Mantel Pieces by Hilary Mantel

$45.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London Review of Books, she wrote to the editor, Karl Miller, ‘I have no critical training whatsoever, so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly.’ This collection of twenty reviews, essays and pieces of memoir from the next three dec ades, tells the story of what happened next. Her subjects range far and wide: Robespierre and Danton, the Hite report, Saudi Arabia where she lived for four years in the 1980s, the Bulger case, John Osborne, the Virgin Mary as well as the pop icon Madonna, a brilliant examination of Helen Duncan, Britain’s last witch. There are essays about Jane Boleyn, Charles Brandon, Christopher Marlowe and Margaret Pole, which display the astonishing insight into the Tudor mind we are familiar with from the bestselling Wolf Hall Trilogy. Her famous lecture, ‘Royal Bodies’, which caused a media frenzy, explores the place of royal women in society and our imagination. Here too are some of her LRB diaries, including her first meeting with her stepfather and a confrontation with a circus strongman. Constantly illuminating, always penetrating and often very funny, interleaved with letters and other ephemera gathered from the archive, Mantel Pieces is an irresistible selection from one of our greatest living writers. ...Show more

Writing Reverse Harem for Fun and Money by S. C. Green

$30.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

If you want to create the ultimate wish-fulfillment story where a strong, sassy heroine gets all the hot guys, check out this guide by Steff Green, a six-figure bestselling author.

How Should One Read a Book? by Virginia Woolf

$19.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

"Where are we to begin? How are we to bring order into this multitudinous chaos and so get the deepest and widest pleasure from what we read?" Published for the first time as a standalone volume, Virginia Woolf's short, impassioned essay, How Should One Read a Book? celebrates the enduring importance of great literature. In this timeless manifesto on the written word, rediscover the joy of reading and the power of a good book to change the world. One of the most significant writers of the 20th Century, Woolf is as relevant today as she was a hundred years ago. ...Show more

How to Rock Self Publishinga Rage Against the Manuscript Guide by Steff Green

$37.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

Do you have a story you’re bursting to tell the world? Are you sick of being rejected by the publishing establishment? Do you want to inject a little punk rock, DIY ethos into your indie author career?   In How to Rock Self-Publishing, bestselling indie author and publishing coach Steff Green shows you how to tell your story, find your readers, and build a badass author brand.    As a self-published author you’ll learn how to: Define your measure of success and set attainable goals. Create an exciting author brand you want to write under forever. Tame your monkey mind and consolidate your gazillion ideas into a solid plan. Choose the best platforms, editors, designers, and tools to create a high-quality book. Plan a compelling book series in any genre that will have your readers chomping for more. Write faster, release more often, and enjoy what you create. Spot trends and gaps in the market where you can add your unique voice. Publish your book in print, ebook, and audio with all the nuts and bolts. Launch with a BANG! – including handy launch checklists. Create an engaging author platform to turn your readers into lifelong fans. Find unique and emerging opportunities in self-publishing to build your audience and earn a living.   Steff breaks down the 11-step process that’s seen her go from failed archaeologist and obscure music blogger to a USA Today bestseller with a six-figure income. With dozens of examples from across the publishing landscape and real-talk from her own career, Steff shows how imagination, creativity, and perseverance can help you achieve your dreams.    How to Rock Self-Publishing isn’t just a book about writing, it’s about grabbing your dreams by the balls, living faster, harder and louder, and cranking your art up to 11.   ...Show more

The Artist's Way: A Course in Recovering and Discovering Your Creative Self by Julia Cameron

$40.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

The Artist's Way provides a twelve-week course that guides you through the process of recovering your creative self. It aims to dispel the 'I'm not talented enough' conditioning that holds many people back and helps you to unleash your own inner artist. Its step-by-step approach enables you to transfor m your life, overcome any artistic blocks you may suffer from, including limiting beliefs, fear, sabotage, jealousy and guilt, and replace them with self-confidence and productivity. The Artist's Way will demystify the creative process by making it a part of your daily life. From Alicia Keys to Elizabeth Gilbert, Patricia Cornwell to Pete Townshend, The Artist's Way has helped thousands of people around the world to discover their inner artist. Whatever your artistic leanings, this book will give you the tools you need to enable you to fulfil your dreams. ...Show more

Gifts of Reading by Jennie Orchard (Curated by); Robert Macfarlane; Jackie Morris; William Boyd; Candice Carty-Williams; Chigozie Obioma; Philip Pullman; Imtiaz Dharker; Roddy Doyle; Pico Iyer; Andy Miller

$38.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

'This story, like so many stories, begins with a gift. The gift, like so many gifts, was a book...' So begins the essay by Robert Macfarlane that inspired this collection.In this cornucopia of an anthology, you will find essays by some of the world's most beloved novelists, nonfiction writers, essayists and poets.'You will see books taking flight in flocks, migrating around the world, landing in people's hearts and changing them for a day or a year or a lifetime.'You will see books sparking wonder or anger; throwing open windows into other languages, other cultures, other minds; causing people to fall in love or to fight for what is right.'And more than anything, over and over again, you will see books and words being given, received and read - and in turn prompting further generosity.'Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of global literacy non-profit, Room to Read, The Gifts of Reading forms inspiring, unforgettable, irresistible proof of the power and necessity of books and reading.Inspired by Robert MacfarlaneCurated by Jennie OrchardWith contributions by: William Boyd, Candice Carty-Williams, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina Nayeri, Chigozie Obioma, Michael Ondaatje, David PillingMax Porter, Philip Pullman, Alice Pung, Jancis Robinson, S.F.Said, Madeleine Thien, Salley Vickers, John Wood and Markus Zusak ...Show more

Word to the Wise - Untangling the Mix-Ups, Misuse and Myths of Language by Mark Broatch

