pickOuch that hurt! One of those stories that hurts to read but it‘s a truth that must be told. An outstanding piece of literary fiction from author Becky Manawatu, drawing on some real life stories and others so cinematically conjured I am certain we‘ll see this on screen soon. Beautiful, raw and #owsie 😓
1. Maureen O'hara (The Quiet Man is one of my favorite movies of all time, and McClintock is great too!)
2. Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest, Working Girl, Dave and many more)
3. Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, Oppenheimer, Mary Poppins, she was even good in Jungle Cruise!!)
#ThreeListThursday @dabbe
pickAfter finishing Pet I just had to read more by Chidgey. This fictional novel, thoroughly researched, involves a German administration officer at Buchenwald, his wife & child, a prisoner of the camp, and, randomly, an account from townsfolk. The events going on in the camp are written in such a way as to slowly numb you because, of course, what‘s happening couldn‘t actually be happening. It‘s a tough one to read but masterful in how it‘s written.
pickneurodivergent + physical disabled main characters who fall in love. make it a paranormal fantasy for razzle dazzle.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ruth Shaw has led one incredible and adventurous life. Although her journey was filled with much pain and heartbreak, she looks back upon her life with tenderness. Throughout most of her memoir, my thoughts were, "How did she do all this? How would one even begin? I could never!"
This is more than the story of a bookseller in New Zealand. It's the story of a daughter, mother, sailor (extraordinaire!), lover, survivor, and fierce friend.
pickFinally getting around to reading this Kiwi author. And it was a masterpiece IMO. Yes the subject matter is harrowing (the wife of a Nazi officer living next door to the Buchenwald work camp meets a doctor who is an inmate) but seeing these horrors from the perspectives of some of those who were nearby asks fresh questions. The format is also clever - we have the perspective of the wife and doctor but also the Nazi husband and the villagers nearby
pickThis was my pick for #NewZealand #FoodAndLit
It was an interesting look at a Māori tribe trying to keep their ancestral land when developers are trying to convince them to leave. Things get out of hand when the developers realise they can‘t be bought. I don‘t know much about the culture so it was a nice insight into some of the customs.
so-soI like to dive into books without much checking them out beforehand. But sometimes it‘s better to read some trigger warnings. This was this month‘s pick for #foodandlit. It started lovely but then got very dark very fast. And then even darker. It‘s a fascinating autobiography, I read it till the end. But for you so you don‘t make the same mistake: trigger warnings are in the comments.
pickRuth owns a bookshop in the very south of the South Island of #newzealand and has also had a very varied life.
I struggled to connect at first, as Ruth had a tough life, and keeps running away from her grief, but tells her story in a very matter-of- fact way, which gave her story quite a distant feel. However, later in the book, it is easier to feel closer to her and I loved her ‘Tales from the Bookshop‘ inserts.
#readingoceania24
