It’s a thing. Summer reading is different from winter reading.
According to the experts at Auckland Council Libraries, summer holiday reading choices are like metaphorical bookends. They sit at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Librarians observe that Aucklanders like light whimsical reads in summer; books that won’t mind getting sand between the pages. And equally they reach for BFBs. That’s library-speak for Big Fat Books, the tomes we put off until we have time to give them the gravitas they deserve, like Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries.
Auckland’s 55 libraries have curated their Top 100 list of titles – in ten categories - especially for summer 2021.
Drawing on librarians’ knowledge, titles that have been recommended by reviewers, the most borrowed titles from the region’s library shelves and the most downloaded eBooks and eAudiobooks, the lists are ‘recommended’ rather than ‘popular’ lists.
Categories include: ‘Best of the Decade’, ‘Diverse Voices’, ‘Fiction’, Non-fiction’, ‘Kids’, ‘Teens’, ‘Graphics for all Ages’, ‘Life & Times’, ‘Books in Translation’, and characteristic of the year that was: ‘2020 Vision’.
Councillor Alf Filipaina, Chair of the Parks, Arts, Community and Events Committee says: “Let’s make this summer a summer of reading. Let’s immerse ourselves in stories that make us laugh, teach us something new, challenge our thinking, and engage the kids in books, nurturing their love of reading. And let’s find a title that helps us escape from the memory of a difficult year.
“With this thoughtful Top 100 list, it’s easy. I’ve picked my summer read: The big o: the life and times of Olsen Filipaina: Pacific revolution pioneer by Patrick Skene from the ‘Diverse Voices’ list,” he says.
For the full Top 100 list please visit the libraries website.
From the website, you will also be able to sign up to become a member of your local library and access our eBooks and eAudiobooks service, both at no cost.
To start curating your own personal reading list for summer, here are three of the categories:
Fiction
|
Amnesty |
Aravind Adiga |
|
Apeirogon |
Colum McCann |
|
Djinn patrol on the purple line |
Deepa Anappara |
|
Run me to earth |
Paul Yoon |
|
Such a fun age |
Kiley Reid |
|
Weather |
Jenny Offill |
|
The midnight library |
Matt Haig |
|
The shadow king: a novel |
Maaza Mengiste |
|
No man's land |
A J Fitzwater |
|
Sharks in the time of saviours |
Kawai Strong Washburn |
Best of the Decade
|
Americanah |
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
|
Between the world and me |
Ta-Nehisi Coates |
|
Exit west |
Mohsin Hamid |
|
Station eleven |
Emily St. John Mandel |
|
The Parihaka woman |
Witi Ihimaera |
|
The sellout |
Paul Beatty |
|
Auē |
Becky Manawatu |
|
The three-body problem |
Cixin Liu |
|
The Nickel boys |
Colson Whitehead |
|
The fifth season |
N. K. Jemisin |
Diverse Voices
|
A girl is a body of water |
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi |
|
A lonely girl is a dangerous thing |
Jessie Tu |
|
Nairobi noir |
edited by Peter Kimani |
|
Real life |
Brandon Taylor |
|
Sand talk: how indigenous thinking can save the world |
Tyson Yunkaporta |
|
The big o: the life and times of Olsen Filipaina: Pacific revolution pioneer |
Patrick Skene |
|
The death of Comrade President |
Alain Mabanckou |
|
The platform: the radical legacy of the Polynesian Panthers |
Melani Anae |
|
Disability Visibility: first-person stories from the Twenty-first century |
edited by Alice Wong |
|
This town sleeps |
Dennis E. Staples |
Auckland Council Libraries are helping get summer sorted.
