A Whole Lot More from Wine, Books & More

From books about fungi and Barbra Streisand to stories about long distance running and an art scandal that really happened – it’s amazing the varied tastes in books that pop up at Wine, Books & More. Here are the stand-out reads from their February catch-up.

Non-fiction was the popular choice at this month’s book group. A stand-out read was The Black Angels: the untold story of the nurses who helped cure tuberculosis by Maria Smilios. The book looks at the nurses that worked with TB cases before they had a cure and the process that went into discovering the cure. These nurses were specially recruited black women trained to nurse TB patients, lured by the promise of good pay, housing and education. It’s 1929 at a New York sanitorium with 2000 beds, a place of both hope and danger. When the nurses walk off the job it’s an interesting blend of medical history, politics, women’s and civil rights.

Quite a different kind of book is David Bowie: all the songs by Benoit Clerc. This is a compilation of the stories behind every single one of David Bowie’s songs. That’s over a career spanning almost 50 years. As his life was equally interesting, the stories behind the songs certainly warrant telling. Our reader found that the editing could have been better but enjoyed the book nevertheless.

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green is an interesting self-help book first published in 1998 and something of a cult classic. It describes how rulers through the ages have wielded power, their tactics and triumphs. Our reader found it very Machiavellian but quite useful looking back at scenarios in their life and seeing how they happened. Not recommended as a guide to help you gain power but still a very interesting read.

Fear by Byron Clark explores the network of hate in New Zealand and its connection to alt-right activism. It describes the development of events such as the Christchurch mosque shootings and the occupation and protest on the grounds of Parliament in the wake of laws around Covid 19. Our reader found this a scary sort of read but very well written.

A more positive book is Atomic Habits by James Clear, subtitled: "an easy & proven way to build good habits and break bad ones: tiny changes, remarkable results". This self-help book shows how tiny changes in our behaviour have bigger effects than you would think. Little atomic habits might include things like getting up five minutes earlier, or doing two push-ups a day.  A book of simple life hacks backed up with cutting-edge psychology.

Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood is a memoir detailing the author’s battle with her parents for a normal childhood. It recounts her journey sailing around the world with her family, beginning when she was only seven, and which turned into an odyssey lasting ten years. She went without schooling, safety and friendship as the family endured storms, shipwrecks and isolation. The book was a bit slow to get going but was otherwise interesting.

We can’t get enough books about fungi, or so it seems. After the Ockham long-listed Fungi of Aotearoa, recommended at a previous Wine, Books & More session, now we have Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. Fungi, he tells us, live at the border between life and non-life, and as we all know help, create soil and turn wood into compost, helping plants to grow. And so much more. This fascinating book will introduce concepts about fungi you could never guess at. Our reader gave the book 5 stars!

My Name Is Barbra is the long-awaited memoir by Barbra Streisand, telling the story of one of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars. With a career spanning six decades, Streisand was the first woman to write, produce, direct and star in a major motion picture (Yentl). The cover blurb says that the book, like the performer, is frank, funny, opinionated and charming. It’s also 900 pages long. Our reader found it interesting reading, though, revealing a very private person, not the persona she shows in public. Recommended.

Among the fiction that the team at W, B & M discussed was this must-read collection for lovers of classic science fiction. Infinite Stars: the definitive anthology of space opera and military SF edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt is a short story collection with some big names from the genre. There’s Orson Scott Card and Lois McMaster Bujold; Robert Silverberg and Anne McCaffrey; Dave Bara and Larry Niven. And quite a few more. It’s like the title says, infinite and definitive.

There were two stand-out historical novels. The Prize by Kim E Anderson is set in the 1940s and follows two artists who compete for Australia’s Archilbald prize. William Dobell paints a picture of his lover and fellow artist Joshua Smith which wins Australia’s most prestigious art prize. But his success is short-lived when a protest is lodged and he finds himself in the middle of a court case. Based on true events, this novel is both really interesting and sad.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (also now screening on Netflix) is a novel set in World War II. Marie-Laure, a blind French girl is in Saint-Malo which is bombed by the Allies after the D-Day landings. She sends out radio transmissions of books she reads by braille. Meanwhile Werner, a German boy, is in the Wehrmacht, travelling through Europe and tracking illegal radio transmissions. Short chapters that alternate between the narrators as well as beautiful writing make this a joy to read.

