places. The older boys call him 'monkey' because he can climb anywhere. He is alone, apart from Don Gaetano, the apartment caretaker, who feeds him, teaches him to play scopa, and tells him stories about the dark secrets of Naples' past.
Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: The inventions that changed the world by Jean-Marie Donat     $40
Blueprints and technical drawings from the patents office record a world obsessed with innovation. 

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott            $27
A novel tracing the experiences of three generations of an Irish immigrant family in Brooklyn, New York. 
"McDermott's highly crafted writing - her poised sentences, finely wrought imagery, intricate structuring and emotionally laden detail - is not just clever, but poignant." - Sunday Times
Fresh Ink: A collection of voices from Aotearoa New Zealand        $28
Exciting new authors of stories, poems and novel extracts, from Cloud Ink Press
What a Fish Knows: The inner lives of our underwater cousins by Jonathan Balcombe       $22
The mental lives of fish are surprisingly complex and rich. 
Virtue and Terror by Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre    $22
The French Revolution is widely celebrated as the birth of modern political society, so how should we read this justification of political violence by one of its chief architects? Slavoj Zizek gives a few pointers. 


Why Time Flies: A mostly scientific investigation by Alan Burdick        $38
A rethinking of our concept of time would throw all our other problems into a different light. Burdick examines why we think of time as we do, and how this shapes our experience of everything else. 

"In his lucid, thoughtful, and beautifully written inquiry about time Burdick offers nothing less than a new way of reconsidering what it means to be human." - Hanya Yanagihara
New French Table: A fresh take on classic recipes by Giselle and Emily Roux     $45
At the heart of French gastronomy are the recipes that have been passed down through the generations. At each generation, however, and in each region, these recipes have been rethought, re-evaluated and rewritten, still bearing the je-ne-sais-quoi that underscores their authenticity, 
Incredibly Hot Sex with Hideous People: Diary comics by Bryce Galloway        $20
The cat has herpes, the kids have worms, the chicken has mites, and Bryce has an assortment of ailments beyond his digestive tract, including a spasming eye, aching knees, haemorrhoids, stiff neck, tinnitus, fleas, and, possibly, dementia. Luckily his wife is there to keep Bryce on his toes and burst his art-martyr bubble. 
>> Being a comic book antihero is an ongoing burden







No comments:

Post a Comment