Tag: Free Range Bookclub 2026
Books read by the bookclub in 2026
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 The Mercy Step follows Mercy, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants growing up in Bradford in the 1960s. The seventh daughter in a large family, she spends much of her childhood navigating a crowded home, a deeply religious community and a… Continue Reading “The Mercy Step – Marcia Hutchison”
Category: Child Narrator, Coming of Age, Cultural, Family drama, Female Experience, Historical Fiction, Immigrant story, Jamaican fiction, Literary fiction, UK author, Women's PrizeTags: Free Range Bookclub 2026, Women's Prize
RACHEL:● The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist was a mixed bag for me this year. The shortlist ranges from the diva of NZ fiction Catherine Chidgey to debut novelists, a poet and memoirist, and a visual artist. The subject matter is equally diverse:… Continue Reading “2026: NZ Book Awards”
READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Tessa Set in 1985 Auckland, this novel follows an 11 year old boy named Obi who is on the cusp of teenagehood but has a maturity shaped by poverty, dysfunctional family dynamics, (dis)organised crime and violence. His dad’s delusional, his… Continue Reading “1985 – Dominic Hoey”
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 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 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
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