Ian Wedde has lived an extraordinary life, not all of it easy or comfortable, but all of it considered and examined. His parents were restless, and spent time living in Bangladesh, Jordan and elsewhere, sometimes with Ian and his twin brother Dave, at other times the children attended boarding school in England. These experiences were often disorienting for Ian, and have left him with an emotional longing for a sense of home, which this book is a part of his coming to an understanding of. His memory is impressionistic and uncertain at times.

Airini Beautrais is a award-winning poet, who in this book has written a kind of speculative, biographical documentary about Neil Roberts, the young punk anarchist who blew himself up at the doors of the Wanganui Computer Centre in 1982. It's a surprising book, reflecting considerable period research, and it carries quite an emotional punch, as well as being politically relevant in these times of mass surveillance. This will appeal to a non-poetry audience, really, this is current affairs, told in verse. Brilliant stuff!

This is one of those tremendously good family memoirs that you should read even without knowing anything about the writer - it's that good! Will Boast has suffered more grief than most. Over the space of 7 years his mother, father, and only brother die, all of them in pretty tragic circumstances. This is not a spoiler, you know this before you even start reading, but it's what happens during and after this time that gives the book such resonance. It's a very brave and honest book, full of insight into family behaviour, the keeping of secrets and possibility.

John Campbell spoke very enthusiastically about this book at the recent Word Festival in Christchurch, and I've always had a weakness for these epic novels that tell the stories of a group of people over a long period of time - the lifetime novel, if you like. This one has the added benefit of characters of my generation. It starts in the early 1970s, at school camp, when a group of 6 students decide to hang out together; they call themselves The Interestings, and the novel traces their lives through many travails until the near-present when they're all in their 50s.

A short story collection from the UK-based NZ writer, loosely and obliquely linked around the title theme. These are not always conventional stories, and some explore the very conceit of creating fiction. Others are largely stream of consciousness, or in internal monologue, but all are inventive and original, and some carry quite an emotional impact. Most are set in Scotland and England, but NZ does get a look in as well. I must admit I didn't quite know what to make of some of them, but hugely admired the sheer quality of the writing and the invention on display.

A lovely little book, not published commercially, describing the history of Allen & Unwin from its foundation in August 1914, through good times and bad, the 1990 management buyout by the Australian branch in the wake of the UK firm being taken over by HarperCollins. It's a story of ongoing success, as the current state of the company attests - over 150 people employed in 3 countries, 12 times winner of the Publisher of the Year Award, over 250 new titles published a year..