“thethrillingalchemy”, Emma Martin
From the Cutting Room of Barney Kettle Kate De Goldi Longacre, $30.00, ISBN 9781775535768 Kate De Goldi’s writing for children and young adults has been acclaimed for its vibrancy and verisimilitude....
View ArticleForeign countries, Kathryn Walls
The Bakehouse Joy Cowley Gecko Press, $20.00, ISBN 978177650072 The Knot Impossible: A Tale of Fontania Barbara Else Gecko Press, $25.00, ISBN 978177650041 The Girl Who Rode the Wind Stacy Gregg...
View ArticleDistance and familiarity, Lucy Prestidge
To the Is-Land Janet Frame Random House, $30.00, ISBN 9781869411305 The first volume of Janet Frame’s autobiography was initially a bit daunting to me. Not only because it’s the work of one of New...
View ArticleTourism and real life, Abby Loader and Abby Simpson
Bugs Whiti Hereaka Huia, $25.00, ISBN 9781775501336 Bugs, by Whiti Hereaka, is an honest narrative that confronts the reader with the everyday life of Bugs, “as in bunny”. Sixteen-year-old Bugs is...
View ArticleOf one kind and another, Simon Hay
The Pounamu Prophecy Cindy Williams Rhiza Press, $28.50 ISBN 9781925139457 The Seer’s Wolf Barbara Petrie Bridgidada Press, $33.00 ISBN 9780473318154 Waitapu Helen Margaret Waaka Escalator Press,...
View ArticleChanged, changed utterly, Diane Comer
Earthquakes & Butterflies Kathleen Gallagher Wickcandle Books, $35.00, ISBN 9780473332327 Kathleen Gallagher’s Earthquakes & Butterflies is a work of profound beauty and healing for all of us...
View ArticleWalking in the real world, Owen Marshall
Dad Art Damien Wilkins Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776560561 Acoustic engineer Michael Stirling is divorced, in contact through a dating site with apparently grieving Chrissie,...
View ArticleLove and war, Murray Bramwell
Love as a Stranger Owen Marshall Vintage, $38.00, ISBN 9781775538578 The Antipodeans Greg McGee Upstart Press, $38.00, ISBN 9781927262030 In his captivating new novel, Love as a Stranger, Owen Marshall...
View ArticleUnearthing skeletons, John McCrystal
Daughters of Messene Maggie Rainey-Smith Makaro Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780994117267 Something Else David Parkyn (Sally Griffin illus) Piedog Press, $38.00, ISBN 9780473321505 “There are only two or three...
View ArticleLooking for love, Kirsten McDougall
52 Men Louise Wareham Leonard Red Hen Press, $36.00, ISBN 97815970999967 I felt deeply sad upon finishing Louise Wareham Leonard’s new book, 52 Men. Its constituent 52 parts tell a story that fits...
View ArticleWhat’s a New Zealand novel? Sue Esterman
Enemy Camp David Hill Puffin, $20.00, ISBN 9780143309123 Lullaby Bernard Beckett Text, $26.00, ISBN 9781922182753 Open Your Eyes, Jackson Ryder Rudy Castaneda Lopez Escalator, $30.00, ISBN...
View ArticleBringing the front line home, Sarah Dickson
Evie’s War Anna MacKenzie Longacre, $20.00, ISBN 9781775537656 Anna Mackenzie’s book gives the reader an insight into WWI through the perspective of Evie, an 18-year-old New Zealander living in...
View ArticleBrutal love, Rachael Imlay
The Bone People Keri Hulme Picador, $25.00, ISBN 9780330485418 The Bone People (originally published in 1984) is a beautiful, complex, and astounding novel of healing, loss, and love. Keri Hulme...
View ArticleThe headlock of myth, Mark Reason
Seelenbinder: The Olympian Who Defied Hitler James McNeish Steele Roberts, $35.00, ISBN 9780947493011 “After a certain time a life exists not for what it is in reality, but for its mythological...
View ArticleSweet recklessness, Kiran Dass
The Salted Air Thom Conroy Vintage, $38.00, ISBN 9781775538820 “We strut about imagining heroism and lucky saves, but we’ve got it all wrong. Catastrophe arrives when the air is warm and people are...
View ArticlePromising softly-spoken wonder, Thom Conroy
The Quiet Spectacular Laurence Fearnley Penguin, $38.00, ISBN 9780143574156 Laurence Fearnley occupies a position somewhere between national treasure and experimental writer. Her depictions of...
View ArticleFamiliar and strange, Charlotte Graham
Deleted Scenes for Lovers Tracey Slaughter Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776560585 In almost a decade in journalism, I’ve spent a long time sitting in courtrooms. The people whose lives...
View ArticleMusic boxes and willows, Edmund Bohan
The Song Journey T E Scott Scott Publishing, $37.00, ISBN 9780473328863 Napoleon’s Willow Joan Norlev Taylor RSVP Publishing, $30.00, ISBN 9780987658784 One of the attractions of historical fiction is...
View ArticleMysteries past and present, John McCrystal
Days are like Grass Sue Younger Eunoia Publishing, $30.00, ISBN 9780994104762 Mysterious Mysteries of the Aro Valley Danyl McLauchlan Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776560479 Claire is a...
View ArticleBleak stuff under total control, Stephanie Johnson
The Wish Child Catherine Chidgey Victoria University Press, $30.00, IBSN 9781776560622 When Dutch writer Herman Koch visited New Zealand as part of the 2016 Auckland Writers’ Festival, he expressed his...
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