Reference Books

There are companies that create waves and those that ride or are drowned by them. This is a ride on the Google wave, telling the story of how it formed and crashed into traditional media businesses - from newspapers to books to television to movies to telephones to advertising to Microsoft. With unp...

The Rugby Almanack is New Zealand rugby's book of record and is widely regarded as the finest publication of its type in the world. Now in its 75th edition, the 2011 Rugby Almanack records another huge year, including the All Blacks' remarkable Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup victories, the All Blacks...

This witty, clever, mind-expanding and original book is destined to become a classic. A professor for over 40 years, Jim Flynn found fewer and fewer of his students were in love with reading. However, they were willing to try if he gave them lists. This inspired him to create the definitive list: bo...

'A good pen can also remind us of the happiest moments in our lives, bring noble ideas into our dens, our blood and our souls. It can turn tragedy into hope and victory.' —FROM A LETTER TO ZINDZI MANDELA, DATED 10 FEBRUARY 1980   The first wholly accurate and authorised record of Nel...

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE ULTIMATE INTERGALACTIC BATTLEFIELD Like many a great epic, "Star Wars" is rooted in a rich history of armed conflict. Now, for the first time, the facts, figures, and fascinating backstories of major clashes and combatants in the vast "Star Wars" universe have been doc...

We all know about jandals, jaffas and hokey pokey ice cream, but how many of us also remember the underarm bowling incident, the Topp Twins, Telethon and Thingee's eye popping out on TV? This is Kiwiana and pop culture for the younger generation, those who grew up with at least one channel of TV (an...

CLIMATEGATE. UN IPCC ERRORS. THE FACTS ON GLOBAL WARMING In 2009, Ian Wishart's first edition of Air Con became a #1 climate bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. Now, in this special extended Air Con: Climategate 2010 Edition, Wishart brings you right up to date with all the latest developm...

The inside story of Facebook, told with the full, exclusive cooperation of founder Mark Zuckerberg and the company’s other leaders. In August, 2008, Facebook signed up its 100 millionth user. Eight months later its 200 millionth user signed up. Today it is over 350 million users. This pheno...

Many bright minds have come up with expressions we now take for granted as part of the English language, and which we use freely in vernacular speech. But the originators of many of our most useful second-hand remarks go uncredited. The Bible and Shakespeare are rich sources of many common phrases, ...

The Celebrity Black Book 2010 contains the best celebrity addresses and celebrity contact information for over 60,000 public figures worldwide. Whether you're a fan, business person, nonprofit, author or a member of the media, you're bound to find this book useful. Everyone who is anyone is inside: ...

Crikey Dick is an illustrated collection of Kiwiana, documenting the stories behind the objects, events and people that have defined and distinguished the popular culture of New Zealand. The book comprises of individual entries of household names, along with an introductory overview - 'What is Kiwia...

What happens when advances in technology allow many things to be produced for more or less nothing- And what happens when those things are then made available to the consumer for free- In his groundbreaking new book, The Long Tail author Chris Anderson considers a brave new world where the ol...

Every word counts! This new edition of Collins Gem Scrabble Dictionary is the perfect companion for all Scrabble games, in a handy portable format. Based on Scrabble Words, the most comprehensive Scrabble wordlist ever, it gives short, succinct definitions to help players use the best words for thei...

'Finally I was forced to admit that I work in a corrupted profession.' When award-winning journalist Nick Davies decided to break Fleet Street's unwritten rule by investigating his own colleagues, he found that the business of reporting the truth had been slowly subverted by the mass production of i...

In the rest of the world they say that if you can remember the sixties you weren't really there - but what was it like in New Zealand? For us the decade began with conservative prosperity - the establishment knew best and most Kiwis knew their place. Doors were left unlocked in postwar 'golden weat...

How when and why we prune - a comprehensive guide to pruning that is specific to New Zealand conditions. All plants are listed alphabetically by their common name and over 100 trees and shrubs are described, with special emphasis on New Zealand natives. The introductory chapter covers the principles...

Farmers, fishermen, gardeners, skiers and anyone who works outdoors or just wants to know what the weather is going to do cannot be without Ken Ring's Predict Weather almanac for 2012. The 2012 almanac has the must-have features as the earlier volumes, with day-per-page forecasts including garden...

The Press in Christchurch celebrates its 150th anniversary in May 2011, with an accompanying exhibition at the Canterbury Museum which will run for four months. This book is a fond look back at how the popular newspaper started life, how it developed over the years, and how it dealt with the major ...

 Visionary game designer Jane McGonigal reveals how we can harness the power of games to solve real-world problems and boost global happiness. More than 174 million Americans are gamers, and the average young person in the United States will spend ten thousand hours gaming by the age of twe...

