BookHub August Highlights
Kia ora koutou and welcome to BookHub’s August Highlights,
Download the newsletter here or read below.
As winter winds down, there’s no better time to cosy up with a great new read. This month, we’re bringing you a brilliant mix of new releases across non-fiction, fiction and kids’ books — whether you’re after real-life inspiration, gripping escapism, or heartwarming bedtime stories.
In non-fiction, big names take centre stage with new memoirs from politician Grant Robertson, All Blacks coach Gilbert Enoka and journalist Mike McRoberts, plus two mouth-watering cookbooks to inspire your next kitchen adventure.
Fiction lovers are in for a treat with page-turning crime and imaginative fantasy. Look out for Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown, Stillwater by Tanya Scott, and The Gardeners’ Club by Marnie Riches.
For the kids, we’ve got bedtime covered with Te Ngahere i te Pō: The Forest at Night by Kiri Lightfoot and an inspiring true story told in both te reo Māori and English: the beautifully illustrated tale of fearless kuia Whina Cooper.
And don’t miss our favourite title of the month: Bird of the Year is a stunning celebration of our native birds and the campaign that captures the nation’s heart each year.
Happy reading!
– The BookHub Team
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The illustrations on the banner above are from the book Bird of the Year by Forest and Bird, designed by Cat Taylor and illustrations by Erin Forsyth, Niels Meyer-Westfield and Melissa Broadman, and has been reproduced with the permission of the publisher Penguin Random House NZ.
Bookseller Review
Bird of the Year
Forest and Bird
Forest & Bird’s iconic Bird of the Year competition is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion the organisation is releasing a new book celebrating both the history of the competition, and the endangered birds it champions. Bird of the Year – Twenty Years of Ruffled Feathers: A celebration of the birds of Aotearoa is informative and beautifully illustrated by some of Aotearoa’s finest artists, as well as humorous and heartfelt.
The book covers firstly the origins of the Bird of the Year competition, when the RNZ Morning Report hosts contemplated axing the iconic bird call recordings that started the morning news bulletins. The country was immediately outraged, and the outcry made Forest and Bird communications manager Michael Szabo (of Wild Wellington fame) conjure up the Bird of the Year idea to raise awareness of the conservation issues facing some of Aotearoa’s natives.
The book chronicles the history of the competition over the last 20 years, including some of the hilarious campaigns that have been run – including voting scandals, celebrity endorsements, viral social media campaigns and, infamously, the John Oliver-led movement that saw the obscure puteketeke crowned the winner in 2023. And who remembers the “controversy” when a bat won Bird of the Year in 2021?
The second half of the book covers a huge variety of our birds – each bird (and a bat) given a beautiful full-page illustration and accompanying text telling the reader the history of the bird, and the conservation efforts involved in trying to raise both awareness of their plight, and their numbers.
The book is not designed to be a field guide – instead it is a snapshot of each bird, accompanied by fun facts and trivia. If you have a bird lover in your life, start your Christmas shopping early and gift this book. It’s a stunner!
– Reviewed by Briony at Marsden Books, Karori, Wellington
Non-Fiction
Anything Could Happen
Grant Robertson
Become Unstoppable
Gilbert Enoka
Speaking My Language Te Kōrero i Tōku Reo
Mike McRoberts
My Weekend Table
Gretchen Lowe
The Welcome of Strangers
Atholl Anderson
The Hungry Cook
Olivia Galletly
Fiction
No, I Don’t Get Danger Money
Lisette Reymer
Polkinghorne
Steve Braunias
Start Digging, You Bastards!
Tom Gilling
Children’s Books
Te Whaea o te Motu
David Hill
Mother of the Nation
David Hill
The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle
Beatrix Potter
The Lost Words
Kimberley Ngareta Kearney & Taylor Terewai Tiave
Te Ngahere i te Pō The Forest at Night
Kiri Lightfoot
Case of The Angry Ghost: Violet and The Velvets #2
Rachael King
