New Non Fiction

New and recommended reading from our non-fiction collections

100 Paintings From the Collections of the National Trust John Chu and David Taylor
The National Trust cares for more than 13,000 paintings, a collection which now comprises one of the finest of historic art in the world. This book highlights some of these artworks which are housed and displayed in historic country homes owned by the Trust and can be viewed by visitors.

Beautiful News: Positive Trends, Uplifting Stats, Creative Solutions David McCandless
This beautiful book is an antidote to Covid-19 and world-wide bad news. Have a look at this chart from the book and the website: because every country is the most beautiful at something.

The Book of All Books Roberto Calasso 
Esteemed Italian writer Roberto Calasso rewrites the Old Testament in a stark, astonishing and beautiful way.

Close Up Theodora Vischer
Close Up was an exhibition of works by nine female artists at the Fondation Beyeler (Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Lotte Laserstein, Frida Kahlo, Alice Neel, Marlene Dumas, Cindy Sherman, Elizabeth Peyton). The gaze these artists bring as representatives of modern art is expressed in their portraits and self-portraits.

Garden for the Senses: How Your Garden Can Soothe Your Mind and Awaken Your Soul Kendra Wilson
Learn how to create a garden that enlivens all five senses in this inspiring book written by a contributor to many gardening magazines who has access to many wonderful English gardens.

A Molecule Away from Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain Sara Peskin
This fascinating book looks at how tiny changes in the brain have enormous effects on humans. The author is a neurologist who explains the brain and medical conditions very well. 

Natural Care: Taking Care of Yourself the Natural Way Wendyl Nissen
New Zealand author and journalist Wendyl Nissen now lives in the Hokianga after leaving big city life behind. Her third "natural" book focuses on caring and is a response to her mother dying and the huge impact of COVID-19. 

Navalny: Putin's Nemesis, Russia's Future? Jan Matti Dollbaum
Poisoned with Novichok in August 2020 and evacuated to Germany, anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021 in the full glare of the world media - and was immediately arrested. This biography reveals the contradictions of a man who is now the second most important political figure in Russia, even when behind bars. See the documentary Navalny screening in the New Zealand International Film Festival.

Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation Roosevelt Montás
The author moved from the Dominican Republic to New York when he was twelve and there he was introduced to a liberal education. He shares the transformative insights that writers and thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Sigmund Freud, and Mahatma Gandhi had on his life.

Resetting the Table: Straight Talk about the Food We Grow and Eat Robert Paarlberg
Robert Paarlberg is a US emeritus professor who studies international food and agricultural policy, poverty reduction, nutrition, and sustainability. Here he sets out his science-based take on modern food and food systems. Some of it is controversial.

Snow Widows: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition Through the Eyes of the Women They Left BehindKatherine MacInnes
A vivid depiction of the lives, loves and losses of five women (Kathleen Scott, Oriana Wilson, Emily Bowers, Caroline Oates and Lois Evans), all wives (and widows) of members of Sir Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica. 

The Birds They Sang: Birds and People in Life and Art Stanislaw Lubienski
A passion for birds shines through in this beautifully translated work by a Polish author. He sheds light on some of history's most meaningful bird and human interactions.

The Penguin Modern Classics Book Henry Eliot
A catalogue of every title published in the Penguin Modern Classics series between April 1961 and April 2021, more than 1,800 books by 600 authors. Each title is illustrated with its first Modern Classics cover, and is accompanied by a plot summary and a biography of the author. 

The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire Tore Skeie
Warfare, plotting, backstabbing and bribery abound as prize-winning Norwegian historian Tore Skeie combines sagas and skaldic poetry with bold dramatisation to bring the world of Vikings and Anglo-Saxons to vivid life.

Wonderworks: Literary Invention and the Science of Stories Angus Fletcher
An examination of literary inventions through the ages, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante, that shows how writers have created technical breakthroughs—rivalling any scientific inventions—and engineering enhancements to the human heart and mind.