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Kaye recommends:
Title: Waiting for the evening news
Author: Tim Gautreaux
Intriquing short stories. The characters, language and plots all sing of the special nature of America's deep south.
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John recommends:
Title: Blood River
Author: Tim Butcher
Here in New Zealand we love to complain about the government…..it is a refreshing reminder when reading travel books such as this show just how wrong a nation can go! Blood River is the journal of the author as he sets out in 2004 to recreate Stanley’s epic journey along the entire length of the Congo River of the late 1800s. Stanley’s exploration opened up the country to its eventual brutal exploitation by Belgium over the next century resulting in the current state of decay and corruption the nation finds itself in. They said it couldn’t be done, but the Tim Butcher proved them wrong and his story makes a captivating read.
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Ian recommends
Title: Green Hills of Africa
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Even after many re-reads, it never fails to take you there; around the campfire, tracking animals, the climate, the stories, the camaraderie, the adventure of it all.
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For those that love award winners:
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Kaye recommends:
Title: The free-range knitter: the yarn harlot rides again
Author: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Thoughts and observations from a dedicated knitter and lover of yarn. Perceptive insights into the practice of knitting and what it reveals about personalities. A gently humorous read.
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For those that love crime stories: Crime Reader's Guide
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Gene recommends:
Title: Tomorrow to be brave
Author: Susan Travers
Simply a great read. "Remarkable true story of care and heroism by the only woman to join the Foreign Legion". Remarkable indeed. The book takes the reader through the desert war campaigns of WW II.
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Joan recommends:
Title: Mister Pip
Author: Lloyd Jones
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Kaye recommends:
Title: Get her off the pitch
Author: Lynne Truss
I have no interest in sports but Lynne Truss' account of her time as a woman sports writer was funny and showed unexpected insights into the world of sport. She is more famous for her book on grammar "Eats, shoots and leaves."
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Olive recommends:
Title: Summer of the hawthorn
Author: Anne Doughty
Two women centuries apart, come together when one of the other is in need. This book is hard to put down and leaves you feeling expectant until the end.
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Jane recommends:
Title: The windows of Brimnes
Author: William Holm
Holm ably describes the landscape, the people and even the horses of iceland. A good book for the armchair traveler by an honest and appreciative part-time resident.
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For those that love Science Fiction:
Science Fiction Guide
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Pat recommends:
Title: Family album
Author:Penelope Lively
Alison and Charles Harper and their 56 children live in a comfortable big English house named Allersmead. On the surface all is domestic bliss but under it all lies a dark secret. The author takes each member of the family and intriguingly builds up the picture of the actual situation. A well-crafted story from a top notch author.
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Kaye recommends:
Title: Coop: a year of poultry, pigs and parenting
Author: Michael Perry
A brilliant read set in small town Wisconsin. It's got humour, pathos, tragedy and gentle observation on reconnecting to the earth, family and friends and chickens.
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Sue recommends:
Title: Italian shoes
Author: Henning Mankell
This novel can only be described as dark, but strangely compelling. Perhaps it’s the long dark winters in Sweden that affects the mood of the book which is the story of a surgeon who exiled himself on an island for 12 years after a bungled operation. Some of the account was of unacceptable behavior even for a recluse, but I felt compelled to finish the story, although I can’t think why!
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For those that love crime stories: Crime Reader's Guide
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Pat recommends:
Title: Tea time for the traditionally built
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
This is your final warning! You are missing a rare treat if you have not yet discovered ‘The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ series by this author. McCall’s clear and humorous observations of the human situation are applicable in all parts of the globe, not just in Botswana where the heroine, Precious Ramotswe, the No.1 lady detective, lives the good life.
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Jane recommends:
Title: Savage run
Author: C J Box
If exploding cows, eco-terrorists and unconventional but scary hit men in the Wyoming wilderness sound like an interesting recipe for an action-packed read, you’ll love this second Joe Pickett mystery.
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Kaye recommends:
Title: Death and the penguin
Author: Andrey Kurkov
This is a really quirky book! Vik lives in Kiev, in the Ukraine, with his pet penguin – and writes obituaries. Gradually he becomes aware that there could be a possible connection between his obituaries that are still waiting for their subjects to die, and the Russian Mafia activities!
