New Zealand Books

Little to do with Spain has this charming narrative of a bi middle class kiwi man experiencing the problems of coming out. Mr Ihimaera takes us through different settings to explain the perceptions, relations and crafty names the hero gives to the people who make up his sentiments. In fact the nick names and images are the most imaginative part of the tale. 'The gardens' are a gay sauna that the hero returns time and again as if to gain perpective from his inner ad outer conflicts. Gripping as the story is the author could have left more to the imagination of the readers with out being so explicit about what is what in the tale.If he would have done so it could have been forgiving the over sugary romantic, politically correct, family orienteted, post aids poor ending he gves to the story. Nevertheless it's a good one for someone who wants to 'come out' clean saleswise.

I wanted to like this book - because I liked 'The Uncle's Son' a lot - despite its flaws (of which, are similar to the ones found in this book - inconsistent actions made by unlikeable characters.) I found the main character, David completely self-obsessed, unlikeable and ultimately, not a person who makes strong decisions in keeping with his (underwritten) character. Understanding his marriage with Annabelle (another severe sad sack of a woman - female characters are not a strong point here - they're all in awe of David, the formidable protagonist who women constantly lust after) - and his reluctancy to end a glaringly bad union is something this reader never got. It seems a forced plot point - especially when he's constantly quoting the 'love of his life', endlessing scoring new sexual conquests and looking for new partners. David seems like he's spiralling out of control - but not in a believable way. I also found the main character's sexual views disturbing. The author constantly re-iterates what a masculine, sexually dominant aggressive 'master' he is, pointing a finger at the cliche that effeminate, passive gay men are weak and lesser in the rank of homosexuality. A character this arrogant and unlikeable leaves the reader scratching his head, wondering how a gay author can perpetuate such harmful stereotypes.
Roimata from The Uncle's Son - a walking political agenda disguised in the skirt of a radical polynesian feminist/lesbian - is transplanted here in the form of another suspiciously similar character (but this time a man) - and the author's seeming fascination with Americans is replicated here many times. What is an American? A race? A political point of view? Or a good time? Here it's an offensive cliche - as is the word"Oriental", something I thought had been wiped out of our vernacular.
For all its good meaning toward sexual tolerance and racial understanding, Nights In The Gardens Of Spain, ends up offending this reader as royally as it seemingly is trying to educate. Perhaps if David was less self-obsessed, and more pro-active in his choices, we'd get a better sense of self.
In this garden he comes across more as a prickly thorn than as a sweet-smelling rose.

I beg to differ from some of the comments below. This is not what I would call a particularly sweet book, and in fact those people who read this book based on their love of the movie "Whale Rider" (which is based on the Witi Ihimaera novel of the same name), may be in for a bit of a shock!

This is a novel about a married father "coming out" after years of playing straight (at least in public). It is pretty graphic both in its raw description of David's sexual encounters and in its rendering of his emotional turmoil. But to me the graphic sexual encounters were part of the point. We've got used to the "soap opera" depictions of gay men on our TV screens and movies, but there is more to the gay lifestyle than good fashion sense and being best buddies with straight women. The sex scenes in this book "lift the lid" on what goes on between the sheets (or in the steam room...) and in doing so give the reader an insight into the physical side of gay life.

But its not all about the sex, and there are powerful accounts of love David feels for his wife and children and the adjustments they, his friends and his parents have to make as he leaves what from the outside (and even from the inside) looked like a marriage with everything.

As always, Ihimaera's writing is strong. He is easy to read, and has a geat "ear" for dialogue. While David is clearly identified as a Maori male, this novel has less of a culteral theme than other Ihimaera novels I have read - at least in the ethnic sense. I guess you could say that it provides a pretty good insight to the gay "culture" in contemporary urban NZ.

While this book won't be for everyone, it is certainly a thought provoking and ultimately very powerful novel.

This is an excellent novel - very different from Whale Rider - a major departure from Witi Ihimaera's previous work. I enjoyed it immensely, though I found it painfully sad and harrowing in parts. For me personally, I could relate to the story well because it brought up memories and emotions from my own marriage breakup and also when my father left when I was a six year old child. I felt the author portrayed the emotions of every character superbly - in fact the story was so real I found it hard to believe that the book was a novel and not an autobiography. It offers a rare and somewhat voyeuristic glimpse into the private life of gay and bisexual men - be warned it is quite raunchy and this may put some people off. I know quite a few gay men and know what their lifestyles can be like, and I found the story to be very real, very honest and extremely well written. His portrayal of the children and the effects of the marital separation on them was just right on the button. This book made me cry, big time. It is an unusual story but in my experience, reflects just how life can be. Complex, unfair, imperfect, unfathomable ... and yet somehow we can survive and life can work out for us in the end.

