Signing on at Greymouth's Elmer Lane depot in 1962, a young Ian Tibbles very quickly learnt the mysteries of "the dark shed". Graduating from labourer to cleaner and then fireman, his apprenticeship takes us on a journey about the West Coast in the 1960's, the golden age of steam. Starting on the wharf and local shunts on Wf's Ian moved onto the main lines, then populated with A, Ab, B, J, We and Ww class engines. Sharing his firing experiences, Ian recounts throughout the chapters what it was like "getting down the road" on the various lines and classes of engine. The vagaries of narrow grate engines through to the "modern" J class are all discussed. managing transfer to various depots on the Coast, Ian recounts his time on all the West Coast lines. The Grey Valley, Blackball branch, Ross line, relieving Reefton, the Tawhai saddle, Reefton to Westport, the Westport to Mokihinui coal railway, Conns Creek branch, Rewanui incline and of course blasting up to Otira on the J class, are all vividly recounted. Complementing the text is a lavish selection of black and white and colour images from the era. Without doubt, this is a book for lovers of NZR steam in the 60s. 163 b&w photos + 99 colour photos

Bind: hardback

Pages: 251

Publication Date: 10-04-2015

"There Are No Horses In Heaven" is a warm, delightful collection from poet Frankie McMillan, full of vivid phrasing, eerie moments, and a colourful cast of characters. Readers will keep recalling and revisiting these poems: they tingle with the same sense of the ineffable, like certain chords in musical pieces. Gorgeous, haunting and beautifully strange, they seem to have a ripple effect. One poem causes another, they glint and glance off each other depicting a world of real emotion and psychological mystery: how strange we are to ourselves and to each other, even when we have such depth of feeling for each other. "There Are No Horses In Heaven" has been designed and printed in a limited edition in collaboration with Ilam Press, Ilam School of Fine Arts. Original artwork for cover design by Lyttelton artist Nichola Shanley.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 102

Dimensions: 125 x 200 mm

Publication Date: 20-03-2015

How deep the summer had bitten into the land that last August, how cruelly it had burnt into earth and grass and air. What had started out as a pastel and water-faded spring turning so unexpectedly into a splintering, shimmering thing. All that had been required was a spark to cause a fire. Why had no one noticed? The summer of 1939 broke the Maudsley family. Cecily was only thirteen years-old and desperate to grow up; desperate to be as beautiful and desired and reckless as her older sister Rose. Now, in her forties, the family resemblance is uncanny but Cecily is a shadow of her former self. A part of her died that fateful summer. Returning to the deserted family farm as an adult, Cecily recalls the light before the storm, before the war came and before the terrible family tragedy. It was a summer of laughter and icecream, promises and first love. She remembers her father’s unrequited love for her, her melancholy mother and her brittle and argumentative aunt Kitty, and how everyone, somehow, was guarding a secret. None more so than the impossibly beautiful Rose. And in her childhood innocence, between snatches of misunderstood conversations, Cecily helps set in motion a chain of devastating events. Wandering through the family home twenty-nine years later, Cecily hopes to lay some ghosts to rest but the past has yet to give up some shocking secrets…

Bind: paperback

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 20-04-2015

Life’s too short to fret away your days – there’s so much to celebrate, if only you take the time to notice it! Packed with upbeat sayings and carefree quotes, this little book will help you de-stress and see the lighter, brighter side of each and every day.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 160

Dimensions: 101 x 136 mm

Publication Date: 20-04-2015

You know you're having a senior moment when… … you decide it's time to pull up your socks, and realise you forgot to put any on If this sounds all too familiar, read on to discover whether your marbles just need a spring clean or you've well and truly lost them!

Bind: hardback

Pages: 160

Dimensions: 110 x 136 mm

Publication Date: 09-04-2015

Congratulations – you’re now officially classed as an‘adult’! This little book, packed with wise and witty quotations, is the perfect way to show the world that you are 18 and proud of it.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 160

Dimensions: 101 x 136 mm

Publication Date: 10-04-2015

This upbeat, easy-to-use guide will show you how to organise your work, revise effectively and prepare for exam day to give you the best chance of getting that A*! Includes essential advice on: • Preparing your revision environment • Organising your notes • Using the right revision methods • Choosing reliable online resources • Best practice for exam day • Finding the best approach for YOU

Bind: paperback

Pages: 144

Dimensions: 129 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 10-04-2015

This collection of Oscar Wilde’s funniest quotations and sharpest observations is perfect for those who can resist everything except this talented Irish writer’s humour and rapier wit.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 160

Dimensions: 101 x 136 mm

Publication Date: 10-04-2015

What do the Gallagher brothers of Oasis, Franz Beckenbauer, Albert Camus, Diego Maradona, Elton John, and David Beckham all have in common? They all cross the borders from football to pop culture. They are football-obsessed pop musicians, singing footballers, Nobel Prize in Literature winners who play football, footballers who write books, pop stars who buy football clubs, or footballers who become pop stars (and want to buy a football club). They breathe life into the phrase “football culture” while simultaneously ensuring that football garners even greater mass appeal. Football is much more than “11 people, 1 goal.” It’s a beloved big-screen theme—just think of Stephen Frears’ The Van or Victory with Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, and Pelé. It is the subject of hundreds of books and immortalized in hundreds of songs, so it’s only logical that we devote a volume from our new The Stylish Life series to football: Here’s to the fashion whims of the footballers on and off the pitch, the Cristiano Ronaldo-ization of football, ’rock-n-roll, and the glamorous life.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 176

Dimensions: 223 x 287 mm

Publication Date: 20-03-2015

The role of layout design is simply stated. It operates with design elements such as font, color and graphs to deliver visual aesthetic presentation without comprising proper content layout. Layout design in the information age has demonstrated more and more diversified forms and features based on traditional aesthetic principles. The design work showcased in Amazing Layout Design, organized in accordance with different graphic mediums such as albums, publications, commercial brochures, flyers, posters, advertisements, newspaper and periodicals, embodies amazing layout designs devised by outstanding design teams from across the globe. The audacious and original tactics employed throughout mirror the latest design trends and fashions. They will certainly bring readers the most abundant and innovative inspiration. Then it is up to your own originality.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 256

Dimensions: 217 x 286 mm

Publication Date: 01-05-2015