Meri Kirihimete! 2022 has been a great year for reading. Tough choice to only choose ten, but here are some of my absolute faves to help with your holiday reading choices.
Val McDermid's new series features Investigative Reporter Allie Burns. McDermid has famously said that when the pandemic hit in 2019, she had trouble imagining the future - so she went back in time instead, reliving the events and music of the…
A thoroughly chilling thrilller about a father who dedicates his life to the sea after a boating accident. Reinventing himself and his family, he takes them to live on a remote clifftop location, giving them new names and isolating them from…
Definitely my favourite fantasy this year. It borders on horror and has been nominated forawards in this genre. Vern gives birth to twins, living in the forest after escaping a commune which has become corrupt. Was it always? What is causing Vern's…
Becky Chambers is possibly the most charming writer I've read. Her stories are written from an environmental philosophy angle, often featuring humans who have made a change that better affects the natural world. This one, is about a monk who…
This fast-paced story of resilience in the face of repeated trauma is a brilliant account of what it is like to survive the worst trauma you could think of - mass murder, repeated by either the perp or super fans of murders; the kind of people who…
This book may need no introduction. Going viral internationally upon release, its the hugely successful debut of Kiwi, Jacqeuline Bublitz. Its popularity, apart from being a brilliantly written and conceived story, is due to the angle: the story is…
This is a crime story that borders on horror. A woman looking for her long-lost sister borders on madness as she stalks the man who she believes is responsible. Is he keeping her still? The strange voices she hears coming from his boarded-up house…
A doozy of a fantasy from the master. Although I prefer his more reality-based horrors, this is a great trip - the story of a teenaged boy who inherits the means to visit another dimension, based on fairy tale characters who are suffering from a…
A Master of Djinn marks the award-winning beginning of what promises to be a fun, action-packed and colourful series, featuring strong female protagonists. Its set in an alternative Egypt: one where genies, or Djinn, exist in harmony with humans. Or…
Unsettled Ground won the Costa Women's Prize at the very beginning of the year. It's a charming, uplifting story set in Wiltshire, England, about a middle-aged brother and sister facing financial ruin and the prospect of losing their home and after…
