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  • Poppies Howick 
    • About Us
    • Contact & Opening Hours
    • Our Fave Reads
    • What the Reviewers Are Reviewing
    • Shop Events and Goings-On
    • 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Award
  • Hamilton 
    • Visit Poppies Hamilton Website
  • New Plymouth 
    • Visit Poppies New Plymouth Website
  • Havelock North 
    • Visit Poppies Havelock North Website
  • Franchise Opportunities
  1. Biography/Memoir

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  • Biography/Memoir
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Biography/Memoir

Large 9781529027433

Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne

$45.00 NZD

Available Stock:
0

Category: Biography/Memoir

Walking with Ghosts is the stunningly evocative memoir by Irish actor and Hollywood star, Gabriel Byrne. 'Make no mistake about it: this is a masterpiece . . . poetic, moving and very funny' -- Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin As a young boy growing up in the outskirts of Dublin, Gabri el Byrne sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Born to working-class parents and the eldest of six children, he harboured a childhood desire to become a priest. When he was eleven years old, Byrne found himself crossing the Irish Sea to join a seminary in England. Four years later, Byrne had been expelled and he quickly returned to his native city. There he took odd jobs as a messenger boy and a factory labourer to get by. In his spare time he visited the cinema, where he could be alone and yet part of a crowd. It was here that he could begin to imagine a life beyond the grey world of '60s Ireland. He revelled in the theatre and poetry of Dublin's streets, populated by characters as eccentric and remarkable as any in fiction, those who spin a yarn with acuity and wit. It was a friend who suggested Byrne join an amateur drama group, a decision that would change his life forever and launch him on an extraordinary forty-year career in film and theatre. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and reflections on stardom in Hollywood and on Broadway, Byrne also courageously recounts his battle with addiction and the ambivalence of fame. Walking with Ghosts is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking as well as a lyrical homage to the people and landscapes that ultimately shape our destinies. ...Show more

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Large 9781529107883

Masters of the Air - How the Bomber Boys Broke down the Nazi War Machine by Donald L. Miller

$24.00 NZD

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3

Category: Biography/Memoir

'Seconds after Brady's plane was hit, the Hundredth's entire formation was broken up and scattered by swarms of single-engine planes, and by rockets launched by twin-engine planes that flew parallel' Meet the Flying Fortresses of the American Eighth Air Force, Britain's Lancaster comrades, who helped t o bring down the Nazis Historian and World War II expert Donald Miller brings us the story of the bomber boys who brought the war to Hitler's doorstep. Unlike ground soldiers they slept on clean beds, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of the travelling Air Force bands. But they were also an elite group of fighters who put their lives on the line in the most dangerous role of all. Miller takes readers from the adrenaline filled battles in the sky, to the airbases across England, the German prison camps, and onto the ground to understand the devastation faced by civilians. Drawn from interviews, oral histories, and American, British and German archives, Masters of the Air is the authoritative, deeply moving and important account of the world's first and only bomber war. ...Show more

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Large 9781846047046

To Shake the Sleeping Self - A Quest for a Life with No Regret by Jedidiah Jenkins

$26.00 NZD

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2

Category: Biography/Memoir

'A thrilling, tender, utterly absorbing book. It's an unforgettable debut' Cheryl Strayed A soul-stirring read for the wanderer in each of us, To Shake the Sleeping Self is an unforgettable reflection on adventure, identity and a life lived without regret. On the eve of turning thirty, terrified of be ing funnelled into a life he didn't choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent sixteen months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip online, where his photos and reflections drew hundreds of thousands of followers, all gathered around the question: What makes a life worth living? ...Show more

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Large 9780473544898

Time to Remember by Janna Ruth

$37.00 NZD

Available Stock:
5
On Order:
3

Category: Biography/Memoir

When the Canterbury Earthquakes destroyed their city, Natalie and her friends were only ten years old. Too old to forget, but too young to be heard, they have never told their stories. Until now.   Ten years after the earthquakes, Natalie returns to her home town with a plan. To show how the earthquakes shaped her generation, she wants to curate her fellow students' stories into a special edition of the student magazine. Her project is well-received by all, but one: her self-proclaimed nemesis Josh. From the start, Josh goes out of his way to get the project cancelled. Natalie is determined to see her vision through, yet when she finally uncovers the reason behind Josh's actions, she finds herself questioning everything she's been working towards.     'Time to Remember is a compelling narrative underpinned with the lived experience of the author and her peers. Readers will easily empathise with the trials and triumphs of the characters while the generation that grew up over the past ten years in Canterbury will recognise themselves within these pages. This well-researched novel beautifully captures that magical time at the beginning of adulthood when relationships are tested and world views are tilted.' - Sarina Dickson, author of The Worrybug series. ...Show more

