We put all our books in one kete.
Kete gathers reviews and news about books, authors, events and awards in Aotearoa. Kete forages weekly selecting books for you.
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Reviews · Ngā Arotake
Author: Harry Ricketts Reviewer: Andrew Paul Wood
In First Things, Harry Ricketts chronicles his early life through the lens of 'firsts': those moments that can hold their detail and potency across a lifetime.
May 2024 release
Author: Freddie Gillies Publisher: David Bateman
Andrew and his girlfriend Jess are making a life for themselves in London, but it's a bit of a grind, and now their relationship is beginning to suffer. Andrew's best friend Jaryd on the other hand is living every young man's dream - a beautiful apartment in Paris, a happy relationship with the lovely Liv, and a business venture gone global.
Released: February 2024
Ans Westra: A Life in Photography is a richly illustrated biography. We chat to designer Floor van Lierop about the process to design a book like this…
May 2024 release
Author: Stephen Daisley Reviewer: Jack Remiel Cottrell
‘People in the district would often say Roy Mitchell was not quite the same after he come back from the war. There was a twin brother, Tony. Killed on Crete in 1941. The hut he built when he returned was on a bit of flat ground above the Mangawhero Creek. He called it his whare. Corrugated-iron chimney on the south wall.’
July 2023 release
Authors: Tessa Keenan, Sadie Lawrence, romesh dissanayake Reviewer: Hebe Kearney
Distinctive, fresh and compellingly present, AUP New Poets 10 features three exciting new voices. Hebe Kearney gives Kete the lowdown on this three-chapbook collection.
May 2024 release
Editors: Alie Benge, Lil O’Brien, Kathryn van Beek Reviewer: Jackie Lee Morrison
Otherhood's essays are by writers who've felt on the outside looking in, who've lived unexpected lives and who've given the finger to social expectations. Some chose to be childfree, some didn't get to choose and some - through bereavement or blended family dynamics - ask themselves: Am I a mother or am I other?
May 2024 release
Author: Mandy Hager Reviewers: Katarina (14) and Amelia (14)
Eighteen-year-old Grace has struggled all her life with her place in this family and in the world. Obviously of Asian descent, she has been unable to get the truth about her parentage from her mother, a woman who is struggling with her own demons, that date back to her life in Taiwan where she survived an earthquake while giving birth to Grace.
May 2024 release
Authors: Lucy Hammonds , Lauren Gutsell , Bridget Reweti Reviewer: Peter Simpson
Marilynn Webb: Folded in the hills is a substantial bilingual publication to mark the monumental retrospective of Ngapuhi, Te Roroa and Ngati Kahu artist Marilynn Webb (NZOM) (1937-2021) at Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
Nov 2023 release
Author: Keith Newman Publisher: Oratia Media
In this new edition of his standard biography, Keith Newman reveals the life and times of Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana and the movement he founded in 1918, tracing its activities and influence up to the present-day community of some 50,000 followers.
Released: 9 May 2024
Author: Gregory Hill Publisher: Exisle Publishing
89 days of travel, 33 trains, 19 countries … read an extract from the Central Russian segment of Gregory Hill’s epic rail journey.
Released: 1 May 2024
Aotearoa Bestsellers — to 11 May
Which books won at last night’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards
Junior Fiction and YA Bestsellers — April
Māori Books 2024 and Pasifika Books 2024
These two catalogues bring together an exciting range of recent and forthcoming Māori and Pasifika Books. They feature books by Māori and Pasifika writers, illustrators, editors and translators. Included too are bilingual children’s books in Pasifika languages, translated works in te reo Māori, some originally written by non-Māori authors, as well as books on Māori and Pasifika history, topics and themes including some by non-Māori or Pasifika writers.
Together they feature more than 90 books from 22 publishers.
View the catalogues:
Māori Books 2024
Pasifika Books 2024
What’s new? · He aha ngā mea hou?
The latest books, articles, and more.
Author: Michael Giacon Publisher: Michael Giacon
Michael Giacon's first volume is a dishevelment of self, sexuality, relationships, nature: his Pakeha-Italian upbringing; tense routines of the recent present; scenes from a gay play; barefoot on the spirited whenua of the Tutukaka coast, his favourite surface, sand.
