This is a collection of Dylan Horrocks' shorter graphic work, from 1986 to 2012. Many are unfinished pieces, and although the styles vary and evolve over time, they are all recognisably Dylan Horrocks. In many cases he himself is the subject, the stories are about the struggle of the cartoonist to create meaningful work, they are about self-doubt, ambivalence, the efforts of daily existence. There are some very powerful stories here, and some disturbing ones. I was completely blown away by 'There are no words in my mouth', a wordless cartoon.

The Moth is a storytelling live event founded in New York by George Dawes Green, which has spread across the world and spawned a host of imitations - like the true Stories Told Live events which have taken place here. The Moth is also a very popular podcast. This book is a collection of 50 of the best talks transcribed for the page - these stories are not scripted for the stage, when they are told, it's live, without notes. They are all true stories about a significant event in the life of the storyteller.

James Salter's first novel in seven years is the story of Philip Bowman, a young naval officer, and it traces his experiences in work, life, and mostly love through the changes of the Twentieth Century. The great events of the century occur off the page, and are referred to only obliquely, whereas the details of his relationships are described in some detail. Bowman is unlucky in love.

The Griffith Review is a quarterly journal of literary, political and current affairs writing out of Griffith University in Brisbane, a little like Granta. Pacific Highways is their first issue devoted to New Zealand writing, co-edited by Julianne Schulz and Lloyd Jones. It's a fine and representative selection of our best current writers, featuring essays, memoir, fiction and poetry, and 2 photo essays. There's not much fiction, only 3 pieces out of over 40 in total.

This is one of the more extensive and detailed books in the series, and Led Zeppelin's legendary fourth album is worthy of some discussion. Davies knows what he's talking about, and investigates the mystical and occults roots of each song in turn, as well as the writing, recording and mythology around the making of the album. He does go off on some pretty extreme speculations about what it all means, to my mind far beyond what Led Zeppelin thought they meant at the time; but the writing is colourful and evocative.

The Pogues' 1985 album is celebrated here in a rather eccentric fashion, which, I have to say, I found irritating in the extreme. Only about a third of the book i.e about 40 pages, is actually about the writing, recording and interpretation of the album, the rest is a fictional, sea faring narrative, using members of The Pogues in a version of the voyage of The Medusa. Roesgen's writing on the music is great, but there just isn't enough of it. Still, it does make you want to listen to 'A Pair of Brown Eyes' again.