How to get Fired
By Evana Belich
Given her legal career spanning employment relations and disputes resolution, who better than New Zealand’s Evana Belich to give nuance to the binding commonality of work? Wry, real and astute, these stories connect characters through their struggle to negotiate relationships while they try to survive, avoid or be dismissed from their employment.
Pineapple Street
By Jenny Jackson
Filled with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that follows three women whose lives and loves clash with the inherited narratives shaped by their families’ class. A bittersweet examination of siblings, money and temptation, it’s as heartbreaking as it is hilarious.
I’m a Fan
By Sheena Patel
While making startling links between power struggles at the heart of human relationships and those in the wider world, I’m a Fan offers a devastating critique of social media, access and patriarchal systems. This story of an unnamed narrator’s involvement in a seemingly unequal and corrosive romantic relationship is exhilarating and addictive.
Good Mourning
By Sally Douglas & Imogen Carn
Candid conversations about the exhaustion, anxiety, loneliness, brain fog and ugly cries of grief united authors Sally Douglas and Imogen Carn while in the midst of unimaginable sorrow. Good Mourning teaches us to keep the memory of loved ones’ alive by accepting loss as a new part of ourselves. There’s no timeframe for healing, but we’re reminded that even in our darkest moments there can also be light.
Dress Rehearsals
By Madison Godfrey
This genre-bending memoir of poems documents feminist Madison Godfrey’s decade of performing womanhood in a non-binary body. From teenage fangirl to tender femme, it’s a compelling love letter to herself that’s darkly witty and deeply confessional.
Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts
By Josie Shapiro
An unforgettable debut novel that follows the life of Mickey Bloom, a five-foot, dyslexic victim of bullying who didn’t quite find their stride in life until they discovered long distance running. Exposing the physical and emotional sacrifices demanded of our sporting elite and the true cost of training to win the Auckland Marathon, Mickey’s course reveals what it takes to chase dreams and run in the right direction.