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For those that love fantasy stories:
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Pauline recommends:
Title:The hollow chocolate bunnies of the Apocalypse
Author: Robert Rankin
This is delightfully crazy fantasy fiction. There is a serial killer loose upon the streets of Toy Town, the home of Humpty Dumpty, Little Boy Blue and other nursery characters.
The book pokes fun at politics, religion, the “celebrity” culture, etc., while being a murder mystery. Full of chuckles.
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Tonia recommends:
Title: If you were mine
Author: Carol Lefevre
This book, set between 1962 and 1994, is a well-written, excellent read. I could not put it down! A mother witnesses her young son killed by a lightning strike in outback Australia. The story focuses on her younger daughter Aurora as she strives for the love of her parents after her mother is torn apart by grief. It follows Aurora through childhood to adulthood when she finally finds peace in her father’s homeland of Ireland, before returning to the country of her birth.
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Kaye recommends:
Title: The life and death of Laura Friday - and of Pavarotti, her parrot
Author:David Murphy
This is by a New Zealand author who lives on the West Coast. It’s a humorous story, with an interesting cast of characters. I enjoyed its zany plot, and look forward to many more of his writings.
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Pat recommends:
Title: Floating worlds: essays on contemporary New Zealand fiction
Victoria University Press has this year filled a gap for which thousands of English students and lovers of our indigenous fiction will be grateful. This short collection of essays covers 8 of the best NZ novels written in the past 15 years. An invaluable addition are the notes, and the bibliographies of the authors covered, at the back of the book.
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For those that love fantasy stories:
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Barbara recommends:
Title: Michelle: a biography
Author: Liza Mundy
Drawing on interviews with over 100 key people, the author puts together a comprehensive account of the First Lady of the White House, Michelle Obama. From her childhood in Chicago, to Princeton and Harvard, this highly intelligent and organized woman is a great example to young women needing to pursue their own ambitions.
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For those that love Science Fiction:
Science Fiction Guide
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Pat recommends:
Title: The first touch of light
Author: Ruth Pettis
This is the second (& last) novel by NZ journalist, writer & poet Dianne ( Ruth) Pettis who died in mid-2008. Beautifully written, it deals with the devastating effect of WWII on George, a NZ soldier who spent 4 years in Italy & Africa, his wife Ellen, and their family. Although this is fiction, the situation was true for many young marrieds under the impossible stress of separation at that time. I highly recommend this book.
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For those that love Chick Lit:
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Barbara recommends:
Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Author: Mary Ann Shaffer
This is a ‘must read’ for all who relished 84 Charing Cross Road and the gentle wit of Alexander McCall Smith. It is written as a series of letters to and from Juliet, a writer from London, in the time just after the WWII Nazi occupation of the British island of Guernsey. Through the letters she comes to know some of the islanders and to understand the impact of the invasion on their lives. ‘Vivid and moving”.
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For those that love award winners:
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Pauline recommends:
Title: The captives of time
Author: Malcolm Bosse
A young woman struggles with the harsh realities of medieval life as she tries to get her mute younger brother across Europe to safety after they witness the murder of their parents by marauding soldiers. On reaching their uncle’s home they find a haven until events again force them to flee, this time with treasured drawings to deliver to the right person.
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Tonia recommends:
Title: The women of Windsor
Author: Catherine Whitney
This account of four of the women of the Royal Family is written by an American author, so in a sense she is ‘from the outside looking in’. But the influence these people have enjoyed has extended around the world, and their stories are always of great interest.
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Cheryl recommends:
Title: Split time
Author: Felicity Price
This book by a New Zealand writer helped me with my own experiences with the menopause, teenagers, and coping with older people. It assured me that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It really made me look at my life, figure, and accept myself for me. The ‘heroine’ of this story is a typical baby-boomer, juggling the many aspects of her life, who finds in her great-grandmother’s letters a way to get through it all.
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For those that love Science Fiction:
Science Fiction Guide
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Maureen recommends:
The necklace: a true story of 13 women, 1 diamond necklace and a fabulous idea
Author: Cheryl Jarvis
I recommend this book because it is strange but true and heartwarming. Twelve women buy shares in a diamond necklace and have it for a month at a time. The changes that this makes in their lives and in the lives of those around them are as unexpected as they are encouraging. Diamonds really are a girl’s best friend!
