Anna Smaill's dystopian fantasy The Chimes is a compelling read. Photo / Supplied
The Chimes
By Anna Smaill (Sceptre)
She's a hugely talented New Zealand writer but most likely you won't have heard of Anna Smaill. Beyond one volume of poetry, released 10 years ago, she hasn't published a book. So this dystopian novel feels as if has come from nowhere. It's a dazzling debut piece of fantasy that marries great writing with compelling narrative. And the world Smaill has invented, where memory has been replaced by music and people cling to objects that link them to their pasts, is brilliantly imagined. Simon's parents have died and he is heading to London although he isn't certain why. All he has to guide him is a tune his mother sang and his bag of memories. In the city he falls in with a group of young scavengers led by the charismatic Lucien. Each day is like the one before, and its details are wiped from his mind as soon as it is over. But Simon has memories bubbling, and a melody that he still must follow. There has been talk about how few of us read local fiction - it accounts for only 1 per cent of books sold here. Even if you never normally pick up books by New Zealand authors, or fantasy, for that matter, I recommend
The Chimes
. A great book is a great book whoever it's by and whatever it's about.
Not Forgetting the Whale
By John Ironmonger (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
This novel strongly reminded me of the work of Paul Torday (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen). It's extremely quirky, has the same deceptively gentle pace and wryness of tone, and it's dark, too. The central theme is how easily a random series of events could push civilisation to disaster. The story is set in a fictional Cornish village called St Piran where a whale appears in the sea at the same time as a naked man is washed ashore. He turns out to be Joe Haak, an analyst who has fled his London investment bank fearing he has caused its collapse with a computer program he pioneered. The St Piran community care for Joe and he becomes part of the fabric of life. It's a quiet little place where everybody knows each other and time seems to move at a slower pace. But even this idyll isn't a bolthole for Joe - not if his computer program's predictions of imminent global meltdown are accurate. So he comes up with a plan to save himself and the people of St Piran. This is a post-apocalyptic story but not as we know them. Essentially, it's about the goodness humans are capable of when they are connected. A terrific read.
Humans: An A to Z
By Matt Haig (Canongate)
If you happen to be an alien trying to come to grips with the strange ways of Earth-dwellers, don't read this book. It will mislead you. But if you're human and you don't have issues with laughing at yourself, Matt Haig's A to Z will serve you well. Posing as a guide for visitors to this planet, with a few useful phrases thrown in, this curious little book wisely and perceptively sends up our funny ways. As an example, the entry for yoga reads: "A form of exercise based around stretching limbs, breathing slowly and feeling superior." The definition for hair is: "How humans judge each other's social worth." Haig's mind is obviously a strange and fascinating place and this book containing some of the oddities and truths inside his head is a treat. Should you come across an alien, steal its copy.
80 Cakes from Around the World
By Claire Clark (Bloomsbury)
The author of this book, Claire Clark, is the pastry chef at Michelin-starred restaurant the French Laundry. Unleashed on an entire world of cakes, she has come up with something both spectacular and complex. It is an amazing-looking volume. Many of the concoctions featured are cakes for virtuoso bakers. The scope for disaster with Norway's multi-ringed kransekake, for instance, seems enormous. But there are humble treats here, too, such as the Irish fruit bread barmbrack and the Welsh version, bara brith. The sheer variety of ways to consume sugar is almost breathtaking, with over-the-top American cakes covered in marshmallows, fried Lithuanian pastries, Chinese moon cakes, lurid Korean rainbow rice cakes and from New Zealand, a pavlova. Clarke includes a little of each cake's history and gives clear, sometimes lengthy instructions. Where she can, she simplifies the recipes but nevertheless this book will be most useful for confident and well-equipped sugar-lovers.
The Sleeper and the Spindle
Neil Gaiman; illustrated by Chris Riddell (Bloomsbury)
The point of any remake, cover version or homage to a classic piece of work should surely be that it adds something to the big picture of the original; it should breathe fresh life or offer a new of perspective. It's hard to imagine a better example of that done brilliantly well than Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle, a reimagining of Sleeping Beauty. On the eve of her wedding a young queen dons her sword and sets out to rescue a princess sleeping in an enchanted castle. Elevated further by Chris Riddell's beautiful, eldritch illustrations, Gaiman's story is funny, eerie and gently but effectively subversive; a reimagining of fairytale convention as much as one fairytale. Gaiman and Riddell should be handed the entire fairytale canon to work their magic on at once.
- Review by Kerri Jackson, an Auckland freelance journalist.
Hope in a Ballet Shoe
By Michaela and Elaine DePrince (Faber & Faber).
Michaela DePrince is the professional ballerina featured in acclaimed documentary First Position. She started life as an orphan in war-torn Sierra Leone. This book shows her journey from sickness, war and poverty to the American dream when she is adopted into a loving family and able to train as a dancer. The descriptions of war as told through the eyes of a very young Michaela will leave you asking what you can do to help children living in those conditions now. At a time when we are sometimes desensitised to brutality in Third World countries, Hope in a Ballet Shoe shows what those little faces with big eyes that we see in the newspapers can achieve given half a chance. A tear-jerker, and an inspirational read, from start to finish.
- Review by Danielle Wright, creator of award-winning children's books and the news site newsmummy.com
Overland
is a long-standing Australian literary magazine that still puts out a quarterly print edition. But it's active online too with a magazine of cultural commentary that is updated regularly. Recent posts have looked at Colleen McCullough's legacy and the recent Eleanor Catton brouhaha. Find it at
James Russell is the author of The Dragon Brothers trilogy of children's books and the editor of the NZ Herald's Element magazine.
The book I love most is ... At Swim, Two Boys by Irish author Jamie O'Neill. I've read nothing that comes close.
The book I'm reading right now is ... The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St Aubyn. Devastatingly good writing but with a cast of characters so horrible there's no one to root for.
The book I'd like to read next is ... This Changes Everything , Naomi Klein's latest book on climate change and the neoliberal policy blocking any meaningful action on preventing it.
My favourite bookshop is ... The ones that sell most of my own books - Arcadia and Unity Books in Auckland.
The book that changed me is ... The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay.
The book I wish I'd never read is ... Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Disturbed for weeks.
New York Times: These charismatic cooks are a counter to harder-edge chefs.