In this latest BOOK CLUB column, we profile Thread’s favourite new books out in November 2014.
PEN & INK TATTOOS & THE STORIES BEHIND THEM
Out this November from publisher www.allenandunwin.com, is this wee gem by editor Isaac Fitzgerald and illustrator Wendy MacNaughton with an introduction by Wild author Cheryl Strayed. Pen & Ink tattoos & the stories behind them is a fabulously stylish book, that’s garnered high praise: ‘Reveal[s] the often hilarious, sometime poignant stories behind these permanent remnants of our fleeting opinions, passions and phases.’ – O, The Oprah Magazine. Some of the people featured are Roxane Gay, Cheryl Strayed, Mona Eltahawy, French Montana, Thao Nguyen, Chris Colin and Mikael Kennedy.
So our friend Amanda Thomas – who is a big lover of creative contemporary tattoos which she has done at the Birkenhead studio White Rabbit Ink – photographed this beautiful new book for Thread this week on her Instagram and I love the photo styling. Amanda said, “My new coffee table book is only feeding my tattoo addiction! Thanks @threadnz you know me well!” Follow her incredibly popular Instagram at @herecomesthesunblog.
Hairy Maclary and The Very Hungry Caterpillar
My children will LOVE these for Christmas- Hairy Maclary Slinky Malinky cat book and toy cat, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Christmas 123! Both from Penguin books and very reasonably priced; Caterpillar is just $12.99.
ROOMS TO LOVE – LEEANN YARE AND LARNIE NICHOLSON
Exciting news- my house is in this book, from the original photos they came and photographed here for Your Home and Garden magazine a couple of years back. They’ve collated all the houses into categories including Live, Play, Create, Inside out, Wash, Cook, Eat, Sleep, and Inspire, with helpful verb titles to represent various functions rather than just rooms, in houses. LeeAnn Yare styles the homes and Larnie Nicholson photographs them and she is honestly the nicest photographer you will ever meet.
Because my home is in it, I thought it would be fun to create “interiors inception” and take a photo of my house in the book in a photo in my house. ROOMS TO LOVE – BY LEEANN YARE AND LARNIE NICHOLSON is $65 out 24th October from Penguin.
Bedrooms
Kids rooms
Next up: two cookbooks by New Zealand celeb chefs who are big on personality and presence as well as talent.
DEPOT – AL BROWN
This massive hardcover book is not so much a straight up recipe book as ‘The biography of a restaurant (with recipes.)’ I love the styling in this and the gorgeous and often witty photographs and the philosophy Al Brown has, as well as the (divine) recipes themselves of EVERY DISH EVER SERVED AT DEPOT. No wonder it’s so massive. Recipes are by Kyle Street and Al Brown and photography is by Kieran Scott. I really like that Al Brown says this book is about honesty, integrity and transparency, and credits his team loyalty with their success in changing the hospitality landscape in this town and to an extent, country. It even includes the newspaper clipping of when he turned away boy band One Direction. Depot is published by Random House New Zealand.
EVERYDAY DELICIOUS – CHELSEA WINTER
I assume everyday delicious is referring to the food but it could equally apply to the chef in her stylish outfits, cut off shorts and pastel singlets playing with her dog and hosting friends. But she’s no Baking Barbie. Winter is a much-loved cook and TV personality with a strong and well-managed personal brand that is embodied in this cookbook that shows her lifestyle and plenty of shots of the cook as well as of plates of food. Forget the saying ‘never trust a skinny cook’, you can totally trust Winter and her fail-safe recipes. My favourite is the Good Energy Glutenfree Slice, pictured below. Everyday Delicious is $49.99 and published by Random House NZ.
Words and photos, Megan Robinson
2 November 2014
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