Review of Meow: A book of happiness for cat lovers – Anouska Jones (ed.)

No cat lover can imagine life without a feline presence. Meow: A book of happiness for cat lovers is a compendium of delightful quotes that capture the essence of this fascination. Some are by famous people (Mark Twain, Jean Cocteau, Ernest Hemingway) and others are philosophical, or light-hearted — all are memorable. Accompanied by beautiful and heart-warming photography, and now reissued in a high-quality paper gift format, this is a collection to truly treasure.

Meow: A book of happiness for cat lovers

Anouska Jones (ed.)

Exisle Books

Supplied by Fantail Communications

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

This book has stunning photos of cats on one page with a pithy quote on the opposite page.  The quotes are a mix of thoughtful and whimsical, but all define the essence of a cat and will make you smile. I like Patricia Hitchcock’s quote – ‘If your cat falls out of a tree, go inside to laugh’ – great advice so you avoid the look of contempt.  The African proverb ‘If stretching was wealth, the cat would be rich’ is so true.  Sadly, stretching doesn’t pay the rent so my lot continue to freeload.  The photography is amazing and you can almost feel the fur.

A must-have for cat lovers.

Review of A Load Of Bull – Amanda King

A stunning photographic book recording the extraordinary beauty of farm animals – cattle to be precise!

Amanda King grew up in Brisbane, Australia, and like so many young Australasians before her, she eventually headed off on her OE. On her travels, she met a Kiwi farmer, and ended up living on a farm in Canterbury, New Zealand, and falling head-over-heels in love with country life as well as the farmer!

Photography started off as a favourite hobby – a way to capture unique split-second scenes and make them last a lifetime. Her business really began when she decided to create a large wall print for her own living room. An opportunity arose to photograph a stunning highland cow. The resulting animal print became the focal point of the room and friends started requesting similar pieces.

This inspired her to head out and take photos of other rural animals. That led to a ‘hobby’ Facebook page. Unexpectedly, and very quickly, people started to respond to the images. Before too long, and much to her delight, Amanda found herself with a full-time business on her hands.

In this book she has collected her favourite prints and arranged them by breed: Angus; Belted Galloway; Bison; Brahman; Charolais; Friesian; Hereford; Highland; Jersey; Limousin; Murray Grey; Red Devon; Shorthorn; Speckle Park; Texas Longhorn; Wagyu; White Galloway; and Zebu.

Amanda also tells brief stories of some of these animals, their personalities, and how the shoot day went. As you may imagine, it’s not always entirely straightforward!

A Load Of Bull

Amanda King

Penguin

0Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

This is a book of photos of cows.  I can’t believe I enjoyed a book of photos of cows but I did.   I preferred the few colour photos over the many darker ones but they’re all spectacular works of art.

The photos are sorted by breeds and each has a brief explanation of it.  Each animal featured has their name displayed – some are amazingly descriptive; such as Don’t Mess With Me – and a short back story of how the photo came to be or an explanation of what was involved in its creation.

There are interesting tidbits of information given – I had no idea cows had a good memory and could remember people after years apart, or that bison don’t moo; instead they snort bellow, and grunt.  It’s also possible to read a bull’s body language to tell if he’s about to charge – of course it’s obvious but it never occurred to me to think about it before.

The book is hard cover and very heavy to hold.  It’s an attractive coffee-table book but I found it hard to read it for a long period of time, the type of the story wording is small and as the book was so heavy I had to lay it on a table and bend my neck.

This is an impressive book though. Not just gorgeous photos but interesting stories and facts. Try reading it – you might love it as much as I do.

Review of Landmarks – Grahame Sydney, Brian Turner, Owen Marshall

A handsome, landmark book celebrating the work of three of our literary and artistic heavyweights.

The complementary work of artist Grahame Sydney, fiction writer Owen Marshall and poet Brian Turner was first brought together in the hugely successful Timeless Land in 1995. Its pages showed their shared, deep connection to Central Otago, to its vast skies, its wide plains punctuated by jagged ranges, its unique colours and its dwarfing effect on the people who pass through it.

Twenty-five years later, this lavish new volume from these three long-time friends showcases a rich selection of their subsequent work, including recently written, previously unpublished pieces. Through their own marks about the land and its people, be it in ink or paint, they offer a love song to the South Island, in particular Central Otago.

Landmarks

Grahame Sydney, Brian Turner, Owen Marshall

RHNZ Godwit

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

Otago attracts a lot of attention from writers and artist for its apparently inspirational landscape. Certainly the Maniototo is frequently cited as a region of special character. It may be, as Central Otago has an almost continental climate, four distinct seasons, a plethora of small towns, with that “edge of nowhere” feel that rural New Zealand had during the latter half of the twentieth century.

Landmarks is a coffee table book in praise of Otago. It’s hard to say whether it is an illustrated collection of short writings and poetry, or a collection of art illustrated with poetry and other musings – there is a 50/50 split between pictures and words. Grahame supplies the art, and Brian and Owen the words.

I don’t feel I’m qualified to comment on poetry, but the poems seemed intelligible but safe. The prose was perfectly acceptable, and being of an age close to the three authors, I found I could relate on many levels to these word pictures. Grahame’s art is beautiful, but there is a sameness of style. I
wanted to see impressionist, modernist, minimalist, et cetera renditions of Otago. Equally, there was no screams of love-hate from Brian or Owen. But these are minor quibbles of taste.

