Passion Flowers - Passion Flowers and Passion Fruit by John Vanderplank

$20.00 NZD

Category: Gardening | Reading Level: very good

Reference book on every sort of passion flower.

Birdman - The Many Faces of Robert Stroud by Jolene Babyak

$12.00 NZD

Category: Biography

Coral: A Pessimist in Paradise by Steve Jones

$14.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: very good

While writing this book, Steve Jones had beside him the coral brooch that his sea captain grandfather brought back across the Indian Ocean as a gift for his wife. This simple object is a starting point for a dazzling narrative that touches on a number of the most important issues facing us today. Follow ing in the footsteps of Darwin and Captain Cook, Jones reveals what coral has to tell us about the human genome project, cloning, and the possibility of a cure for cancer and genetic diseases; what insights it can offer us into the future of trade in oil and other forms of carbon; how it is linked to the fluctuations in weather patterns that have lead to destruction along the coasts of the Americas and the Far East. Finally, Jones considers what coral - exploited and destroyed in many ways and under siege from climate change - tells us about the likely future of the planet and humankind: it is a warning that both may be close to the point of no return. Coral : A Pessimist in Paradise is an inspired, eclectic book that links science with history, literature, politics and myth. It belongs to a vivid tradition of thinking and writing about humankind and its place in nature. First published 2007. ...Show more

Jouets de Plantes: Histoires et Secrets de Fabrications by Christine Armengaud

$25.00 NZD

Category: Art | Reading Level: near fine

Diary of a Dog-walker: Time Spent Following a Lead by Edward Stourton

$8.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: good

Based on the popular series of articles which appeared in the Telegraph, Edward Stourton muses on the meaning of life and all things canine as he walks his dog Kudu. 'If you are accompanied by a dog you can talk to anyone, and anyone can talk to you - about anything'. And they do. Edward Stourton's wa lks with Kudu, his dog, become an opportunity for wonderfully unlikely encounters, and reflecting on the world from the dog-walker's perspective proves remarkably illuminating. Ed and Kudu's small trips to the park offer up big insights into romantic attachment, honour and heroism, guilt and depression, our sense of duty, beauty and the hard facts of life's pecking order. Diary of a Dog-Walker is witty, wise and will be utterly irresistible to any man or woman with a dog. ...Show more

The Seabird's Cry: The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers by Adam Nicolson

$18.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: near fine

The story of seabirds - the pattern of their lives, their habitats, the threats they face and the passions they inspire from one of our greatest nature writers. "I was entranced...It is a work that takes wing in the mind." ROBERT MACFARLANE Seabirds have always entranced the human imagination and Adam N icolson has been in love with them all his life: for their mastery of wind and ocean, their aerial beauty and the unmatched wildness of the coasts and islands where every summer they return to breed. Over the last couple of decades, modern science has begun to understand them: their epic voyages, their astonishing abilities to navigate for tens of thousands of miles on a featureless sea, their ability to smell their way towards fish and home. Only the poets in the past would have thought of seabirds as creatures riding the ripples and currents of the planet, but that is what the scientists are seeing now too. In ten chapters, each dedicated to a different bird, and each beautifully illustrated by Kate Boxer, The Seabird's Cry travels the ocean paths along with them, looking at the way their bodies work, the sense of their own individuality, the strategies and tactics needed to survive and thrive in the most demanding environment on earth. At the heart of the book are the Shiant Isles, a cluster of Hebridean islands in the Minch but Nicolson has pursued the birds much further-across the Atlantic, up the west coast of Ireland, to St Kilda, Orkney, Shetland, the Faeroes, Iceland and Norway; to the eastern seaboard of Maine and to Newfoundland, to the Falklands, South Georgia, the Canaries and the Azores-reaching out across the widths of the world ocean which is the seabirds' home. But a global tragedy is unfolding. Even as we are coming to understand them, the number of seabirds is in freefall, dropping by nearly 70% in the last sixty years, a billion fewer now than there were in 1950. Of the ten birds in this book, seven are in decline, at least in part of their range. Extinction stalks the ocean and there is a danger that the grand cry of a seabird colony, rolling around the bays and headlands of high latitudes, will this century become little but a memory. ...Show more

Succulents for the Contemporary Garden by Yvonne Cave

$20.00 NZD

Category: Gardening | Reading Level: very good

Helps the succulent lover to make sensible choices when deciding what species are appropriate for their contemporary garden. Descriptions and cultivation information are given for 60 genera and hundreds of species of these fascinating water-storing plants. Illustrated with 350 colour photographs.

Teach Yourself Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis by David A. Rothery

$12.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Series: Teach Yourself - General | Reading Level: very good

Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis is the essential guide to what causes the most frightening geological events with which we are faced today. It covers plate tectonics, the intricacies of each terrible phenomina, and their effects as well as the impact they have on each other, how they can be predicte d and, if possible, controlled. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding. THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. ...Show more

On Natural Selection by Charles Darwin

$6.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Series: Penguin Great Ideas Ser. | Reading Level: good

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves--and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives--and destroyed them. Now, Penguin brings you th e works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are. Penguin's Great Ideas series features twelve groundbreaking works by some of history's most prodigious thinkers, and each volume is beautifully packaged with a unique type-drive design that highlights the bookmaker's art. Offering great literature in great packages at great prices, this series is ideal for those readers who want to explore and savor the Great Ideas that have shaped the world.   ...Show more

The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People by Tim Flannery

$15.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: very good

This is the story of how human beings have consumed the resources they need for their own future. It examines the original "future eaters" who were the first people to leave the Afro-Asian homeland and travel down the chain of islands to Australasia and became the Aboriginal, Maori and other Polynesian peoples. They changed the flora and fauna in ways that seem inconceivable. The book then continues on to discuss how Europeans have made an even greater impact and how today "future eating" is a universal occupation. ...Show more

What Am I? In the Bush by Gillian Torckler

$6.00 NZD

Category: Children Non-fiction | Reading Level: very good

This fascinating book introduces 11 unique living things that can be seen in the New Zealand bush.Meet: a moth with no mouth that lives for only one night; an insect with four ears; a mischevious parrot that likes to pull cars apart; and a bird with nostrils at the end of its beak! Guess the identity of each animal from clues set out in rhyme, then learn some interesting facts about the mystery creature! Each of the 11 animals has a fact-file and a question page to test memory skills. What Am I? In the Bush will appeal to readers of all ages. ...Show more

Pathfinders Birds

$5.00 NZD

Category: Children Non-fiction | Reading Level: good