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Article  •  17 May 2023

 

Staff Reviews: Weekend Reads

Are you after a book for this weekend? Why not try one of these staff recommendations!

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolintano

I can see why everyone from Oprah to the New York Times reviewer is raving about this – it is literary and intelligent yet relaxingly readable, and funny/warm yet heart-rending. It will appeal to anyone who loves stories about complicated families (especially when it comes to sisters, Dads and Italian American Catholicism!). The book has been described as a contemporary homage to Little Women (and the sisters directly refer to that classic) but this is way more edgy and can be enjoyed even if you haven’t read that - and if you have, you’ll like thinking about the William/Laurie comparisons and waiting anxiously to see if someone dies (!). I read this book while drinking a gin on the deck of a Raglan bach looking at the sea with a best old friend from the UK who I had only 36 hours with, and it’s a sign of how good this book is that I chose to spend some of our limited time together reading it (don’t worry she works for Hachette and was reading one of her own books). Highly recommend for when you want something strong in both plot and character.

Becky

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

I’m quite the Harlan Coben fan and the synopsis on this one sounded enthralling and quite different from his last couple of books, I just couldn’t wait to read it. Action packed suspense at its best. If you love reading fast paced thrillers where you are holding your breath the whole time, this is one for you. You will love the ride! The story is sure to become a TV series for Netflix, it’s the best Harlan yet!

Shanee

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson


2023 is turning into a stonking year for women’s fiction, which is a relief as I felt bereft on completion of reading Bonnie Garmus’s fabulous Lessons in Chemistry and thought I would never feel satisfied again at the discovery of a new writer in this space. I’m happy to say that Pineapple Street author Jenny Jackson is one such author who has delivered!

On its surface a tale of the lives of the rich and famous, specifically four women in a family in New York’s social set, it is so much more than that. Yes it’s a story of lives of the wealthy but it is also about those less fortunate and the interconnection of those lives and the understanding (and misunderstandings) when the lives of those with very different points of view intersect. It is about love and fear and doing good and bad in the world and the grey areas in between, and ultimately just what does it take to live a life of value, though I hasten to say it is not preachy and a thoroughly enjoyable ride of a read. Jenny’s writing is perfect – not a wasted word and I can still visualise the characters and scenes to such a degree that I may as well have watched a film of the book. It’s no wonder Pineapple Street has jumped straight on to the New York Times bestseller list and is set to be one of 2023’s big discoveries.

Nic

How to Get Fired by Evana Belich

Embodying the voices of a range of people in different places, fluctuating periods of time and from contrasting backgrounds is no easy feat. Evana Belich manages to make each individual in her inter-woven How to Get Fired stories feel unique and varied. These stories exemplify what it means to work—from terrible bosses, union struggles, redundancy, office affairs and co-worker camaraderie. Each story is digestible on its own, but there’s a satisfaction in pulling out the communal threads Evana weaves through the collection. A straightforward read, How to Get Fired will resonate with anyone who’s spent their days clicking away in an open plan office or suffering under a micromanaging boss. Guaranteed catharsis for anyone harbouring pent-up frustration at people employed under capitalism.

Damien

Featured Titles

Hello Beautiful
Four sisters. Two sides of a fault line. Can love make a broken family whole?
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How to get Fired
Stories about the unifying subject of work - how to get it, avoid it or lose it.
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I Will Find You
From the # 1 author and creator of the hit Netflix series Missing You, a page-turning thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Read more

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