I loved the option of sending items as a gift π.
Delivery was super quick, and we live rural.
My girl loves her learning play tablet especially the pen feature. As a parent I also love thr kid proofing and acces to some great pre school learning skills and fun activities to stimulate the brain.
Massif opens with one of the most unique ideas I've come across in scifi: sentient mountain ranges that travel between planets in different star systems. Nix builds a layer of military scifi on top of this concept, with Earth and Mars at war over these new colony worlds, but he pairs it with a genuine mystery, too. What actually are the Massifs, and why do they and their avatars behave the way they do? For all its strangeness, though, the worldbuilding mostly serves as a backdrop. At its heart, this is a found family story built around a rescue mission, and that's where the book's emotional weight sits. The mystery ties it all together and keeps you engaged through to the end.
I'd heard good things about Garth Nix for years, so I was excited to see he had an adult scifi, and this made for a strong introduction. I'll be curious to see if we get more scifi in the future.
Dodge city is a great ride jam-packed with wit and humour but with big themes simmering to the top, namely our protagonist Lee Clarke receiving his mandatory drafting notice for the Vietnam war.
We follow Lee as he decides to out run his draft notice and head for the Canadian border, on the way reconnecting with his somewhat dysfunctional family members.
It's through these characters we see deWitt's skills really come to life; the dialogue is fast, tender,and darkly comical balanced with the political and moral climate of the time. If you're after a quick, engaging read this one is for you.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Poison Daughter, mostly because this book kept me constantly guessing. Just when I thought I had a handle on what was happening, another unexpected twist would come along and completely change the game. I was fully engrossed and loved not being able to predict where the story was heading.
And she is spicyyyy, the spice was written really well and added so much to the dynamic between our two main characters. They were constantly at odds, and that tension played so well into the romance and the overall political intrigue. The combination of the relationship dynamics, scheming and twists made this such a fun read
It is definitely a book to make you stop and think, well it is for me. Just within the first few pages and discovered this wonderful concept regarding food βkounaichoumi - cooking in your mouthβ
A constant reminder on my desk about the cleverness of one of my favourite animals. Great detail and perfect for any orca fan (who isn't an orca fan!)
A beautiful book that provides you with quiet moments to reflect by immersing into the mystical meaning of Japanese culture.
Would recommend
This series of Quick Cryptic crosswords is just the right level to make me think hard but easy enough to complete most of them.
Anthony Bart's thriller pairs two spies, one a New Zealander, one British, during the final days of the Second World War, in a tale as morally complex as it is gripping. A taut, tense, and tightly written tale set at the end of a World War and the dawn of the Cold War. Intriguing, exciting, dark and compelling - if you enjoy your thrillers dark, your mysteries real, and your history served up by the likes of Robert Harris (author of 'Fatherland') - this one's a cracker. - Adam Fresco
Daniel Silvaβs latest Gabriel Allon thriller hurls the protagonist into a fast-paced tale that starts with a kidnapping in Ibiza, before traversing the globe, heading to Russia, via Europe, the US and Middle East, with a twisting plot involving cutting-edge military drone technology. With over twenty Gabriel Allon books now in the series, Silvaβs spy, art restorationist, and family man remains an intriguing lead in yet another gripping globe-trotting tale, ideal for Allon aficionados, as well as contemporary thriller fans. - Adam Fresco
Excellent starting book for so much to unfold. Highly recommend
This was bought as a gift for someone. I loved this edition had colored affirmations inside.
Great book, the writing prompts! I bought this year's ago for myself and this was bought as a gift for a friend.
Exactly what I ordered with speed and efficiency . Thank you
Such a pretty jigsaw with all the things my husband loves
This was the last one to collect for my 3.5 year old. This range are all fun, solid toys. Each vehicle has something interesting, this one the forks lift up and down and the back opens up. Easy for small hands to push around and play with. Itβs been a hit for imaginative rescue missions and works really well alongside the other PAW Patrol vehicles!
Literally my favourite author and she did not disappoint - in fact this definitely one of my favourites!!
I think I love this range even more than my child but together we've now got three of them and they are all beautifully soft and fluffy, and beautiful quality. Excellent for cuddling, cute for playing with, and a sensory delight - I'm a little obsessed.
