Month: July 2023

Empire City

Empire City by John E Martin

It would be silly to call this a ‘review’ of Empire City, as it will take me a few years to get through this tome properly, but I am so happy to have it, to drool over it and to put it on my desk as a kind of dual use research/paperweight. I bought it last week from Unity in Wellington on a recommendation from an historian without a second thought and then realised it weighed nearly 1.7kg and I was on a trip around the motu with only carry-on luggage. Worth every lug.

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Polaroid Nights–book review

Polaroid Nights, by Lizzie Harwood

I can rant a day away about the plethora of novels that get their emotional punch by entertaining readers with rape and murder. What sort of twisted society are we that this is offered everywhere we turn? And we justify our enjoyment of it: watched it for the psychological drama, read it for the great writing. You have to say that. You can’t say I loved the excitement of thinking about vulnerable people being tortured.

I read Polaroid Nights over the weekend. Great characters, sparkling writing. But it’s the story of a serial rapist and murderer and the woman he stalks. I asked my publisher (from whose shelves I’d pinched the book) why such a good writer would make up a plot so clichéd. She told me it’s not made up. It’s real.

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Pearl in a Whirl – book review

Pearl in a Whirl, written by Catherine Robertson, illustrated by Fifi Colston

I finally made it to Wardini’s today to pick up a couple of copies of Pearl in a Whirl, the fundraiser for those affected by cyclone Gabrielle. The recent book launch was cancelled because of the threat of new flooding. How very apt.

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The Witching Tide – book review

The Witching Tide, by Margaret Meyer

I thought I’d jump in to the controversy about this book. I read it, not because I like books about witches, but because it got so badly trashed on Nine-to Noon (as reported here) in “the meanest book review of all times,” by Sonja de Friez. Wow. Elsewhere, Sue Reidy says: “The Witching Tide combines meticulous research with a dramatic and memorable story. A dazzling debut.”
So, who is right?

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Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow–book review

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

Usually, it’s the story setting that draws me to pick up a book. Time and place. A Glasgow slum in the 1980s; the brutal 1700s with Māori tipuna; frozen Norway circa 1880; a present day high country farm. Then, to commit to reading I want characters I could care about, who do things I care about. So I was a slightly reluctant recipient when my friend thrust Tommorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow into my hands. It’s a book set in the States about the gaming industry, and a couple of kids and their friends who spend all their time developing and playing computer games. I’m not particularly interested in geeky American culture and think gaming is an addictive waste of life. So my knee-jerk interest was near zero. But friend Tess saw Zevin live at the AWF and raved, and a recommendation from a good reader is worth gold. So here we go.

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