Don't be put off by any bad reviews of this book - but again, be warned that it contains quite graphic accounts of gay sex.

As a globe-trotting Kiwi who unfortunately left their copy behind when changing continents and came on here to replace it, I can only recommend the book. I loved it and only disagreed with one minor point. Other than that, it was spot on. It pokes fun at our national foibles while highlighting some of our national strengths in a balanced and clear way. The first time I read it I alternated wry grins with sheepish smiles and outright laughs.
Good stuff.

Jo, you truly are the definition of a xenophobe. Assuming you have actually been to New Zealand, you must really have some issues if you came away with an attitude like that. Wherever you are from, at least the majority of all kiwis are broad-minded enough to realise that despite your apparent lack of intelligence and ability to make sweeping generalisations, these are probably not traits apparent in everyone from your country. Get a life.

I have enjoyed the Xenophobe's Guides to three of the peoples that I've lived among (Danes, Swedes and English), and have felt them to be insightful and humorous. Consequently I was very disappointed by the Xenophobe's Guide to the Kiwis. It was neither insightful nor humorous. I felt that the light-hearted teasing applied in the other books was largely replaced by an air of base critical negativity. It concentrated on some very odd, and utterly redundant things that I feel the XG is hardly the forum for. The Kiwi author has taken the very real Kiwi trait of self-bashing to an unfortunate extreme in the completely wrong publication.

Jo Chambers is a bitter and twisted individual, who is in great need of a holiday. Jo ¡°sweetie¡±, I suggest a wonderfully relaxing holiday in beautiful New Zealand.

I bought this book expecting it to be quite useful on our recent trip. We've just returned from 4 weeks driving throughout New Zealand, and this book was worthless. I guess it might be worth buying if you're only going to be in New Zealand for a short week and don't expect to wander far from your hotel, but if you're spending any time there -- or if you're looking for a guide that will help you explore what New Zealand really has to offer -- don't waste your money buying this guide. The places shown as "must see" are very limited, with glaring omissions, and there are a lot of better (and much less expensive) hotels and restaurants than listed. Some of the information is just plain inaccurate, and even some of the maps have errors in them. We wound up trading this guide for a dog-eared Tony Hillerman novel in one of the places we stayed, and we got the better part of the deal. If you're looking for a good guide that will give you accurate information and lots of things to choose from, it's better to spend a little more and buy Frommer's or Fodor's. If you're looking for a good map, I highly recommend the AA New Zealand Road Atlas (paperback) -- it was our bible when it came to finding our way around the country.

Whether or not I agree with its top ten list, I cross-checked it over and over in planning my upcoming trip. Compact, well-written and informative -- it may be the only guide I put in my suitcase.

This guide's major advantage is its size. The guide highlights all of the major New Zealand attractions with a terse, yet comprehensive, style. It may not have all of the information you need in New Zealand, but it will certainly help!

I am inclined to agree with reviewer Jaffe and the Editorial Reviews. As a native Kiwi I know Auckland and Fiordland well having hiked extensively in both areas.
The Auckland sections covers the well known outdoor main attractions of the region well: the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the extensive network of regional parks, many of which are coastal and have fantastic views from the walks in them.
Fiordland is the "honey pot" for accessible wilderness hiking in New Zealand. The description of the History, National Parks, short day walks and longer multi-day treks on well formed tracks is quite good. The maps are a bit scant, but you will buy better maps when you arrive in an area. And NZ does publish a wide selection of very good maps of all our park network. For a day-by-day detailed guide to the walks you are better to buy the Lonely Planet "Tramping in New Zealand" (even us locals use it). The book index is not so good, even the Routeburn "Great walk" (the finest 3 day walk in NZ in my opinion) is not listed but you can find it on page 457 with a 1/2 page description of it. After 5 years the book is not really dated. The one new development in NZ is private walking tracks and I can recommend the Banks Peninsula Track just out of Christchurch (page 388 of the book).
So as a one volume "outdoor type" guide to NZ the book is worth buying and fills a niche not quite met by Rough Guide or Lonely Planet.
So come and visit us.

Adventuring in New Zealand turns out to be a fairly pedestrian travel guide, with little to recommend it. While claiming to be an "adventuring guide", there's little more about hiking, parks, fishing, climbing, etc. than any of the standard guidebooks. Design, illustrations, and indexing are second rate. Give this one a miss.

My partner and I found "Adventuring..." the single most useful guide for our visit to New Zealand in January 2003. I disagree with the prior negative customer review and wonder if M. Goldstein actually used this book for travel to New Zealand or was merely an armchair traveler seeking amusement.

