Books: Recent releases October 4

Once again, Margaret Atwood has produced a glimpse into a future where all is not as it seems.

Margaret Atwood takes a playful look at human failings

The Heart Goes Last
By Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury)

We know what to expect from a Margaret Atwood novel: a dose of dystopia, a bleak scenario that seems scarily feasible, a commentary on societal ills veiled in fiction. But the Canadian author always comes up with something good and The Heart Goes Last is no exception. It is a fast-paced blend of the sinister and the farcical set in the near future. The US economy is failing and Stan and Charmaine are unemployed and living in their car. When they hear of a social experiment called the Positron Project that will ensure them a comfortable home and financial security for life, Charmaine is keen to sign up. Their new engineered lives in the town of Consiliance involve spending a month in suburban bliss then a month in prison while another couple, their Alternates, take over their home. Even if the things Charmaine has to do as part of her work are worrisome, it's worth it for the stability. But then she and Stan become involved with their Alternates and discover all in Consiliance is not what it seems. The Heart Goes Last is a playful exploration of human failings.

Nopi: The Cookbook
By Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury)

I have to confess to a lasting obsession with Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks. He is a genius at doing things with vegetables and his food has interesting Middle Eastern leanings. Nopi is his smart London restaurant and he has collaborated with its head chef, Ramael Scully, who has an Australasian heritage. The result is a different offering with an extended fusion of flavours and more-challenging recipes, so it's not as instantly appealing to the home cook. There are still exquisite vegetable dishes but they are fancier - like chargrilled asparagus with romesco sauce and apple balsamic. The mains tend towards having several elements and some of the brightest ideas are vegetarian - five-spiced tofu with steamed aubergines and cardamom passata; baked blue-cheese cake with pickled beetroot and honey. If you're a super-confident cook throwing a dinner party for fellow foodies then this is the book for inspiration. Those seeking quick and simple shouldn't bother.

Lessons From Great Gardeners: Forty Gardening Icons And What They Teach Us
By Matthew Biggs (Exisle)

The wet, windy spring may have been keeping all but the most hardy out of the garden but this handsome volume should provide consolation as well as heaps of information. This history of gardening's most interesting people begins with a 15th-century Japanese rock garden attributed to the artist Somai and moves through time to consider the horticultural work of US President Thomas Jefferson, French impressionist Claude Monet, British aristocrat Vita Sackville-West up to the present day, with New Zealander Bev McConnell who has created one of the world's great gardens, Ayrlies. It is a visual feast but it's also strongly angled towards practical advice. Most of us might not be able to landscape with the same scale and grandeur but this book provides plenty of creative inspiration and useful nuggets for those of us with humbler backyards.

How Bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the Song that Stormed the World
By Simon Grigg (Awa Press)

For several months in the mid-90s, you couldn't turn on the radio or TV or enter a shop without the catchy strains of OMC's How Bizarre blasting over the sound system. And the song gained global attention, turning the name Otara Millionaire's Club into more than just wishful thinking. But a few short years later, singer Pauly Fuemana was broke, then in 2010 he died at the age of 40 from a rare neurological disorder. Simon Grigg was Fuemana's adviser, friend and record label owner. Here he documents the humble beginnings, the wild ride and Fuemana's fragile, tempestuous, erratic ego. In the end Fuemana's story is a familiar cautionary tale of too much, too quick; an excellent snapshot of a unique moment in New Zealand music history.

- Review by journalist Kerri Jackson.

Two Pedants, Season One
By Sean Molloy (Two Pedants)

Two Pedants, Season One is the first collection of the hilariously funny Two Pedants web comic by New Zealand writer and artist Sean Molloy. We follow the adventures of two pedants, saving the world one correction at a time. They're at their funniest when joined by Text Speak Girl (my favourite) who is the perfect foil. The simple line drawings and traditional four-panel comic style of Two Pedants, Season One frees the reader to enjoy the quick-witted word games the characters play. Will be loved by obsessive readers and writers, plus those interested in the space-time-grammar continuum.

- Review by Ngaire Atmore who blogs about books at bookiemonster.co.nz

Book
By David Miles (Familius)

The beginning of Book is similar in concept to It's A Book by Lane Smith. It also talks about a book as being different from a more modern entertainment choice, calling it: "the most ordinary thing ... no buttons, no bonus levels, not a single sound ..." Thankfully, it moves into a world of imagination. The delightful illustrations by Natalie Hoopes draw the child's eye - a monster hiding behind a house, words ripped out of stories and stuck on to the page alongside the text, fairies and elephants walking down the road, or a dragon's tail to spot. It ends with a child clutching his book, filled with his dreams and a place for his imagination to flourish. This is a sweet story for bookish children and their book-loving parents.

- Review by journalist and author Danielle Wright.

Nicky's best read

Not a read this week but a listen. While in New Zealand recently, straight-talking comic Ruby Wax talked to Radio New Zealand National's Jesse Mulligan about the brain, mental health and non-fluffy mindfulness. If you missed it then it's worth going to radionz.co.nz for the podcast.

Book lover

Auckland writer Sue Orr's latest novel is the bestselling The Party Line (Penguin Random House)

The book I love most is ... Home by Marilynn Robinson. I can't find the words to describe Robinson's writing; existing superlatives don't do it justice.

The book I'm reading right now is ... Prowlers by Maurice Gee. I'm reading this as research for my doctorate. Never has homework been so pleasurable.

The book I want to read next is ... Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay, book three of the Elena Ferrante Neapolitan novels.

My favourite bookshop is ... I can't choose between Time Out in Mt Eden, Paradox Books in Devonport, The Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby and Unity in Auckland and Wellington.

The book that changed me is ... The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. There's something magical about well-translated novels.

The book I wish I'd never read is ... most recently, Second Life by SJ Watson. An un-thrilling thriller.