What to Read

Book recommendations from the experts.

Reading is one of life’s great joys, so tear yourself away from Netflix and immerse yourself in the pages of a great book. The guys from Books a Plenty were good enough to give us their picks for lockdown reading.

For kids

Seahorses Are Sold Out, Katja Gehrmann & Constanze Spengler (Gecko Press)

Mika is allowed to choose a pet while Dad’s busy, but one pet leads to another. Great fun for your preschooler. Translated from the German edition.

A top book for pre-schoolers!

Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature From the Sea, T K  Roxborogh (Huia)  

The junior fiction award winner in this year’s NZ Book Awards, this is a contemporary adventure story with loveable characters for all the younger members of the family.

For adults

Crazy Love, Rosetta Allan (Penguin)

This barely disguised fictional love story mirrors that of the author’s own – addictive and enlightening.

Red Traitor, Owen Matthews (Bantam)

A political thriller set during the heights of the Cuban Missile Crisis – tense, exciting and authentic.

Red Traitor

Berlin Shadow, Jonathan Lichtenstein (Scribner)

The true story of the author’s father, from Kindertransport to a life in rural Wales – a tender tale of the developing relationship of father and son.

Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton  (W H Allen)

In 1897, a Belgian ship called the Belgica sets sail for the Antarctic on a trip that progressively turns into a true-life horror story.

Order any of these books from booksaplenty.co.nz and they’ll be sent out at level 3.