5 May 2024
Authors: Ben Reid Publisher: Memia Ltd
In his new book Fast Forward Aotearoa, technology futurist Ben Reid explores the key technologies which are defining New Zealand's future - and the increasingly concentrated control of giant international technology companies - exposing in the process national vulnerabilities stemming from an endemic lack of strategic thinking about technology in our public sector, businesses and education system.
1 May 2024
Author: Chanelle Haffenden
Unfortunately this isn't a fairy tale, it’s a raw, gut-wrenching yet courageous memoir of a young woman I am proud to call my sister.
May 2024
Authors: Kathryn Burnett
Yearning to write but keep putting off starting? This book will help you figure out where you want to be, the steps you need to take to get there - and what's getting in your way.
March 2024
Authors: Leonard Lambert Publisher: Cold Hub Press
In this deft collection, Leonard Lambert confronts mortality with poems at once moving and artless. We walk with him down the long corridor of memory knocking at the occasional door: opening some and interrogating the interior, pausing thoughtfully before others, and--being the trickster poet he often is--knocking loudly at a few, then skipping away.
20 May 2024
Author: Niki Bezzant Publisher: Penguin Books
Every woman's honest, healthy guide to eating, moving and feeling your best - for the rest of your life. Feel your best - for the rest of your life. The essential new book from bestselling health writer and trusted menopause advocate Niki Bezzant, author of This Changes Everything.
Author: Trace Moroney Publisher: EQ Publications
Having a positive mindset is when we search for, see, and appreciate the good in life. This ;feel good' book describes what a positive mindset is, what it isn't, and how to cultivate and nurture a more positive attitude about ourselves and the world around us.
Author: Helen Lloyd, Pippa Keel Publisher: Te Papa Press
FUN ACTIVITIES ABOUT TE PAPA AND THE TAONGA IT HOLDS An accessible and engaging activity book to write, draw and colour in. Explore our world-famous national museum through 30 activities including colouring-in, dot-todot, word search puzzles, crosswords and more.
Author: Rita Riccola Publisher: Upstart Press
Life can be challenging and when we feel over-stimulated and disconnected it is costly to our wellbeing. Dreaming of what-ifs and maybes in the future, while regretting and being trapped by our past means we are distracted from living life in the moment. Mindfulness trains the mind to be observant and responsive to the many challenges we face every day.
Author: Maria Gill Publisher: Upstart Press
From award-winning writer Maria Gill, and illustrator Marco Ivancic, comes New Zealand's Endangered Dolphins. The North Island New Zealand dolphin (Popoto or Maui dolphin) is the most endangered dolphin in the world. The South Island New Zealand dolphin (Pahu or Hector's dolphin) is the smallest dolphin on the planet. Readers will learn more about these playful, intelligent and beautiful mammals…
Author: Robert Sullivan Publisher: Auckland University Press
After rejoining social media, Robert Sullivan wrote and posted a poem a day over two and a half months - the poems collected in Hopurangi-Songcatcher. Inspired by the cyclical energies of the Maramataka, these poems see the poet re-finding himself and his world…
9 May 2024
Authors: Harry Ricketts Publisher: Te Waka Herenga University Press
In First Things, Harry Ricketts chronicles his early life through the lens of 'firsts': those moments that can hold their detail and potency across a lifetime.
9 May 2024
Authors: Terence O’Brien Publisher: Te Waka Herenga University Press
Terence O'Brien was a born diplomat - urbane, clever, adaptable and hardworking, with a talent for strategy and negotiation. Although born in England, he was a loyal and dedicated New Zealander and spent most of his life working to improve the country's position internationally.
9 May 2024
Author: Tessa Keenan, Sadie Lawrence, romesh dissanayake Publisher: Auckland University Press
Distinctive, fresh and compellingly present, AUP New Poets 10 features three exciting new voices.
9 May 2024
Authors: Paul Moon Publisher: Te Papa Press
The photographer Ans Westra, who died in 2023, took hundreds of thousands of images over her long career. Together, those images constitute what is arguably a photo album of Aotearoa. Her dedication and determination sometimes came at a cost but she was focused and driven, overcoming a difficult childhood in the Netherlands and later complex adult relationships to forge her own path.
