New Zealand Books

I've been searching for a book other than a tourist's guide to New Zealand to learn more about my husband's home country. This is the book! Filled with lots of relevant (and recent) information, including gorgeous photos, this book is amazing. I can't wait to visit this beautiful country with him and see it for myself!

I recently bought my first copy of this book in the Auckland airport. I ordered my second copy for a friend. In addition to being a beautiful "picture book" with photos the quality that I wish I had taken while there, this book provides extensive text with factual information on most aspects of life in New Zealand ranging from the land and its climate, its fauna and flora to its history and the quality of life there today. This is a great book for anyone planning a visit or wishing to recall the special beauties of this wonderful country after returning from a visit. Or you may "visit" this country through this book. It is a very up-to-date publication, we even recognized photos of some of the same Maori performers we saw in concert during our recent visit! This is a very comprehensive publication, I think that it is outstanding!

Peak of a climber's career 7 Summits Solo, (Summit, USA) by Robert Mads Anderson To Everest via Antarctica, Robert Mads Anderson Reviewed by Neil Nelson, The Evening Standard, Wellington, New Zealand Saturday, February 24, 1996 Having spent the past 20 years scaling some of the world's most difficult peaks, American-born Aucklander Robert Anderson set himself a new challenge: to climb the highest peak on each of the world's seven continents. As an added challenge, he elected to climb them solo. Ultimately, he failed in his bid, with Everest getting the better of him on two separate occasions. But failure to stand on the top of the world's highest peak doesn't diminish Anderson's achievement or the highly readable accounts he has written of his adventures. As the price tags would suggest, the two books which have resulted from his seven summits project are totally different. 7 Summits Solo is a large-format, lavishly produced, 160-page volume which includes dozens of superb colour photographs taken by Joe Blackburn during the expedition (Note, nearly all photos in the book are Anderson's). Anderson's account of the expedition is essentially a précis of the story he tells in To Everest via Antarctica. The 220 page Penguin book (Stackpole Books, USA) contains just a handful of photographs, but includes a far more detailed account of Anderson's adventures. During the past decade or so, I've read numerous accounts of climbing expeditions: this one rates as one of the best. Unlike some mountaineers, who feel compelled to describe in minute detail everything they did during the expedition, Anderson concentrates more on the adventures he had actually getting to the mountain. He admits it is more of a travel book than a book about climbing and that he wrote it for a broader market. Some chapters have little to do with climbing at all. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in Anderson's descriptions of his travels in Russia, late in 1992, after conquering Mt Elbrus, Europe's highest peak. With Elbrus out of the way, and three weeks left on his Russian visa, Anderson decided the opportunity to see some of Russia was too good an opportunity to miss. With the Russia of old rapidly being split into a series of new countries, and new border crossings appearing at random, it was decided a large bus would be the easiest way of moving around. One was soon found and with several companions Anderson set off for a fascinating tour of parts of Russia which had seldom seen Western tourists. The tales he relates of his journey make for absorbing and humorous reading. With a degree in writing and a career spent mainly in the advertising industry - the business he set up in New Zealand and subsequently sold helped fund his seven summits project - Anderson wastes few words. He has an economical, easy-to-read style and knows how to tell a good story. While the price of 7 Summits Solo means it's unlikely to appear on best-seller lists, To Everest via Antarctica deserves to be. One of the most enjoyable books I read in 1995, I look forward to reading of Anderson's further adventures.

