Books

Published on December 5th, 2016 | by Booknotes Administrator

1

The NZ book scene’s favourite reads of 2016

We asked a selection of writers, publishers, reviewers, festival programmers and general booky people from the NZ book scene to recommend some of their favourite reads of 2016.

Ray Berard
Crime writer

Solaris by Stanisław Lem

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

Hera Lindsay Bird
Poet

Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life by Kim Addonizio

This Paper Boat by Gregory Kan

Four Reincarnations: Poems by Max Ritvo

Gavin Bishop
Children’s books writer and illustrator &
NZ Book Council board member

The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

Preacher’s Boy by Katherine Paterson

My Father’s Island: A Memoir by Adam Dudding

Donovan Bixley
Children’s books writer and illustrator

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Rampage at Waterloo (Battlesaurus #1) by Brian Falkner

The Antipodeans by Greg McGee

Kathryn Carmody
Programmes Manager, NZ Book Council

Heart to Start by Derek Handley

Sunken Forest by Des Hunt

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Cat Connor
Crime writer

Cold Hard Murder by Trish McCormack

Erotic Tales of the Nyphrazi by Minky St Anne

A Madras Miasma (Superintendent Le Fanu Mystery #1) by Brian Stoddart

Debbie Cowens
Author

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

Mansfield and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Sarah Laing

Mysterious Mysteries of the Aro Valley by Danyl McLauchlan

Rachael Craw
Author

Sabriel (Abhorsen #1) by Garth Nix

The Wise Man’s Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle #2) by Patrick Rothfuss

The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater

Jackie Dennis
CEO, New Zealand Society of Authors

Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley

Complacent Nation (BWB Texts #45) by Gavin Ellis

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

David Eggleton
Poet

The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velázquez by Laura Cumming

Deleted Scenes for Lovers by Tracey Slaughter

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

Bronwen Evans
Romance writer

The Madness of Viscount Atherbourne (Rescued from Ruin #1) by Elisa Braden

Icing (Aces Hockey #2) Kelly Jamieson

Pretend You’re Mine by Lucy Score

Catriona Ferguson
CEO, New Zealand Book Council

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Billy Bird by Emma Neale

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Sarah Forster
Media & Communications Manager at Booksellers NZ

Rampage at Waterloo (Battlesaurus #1) by Brian Falkner

Billy Bird by Emma Neale

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

Amanda Fitzwater
Author

A History of New Zealand Women by Barbara Brookes

The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N.K. Jemisin

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

Maria Gill
Children’s books author

The Impossible Boy by Leonie Agnew

Shooting Stars by Brian Falkner

1916: Dig for Victory (Kiwis at War #3) by David Hair

Steff Green
Speculative fiction and romance writer

Winterwood by Dorothy Eden

Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty

A Scone To Die For (Oxford Tearoom Mysteries #1) by H.Y. Hanna

Rachael King
Author and Literary Director of WORD Christchurch

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Mansfield and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Sarah Laing

Grief is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter

Elizabeth Knox
Author

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Mansfield and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Sarah Laing

Can You Tolerate This by Ashleigh Young

Melanie Laville-Moore
Publisher at Allen & Unwin and President of PANZ

My Father’s Island: A Memoir by Adam Dudding

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

Helen Lowe
SFF author

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

The Year of Falling by Janis Freegard

Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr

Claire Mabey
Literary Director of LitCrawl Wellington & festival programmer

I Love Dick by Chris Kraus

Mansfield and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Sarah Laing

Grief is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter

Selina Tusitala Marsh
Poet & New Zealand Book Council board member

Wild Dogs Under My Skirt by Tusiata Avia

Out of the Vaipe, the Deadwater: A Writer’s Early Life (BWB Texts Book 34) by Albert Wendt

My Body is a book of Rules by Elissa Washuta

Julia Marshall
Publisher at Gecko Press & New Zealand Book Council board member

The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks

Chappy by Patricia Grace

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

Trish McCormick
Crime writer

The Sea Detective (Cal McGill, Sea Detective #1) by Mark Douglas-Home

Out of Bounds (Inspector Karen Pirie #4) by Val McDermid

The Secrets of Wishtide (A Laetitia Rodd Mystery #1) by Kate Saunders

Courtney Meredith
Poet, playwright and fiction writer

Fale Aitu | Spirit House by Tusiata Avia

After The Fact: Scripts & Postscripts by Marvin Bell and Christopher Merrill

Short Stories Are Not Real Life: Short Fiction by David R. Slavitt

Odessa Owens
Publishing Programme Leader at Whitireia Polytechnic

White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World by Geoff Dyer

Mansfield and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Sarah Laing

Like Nobody’s Watching by L.J. Ritchie

Nicky Page
Director of Dunedin City of Literature

Snark: Being a True History of the Expedition That Discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock … and Its Tragic Aftermath by David Elliot

Billy Bird by Emma Neale

Strip by Sue Wootton

Nicky Pellegrino
Author

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

To The Bright Edge Of The World by Eowyn Ivey

All Day At The Movies by Fiona Kidman

Nina Powles
Poet

So Sad Today by Melissa Broder

This Paper Boat by Gregory Kan

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

Catherine Robertson
Author

Mansfield and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Sarah Laing

Write to the centre: navigating life with gluestick and words by Helen Lehndorf

The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable (Discworld #27) by Terry Pratchett

Joy Sellen
Project administrator, New Zealand Book Council

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes

Purity by Jonathan Franzen

Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley by Danyl McLauchlan

Craig Sisterson
Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Award founder

Sayonara Slam (Mas Arai #6) by Naomi Hirahara

Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams

The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly

Steph Soper
Marketing Communications Manager, New Zealand Book Council

The Cleaner (Cleaner #1) by Paul Cleave

The Passage (The Passage #1) by Justin Cronin

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Brian Steele
New Zealand Book Council board member

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Breaking Connections by Albert Wendt

Elemental: Central Otago Poems by Brian Turner and Gilbert van Reenen (Photographer)

Karen Tay
Reviewer

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany

The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World’s Most Coveted Fish by Emily Voigt

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

Chris Tse
Poet

This Paper Boat by Gregory Kan

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

Being Chinese: A New Zealander’s Story by Helene Wong

Bianca Zander
Author

Mansfield and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Sarah Laing

Dispatches from Continent Seven: An Anthology of Antarctic Science by Rebecca Priestley

M Train by Patti Smith

Tags: Books of the Year

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