Currently, Wellington suburban train services are operated by Matangi electric multiple-units, all virtually visibly identical. But as recently as 2011 there was a wide variety of electric units in use, as well as one set of locomotive-hauled carriages, providing a much more colourful and varied operating fleet, including colour schemes of an earlier era. This was not by deliberate planning: it was rather that a lack of timely decisions on new stock had led to hurried re-introduction of previously withdrawn multiple-units and locomotives. This book tells the story of this era, with an emphasis on the variety of equipment and liveries that could be seen up until 2012. The story is lavishly illustrated with photographs illustrating the visual diversity within this period.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 64

Dimensions: 210 x 145 mm

Publication Date: 21-09-2020

Four brilliant, original and funny novellas that will outrage and provoke readers’ thoughts about modern life. Designed to be collected and for gift giving, this collection of sharp-witted tales on modern life will entertain and enthrall in the manner that only best-selling author Bob Jones can do and has done with books like ‘Full Circle’, ‘True Facts’ and ‘OGG’. Bob Jones skewers the art world and its pretenses in Modern Society. In Heaven Sent he examines the curiosities of religion. Risk & Reward is an original tale of crime and The Last Judgement examines the legal world. “No bull could have more fun in the china shop of modern offence-taking than Bob” - Jane Clifton

Bind: hardback

Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 09-10-2020

To live in Central Otago is to come to terms with the dominance of nature. Writer Jillian Sullivan set out to walk the hills and mountains of the Ida Valley where she lives, and follow the Manuherekia River from the mountains to its confluence with the Clutha/Mata-au. Her aim was to explore not only the land and river for themselves, but the ways in which we grow in intimacy with where we live; how our histories, and those of the people who went before us, our experiences of loss and love, our awakening to what is around us, bring us closer to community – closer to a meaningful life. Map for the Heart is a haunting collection of essays braiding history and memoir with environmentalism, amid an awareness of the seasonal fluctuations of light and wind, heat and snow, plants and creatures, and the lives and work of locals. In writing that is psychologically nurturing and deeply attentive to all that’s around, Sullivan leads readers to the core of the questions that persist throughout a life: who to love, how to love, how to be independent and yet how to live a moral life that also cares for others. The land reminds us, she writes, that we are not in charge. We are only a part of this world, and privileged to be here. Moving and yet restrained, poetic and spiritual yet unsentimental, Map for the Heart is a deeply satisfying collection of writing.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 280

Dimensions: 230 x 150 mm

Since first opening its doors to the public on Rolleston Avenue on 1 October 1870, Canterbury Museum has come to house an estimated 2.3 million taonga (treasures). To celebrate the Museum’s 150th anniversary, 150 taonga (treasures) from this vast collection are showcased in a superbly designed and photographed book House of Treasures: 150 Objects from Canterbury Museum Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho. The featured taonga speak of the depth and breadth of the collection and honour the generations of staff, volunteers and visitors who have made the Museum the remarkable and much-loved place that it is today. From the smallest to the largest, from the beautiful to the bizarre, from the tragic to the humorous, from local taonga to those created far, far away, the objects in House of Treasures tell an extraordinary story of natural and human history, and of Canterbury Museum itself.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 348

Dimensions: 250 x 300 mm

Publication Date: 01-10-2020

A collection of contemporary creative writing from emerging and celebrated writers. In A Vase and a Vast Sea, poetry and prose rustle against the window, scatter palm fronds across the road and sneak off to the movies on a Tuesday. There are moments of nostalgia blended with dangerous undercurrents and domestic life. This collection is a reunion of writers such as Renée, Maggie Rainey-Smith, Barbara Else, Rata Gordon, Tim Jones, Anahera Gildea, and Adrienne Jansen, and is an essential keepsake of New Zealand literature and a much-loved writing course.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 146

Dimensions: 125 x 186 mm

Publication Date: 05-10-2020

"The work of a poet who knows how important people and places are… I kept thinking, too, about life’s voyagings. I found the whole very affecting — touching, tender, rueful at times… And all the more impressive for being unsentimental." - Brian Turner We are unmoored by circumstances that set us adrift from our normal lives into unknown waters. The poems in this debut collection range from the luxury of certainty, through the loss of a partner, to establishing a new life in a different part of the country. But nothing is secure, and a global pandemic again threatens to disrupt the familiar. Through it all, there is reassurance in recognising the perfection in arising and passing away. About the author: Bridget Auchmuty was born in Britain in 1951, came to New Zealand to visit her sister, and never went home. She spent more than thirty years in the Nelson region, where she and her partner lived on ten acres in the Motueka Valley. After his death, she shifted to the Ida Valley in Central Otago, where she lives in a yurt. The core of this collection formed one component of the author’s Master’s degree in Creative Writing at Massey University, and several of the poems have appeared in prominent poetry journals.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 88

Dimensions: 160 x 235 mm

Publication Date: 01-10-2020

Peter Lindbergh, one of the world’s foremost fashion photographers, celebrates the female form in this classic book. Peter Lindbergh’s Images of Women is now available in this new unabridged compact edition. Lindbergh, who passed away in 2019, took a comprehensive look at his body of work from the 1980s and ’90s and hand selected these black & white photographs of the most beautiful and famous women in the world. It was the era of the supermodels, a phenomenon he himself had helped create, and he left his own unique stamp upon it, influencing an entire generation of fashion photographers with his distinct style. Lindbergh was always interested in the aura, individuality, and personality of his models which resulted in images that captured an ideal of beauty more than just perfection and glamour. This splendid monograph represents the definitive collection of Lindbergh's considerable oeuvre: classic fashion photographs, arresting candids, portraits of female celebrities—including Madonna, Isabella Rossellini, Sharon Stone, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, Darryl Hannah—and of course his signature shots of the world's supermodels.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 312

Dimensions: 195 x 290 x 25 mm

Publication Date: 01-09-2020

International author, branding expert and media trainer Pete Burdon is joined by New Zealand's Top Franchise Leaders to provide you with the inside secrets to financial freedom in franchising. The franchise industry is a 1.75 trillion-dollar business sector and in the current climate, franchising is a great option for many people. This book is very timely and has well-known brands and experts sharing their stories on what it took for them and their franchises to be successful.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 178

Dimensions: 152 x 229 mm

Publication Date: 01-09-2020

A little girl watches what happens on the property opposite from her house. People are starting to build a big house there and she’s very concerned about what will happen with her most beloved tree on this property if they would build a big gray house with straight lines as usual. She is surprised to see that the new house gets very fun shapes, colors and elements and at the end she is happy to learn that all the trees and plants have not been destroyed but are “inhabitants” of the new building quite as the human inhabitants. This book describes and illustrates the main elements of Hundertwasser’s architecture and tells about his architectural manifesto. At the end of the book you’ll find information about Hundertwasser and his most famous building – the Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna, Austria.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 32

Dimensions: 240 x 320 mm

Publication Date: 31-07-2020

Your baby will find Baby Sees: Hello Baby fascinating! Created specifically with high-contrast images and colours to attract and focus your baby's developing eyesight, Baby Sees books can help develop their vision and concentration. This edition also features a baby safe mirror - ideal for tummy time and to share with your baby. Loved by parents and babies alike, Baby Sees is an award-winning and best-selling series, described by the Practical Pre-School Award judges as "brilliant & unique".

Bind: hardback

Pages: 10

Dimensions: 160 x 160 mm

Publication Date: 31-05-2020