Category: Contemporary fiction
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Tessa Set in Dublin, Intermezzo follows two estranged brothers, Peter, a lawyer in his thirties, and Ivan, a younger competitive chess player, as they navigate grief and their complex brotherhood following their father’s death. Through their complicated romantic relationships and… Continue Reading “Intermezzo – Sally Rooney”
Category: Contemporary fiction, Domestic Fiction, Experimental fiction, Family drama, Female Experience, Irish, Literary fiction, Philosophical, Psychological, Realist, Romance, Stream Of ConsciousnessTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026
READ FOR BOOKERTHON Black Bag follows an unemployed actor who accepts a bizarre job participating in a psychology experiment where he spends a term attending university lectures zipped inside a large black leather bag. Inspired by a real experiment from 1967, this absurdist campus… Continue Reading “Black Bag – Luke Kennard”
Category: Absurdist, Art, Booker Prize, Contemporary fiction, Existentialist, Experimental fiction, Humour, Literary fiction, Philosophical, Political, Psychological, Satire, Surreal, UK authorTags: Booker Prize, Free Range Bookclub 2026
READ FOR BOOKERTHON Artie Dam is a 57-year-old history teacher whose seemingly comfortable life is plagued by a troubled mind and an emerging family secret. Written in Strout’s understated, character-driven style, the novel explores marriage, parenthood, loneliness and the things people leave unspoken, against… Continue Reading “The Things We Never Say – Elizabeth Strout”
Category: Contemporary fiction, Domestic Fiction, Family drama, Female Experience, Literary fiction, Philosophical, Political, Psychological, Realist, US fictionTags: Booker Prize, Free Range Bookclub 2026
READ FOR WOMEN’S PRIZE In her final year of college, Jordan is drawn into the orbit of brilliant students Sam and Yash. What begins as friendship develops into a complicated relationship between the three, shaped by intellectual rivalry, attraction and secrets whose significance only… Continue Reading “Heart The Lover – Lily King”
READ FOR WOMEN’S PRIZE An unnamed creative writing academic becomes increasingly drawn to an older colleague, a poet he calls his kingfisher. Their attraction develops and disrupts his established life with his partner Michael. As he moves between these two worlds, illness affecting those… Continue Reading “Kingfisher – Rozie Kelly”
READ FOR WOMEN’S PRIZE Sybil Van Antwerp is an elderly former lawyer whose life is revealed through letters and emails to family, friends and acquaintances. When someone from her past reappears, Sybil is forced to revisit a painful period in her life. Through her… Continue Reading “The Correspondent – Virginia Evans”
A local artist and a Belaruisan refugee meet regularly at a Christchurch cafe to discuss life, art and politics. A priest once told me that we fall in love with people with whom we have wounds in common, that in caring for them we’re… Continue Reading “How To Paint A Nude – Sam Mahon”
Category: Art, Contemporary fiction, Environmental fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, Metafiction, NZ Book Awards, Philosophical, PoliticalTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026, Kiwi Fiction, Ockham NZ Book Awards
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS In the rural reaches of Auckland, the women of the eclectic Gordon family gather for Christmas. Rita, the 50-year-old baby of the family, is planning to tell them she has cancer. Drifting between past and present, she considers the… Continue Reading “Hoods Landing – Laura Vincent”
Category: Contemporary fiction, Domestic Fiction, Family drama, Female Experience, Gothic, Humour, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, Māori Fiction, NZ Book Awards, QueerTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026, Kiwi Fiction, Ockham NZ Book Awards
READ FOR BOOKERTHON The story of István, a Hungarian teen who lives with his mother and is subjected to a traumatic event. From there we bear witness to a collection of intimate moments set over years, chronicling the demands of life for an everyday… Continue Reading “Flesh – David Szalay”
Category: Booker Prize, Coming of Age, Contemporary fiction, Cultural, Existentialist, Immigrant story, Literary fiction, Philosophical, Psychological, Realist, UK author, War storyTags: Booker Prize, Free Range Bookclub 2025
READ FOR BOOKERTHON When Tom Layward’s wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while taking her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact, and keeps driving West. This road… Continue Reading “The Rest Of Our Lives – Ben Markovits”
Category: Booker Prize, Contemporary fiction, Domestic Fiction, Family drama, Literary fiction, Philosophical, Psychological, Realist, Road Trip, US fictionTags: Booker Prize, Free Range Bookclub 2025
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