A wonderfully complex novel packed with important ideas and heart-felt emotions: Empathy by Bryan Walpert. My review: tinyurl.com/pb77njes #YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks

Congratulations Michael Bennett - Best Novel winner at the 2025 Ngaio Awards for Return to Blood, second in the Hana Westerman series #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks

Congratulations to all the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel finalists! #NZBooks

A gripping suspenseful thriller which engages the reader with the inner lives and motivations of the protagonists: The Good Father by @liammcilvanney.bsky.social My Review: tinyurl.com/2chy37cn #YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks @zaffrebooks.bsky.social

A magnificant piece of creative non-fiction by Sophy Roberts. Colonial brutality, and the heartbreaking stories of the four Asian Elephants shipped from India and forced to walk across the harsh landscapes of Tanzania, part of Leopold’s rapacious Congo plans #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka

An alternate history, a bildungsroman, a mystery to solve, a #YeahNoir thriller, a cautionary tale, a vivid description of the self-serving cruelty of those in power - The Book of Guilt by @catherinechidgey.bsky.social My Review: tinyurl.com/evtmvt6e #NZBooks @thwupbooks.bsky.social‬

An excellent continuation of the Hana Westerman series, full of warmth and threat, Carved in Blood by Michael Bennett. My review: tinyurl.com/yc64akr6 #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks @simonandschuster.bsky.social

Congratulations to all the winners, and nominees, in this year’s Ockham Book Awards www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-... #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks

An exquisite depiction of colonial attitudes - Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King #pukapuka #ThePowerOfReading

Northbound by @naomiarnold.bsky.social - a love song to Aotearoa, to its beauty, its dangers, and its people. My review: tinyurl.com/272c4r2j #pukapuka #aotearoabooks #nzbooks #TeAraroa @harpercollins.bsky.social

A stunnng evokation of intergenerational trauma, breathtaking - We Do Not Part by Han Kang #pukapuka #ThePowerOfReading

Nine tails. Nine tales. Nine mortal lives - Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud by @leemurraywriter.bsky.social, wonderfully conceived and executed. My review: tinyurl.com/yenvjwp6 #YeahNoir #aotearoabooks

Sometimes it is leaving your comfort and braving it with complete strangers that can trigger healing – At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley - a wonderful book. My review: tinyurl.com/3f25tbpx #pukapuka #aotearoabooks #nzbooks penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social

A riveting depiction of the fracturing of a stable reality – personal, institutional, and societal: The Royal Free by @rcshuker.bsky.social My review: tinyurl.com/mrymkauk #YeahNoir #nzbooks @thwupbooks.bsky.social

“Investigating a murder that involves the Church never ends well in Florence”, Aldo and Strocchi have more murders to solve – A Divine Fury by @dvbishop.com - my review of the latest Cesare Aldo mystery: tinyurl.com/5n8v63zf #YeahNoir #nzbooks #CesareAldo

"Apparently it was permissable to recall and return all that she had sought to cherish on this earth" - second inspiring read of 2025: Concerning the Future of Souls by Joy Williams #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka #aonzbooks

"Rejoice, small ant, she thought, in your one life, though too soon dimmed it shall be" - great start to 2025 reading: The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff, @legroff.bsky.social. #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka #aonzbooks

“The fables come always to the same end; this beautiful bird that touched all who met with them or heard their call from their forest places, is gone.” The Huia & Our Tears by Ray Ching. My review: tinyurl.com/ydh3rvac #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks

“Exhilaration, anxiety, rapture, depression, tenderness, anger, hope, despair.” The breathtaking endless spiralling journey that is Orbital by Samantha Harvey. What a reading experience! #Orbital #ThePowerOfReading #Pukapuka

Goodness, just finished The White Book by Han Kang. So quietly moving ... "The only things which the mind cannot examine are memories of the future." #Pukapuka

Short stories exploring the origins and boundaries of ‘a person’ - surprising, entertaining, disturbing. Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn. My review: tinyurl.com/2kmuyh6y #AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka www.otago.ac.nz/press/books/...

