There it was sitting there very prominently in the small but perfectly formed Village Bookshop at Matakana just waiting for my regular Friday afternoon visit.
Published by Bounty Books, part of the Octopus Publishing Group, (in turn part of the vast Hachette publishing empire), NZ rrp $40.
A bargain, how could I not buy it. I suspect clever bookshop owner Tracey Lawton had placed it there knowing I would not be able to resist it. She was absolutely right of course and so it now resides beside my bed. Each of the 501 titles gets a whole page generally featuring the book cover or author with a synopsis of the story.
Titles are divided into eight categories:Chldren's Fiction, Classic Fiction, History, Memoirs, Modern Fiction, Science Fiction, Thrillers, and Travel. And a title and author index amkes it easy to locate any particular title if you want to dip into it rather than work your way through from the beginning.
Gorgeous book to own................. by the way I found four NZ authors included - the two obvious ones of course - Mansfield and Frame -but I wonder if you can guess who the other two might be? I think you will be surprised.
I also bought a copy of The Time Traveller's Wife (Vintahe $28). Somehow both Annie ad I missed this title when it was first published in 2004. There are currently 37 books in my must-read-soon pile so it may be a little while before I get to it but at least I now own it and I feel good about that.
21 comments:
These book shop people know us all to well, Mr Bookman. Sometimes I think they scheme and realise sales are down today, but hey, Vanda will probably pop by, so if we strategically leave this right here...
I think you need to give a clue as to which category the other authors appear. If it was children's, I'd suggest Fleur Beale's I am Not Esther
OK fleance, fair enough - One of the two un-named NZ authors represented is in the Modern Fiction section while the other is under Thrillers (which includes Crime by the way).
Ngaio Marsh?
as to the Modern Fiction - too many good ones to choose: Hulme? Jones? Kidman?
Yes, Ngaio Marsh. But I don't think you will get the Modern Fiction author. It is none of those you mention, nor is it Maurice Gee.
Elizabeth Knox?
No, not Elizabeth Knox.
Elizabeth Knox?
No, not Elizabeth Knox.
Robin Hyde?
No, not Robin Hyde.
To narrow the field I will reveal that it is a male author.
Martin Edmond?
No, not Martin Edmond.
To make it easier I will reveal that the author is not a literary writer, but rather is a writer of popular fiction, and that the title chosen for 501 Must Reads is one of NZ's biggest-ever
best-sellers.
Got it?
Murray Ball or Barry Crump
No, neither of those.
Jenny Pattrick (whom I adore and whose works I love)?
Stupid me - you said a male author. Um, Shadbolt?
Paul Cleave's The Cleaner?
No, none of these but getting closer. I will reveal all tomorrow if no one has it by then.
alan duff?
YES AJ, you are correct. For "Once Were Warriors".
Congratulations.
Post a Comment