We share our pick of the most-anticipated travel reads for 2021.
1. Islands of Abandonment, by Cal Flyn
This is a heartening look at nature’s power to reclaim the places where humans no longer linger. Flyn examines ‘life in the post-human landscape’, exploring such headline-grabbing locations as the Chernobyl exclusion zone and the abandoned ‘Motor City’ neighbourhoods of Detroit. There’s also a look at quieter backwaters, like a Scottish island now populated with feral cattle, and myriad places polluted by mining. Haunting? Yes, but also hopeful, showing that, against all odds, these eerily abandoned spots may offer our best opportunities for environmental recovery. (HarperCollins, £16.99)
When in 2017 a mysterious object hurtled through our solar system, Avi Loeb admits he was primed to see it as alien technology. But it was the ‘anti-alien’ backlash that shocked him the most, writes Becky Ferreira
Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2021 longlist announced
27 Jan, 2021 04:00 PM
5 minutes to read
NZ Herald
The longlist for New Zealand s most prestigious book awards has now been released - with more than a dozen first-time authors making the cut.
Books exploring issues of identity, domestic life, war, food, our natural world and our people are among the 40 works of poetry, prose and non-fiction longlisted for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, announced today.
The works were selected from 179 entries, and include 13 first-time authors - which book awards trustee Jenna Todd said was extraordinary .
It was a testament to the vibrancy of the country s literature, she said.
From fictional debuts to untold histories, Martin Chilton rounds up the forthcoming titles to keep you reading throughout the year.
Julian Barnes wrote: Pleasure is found first in anticipation, later in memory. Although he was joking about Gustave Flaubert s carnal desires, Barnes could easily have been describing the sweet sense of excitement felt by book lovers contemplating new pages on the horizon. The new year will bring novels from Kazuo Ishiguro, Sebastian Faulks, Lisa Taddeo, Stephen King and Jonathan Franzen; memoirs from Brian Cox and David Sedaris; and non-fiction releases from George Saunders, Dr Rachel Clarke and Matt Haig. There is even going to be a children s book about positive thinking from footballer and food-provision campaigner Marcus Rashford.