It's true this isn't the kind of general guidebook so ably done by Lonely Planet and others. Jefferies doesn't refer the reader to specific restaurants or lodgings. What she does superbly is to introduce each region of the country with a detailed essay on its flora, fauna, terrain and history.

Her knowledge of New Zealand's parklands runs much deeper than a conventional guidebook. While not neglecting famous tourist attractions, she takes you far off the beaten path to smaller forest preserves that harbor natural treasures. The book is not a detailed trail guide, but it points you to the access points for the back country with useful general descriptions of many hikes.

Jefferies doesn't glamorize. Her descriptions of the deforestation and other environmental abuses that New Zealand has suffered might unsettle a conventional sightseer. For the environmental traveler with a serious interest in the natural history of the islands, it's just right.

I bought this book to help plan a month and a half long trip to New Zealand and Australia staying mostly in hostels. I cannot recommend this book for a reliable source of information for hostels or restaurants. Most restaurants I have tried to find no longer exist. The hostel and attraction prices are wrong (of course these are subject to change), however, the recommended hostels have been hit or miss. There have been some good ones as recommended by the book (Sydney Central YHA, Old Countryhouse in Christchurch, NZ) but there have been some disgustingly unclean (Bondi Beach YHA) and unlivable (Global Palace) recommended highly by this book. I think that a better source of information would be customer reviews on the internet.

It's a great book. It is very complete and very accurate, most of the times.
I didn't gave it 5 stars because sometimes it isn't very easy to find the information.

I recommend it.

I bought this book 2 months ago while planing a trip to OZ & NZ later on this year.
It is well orgenized (the TOC is region based) and drills down in each area to its unique and famous places.
The book has just the right quantity of information regarding each item with a veriety of maps and side trip activities.
It contains a lot of usefull data about both countries and you can defenetly see the it was written by backpackers.
Reading the book has contributed me a lot in the planing fase of the trip, hopefully i'll be able to compliment it more after i'll return.

A really funny whimiscal story with engaging characters. It had a little bit of everything, humour, excitement and set against a uniquely New Zealand background.
Harry Potter eat your heart out!

BEWITCHING GOLF is not a thriller or even a typical, plot-driven young adult novel. It has nothing to do with American teen-age angst or anxieties. What it does offer is a charming look at life in New Zealand from the perspective of a confused but determined 13-year-old who finds in golf a challenging and welcome escape. The pace is soothing, the language original, and the message -- that while young teens face many challenges, they also possess the special gumption needed to overcome them -- is universal.

This book drove me silly. I struggled to get through it. The plot was insanely boring. There was one exciting bit - just before the end when a character falls down the cliff - finally some suspense! I DO NOT recommend this book at all!

I like this book because of the great tasting notes and a very good vieuw of the top range in Australia.mr Halliday has a very clear way to descripe these wines.If you are a wine lover of wines coming out of Australia and New Zealand you should remember this authur.

I would not recommend this book unless you are a frequent auction buyer.It does not say anything about the viticulture or th vinification of the classic wines-just Hallidays tasting notes.

The author has successfully brought to paper an encaptulation of the Wineries,Wine regions and Grape Varieties of Australia and NewZealand.

Highlighted are the wineries in each region, the regions in each State and the success of each region in growing grape type. It covers aspects such as climate, terrior and any region specifics.

The book is of interest to the novice and more experienced wine hobbiest, as a valuable reference guide.

This has been an excellent source of information for my friends and me. We are going to New Zealand next year and know nothing of the country. Since we are planning on visiting wineries, we were happy to find enough on the subject to start planning which ones are "musts" to see.

I have just got back from New Zealand, and got the 2006 guide with me...

And I must say that the good thing about these books are the tips they give on each city, and yes, it also gives an idea of the itinerary you can chose by the ammount of days you will be going to...

Even though NZ is a place fully prepared to be receiving tourists and Visitors Information centers just about everywhere in the country (for Real !!) and with plenty of information (that sometimes can cause confusion), the book was something that me and my wife always liked to read and get some of the tips.

The only drawback is that it does not point out at a Budget or even shoestring travel.. It is more on the medium to high profile by some of the guidance the book gives to you (about 80% of the time), but is a real good thing to take along.

We definitely liked it, and I could say that a lot of the tips we actually (restaurants, places to go..) followed and we satisfied with it.

You will like and for the price, it's worth to take at the trip.

And you will just love New Zealand... I bet you will !
:-)

If you're looking for something that you can take along with you for reference, then this book is not it -- it's way too clunky. If you're COMPLETELY unfamiliar with the country, then this book is for you. If you're going to visit EVERY part of the country, then this book is for you. But if you're only going to do a city stay, or see one or part of one of the islands, then this book is NOT for you. If you already have your itenarary planned out, then this book is NOT for you. About the only thing that I liked about this book is that it gave me some ideas for side trips, and a map. Both of which I could have gotten when I arrived in New Zealand.

