- Brothers in Black – Jamie Wall
There’s an astounding number of brothers playing in top-level rugby in New Zealand. How is this so? What’s it like for the siblings—do they compete with each other or do they support each other? Is there a particular climate in some families that encourages this success? Current top teams have a great bunch of brothers, such as the Barretts, Whitelocks, Saveas and Franks, but there have also been many stand-outs throughout New Zealand rugby history like the Meads, Whettons, Gears, Bachops, and Brownlies.
Jamie Wall writes insightfully, revealing some fascinating stories and analysing some of the massive changes that have occurred in New Zealand rugby over the years—while highlighting some very high profile games that feature in every rugby fan’s top game lists.
- Someone’s Wife – Linda Burgess
When Linda Burgess’ husband unexpectedly became an All Black at the age of 22, she was thrust into the strange world of being a WAG, and ‘someone’s wife’. It was the 1970s and Linda, egalitarian by nature, was a feminist. This odd juxtaposition was fertile material for a beautifully crafted essay that earned her the ‘Essay of the Year’ award by The Spinoff in 2018. It’s collected here along with a number of Linda’s other sharp and clever personal essays. They range across the personal and the observational. There are essays on post-war childhood; her lifetime of being an All Black wife (once an AB, always an AB); being a teacher for 20 years, no coy recollections of fun in the classroom but rather her endless fascination with education and with the young. There’s a powerful one on the death of her baby, Toby, striking in its honesty.
She’s interested in family and friendship; shared and sometimes distorted memories. This collection links personal truths to universal truths. Burgess explores the era in which she grew up, and her experiences are timeless. She looks at living abroad, at children leaving home, at house-hunting in Wellington, at travelling with a grandchild, at Leonard Cohen concerts as a tribal gathering. These are non-fiction essays that read like the freshest of recent novels—clear, restrained and wittily observant.
- Night Fishing – Vicki Hastrich
A luminous and remarkable memoir of a singular life in art and Nature, Night Fishing unfolds as a series of expeditions or essays, undertaken in the spirit of the philosopher-scientist. All the while, slowly, thoughtfully, Hastrich reveals the ordinary and remarkable detail of her life, from her childhood by the sea to her work as a historian and amateur marine biologist. Night Fishing is a tonic for those of us who have forgotten how to slow down, how to look around, and how to be part of our natural world.
- Idiot Wind – Peter Kaldheim
1987, Peter Kaldheim flees New York owing drug debts to a violent dealer and hits the road, living hand-to-mouth in flophouses and pan-handling with his fellow itinerants. This harsh reality forces him to face up to his past, from his time in prison to relationships lost and lamented. Kaldheim hikes and buses through an America rarely seen, and his encounters with a disparate collection of characters instils in him a new empathy and wisdom as he journeys on a road less travelled.
- Native Son: The Writer’s Memoir – Witi Ihimaera
The second memoir of a remarkable Māori writer and of the living myths that inspired him at the beginning of his career.
Behind that joyful smile, and the image of a writer footing it in the Pakeha world, there is another narrative, one that Witi has not told before. The story of a native son, struggling to find a place, a voice and an identity, and to put a secret past to rest. This sequel to the award-winning memoir Māori Boy picks up where it stopped, following Witi through his triumphs and failures at school and university, to experimenting sexually, searching for love and purpose and to becoming our first Māori novelist.
- Chyka Celebrate – Chyka Keebaugh
Chyka Keebaugh celebrates occasions from around the world and shares her tips, inspiration and suggestions for hosting the perfect themed event. Covering occasions as diverse as Chinese New Year, Eid, Mother’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Birthdays and so much more. Chyka shows readers how themed entertaining is done with minimum hassle – all in her signature, accessible style. Each section provides creative suggestions for decoration, food and drinks, invitations and small gifts. Beautifully photographed and illustrated, this is the perfect manual for themed stylish entertaining throughout the year.
- Great Aussie Car Fails – Dave Morley
The car is a complex machine. Enter a simple man, Dave Morley, an automotive journalist for the last three decades who has witnessed first-hand the Aussie car industry’s mistakes, errors and stuff-ups. He illuminates us on how politics, expediency, cost-cutting, and snake-oil salesmen sometimes got in the way of good design, best-practice and engineering practicalities. How else could you explain a manufacturer cheating on a fuel consumption test, a car that knee-capped its occupants or an exhaust design so loopy, it set the car’s carpets on fire? Dave lifts the bonnet on the greatest Aussie car fails of all time – the weird, the inexplicable and just plain dodgy. And you can trust that everything you read in here did really happen.
