Joy Cowley used to live next door to my mum and was a popular neighbour so I was thrilled to see her beaming face at the Prime oinister’s Awards for Literary Achievement this year, where she was honoured for her contribution to New Zealand fiction.
Joy has published dozens of kids’ books and hundreds of readers, but it’s her memoir, Navigation: A oemoir(Penguin, $45), that I’m picking as a perfect addition to the Kiwi bookcase this summer.
A popular public speaker all over the world, Joy made a charming, warm, funny speech that included a story about Roald Dahl stealing one of her stories – which she thought was wonderful as it showed he was only human!
Another popular speaker with a similarly engaging smile is Ray Avery, who was this year’s Kiwibank NewZealander of the Year. His book Rebel With A Cause (Random House, $39.99) traces his rise from a homeless little English boy who would give Charles Dickens a run for his money, to the entrepreneurial science whizz andphilanthropist who became a first-time dad aged 61.
Three classic Kiwi friends of mine all have cookbooks out at the moment, so it would be just plain churlish ofme not to recommend the gorgeous Annabel Langbein’s The Free Range Cook (Annabel Langbein, $59.99);the award-winning Al Brown’s Go Fish (Random House, $70); and the divine Jo Seagar’s It’s Easier Than You Think (Random House, $49.99). I don’t get to see these guys very often but I keep up through thepages of their books, which can be quite fattening.
This brings me to Kerre Woodham, who personally I don’t think is anywhere near fat enough, but she’s nonetheless one of my favourite short chicks and her humour and her humanness make her book, Short Fat Chick in Paris (HarperCollins, $34.99), a must for those of us who are constantly trying to get it all right
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