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Kristie recommends:
Title: Romancing the ordinary: a year of simple splendour
Author: Sarah Ban Breathnach
This is a lovely diary/journal-style book for women, about awakening the senses and cherishing the ‘self’. It is full of recipes, rituals, poetry and gardening tips for self-indulging…. Written in a way that makes us rejoice in the splendour of our lives!
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Sue recommends:
Author:Lee Child
Action-packed from page one, this story is about a ruthless mercenary who had his first wife kidnapped and killed, and when a second wife and her young daughter are also mysteriously kidnapped, Jack Reacher, who has never had a case he couldn’t solve, must tackle this the hard way which takes him from New York to a dramatic shootout in the middle of rural England.
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For those that love crime stories: Crime Reader's Guide
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Audrey recommends:
Title: Dreams from my father
Author: Barack Obama
Barack’s humanity shines brightly – he has sincerity and strength of purpose & is also unassuming and charming. As a boy he lived for a time among poor multiracial people in Indonesia, in Hawaii he earned a place in a good school. In his teens he lived also in Kenya. He has worked to help many down-and-out families, & as President-Elect is giving them hope.
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Pat recommends:
Title: The memory keeper's daughter
Author: Kim Edwards
This is a stunning debut novel for the author, and deservedly a bestseller all over the world.
A split-second decision, revealed in the opening pages, results in lifelong devastating effects on two families. Beautifully written with great insight and compassion for the human predicament.
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Peter recommends:
Title: My enemy's cradle
Author: Sara Young
The book is set in the 1939/1945 War and is about a Jewish girl passing herself off as being Dutch. She gets caught up in Lebensborn – the breeding programme run by the SS. Not an easy read – but worth undertaking.
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Kaye recommends
Title: Russia: a journey to the heart of a land and its people
Author: Jonathon Dimbleby
British broadcaster, Jonathon Dimbleby travels thousands of miles through modern day Russia. Perceptive and poignant with his own back story of love and loss, it reveals a country struggling to find its way out of the past and into the future.
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Pauline recommends:
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
A precursor to Le Carre's "Smiley" novels. The stories are based on Maugham's own experience as a British secret agent during World War I. His fictional spy is John Ashenden, whose dangerous assignments entangle him with traitors, assassins and beautiful but treacherous women.
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For those that love award winners:
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Thelma recommends:
Title: The Mitford years (series)
Author: Jan Karon
These books are some of the most delightful I've ever read.
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For those that love Chick Lit:
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Leslie recommends:
Title: The bookseller of Kabul
Author: Asne Seierstad
This is a riveting insight into life in Afghanistan post the Taliban era. It gives readers an understanding of the Islamic psyche and makes one aware of how different cultures can be.
The author has been a war correspondent for some years, and in autumn 2001 she spent 3 months in Afghanistan reporting for a number of Scandinavian newspapers. A fascinating read!
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Pauline recommends:
Only the cat knows
Marian Babson
This is a cracking good read with no gratuitous sex or violence.
When his twin sister is found seriously injured, Vance - who is a female impersonator - sets out to find out who would do such a thing to her. In doing this he endangers his own life.
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Maureen recommends:
The penguin who knew too much
Donna Andrews
This book is unusual, comical and good light entertainment.
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Leah recommends:
The Food of Love
Anthony Capella
This book has passion. The author is a chef and this shows with each description of a recipe and its ingredients. It is a love story set in Italy. A beautiful read which I loved so much that I bought the book! Thoroughly recommended !
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Alex recommends:
Alexa Johnston
It’s about Sir Edmund Hillary. And his life. I like it because I am liking it so far, and I’ve read about his beekeeping and stuff.
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Eva recommends:
Justin Cartwright
I particularly enjoyed Cartwright’s book for his simple and elegant writing, while dealing with complex moral issues. The 2 main characters, Elya Mendel and Axel von Gottberg, are close friends who meet in Oxford, but their friendship is put under stress and finally destroyed by their differences over Hitler’s Germany. There is much to think about on a number of levels. The historical events are real, and the 2 main characters based on Isaiha Berlin and Adam von Trott.
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Leslie recommends:
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
This is a fresh and poignant exploration of Nazi Germany and the power and the beauty of words. The young author deserves all the praise he is getting for managing a difficult point of view, and for his poetic voice.
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