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These reads come highly recommended by the Te Kōputu team...
Updated October 19, 2023
KOTUI / National Library of New Zealand
Whakatane Libraries and Galleries
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Still life
Winman, Sarah
Paper Book
WINNER OF DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2021 A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK 'Sheer joy' Graham Norton ...
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A thousand splendid suns
Hosseini, Khaled.
Paper Book
1 New York Times bestselling author. Main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and Literary Guild. Both born in Afghanistan a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family Mariam and Laila are brought together by war by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever...
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Instructions for a heatwave
O'Farrell, Maggie
Paper Book
A story of a dysfunctional but deeply loveable family reunited, set during the legendary summer of 1976, INSTRUCTIONS FOR A HEATWAVE by Maggie O'Farrell was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Novel Award and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller (2013). It's July 1976. In...
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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
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<p>Recommended by Kim</p>
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Piranesi
Clarke, Susanna
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021 WINNER OF THE KITSCHIES' 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE THE TIMES,...
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Nevermoor : 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...
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The overstory
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...
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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...
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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. ...
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The name of the wind
Rothfuss, Patrick
Paper Book
The lyrical fantasy masterpiece about stories, legends and how they change the world. The Name of the Wind is an absolute must-read for any fan of fantasy fiction. 'This is a magnificent book' Anne McCaffrey 'I was reminded of Ursula...
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The inheritance of loss
Desai, Kiran
Paper Book
In the foothills of the Himalayas sits a once grand, now crumbling house - home to three people and a dog. There is the retired judge dreaming of colonial yesterdays; his orphaned granddaughter Sai who has fallen for her clever maths tutor; the cook, whose son Biju writes untruthful letters home...
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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...
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A year of Marvellous Ways
Winman, Sarah
Paper Book
From the author of STILL LIFE, TIN MAN and WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT. 'Will stand the test of time' Irish Examiner 'Beautiful prose that ebbs and flows' Independent 'A Year of Marvellous Ways is like Dylan Thomas...
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Across the Risen Sea
MacDibble, Bren
Paper Book
From the multi award-winning Australian author of How to Beeand The Dog Runner, another original and heartfelt middle-grade fiction adventure, exploring themes of loyalty, resilience, courage and the environment. Neoma and Jag and their small community are 'living gentle lives' on high...
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A long way home
Brierley, Saroo
Paper Book
A true story of survival and triumph against incredible odds, now the major motion picture Lion starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara. When Saroo Brierley used Google Earth to find his long-lost home town half a world away, he made global headlines. Saroo...
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Lenny's book of everything
Foxlee, Karen
Paper Book
A multi-award-winning book about finding good in the bad that will break your heart while raising your spirits in the way that only a classic novel can.
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The Thursday Murder Club
Osman, Richard
Paper Book
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce,...
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The cellist of Sarajevo
Galloway, Steven
Paper Book
Tense and heartbreaking to its last page, 'The Cellist of Sarajevo' shows how life under seige creates impossible moral choices. When the everyday act of crossing the street can risk lives, the human spirit is revealed in all its fortitude - and frailty.
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Kitchens of the great Midwest
Stradal, J. Ryan
Paper Book
Who is Eva Thorvald? To her single father, a chef, she's a pint-sized recipe tester and the love of his life. To the chilli chowdown contestants of Cook County, Illinois, she's a fire-eating demon. To the fashionable foodie goddess of supper clubs, she's a wanton threat. She's an enigma, a...
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The Reading List
Adams, Sara Nisha
Paper Book
*Discover the magic of The Twilight Garden, the brand new novel from Sara Nisha Adams - available to buy now* *A finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction, discover this year's most uplifting and heart-warming debut* 'Absolutely gorgeous' RUTH WARE...
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Temeraire
Novik, Naomi.
Paper Book
Naomi Novik's stunning series of novels follow the global adventures of Captain William Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire as they are thrown together to fight for Britain during the turbulent time of the Napoleonic Wars. Captain Will Laurence has been at sea since he was just...
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This change in the light : a collection of poems
Kidman, Fiona
Paper Book
A superb collection of poetry from one of New Zealand's top writers. Fiona Kidman's exquisite and adroit poetry invites the reader into her life, introducing us to her family, friends and places she has loved. In turn it touches our own experiences, offering universal relevance...
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A Song for Issy Bradley : a novel
Bray, Carys
Paper Book
A mesmerizing literary debut novel of doubt, faith, and perseverance in the aftermath of a family tragedy--for fans of Me Before You, Little Bee, and Tell the Wolves I'm Home. The Bradleys see the world as a place where miracles are possible, and where...
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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...
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Chance developments : unexpected love stories
McCall Smith, Alexander
Paper Book
In this beguiling book, Alexander McCall Smith casts his eye over five chanced-upon photographs from the era of black-and-white photography and imagines the stories behind them. Who were those people, what were their stories, why are they smiling, what made them sad?What emerges are surprising and...
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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 ...
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The axeman's carnival
Chidgey, Catherine
Paper Book
Everywhere, the birds: sparrows and skylarks and thrushes, starlings and bellbirds, fantails and pipits - but above them all and louder, the magpies. We are here and this is our tree and we're staying and it is ours and you need to leave and now. Tama is just a helpless chick when he is rescued by...
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The marriage portrait
O'Farrell, Maggie
Paper Book
'I thought I had made myself clear. I want something that conveys her majesty, her bloodline. Do you understand? She is no ordinary mortal. Treat her thus.'Florence, the 1560s. Lucrezia, third daughter of Cosimo de' Medici, is free to wander the palazzo at will, wondering at its...
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