Honestly this week my bank account balance is in so much trouble because the new releases that arrived in our warehouse are all SO GOOD. Best of luck to you.
The Fiction and Non-Fiction Headliners
The first book on my own list and the one that came home with me on Tuesday night was Hollywood, Ending by John Green because I have been DESPERATE to read this ever since it was announced. Hollywood, Ending is John Green's first Adult fiction novel but as a huge fan of both his YA fiction, and his recent non-fiction writing, I can't wait to read this novel about the lives of two rising young actors who are on the verge of falling in love right as their acting careers are on the brink of blowing up.
Last night our whole team was excited to get the reveal of New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager's newest book, Dirty Work, an expose into the Taxpayers' Union and their far reaching influences. What will no doubt be a HUGE book in the lead up to the election is one I will definitely be reading even though I know next to nothing about the Taxpayers' Union (not for long!).
The other huge title that landed this week is Swan Song by the brother of Princess Diana, Charles Spencer. An intimate and loving portrait of a global icon, I know so many people will be picking this one up - in large part because yes we get a new insight into someone who many of us paid close attention to, but I think mostly because this is not some high drama gossip piece about Diana, but something that is much more about her relationships with both Charles her brother but also the others around them.
Another book that has already come home with me, whoops, is Naomi Alderman's newest novel Strangers, and you'll see why. Strangers is about a writer called Naomi Alderman who is not only wrestling with grief but is also having to deal with capturing the first image of a new species that is forcing humanity to reconsider how we share our planet. A book that blurs the lines of fiction and reality, one that pulls me, the reader, into conspiracy currents and enchants me with a new creature that has a long trunk nose but is the size of a badger? Honestly, these are the books I dream about. I cannot wait to start on this one.
Dylan has already read the newest Seth Godin and sent me enough photos of passages he knew I would resonate with that now I need to read The Knot too. A striking and slim book, The Knot is Seth Godin doing what he does best, creating a simple approach to a meaningful life and providing practical advice to the things that waste our time and cause undue friction, especially at work.
Fans of Katherine Mansfield need to pick up the latest collection of her stories framed with an exquisite introduction by Sloane Crosley. If you haven't read any Mansfield and wouldn't know where to start, just pick this one up too. It will introduce you to the absolute brilliance of Mansfield when it came to writing about New Zealand characters in the most beautifully chosen vignettes of their lives. I will never forget reading Miss Brill together with my local Hobsonville reading group - it changed me fundamentally.
For the Romance and Romantasy Readers
Oh boy. We have A LOT here this week and once again, I am in trouble. Firstly, the ones that are top of my own wishlist this week.
We have Free Falling by Lyla Sage which is the second book in the wonderfully mysterious and adorable Sweetwater Peak series, set in a haunted town where we have an antique shop owner and a farmer and a fake dating trope. TAKE MY MONEY ( I loved Book One!).
Next up I also need to read Turncloak by L.K. Steven, the follow up to Silvercloak which had me by the throat with its enemies to lovers romance and the hectic romantasy plot about rival gangs that had me gripped the entire time. I need to know what happens next. URGENTLY.
Speaking of addictive romantasy, it's also a need not a want that I get to read the first book in the brand new duology by the author who brought us the Plated Prisoner Series (!!!!!!). The Sweetest Fiend is set in a world of fae and dark magic, and all I know really about this book is that there's a pied piper inspiration which I am more than a little intrigued by.
As if by this point I'm not already severely overwhelming my bookshelves with new additions we also have a new series from New Zealand author, Helen Scheuerer, Kiss of the Black Flame, which sounds incredible - the start of an epic romantasy trilogy about a bookbinder and an immortal general who end up bound together by a magical bargain. Yep, sounds right up my alley. We also have The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace which I have already seen many rave reviews about, an angels vs demons story but one which is 'ferociously romantic' and 'devastating in the best of ways'. Need. I also audibly gasped when I was seeing the stock for The Mirror of Infinite Endings by Stephanie Garber this week. It's a beautiful novella with illustrations and I think it means I need to read the entire Once Upon a Broken Heart series (thank goodness, I was running a little short on new books to read).
The Non-Fiction Books of my Bookish Dreams
Lastly, if you have a book lover in your life (quite likely), these two books that arrived this week have your next gifts sorted. You're welcome. I hope someone who knows me is reading too 😂
Firstly we have Enchanted Earth by DK Travel which is a literal dream of a book with it's huge hardback size full of colour photography and its gilded gold edges (yes, GOLDEN EDGES). Even more dreamlike are the collection of real world places it offers up to the fantasy/romantasy reader that are curated to feel like you could step right into a fae kingdom or get lost in an enchanted forest. It's absolutely extraordinary, stunningly curated, and set up into realms that will bring the most magic to a coffee table imaginable.
Secondly, but just as importantly, we have a slightly smaller but still incredibly beautifully bound book for the bookish person who wants to travel the world, but mainly to visit bookish places and cool bookshops (same). A World of Bookish Places (also by DK Travel) is for the book addict who doesn't just want to sit at home but wants to plan a holiday around literary landmarks and hidden bookish gems. It's the travel book I didn't know I needed.
