Top three for the first weekend in April. Photos / Supplied
1. The New Zealand Easter Activity Book by Sarina Dickson & Hilary Jean Tapper (Hachette)
Easter’s been and gone, but much related activity was undertaken by younger folk, thanks to this book. Kids were invited to join a group of forest fairies to “get creative with loads of mazes, dot-to-dots, games and activities to complete and colour in!” Features two pages of full-colour, Easter-themed stickers that you’ll no doubt later find all over the house.
2. Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin)
Laura is a successful communications manager on a break from work and back in her home town for a visit before walking from one end of New Zealand to the other. But her plans are thrown out the window when the family of her long-term ex-boyfriend, Doug, come back into her life. Then Doug’s kid brother, Mick, begins to take an interest.
From the Listener’s review: “Take Two is a great small-town drama in which local gossips try to make mischief with Laura’s situation, while the family bookshop needs to be kept running and a murky property development is being sold to vulnerable locals. It’s a cosy read, though the author isn’t afraid to broach some bigger issues, such as how families manage illness, women deal with infertility and the sometimes tricky relationships between mothers and daughters.”
3. The Secrets of the Little Greek Taverna by Erin Palmisano (Moa Press)
This local exotic romance novel has been in the top 5 since its release. Our review said: “Palmisano, a NZ-US citizen who lives in Nelson with her chef partner, has combined the essential elements of food, wine and travel in a sunny novel with all the ingredients of a romcom that’s also being published in the UK and US.
“In a small village on the island of Naxos, a whitewashed taverna and guest house, all bougainvillea and lemon trees, sits empty. It had been Cressida Thermopolis’s dream to have guests and feed them delicious Greek food. But her husband, Leo, has died aged just 27, and Cressida is at a loss. Which is when a young American woman, Jory St James, arrives late one night off the ferry and becomes her first guest. Can the two women breathe life back into the little Greek taverna? Will the ever-wandering Jory find love? This is a novel with a heart as big as the Aegean, where the magic of luck and fate is always in the air, electric currents flow between people, where crisp white sheets sit on gloriously soft beds, so it’s probably a safe bet.”
4. The Space Between by Lauren Keenan (Penguin)
This novel, set during the New Zealand Wars in 1860, focuses on Frances, an unmarried Londoner newly landed in New Zealand. She meets Henry White, who had jilted her and is now husband to Matāria, who is shunned by her whānau because of her marriage. The blurb says, “As conflict between settlers and iwi rises, both women must find the courage to fight for what is right, even if it costs them everything they know.”