Against all odds By Craig Challen and Richard Harris with Ellis Henican Although we know what happens in the end, this book grips you from the start. This story is a personal account told by Australians Dr Richard Harris and Dr Craig Challen, who...... Read More

Wolfe Island by Lucy Treloar Lucy Treloar’s second novel is set in America in a plausible near-future. She writes like a painter, adding layers to describe a scene and detailing the surrounding environment – its nature, flora, fauna and...... Read More

Grand Union Stories by Zadie Smith This collection of short fiction stories is set in different decades, in no particular order, and the range of styles, and the voices vary widely. Smith’s characters come to life, but at times leave you wanting...... Read More

Quichotte By Salman Rushdie In this novel within a novel, author Salman Rushdie pays homage to the 1605 Spanish classic Don Quixote. In Rushdie’s story, a character called Sam DuChamp is an average writer who creates Quichotte, an aging salesman...... Read More

The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan This crime fiction novel is set in Galway, Ireland  in 2014.  DS Cormac Reilly has been working on cold cases for some time and has realised that he is losing his enthusiasm, but then a phone call from his...... Read More

England’s Forgotten Past: The unsung Heroes and Heroines, Valiant Kings, Great Battles and Other Generally Overlooked Episodes in our Nation’s Glorious History. by Richard Tames This is a little jewel of a book, which reveals bits of English...... Read More

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. In the middle of the night, Creusa wakes to find her beloved Troy engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of brutal conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over, and the Greeks are victorious....... Read More

A collection of reflections along eight themes is probably the best way to describe Seeking the Centre, Living Well in Aotearoa, a self-published book by retired Anglican bishop John Bluck, of Pakiri. For Kiwis of a certain vintage, many of the stories...... Read More

By Ruth Hogan In her new novel, Ruth Hogan (bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things and The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes) writes an uplifting novel of mothers, daughters, families, secrets and the overriding power of friendship. Tilly was a bright,...... Read More

by John Lanchester Kavanagh begins his life patrolling the Wall. If he’s lucky, if nothing goes wrong, he only has two years of this, 729 more nights. The best thing that can happen is that he survives and gets off the Wall and never has to spend...... Read More