The Mirror And The Light (#3 Wolf Hall Trilogy) by Hilary Mantel

$50.00 NZD

Category: Historical Fiction | Series: The Wolf Hall Trilogy

The long-awaited sequel to Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, the stunning conclusion to Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize-winning Thomas Cromwell trilogy. ‘If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?’ England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the spa ce of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, before Jane dies giving birth to the male heir he most craves. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him? With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.     ...Show more

The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres

$33.00 NZD

Category: Science and Technology

The Paris Agreement was a landmark for humanity. In this timely and important book, two of the principle creators of that agreement show us why and how we can now realise its' promise. I hope it is widely read and acted on' Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger o f Peace The Future We Choose is a passionate call to arms, written by former UN Secretary for Climate Christiana Figures and Tom Rivett-Carnac, her UN political strategist. They outline two scenarios for our future: how life on Earth will be by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets; or how it will look and feel to live in a carbon neutral, regenerative world. Each of us must confront the crisis head on, with determination and optimism. Practical and empowering, The Future We Choose features ten things we can do today to make a difference. The Future We Choose is for all of us, teenagers to adults, who feel powerless to stop the climate emergency. This is the final hour: it can be our finest hour. We can solve our climate emergency, but we must act now. ...Show more

Riding with Giants by Peter Holmes à Court

$40.00 NZD

Category: Travel

In 2011, international businessman Peter Holmes Court left the executive world and found himself living deep in rural France with only his seven-year-old twin girls for company. Peter was struggling as a single father in a foreign country - unsettled by the sudden move away from a traditional job, and c ompletely baffled by the society around him. His only plan- to ride L'Etape du Tour, the challenging amateur leg of the Tour de France. In an effort to find some new friends in the community - and a bike for the race - he discovered the region's small bicycle factory. He was soon spending his days there- photographing his custom bike being built, meeting the locals, and learning about the rich traditions of artisan craftsmanship. Trying to enjoy the simple things and become a better father, Peter slowed down, and started to reflect seriously on history, industry and the structure of our modern economy. He and his daughters finally began to put down roots and understand the beauty and calm of a small-scale existence - and a very different approach to excellence and the well-lived life. This is one man's compelling, informative and funny story about the wisdom of children, the nature of work today, and the science of bicycles. ...Show more

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

$35.00 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction | Reading Level: near fine

También de este lado hay sueños - On this side too, there are dreams. Already being hailed as "a Grapes of Wrath for our times" and "a new American classic", American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope. If it's o nly a better life you seek, seek it elsewhere...This path is only for people who have no choice, no other option, only violence and misery behind you. And your journey will grow even more treacherous from here. Everything is working against you. Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they'll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy--two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia--trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. It is one of the most important books for our times. ...Show more

Saving Missy by Beth Morrey

$33.00 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction

Prickly. Stubborn. Terribly lonely. But everyone deserves a second chance... A dazzling debut for 2020 - are you ready to meet Missy Carmichael? Missy Carmichael's life has become small. Grieving for a family she has lost or lost touch with, she's haunted by the echoes of her footsteps in her empty hom e; the sound of the radio in the dark; the tick-tick-tick of the watching clock. Spiky and defensive, Missy knows that her loneliness is all her own fault. She deserves no more than this; not after what she's done. But a chance encounter in the park with two very different women opens the door to something different. A new life beckons for Missy, if only she can be brave enough to grasp the opportunity. But seventy-nine is too late for a second chance. Isn't it? ' Bittersweet, tender, thoughtful and uplifting ... I loved it'  Nina Stibbe ...Show more

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

$35.00 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction

Exuberant and affirming, it's funny and immensely clever, emotionally rare and strong. I feel bereft now I've finished' Tessa Hadley Casey has ended up back in Massachusetts after a devastating love affair. Her mother has just died and she is knocked sideways by grief and loneliness, moving between the restaurant where she waitresses for the Harvard elite and the rented shed she calls home. Her one constant is the novel she has been writing for six years, but at thirty-one she is in debt and directionless, and feels too old to be that way - it's strange, not be the youngest kind of adult anymore. And then, one evening, she meets Silas. He is kind, handsome, interested. But only a few weeks later, Oscar walks into her restaurant, his two boys in tow. He is older, grieving the loss of his wife, and wrapped up in his own creativity. Suddenly Casey finds herself at the point of a love triangle, stuck between two very different relationships that promise two very different futures. Lily King's Writers & Lovers follows Casey in the last days of a long youth, a time when everything - her family, her work, her relationships - comes to a crisis. Hugely moving and impossibly funny, it is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another. It is a novel about love and creativity, and ultimately it captures the moment when a woman becomes an artist. ...Show more

The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts

$38.00 NZD

Category: Travel | Reading Level: near fine

'An elegant and nuanced journey through literature, through history, through music, murder and incarceration and revolution, through snow and ice and remoteness, to discover the human face of Siberia. I loved this book.' Paul Theroux Siberia's story is traditionally one of exiles, penal colonies and unm arked graves. Yet there is another tale to tell. Dotted throughout this remote land are pianos - grand instruments created during the boom years of the nineteenth century, and humble, Soviet-made uprights that found their way into equally modest homes. They tell the story of how, ever since entering Russian culture under the influence of Catherine the Great, piano music has run through the country like blood. How these pianos travelled into this snow-bound wilderness in the first place is testament to noble acts of fortitude by governors, adventurers and exiles. That stately instruments might still exist in such a hostile landscape is remarkable. That they are still capable of making music in far-flung villages is nothing less than a miracle. But this is Siberia, where people can endure the worst of the world -- and where music reveals a deep humanity in the last place on earth you would expect to find it. 'A masterpiece of modern travel literature with words that sing from its pages. A definitive exploration of Russia's wild east.' Levison Wood ...Show more

A World Without Work - Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond by Daniel Susskind

$50.00 NZD

Category: Business and Economics

From mechanical looms to combustion engines to early computers, new technologies have always provoked panic about workers being replaced by machines. In the past, such fears have been misplaced, and many economists maintain that they remain so today. Yet in A World Without Work, Daniel Susskind shows wh y this time really is different. Advances in artificial intelligence mean that all kinds of jobs are increasingly at risk. Drawing on almost a decade of research in the field, Susskind argues that machines no longer need to think or reason like us in order to outperform us, as was once widely believed. As a result, more and more tasks that used to be far beyond the capability of computers - from diagnosing illnesses to drafting legal contracts - are now within their reach. The threat of technological unemployment is real. So how can we all thrive in a world with less work? Susskind reminds us that technological progress could bring about unprecedented prosperity, solving one of mankind's oldest problems: making sure that everyone has enough to live on. The challenge will be to distribute this prosperity fairly, constrain the burgeoning power of Big Tech, and provide meaning in a world where work is no longer the centre of our lives. In this visionary, pragmatic and ultimately hopeful book, Susskind shows us the way. ...Show more

World Beneath Their Feet - The British, the Americans, the Nazis and the Mountaineering Race to Summit the Himalayas by Scott Ellsworth

$38.00 NZD

Category: International General Non-Fiction