Reviews
This morning Jenna reviewed Hellholes of the World: A Love Story by David G. Brown. This is a pure, rough and tumble travel memoir. Published posthumously, David tells of travelling to places that are no usually on your bucket list: Israel, Syria, the Congo, Banglasdesh, Sierra Leone and more. This is a classic travel memoir with excellent storytelling and political insight.
Jenna also chats with Jogai about Auckland Writers Festival highlights.
Watch out! This may be Kiran's favourite memoir of 2018. From the author of Clothes, Music, Boys, To Throw Away Unopened is an amazing story of family conflict, motherhood and dysfunction. Listen below:
Today, Kiran reviewed Afterglow, Eileen Myles' memoir of their dog. Sadly, Myles has been a late cancellation for the Auckland Writers Festival but we recommend checking our their work as well as listening to this interview with RNZ's Kim Hill.
Circe, well known from The Odyssey, was the first recorded witch in Western literature. Madeline Miller (winner of the 2012 Orange Prize for Song of Achilles) has captured her story in Circe, which will be a joy for classicists. Listen to Jenna chat about the book with Nine to Noon's Katherine Ryan below.
On Monday, Jenna, Jogai and Mikey spoke about the excellent read, Ponti. With sweaty Singapore as its backdrop, this story interweaves the lives of three women. It's smart, captures the subtly of complex female relationships, has great pop culture references. Listen to the review below.
Sharlene Teo will be in town for the Auckland Writer's Festival in just a few weeks. Check out her sessions here.
Kiran's brought in a rock-infused number this week. Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art: The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue is exactly what the title suggests: a full feature of design collective Hipgnosis, showcasing groundbreaking cover art created for iconic rock 'n' roll giants including Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd to name a few.
Young adult expert Shania Kumar sent us three great reviews this week. Here's her feedback on Flawed by Cecelia Ahern, The Potion Diaries by Amy Alward, and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. We're looking forward to seeing what Shania reviews next!
“A heart-wrenching story of a young lady, Celestine North, standing up to society and challenging societal rules and expectations. I loved how this book talked about injustice in a unique way and showed injustice through there being ‘perfect’ human beings and then flawed human beings who were inferior to the ‘perfect’ human beings. Flawed also portrayed the idea that there is no such thing as being ‘perfect’ and that part of being a human is to be flawed. This allows us to learn from mistakes we make and become a wiser person because of it.”
Perfect, the sequel to Flawed is out now.
Our recommended reading age for this book is 10-14 years.
“Join Samantha Kemi, an extraordinary alchemist on a nationwide hunt to find the cure for a love potion which the Princess of Nova accidentally drank. During Samantha’s deadly quest to find the scarcest ingredients in the universe like Eluvian ivy and Abominable hair, she realises that all is not as it seems to be and her families’ rival family, the Aster family, might be up to something. This book is an easy and interesting book to read and is about embracing yourself and reaching your full potential.”
You can also read the sequel, The Royal Tour.
Our recommended reading age for this book is 10 years and up.
“Enter a world where all the creatures from your darkest nightmares are alive! Meghan Chase thought she was an ordinary teenage girl but all this dramatically changes when the fae steal her little brother and replace him with a changeling. On a mission to find her brother, Meghan enters the Never Never, a paranormal world in which faeries, monsters, trolls and nymphs are all alive and she is a Princess of the summer fae. Experience Meghan’s quest to find her brother and along the way develop lifelong friendships with Prince Ash and Puck. This book will attract anyone who is into fantasy and mythological creatures and is a thrilling tale which you won’t be able to put down!”
Our recommended reading age is 12 years and up.
This morning Jenna reviewed the riveting memoir, Educated. Westover grew up in a radical survivalist Morman family in rural Idaho. She didn't attend high school, but studied on her own to gain University entrance. Listen to what else happens here and why you should read it!
Ian speaks with Mikey in his last book review before he ditched Time Out for the mean streets of Dublin. Penguin's new series of Mini Modern Classics is packed full of incredible titles for only $3 each.
Suri spoke with Jogai about the recently translated Frankenstein in Baghdad, which was the International Prize for Arabic fiction winner in 2014.
This is also our first Time Out Lit Reads Book Club title! You can read more information about the Lit Reads book club here and buy tickets here.
Jenna chatted to Mikey about Down with Childhood, a slim book on a rather specific topic: children's voices in pop music.
This morning on Nine to Noon, Jenna reviewed Peach, a 98 paged novella that hits you straight in the gut. Listen to Jenna's review below.
Ian chats to Mikey Havoc about daughters! and the economy!
You can buy it here & you can listen here:
Jenna reviewed one of the best short story collections today on bFM's Loose Reads. Things to do when you're Goth in the Country is a collection eight short stories - American small town grime full of imagination, politics & black humour. Jenna's highlights are Zombie and A New Mohawk.
Things to do when you're Goth in the Country
Chavisa Woods
Woods has given us eight tales of American small town grime. A major highlight was the story, A New Mohawk, where the protagonist wakes up one day to have a miniature version of the Gaza strip living in his mohawk.
This is Roxane Gay's favourite read of 2017. An epic 500 page saga which follows four generations of a Korean family living in Japan over the 20th century. A fantastic read for those who love to learn about different cultures.
Hera Lindsay Bird's favourite read of 2017. This could be seen as just another university coming of age story, but it's so much more. We following Turkish American Selin in her first year of Harvard as she navigates classes, friends and this new fandangled thing called email. A very funny, crisp observation of language and what's lost in translation.
A Rock N Roll memoir unlike any other. Listen to Ian, Mikey, and Sarah discuss the various talents of Bruce Dickinson. Although he's most well known as the lead singer of English metal icons, Iron Maiden, he's also a world class fencer, airplane pilot, and even novelist. What can't this man do?
Young reader Jessica Shuttleworth dropped off not one, but TWO book reviews last week! She gives us her feedback on Dork Diaries: Pop Star by Rachel Renee Russel, as well as Grandpa's Great Escape by David Walliams. Thanks for your awesome input, Jessica!
We recommend Dork Diaries: Pop Star for ages 8 - 12.
We recommend Grandpa's Great Escape for ages 8 - 12.
It's a new year and a time where people often set both creative and reading goals. Listen to Jenna, Mikey & Sarah crack into 2018 with Light the Dark, a collection of essays where contemporary authors tell us what inspires them - perhaps this will inspire you too!
Jenna conveniently cycled to RNZ to review The Stolen Bicycle. A beautiful insight into Taiwanese history and culture.
10 year old Conor Davidson-Ladd gives us his VITAL feedback on the new series by the author of How to Train Your Dragon.
The Wizards of Once is the latest thrilling book by Cressida Cowell, writer of the best selling How To Train Your Dragon series.
The Wizards of Once is about a powerless wizard boy called Xar who goes hunting for witches in the forest and meets Wish the young warrior princess. It's fair to say it's not love at first sight!
When Xar's pet sprite falls deathly ill, these two foes come together in a superb adventure. They have to break into Queen Sychorax's Iron Warrior fort and navigate its perilous dungeons, to save Xar's pet sprite's life.
If you loved the How To Train Your Dragon series you will adore this book too. I would recommend it for ages 7-12.
The Wizards of Once is available now.
