New Non Fiction

New and recommended reading from our non-fiction collections

8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go Jay Shetty

Instead of presenting love as an ethereal concept or a collection of clichés, Jay Shetty lays out specific, actionable steps to help you develop the skills to practice and nurture love better than ever before.

80s Sound and Vision Sheila Rock

This lavish visual compendium captures the raw energy, creativity and flamboyance of an unforgettable era through its fashion and music. It features the artists, designers, stylists, hairdressers, models and performers who contributed to the powerful explosion of imagination and innovation that shaped the 80s decade.

Churches of Paris Peggy Shannon.

Through more than 300 colour photographs and historical commentary, this book reveals some of the world's most stunning architecture and art - all found in the historically significant and beautiful churches in Paris, spanning the 12th to the 19th centuries.

Creative Mending: Beautiful Darning, Patching and Stitching Techniques Hikaru Noguchi.

Textile artist and designer Noguchi is acknowledged as a leading expert in darning. Her book provides instruction in basic and advanced darning, with the aim to mend garments creatively rather than discard.

Did I Ever Tell You This?: A Memoir Sam Neill

In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world's most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his career has been a series of unpredictable turns of fortune. 

Escape from the Gallery James Hamer-Morton.

Escape from the Gallery is a book for adults that is full of puzzles that will export you to far flung places and times as you try to work out codes from tricky clues. This is a fun way to learn about different cultures and times as you become immersed in the story of Adam Parkinson, who has taken up the mantel of a time-travelling problem solver. The conundrums are not simple, however there are hints if you need them. This is the third in a very cleverly put-together series.

Gluten-Free Baking: Recipes from the Famed Chambelland Bakers of Paris Nathaniel Doboin and Thomas Teffri-Chambelland

Chamabelland is a café in Paris that specialises in gluten-free baking. This wonderful book showcases many of the recipes used there and will be welcomed by the gluten-intolerant amongst us. Full of beautiful photos of mouth-watering baked delights, this is far more than just a recipe book. 

Is This a Cookbook: Adventures in the Kitchen Heston Blumenthal

Heston Blumenthal is well known for his unique take on food and this book won’t disappoint. Amongst the straightforward (though inventive) recipes, Heston has included thoughts, stories, and useful hacks.

Let's Talk: How to Have Better Conversations Nihal Arthanayake

Part how-to and part manifesto, Let's Talk is Nihal's accessible, anecdotal and invigorating toolkit to having better conversations with anyone, any time.

Nuts & Bolts : Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (In a Big Way) Roma Agrawal

Tracing the surprising journeys of each invention through the millennia, Roma reveals how handmade Roman nails led to modern skyscrapers, how the potter's wheel enabled space exploration, and how humble lenses helped her conceive a child against the odds.

Planet Friendly Hacks Elizabeth Ajao

If you’ve been feeling the pinch lately and/or want to live a life that is kind on our planet, this is the book for you. It is crammed with useful tips about nearly every aspect of daily life. Whether gardening, cooking, cleaning, or designing a new wardrobe, you will find advice here in this handy pocket-sized publication.

Rock Connexions Bruno MacDonald

Here is a comprehensive guide to the world of rock ‘n’ roll music with every influential band from the last half of the twentieth century mentioned, along with their line-ups and connections to each other. You will find many fascinating stories including how the bands came to be as well as much entertaining trivia. 

Shared Histories John Tāne Christeller

John Tāne Christeller is a poet who writes in both English and te reo Māori. He is also a print artist. In Shared Histories he has combined these talents to produce a beautiful bilingual work. Each poem is accompanied by a woodblock print. This book really is a little treasure.

Tales of a Vet Nurse: The Highs and Heartbreak of Caring for the Animals We Love Jade Pengelly

From emergency shifts at a posh London practice to a busy country hospital treating all manner of wildlife: snakes, foxes, hedgehogs. 

The Life of Crime : Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators Martin Edwards

In the first major history of crime fiction in fifty years, this book traces the evolution of the genre from the eighteenth century to the present, offering brand-new perspective on the world’s most popular form of fiction.

The Po: An Elegy for Italy's Longest River Tobias Jones

The author travels the length of the longest river in Italy, against the current from its delta in the Adriatic Sea to its source in the Cottian Alps. Along the way he gathers stories of battles, writers, cuisines, entertainers, religious minorities and music.