Ineke Meredith’s On Call, Gareth Brown's The Books of Doors and AC Grayling's Who Owns the Moon? Photos / Supplied
Ineke Meredith’s On Call, Gareth Brown's The Books of Doors and AC Grayling's Who Owns the Moon? Photos / Supplied
Out next week is Ineke Meredith’s On Call (HarperCollins). Meredith writes about being a Kiwi general surgeon, and her memoir is a sharply written, sometimes eye-opening tale of life in the operating room and as a single parent. There are the young victims of a terrible car wreck, tales ofprostates and catheters, the high-end call girl with an unusual request. There’s also exhaustion, worrying about being a good mother, being punched in the face by a patient. And then her parents in Samoa, where she grew up, get sick. Is the job worth it? No spoilers, but the memoir ends on a positive note of change.
On Call: Stories from my life as a surgeon, a daughter and a mother by Ineke Meredith. Photo / Supplied
When New York bookseller Cassie Andrews is handed a book by a favourite customer, she has no idea it bestows amazing powers on its owner. But other magic books are out there, and can be used for evil. The Book of Doors (Bantam), the debut of Scottish writer Gareth Brown, is “a riveting tale of adventure, magic and the long process of grieving”, said Publishers Weekly. Kirkus Reviews thought a gruesome moment sits “jarringly at odds with the initial tone of wonderment, but if you stick with it, you’ll reach a conclusion that’s both disorienting and deeply satisfying”.
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown. Photo / Supplied
The most direct title so far this year? Who Owns the Moon? (Oneworld), by British philosopher AC Grayling. The Moon, like Earth, contains silicon, manganese, titanium – all very useful for modern technology. As a raft of commercial lunar landers begin arriving on the Moon, Grayling, using the law of the sea and the treaties for Antarctica and outer space, explores what terra nullius and the tragedy of the commons (whereby communal resources are exploited by the few) might mean beyond this planet. Can we stop space being another area of human conflict?
Who Owns The Moon? In Defence of Humanity's Common Interests in Space by AC Grayling. Photo / Supplied