- AFL Wit & Wisdom of the Players – Eamon Evans
Whether you are an elite athlete, ambitious professional, dedicated parent or hard-working student, all of us are at times challenged by doubts and setbacks. This collection of inspiring and oft times hilarious quotes and quips from some of Australia’s leading AFL players will lighten your mood and give an insight into the lives of people truly challenged by their own thoughts. With pearls of wisdom from some of AFL’s best players and sharpest minds, this is a hilarious collection from players past and present.
From Barry Hall: ‘I want to kick 70 or 80 goals this season, whichever comes first.’ …..to Luke Darcy: ‘I’ve never had knee surgery on any other part of my body.’
- The Writing on the Wall – Juliet Rieden
In 1938, as Hitler’s troops are marching on Prague, a Jewish couple makes a heartbreaking decision that will save their eight-year-old son’s life but change their family forever.
Australian journalist Juliet Rieden grew up in England in the 1960s and 70s always sensing that her family was different in some way. She wondered why she knew so little about her father’s childhood, why her Czech grandmother had visited just once and why she had so few relatives.
In 2006, on the night before Juliet’s father died, he suddenly looked up and said: ‘The plane is in the hangar.’ In the years after his death, Juliet comes to truly understand the significance of these words.
Her journey begins with a visit to the Pinkas Synagogue in Prague, where she finds the Rieden name repeated many times over on the walls. Juliet embarks on a quest to research her family history – and what she uncovers leads her to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz, where she traces the fate of her grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles. As she finds answers, she unearths more questions, and she learns about the extremes of cruelty, courage and kindness.
- Guinness World Records 2020
To kick off the ’20s, we’ve created an electrifying new cover and curated a record-breaking edition packaged with thousands of new, updated and classic superlatives, hundreds of never-before-seen images, and a selection of eye-opening photo-composites that put a new spin on record-breaking.
A new decade means it’s time for a fresh approach, so starting with our front cover, we’ve re-booted record-breaking with an all-new design. There’s a new look inside, too, and thanks to our team of digital artists, we’ve created mind-blowing poster pages that will reveal some of our classic record holders in a whole new light.
Our ever-expanding pool of international consultants and experts help us make sense of the world around us, so join us as we explore the vast spectrum of record-breaking in 11 superlative-packed chapters. As always, we’re committed to bringing you record-breaking from the cutting edge of science, and this year we’ve produced a feature chapter on remarkable robots with the help of award-winning tech blogger Evan Ackerman. We’ve also been out on the road, adjudicating records at events as diverse as the UK National Pet Show, Skill Con in Las Vegas and BubbleFest in Wales.
Guinness World Records is nothing without its dedicated record-breakers, so we’ve also selected the best of the newly approved claims from the 50,000 applications received from the public over the past 12 months. If you want to be one of those lucky few, look out for the Do Try This At Home challenges in the VIRAL SPORTS chapter – you might even make it into next year’s edition.
- Guinness World Records 2020 Gamers Edition
As an exciting change to our usual structure, Gamer’s 2020 has the theme of gaming characters running throughout. Gaming legends such as Super Mario, Spider-Man, Pikachu, Link, Master Chief, Batman, Mickey Mouse, Lara Croft and Crash Bandicoot are all honoured with their own page… and that’s just the start.
In all, more than 100 of gaming’s most popular characters will have dedicated pages. And, if that wasn’t enough, even more will be represented in the features, fact boxes and round-ups found throughout the book.
The book’s features will transport our readers to more legendary gaming franchises – whether they visit a galaxy far away in Star Wars, get up-to-speed on gaming’s latest, greatest heroes, explore the world of e-sports, or explore the history of Assassin’s Creed.
Our readers will be delighted to discover our special chapter, dedicated entirely to the gaming sensation that is Fortnite. We’ve worked closely with the game’s publisher, Epic, to celebrate the best players, the most popular equipment, and the biggest in-game events. Readers will also be able to put themselves to the test, by tackling our specially designed Reader Challenges. Gamer’s 2020 has something for every gamer on the planet and remains the ultimate guide to gaming! So, press the Start button and find out why.
- The Fear Bubble – Ant Middleton
After thirteen years in the military, with four years as a Special Forces sniper, Ant Middleton is the epitome of what it takes to excel.
In his groundbreaking new book, Ant Middleton thrillingly retells the story of his death-defying climb of Everest and reveals the concept of the Fear Bubble, showing how it can be used in our lives to help us break through our limits. Powerful, unflinching and an inspirational call to action, The Fear Bubble is essential reading for anyone who wants to push themselves further, harness their fears and conquer their own personal Everests.
