Thursday, November 21, 2013

Best of Auckland 2013 - as reported by Metro, in the superb December 2013 issue


The new issue was in my post office box this morning and I spent much of the morning happily reading it.-this issue features the best about living in Auckland this year.

Of special interest to me of course was the Best Bookshop and there was no surprise here - Unity Books, High Street - with honourable mentions to The Women's Bookshop, Ponsonby and Time Out Bookstore, Mt.Eden. Well done guys.

Their 10 Best Books are likely to be a little more controversial - to start with it is actually their 10 best fiction titles. I have only read 5 of them so can't really comment but far and away the most outstanding novel I read this year was I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes and that didn't get a mention so I suspect that means that the compiler, Susanna Andrew, has not read it.

I have subscribed to Metro since it was started all those years ago (mid-1980's) by Warwick Roger and during that time there have been a number of different editors and two changes of ownership. Being someone who loves Auckland and doesn't ever want to live anywhere else I have always largely enjoyed Metro through its various ups and downs and reckon that under present editor Simon Wilson it is in fine shape and all round a pretty impressive Auckland city magazine.
I did wonder what an earth he was doing putting Kim Dot Com on the cover of the November issue and briefly considered cancelling my subscription. Many others involved in the book world, and other areas that also rely on copyright, that I spoke to felt the same. In the end though I decided I would only be cutting off my nose to spite my face so I took no action other than expressing my displeasure in various social media.

This new issue though I do warmly recommend to all who love living here in Auckland, not only because of the fabulous Best Of pieces but also, and in particular, because there is a huge amount of original photography featuring both Auckland and Aucklanders.

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