The most recommended New Zealand books

If the British empire’s first historians had a knack for anything it was omitting to mention what some of what their predecessors did for the sake of empire. Aboriginal Convicts is one of those books that really challenges us to rethink the stories we have received about British colonization. By tracing the lives of Indigenous people in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand who were sentenced to transportation as convicts this groundbreaking book turns the table on the way we see Britain’s empire in the nineteenth century.

This book is the first in the Jaded Trilogy. It’s set in New Zealand during the 1970s. It’s a twisty plot (which I particularly love) and there are Russian spies.

NZ in the ’70s (mid-Cold War) when nothing was as it seemed and everyone had an agenda, whether it was stealing a painting, growing and distributing weed, or counter surveillance on a Russian diplomat. And things overlapped as they do in New Zealand.

This is a fun exciting book. It reminded me of what the world was like before phones became computers back when everything was analog. As a writer of spy/PI thrillers, it was a great read. (I’m a fan, I’ve read all of Nick Spill’s work including his non-fiction.)

I really enjoyed reading this book a tale of a writer's journey and discovery.

The style is very apt of kiwi culture, I myself a kiwi found the scenes and setting very accurate and the characters relatable. Having a glossary is very helpful with the Māori words. The characters have familiar traits of everyday kiwis I have met and live around. New Zealand culture shines through, one is given a realistic feel and educated view of the history.

The main character Hamiora is humorous making me laugh out loud in places. The story is intriguing, keeping me reading with hints of what’s to come. Hamiora is full of personality and chuckles. The subject matter and storyline are age appropriate and fitting for the audience it is written for.

Matariki, the Māori new year, comes in late June, winter in New Zealand. It begins when the star cluster known as Matariki first appears in the sky. It’s a time of honoring ancestors, being with family, reflecting on the past, and dreaming for the future.

This moving story by Brianne Te Paa is about a boy who takes the lead in honoring his koro (grandfather), who dies shortly before Matariki. The sadness and warmth come through the night-sky color palette and the grown-up-feeling illustrations. To an American still learning about Matariki and Māori culture, this story feels unique, yet the way it captures the bonds between whānau (family) makes it feel universal.

James Kerr, in his book Legacy reveals the simple secrets of success behind some of the world's elite business, sports, and military organizations. He explores ethical leadership, trust, and individual initiative and what drives the best teams to extraordinary results; a relentless focus on trust, ethical behavior, and leadership styles, excellence, a collective commitment to an 'uncommon cause,' a high degree of autonomy, with clear, candid and compelling communication, an emphasis on individual accountability, integrity, and genuine humility, underpinned by a climate in which 'leaders create leaders'.

The book is extremely insightful. It is about leadership, decision-making, and self-mastery. The lessons of this book can be perfectly applied to personal life and business environment.

Trust-based leadership — know thyself, keep to the truth. If you succumb to peer pressure and do things because others want you, you will be cut off. Be genuine, stay true to yourself, and be honest… show more.

This novel deals with the aftermath of a terrible crime, not its detection, which makes it stand out. Great writing, strong characters and excellent interweaving of the different perspectives. I really felt for all of the characters and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen to them.

I *adore* Katherine Mansfield’s work. She wrote short stories, not novels.

She was still rather young when she died of tuberculosis. Her portrayals of love, family, and especially of children, are for me gloriously wonderful with insight and perceptiveness about relationships. From the New Zealand settings of many of her stories (where she was born and grew up), she emigrated to London, then to France (where she received medical treatment for TB), and Switzerland (also for treatment for TB—unsuccessful).

She seems to me a lonely genius—perceiving deeply not only other persons (of many sorts) on whom she modeled her short stories but also herself. Her seemingly idyllic childhood in NZ is perhaps the core source of her accomplishment—especially the novellas At the Bay and Prelude. But her adult life was difficult and she seems to have been uncertain about her writing, even though to me she seems a genius… show more.

Pet is so cunningly written, the plot so enticing, the insight into the power a charismatic teacher can wield over young students so strong that I was hooked from the first page.

It’s “beautifully written,” but there’s nothing highfalutin about it. It’s a true psychological thriller, as suspenseful as they come, featuring children manipulated into twisted, dangerous relationships with each other. It’s also “literary,” and I put that in quotes because “literary” is a word that makes my heart sink. To me, it suggests a book that is somehow fancy, chilly, too oblique to draw the reader in. Pet may be “literary,” but it’s also irresistible, with characters we care about and yearn to help. It’s a book that goes by too fast, a book to read twice.

Displaced is a historical young adult novel rich in detail, atmosphere, and life of a family in New Zealand in the early 1870s.

The main character Eloise is courageous in the way she copes with her life being torn apart by the men she trusted and believed in.

The fate of women in this time in history is completely held by the men of the family.

I loved the characters and I adore historical novels. This one is set in New Zealand when none of the Pakeha (white) settlers had heard the Maori name for the country of Aotearoa. Eloise, the protagonist is a young woman who is forced to forge her own way in an alien society filled with several different, and often conflicting, alien cultures to her. The research the author has done is impeccable so that it’s possible to immerse yourself in the fascinating but difficult life… show more.

Faces in the Water was first published in 1961, though it received far less attention and acclaim. The “story,” such as it is, is narrated by Istina Mavet, a shy, introverted young woman (again, based closely on the author) who, like the author, spends ten years in a New Zealand psychiatric hospital. Faces in the Water recounts long, dull years of cruelty and suffering. But don’t let this put you off—Frame’s style is marvelously poetic. The narrative is abstract in places and was at first difficult for me to get into, but once I began to see things from Istina’s perspective, the story came to life, and I found it brutally beautiful.