What would you do if you knew when you were going to die? What would you say to someone who said they knew? In her latest page-turner, Here One Moment (Macmillan), Liane Moriarty, she of the monster hit Big Little Lies, has a womanstand up on a delayed flight from Hobart to Sydney and begin to tell passengers – the hipster, the flight attendant, the babe in arms – when and how they’ll meet their destiny. “Fate won’t be fought,” says the lady. Said Kirkus Reviews: “A fresh, funny, ambitious, and nuanced take on some of our oldest existential questions. Cannot wait for the TV series.” You’d have to agree.
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty. Photo / Supplied
The Invasion Of Waikato Te Riri ki Tainui
By Vincent O’Malley
The Mangatāwhiri River is a small waterway with a big place in NZ history, notes Vincent O’Malley at the start of The Invasion of Waikato (BWB). As an 1863 Imperial Army report noted, “the passage of this stream by a European force has always been regarded by the natives of the Waikato as tantamount to a declaration of war”. A few weeks earlier, a party of 380 troops crossed the river, invading the territory of some of the most powerful iwi in the country, and heartland of the Māori King movement. The conflict would have a massive impact on the course and direction of the nation. With expert explanation and well-chosen illustrations, O’Malley provides a complete picture of the war, its prelude, clashes, aftermath and legacy.
The Invasion Of Waikato Te Riri ki Tainui by
Vincent O’Malley. Photo / Supplied
The Hotel Avocado
By Bob Mortimer
“Both totally affable and genuinely bonkers,” thought the Guardian of UK TV comic Bob Mortimer’s The Hotel Avocado (Simon & Schuster). A sequel to The Satsuma Complex, it returns to the world of legal assistant Gary and his girlfriend Emily, his neighbour Grace and her dog, but moves the yarn-spinning action from London to Brighton, adds in a sinister baddie, and replaces a talking squirrel with a talking pigeon who explains loose endings. What’s not to like?
The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer. Photo / Supplied
