Teresa's most-loved reads from 2024Like this list

12 items

• How to Have a Beer

  Galletly, Alice

  Add How to Have a Beer to your for later shelf

  The ideal summer holiday read; light, funny, and dedicated to the beautiful, thirst-quenching beverage - you guessed it - beer.

• You Be Mother

  Mason, Meg

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  Mason's first novel (author of Sorrow and Bliss, which I adored) is a beautiful, quietly funny, and heart-wrenching story about losing and finding family, and doing everything possible to hold on to it when you have it, no matter the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bazball

  the Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution

  Booth, Lawrence, 1975-

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  Ideal for the cricket-nerd. Fascinating to read about Baz's impact on the English Test team/game over the last couple of years, as well as first hand accounts of the 2023 Ashes series. Some interesting links to some New Zealand players and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

  a Novel Also Published With Title: The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry

  Zevin, Gabrielle, 1977-

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  Favourite upbeat/quirky book of the year. Zevin (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow) has created a little gem of a novel that balances humour and humility perfectly. A.J. is a grumpy bookstore owner down on his luck, until one morning…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Welcome to The O.C.

  the Oral History

  Sepinwall, Alan, 1973-

  Add Welcome to The O.C. to your for later shelf

  Favourite non-fiction book of the year! And yes, I am an unapologetic OC fan girl from way back. 20 years, in fact (now that's terrifying). Lockdown produced many re-watch TV show podcasts, and The OC was not spared. As two beloved…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• I Have Some Questions for You

  Makkai, Rebecca, 1978-

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  Favourite dark read of the year. Part mystery, part academia read, part legal drama, and part commentary on the true-crime fad, this novel had it all. Seamlessly blending all this together, it also focused on adolescent angst and trauma,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Mania

  Shriver, Lionel, 1957-

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  A classic Lionel Shriver novel, picking a topical issue and pulling it to shreds. She is extremely good at creating flawed, challenging characters with strong political and personal opinions, and then facing them off against each other. In…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bright Young Women

  Knoll, Jessica

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  I went down a small rabbit hole after reading I Have Some Questions For You, and discovered this absolute knockout. Slightly darker, more chilling, and a little more gruesome than IHSQFY (the novel is based on a set of specific murders by…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Understanding Te Tiriti

  a Handbook of Basic Facts About Te Tiriti O Waitangi

  Smail, Roimata

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  The ideal handbook about Te Tiriti. Filled with the basic facts and reminders about what happened and the impact on tangata whenua and New Zealand more widely. The layout is simple and effective and the book can easily be read in under 20…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Otherhood

  Essays About Being Childless, Childfree and Child-adjacent

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  Inspired from Kate Camp's 2022 essay 'No miracle baby to see here', Alie Benge, Kathryn van Beek and Lil O'Brien collaborated to create this anthology. Two years later, this diverse collection of essays pushes back against the narrative…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Signs of Life

  Head, Amy, 1976-

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  A collection of discerning and quietly funny short stories, mostly interconnected, set in post-earthquake Christchurch that show an unsettled, disjointed, and displaced city and its people. I could really feel that Christchurch from that…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• All That We Know

  Kino, Shilo

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  Māreikura is trying to reclaim her reo and her culture, while figuring out where she fits in the world, feeling abandoned by her best friend, and grappling with the trauma of colonisation. Funny, moving, and unsettling at times, this…Read moreRead more of this annotation