Summer Reading List
Our team's literary recommendations for your holiday
Each year we reflect back on all of the books we have consumed: those that have moved us, those that have rolled around in our minds for weeks afterwards, and those that compel us to live in a new light. This year's is perhaps the most diverse and interesting compilation yet — from classic titles dating back to the early 80s and some newly released fiction from local writers...
Honeybee by Craig Silvey (2020)
For those that like their fiction with a little grunt.
The White Book by Han Gang (2016)
A collection of mostly one-page mini-essays, and stunning meditations on the colour white; about light, about death and about ritual.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021)
Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. An exquisite winter tale of courage, and its cost, set in Catholic Ireland.
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher (1987)
Artist's daughter Penelope Keeling discovers that her most treasured possession, her father's painting, The Shell Seekers, is now worth a small fortune, it is Penelope who must make the decisions that will determine whether her family can continue to survive as a family, or be split apart.
Baina Woodford Pool Towel in Cement, $130.00
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (2017)
Two women - a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947 - are brought together in a mesmerising story of courage and redemption.
The Forester's Daughter by Claire Keegan (2019)
A heartbreaking, haunting story of childhood, loss and love by one of Ireland's most acclaimed writers.
Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams (1997)
Magical, lyrical and deeply romantic. An uplifting story about seizing the moment, believing in your instincts and acting on impulse.
Heartburn by Nora Ephron (1983)
A perfect beach read, will have you in fits of laughter!
Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik (2024)
An outrageously provocative new work on the complicated relationship between Joan Didion and her fellow literary titan, Eve Babitz.
KLAY Ozu Hat in Rock Grey, $168.00
A Thousand Feasts, Small Moments of Joy by Nigel Slater, (2024)
This funny and sharply observed collection of the good bits of life, often things that pass many of us by, is utter joy from beginning to end.
Whaea Blue by Talia Marshall (2024)
Tempestuous and haunting, the debut nonfiction release by Dunedin-based author Talia Marshall is a tribute to collective memory, the elasticity of self, and the women we travel through.
Circe by Madeline Miller (2018)
Circe is told from the first-person point-of-view of the daughter of Helios, the nymph and enchantress Circe, who discovers her powers of witchcraft. (Also worth reading is the author's book The Song of Achilles.)
The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose (2021)
Beginning in 1927 in New York, this volume, intimately recorded by her son, chronicles Lee Miller as she is discovered as a model by Condé Nast and hits the cover of Vogue. Then on to Paris where she, along with Man Ray, invented the solarization technique of photography, and where she developed into a brilliant Surrealist photographer. Finally, the later chapters of her life, when she became a war correspondent during World WarII, traveling with the Allied armies to cover the siege of Saint-Malo and the liberation of Paris, which led to her photographs of the Dachau concentration camp that shocked the world.
Monastery x Coppola Hideaway Essence, $248.00
Walker & Bing Veronica Sarong, $280.00
Explore our collection of books in store and online HERE.