NZ Non-Fiction

"It was interesting what people in the checkout line were buying: it was all comfort food. The man in front of me had eggs, bacon, cigarettes, beer. And here we were buying pink buns. No one was buying sensible emergency rations like baked beans..." "It was just the most wonderful feeling. A sense of hope, like a weed growing out of a crack. Just sitting in the sun listening to beautiful classical music amidst all the devastation..." Everyone in Christchurch has their own story of the quakes. There are heroic and brave stories rela... read more

Back in 1990, when Neville Peat wrote The Incredible Kiwi, the national bird was in retreat, from habitat loss and the severe impact of predation. It was not well understood, being nocturnal and hidden in the forest. Most Kiwis had never seen their national bird.During the 1990s, saving the kiwi became a popular cause. Community kiwi conservation projects have emerged all over the country, especially in the North Island. And scientific research has led to greater knowledge of the bird's population dynamics and distribution. The kiw... read more

In this text, fact-filled descriptions highlighting key identification features of New Zealand trees are supported by distribution maps and colour photographs of over 100 species. Compact and easy to use, this text should appeal to those interested in natural history.

The first of two titles in a brand new series of compact and easy-to-use guides, packed with full-colour photography and fact-filled descriptions.

This is a collection of personal recollections about Bruce McLaren and the world of motor racing as it was in his heyday. Put together for the Bruce Mclaren Festival the book includes many photographs, some of them never before published.

The late baby boomers are starting to reflect on ways to grow old well, and these 30 affecting pieces by prominent New Zealanders over the age of 65 serve as extremely strong pieces of autobiography, as inspiration and as meditation. No Zimmer frames and retirement homes for this lot. The contributors, who include Elizabeth McRae, Wilson Whineray, Ranginui Walker, Brian Edwards, Merimeri Penfold, Hamish Keith, Elizabeth Smither, Sir Paul Reeves, Barry Brickell, Vincent O'Sullivan and Michel Corballis, continue to make a vital contr... read more

Hundred of thousands of New Zealanders have every reason to be grateful for Mary Holm's widely acknowledged KiwiSaver expertise. Through her seminars and columns, they know that no one understands the ins and outs of the scheme better. Her two previous books on the scheme have been goldmines of information.This third book on KiwiSaver brings together all Mary's expert, in-depth knowledge, and has up-to-the-minute advice on the impact of recent government policy changes. It also extensively surveys 31 KiwiSaver providers, so readers... read more

From the late 1950s to the mid 1980s, when most of them were closed down, the New Zealand government maintained 26 residences for children and teenagers. Some of those children had the bad fortune to come from families with large numbers of children and who couldn't cope financially. Plucking a child out and putting him in a home to ease the burden was seen as a solution. Other children in came from profoundly dysfunctional backgrounds or were profoundly dysfunctional themselves. Could putting them all together in close quarters, s... read more

A whole new round of the much-loved Tui Yeah Right billboards together with the complete collection from the first two editions of Yeah Right. A total of 360 pages of billboards, covering more than a decade of hilarious, irreverent signage from the length and breadth of New Zealand.

This best-selling title, now in its 18th year of publication, is firmly established as the most authoritative and sought-after guide to New Zealand wines. Updated yearly with new tasting notes and vintage ratings, including the most current vintage, this is a 'must-have' publication for the new initiate and the established wine-buff alike.

To complete the remarkable Murray Ball celebratory trilogy comes a final volume to accompany the stunningly successful Footrot Flats: The Dog Strips and Footrot Flats: The Long Weekender. In this equally lavish book will be featured the best of the rest of Murray's work. If you loved Footrot and you love Murray Ball, you must own this book. FEATURES: Stanley Caveman - intellectual and classic no-hoper. It is due to having ancestors like this that we are in the mess we are today. The Prophet I have always believed that I would have ... read more

Classic American cars with classic American names - Chevy, Chrysler, Ford, Pontiac - are enormously popular in New Zealand and, each year, tens of thousands of fans flock to events such as the Whangamata Beach Hop, the Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Show, Americarna in New Plymouth and the Dunedin All American Car Show. In addition to these, numerous other provincial car shows, swap meets and individual car marque rallies are on around the country at any given time. Kiwi Americars We Love celebrates Kiwis' love of big American cars ... read more

The twelfth book in the popular New Holland series examines New Zealand's fascinating geology. Almost every kind of rock found on Earth can be seen in New Zealand, and most of the common minerals too. This handy reference guide will help you recognise and make sense of common (and some rare) rocks and minerals found on beaches and hillsides, in streams and elsewhere around the country. The introduction provides an overview of rocks and minerals, and contains diagrams and illustrations pointing out important details to be observed i... read more

Did ancient Celts, Egyptians or Vikings find Aotearoa before Maori? Are there really moa living undiscovered in the Southern Alps? Was the phantom canoe seen on Lake Tarawera shortly before a volcanic eruption an ill omen? And what's the real story behind one of the world's most celebrated UFO sightings...here in New Zealand? Science writer and paranormal investigator Vicki Hyde takes a good hard look at the evidence in a wide range of paranormal phenomena that have become a part of popular New Zealand culture over the last century... read more

From Baxter to Hunt, Frame to Glover, Curnow to Edmond, animals are widely found in New Zealand verse, and are the subject of some of our most famous and endearing poems. In her selection Siobhan Harvey brings them together in an intelligently and affectionately chosen anthology that's beautifully enhanced by outstanding animal photographs by Mark Smith. This just-published anthology provides something for everyone, and is divided into sections headed: * Bow-Wow * Miaow * A Box of Birds * Other Pets * Creepers and crawlers * Moana * Zoo * Farm.

All that cooking, cleaning, darning, sewing, looking after sick children, looking good for your hubby when he came drifting in after a day at the office...it's always been a tough life as a housewife. This affectionate romp through women's toil and trouble over the past 120 years puts housework under the spotlight and shows the myriad ways in which resourceful New Zealand women dealt with the tyranny of keeping house, and keeping sane.

A feast of local colour and experience with glorious photographs to accompany the story of the river and its peoples.

Ford Zephyrs and Zodiacs were a quintessential part of life in New Zealand for everyone over 40 − not many Kiwis won't have had at least one memorable ride in a Zephyr. Nowadays Zephyr and Zodiac car clubs meet in almost every town and city, and the army of enthusiasts all know each other, have their own newsletters and swap meets, sell each other cars and parts and compete against one another at regular meetings up and down the country o... read more

Truckers everywhere love their trucks, and when they're not driving them they love nothing better than talking about them. Tim Chadwick has been out on the highways and the byways to track down some of the most interesting Kiwi truckers and find out what makes them tick. The result is The Kiwi Trucker's Guide to Life, a fascinating snapshot of a collection of truckies, both male and female, who tell their stories and give their opinions on a wide range of topics. Tim has gone on the road to photograph them with their multi-wheeled ... read more

Looking for a good feed that isn't going to cost you the earth? In the mood for something special and not sure where to find it? Want somewhere nice to eat that isn't going to bore you to tears? Peter Janssen knows how to stretch a dollar and make sure you don't go to bed hungry in a strange town. He knows where to find the best pies, the best seafood, the best custard squares, the best venison, the best whitebait sandwich and the best cheesecake. Fun to read, even more fun to follow, try the delicious Kiwi food he's chosen as the ... read more