• Current Reading Header

    I’ve been reading

    Below are some of the books I’ve been reading.
    For an in-depth review of each book, please click on the cover image.

  • THE CENTRE

    the centre

    The Centre

    Hannah Tunnicliffe

    A compelling novel that explores the dark side of some personal-growth-and-development organisations, where the slick, persuasive language – supposedly aimed at facilitating self-betterment and freedom – becomes an instrument of control and manipulation. Well-drawn, convincing characters populate this riveting and unsettling read. (In stores Oct 2026)

  • MY TRAITORS HEART

    my traitor's heart

    My Traitor’s Heart

    Rian Malan

    In this memoir, journalist Rian Malan returns from exile in Los Angeles to South Africa as apartheid is falling. A harrowing read in which he unsparingly lays bare the history and horrors of the racist regime, while at the same time examining his own integrity and complicity as a member of the white Afrikaner ruling class. A devastating, articulate, important read that embraces the many complexities of South Africa.

  • EVERYTHING BUT THE MEDICINE

    the safekeep

    Everything But the Medicine

    Lucy O’Hagan

    Lucy O’Hagan has been a GP in New Zealand for over 30 years. In this personal and profoundly honest account of her life as a doctor, she addresses and challenges the traditional Western model of medicine, exploring what practicing within it means for both practitioner and patient.

  • THE SAFEKEEP

    the safekeep

    The Safekeep

    Yael Van Der Wouden

    This outstanding debut about the disruption of one woman’s tenuous security by another, was winner of the Woman’s Prize For Fiction 2023. An enthralling tale, and fascinating character study, with so many unforeseen ramifications.

  • LUCKY THING

    lucky thing

    Lucky Thing

    Tom Baragwanath

    Significant police under-resourcing in small town Masterton sees savvy records clerk, Lorraine Henry, again take the lead in investigating the brutal bashing of a young woman left for dead in remote bushland. A gripping, tense and beautifully crafted thriller.

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  • THE MUSHROOM TAPES

    the mushroom tapes

    The Mushroom Tapes

    Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, Sarah Krasnostein

    Collated conversations and reflections between three astute writers covering the trial of Erin Patterson, who was convicted of murdering three extended family members by lacing their food with deadly mushrooms. ‘The Mushroom Tapes’ offers a summary of the damning evidence, musings about Patterson’s possible motivations and personality, and an exploration of the wider social fabric underpinning the trial.

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  • THE BOOK OF GUILT

    book of guilt

    The Book of Guilt

    Catherine Chidgey

    A gripping and darkly dystopian novel set in an ‘alternative’ 1970s Britain, in which triplet boys being raised in a tightly regulated government home form part of a sinister post-World-War-II initiative.

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