Stone Mattress
by Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury)
At almost 75, Canadian author Margaret Atwood is experiencing what it is to be elderly so perhaps not surprisingly old age is the common theme running through these nine darkly humorous tales. She explores its vicissitudes, its heavy load of regret and the unsettling sense of having more of life to look back on than look forward to. The first three stories are linked by characters - there's the whimsical fantasy writer whose dead husband seems very much present throughout a stormy night; the cranky famous poet who was her ex-lover; and the brittle woman responsible for breaking them up years ago. These are stories of wrong turns and lasting wounds, tales of survival and loss. Nastiness and humour abounds, especially in the title story about a woman called Verna, a serial murderer of rich husbands. Atwood's writing can be overly didactic at times but she's subtle about it here. This is work that should satisfy her many fans and maybe even win her new ones.
The Unbakery: Raw Organic Goodness
By Megan May (Beatnik)
Megan May's two Little Bird Unbakery Cafes in Auckland are usually jam-packed so it was inevitable a cookbook would follow. Or, in this case, a non-cook book since May specialises in organic, plant-based raw food. To count as raw, food mustn't have been heated above 46C. It's something that's increasingly popular in the trendier city cafes but takes commitment and equipment to concoct at home. You'll need a dehydrator to produce May's version of bagels, seeded breads, crackers and risotto plus a food processor, blender and mandoline. Also there'll be a pricey visit to a wholefood store to stock up on chia seeds, cacao powder, raw agave, acai, Himalayan salt etc. But if you're interested in a raw lifestyle or simply want to produce healthier gourmet dishes, May does a great job of informing and inspiring.
The Splendour of the Tree: An Illustrated History
by Noel Kingsbury (New Holland)
Those of us with modest city sections will never plant most of the glorious-looking trees Noel Kingsbury features here but we can dream and this is the book to help us do it. Generously illustrated with photography by Andrea Jones, it takes us on a scenic tour of some of the most interesting, beautiful and significant trees of the world. More than 90 are featured and the story of each is told. There isn't much growing and care advice, this book is more about tree-appreciation and covers those that are food-producing and useful as well as sacred or purely ornamental. From monkey puzzles, to Japanese maples and kauri (the one featured is growing in California) but sadly no pohutukawa, we learn of the role each plays in our environment and our lives.
J
By Howard Jacobson (Random House)
How do you review a book that it's best to know as little as possible about before you start reading? It was on the short-list for the Man Booker, that's worth knowing. J is a brilliantly constructed dystopian novel in which the author holds its secrets very tightly to his chest, drip-feeding them only sparingly. It begins in isolated Port Reuben which, at first pass, seems a stereotypically quirky English town. Here, neurotic Kevern and Ailinn find love of sorts after being, it seems, pushed together by the townspeople. But all is not as it seems, as violence seeps through the village. Festering away under all this is an event referred to only as "what happened, if it happened", the cause of a collective conscience-clearing in which names are changed and pasts rewritten. Should you read it? Yes. Will you love it? I suspect it will be divisive, but you'll be thinking about it a long time after you've finished it.
Review by Kerri Jackson, an Auckland freelance journalist.
