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2026 has been a good year for book lovers, and as we approach half way of the year I already have a stack of firm favourites from this year's reading.
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Pick this up if you like Elif Shafak, lyrical writing, and lifelong stories about characters.
This book and this character, Sufien, will stay with me for a long time. I adored this book and it's beautiful writing even though Sufien's story was often hard and full of sadness and loss. You can see the real life roots of this charcter and his search for home, and it's one of those books that I think deserves it's place on every bookshelf.
This was my first time reading Elizabeth Knox, and I can't wait to see how her incredibly vivid and reflective writing translates into fiction. This memoir is about three traumatic events for Elizabeth's family, and the way these are drawn together like three pieces of thread to create a story about this time in her life is so expertly done I feel like it should be on any memoir writer's study list. Not only is it a well-crafted piece of writing, it's also just extremely interesting to get such an intimate view into other families and their trauma, and for that reason was hard to put down.
Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death. Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath. In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family. There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family's latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees. But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favour of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters' bond but also their lives will be...
New local voice who nails a coming of age story
Counting Down with Theodore Brown is not my usual genre but I absolutely adored every page of this novel about Theodore Brown, a 19 year old navigating the challenges of love and life, mental health and friendships. On top of all of that Theodore also has the complicated addition of being able to see a number in people's eyes that reveals how long they will be in his life.
This book is perfect if, like me, you love John Green's coming of age stories, or if Perks of Being a Wallflower made you feel seen unlike anything else. It's life affirming, full of lovable characters and great lines that had me laughing out loud.
Below Deck meets Romantic Comedy in this irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true in your adult years by the bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow. Annie is- On a cruise with her one-time favourite boyband and a thousand female super-fans Still reeling from her divorce Being replaced at work by her intern Keith is- Fifty years old and in a band that performs dance routines with hip thrusts Suffering from sea sickness Certain his wife doesn't love him anymore When a meet-and-greet throws them together, Annie develops a crush on Keith, and Keith starts to wonder if life might have a few surprises in store for him. But are Keith and Annie just living a fantasy? And what happens when they get back...
Lena Dunham is not just a fascinating human who has been through an intense and tumultuous life, but also an incredibly vulnerable and clever writer who brings her skills out to play in an extremely entertaining and interesting way with her memoir. I loved hearing more about the behind the scenes of filming Girls, I related to her difficulties with chronic pain and struggling with friendships and relationships, I cringed at a few moments, teared up in others, and laughed at even more. I'm grateful to her for sharing such an intimate insight into life in the limelight and her struggles.
A fresh start is waiting for Charlie Jones. But another Charlie Jones wants it too... The Isle of Ormer: population 500, soon to be 501. Charlie Jones has landed on the island to embark on her brand new life. As the manager at Ormer's only farm shop, this job will be her perfect next chapter. Good riddance to the mainland, this is it - fresh air, and a clean slate. Except there is one small issue ... Charlie Jones has also just arrived on the Isle of Ormer, to embark on his brand new life. His job at the farm shop feels like fate, and could not have come at a better moment. On Ormer, Charlie has promised himself he'll escape old friends, bad habits and heartbreak. This...
Not my usual genre to read from but I was absolutely hooked on this journalistic investigation into Te Pahi and his role in the relationships between MΔori and PΔkeha all the way before any treaty or declaration was in place. The writing was incredibly engaging and interesting, and I found myself underlining many beautiful passages of reflections on this figure and his place in our history. It's a book about legacy and lineage, of relationships and betrayals, of mana and maemae. Highly recommend if you enjoy learning more about Aotearoa and it's historical figures that might not be as well known.
I was getting FOMO (fear of missing out) seeing customers picking up the latest book in the Into Darkness trilogy by Navessa Allen, so had to join in the fun. Her books are not for the faint of heart (check your comfort with spice levels and content warnings), but if hilarious and scorching dark rom-coms are your vibe then definitely give it a try. This one was a bratty, enemies to lovers situation and an excellent addition to the series.
I absolutely adored this book. I donβt read a lot of fiction, but couldnβt put this down and finished it in less than 24 hours. The book is a collection of letters, written to and from Sybil - a wonderful character, who is well, a character! The books makes you laugh, it makes you think - and probably makes you cry (not me!). The letter format is excellent and inspires me to get back into letter (email!) writing myself - something I love to do, but have done less of since starting a business. AAA recommend
The Things We Never Say completely won me over! Elizabeth Stroutβs writing is as beautiful as ever and Artie Dam is a character I wonβt forget anytime soon. This is one of those books that makes you wonder how your own life might have changed if youβd crossed paths with someone like Artie. I especially loved the classroom scenes and his interactions with his students, as well as the quietly evolving relationship with his son Rob. Itβs a thoughtful novel reminding you of the quiet impact one person can have on the lives around them. I can't wait for everyone to meet Artie Dam!
Moderation is a novel that refuses to do things by halves. It is a piercing, laser-precise exploration of big tech... breathtakingly funny... and a highly charged, passionate and tender love story. A wonderful book. Kaliane Bradley, bestselling author of The Ministry of Time Girlie, a thirty-something Filipinx-American, works a day job at a social-media moderation centre, flagging and removing the very worst that makes it on to the internet. She's good at it, tooβdispassionate, unflinching, maybe because she learned by necessity to cauterise all her emotions when she was still a kidβso it's no surprise to anyone when the social-media company for which she works offers her a big pay rise and an office to start moderating its new venture: virtual-reality theme parks, stunning simulations of civilisations long-since...
βA thrill for the sickos among usβ JIA TOLENTINO βUtterly inimitableβ RAVEN LEILANI βUnrelentingly brutal and gut-bustingly funny and spares no oneβ CARMEN MARIA MACHADO 'Symbiotically serious and funny' MEGAN NOLAN 'The funniest, darkest thing' ST VINCENT LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION An audacious and original novel-in-stories following a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos. Sharply observant and outrageously funny,Β RejectionΒ is a provocative plunge into the thorniest problems of modern life: sex, relationships, identity and the internet. We see a tryhard male feminist's passionate allyship turn to a furious and debilitating nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that his feminism isnβt getting him laid; a young womanβs unrequited crush spirals into borderline obsession and the...
Yesteryear is a debut novel, but is an absolute stunner of a story that I think will have people talking for a long time! An unsettling novel about Natalie, a tradwife influences who portrays her carefully curated and produced life online to many fans (and many who are not!). One morning she wakes up on the same farm, with the same (almost) family, but it's not quite right and she can't work out why (neither can we!). This book is one that will keep you gripped til the very end, and is such a timely story about the life we portray versus the life we live; the life we dream of and the life we dream of escaping. It's thrilling, entertaining, and I cannot wait for whatever this...