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Large 9781922310897

Promises to Keep by Joe Biden

$40.00 NZD

Available Stock:
3

Category: New Arrivals

President-elect Joe Biden tells the story of his extraordinary life and career prior to his emergence as Barack Obama's beloved, influential vice president. 'I remain captivated by the possibilities of politics and public service. In fact, I believe that my chosen profession is a noble calling.' - Joe B iden Joe Biden has both witnessed and participated in a momentous epoch of American history. In Promises to Keep, he reveals what these experiences taught him about himself, his colleagues, and the institutions of government. With his customary honesty and wit, Biden movingly and eloquently recounts growing up in a staunchly Catholic multigenerational household in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware; overcoming personal tragedy, life-threatening illness, and career setbacks; his relationships with presidents, world leaders, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle; and his leadership of powerful Senate committees. Through these and other recollections, Biden shows us how the guiding principles he learned early in life - to work to make people's lives better; to honour family and faith; to value persistence, candour, and honesty - are the foundation on which he has based his life's work as husband, father, and public servant. Promises to Keep is an intimate series of reflections from a politician who surmounted numerous challenges to become one of America's most effective leaders and who refuses to be cynical about politics. It is also a stirring testament to the promise of the United States. ...Show more

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Large 9781988592640

Kate Edger: The life of a pioneering feminist by Diana Morrow

$40.00 NZD

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0

Category: Biography/Memoir

In 1877, Kate Edger became the first woman to graduate from a New Zealand university. The New Zealand Herald enthusiastically hailed her achievement as 'the first rays of the rising sun of female intellectual advancement'. Edger went on to become a pioneer of women's education in New Zealand. She also w orked tirelessly to mitigate violence against women and children and to fortify their rights through progressive legislation. She campaigned for women's suffrage and played a prominent role in the Women's Christian Temperance Union and in Wellington's Society for the Protection of Women and Children. Later in life she advocated international diplomacy and co-operation through her work for the League of Nations Union. Diana Morrow tells the story of this remarkable New Zealand woman's life and, in the process, provides valuable insights into the role of women social reformers in our history and Edger's place within a distinctive strand of Christian feminism. ...Show more

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Large 9781788160452

Victory in the Kitchen: The Life of Churchill's Cook by Annie Gray

$25.00 NZD

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0
On Order:
3

Category: Biography/Memoir

The story of the twentieth century through one woman's life and the food she cooked for our most famous Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. This is the story of a woman who was not a royal, not rich, not famous; someone who simply worked hard and enjoyed her life. But while Georgina Landemare saw herself as ordinary, her accomplishments were anything but. Georgina started her career as a nursemaid and ended it cooking for one of the best-known figures in British history: Winston Churchill.To him, food was central, not only as a pleasure but as a diplomatic tool at a time when the world was embroiled in war. With this eager eater and his skilled cook, ranging from rural Berkshire to wartime London, via Belle Epoque Paris and prohibition-era New York, Annie Gray shows how life in service - and food - changed during the huge upheavals of the twentieth century. ...Show more

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Large jacket  8

The Misadventures of Polly Gillespie - Reports from a Riotous Life by Polly Gillespie

$38.00 NZD

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0
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4

Category: Biography/Memoir

With a great deal of humour and honesty Polly Gillespie walks the reader through some of the ups and downs of life, with advice, warnings, and stories simply involving the awkwardness of being Polly. (She says that at the very least these will make you feel normal.) She has been on radio and in magazin es continuously since 1991, and is a much-loved personality whose escapades and down-to-earth advice to others have fascinated and entertained listeners for many years. With empathy and self-deprecation, plus a world of experience, she hopes to make you feel better about your own misadventures and by way of her unfortunate experiments with life she might even prevent you from going through some of the same things. If nothing else, you will get some great yarns from someone who apparently has resilience and experience, but more likely bad eyesight, an open mind, and a warm heart. Chapters include- Life Lessons; Being a Woman; Our Bodies; Sex and men and sex; and Family. Hang on tight, it's going to be quite a ride! ...Show more

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Large 9781474609487

Featherhood by Charlie Gilmour

$25.00 NZD

Available Stock:
0
On Order:
3

Category: Biography/Memoir

'The best piece of nature writing since H is for Hawk, and the most powerful work of biography I have read in years' Neil Gaiman 'Wonderful - I can't recommend it too highly' Helen Macdonald 'One of those rare, enchanted books' Isabella Tree 'Beautiful - it made me cry' Simon Amstell 'I was entrance d' Cathy Rentzenbrink This is a story about birds and fathers. About the young magpie that fell from its nest in a Bermondsey junkyard into Charlie Gilmour's life - and swiftly changed it. Demanding worms around the clock, riffling through his wallet, sharing his baths and roosting in his hair... About the jackdaw kept at a Cornish stately home by Heathcote Williams, anarchist, poet, magician, stealer of Christmas, and Charlie's biological father who vanished from his life in the dead of night. It is a story about repetition across generations and birds that run in the blood; about a terror of repeating the sins of the father and a desire to build a nest of one's own. It is a story about change - from wild to tame; from sanity to madness; from life to death to birth; from freedom to captivity and back again, via an insane asylum, a prison and a magpie's nest. And ultimately, it is the story of a love affair between a man and a magpie. ...Show more

