Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery 
Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku
HarperCollins

This has been on my list for some months after hearing many good things about it. I’m finally seventh out of 26 reserves at the Wellington City Library, so soon I get to read it - huzzah!

Ngāhuia spoke at the Auckland Writers Festival gala night with grace and humour; I’m excited to read and be inspired by her personal journey as well as learning more about the social and political movements of the time.

The Chthonic Cycle
Una Cruickshank
Te Herenga Waka University Press

Perspective expanding reading. Una Cruickshank makes uncanny connections between a wild breadth of human experiences and the deep workings of the planet we call home. Just thinking about how much research must have gone into this book makes me tired; from whale poop to fungus-induced mass hysteria, to a sea of Lego, its contents are as multifarious as the banger cover suggests.

I can't pick one! I can never pick one...but particularly from this line up. 

I am currently reading Toi Te Mana (Deirdre Brown & Ngarino Ellis, Auckland University Press). I bought this for a friend, then got it out of the library for myself, and now I want to own it too! It is not bedtime reading; just because it is such a solid, doorstop of a book, which is testament to the incredible amount of information in here. It takes time and a PLACE to read to read this one, but it is totally worth the effort. 

Also amongst the pile of books that are threatening to become an earthquake risk is Hine Toa by Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku. I want to read Hine Toa not just because Ngāhuia has been so pivotal and important in Aotearoa, but because Tahuri was one of the first books I read in my 20s that knocked me over and has held a place in my heart ever since.

Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit
Emma Neale
Otago University Press

I'm more than ready to dive into another deliciously sensory collection of poems from Emma Neale. She evokes smells and tastes so vividly to me, and this title promises exactly that. Her poetry is precise and filling, and I'm intrigued by the premise of lies and deception. I am also absolutely desperate to read Flora Feltham's Bad Archive, which Juliet gave me for Christmas and I have promptly misplaced in a sea of packed boxes of books.