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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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Tess recommends:
Title: Life is for living how to get the most out of life at any age
Author: John Shackelton
If you haven’t yet made your New Year resolutions, this book will give you all the help you need for a year of increased fitness, better health and well-being. The author is now based in New Zealand, but he travels the world (and NZ!) inspiring people to do all they can to live well at any age. “Age may be just a state of mind after all!”
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Kaye recommends:
Title: The white tiger
Author:Aravind Adiga
A low-caste Indian tells of how he fought his circumstances and bettered himself. Gritty and humorous, it gives one a real insight into the realities of Indian life. I enjoyed this more than Q & A.
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For those that love award winners:
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Sue recommends:
Author: Nelson De Mille
Nelson DeMille has been a favourite of mine for several years. Some of his earlier works were great, and The Gate House, his latest, is no exception.
Set in the wealthy area of the Hamptons, the plot is outrageous & extravagant, but DeMille’s humour throughout the book is a lovely balance which had be laughing out loud in some places.
The storyline is fast-paced with murder, mystery and intrigue. I highly recommend it to anyone with in-laws and a sense of humour!
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For those that love crime stories: Crime Reader's Guide
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Kate recommends:
Title: She was
Author: Janis Hollowell
Doreen Woods’ carefully controlled life of a professional career, good works, and selfless care for her family hides a dark secret which causes it all to fall apart when someone from her youthful past tries to contact her. In 1 suspenseful week she must deal with the secret and its consequences. Spellbinding and skilful!
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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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Tess recommends:
Author: Maeve Binchy
For holiday reading there is nothing better than immersing oneself in someone else’s problems! Clara Casey has more than enough on her plate – setting up a new cardiac clinic, an ex-husband who wants something from her and two daughters causing concern. Then there’s Ania, Father Flynn, Declan, Fiona – how much can a good woman take?
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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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Robyn recommends:
Title: The thirteenth tale
Author: Diane Setterfield
Vida Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself - all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune, but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. She engages Margaret, a young biographer to tell the truth about her extraordinary life . An intriguing read.
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Marie recommends:
Title: World without end
Author: Ken Follett
This is a great sequel to his earlier epic "Pillars of the earth." Like the earlier book the story is centered around the cathedral city of Kingsbridge, but it begins in 1327 two centuries later when 4 children witness a killing in the forest which will affect the rest of their lives. This is a very well researched book and interesting to the very last page - that is to page 1111.
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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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Kaye recommends:
Title: The long exile
Author: Melanie McGrath
Set in the Canadian Arctic this story begins with Robert J Flaherty, the famous director of Nanook of the North, who fathered a child with an Inuit woman and left him to grow up as an Inuit. In the 1950s he and his family were part of a forced resettlement project in the very harsh environment of the Arctic circle. The families lived on the brink of starvation. A fascinating insight into a harsh and brutal world.
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Pat recommends:
Title: The mysteries of glass
Author: Sue Gee
Beginning in the winter of 1860 in a rural part of Hertfordshire, the story centres on a young first-time curate who comes to the parish full of the zeal and ideals of his calling, but he is lonely and vulnerable and is unable to restrain his feelings for a married woman. The affair rocks the community and uncovers secrets long hidden. Beautifully written!
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Sue recommends:
Title: Ice run
Author: Steve Hamilton
What a great read this book is! The story was set on the borders of the USA & Canada, and I felt frozen the whole time I was reading it. A retired detective gets involved with another detective (female) and an icy adventure begins. There’s lots of descriptive scenery – snow and frozen lakes – and the storyline was quite enthralling. It was a pity that it ended quite feebly, but nevertheless I really enjoyed the book.
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For those that love crime stories: Crime Reader's Guide
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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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Wendy recommends:
Mark Gimenez
I couldn't put the book down - this is a gripping legal 'page-turner'. Grisham fans, this is a must for you!
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Tony recommends:
The red dahlia
Lynda La Plante
This is a good crime fiction like most of her books.
Not for the faint-hearted!
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Paul recommends:
Roadkill
Kinky Friedman
Although I don’t often promote writers, I consider an exception can be made in the case of the ‘Kinkster’. Roadkill is an excellent example of his work.. It tells the tale of traveling with Willie Nelson & his band, tossed in with an aspect of native American culture, wrapped up in a who-dunnit. All told a riveting read.
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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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Tonia recommends:
The Secret River
Kate Grenville
After committing a crime, a young man is transported from London to Sydney accompanied by his young wife. They become successful land owners on the Hawkesbury River.
This is a dramatic historical novel, well told, which brings to life the Australian bush.
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Pat recommends:
The Polish Woman
Eva Mekler
A lawyer from a well-to-do Jewish family in New York, is skeptical when a young woman claims that she is the daughter of his deceased uncle who gave her into the care of a Polish family when the Nazis were exterminating all the Jews. A fascinating read.
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Maureen recommends:
Salvation Creek: an unexpected life
Susan Duncan
This is the true story of a successful Australian editor who, in the space of three days, lost her husband and her brother to cancer. The book tells of her life afterwards – the people she met, the places she lived in, the ways she found happiness again – and is honest, moving, and a compelling read.
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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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Anthony recommends
Holding the Zero
Gerald Seymour
I recommend all the books by this author because they are top class thriller/adventure stories.
This one has the hero in the wastes of northern Iraq where he gets caught up in the forgotten war between Kurdish guerrillas and Saddam Hussein’s military strength.
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Paul recommends
Peter Turnbull
I found this to be an excellent mystery set in Yorkshire.
“The police officers, Hennessey and Yellich are two very likeable heroes.” (Booklist Review)
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Erin recommends
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood
The descriptions of the futuristic world in this book were so vibrant, and thought out in such detail!
The story was really gripping – it was hard to put down. I read it in two sittings!
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Tony recommends
The Solitary Man
Stephen Leather
I have read most of Stephen Leather’s books that I have seen on the library shelves, and all of them have been a great read. This one involves a man on the run from a UK prison starting a new life in Hong Kong. When his past catches up with him he is forced into the corrupted drug- world of the East.
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Kaye recommends:
Watching the English
Kate Fox
This is a fascinating look at how English people behave and the unspoken rules that govern such behaviour, much of which is reflected in how NZers think and act. It is a revelation to learn that not all nationalities regard this as "normal" behaviour. The writer has a humorous style that makes this very readable.
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Margaret recommends:
Boudica
Vanessa Collingridge
This is a fascinating history of life in early England and the highs and lows of the impact of the Roman world after their invasion of that country.
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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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Barbara recommends:
A Dead Man in Athens
Michael Pearce
This is set in pre-World War I Athens and involves the invention of the Bleriot aircraft. There are two unusual deaths which the authorities fear could start a war. The Foreign Office sends out an East London policeman to investigate...
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Georgina recommends:
Sea of Glory: the Epic South Seas Expedition, 1838 - 1842
Nathaniel Philbrick
I had not been aware of the American explorations in the Southern oceans. great adventures. It was hard to put down! These are true histroical expeditions following Cook's era.
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Leeann recommends:
The Judas Strain
James Rollins
If you like fast action tied in with ancient history and modern-day science, then this is for you. An exciting story that takes you around the globe in a search for a cure for a violent pandemic strain of virus, this book is a cross between Dan Brown and Matthew Reilly. An awesome read!
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