The Cloud Garden
The Cloud Garden by Tom Hart Dyke and Paul Winder
This book comes highly recommended by one of our customers.
It is the story of a botanist named Tom Hart Dyke, whose passion for orchids leads him to travel to places many of us have never heard of. By chance he meets adventurous Paul Winder and together they decide to travel to the notorious Darien Gap.
The Darien Gap is a strip of land between Panama and Colombia. Mostly swampland and jungle, it is a place the Lonely Planet Guide's advice for is 'Don't even think about it!'. Despite hearing many stories of abduction and murder they decide the risk is worth it - Tom for the orchids, Paul for the thrill of the journey.
Tom and Paul certainly get their excitement and adventure, in fact a lot more than they had hoped for. A story of survival, kidnapping, and 'extreme horticulture' this is one armchair travel book that really will have you on the edge of your seat.
Latin
Latin for All Occasions (Lingua Latina Occasionibus Omnibus)
by Henry Beard
Think you don't need this? Think again! Soon you'll be wondering how you managed without.
Pick up line: Frequentasne hunc locum?
At Customs: Nihil declaro.
Homework not done: Canis meus id comedit.
Excuse for lateness: Horologium manuale meum stitit.
Art exhibition comment: Cum musis deditus non sim, nosco quod amo.
Chat with longsuffering young colleague: Cum tam iuvenis eram quam nunc es ....
You've got the idea now I'm sure. Bore all your friends to death, scare off most strangers, and irritate anyone who actually has studied Latin - just get a copy of this little book.
English translations below for the unimaginative:
Do you come here often / Nothing to declare / The dog ate it. / My watch stopped /
I don't know much about art but I know what I like. / When I was your age ......
Short stories
I have started with a volume of Phillip Wilson's short stories called South Pacific Street. I chose it for three reasons. Firstly, the book contains twelve stories, each with diverse writing style and distinct flavour and content. Secondly, one of Phillip Wilson's daughters is giving a paper on his short stories so reading these should serve as a bit of preparation. And furthermore, Phillip Wilson's other daughter is one of the keynote speakers.
However, you could choose from any number of other talented NZ short story writers: try Elizabeth Smither, Fiona Kidman, Patricia Grace, Catherine Chidgee, Bill Manhire to name but a few. Pop into the shop or look at the online stock.
Dan Davin Short Story Conference
The New Zealand Short Story 'its traditions & departures'
An opportunity to celebrate Southland-born author Dan Davin as one of the fathers of the modern New Zealand short story, and the development of the New Zealand short story to today.
Some of New Zealand’s foremost writers including Owen Marshall, Fiona Kidman and Tracey Slaughter will attend. Janet Wilson will be a keynote speaker. It will be the first conference for many years devoted entirely to the short story and its place in New Zealand literature.
Follow this link for more information, programme, registration etc http://www.dandavin.org.nz/dan-davin-conference-2017.html
Walk around Dunedin
Buildings of Dunedin: An Illustrated Architectural Guide to New Zealand's Victorian City
by Hardwicke Knight & Niel Wales
You can't possibly be thinking of walking around Dunedin today BUT when the weather improves you could get hold of a copy of this fantastic little book and wander around the city looking at all the buildings (not just the Victorian ones either).
Dunedin hasn't lost quite as many of its heritage buildings as some other cities in New Zealand (although it has still allowed far too many to go) so it is considered by some to be of national architectural importance.
You couldn't fail to enjoy dipping into this book for information and the pleasure can only be enhanced if you combine it with actually wandering the streets and looking at the actual houses themselves. Come in and get a copy.
Lovely old pubs
Pubs o' the South: A Collection of Paintings and Drawings of the Public Houses of Otago, Dunedin, Central Otago, Southland & Invercargill
by John Husband
I'm quite partial to pubs, particularly old ones. I not only like sitting in them with a drink but I also like looking at them. This book contains lovely pencil drawings of many of the famous old pubs around the South.
Among the extant, you'll find the Carey's Bay Hotel, the Cardrona Hotel, The Albion at Luggate, The Vulcan, Oturehua Tavern and many more. Among the sadly-no-more are Chicks Hotel, Lumsden's Royal Mail Hotel, The Railway Hotel at Ida Valley, The Empire and, again, many many more.
This is a lovely book to flick through and, as well as the drawings, there is a one-page history of each pub, and often the story of its sad demise. Apart from that, you could easily use it as a guide to the South of the South Island and plan your travel route to see as many of these as you can.
New arrival in our shop
This is what has just arrived in our shop today. A present for one of our staff from her lovely mum but viewing is generously to be shared with customers and staff who loiter around the counter. Come in and have a look at it.
It's called "Bibliophile with Cats" It was originally a jigsaw and has been tastefully framed to make it a joy to display. It is by Edward St John Gorey, an American artist, who was born in 1925 and died in 2000.
Do come and have a look!
Embarrassment
Walking in on Mum and Dad: Adventures in Embarrassment
by Brian King
Humiliation, shame, mortification, ignominy, chagrin or whatever you want to call it can be caused by a painfully wide array of circumstances. It lurks around every corner to catch you unawares. You can find embarrasment everywhere: in failure, in success, in stupidity, in carelessness, in mistakes, in slips of the tongue, in forgetfulness, in distraction and in snoring, farting, over-hasty emails, nudity, injury, accidents and so much more.
It can be extremely funny if you're not the committer of the faux pas but otherwise it can make you want to die. This book looks at embarrassment from both a scientific and psychological point of view and at the same time it recounts a hilarious line-up of Brian King's own and other people's mortifying misadventures.
This one isn't in the book, but to finish on a local note of embarrassment, who else remembers the butcher's shop on a corner in Princes Street, Dunedin with the bright flashing sign "You can't beat Tom's meat"?