Adventurer's tale takes us to peaks To Everest via Antarctica, by Robert M Anderson Reviewed by the Northern Advocate 27 March 1996 In September 1991, Robert Anderson set out to accomplish a world first - solo ascents of each of the world's seven summits, the tallest peak on each of the world's seven continents. This book is the story of that quest. Anderson has an enviable and formidable reputation as a climber. As a youngster he started his career in Colorado and then spread his activities to the European and New Zealand Alps and to the Himalayas. Regrettably, it was necessary to include Mt Kosciusko as the Australian summit because it is the highest peak on that continent - at 2230 metres in altitude, the lowest mountain in the world. That aberration was climbed in appalling weather of ice that nearly defeated his attempt, but when the weather lifted, he made it. As he comments: "To be beaten by Everest is one thing, but to be beaten by Koscuisco is another." For the record, he knocked off Kosciusko in one hour and 23 minutes. Not bad at all for an Everest soloist. His other peaks were Mt Aconcagua (6969 metres) in South America; Mt Kilimanjaro (5894 metres) in Africa; Mt McKinley (6193 metres) in North America; Mt Elbrus (5633 metres) in Europe; Mt Vinson (5140 metres) in Antarctica, and Mt Everest (8048 metres). But the book is much, much more than bare accounts of ascent. It is a travelogue, a modern Peaks and Passes combined, as it were, with the late Frank Smythe's classics of the Himalayas and Tilman's unsurpassed accounts of his journeys. In short, this is an outstanding mountaineering book that compares with the classics of the genre. It can be referred to time and time again with pleasure. If you like the high hills, this book is a "must". The photos are few but good and the cover photo is superb. Reviewed by Ivo Davey

Sadly I have never been able to get my hands on a copy of the book, but I saw the TV series when I was 6, and it certainly made a lasting impression on me. Great story, great atmosphere! I still vividly remember scenes from it...

Maurice Gee's book Under the Mountain is an amazing book. It was first read to me when I was only about eight years old, and I just found a copy and re-read it. Rachel and Theo Matheson are twins, and apart from having red hair, they seem to be perfectly normal kids. Until they visit Auckland and are encountered by a strange old man, and a couple of freaky neighbours. The twins discover that they are a crucial part in the war between two alien races. Rachel and Theo learn that only red-haired twins can save their world from destruction by huge, powerful alien creatures. This is a great book, and I'd recommend it to people of all ages. I know my parents liked it just as much as my brother and me. The characters are believable, and the plot is well thought out. Although I prefer Maurice Gee's O series, I still love this book.

Nobody alive on earth today can adequately describe the magic that is the Waitakere Ranges -- a unique place on this planet, unrivaled in beauty anywhere at any price. Travel around the Ranges, either on foot or by automobile, and you will be enchanted, spellbound.

Because words are horribly inadequate tools to describe beauty, the Waitakere Ranges must be experienced to be believed. However, _Untamed Coast_ comes about as close as possible to doing this place justice.

A magical book, for a magical place.

This is a great book. I grew up in this area and spent many happy hours on these beaches. It truly is a great present to share with friends overseas and with family.

When my girls were growing up, this was one of their most favorite books - they never tired of hearing it or reading it themselves when they were able. The story of the puppy trying to find its own identity plus the wonderful illustrations make for delightful reading.

I have recently discovered my childhood copies of Frank Muir's What-a-mess. Flipping through the pages I was amazed by the wit and the intricate detail in the pictures. Unlike numerous children stories What-a-Mess actually has an imaginative story line. As a child and an adult I have found it impossibly not to fall in love with the adventurous, adorable afghan puppy. Unfortunately What-a-Mess is now out of print but if you find a copy in a book shop it is a purchase you certainly won't regret. Due to the intricity of the pictures the book is suitable and holds interest to all ages.

Wild Asia: Spirit of a Continent is a beautiful oblong title providing a visual journey through the Asian wildlife world based on an international television series by the Natural History New Zealand. Enjoy color photos and a variety of writers who focus on their regional knowledge of Asia, from the Arctic tundra to central Asia. An exceptional visual display blends with nature insights.

This book was a great buy for me. Although it is very general as animals and plants go, it opens up the wonder of Asia to the reader. Its pictures are extremely magnificent; they are the main focus of the book. It is said a picture tells a thousand words, and it is very true for this book. The color and great shots are just as good as it gets, next to being there.

If you read this book you get a very good vieuw of the Australian wines and winery's mr.Halliday did,as in his other books,an amazing job. for all the wine lovers out there a must buy

