Staff Picks

These reads come highly recommended by the Te Kōputu team...

Updated October 19, 2023
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Still Life
Winman, Sarah.
Paper Book
From acclaimed author of Tin Man, Sarah Winman, comes a captivating new novel of people brought together across four decades of love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster. Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young...
A thousand splendid suns
Hosseini, Khaled.
Paper Book
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, the #1 New York Times bestseller A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family,...
Instructions for a heatwave
O'Farrell, Maggie
Paper Book
Sophisticated, intelligent, impossible to put down, Maggie O'Farrell's beguiling novels--After You'd Gone, winner of a Betty Trask Award; The Distance Between Us, winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; The Hand That First Held Mine, winner of the Costa Novel Award; and her...
Squeeze me
Hiaasen, Carl
CD
"If you could use some wild escapism right now, Hiaasen is your guy." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times   From the author of Skinny Dip and Razor Girl, a hilarious, New York Times best-selling novel of social and political intrigues, set...

Recommended by Kim

Piranesi
Clarke, Susanna
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction World Fantasy Awards Finalist From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a...
The trials of Morrigan Crow
Townsend, Jessica
Paper Book
A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world--but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination. Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any...
The Overstory : A Novel
Powers, Richard.
Paper Book
The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of--and paean to--the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers's twelfth novel unfolds in concentric...
Future home of the living god : a novel
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable Book Louise Erdrich, the New York Times bestselling, National Book Award-winning author of LaRose and The Round House, paints a startling portrait of a young woman fighting for her life and her unborn child against oppressive forces that manifest in the wake of a...
The island of sea women : a novel
See, Lisa
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A mesmerizing new historical novel" (O, The Oprah Magazine) from Lisa See, the bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and devastating family secrets on a small Korean island. ...
The name of the wind
Rothfuss, Patrick
Paper Book
Discover #1 New York Times-bestselling Patrick Rothfuss' epic fantasy series, The Kingkiller Chronicle. "I just love the world of Patrick Rothfuss." --Lin-Manuel Miranda   OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD! DAY ONE: THE NAME OF THE WIND ...
The inheritance of loss
Desai, Kiran
Paper Book
Kiran Desai's first novel, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, was published to unanimous acclaim in over twenty-two countries. Now Desai takes us to the northeastern Himalayas where a rising insurgency challenges the old way of life. In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount...
Angela Carter's book of fairy tales
Carter, Angela
Paper Book
Once upon a time fairy tales weren't meant just for children, and neither is Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales. This stunning collection contains lyrical tales, bloody tales and hilariously funny and ripely bawdy stories from countries all around the world- from the Arctic to Asia - and no...
A year of Marvellous Ways
Winman, Sarah
Paper Book
A YEAR OF MARVELLOUS WAYS is the unforgettable and completely captivating new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international bestseller WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT. Marvellous Ways is eighty-nine years old and has lived alone in a remote Cornish creek for nearly all her life. Lately...
A long way home
Brierley, Saroo
Paper Book
At first a media sensation, the story of Saroo Brierley became the #1 international bestseller A Long Way Home. Now it's Lion, the major motion picture starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, and Rooney Mara - nominated for six Academy Awards!At only five years old, Saroo Brierley got lost on a train in...
Lenny's book of everything
Foxlee, Karen
Paper Book
"Holy Batman, this is a gorgeous, heartbreaking, heartwarming book." --R.J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wonder Perfect for readers who love Liar and Spy, Counting by 7s, and Bridge to Terabithia, a heartwarming and...
The Thursday Murder Club
Osman, Richard
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller | Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment "Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining." --Wall Street Journal   "Don't trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian...
The cellist of Sarajevo
Galloway, Steven
Paper Book
This brilliant novel with universal resonance tells the story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist who plays undaunted in their midst. One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills twenty-two people as...
Kitchens of the great Midwest
Stradal, J. Ryan
Paper Book
"A sweet and savory treat." --People "An impressive feat of narrative jujitsu. . . that keeps readers turning the pages too fast to realize just how ingenious they are."--The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Pick "Kitchens of the Great Midwest...
The reading list : a novel
Adams, Sara Nisha
Paper Book
A BEST OF SUMMER READ ACCORDING TO NEWSWEEK, PARADE MAGAZINE, NBC NEWS, LITHUB, AND POPSUGAR! "The most heartfelt read of the summer...a surprising delight of a novel."--Shondaland An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of...
His majesty's dragon
Novik, Naomi.
Paper Book
In the first novel of the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, a rare bond is formed between a young man and a dragon, and together they must battle in the Napoleonic Wars. "A terrifically entertaining fantasy novel."--Stephen King Aerial combat brings...
A song for Issy Bradley
Bray, Carys
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 'I cannot remember when a novel has seduced me so completelyait feels as if a trusted old friend is telling you the story, that the characters are people you know' The Times 'A terrific book . . . I loved A...
The devil's bargain
Rimington, Stella
Paper Book
'I wanted more' DAVID GILMANOne lie put the nation at risk. Another might save it.Harry Bristow: policeman, father, chauffeur, fraud.In 1988 Harry made one mistake: he took a bribe, letting a man he knew as Igor into Britain - and he's regretted it ever since. So when he...
Chance developments
McCall Smith, Alexander
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes this splendid collection. Inspired by vintage photographs, these five lyrical stories capture the surprising intersections of love and friendship that alter life's journeys.  A smiling girl leading a...
Lessons in chemistry
Garmus, Bonnie
Paper Book
#1 GLOBAL BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 6 MILLION COPIES SOLD * Meet Elizabeth Zott: "a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention" (The Washington Post) in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a ...
The Axeman's Carnival
Chidgey, Catherine.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE JANN MEDLICOTT ACORN PRIZE FOR FICTION AT THE 2023 OCKHAM NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDS A dazzling portrayal of humanity and the natural world that perfectly balances violence and humor Tama is just a helpless chick when he is rescued by Marnie, and this is...
The Marriage Portrait A Novel
O'Farrell, Maggie.
Paper Book
WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici...

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