New Non Fiction
The Basis of Everything: Rutherford, Oliphant and the Coming of the Atomic Bomb. Andrew Ramsey
Two giants of physics, New Zealander Ernest Rutherford and Australian Mark Oliphant, pioneered the development of nuclear energy at Cambridge University. This fascinating book weaves their stories together and gives us the excitement of discovery and the horror of some of the repercussions from this work.
Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants. Catherine Horwood
This is an intimate portrait of the woman who pioneered the philosophy "right plant, right place". From her childhood in a small village in Essex to her stellar career in horticulture, Beth Chatto's story is one of determination, brilliance, and a sensitivity to nature.
Chasing the Sun: The New Science of Sunlight and How It Shapes our Bodies and Minds. Linda Geddes
You will learn so much on the importance of the sun to human beings from this well-written and extensively researched book.
Downton Abbey: The Official Film Companion. Emma Marriott
Downton Abbey the film is about the official visit of the King and Queen in 1927 to Downton, our favourite fictional country house. This companion to the film is a compilation of the history of the times, interviews with the cast and crew, and behind the scenes portrayals, accompanied by lavish photographs.
Eat Your Heart Out: Love Stories from around the World. Peta Mathias
This is another hilarious book from one of our favourite NZ cooking personalities. It is packed full of quirky stories, colourful characters, poems and recipes.
Limitless Mind: Lead and Live Without Barriers. Jo Boaler
A Stanford professor shares with us, in a very accessible way, the latest information on brain development. The brain is not fixed but capable of great change, in fact mistakes and struggles throughout life help the brain to grow new pathways.
The Man in the Red Coat. Julian Barnes
A prize-winning fiction writer looks at La Belle Epoque and the complicated life of Samuel Pozzi, a doctor, pioneer gynaecologist and free thinker of the time.
Novel Houses: Twenty Famous Fictional Dwellings. Christina Hardyment
Described as a combination of literary criticism, geography and biography, Novel Houses is about twenty legendary works of English and American literature. Examples include Uncle Tom's Cabin, Bleak House, Castle of Otranto, Manderley and Wuthering Heights.
Rage Inside the Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How To Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All. Robert Smith
The author has worked in the field of artificial intelligence for over 30 years and thus is very qualified to tell us that machines are prejudiced, and not amoral as we assume. His book demonstrates how non-scientific ideas have been encoded deep into our technological infrastructure.
Switched On: Women Who Revolutionized Style in the 60s. David Wills
A beautifully photographed volume which showcases the "turned-out, tuned-in, switched on" women who defined the energy and creativity of the 1960s.
We are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast. Jonathan Foer
Written by the author of Eating Animals, this book is a discussion on how we can gradually change our behaviour to benefit the Earth.