My recent month-plus tour of wineries in Australia and New Zealand was greatly based upon the excellent research,reviews and contacts using this fine reference.As a budding wine writer, collector, and head of a local Enological Society in the Pacific Northwest,Halliday's Atlas has been the virtual bible enabling the design of both the tour and subsequent writing.As my primary interest was a focus upon pinot noirs, my tour began in Australia where I visited Halliday's own Coldstream Hills Vineyard.His work provide a roadmap enabling me to contact other prominent pinot noir producers in the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula-Main ridge, Stonier, Yering Station, Paringa Estates and others.While there, I also made contacts and was invited to a new release winetasting of New Zealand wines held in Melbourne. Quite amazingly, the first person I met was the great James, himself. It was fun and a privilege to share wine tasting experience and comments.
From there, the tour extended to the whole of New Zealand. Again the Atlas laid the groundwork for my visits, enabling me to meet most of New Zealand's greatest owners and winemakers, including John Buck at Te Mata,Kevin Judd at the famous Cloudy Bay,Neil McClallum at Dry River, Grant Taylor at Gibbston Valley and many others.Naturally, covering nine separate wine regions entailed tasting many other prime quality varietals in such warmer climes as Waiheke Island and Hawkes Bay with their magnificent cabernets and Bordeaux blends,plus gorgeous chardonneys,etc. In all cases, the Atlas gave regional and subregional data and exacting descriptions of "terrior" necessary to a serious study.Halliday is, in my book, a more comprehensive writer and reviewer of "new world" wines than even Jancis Robinson or Robert Parker. He also adds the direct insights of his winemaking in Australia and his pioneering of pinot noir developments "down under". His reputation as a critic is simply impeccable and his easily read writing style, while detailed, is at once comprehensive and comprehensible.It is a must read and essential reference for serious oenophiles and fellow wine tourists.

This is a great book. Not only is it quite up-to-date (with tasting of recent vintages), it also covers the majority of the good-to excellent producers. It's written in a 'Parker'-style with many details of the individual wineries - and several of their different bottlings. A (vague) complaint is the absence of general vintage charts. Anyway... definitely recommendable !

Arguably THE book for Aussie and NZ wines, especially good for New Zealand since no major wine magazine has written extensive detail on this region. Great handbook to have. Agree with earlier post that vintage charts by region would be great to have, as well as some index on who the 5* producers are.

This book tells a man's story, from childhood in the Depression to high honour in his native New Zealand. He proved a bright student and became a Presbyterian minister, whose studies of modern scholarship brought conflict with those who took biblical stories literally. A trial for heresy ensued. He was vindicated, but moved to teaching religious studies at university level.
Two other themes warm this story and inform it: the author's family life and his growing concern for the environment.
This is a book to encourage many (but especially those of a Christian background) who seek a modern way of faith.

This is a wonderfully candid reflection on the life of one of the 20th century's theological trailblazers. Readers of Lloyd Geering's many books will know that whilst he was Principal of the Knox Theological College (Presbyterian) in sleepy Dunedin, New Zealand, he was charged with heresy for writing a paper that reinterpreted the story of the resurrection of Jesus in a symbolic fashion. At his church trial in 1967 he was exonerated of the charge. He soon published an expanded version of his thoughts in "God in the New World".

The strength of "Wrestling With God" is that Geering gives us (for the first time) a complete background to the development and maturing of his theological ideas. By the early 1970s Geering was effectively forced to resign from the Presbyterian church, realising that if he were to change people's thinking about God it would have to be outside the traditional religious context. Accepting an offer from Victoria University in Wellington, Geering became the first Professor of Religious Studies in a secular New Zealand university. For the next decade and a half, Geering exercised a key role in the development of a superb department dedicated to the study of all religions from a humanist perspective.

Geering continues to live in good health and has published a series of excellent books (including "Tomorrow's God") to inspire those of us who consider ourselves to be exiled from the church. He is an active member of the Sea of Faith movement, a good friend of radical theologian Don Cupitt and has close links with the Westar Institute in California.

Anyone who knows a kiwi or has at least heard of one should read this book. A witty and insightful take on what makes New Zealanders so unique!

This book was a delight to read! It made me realise that a lot of my traits have a lot to do with being a kiwi and growing up in New Zealand!

It's also good for partners of kiwis and friends of kiwis who aren't kiwis! My husband was in stitches during points of the book as the author/s have mentioned and said things that often come out of my very own mouth..............

When you're away from NZ like I am, this book is a great little heart puller to make you giggle and understand why you miss my/our/this beautiful country so much...

A highly recommended book, well written, and very kiwi styled, being true and down to earth.

And of course you don't need to be a kiwi to enjoy this book, its great if your visiting NZ or just want to understand more about NZ culture.