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Travel writing - 7th Dec 2016

Travel writing has always been a very popular genre. For some people it is vicarious pleasure, for others a chance to learn about somewhere they are planning to visit, and for many it is to do with reading about places they will never go. Occasionally customers have told us they read the travel books to discover what countries or areas to cross off their lists forever!

Whatever your reasons for enjoying travel writing, the personal observations interwoven with insights into local culture and history can provide humorous, heart-rending, enthusiastic and sometimes grim and harrowing reading.

If you haven't yet made any forays into the travel writing genre, why not pop into the shop and peruse the shelves or browse on our website.

We have a huge selection of travel writing from authors such as Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, Dervla Murphy, Eric Newby, Jan Morris, Lawrence Durrell, Michael Palin, Bruce Chatwin, Peter Mayle and many, many more.

Maybe you are hoping to become a travel writer yourself? We can help with books on how to become a travel writer and tips on how to get started.

Trains, trains, glorious trains - 5th Dec 2016

Trains, trains, glorious trains We have a wide array of books about steam engines, trains, stations, railways and related transport history. In fact, we bought yet another train enthusiast's complete collection yesterday to add to the many we already have. If you haven't yet been in to peruse our stock, now is a good time to pop in. If you are a regular already, then it's worth another visit to check out the new additions. Here is just one which arrived yesterday:

Fire & Steam: A New History of the Railways in Britain
by Christian Wolmar

This book is a wide-ranging history of the rail network from the rise of the steam train to electrification, including the contribution of railways to World War One and World War Two. Wolmar covers the social and economic importance of rail and how it has contributed to the Britain of today. He talks interestingly of the rail network's role in such varied fields as industrialisation, fish & chips, professional football, daytrippers, investment and more.  

Come and have a look or browse through our online catalogue.


 

Motorsport Madness - 3rd Dec 2016

Motorsport enthusiasts are in for a treat with the D1NZ Drifting Championships being held at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin this weekend. While rugby fans may be cringing at the thought of the ground being turned into a concreted drifting track for the competition, the transformation is impressive and bound to bring a lot of excitement over the next few days. 

If you've been agonising over Christmas gifts for someone who is out watching tonight we may have just the thing you are looking for - loads of great books about cars from biographies of racers and histories of famous models to a massive selection of repair manuals. 

You can browse online or come in and have a look around (if you're not too dizzy from the fumes after tonight!). We may not be installing a racetrack any time soon but it's still well worth a visit. 

End of exams - 2nd Dec 2016

Today is the last day of NCEA exams - in case you hadn't noticed - and with the end of the school year looming, the mind turns naturally to holidays, time off and relaxation.

Why not grab a copy of the Bumper Crossword book? It's a great way to relax and pass a pleasant few minutes or hours. You can take it to the beach, complete a couple on a bus or car journey, fill in a few while waiting for a friend, or puzzle through one while sipping your evening cocktail.

It is not only fun and rewarding but you can count it as self-improvement as you expand your vocabulary and reinforce your spelling at the same time. This particular book has an interesting selection of different kinds of crosswords from the standard quick crossword to story crosswords and rhyming crosswords and missing link crosswords to anagrams and cryptic crosswords.

Pop into the shop and get a copy of this jumbo selection of crosswords or peruse the other books in our puzzles &games section where you're bound to find something to suit you. They make great presents too.

For dog lovers - 1st Dec 2016

Dog Works: The Meaning and Magic of Canine Constructions
by Vicki Mathison and photographs by Tim Didgshun and Trudy Nicolson

Spoodle, German Shepherd, Jack Russell, Labrador, Beagle, Sheltie, Irish Wolfhound and many more: whether your favourite breed is in this book or not, if you are a dog lover/owner, you will find this quirky book of interest.

The author became fascinated by one dog's beautifully symmetrical series of sand-holes dug at the beach and began to wonder what other structures dogs might build and why.

Her interest led her on to further investigations not just into what creative behaviour dogs display but also into whether specific breeds of dog are inclined to certain types of construction, and again why.

The author consulted an animal psychologist and an animal behaviour expert in the preparation of this book. She also met and photographed the dogs and their owners and listened to their stories. The result gives some interesting insights into dogs' capabilities and the reasons behind their behaviour. The photography is excellent and augments the text perfectly.  

At only $3.00 each, you can't afford NOT to buy a few copies for stocking fillers, Xmas presents, thank you gifts, or a bit of light reading for your guest bedroom or for yourself. Come on in and pick up a few. 
 

SLOGANS - 30th Nov 2016

SLOGANS Slogans
by Laurence Urdang & Ceila Robbins (Eds)

A collection of more than 6000 slogans, rallying cries and other exhortations used in advertising, political campaigns, popular causes and movements, and divers efforts to urge people to take action, the entries representing a broad spectrum of time and origin yet conveniently arranged by thematic categories and identified as to source, the whole enhanced by a specially prepared foreword and introduction and by the inclusion of detailed indexes.

The above paragraph is the subtitle of the book!!  Seeing that, one could be forgiven for being permanently put off reading further.  Such an unneccessarily lengthy subtitle leads one to expect turgid dreary reading. 

Far from it.  This is a lovely book to dip into and will undoubtedly bring you face to face with some slogans you already know, although you may not know where they come from. You certainly will once you get your hands on this book. You could even use it as the basis for a quiz or an after-dinner competition.  Some of them actually make you smile.  Try a few of these:

Great aches from little corns grow.  (No surprise that this is for corn pads).
Tide's in, dirt's out.  (Proctor & Gamble's ad for Tide detergent).
Nothing runs like a Deere. (Deere Tractor slogan - obviously)
It's the real thing. (Coca Cola)
Pop goes the Piper. (Piper-Heidsieck champagne)

And with that last one, why not POP in and pick up a copy.

 

Science Fiction Frenzy - 29th Nov 2016

Galaxy and Analog magazines

We have a huge collection of the above magazines available for you to look through in the shop or to browse on line. 

Each issue contains short stories and "novelettes" as well as feature articles, fascinating editorials and interesting art work.

This is a really great way to meet a huge array of authors you've not heard of before and find out whether you like them or not before you invest in expensive books. The magazines showcase the really famous along with the relatively unknown so your exposure to different scifi writers will expand rapidly.

As if the above wasn't enough, they are small, light, easy to carry around AND they are cheap. Come on in and treat yourself to a pile or two of Galaxy and Analog magazines.

Fishing's Best Short Stories - 28th Nov 2016

Fishing's Best Short Stories This series of books aims to present the very best short fiction on popular sports. The series also comprises Golf's Best Short Stories & Boxing's Best Short Stories. Fishing has long been a favourite sport but it is, of course, also a source of delight for storytellers all over the world.

Edited by Paul Staudohar, this volume contains work by Stephen King, Robert Travers, Annie Proulx, PJ O'Rourke, Phiip Wylie and many more. It is guaranteed to give many hours' happy reading to anyone with a passion for fishing.  

The tales cover all kinds of fishing in all kinds of places by all kinds of people, from the solitary fisherman to the competitive sportsman and the young kid dreaming of being the next fishing great.  Many of the stories were published originally in magazines such as the New Yorker and Playboy.

Grab a copy of this book and you can either have a lovely weekend's reading or you could combine this with a copy of Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It and find yourself with the perfect gift for the fisherman in your life. Why not come into the shop and have a look at our fishing section or browse the online stock.

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