Among the contemporary fiction enjoyed was the ever popular Jodi Picoult for her novel, The Book of Two Ways. This is one of those ‘what if?’ novels that takes its main character, Dawn Edelstein, and imagines an alternative life for her. What if she hadn’t married Brian and made a life in Boston with a career as a death doula? What if she had stayed with Wyatt, now in Egypt, and developed her career as an archaeologist? A different kind of read that gives you plenty to think about. Our reader really liked it.

Everything Is Beautiful and Everything Hurts is the debut novel by New Zealand author Josie Shapiro. It’s about diminutive Micky Bloom who struggles at school, until she discovers the thing she can do really well – running. The story follows her struggles as a runner, the pressure to train endlessly, and to win and the toll that it takes. Our reader couldn’t put it down, enjoying how the writing really flowed – absolutely loved it.

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton is a kind of literary thriller, its title also the name of a guerilla gardening collective. They plant crops where no one will notice. A natural disaster creates an opportunity to grow their enterprise, but they have a battle on their hands when an American billionaire plans to build his end-times bunker on the same plot. Can they work together? This was a slow burn but the characters were really interesting. The ending was unexpected but brilliant.

Still in literary thriller territory we have No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy which is something of a classic. The discovery of a drug transaction gone wrong sends Llewelyn Moss on the run with someone else’s ill-gotten gains. There’s also the hitman hired to recover the money and the sheriff investigating the failed drug deal. The first three-quarters of the novel were brilliant with excellent dialogue, although our reader thought the last quarter of the book was a bit rushed.

A bit lighter is Good Material, a comedy-romance by Dolly Alderton which follows Andy, who can’t understand why Jen no longer loves him. So he’s looking for somewhere to live while waiting for his stand-up comedy career to take off. The novel gave our reader Nick Hornby vibes. They also thought the author captured the male perspective really well and made them question some things about male and female relationships.

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover is quite a different kind of romance that looks at the fragility of love. Lily hasn’t always had things easy but has built up a business and a good life for herself. Then she meets Ryle, who’s a brilliant neurosurgeon but he has a dark side to his character. A good romantic read in spite of the theme of domestic violence interwoven through the story. Keep a box of tissues handy.

There’s always a time for a good Young Adult read and this session produced Slug Fest by Gordan Korman. It’s about a group of PE failures attending a summer school. They’re a mixed bunch of underdogs including Yash, a budding athlete who has failed PE because he was so busy at sports practice. (Go figure!). Our reader particularly enjoyed the dry humour.

And then there’s a bunch of murder mysteries, a varied collection since, as we all know, there are all kinds of sub-genres. Let’s begin with a couple of doorstops – two Cormoran Strike novels by Robert Galbraith.

The Silkworm has private investigator Strike and sidekick Robin investigate the disappearance of a novelist. His wife thinks he’s just gone off somewhere and wants Strike to bring him home. But when it’s revealed that the writer’s new book featured some nasty revelations about people, it begins to look more and more like murder. It took our reader ages to read The Silkworm and it wasn’t until the middle of the book that it really came to life. Although it’s also a pretty gruesome read, so not for the faint-hearted.

The Running Grave is Cormoran Strike novel number seven, and if we’re comparing the two then it might seem like the series is picking up. Our reader described it as a brilliant read. The new book has Strike hired by the father of a young man who has joined a religious cult in the country. The cult seems peaceful on the surface but underneath are sinister goings on and unexplained deaths. Nothing for it but for Robin, Strike’s partner, to go undercover.

Keys to Death by Emily Toll is a cosy, light-hearted mystery set in Florida. It follows travel agent Lynne Montgomery who visits an old friend at her new resort in the Florida Keys. When a suspicious death occurs on the beach, Lynne finds herself caught up in the investigation.

Domina by L S Hilton is the second book in the Maestra series, a thriller set among the glamorous and wealthy elite. Our ambitious main character Judith Rashleigh has the lifestyle she has always craved and can finally stop running. But events involving a sudden death, stolen paintings and a dash around the Mediterranean keep the thrills coming – although, for our reader, not as many thrills as the first book.

Rest Not in Peace by Mel Star is a historical mystery set in 1368 at Bampton Castle near Oxford where Master Hugh is a surgeon and bailiff. So for any suspicious deaths, he’s your man. In this case it’s the death of Sir Henry Burley, who was hale and hearty one evening and dead by morning. As Hugh was asked to provide Sir Henry a sleeping potion he's suddenly not popular with the dead man’s wife. An interesting whodunit with an accurate portrayal of life in medieval England.

1 March 2024

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