$12.00 NZD

$30.00 (60% off)

Category: Writing & Reading

Even the best wordsmiths can find themselves tripping over words that are commonly misused, mixed up or misspelled. Most of us have suffered the embarrassment of suddenly discovering that they have been using or spelling a word wrong for years, or, in some cases, their entire life. This useful reference untangles the mix-ups and misuses of language so that you can ensure you've got the word you're looking for, whether it's 'taught', 'taut', 'tort' or 'torte'. With definitions, examples of how to sharpen up text and improve your writing, lists of useful social media abbreviations and a discussion of unusual plurals, this playful look at the often bizarre and frustrating English language has got you covered. Word to the Wise will help you get your word use straight, whether you're writing a book, blog, email or text message. ...Show more

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg; Julia Cameron (Foreword by)

$37.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

For more than twenty years Natalie Goldberg has been challenging and cheering on writers with her books and workshops. In her groundbreaking first book, she brings together Zen meditation and writing in a new way. Writing practice, as she calls it, is no different from other forms of Zen practice--"it i s backed by two thousand years of studying the mind." This edition includes a new preface and an interview with the author. ...Show more

Fucking Apostrophes by Simon Griffin

$19.00 NZD

Category: Gifts

A hilarious, furious and profoundly useful short guide to the most maddening punctuation in English   Apostrophes are an f'ing pain. The rules about how to use them are complicated, and have evolved haphazardly.   Originally written as advice by a copywriter for designers -- wont to insert and remov e apostrophes at will, for visual effect -- this is a lighthearted pocket-sized guide to getting the f'ing things right.   Simon Griffin lets off steam so that we don't have to, showing precisely why "Rihanna and Jennifer's photos were all over the Internet" is quite different to "Rihanna's and Jennifer's photos" or what words apostrophes are replacing in sentences such as "He'd like you to buy him some cocaine," or "They've got it all on camera."   Elegantly produced, this is the perfect gift for any pedant, as well as an indispensable guide in all our moments of grammar-related frustration.   WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE ...Show more

Rebel Without a Clause by Susan Butler

$30.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

The English language is changing constantly. We invent new words and phrases, we mash up idioms, we mispronounce, misuse, misappropriate. Sue Butler has heard it all and is ready to defend and disagree with common usage. Veering from tolerance to outrage, she examines how the word sheila took a nose-div e after World War II, considers whether we should hunker or bunker down, and bemoans the emptiness of rhetoric. She shouts 'down with closure' as it leaps from the psychoanalyst's couch, explains why we've lost the plot on deceptively, untangles the manuka honey stoush, fathoms why the treatment of famous is infamous, and ponders whether you would, could or should ...Rebel without a Clause is a fascinatingly idiosyncratic romp through the world of words by lexicographer and former Macquarie Dictionary Editor, Sue Butler. ...Show more

The Exercise Book: Creative Writing Exercises from Victoria University's Institute of Modern Letters by Edited by Bill Manhire, Ken Duncum, Chris Price and Damien Wilkins

$35.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

The Exercise Book collects over fifty creative writing exercise used by Bill Manhire and his colleagues, not only at Victoria but throughout New Zealand and around the world. The celebrated writer/teachers who have contributed include Elanor Catton, Curtis Sittenfeld, Emily Perkins, David Vann, Elizabet h and Sara Knox, Dora Malech and Kirsty Gunn. This book will be an indispensible resource for teachers and students, and excellent stimulation and entertainment for anyone wanting to give writing a go. Exercises give your body a work-out.These exercises do the same for your imagination. The Exercise Book is full of stimulating trigger ideas – a treasure trove for writers.  There are writing prompts here that will help those who are just beginning. There are others that tackle the dreaded condition known as writer’s block. Several exercises are designed specifically for the high school classroom. The contributors are all published and successful writers. They include staff from Victoria’s famed creative writing program – Ken Duncum, Bill Manhire, Chris Price, Damien Wilkins – and many others associated with the program as teachers and graduates. There are exercise ideas from writers like Emily Perkins, David Vann, Nigel Cox, Curtis Sittenfeld, Kate De Goldi, Dora Malech, Lavinia Greenlaw, Laurence Fearnley, Eirlys Hunter, James Brown, Kate Camp, Dinah Hawken, Jenny Bornholdt, Paula Morris, Hinemoana Baker, Catherine Chidgey and Kirsty Gunn – plus advice on how to create whole fictional worlds from Elizabeth and Sara Knox, from David Geary and Eleanor Catton. In between are exercises from a host of New Zealand and international writers that explore the nuts and bolts of craft – in poetry, fiction and scriptwriting – along with others that tap the sources of inspiration or show the value of revision and editing.   ...Show more

Great Diaries: The World's Greatest Diaries, Notebooks, and Letters Explored and Explained by DK

$48.00 NZD

Category: Writing & Reading

Travel back in time and witness both everyday life and great moments in history in this fascinating compilation of diaries through the ages. Great Diariestraces the history of the diary in all its forms, from ancient times to the present day. It brings together historical and literary diaries, artists' sketchbooks, explorers' journals, and scientists' notebooks. Discover what is was life to build a pyramid, sail the seas with Magellan, travel into the heart of Africa, or serve on the Western Front. Find out how writers and artists planned their masterpieces and how scientists developed their groundbreaking theories. Great Diariesexplores the world's greatest diaries and notebooks, including those of Samuel Pepys, Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf, and Anne Frank. Stunning images of the original diaries and journals are complemented by key extracts and close-ups of important details. Feature boxes provide additional biographical information and set the works in their cultural and historical context. Essential reading for everyone who is passionate about history and literature, Great Diariesprovides an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of some of the most interesting people of the last two thousand years. ...Show more