The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Category: NZ Book Awards
How To Loiter In A Turf War – Coco Solid
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS A day in the life of three brown friends hanging out in Auckland, eating, chatting, catching the bus, amongst racism, gentrification and the modern effects of colonisation. That’s the third person I know without a house.What the hell is… Continue Reading “How To Loiter In A Turf War – Coco Solid”
The Axeman’s Carnival – Catherine Chidgey
READ FOR BOOKCLUB & NZ BOOK AWARDSChosen by Suzy From New Zealand author Catherine Chidgey is a story quite unlike her former novels. Instead of wartime Germany, this time the setting is rural New Zealand and the protagonist is a magpie called Tama, who… Continue Reading “The Axeman’s Carnival – Catherine Chidgey”
2022 NZ Book Awards
Identity comes through as a strong building block for all the fiction shortlisters this year. Misunderstanding of identity, attempts to place ones self in the realms of “normality”, studies of those with identity issues. Not only is this topical but important for writers to… Continue Reading “2022 NZ Book Awards”
Loop Tracks – Sue Orr
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS For a time in the late ’70s, abortion was illegal in New Zealand and young woman who could afford it would fly to Sydney for the procedure. Loop Tracks‘ story line is built around that moment in history. The… Continue Reading “Loop Tracks – Sue Orr”
From The Centre: A Writer’s Life – Patricia Grace
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS The memoir of writer Patricia Grace ❝Patricia Grace (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Āti Awa) is a stalwart of New Zealand literature and someone whose work I have read a lot of and deeply admired. So her memoir was… Continue Reading “From The Centre: A Writer’s Life – Patricia Grace”
Nothing To See – Pip Adam
Read for NZ Book Awards The lives of friends Peggy and Greta are detailed in three different decades in this book. In 1994 they are aged 24 and breaking free of alcohol and a traumatic past; in 2006 they have jobs and are coping… Continue Reading “Nothing To See – Pip Adam”
Victory Park – Rachel Kerr
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Kara is a young widow, living in the Victory Park council flats with her young son Jayden. She makes a living by minding other people’s tamariki in her home but struggles to get by financially and emotionally. Her new… Continue Reading “Victory Park – Rachel Kerr”
The Swimmers – Chloe Lane
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Twenty six year old Erin is at the bach visiting her mum who has motor neurone disease, only to be informed her mother wishes to take her death into her own hands. Erin has walked away from a job… Continue Reading “The Swimmers – Chloe Lane”
Toto Amongst The Murderers – Sally J Morgan
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS ● In the 1970s, at age 21, Sally J Morgan was hitchhiking in Yorkshire and was offered a lift by Fred and Rosemary West. This close call inspired her novel Toto Amongst The Murderers, in which the protagonist, Toto, is… Continue Reading “Toto Amongst The Murderers – Sally J Morgan”
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