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Saturday, Ian McEwan

Jonathan Cape
Reviewed by Peter Watt (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Saturday starts early for introspective neurosurgeon Henry Perowne. In the darkness before the London dawn he sees, what? A meteor, a comet; no, it's a burning plane.

Full review here

Seal Boy, Ken Catran

Random House
Reviewed by Lindsay Wright (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

A ripping good yarn. Well-heeled Boston toff (14), is shanghaied by dastardly whalers and spirited off, before the mast, to the South Seas.

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Sex and Money, Mark Dapin

Allen & Unwin
Reviewed by Alex Van Paassen (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

There are ten immutable rules of magazine publishing. Rule number one: beautiful women sell magazines.

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Sky Burial, Xinran

Chatto & Windus
Reviewed by James O'Sullivan (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

When Xinran was a young girl she heard of a brutality committed by the Tibetans on a Chinese soldier. They cut him into a thousand pieces and fed him to the vultures. This story stuck with Xinran through her adult life and it was only when she met an old, mysterious woman that the truth behind the tale was revealed.

Full review here

Sleep, Pale Sister, Joanne Harris

Black Swan
Reviewed by Sheila Forbes (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

This is a re-issue of a darkly sensual novel written before Chocolat catapulted Joanne Harris to fame. Set in Victorian times, it is a richly evocative tale told from the viewpoints of the different characters.

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Sophie's Bakery for the Broken Hearted, Lolly Winston

Hutchinson
Reviewed by Jan Treliving-Brown (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Lolly – a glorious name for a foodie author.
This is Lolly's first novel and it reminds me of another splendid baking book entitled By Bread Alone, written by New Zealand's own Sarah-Kate Lynch. Inhale that yeast – it's a wonderful opportunity for spicy, aromatic prose to waft off the page. You can smell the brie-and-porcini cheesecake, the maple moon cookies, banana cupcakes...

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Sorry, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Peter Bland – a memoir

Vintage
Reviewed by Jan Treliving-Brown (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Huge egos abound among writers and poets. We know this because they admit fondly to it. I've reached the conclusion that ego only enhances great writing; that poets especially write wonderful memoirs.

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Spoken Here, Mark Abley

Arrow
Reviewed by John Whelan (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Mark Abley embarked on a worldwide search for languages in trouble, those that for one reason or another are facing extinction. The result is a well-researched book with a human side to it but whose overall tone is pessimistic.

Full review here

Standing Tall – The Tawera Nikau Story, Richard Becht

HarperCollins
Reviewed by Glenn McLean (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

It would have been easy for Tawera Nikau to leave just a few words to his late wife inside the opening pages of his biography. Instead, like the man himself, he hides nothing.

Full review here