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The Readers Advisory Librarians best of 2023

The Libraries Readers Advisory team - Sarah, Fee, Eamonn & Mike choose their best reads of 2023

Christchurch City Libraries Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi

12 items

  • Mike - The darkness in this collection of weird horror tales is sharp and full of fears, with each story a small mythology within the grand Lovecraftian narrative. I could not put it down, when I did I kept being drawn back. Attila Veres…
    BookRichmond, Virginia : Valancourt Books, 2022. — HORROR
  • Eamonn - This was my favourite thriller/mystery of the year. It often wrong footed me and I did not anticipate the ending at all which is not something I say about many thrillers.
    Book[London] : Sandycove, 2023. — MYSTERY
  • Sarah- This dark and perceptive sci fi is set in the not too distant future in an unspecified isolated area of northern America; one of the only areas left that is habitable. People are desperate to live in dome type cities that are far…
    BookNew York : Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2023. — SCIENCE FICTION
  • Fee - Michael Bennett (In Dark Places) won Best First Novel with Better the Blood at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards. This powerful and confronting story conveys the pain of loss of ancestral land as a killer picks off descendents of English…
    BookLondon : Simon & Schuster, 2022. — MYSTERY
  • Mike - Short, powerful and dynamic. A battlefield boast between two enemy agents turns into a connection that crosses the strands of time and space. I didn't know what to expect going into this, ended up being enthralled, inhaled it in one…
    BookNew York : Saga Press, 2019. — SCIENCE FICTION
  • Eamonn - The best romantic comedy I read this year is aptly called Romantic Comedy. It's smartly plotted and packs in a few surprises but most importantly it's very romantic and very funny. Definitely one for the beach this summer.
    BookLondon : Doubleday, 2023. — FICTION
  • Sarah - a taught, thoughtful and at times tongue in cheek domestic thriller that is packed full of characters that will remind you of people you know, people you like and people you love to hate.
    BookNew York : Celadon Books, 2023. — MYSTERY
  • Fee - This wonderful book won a Locus Award this year. The Mountain in the Sea reflects on man's inhumanity to man and nature, in a future both exacerbated and aided by massive leaps in human development in AI. What is DIANIMA's ultimate…
    BookLondon : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022. — ADVENTURE
  • Mike - This book...Sovereign, deadly, perfect. I cannot articulate just how good this was to read. At it's core it's the tale of a fallen investigative reporter, who ruined his career going after a reculsive film director, seeks redemption…
    BookNew York : Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2014. — MYSTERY
  • Eamonn - This was the novel I read this year that made me feel the strongest emotions. The fact that those emotions were predominantly horror and disgust is besides the point. Read this if you really want a book to get under your skin (but…
    BookNew York : A New Directions Book, 2022. — FICTION
  • Sarah - a beautifully written book that on the surface is about time travel, but is really about so much more. The same event is experienced in four different time periods, and as the story unravels, what starts out as a mere oddity takes…
    BookLondon : Picador, 2022. — SCIENCE FICTION
  • Fee - Harrowing and hilarious in equal amounts. Written from the point of view of magpie, Tama (gotchi), this story ticks all the boxes: stunning language and scenery, great characters and a clever plot that's full of chuckles;…
    BookWellington, New Zealand : Te Herenga Waka University Press 2022. — FICTION