Staff Picks

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

Updated October 19, 2023
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Still Life.
Winman, Sarah, 1964-
Paper Book
Set between World War II and the 1980s, Still Life is a beautiful, big-hearted story of strangers brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Tin Man and When God Was a Rabbit. In...
Instructions for a heatwave.
O'Farrell, Maggie, 1972-
Paper Book
One of Ireland's most beloved novelists--with more than 1.5 million copies of her books in print--now published in Canada for the first time July, 1976. One morning Robert Riordan tells his wife, Gretta, that he is going around the corner to buy a newspaper. He doesn't return. ...
Squeeze me.
Hiaasen, Carl
Paper Book
"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.
Powers, Richard, 1957-
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.
See, Lisa
Paper Book
A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island. Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come...
The name of the wind.
Rothfuss, Patrick, 1973-
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 ...
A thousand splendid suns.
Hosseini, Khaled
Paper Book
After more than two years on the bestseller lists and over four million copies in print, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel of enormous contemporary relevance. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of...
The inheritance of loss.
Desai, Kiran, 1971-
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...
A year of marvellous ways.
Winman, Sarah, 1964-
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...
The Thursday murder club.
Osman, Richard, 1970-
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...
Lion /
Brierley, Saroo
Paper Book
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara, this #1 international best-seller tells the miraculous and triumphant story of a young man who rediscovers not only his childhood life and home...but an identity long-since left behind. ...
The Cellist of Sarajevo.
Galloway, Steven, 1975-
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.
Adams, Sara Nisha.
Paper Book
NOW A LILLY'S LIBRARY PICK! "The most heartfelt read...a surprising delight of a novel."--Shondaland An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London...
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...
Chance developments.
McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Paper Book
WITH A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR TO HIS CANADIAN READERS It is said that a picture may be worth a thousand words but an old photograph can inspire many more. In this beguiling book, McCall Smith casts his eye over five "orphaned" photographs from the era of black-and-white photography...
Lessons in chemistry. [large print]
Garmus, Bonnie
Paper Book
#1 GLOBAL BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 8 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 ...
Axeman's Carnival
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.
O'Farrell, Maggie, 1972-
Paper Book
REESE'S BOOK CLUB DECEMBER PICK NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 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 as she makes her...

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