Kiwis are avid readers, and almost equally keen writers, producing more glossy picture books and wildlife guides than you would think possible. Some excellent novels have come out of New Zealand too, despite the tiny home readership and the great difficulty of breaking into the international market.
Almost all of the following titles can be easily found in bookstores. Where two publishers are given, these refer to UK and US publishers respectively; titles that are published only in New Zealand are denoted NZ. Note that Hodder Headline titles are published by Hodder Moa Becket in New Zealand
Travel and impressions
Mark Lawson
,
The Battle for Room Service: Journeys to all the Safe Places
(Picador). On the basis that Timaru is rumoured to be the most activity-challenged city in New Zealand, itself the world's most differently-interesting place,...
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History, society and politics
James Belich
,
The New Zealand Wars
(Penguin). An extraordinary, well-researched, and in-depth demolition job on the received version of the course and outcome of the colonial wars, which re-examines the Victorian and Maori interpretation...
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Fiction
Barbara Anderson
,
All the Nice Girls
(Vintage, NZ). A short, insightful comedy of manners-cum-romance about a naval officer's wife who goes off the rails in 1960s Auckland, by a writer known for her clarity and vibrancy.
...
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Anthologies
Fergus Barrowman
(ed),
The Picador Book of Contemporary New Zealand Fiction
(Picador). A good combination of extracts and short stories from most of the best living writers in the country.
Warwick Brown
,
100 New...
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Reference and specialist guides
Rosemary George
,
The Wines of New Zealand
(Faber and Faber). Entertaining and informative look at New Zealand's most important wine regions, the history, the people and the product.
Les Hill & Graeme Marshall
,
...
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