What’s on your bookshelf: April

Thistles and Kiwis

Now, I love detective fiction, but really…only two out of the ten books this month are not crime novels. I could blame the fact that I am mostly reading from Libby on my iPad, and so you see the rest of the series as you look for books, or I could just admit that it is the mood I am in. The book shop book club book (Kiran Millwood Hargrave Almost Life) was so bad I could only read 20% (thanks e-reader) of it, and I will say so in my review, so needed some good crime fiction to get me back into the mood. I am reading a lot thanks to time in the afternoons when I am not working.

I read four of Vanda Symon’s Sam Shepherd books, which are set in Dunedin. These are an easy read, great plot, recurring characters and just the thing if you want a quick and fun read. The ones I read were Containment, Bound, Expectant and Prey. It is best to read them in order if you want to follow Sam Shepherd’s personal story.

I read 3 set in Australia: Patricia Wolf Outback, Matthew Spencer Broke Road and Garry Disher The Dragon Man, all of which use the land and small towns as their background to the crimes. I am in the middle of another one, but think it time to give it a break….! The Patricia Wolf was the newest of the books from 2025, and is the tale of missing hitchhikers and was a good read. Broke Road was probably my favourite of the three, but I also enjoyed The Dragon Man.

Anyway, I also read one set in Scotland Kerry Watts Bury Your Secrets. This is the first of the DI Fraser Brodie series set on the isle of Lewis. I would definitely be keen to pick up the other two in the series.

I also managed to read two other books ie not crime. First up is Elizabeth Day’s One of Us. I haven’t read The Party, which is also about members of the UK Parliament and what they get up to, but sort of feel I should to complete the set, though they are not about the same people. This was very well written but oh the cast of characters were quite awful! A good read though.

Finally, New Zealand writer Laura Vincent’s Hoods Landing. I first came across Vincent through her food blog Hungry and Frozen which I actually started to follow before we moved to New Zealand. She published a cook book, which I bought, but has since done a number of things including studying creative writing. This is her first novel, the first book published by a new publisher, and has managed to reach the short list of the major New Zealand literary prize, the Ockhams. It is funny, sad and with great descriptions of food as you might imagine from a food writer. Is it worthy of being on the short list? Not sure, but well done Laura.

I also listened to Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein The Mushroom Tapes while cooking…maybe not the best thing when slicing mushrooms but a very interesting listen.

Since I don’t have any pictures of the books, the featured image is of a bookshop that looks just the place for me to go if my German was a LOT better, and the others are streets named after German writers.

The list in the order read:

  • Vanda Symon Containment 5 shipping containers (great plot)
  • Vanda Symon Bound 4 crimes
  • Patricia Wolf Outback 4 backpackers
  • Elizabeth Day One of Us 3.5 politicians
  • Vanda Symon Expectant 4 police people
  • Matthew Spencer Broke Road 3.5 motels
  • Garry Disher The Dragon Man 3.5 serial killers
  • Vanda Symon Prey 4 cold cases
  • Kerry Watts Bury Your Secrets 4 Scottish islands
  • Laura Vincent Hoods Landing 3.5 small New Zealand towns

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and Instagram @thistlesandkiwis

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Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

41 Comments

  1. That’s a lot of crime! Don’t you hate it when you’re reading a book that you don’t enjoy? I usually persevere but sometimes it seems a waste of a life and I bail out xx

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  2. I must seek out those three Australian authors because I don’t know any of them. I’m like Jo. If I find a book hard going I give it away. There are too many great reads to waste time on one that’s awful.

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  3. How I laughed at your comment, so needed some good crime fiction to get me back into the mood, for that is exactly how I felt recently. Here we are, past the middle of the month, and I had read only one novel! This is unheard of for me, but I had started one – and left it – and lost the desire to get on with it. Then, yesterday, I had the same thoughts as you did and reached for a Jo Nesbo. Wonderful!

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    1. Thanks! I am not looking forward to the June pick for the book shop book club as it is a historical novel and that is a genre I don’t go for. I might use travelling as an excuse for not having read it 🙂

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  6. I love a crime book. I’ve only read one Garry Disher book. I never bother to finish a book if it doesn’t resonate, I don’t have the time or energy. I should try and do a post for this month ☺️

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  8. What a fun “stack” of books you’ve made your way through! I recently finished the fourth book in the Cormac Reilly detective series by Dervla McTiernan, The Unquiet Grave. I have loved all of her books and this was no different 🙂

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  9. You are the third person to mention Patrick Wolfe and his series which I will take as a sign! I like the sound of that Scottish one as well. It’s true we can get “stuck” in our genres. Thanks for linking up. Bernie

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  10. Fun to have streets named after authors. I haven’t heard of any of the books you mentioned. I suppose it’s because for the most part, I am mostly stuck in an older book. 😉

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  13. Another great set of books this month Barbara, even if most were about crime! I often get into a genre set and then need a break and move onto something else. It’s hard when you’re then ‘suggested’ books to read based on what you’re just read so you keep going in the cycle. I’ve enjoyed Garry Disher’s in the past and alsways keep an eye out for his and other Aussie authors and isn’t it amazing how many are set in alomost deserted outback towns? Thanks for joining us for #woybs this month.

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  15. Did you read all those books in April? Wow! I read five books in April and a few Doctoral thesis for school. I sometimes read crime novels, but not very often. When I do read them I enjoy them very much. John Grisham and Jo Nesbo are my favourite authors in that genre.

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    1. The plot was ludicrous (name me one woman who would forget her bag…) and it was so badly written too. Apparently, book club opinion was split between those like me and those who loved it.

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