“An attack against a man of God on the steps of a cathedral on an ungodly winter’s night”, a cold case for the wonderful Detective Sam Shephard – Prey by @vandasymon.bsky.social my review: tinyurl.com/vbbfufvz #AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #YeahNoir @orendabooks.bsky.social

“How did the world become so devoid of magic?” Kataraina by Becky Manawatu, a breathtaking red. My review: tinyurl.com/yc4rrutp #AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #YeahNoir

A brilliant political satire, also a chilling cautionary tale: The Life and Opinions of Kartik Popat by @brannavan.bsky.social My review: tinyurl.com/49p29mwj #AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #NZBooks lawrenceandgibson.co.nz

“Volcanic anger, dragging grief and endless anxiety”, Whaea Blue by @princesstehangi.bsky.social – read it! #pukapuka #aotearoabooks #nzbooks @thwupbooks.bsky.social

#pukapuka

‘Guernica is sitting beside me’, a beautifully written novel about the ugliest of things: A Better Place by Stephen Daisley, my review: tinyurl.com/3ykpkdnb #nzbooks #AotearoaBooks

Congratulations Jennifer Lane! - Miracle, Ngaio Marsh Award Best YA Novel 2024 #YeahNoir #nzbooks

Congratulations Claire Baylis! - Dice, Ngaio Marsh Award Best Debut Novel 2024 #YeahNoir #nzbooks

Congratulations D.V. Bishop! - Ritual of Fire, Ngaio Marsh Award Best Novel 2024 #YeahNoir #nzbooks

The manipulation of the vulnerable: Home Truths by @charitynorman.bsky.social my review: tinyurl.com/3z3ahuzv - such a good read – thought provoking, and so very very relevant. #YeahNoir #NZBooks

Congratulations to all the finalists for the Ngaio Award for Best Novel 2024

Congratulations to all the finalists for the Ngaio Award for Best First Novel 2024

#2024Ngaios longlist, named today #yeahnoir #aotearoabooks #nzbooks

“Our bodies are made of water, and all water is connected, so we are all connected”, a tense read, dealing with vulnerable people facing multiple threats – The Mires by @tinamakereti.bsky.social. My review: tinyurl.com/5n7sdxzw #YeahNoir #CliFi #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks

An extraordinary book of living with that “cracker of a disease”, ME – chaotic, beautiful, tragic, and highly recommended - Performance by David Coventry, my review: tinyurl.com/mppmfkrb #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks @thwupbooks.bsky.social

Only two days left to sign this petition, if you haven't already: Do not reverse the ban on the live export of farmed animals by sea. petitions.parliament.nz/79ff1ae2-f2e...

An utterly compelling read that drags the reader through the dangers of invasive information-gathering - and the determination of a wronged woman. Going Zero by Anthony McCarten – my review: tinyurl.com/bd24tdkm #YeahNoir #NZBooks

Two women on a road trip to engage with their ancestry, their past, home-baked pies - and to confront global warming and the Alpine Fault - sad, funny, scary, and educational: End Times by @rkpriestley.bsky.social. My review: tinyurl.com/bdd329n5 #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks @thwupbooks.bsky.social

A great central character, wonderfully described locations, and very human mysteries: Mami Suzuki: Private Eye by Simon Rowe. My review: tinyurl.com/5drfh3e8 #YeahNoir #NZBooks

A great book, a great piece of #YeahNoir, a great second book in the Hana Westerman series: Return to Blood by Michael Bennett. My review: tinyurl.com/5n92uwpc #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks

#AotearoaBooks Such a loss ... thespinoff.co.nz/books/29-04-...

How can action be taken before the threat descends? An excellent #CliFi #EcoThriller, Emergency Weather by Tim Jones  - my review: tinyurl.com/ya7nan7k #aotearoabooks #nzbooks and for climate criminals #YeahNoir

A superb crazy ride through “Playa del something-or-other”, Mexico to Cali, Colombia – with Lou Galloway, disappointed actor, playing the role of his life: El Flamingo by Nick Davies. My review: tinyurl.com/4muvbabs #YeahNoir #nzbooks

The second outing for NSW Park Ranger Cal Nyx – atmospheric, moving, pacey and with plenty of action, a great depiction of how people on the margins live dangerous lives: The Quarry by Kim Hunt - my review: tinyurl.com/4addkzeh  #YeahNoir #nzbooks

A new series from Deborah Challinor, a lively read with a great new character - Black Silk & Sympathy – my review: tinyurl.com/nhbut9z6 #aotearoabooks #nzbooks

A stunning debut novel - the wearying, endless, infuriating, disregard of women; Dice by Claire Baylis. My review: tinyurl.com/2v8cv52f #YeahNoir #aotearoabooks #nzbooks

Colourful characters, lots of action, and an intriguing crime to solve in 1940 Singapore - Inspector Maximo Betancourt is back! Chasing the Dragon by Mark Wightman My review: tinyurl.com/2uzbr9r7   #NZBooks @hobeckbooks.bsky.social

A great evoking of memory, and how it can make inconsequential things momentous, and momentous things just part of our remembered lives – Take Two by Caroline Thonger & Vivian Thonger my review: tinyurl.com/fkd2bh74  #NZBooks #AotearoaBooks