I liked Landmarks, and you could easily find worse books to adorn your coffee table. I thank Godwit/Penguin Random House for the review copy. And for the record, Grahame and Brian are Otago natives, and Owen is a displaced North Islander.

Review of Views From The South – Owen Marshall

A stunning collection of poems from one of New Zealand’s most respected writers.

David Eggleton wrote of Marshall’s poetry in the New Zealand Listener that, ‘Above all, the poems are redolent of the South Island – all wild winds and dry hills, sleepy summer afternoons, the shimmer of light on lakes, snow like whitewash on the Alps.’ In addition his poetry captures the voice and perspective of the South Island, whether it is contemplating family or friends, love or mortality, the local landscape or further afield, through place or time.

This collection brings together Marshall’s most powerful poetry from his previous three collections with many more recent works. They are complemented by photographs taken by his friend and fellow Mainlander Grahame Sydney.

Views From The South

Owen Marshall

Vintage

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan

This is a hardcover, coffee table book which is a collection of poems from one of New Zealand’s best writers.  They all celebrate the South Island and are handily arranged in four groups – Nature and Place, Family and Friends, History and Art, and Heart and Mind.

The poems are about big life moments – birth death, war – as well as the ordinary moments – meeting again the girl you liked years ago.  ‘Blowing Up Frogs With A Straw’ lists the many ways the poem’s speaker experimented with killing animals as a child, though not anymore.

Having experienced no suffering of
my own, I dished it out with gusto.
Yes.
and now I wince to step upon a snail.

As a born and bred Aucklander, I found the prologue poem hysterical – ‘South Island Prayer’ begins with God / Don’t let me die in Auckland.

The stunning photography is by Grahame Sydney, a longtime mate of Owen Marshall and fellow South Islander.  The photos often complement the poem – like the full page photo of a tree covered in wet snow facing the sparse poem ‘The Big Snow’.  I wish the photos had identifying text though – it would have been nice to be able to pinpoint the snowy mountain’s location or identify the gorgeous beach.

This is a thoughtful and delightful book, with well crafted poems and beautiful photography.

Review of I Am New Zealand: Aotearoa through many eyes

What’s your vision of New Zealand?

An inner-city street in the rain, a campervan under a clear and starry night sky, a high-octane sport or a traffic jam of sheep? This book collects a range of personal views of Aotearoa from photographers, both amateur and professional, along with their thoughts on what makes New Zealand.

When Nikon invited the photographic community to build an image map of the nation online (at iamnewzealand.co.nz) there was an amazing response and many creative and inspiring photographs were posted. This collection offers a range of those that truly say I AM NEW ZEALAND.

All royalties from the sale of this book will go to the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand.

I Am New Zealand

Aotearoa through many eyes

Random House New Zealand

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Maree

Nikon invited the photographic community to do an image map of New Zealand.   A diverse group contributed, from a range of ordinary people – including an 11-year-old working on a therapeutic art project and a 15-year-old with a passion for mountain biking – through to photographers with decades of experience. Locals and tourists, enthusiastic amateurs and fully professional photographers made use of the technical equipment and skills at their disposal to produce amazing shots.

The book is arranged geographically starting with Te Paki and ending at Nugget Point. Each page is a sumptuous photo representing a place. Some are landscapes, some are macro’s of flora and fauna and some are beautiful moody studies; some with people and some not.

This is New Zealand.

Review of New Zealand: Untouched Landscapes – Petr Hlavacek

New Zealand: Untouched Landscapes is a fresh and strikingly beautiful collection of landscape photographs that have been captured throughout the country by professional photographer, Petr Hlavacek. From our most iconic locations to harder-to-access and protected areas, New Zealand: Untouched Landscapes presents the pristine and diverse landscapes of this country, often from a new perspective.

Petr’s photography is motivated by the opportunity to promote greater public awareness of our fragile landscapes, a landscape he is passionate about protecting. Petr Hlavacek is an important new talent among New Zealand landscape photographers.

New Zealand: Untouched Landscapes

Petr Hlavacek

Potton & Burton

Supplied by Potton & Burton

Reviewed by Keith and Jacqui Smith

I think we’ve all seen those coffee table books full of pretty pictures of places in New Zealand; souvenir shops and airport bookstores specialise in them. At first glance this might seem to be more of the same, but although it does fill that niche, it is much, much more. Our first reaction on opening the book was “Wow!” And there was more “wow” on page after page. You may take it that we were impressed.

This is a book of New Zealand landscapes; some relatively familiar, some more remote, all pristine, magnificent, and full of untouched beauty. Some are positively primeval – the Lake Wahapo kahikatea forest at sunrise struck me as practically Jurassic, only somewhat lacking in dinosaurs. All are photographed with consummate skill – believe you me, we can only wonder at the effort it took to get just the right shot at the right moment. You may think that landscape photography is easy – and it’s true that getting a good landscape with a decent camera isn’t that hard – but getting shots of this quality is not at all simple. We had to admire the skill and patience involved.

I have only a couple of small quibbles. It was only when I came to write this review that I realised that the book has no page numbers, which is understandable on double-page spreads, but when the photos do not extend to the edges, page numbers could be useful to help find that kahikatea forest I was talking about! And I would have liked just a little more text in places, explaining the landscapes to those of us who like our geology. But otherwise, this is a beautiful work of art, far from just another souvenir picture book.