Reviews
Jenna presents some Level 4 cosy crime goodness for you in today’s Loose Reads review. The Ghost of Frédéric Chopin is the newest title in the Pushkin Press’ Walter Presents imprint.
Prague, 1995: Vera Foltynova claims that the ghost of Chopin is visiting her with new compositions and journalist Ludvík Slany is sent to expose the truth.
This book is inspired by and dedicated to Rosemary Brown.
Listen to Jenna, Rachel and Zoë chatting below!
Sorrowland tells the story of Verne, a pregnant teenager escaping the confines her strict religious community. Confronted with monsters both physical and metaphorical, Sorrowland is a masterful Southern Gothic that explores the ways in which surviving the institutions that rule us can change us irrevocably.
Listen to Suri’s chat with Amelia and Zoe below:
Today Jenna chats about the upcoming Going West Festival and then gives a quick review of The Commercial Hotel - a thoughtful and curious collection of essays about small town New Zealand.
Winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize, At Night All Blood is Black is a brutal, intelligent insight into the mythologies and psychologies of war. Telling the story of Alfa, a soldier who loses his close comrade on the battlefield and finds purpose as ‘the collector of souls’, this is a novel that examines the ungluing of humanity and sanity in the fields of war. Listen to Suri and Rachel’s chat below!
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain is one of Jenna’s favourite books for 2021. Saunders presents seven short stories from four Russian masters and in doing so, teaches the us about trusting one’s creative voice.
This is a book that you can give any one and is a must have for one’s home library. Listen to Jenna and Rachel’s chat below!
Deborah Levy's third memoir in her 'living-autobiography' collection is a meditation on home, female desire and art. Real Estate takes place during a time of change in the author's life. Divorcing her husband, leaving her London apartment for a residency in Paris and facing the departure of her youngest daughter for university, Levy explores these transient spaces in her life and asks what it takes to make a life of her own.
Have a listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below:
Kāi Tahu author Nic Low traverses and immerses himself across Ka Tiritiri-o-te-Moana (Southern Alps) and Te Wai Pounamu (South Island) following the footsteps of his tīpuna.
Low has created a vital document that explores whakapapa, pūrākau, tikanga, navigation and adventure, whilst being an engaging and lively read.
Listen to Jenna & Rachel chat below, then take a listen to Marlon Williams’ Arahua.
In Sea State, author and magazine writer Tabitha Lasley leaves her London job and a toxic relationship for the isolated shores of Aberdeen.
Interviewing oil rig workers and life on the precipice of danger, Tabitha Lasley sets out to understand the lives of men who spend months in the company of only other men. A fascinating look at masculinity, longing and the search for home.
Have a listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below:
Tracey Thorn (Everything But the Girl) writes a love letter to her rock ‘n’ roll friend, Lindy Morrison (The Go-Betweens) in this music memoir.
Capturing the “imprint one person leaves on another”, but also to female friendship and a record of the blatant sexism of the music industry, how women musicians are interviewed, reviewed and talked about.
This is a book to read and then pass on to your own rock ‘n’ roll friend.
Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Zoe below.
Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin Fenton's latest book is an investigation into Baltimore PD's corrupt Gun Task Force. In 2017, three officers, including leader Wayne Jenkins, were indicted for corruption. Looking at court testimony, victim and witness accounts and a history of policing policy, Justin Fenton builds a full picture of corrupt policing in Baltimore.
The perfect book for fans of true crime- it's being optioned for Television rights with The Wire writer, David Simon at the helm!
Have a listen to Suri’s review with Rachel and Zoe below:
‘Sobbing near the dry goods, asking myself, Am I even Korean anymore if there’s no one left to call and ask what brand of seaweed we used to buy?’
Jenna reviews Michelle Zauner’s beautiful autobiography Crying in H Mart, documenting a period that inspired the first album of her band, Japanese Breakfast.
When Zauner was 25, she dropped everything to care for her terminally ill mother in rural Oregon. This forces her to confront her identity as a Korean American, the cultural divide between herself and her mother, their difficult relationship when she was a teenager and the food that brought them together.
This beautiful book will make you feel sad and hungry - and leave you wanting more.
The Hard Crowd spans 20 years of essays by Booker-shortlisted novelist Rachel Kushner. From riding motorbikes in the American midwest to analysing anti-facist imagery in Italian cinema and prison abolition, this collection of narrative essays shifts the inward gaze towards the collective and celebrates a history of global working-class culture.
Have a listen to Suri’s review below:
Jenna fully endorses Greta & Valdin - a queer/Māori/Russian/Auckland rom-com debut by Rebecca K Reilly. With loveable ensemble cast and incredibly funny dialogue - this is truly a feel good story. Listen to Jenna’s review below:
Patricia Lockwood explores the chaos and absurdity of the internet in her autofiction novel, No One is Talking About This. Told through the eyes of a writer who becomes popularized on the internet for tweeting 'Can dogs be twins?', the novel looks at the second life we inhabit on the internet and the chasm between it and the real world.
When a familial tragedy hits the writer, she is left to wonder if the jokes and declarations of the internet offer comfort or meaning in the face of loss.
No One is Talking About This is an extraordinary internet novel which peers into the gap between ourselves and our second skins on the internet.
Have a listen to Suri’s review below:
Jenna previews the Ockham NZ Book Awards, which are happening this Wednesday 12th at 7pm.
Previous reviews of shortlisted titles are:
Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for fiction:
Pip Adam - Nothing to See
Brannavan Gnanalingam - Sprigs
Catherine Chidgey - Remote Sympathy
Airini Beautrais - Bug Week
General Non-Fiction Award:
Alison Jones - This Pākehā Life
The rest of the shortlisted titles are here.
You can go to the ceremony! Check out details here.
From the author of the excellent The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty, Vendala Vida gives us a coming of age story set in 1984-5 San Francisco.
Vida continues her trademark style of dry humour, with a compelling mystery running through. We Run the Tides is effortlessly cool and nostalgic - it will take you back to both the joys and horrors of being thirteen, almost fourteen.
Listen to Jenna chat with Rachel below!
Tracey Slaughter's latest short-story collection, Devil's Trumpet, explores the intimacies and oddities of everyday life. Slipping between motels, Four Squares and small towns, Tracey Slaughter serves us offerings of yearning, lust and violence in 31 extraordinary short stories. This alive, pulsating collection is a masterwork of Antipodean goth.
Tracey Slaughter is a poet and writer and currently teaches Creative Writing at The University of Waikato.
Have a listen to Suri’s review below:
Sarah Krasnostein is the author of the incredible The Trauma Cleaner, and we’re so happy to see a new book from her.
Told with sharp journalistic skill and a curious mind, The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death and Faith explores different societies with varying beliefs - including UFOs, mennonites, a death doula, creationism & paranormal activity.
Have a listen to Jenna’s review with Annabelle and Zoe below:
Longlisted for 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction, How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones is an intense journey through generations of domestic violence in Barbados.
It’s definitely not a light read, but a page turning and nuanced portrait of three generations of women and their surrounding community.
Have a listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Zoe below.
The shortlist for the 2021 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction has just been announced! We've previously reviewed Nothing to See, Sprigs and Remote Sympathy, so it's time to check out the fourth finalist, Bug Week.
Bug Week is well worth a read. Listen to Jenna's review with Rachel and Zoe below. Also, check out the rest of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist here.