First time I've read anything byElizabeth Strout. With its quiet cover and small size I expected a quiet little story. I was captured almost immediately, couldn't put the book down, so many heart strings pulled. Loved Artie in the classroom - I'm a teacher- loved Artie full stop. Loved Strout's way with words, nothing fancy, almost banal but put together with such exquisite timing. Beautiful
Swedish author, Jonas Jonasson, returns with Algot, Anna Stina and the Water of Life, a comedic adventure set in 19th-century Sweden. Pitted against the wealthy Count Bielkegren, poor potato farmer, Algot, has nothing but his wit with which to outsmart the Countβs cunning. In a rollicking read, itβs a joy to join Algot and his friends, Helmet and Anna, in a truly joyous underdog tale of a poor farmer who, along with his friends, uses his wits and ingenuity to take on greed and injustice in a delightful tale full of charm, character, wit and whimsy. A delightful tale, masterfully told. β Adam Fresco
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter offers a genuinely new take on the vampire story. Seen through the eyes of a Pikuni man who has never heard of a vampire, you discover what this creature is capable of right alongside him. Rarely for a horror, you end up rooting for what should be the monster, on his revenge quest. The book is structured a lot like Dracula, told through journal entries dated in the 1900s. Woven through that structure are lots of Pikuni words for animals, people, and everyday things. That can make it a challenging read at times, but it also makes the world feel so much more immersive.
What really sets the book apart is what it's built on. It's violent, gory, and sad, but grounded in a real history that's arguably more horrifying than anything supernatural in the story. I've never read a horror novel quite like it, a book that manages to feel both familiar and completely new at once.
An incredibly clever and inventive book about the end times of a large corporation, narrated by an LLM but in the style of a stand-up comedy writer. I have never read anything like this before, and not sure I will again, but Kiwi author Pip Adam is here with her primal scream of a novel and it's very effective. Don't go in expecting a clear plot or a super easy read, this is challenging in all the best ways. A beautifully done examination of bodies, and not having bodies, and what humanity might come to.
This is a lovely cozy murder mystery.
It is so lovely and easy to sink into, that you could vanish into one of the side streets without noticing. I read it in one sitting, turning pages, needing to know what happened next and how it unfolded. An almost breathless anticipation, tempered by the deliberate pacing of the novel. This author knows exactly where she wants you and makes sure she keeps you there.
It is possible to work out the mystery and figure out the murderer but that doesnβt take away from the story.
The book is at its heart at straightforward murder mystery. But it is also wound around social media, our own preoccupation with a life online and how that impacts our everyday.
It is also a look at the rarified world of fine dining, with its emphasis on the best sommeliers and chefs, the best ingredients, fabulous presentation and the finest wines.
Of what happens when the very thing that defines your professional and public self is taken away.
It is gentle and brutal, amusing and cringe inducing.
The protagonist is very human, kind, thoughtful, intelligent, blissfully unaware of the privilege her natural talent bestows on her, but rueful when she finds out.
Everyone in this book is genuine, real, in a way that you find with Agatha Christieβs books. This is, in a way, Hercule Poirot if he were in the 21stcentury.
The author has created and fleshed out her cast of characters with care. She understands community and human nature. She brings life to the Parisian suburb where all the action takes place, the people who inhabit it, the smells, the sounds, the food, the flowers. The food and drink in this book has a life of its own, not in the sense of a cookbook, more in the sense of the sheer enjoyment of it. This is an author who understands cozy, understands the things that make cozy and understands that a bit of gore is the perfect seasoning.
Iβm left contented and delighted by this book. I want to try the food and drink the wine, smell the flowers and see the riot of colours at the florist. I want to know what it is like to have a nose and a palate so fine tuned it makes dinner into theatre. I want to walk into a perfumerie and smell the sheer abundance of beauty held in tiny glass vials.
I want you to read this book - enjoy the gentle hush of a quiet afternoon lunch and that rush of anticipation as you realise you might just know whodunit, the giddy delight of working out the mystery, that decadent bite of perfect handmade chocolate and that slight fear that the chocolate might have secrets. I think you should read this book, on a sunny afternoon out on the deck. I think you should read this book on a rainy day, snug and warm indoors while the rain lashes the windows. I think you should read this book because its lovely and cozy and delicious and charming without being twee.
One of my top reads recently, clever smart writing that keeps engagement through the book. Though covering tough issues sentiment doesnβt overshadow the narrative. Magic realism adds underlying element which melds the story together. Will look forward to further writing from this young author.
This book is a perfect book to learn from. As a non MΔori speaking adult, this book explains what the words mean. I would also like to purchase the other book by the same author; The forest by night as some stage.
