The Boat Runner
Devin Murphy $33
For fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale, this is an incandescent novel about a young Dutch man who comes of age during the perilous times of World War II. In 1939, 14-year-old Jacob Koopman and his older brother Edwin enjoy lives of prosperity and quiet contentment. They often help their Uncle Martin on his fishing boat in the North Sea, where German ships have become a common sight. But conflict seems unthinkable, even as the boys’ father naively sends his sons to a Hitler Youth Camp in an effort to secure German business for his lightbulb factory. When war breaks out, Jacob’s world is thrown into chaos. The Boat Runner follows Jacob over the course of four years, through the forests of France, the stormy beaches of England, and deep within the secret missions of the German Navy, where he is confronted with the moral dilemma that will change his life forever. This thrilling epic tells the little-known story of the young Dutch boys who were thrown into the Nazi campaign, as well as the brave boatmen who risked everything to give Jewish refugees safe passage to land abroad. Through one boy’s harrowing tale of personal redemption, here is a novel about the power of people’s stories and voices to shine light through our darkest days, until only love prevails.
The Floating Theatre
Martha Conway $33
When young seamstress May Bedloe is left alone and penniless on the shore of the Ohio, she finds work on the famous floating theatre that plies its trade along the river. Her creativity and needlework skills quickly become invaluable and she settles into life among the colourful troupe of actors. She finds friends, and possibly the promise of more... But cruising the border between the Confederate South and the ‘free’ North is fraught with danger. For the sake of a debt that must be repaid, May is compelled to transport secret passengers, under cover of darkness, across the river and on, along the underground railroad. But as May’s secrets become harder to keep, she learns she must endanger those now dear to her. And to save the lives of others, she must risk her own...
The City Always Wins
Omar Robert Hamilton $33
A remarkable novel from the psychological heart of a revolution. From the communal highs of pitched night battles against the police in Cairo to the solitary lows of defeated exile in New York, Omar Robert Hamilton presents a unique immersion into one of the key chapters of recent history. Bringing to life the 2011 Egyptian revolution, The City Always Wins conveys with extraordinary intensity all the stages of that place and time through the lives of its two main characters, Mariam and Khalil, ordinary young people caught up in an extraordinary moment. Furthermore, this is a novel not just about Egypt’s revolution but about a global generation that tried to change the world. Hamilton’s prose is arrestingly visual and uncompromisingly political.
Little Bird Goodness
Megan May $60
Megan May shares more than 130 thoroughly irresistible, mostly raw plant-based recipes from her award-winning Little Bird Unbakery cafes and home kitchen. You’ll find recipes for almost every meal to enhance your health, make you feel great and benefit the environment in the process. Ranging from decadent healthy desserts to green smoothies, plus staples such as nut milks, nut cheeses and probiotic-packed fermented foods, including kimchi and kombucha, these dishes will inspire you to fill your plate with an abundance of beautiful plant-based wholefoods. All of the recipes are suitable for a vegan diet and are gluten- and dairy-free. Most importantly, they are utterly delicious.
Apartment Living New Zealand
Catherine Foster $50
As housing pressures continue unabated, singles, couples and families are finding innovative solutions in heritage buildings, purpose-built developments and spaces creatively fashioned out of disused commercial interiors. Apartment Living New Zealand celebrates the diversity on offer with this increasingly popular style of living. Beautifully photographed and thoughtfully written, the follow-up to the bestseller Small House Living champions an emerging style of housing that delivers convenience, affordability and the stimulation of a more urban way of life.
