Top holiday reading: Piccadilly Books
The holiday season is fast approaching, making it high time to stock up on quality reads for gifts, relaxation, and inspiration. Check out some of the great choices at Piccadilly Books.
The Heist by Scott Bainbridge, reviewed by Neville. Our price: $37.99
Three minutes was all it took to subdue the guards on the Armourguard truck and load what was, at the time, the largest such haul in New Zealand history, the equivalent of $1.1 million today. The van and three (possibly four) robbers left the scene, with the takings of eight or more supermarkets on the Friday before Labour Day, one of the busier grocery shopping days
of the year.
The police had a surplus of suspects. The author profiles those thought capable of the heist and those that might collude with them to launder this huge amount of cash, mainly in $10 or $20 notes. Drawing on his own and prior interviews, court and news reports, he describes suspect after suspect, well known and small-time. Progress was slow and difficult. Those that might have “grassed” were too reluctant, and fantastical alibis were created to explain cash found or spent.
Step into this book and you step into the New Zealand criminal underworld. When you read it you will be like me, and wonder just how big this world is today. Scott Bainbridge has written here, not only on this 1984 armed robbery but also on just about every notorious New Zealand criminal of the mid-20th century from Ronald Jorgenson to Mr Asia, and has referenced scores of similar crimes by them and their cohorts.
The Heist has been written with verve and races along. The era’s language and slang take some getting used to (a glossary would’ve helped). There’s much more to this story than the title suggests and this aspect intrigued me most.
Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers – A Personal History
Anne Somerset
Our price $65.00
Queen Victoria is generally believed to have reigned, not ruled, yet this couldn’t be more wrong. Somerset masterfully traces Victoria’s political evolution, from headstrong teenager to seasoned octogenarian, including her involvement in state affairs.
Reading Lessons: The books we read at school, the conversations they spark and why they matter
Carol Atherton
Our price $48.00
An English teacher’s love letter to reading and teaching; an eye-opening journey through the books we read at school, the impact they made on us then and what we can take from them now. Each chapter invites us to take a fresh look at these novels, plays and poems.
Zero to 60 and Beyond
Tony Quinn
Our price $45.00
Self-made multi-millionaire and motorsport legend Tony Quinn’s passion for motor racing made him a household name in Australia and New Zealand. This fully revised edition dives deep into Quinn’s transformative journey – from his marriage breakdown and high-speed crash to expanding his motorsport empire and starting his foundation.
Where the Nor’wester Blows: Roland and Betty Clark of Staveley
Bee Dawson
Our price $54.00
The story of Roland Clark (aka ‘Nor’wester’), a provocative and entertaining farmer and agricultural commentator, and his wife Betty, who farmed at Staveley in the Foothills area of Mid Canterbury from the 1950s to the 1980s.
An English Vision: Traditional Architecture and Decoration for Today Ben Pentreath
Our price $140.00
This is the first of Pentreath’s books to present his own output in its entirety from his personal residences in Dorset, London, and Scotland that brought him international fame to many old and new houses that he has designed and some of the larger, town-scaled projects.
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
Adam Higginbotham
Our price $40.00
The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster by New York Times-bestselling author Adam Higginbotham, based on fascinating new archival research and in-depth reporting – a riveting history that reads like a thriller.
