Suri
This morning, Suri reviewed Salman Rushdie’s new novel, Victory City.
Set in fourteenth century southern India, this novel gives context to the nation buidling myths of India.
By giving contemporary facets to his characters, Rushdie installs starting points for those who may want to understand India and its racial divide.
Listen to Suri and Rachel’s chat about Victory City below
Australian author, Tom Lee, pushes the boundaies of narrative form in his new novella, Object Space. Suri recommends this for philosophers, tech nerds and those interested in AI and ChatGBT.
Listen to Suri and Rachel’s great chat about this book below.
Suri believes that Bret Easton Ellis is back to American Psycho form with his new novel, The Shards. Think Gossip Girl meets Scream in this hedonistic horror based in 1980’s LA.
Want to know more? Listen to Suri and Rachel’s chat below.
This morning, Suri reviewed the new novel by the author of the bestselling, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982.
Cho Nam-Joo’s Saha is a dystopian thriller following various characters living in an abandoned building. The truth of their lives reveals a larger truth of society.
As Suri calls it, ‘a dark book for dark times.’
Listen to Suri and Rachel’s chat below.
Alan Garner's latest novel, Treacle Walker, follows young Joe and his curious friendship with a rag and bone salesman, Treacle. Swapping his old clothes and a lamb shoulder blade for two of Treacle's treasures, Joe begins to see things which were once invisible to him- are they real or a trick of his imagination?
Filled joy, folklore and charm, this playful little book explores the trickery of the human eye and the perspectives we gain in unlikely friendships. A gorgeous little book for fans of Max Porter's Lanny.
A review for chilly peak reading weather. A debut novel by a Pakistani British writer, Taymour Soomro.
Leaving his London life of theatre & literature in London, Fahad is brushing up against his father’s expectations of masculinity whilst traveling to his family’s Pakistani farmlands.
A beautiful, evocative and sensory novel with a tender love story that will make you feel far away on a rainy day.
2022 Pulitzer Fiction Prize winner, The Netanyahus has instantly become a staff favourite. Political, brave and absolutely hilarious - Suri highly recommends this one.
Listen below to Suri’s review with Zoe & David Feauai-Afaese Vaeafe (LEAO, Noa Records) below as well as a wonderful reading from the book.
This morning, Suri reviewed the ‘older millennial’ gamer novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
A clever and nuanced story about love, loneliness, machines and art.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below and this is on the shelf now.
The newest Ottessa Moshfegh, Lapvona, has just hit the shelves today!
An absurd historical fable that has been compared to Shrek, Moshfegh’s latest novel is a hilarious exploration of the human condition. Suri warns to approach this novel with caution as there are some grotestque scenes, but still declares Moshfesh a ‘filthy genius.’
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
Suri’s latest review visits the newest book by one of our store’s favourite NZ authors, Brannavan Gnanalingam. Slow Down, You’re Here follows a dissatisfied immigrant mother and a secret trip to meet her lover on Waiheke Island. A compelling read that reaches a shocking conclusion, Suri believes this is one of Brannavan’s best.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
Siri Hustvedt's urgent and moving new essay collection, Mothers, Fathers, and Others, explores the concept of motherhood, and examines its role in society, art, science, philosophy and literature.
Husvedt moves from the personal and intimate to the macro and theoretical deftly and creates surprising connections between women in her life, Emily Bronte, Louise Bourgeoise and the shifting role of the mother in society. With clever insights into everything from the future of the novel to the interconnectivity of humans and feminist theory, Siri Husvedt proves again to be an important writer for our times.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
Suri reviews a vivid, evocative and compelling novel set in the early 21st century, by a multi disciplinary author, Keeping the House by Tice Cin.
Following a multi generational family in South London, Keeping the House studies the rich inner lives of women and immigrant communities.
There is a soundtrack for this book! You can listen to it here.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
Short, clear and concise. If you’re going to read any non-fiction title about America, this is it. National Book Award winner George Packer presents how politics, economics and culture has evolved into the America we know today.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
A sprawling history of human civilization, The Dawn of Everything rivals its predecessors by asking 'Are both Hobbes and Rousseau wrong about the state of human nature?'. Drawing on carefully chronicled indigenous histories and posing a challenge to existing understandings of the development of civilization, The Dawn of Everything is a must read for fans of Sapiens and Humankind.
You can listen to Suri’s review below.
Richard Power's latest novel, Bewilderment, is a tender exploration of loss, climate anxiety and the binding love between father son. In the wake of his wife's death, scientist Theo tries to rescue his sensitive son from the noise and cruelty of the modern world. A rich mixture of philosophy, science and spirituality, Bewilderment is a powerful ode to the natural world.
This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.
Samuel Te Kani's debut erotic short fiction collection, Please, Call Me Jesus is an electric, moreish journey through suburbia and its dark pleasures.
From gaming housewives, to teenage werewolves and suburban fathers with secrets, Sam Te Kani's psychologically piercing and playful vignettes of suburban desire make for addictive reading.
Samuel Te Kani is a contributor to Metro NZ, The Spinoff, Pantograph Punch and formerly Vice NZ.
This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.
Keep the spooky season alive with Gigi Fenster's chilling new novel, A Good Winter! The 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize winner is an absorbing psychological thriller told through the neurotic and increasingly frenetic observations of Olga, a lonely woman who befriends her neighbour Lara. As Olga's life becomes more entwined with Lara's and her feelings become more obsessive, her paranoia begins to take over until the shocking end.
A compulsive and addictive read, A Good Winter is a dark and fascinating insight into the mind of a woman alienated from family, love and desire.
This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.
After a brief hiatus, Karl Ove Knausgaard returns to fiction with The Morning Star, a rich 666-page exploration of human existence told through the lives of nine interconnected characters. In The Morning Star, the spectre of the unreal and imagined hovers over the prosaic rituals of daily life, as Knausgaard's characters try to find meaning in the modern world. A stunning novel for turbulent times.
This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.
Auckland writer Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle’s devastating little novella ‘Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life’ explores the emptiness of dating and work in the modern world. Told through darkly funny and painful little vignettes, ‘Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life’ is a deliciously twisted and intoxicating work. For fans of Ottessa Moshfegh and Sakaya Murata!
Listen to Suri’s lockdown review with Rachel below.
Twice-Pulitzer Winning author Colson Whitehead’s latest novel ‘Harlem Shuffle’ follows the life of fictional Ray Carney, a black furniture salesman whose middle-class aspirations lead him to a criminal underworld of heists, blackmail and corruption. A punchy, zinging noir, Harlem Shuffle looks at the hypocrisy of the American Dream with a sharp sense of humour.
Due at the end of September, you can pre-order this book now.
Listen to Suri’s lockdown review with Rachel below.
