Category: Queer
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 NZ BOOK AWARDS All Her Lives is a collection of nine linked stories about women throughout the ages who have battled, persevered and instigated change, and whom are finding their place in society. Did homecoming have to be this, too? Being outside,… Continue Reading “All Her Lives – Ingrid Horrocks”
Category: Climate Fiction, Cultural, Environmental fiction, Female Experience, Feminism, Historical Fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, Political, Queer, Short StoriesTags: 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 BOOKCLUBChosen by Rachel Described as a radical fusion of feminist theory and experimental horror, Girls Against God is a stream of consciousness narrative on censorship, magic, gender, art and rebellion against power systems. I don’t know why I feel I have to… Continue Reading “Girls Against God – Jenny Hval”
Category: Art, Coming of Age, Experimental fiction, Faith & Religion, Feminism, Horror, Literary fiction, Metafiction, Queer, Surreal, TranslatedTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026
READ FOR WOMEN’S PRIZE Nadia Amin, a PhD graduate, publishes an article on deradicalisation, and ends up with a job rehabilitating Isis brides in Iraq. Relishing the opportunity to escape her claustophobic mother and broken relationship she realises she needs to heal herself as… Continue Reading “Fundamentally – Nussaibah Younis”
Category: Contemporary fiction, Cultural, Faith & Religion, Female Experience, Humour, Literary fiction, Political, Queer, Satire, UK author, Women's PrizeTags: Free Range Bookclub 2025, Women's Prize
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS The migrant story of three generations of women in a Sri Lankan family. Josephina, who grew up in 1950s Singapore and her daughter Sithara who move from Colombo to Invercargill, and granddaughter Annie who moves between many cities looking… Continue Reading “Amma – Saraid de Silva”
Category: Coming of Age, Cultural, Family drama, Female Experience, Historical Fiction, Immigrant story, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, Psychological, Queer, Women's PrizeTags: Free Range Bookclub 2025, Kiwi Fiction, Ockham NZ Book Awards, Women's Prize
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Jodie Mieczysław, a student suffering from tuberculosis, arrives at the Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen but discovers there are many mysterious goings on, involving deaths, misogyny and the occult. Set in a Polish sanatorium in 1913, The Empusium blends horror,… Continue Reading “The Empusium – Olga Tokarczuk”
Category: Allegory, Experimental fiction, Female Experience, Feminism, Gothic, Historical Fiction, Horror, Humour, Literary fiction, Mthyical/folklore, Philosophical, Political, Psychological, Queer, Satire, Surreal, TranslatedTags: Free Range Bookclub 2025
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Māreikura is analysing her identity and begins a programme of “decolonisation”. Via her outspoken and inquisitive nature she leads us through a witty, poignant and accidental exploration of the effects of colonisation, which, the book explains, was not a… Continue Reading “All That We Know – Shilo Kino”
Category: Colonisation, Coming of Age, Contemporary fiction, Cultural, Faith & Religion, Female Experience, Historical Fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, Māori Fiction, NZ Book Awards, Political, QueerTags: Free Range Bookclub 2025, Kiwi Fiction
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Rachel Cryus Shams is an Iranian immigrant and a recently sober poet grappling with addiction, cultural disconnection and the loss of his mother, whose plane was shot down by the US navy. In his exploration of what it means to… Continue Reading “Martyr! – Kaveh Akbar”
Category: Art, Coming of Age, Cultural, Existentialist, Experimental fiction, Faith & Religion, Family drama, Immigrant story, National Book Awards, Political, Psychological, Queer, US fictionTags: Free Range Bookclub 2024
Posted on November 15, 2024
by thefreerangebookclub
1 Comment
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Jodie Irene Redfield is a black woman living an affluent lifestyle in Harlem. She runs into Clare, an old friend who is “passing” as white and married to a racist. Clare struggles with the disconnection from her community and culture,… Continue Reading “Passing – Nella Larsen”
Category: Classic literature, Cultural, Domestic Fiction, Family drama, Female Experience, Feminism, Historical Fiction, Literary fiction, Psychological, Queer, Realist, Unreliable Narrator, US fictionTags: Free Range Bookclub 2024
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