Whiskies Galore carries the subtitle 'A tour of Scotland's Island Distilleries', and in 12 chapters whisky expert Ian Buxton travels through 9 islands reporting hilariously but authoritatively on their whisky making tradition. It's not a thorough inventory of tasting notes and ratings, rather a personal journey to discover what is different and unique, if anything, about island distilleries. It's beautifully and evocatively descriptive of life and landscape on the isolated islands, and Buxton is a well-informed, iconoclastic and articulate companion.

This controversial but vital book sprang from an article that Australian journalist David Leser wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald. It's an overview of the events that led to the #MeToo movement, and one straight, white male's attempt to understand, listen and learn. He has been accused of mansplaining, and asked to 'shut up and listen', but I do think the book has validity, as it doesn't stem from an all-knowing position, but rather Leser trying to understand why misogyny has become so toxic and what can be done about it.

Wellington journalist Mike White is probably best known for his crime reportage in North & South magazine, but he's also known in the capital's dog parks with his SPCA rescue dog Cooper. His new book is an extremely funny and poignant book about the joys of dog ownership. His portrayal of the community of dog-walkers and their dogs in Wellington is terrific, and the book includes brilliant cartoons by Sharon Murdoch. A lovely gift package for the dog-lover in your life.

This is a collection of Sarah Laing's personal comics/blog from 2010 to this year. It's witty, smart, disarmingly honest, finely observed and self-effacing. It's not a narrative like her Mansfield and Me (2017), but a collection of comic anecdotes of varying length, but they do hang together, and are always wise and profound.

Mark Boyle, a former business graduate, became disillusioned with the modern world, so a few years ago he spent three years living without money, and wrote about it in The Moneyless Man, which was a massive success and translated into over 20 languages. Now he has decided to live without modern technology: no running water, no electricity or anything it powers, no phone or internet; just a wooden cabin he built himself. In this book he tells of a year making fire, collecting water, foraging, fishing, existing and working in tune with the passing seasons and nature.

Rules For Visiting is a smart, funny novel about friendship and trees. It's engaging and compassionate, elegant and moving. The lead character, May, is a successful gardener at a university, but her life seems empty, so she decides to look up some old friends in different parts of the US, and slowly reconnects with herself and the future. If you've enjoyed Sally Rooney's books, you will like this.