Category: War story
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Jodie Published in 1952 and set against the rise of fascism and the Second World War in Italy, All Our Yesterdays explores how history unfolds through ordinary lives rather than extraordinary events. Natalia Ginzburg examines family, love, duty and the… Continue Reading “All Our Yesterdays – Natalia Ginzburg”
Category: Classic literature, Family drama, Female Experience, Feminism, Historical Fiction, Italian fiction, Literary fiction, Political, Realist, Translated, War storyTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Set in the 1940s Taranaki, The Last Living Cannibal is narrated by an old man, Koko, from both the present and afterlife. It examines muru or the restoration of balance within an iwi or community, and is put to… Continue Reading “The Last Living Cannibal – Airana Ngarewa”
Category: Colonisation, Cultural, Family drama, Historical Fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, Māori Fiction, NZ Book Awards, Political, War storyTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026, Kiwi Fiction
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Set during a cold Wellington winter, Before The Winter Ends explores the immigrant experience via Omar, a teen whose grades are slipping and is losing connection with his best friend, and his mother who recalls her life two decades… Continue Reading “Before The Winter Ends – Khadro Mohamed”
Category: Coming of Age, Cultural, Faith & Religion, Family drama, Historical Fiction, Immigrant story, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, War storyTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026, Kiwi Fiction
READ FOR BOOKERTHON One summer night, a man disappears while walking with his daughter on a Japanese beach. Born Korean, Serk has a complicated relationship with his past. His daughter and American wife become disorientated, facing the challenges of ordinary life all the while… Continue Reading “Flashlight – Susan Choi”
Category: Booker Prize, Coming of Age, Cultural, Family drama, Historical Fiction, Immigrant story, Literary fiction, Mystery/Crime, National Book Awards, Political, Psychological, US fiction, War story, Women's PrizeTags: Booker Prize, Free Range Bookclub 2025, Women's Prize
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Tessa Prophet Song is set in an alternative Dublin where a tyrannical government is weaving its way into people’s lives, the rebels are rising up and society is slowly collapsing. It focuses on one family who suffer in many ways and… Continue Reading “Prophet Song – Paul Lynch”
Category: Booker Prize, Domestic Fiction, Dystopian, Family drama, Female Experience, Irish, Literary fiction, Philosophical, Political, Psychological, Realist, Speculative Fiction, Thriller, War storyTags: Booker Prize, Free Range Bookclub 2025
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 BOOKCLUBChosen by Jodie Three women – a maverick biologist and two sisters embroiled in the Russian bride industry and searching for their missing mother – kidnap 13 hopeful bachelors and race across Ukraine trying to find a mate for a last-of-its-kind Lefty… Continue Reading “Endling – Maria Reva”
Category: Absurdist, Adventure, Booker Prize, Climate Fiction Prize, Environmental fiction, Experimental fiction, Female Experience, Feminism, Humour, Literary fiction, Metafiction, Political, Postmodern Literature, Satire, War storyTags: Booker Prize, Free Range Bookclub 2025
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChaired by Sally Born a girl to parents who expected a boy, Jihad grows up treated like the eldest son, wearing boy’s clothing and sharing the burden of head of the household with her father. Now middle-aged, each night Jihad tells her… Continue Reading “Before The Queen Falls Asleep – Huzama Habayeb”
Category: Coming of Age, Cultural, Family drama, Female Experience, Feminism, Historical Fiction, Immigrant story, Literary fiction, Political, Translated, War storyTags: Free Range Bookclub 2025
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChaired by Tessa Triplet orphans spend their life isolated in a special home cared for by Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, learning about the world from The Book of Knowledge, having their dreams analysed in The Book of Dreams and… Continue Reading “The Book of Guilt – Catherine Chidgey”
Category: Colonisation, Coming of Age, Dystopian, Historical Fiction, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, Philosophical, Political, Psychological, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Thriller, Translated, Unreliable Narrator, War storyTags: Free Range Bookclub 2025, Kiwi Fiction, Ockham NZ Book Awards
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Rachel Alessandra Corteggiani recalls her youth and the lives of women during the rise of fascism in Italy, the resistance, and the fall of Mussolini. Originally published in 1949, it is a timeless portrayal of the complexity of the female… Continue Reading “Her Side Of The Story – Alba De Cespedes”
Category: Classic literature, Coming of Age, Family drama, Female Experience, Feminism, Historical Fiction, Italian fiction, Literary fiction, Political, Psychological, Translated, War storyTags: Free Range Bookclub 2025
Recent Comments