9 May 2024
Author: Rex Letoa Paget Publisher: Saufo’i Press
Manuali'i - Bird of the Gods - is an anchor to ancestors and to self. These poems are reminders of who you come from and who you are; compasses to constant new becomings. Questions for timekeepers and connections to universal powers. Being guided by messengers of the sky. Dancing on the delicate tightrope of here, the past, and an imagined future, Manuali'i dives into the heart of grief and loss and love; wraps a tongue around the soft grooves of Samoan words; and rides off into the distance on a Triumph Bonneville. In this dreamy debut, Rex Paget will have you reminiscing on past loves; dancing in the rain; and appreciating the depth and range of human emotion and connection.
9 May 2024
Authors: Keith Newman Publisher: Oratia Books
The Ratana movement gains national coverage every February as politicians make the pilgrimage to its headquarters near Whanganui, yet the history and workings of the religion are less widely recognised. In this new edition of his standard biography, Keith Newman reveals the life and times of Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana and the movement he founded in 1918…
7 May 2024
Author: Xanthe White Publisher: Penguin Books
The bestselling, expert guide to growing your own vegetables organically. In this classic bestseller, expert landscape designer Xanthe White takes readers by the hand and walks them from backyard bombsite to productive vegetable garden in a single year.
May 2024 release
Author: Mandy Hager Publisher: One Tree House
Eighteen-year-old Grace has struggled all her life with her place in this family and in the world. Obviously of Asian descent, she has been unable to get the truth about her parentage from her mother, a woman who is struggling with her own demons, that date back to her life in Taiwan where she survived an earthquake while giving birth to Grace. The two were evacuated back to New Zealand, never to return
9 May 2024
Author: Roanne Barnes Hautapu Publisher: Atuanui Press
In 2013 Quinn Hautapu presented to hospital with the seemingly minor symptom of a limp arm, within a short time she was on a Life Flight to Wellington to work out the cause of a massive bleed on the brain. She was seven years old. A month later, after brain surgery and numerous scans, the Hautapu family was given the shocking news that Quinn had brain cancer. What followed was 12 months of the most intense, emotional and difficult time that a family can experience.
Author: Raewyn Peart Publisher: David Bateman
In 1971, there was little in the way of protection for Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique natural heritage. Progress was the imperative for government and councils, with the land, rivers and coasts simply seen as resources to be exploited. This is the story of how a small organisation took on the establishment and won.
Author: Scott Bainbridge Publisher: David Bateman
Did New Zealand have a secret poisoner? In 1992, builders demolishing a Devonport home stumbled across a skeleton, triggering an investigation that sent shockwaves across the community. The remains belonged to a woman who had died in the 1930s, and whispers soon emerged of the deadly legacy of Nurse Elspeth Kerr.
Author: Madeleine Slavick Publisher: Cuba Press
Welcome to 'Town', fifty stories and fifty images by writer and photographer Madeleine Slavick, who lived in Hong Kong for almost twenty-five years before moving to a Wairarapa country road that runs from state highway to bush.
Author: Sue Heazlewood Publisher: Auckram Publishing
24 Tea Party Recipes for children, ages 2-12, can learn to prepare.
Author: Jessica Galatoa Publisher: Exisle
'You may not have thought much about it, but did you know that some families change? Some get bigger, others smaller and some completely rearrange!'
Changes in the structure of a family can be joyful, turbulent, and especially confusing for little humans.
Author: Dario Nustrini Publisher: HarperCollins New Zealand
When new recruit Dario Nustrini's head was freshly shaved in preparation for the army, he knew nothing about what training to fight, kill and die for New Zealand would look like. Since leaving leaving high school the year before, he had been on a steady diet of spliffs, Speights and the occasional sandwich from the cafe he worked at as a waiter…
Author: Penelope Todd Publisher: Cloud Ink Press
Nell is born to a new century, her early life forged in the freedoms of the NZ high country. Her own freedom is tested: by family expectation, by husband Herb's pride, by the rigours of family life on a Maniototo sheep station.
1 May 2024
Author: Yvonne Morrison Publisher: Scholastic
A must-have collection of three best-selling and favourite New Zealand wildlife and habitat stories, from deep in the day and nighttime forests of Aotearoa to out in the wild, blue moana.
Author: Deano Yipadee Publisher: Scholastic
When the tractor wheel jolts off the edge of the bridge, Tom finds himself in a precarious situation. Enter Nee Naw's mate, Moto Mike, who swiftly takes action and saves the day.