Category Archives: Book Review

The Animals In That Country by Laura Jean McKay – 2020

Posted on October 2, 2021 by alysonebaker

I think anthropomorphism is useful when it enables people, and researchers, to see non-human animals as thinking feeling beings with a sense of their place in the world. I think anthropomorphism is a bad thing when it entails the animals … Continue reading →

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Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz – 2021

Posted on September 8, 2021 by alysonebaker

Jennifer Beard, Monica Cantwell, Heidi Paakkonen, Mellory Manning, Grace Millane … just some of the women’s names we in Aotearoa know because they died brutally at the hands of men. Their names are all most of us do know about these … Continue reading →

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Double Helix by Eileen Merriman – 2021

Posted on September 3, 2021 by alysonebaker

Jake and Emily were childhood friends and neighbours. Now in his early twenties, Jake returns to Dunedin from Auckland, where he has been studying after failing to get into medical school. Jake will finally start his medical training, which Emily … Continue reading →

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Things I Learned At Art School by Megan Dunn – 2021

Posted on August 28, 2021 by alysonebaker

Megan Dunn takes you on a journey – from her first infatuation with Strawberry Shortcake dolls, through her fixations on various other mass-produced toys, later wearing them on clothing as “beacons of burgeoning sexuality”. She attends Elam School of Fine … Continue reading →

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The Leaning Man by Anne Harré – 2021

Posted on August 23, 2021 by alysonebaker

Solace in the Wind is a Wellington waterfront statue, nicknamed The Leaning Man. Stella Weston loves the statue, wanting herself to be able to “lean fearlessly into the unknown, forge ahead, get things done”. But Stella is still traumatised by … Continue reading →

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The Only Living Lady Parachutist by Catherine Clarke – 2021

Posted on August 15, 2021 by alysonebaker

Lillian Hawker, Gladys Van Tassel, Gladys Freitas, Leila Adair, Lillian Rayward … are they one woman or many women? They are all aeronauts, ascending in hot air balloons, descending under parachutes – if all goes well. Through all her various … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Historical | 1 Comment

The Impossible Resurrection of Grief by Octavia Cade – 2021

Posted on August 2, 2021 by alysonebaker

“Can you watch something die and let it die?” The global mismanagement of the Covid pandemic, and consequential human deaths. The plundering of the environment, and consequential deaths of humans, non-human and ecosystems. The decades of spewing greenhouse gases into … Continue reading →

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The Convict Stain by David McGill – 2021

Posted on July 13, 2021 by alysonebaker

The latest in the Dan Delaney series and Dan is nearing 70, he has lived through a lot and is disillusioned with politics, religion, life … He is in Sydney with his family to launch their Vukovich Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc … Continue reading →

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Victory Park by Rachel Kerr – 2020

Posted on June 24, 2021 by alysonebaker

Kara and her son, Jayden, live in Victory Park – a block of flats with a bit of a playground. Money is a constant concern, and she scrapes by, by providing childcare. She and her neighbours form a sort of … Continue reading →

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Nancy Business by R.W.R. McDonald – 2021

Posted on June 9, 2021 by alysonebaker

It’s 4 months on from the last The Nancys caper, and a year since Tippy Chan’s father died, when his car mysteriously veered off the road – Tippy’s “tattooed Santa on steroids” Uncle Pike, and his partner “unmanageable” Devon, are … Continue reading →

Posted in #yeahnoir, Book Review | 1 Comment