Sam Neill
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan & The Seventh Son by Sebastian Faulks
The best novel I read in the last year was Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Short (110 pages), but perfectly formed. Immensely moving, brooding and restrained. A terrible Irish tragedy, distilled.
I am now on a crazed Sebastian Faulks jag and am currently on Snow Country, my fifth of his books in a row. I started with his latest, The Seventh Son. Faulks is interested in love, the madness of the 20th century, Homo sapiens and more. But this brilliant novel is set in the near future, almost sci-fi, and deals with the intriguing fact that most of us contain DNA of another species - the Neanderthal.
Sam Neill’s memoir Did I ever Tell You This? is available now.
Karen Walker
Busy Being Free by Emma Forrest
A blisteringly clever and raw memoir of a tectonic shift in domestic circumstances that manages to be inward and personal but also culturally holistic and wise – whole paragraphs pondering Tom Petty and George Michael interwoven with intimacies and heartaches that leave you gasping and/or laughing. Brilliantly crafted - more like a series of essays than a boring beginning-middle-end memoir. Throughout, I asked myself if I was loving it so much because Emma and I have been friends for more than 20 years but, no, I don’t think that’s why I love the book. I love it because it’s brilliant, sharp, beautiful and ferocious - just like its author.
Sir Ashley Bloomfield
Dinosaurs: A Novel by Lydia Millet
I’ve enjoyed having more time to read books over the past year. I’ve read a lot of non-fiction this year, but there is nothing like a good novel. One I particularly enjoyed was Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet. I loved the spartan prose, which is mostly dialogue, the character development and the deliberate “gaps” in the plot that created just enough suspense to keep me turning the pages long after “lights out”. The gaps also leave room for the reader’s imagination and hence engagement with the story. Having enjoyed it so much myself, I recommended Dinosaurs to two of our Gen Z children, both of whom loved it, too.
Sir Ashley Bloomfield was the chief executive of the Ministry of Health and is currently Director of the Public Policy Impact Institute at the University of Auckland.
Tom Sainsbury
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
I just finished reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury and I was devastated by it (in the best way possible). It’s a science-fiction novel but is also poetic and surreal. This short read (always a bonus in our busy lives) is a meandering journey about humans colonising Mars and the Martians that live there. There are so many images and concepts that have seared themselves into my brain. It’s a parable for colonisation, obviously, but there are also some unusual horror elements, fever dream moments and deep insights into humanity and its future. In any case, I’m completely obsessed.
Tom Sainsbury’s film Loop Tracks is in cinemas now.
Kate Sylvester
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
A year of underwhelming reads. Then yesterday, totally by chance, I met Geryon and I’m in love. In love with the glorious, tormented protagonist of Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson as he navigates his bare, red-tinged world clad in a giant overcoat concealing his twitching, trilling wings. This book is beautiful - part poem, part fable, part queer coming-of-age story. It’s unique, totally captivating and I just devoured it in one sitting. Now that my rave review is complete, I can turn back to page one, start again, this time pacing myself to fully appreciate Anne Carson’s beautiful words.
Sharon Zollner
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
This novel tells the story of Lucrezia de’ Medici, a real person, though some details of her life are altered and a great deal is invented. Married off to a powerful duke at a young age, Lucrezia finds herself a pawn in familial power struggles, tied to a complex but ruthless man. The language is evocative and inviting, bringing to life the worlds of Ferrara and Florence during the Italian Renaissance with a gripping yarn and well-drawn characters at its heart. It was a wonderful time for art and music, undoubtedly, but not a great time to be a woman, is the clear message, even one with status. As it happened, I found myself visiting the Florence castle in which Lucrezia had lived just a few months after reading the book, which was a nice postscript. Warmly recommended.
Sharon Zollner is Chief Economist for ANZ.