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Large temp img

One Italian Summer by Pip Williams

$35.00 NZD

Available Stock:
0
On Order:
2

Category: Biography/Memoir

Pip and Shannon dreamed of living the good life. They wanted to slow down, grow their own food, and spend more time with the people they love. But jobs and responsibilities got in the way: their chooks died, their fruit rotted, and Pip ended up depressed and in therapy. So they did the only reasonable t hing - they quit their jobs, pulled the children out of school and went searching for la dolce vita in Italy.One Italian Summer is a warm, funny and often poignant story of a family's search for a better way of living in the homes and on the farms of strangers. Pip sleeps in a woodshed, feasts under a Tuscan sun, works like a tractor in Calabria and, eventually, finds her dream - though it's not at all the one she expected.   ...Show more

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Large 9780007298419

Francis Bacon - Revelations by Mark Stevens; Annalyn Swan

$70.00 NZD

Available Stock:
0
On Order:
1

Category: Biography/Memoir

Francis Bacon flung open the twentieth-century closet. By day he exposed the secrets of a dark century, and by night he swashbuckled through Soho, never concealing his homosexuality. Francis Bacon: Revelations, a decade in the making, is the first biography of this seminal artist to appear in twenty-fiv e years. Based upon hundreds of interviews and extensive new material from Ireland, Tangier, Spain, England, and France, Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan have written a startlingly original portrait - rich, complex, and subtle - of a commanding modern figure. Bacon concealed many important aspects of his life. He described himself as an asthmatic child in Ireland with foxhunting parents and a tyrannical father, but he was also rescued by a series of formidable women - women who in this biography emerge in their own right. He was never just a dissolute young man but was also a passionate reader, largely self-taught. Early on, influenced by Eileen Gray, he became a hard-working and ambitious designer, a brief career explored here in detail for the first time. He dreamed of remaking the modern room. Bacon worked no less hard or ambitiously as a painter, at first with little success. Throughout the 1930s and early '40s he suffered ongoing failures, growing isolated and often ill. His health issues throughout his life were far more significant than he revealed. Then came his astonishing breakthrough in 1944, with Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. In the following decades, he emerged as one of the great iconoclasts and bon vivantsof his time, a Wildean figure whom one friend called 'a terrific grandee.' Bacon was typically celebrated as a sexual adventurer who liked rough trade, but he never stopped longing for a serious committed relationship, however painful. He continued to make disturbing images of the strangeness within, but developed into a more varied artist than has been recognised, creating in particular an extraordinary series of self-portraits. He was an artist who believed in chance and paradox: the iconoclast eventually became an icon. This is a story, deeply researched and masterfully told, of a sickly boy who became one of the great figures of his time. The twentieth century does not know itself without Bacon. ...Show more

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Large 9780008340032

One Two Three Four: the Beatles in Time by Craig Brown

$28.00 NZD

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0
On Order:
1

Category: Biography/Memoir

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2020 A Spectator Book of the Year From the award-winning author of Ma'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret comes a fascinating, hilarious, kaleidoscopic biography of the Fab Four. John Updike compared them to 'the sun coming out on an Easter morning'. Bo b Dylan introduced them to drugs. The Duchess of Windsor adored them. Noel Coward despised them. JRR Tolkien snubbed them. The Rolling Stones copied them. Loenard Bernstein admired them. Muhammad Ali called them 'little sissies'. Successive Prime Ministers sucked up to them. No one has remained unaffected by the music of The Beatles. As Queen Elizabeth II observed on her golden wedding anniversary, 'Think what we would have missed if we had never heard The Beatles.' One Two Three Four traces the chance fusion of the four key elements that made up The Beatles: fire (John), water (Paul), air (George) and earth (Ringo). It also tells the bizarre and often unfortunate tales of the disparate and colourful people within their orbit, among them Fred Lennon, Yoko Ono, the Maharishi, Aunt Mimi, Helen Shapiro, the con artist Magic Alex, Phil Spector, their psychedelic dentist John Riley and their failed nemesis, Det Sgt Norman Pilcher. From the bestselling author of Ma'am Darling comes a kaleidoscopic mixture of history, etymology, diaries, autobiography, fan letters, essays, parallel lives, party lists, charts, interviews, announcements and stories. One Two Three Four joyfully echoes the frenetic hurly-burly of an era. ...Show more

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Poppies Howick 

83 Picton Street, Howick
Auckland 2014
Tel +64 9 532 9642
poppieshowick@gmail.com

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