Kapiti College

102,707 pages read and 4,869 team points

Team members

AliC

9,823 pts

(6,797 pages read)

Dead Girl Gone

By Gareth and Louise Ward

4 stars

Enjoyable fast read, set in Havelock North . While it’s a murder mystery it doesn’t have the scary thriller element. It definitely has the feel of the quaint, bumbling English Country village murder mystery genre . The former uk police officers, now bookshop owners and authors emigrated to Hawkes Bay from the UK.
Before we forget kindness

By Toshikazu kawaguchi

4 stars

The latest in the Japanese Before the coffee gets cold series. Just what I needed to read as an antidote to the news coming out of the US on the daily.
The Let Them theory

By Mel Robbins

4 stars

Came highly recommended by millennials. Easy readable philosophy based in psychology on how to stop trying to let go of the idea that we can control anyone but ourselves. Reminded me that each one of us has about 70,000 thought a day so no way we can control what else anyone thinks or does- influence yes, control, No. Still trying to work out how this applies in a class of year 10s. Bonus is that the standout green cover means I am on my way for our kura’s in-school teacher reading challenge for 2025 - read the rainbow.
Everything I never told you

By Celeste Ng

4 stars
White lies

By Tuakiri Huna, Witi Ihimaera, Dana Rotberg

5 stars

If I was a teacher of senior English I would be using this text as an outstanding resource for an integrated text and film study. White Lies, the film, is based on Witi Ihimaera’s novella Medicine Woman. This book presents the novella, the original short story, and the screenplay script alongside personal notes and explanations from the author and director. In his essay - writing the novella, Witi explains that the story of the wahine tohunga, Paraiti, evolved from his personal childhood experience. It explores issues of colonisation in the early 20th century and moral dilemmas of identity, and secrets.
Braiding Sweetgrass- indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teaching of plants

By Robin Kimmerer

5 stars

This has been on my to read list for a while and now I wonder why I waited so long. A book to savour, lend out and reread.
The Wiregrass

By Adrian Hyland

3 stars

Australian crime drama set in the hinterlands of Melbourne.
Feijoa

By Kate Evans

5 stars

Travelogue, history, natural science, recipes - what more could you want in a book covering Aotearoa’s beloved and most socialist fruit. Along the way I learned not only about the Feijoa, but also the history and impacts of colonisation in South America, botanists and gardens from Germany to the Cote d’Zur, and a history of horticulture. Easy to read, beautifully descriptive and packed with information. If you love history, travel and feijoas this book is for you.
Jewish not Zionist

By Marilyn Garston

3 stars

Canadian/ New Zealander, Marilyn Garson, Jewish - not Zionist- provides an important alternative voice in Aotearoa to the Zionist propaganda being promoted by mainstream Jewish organisations here. Having worked in Gaza she understands implicitly the impacts of the genocidal policies of Zionist modern day Israel on Palestinians and examines the issues from a human rights based approach. I was shocked to understand that since 2016 It is right wing Christian and neoliberal views that shape NZ Jewish political and public platforms - the dominant narrative being that any criticism of Israel’s Zionist policies are anti-semitic. We also hear the personal impact of exclusion from local temples and Jewish organisations as she refuses to be silenced on the actions of Israel’s Netanyahu genocidal war on Palestine. A must read for Social Studies teachers attempting to unpack views and perspectives in class.
The Explorers

By Tim Flannery

3 stars

Australian scientist and science writer Tim Flannery curates a range of European explorers original records of expeditions In and around Australia. Interesting to compare similar stories and perspectives from the early days of colonisation In Aotearoa.
The Bone People

By Keri Hulme

4 stars

A reread from 30 years ago. I had forgotten how harrowing it is, makes the more recent Aue seem like a light read.
Amma

By Saraid de Silva

3 stars

The writing is evocative and gives a real sense of people and place, but for me the structure let it down. Trying to follow three generations of women though three time periods and places was frustrating and too much of a cognitive load for my summer reading. The narrative not only skips around decades it also moves between. Singapore, Columbo, Invercargill, Hamilton and London. Despite this I did enjoy reading what felt like authentic experiences from a Sri Lankan Pakeha writer .
Clear

By Carys Davis

3 stars

Set on an imaginary Orkney Island in the latter part of the Highland Clearances. A bit slow to get into but I persevered as it made the Guardian’s best books list of 2024.
In the realm of hungry ghosts

By Gabor Mate

4 stars
Days at the Morisaki bookstore

By Sakoshi Yagisawa

4 stars

Quick, charming read… the style and flavour of this Japanese genre, but not as captivating as Before the coffee gets cold series.
The Road ( graphic novel retelling)

By Manu Larcenet

3 stars

I had managed to never read The Road. This graphic novel adapt has amazing illustrations, and I confirmed that the story is as depressing as I had been told. Confirmed that I would never want to use the full version of the The Road in a class.
Tell me lies

By Jd Pomare

3 stars
The Great Alone

By Kristin Hannah

5 stars

I traded a sunny summer weekend to explore Alaska n the 1970s. Harrowing and unputdownable story where the landscape is as vital to the narrative as the characters. I loved The Women by Kristin Hannah when I read it earlier this year. This was as equally engaging.
At the Grand Glacier Hotel

By Laurence Fearnley

3 stars

Slow but thoughtful read, set in Franz Josef during Covid. Landscape is used to mirror the emotions and physical limitations of the protagonist’s post cancer surgical journey. The authenticity of the narrative draws from the author’s own experiences of cancer during covid, so while presented as fictional it also felt autobiographical.
Canticle Creek

By Adrian Hyland

4 stars

Australian crime drama. Gives an evocative sense of landscapes of the Northern Territory and highlands of Victoria.
17 years later

By JP Pomare

4 stars

Great crime thriller you won’t want to put down.
Sold on a Monday

By Kristina McMorris

3 stars

While it’s a best seller I wasn’t completely gripped by it. A bit slow at times but an ok read.
The Blue hour

By Paula Hawkins

3 stars

25 - 0 - 1

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Kapiti College

102,707 pages read and 4,869 team points

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