Category: Literary fiction

A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara

READ FOR BOOKERTHON Child abuse survivor Jude St Francis moves to New York with three friends, all ready to make their way in life. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realise, is Jude, a talented litigator but an increasingly broken man who is haunted by traumas he fears he’ll… Continue Reading “A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara”

Sophie’s World – Jostein Gaarder

READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Rachel After Sophie Amundsen finds a note in her letterbox asking ‘who are you?’ and ‘where does the world come from?’ she becomes embroiled in a philosophical riddle about existence. A fictional book which manages to summarise two thousand years of… Continue Reading “Sophie’s World – Jostein Gaarder”

The Train – Georges Simenon

READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Becks On May 10, 1940, as Nazi tanks approach, Marcel Feron abandons his home and, separated from his wife, joins a freight car of refugees hurtling southward ahead of the pursuing invaders. ❍”Marcel, a timid, happy man must abandon his home… Continue Reading “The Train – Georges Simenon”

Sydney Bridge Upside Down – David Ballentyne

READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Sophia A dark story set in the sleepy coastal town of Calliope Bay where the children play in the abandoned slaughterhouse and welcome the allure of their city cousin. David Ballantyne (Ngati Uenukukopako, Ngati Hinepare) helped shape the characteristics of… Continue Reading “Sydney Bridge Upside Down – David Ballentyne”

2015 – Unexpected Twist

Where would we be without an unexpected twist or two to add to proceedings? Let’s face it, surprise events and out-of-the-blue announcements are what make a reader’s day. Whether shocking or pleasing they grab us by the shoulders and shake us about a bit, until we… Continue Reading “2015 – Unexpected Twist”

2014 – End Of Year Thoughts

NZ’s literary world was thrown into the headlines this year with the war of words between one of our most recognised authors Eleanor Catton and Prime Minister John Key. Catton slung about superlatives announcing the Government’s lack of culture; Key said The Luminaries was “pretty… Continue Reading “2014 – End Of Year Thoughts”

How To Be Both – Ali Smith

READ FOR BOOKERTHON Written in two parts, both titled ONE, this is a book about art’s versatility, told by a renaissance painter of the 1460s and a child of the 1960s. ✎ How to Be Both is written in two halves, using both a… Continue Reading “How To Be Both – Ali Smith”

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler

READ FOR BOOKERTHON Rosemary Cooke reveals the awful truth about her sister who was sent away aged five ✎ This book opens when the main character is a College student, revealing her strained relationships with her mother, father and brother. A return to the… Continue Reading “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler”

The Narrow Road To The Deep North – Richard Flanagan

READ FOR BOOKERTHON ✎ This is the story of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian surgeon. It is about his time in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, his loves, his affairs and his old age. The central event is Dorrigo’s time in the prisoner of… Continue Reading “The Narrow Road To The Deep North – Richard Flanagan”

The Turn Of The Screw – Henry James

READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Rachel The Turn Of The Screw is a gothic ghost story from 1898 set in an old English house on a sprawling estate. The novella is a first person account of a governess who, caring for two children at a… Continue Reading “The Turn Of The Screw – Henry James”