new novel review

The other night we went to the Bridgeway on Northcote Point, my favourite Auckland cinema, and saw a light and entertaining love story, an Italian movie. Manual of Love.Great fun by the way.

In the lobby before the movie I picked up a free A5 size 20 page booklet, on art paper and in full colour, called new novel review,November/December 2006 which I read with interest during the interval and then later at home.

On a little investigation on my part this proved to be the brainchild of Annaliese Prickett who has previously worked for BAM in Wellington, Women's Bookshop and Parsons Bookshop in Auckland as well as the fine vintage bookseller Jason Books.

This first edition contains reviews of the following ten titles:

Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Aster - Faber NZ$39.99
Christine Falls by Benjamin Black - Picador NZ$33.00
The Cowboy Dog by Nigel Cox - Victoria University Press NZ$29.95
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - Hamish Hamilton NZ$37.00
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones - Penguin NZ%35.00
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud - Picador NZ$33.00
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie - Fourth Estate NZ$36.99
Mother's Milk by Edward St.Aubyn - Picador NZ$35.00
Mothers and Sons by Colin Toibin - Picador NZ$38.00
The Fainter by Damien Wilkins - V.U.P. NZ$29.95

An interesting collection of serious fiction.

The reviews are by respected reviewers such as Carole Beu, Kiran Dass and Nicholas Reid.

A further six titles are dealt with under books in brief each containing a brief synopsis.

Prickett intends to publish new novel review every two months in 2007.

This is a bold new addition to our book review publications and deserves advertising support from publishers and others.
It is interesting to note that the advertisers in this first issue include four independent booksellers - Unity Books, Womens Booskop, Dear Reader and Jason Books as well as two cafes and a womens boutique fashion recycle store.

10,000 copies of the first issue of new novel review were printed and they were distributed widely throughout Auckland and Wellington. Prickett is operating this venture on shoe-string one suspects and I'll wager the reviewers are providing their services because of a love of literature rather than for any financial reward.
She would like to find some more male reviewers, and I'm sure if someone in the other main centres volunteered to distribute copies she would be pleased to hear from them.Obviously additonal advertisers would also be welcome.

If you would like to make contact with Annaliese Prickett then e-mail her at:

books@newnovelreview.co.nz