Andrew Barton Paterson (more commonly known as `Banjo' Paterson) is probably the loudest voice in late 19th century/early 20th century Australian literature, he certainly contributed more to Australian mythos than any other literary figure.

U.S. readers may recognise the title of this collection from the film which bears a more than passing (yet not terribly accurate) resemblance to Paterson's poem of the same name. Read the poem, it is stronger and the `Man' more mythic in Paterson's verse. You may also recognise "Waltzing Matilda" a poem later set to music that narrowly missed becoming Australia's anthem, certainly more Australians know the words to Waltzing Matilda than our official anthem, `Advance Australia Fair.'

Yet Paterson is more than this. The comedic "Mulga Bill's Bicycle' is perhaps as well known to Australians. The tale of the proud and arrogant Mulga Bill who claims "none can ride like me" and "I'll ride this here two-wheeled concern right straight away at sight." rolls on in an inevitable but rollicking and funny way.

His `Clancy of the Overflow' perfectly captures the Australian mood of living in the city yet eternally drawn to our wide brown land. It's final paragraph sums it superbly.

And I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal --
But I doubt he'd suit the office, Clancy, of The Overflow.

I always enjoy reading his verse. It is easily read, quite short and many of them marvelously humourous.

To conclude Paterson is a strongly and uniquely Australian poetic voice. This collection has the best of his verse. I'd recommend it to all who have ever enjoyed one of his verses and to all who might enjoy some simply constructed but strongly evocative Australian poetry. Even fairly young readers would enjoy a lot of the poems in this collection.

I loved the movie "The Man From Snowy River" and knew it was based on the poetry of A.B. Paterson. I spent the last fifteen years looking for a book of his poems in every library and bookstore I entered. I never found one until now--what a find! The book has 129 poems, including the song "Waltzing Matilda". Many, like "The Man From Snowy River" are exciting. Some are funny ("Mulga Bill's Bicycle"), and some are sad and sentimental ("The Droving Days"). Most are about horses and cowboys, and they take place in Australia. I love this book--Banjo Paterson is a poet who has been ignored too long in the US, and I'm so thankful I found a copy on your site!

This is a lousy edition by some New York bandit publisher, pages misaligned, uneven print; contains many of the soppy poems and not all the better ones. Better off looking for an older, used edition.

I purchased this book to use as we study the continents. (We are homeschooling). It gives tidbits of information about New Zealand, just enough for a surface glance at this country. Which is OK for our purposes, but would not be useful if you really wanted to study this country in depth. Also the pictures were drawn or sketched, and did not really give us a realistic look at this country. There are a couple of pages in the back that list all the basic facts about New Zealand, but these are presented in a boring fashion and not interesting to read. Therefore not useful to us, really. They almost seem like they are not part of the book, or maybe like someone's effort to redeem the informative value of the book. While this book will be somewhat helpful for us since we do not need to look at this country that deeply at this time, I would not be inclined to purchase any additional books in the ABC series.

Both the ABC New Zealand and the Maori book are excellent. The ABC New Zealand has colorful pictures and just enough information to hook and hold my third graders' interest. The Maori book is superb, with pictures and text that introduces children (with teacher input) to the Maori culture of New Zealand.
The seller,Topshelf Treasures, was a 5 in dealing with shipping issues that arose.

Schroeder and Wolf have put together a lovely introduction to New Zealand with this offering in the series "Country ABCs". The text begins with a greeting in both English and Maori. Throughout the book, a respectful tribute to the Maori origin of the country and the Maori culture is apparent. The native terms, when used for a particular letter, are also written in phonetic spellings that incorporate words even young readers may have mastered. The alphabet letters are clearly designated and attractively highlighted with a border of Maori design.

At the outset, drawings of the country and its placement in the hemisphere are clearly shown. The pictures correspond effectively to the word used for each letter. The landscapes and seascapes are particularly lovely.

The text is clearly written to cover the major aspects of the country: origin, geology, culture, economy and politics. The last of these recognizes that New Zealand was the first to grant women the right to vote. Also acknowledged is the country's long-standing anti-nuclear stance.

This reader, however, was surprised to see no mention of New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary, although the first woman to be elected prime minister in 1999, Helen Clark, was pictured. More of the Maori carvings and designs might have been included, but the overall effect of this book as it is, shows a fine cohesiveness in concept, text and illustrations. A brief "On the Web" section is included. A minimal glossary, index and a "To Learn More' bibliography makes this book a useful library skills teaching tool as well.