"The Big Payback" takes us from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the recent multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were ...

The New Zealand Cricket Almanack is the cricket lover's bible and is regarded worldwide as one of the finest books of its kind. The 63rd edition contains all the details of another full year of cricket at all levels. The Black Caps took part in the Champions Trophy in South Africa and the World Twen...

For much of the twentieth century New Zealand Truth was this country's most popular newspaper, and by the mid-1950s claimed a readership of half a million people. Not surprisingly Truth gained a position of considerable influence within New Zealand. This highly readable history tells the story of ho...

This handy field guide provides concise desciptions of 100 of New Zealand's common seaweeds. All are illustrated in vivid watercolour, with notes about distribution, habitat and general information. An introductory section describes the ecology, collection and study of seaweeds, and there is an exte...

The perfect way for aspiring musicians ages 7 & up to learn music theory! Note names, rhythms, intervals, music terms and more are covered in an entertaining, interactive software environment. For Windows and Macintosh.

New from the best selling author of WHYKICKAMOOCOW and RETURN TO WHYKICKAMOOCOW. Were Ches and Dale real people? Is a Swanndri named after a waterproof water bird? Why not Lemon & Thames? Does Speights really stand for Superb P*** Enjoyed In Great Hotels Throughout Southland? And what's so o...

The West Coast of the South Island holds a special place in the mythology of New Zealand culture. It is the last frontier, the 'wild west' of New Zealand - and the coasters are larger-than-life characters. The authors have both spent significant parts of their working lives on the Coast and know the...

Britain's funniest and most insightful satirist investigates the world of 'them' and 'us'; Is there really, as the extremists claim, a secret room from which a tiny elite secretly rules the world? And if so, can it be found? Them: Adventures with Extremists is a romp into the heart of darkness invol...

A simple but powerful guide to learning the life skills needed to attract people to listen to you, to act on your suggestions and enjoy doing so.

This is a must-have guide to the Halo universe. Venture into the fascinating world of Halo with "The Halo Encyclopedia" and discover everything you ever wanted to know about the characters, weapons, vehicles, equipment and locations from Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo WARS, Halo 3 ODST and most recently...

Disasters happen quickly and without compassion, disrupting thousands of lives every year. During a disaster emergency services may not be able to respond to every call immediately, and this means you must be ready to provide your own shelter, food, first-aid, water and sanitation for at least three...

Roger Swainston's breathtaking artwork provides a fascinating overview of the extraordinary diversity of Australia's marine and freshwater fishes. Here, more than 1500 remarkable illustrations portray every family of fishes ever recorded from Australian waters. The names of all known species are lis...

A light-hearted roundup of robots in popular culture, fiction, films, TV, animation and toys. From the earliest robots through to the 21st Century's cutting-edge automatons, Simon Furman highlights the influential, the radical and the downright weird: from Robby to Gigolo Joe, from Asimov to Dou...

The Companion to Development Studies is an essential one-stop reference for anyone with an interest in development studies. Over 100 international experts have been brought together to present a comprehensive overview of the key theoretical and practical issues dominating contemporary development st...

Traces the evolution of man's study of himself from seventeenth-century human sciences.

This handsome book celebrates the rich variety and depth of the Special Collections of the Auckland City Central Library. These amazing collections are full of rare, valuable and wonderful items that are not widely known. One hundred treasures are featured each pictured in full colour with and an ac...

An Epic Culinary Journey to the Heart of Westeros!Eat like a Lannister. Brew spirits to warm you in the coming winter. Treat guests to exotic sweets and alchemy-inspired cocktails. With this collection of hearty meals inspired by George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, it's all possib...

'I won't lie to you, fatherhood isn't easy like motherhood' Homer Simpson Fathers come in many guises - wise or silly, strict or kind. They can make you laugh and they can make you cringe. They can drive you home and they can drive you mad ...In Just Like Dad Says, wise and witty words from the lies...

This extensively revised and updated 5th edition of Storey's market-leading textbook provides an engaging, clear and coherent introduction to cultural theory. Popular culture is used to critically examine the theories and main approaches of cultural theory, and ensures that the accessible approach ...

In the myths, legends, and folklore of many peoples, the returning, physical dead play a significant role, whether they are the zombies of Haiti or the draugr of Scandinavia. But what are the origins of an actual bodily return from the grave? Does it come from something deep within our psyche, or is...

This text presents an account of human development that looks at both the differences and similarities among cultures. Beyond demonstrating that "culture matters," Rogoff focuses on how culture matters in human development - what patterns help make sense of the cultural aspects of human development?...