Alyson Baker
@alysonb.bsky.social
Aotearoa books reviewer, chimpanzee advocate, wild canid enthusiast, Kantian researcher, shakuhachi dabbler.
A wonderfully complex novel packed with important ideas and heart-felt emotions: Empathy by Bryan Walpert. My review: tinyurl.com/pb77njes
#YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks
#YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks
November 13, 2025 at 11:57 PM
A wonderfully complex novel packed with important ideas and heart-felt emotions: Empathy by Bryan Walpert. My review: tinyurl.com/pb77njes
#YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks
#YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks
Congratulations Michael Bennett - Best Novel winner at the 2025 Ngaio Awards for Return to Blood, second in the Hana Westerman series #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks
September 25, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Congratulations Michael Bennett - Best Novel winner at the 2025 Ngaio Awards for Return to Blood, second in the Hana Westerman series #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks
A gripping suspenseful thriller which engages the reader with the inner lives and motivations of the protagonists: The Good Father by @liammcilvanney.bsky.social My Review: tinyurl.com/2chy37cn #YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks @zaffrebooks.bsky.social
July 26, 2025 at 2:18 AM
A gripping suspenseful thriller which engages the reader with the inner lives and motivations of the protagonists: The Good Father by @liammcilvanney.bsky.social My Review: tinyurl.com/2chy37cn #YeahNoir #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks @zaffrebooks.bsky.social
A magnificant piece of creative non-fiction by Sophy Roberts. Colonial brutality, and the heartbreaking stories of the four Asian Elephants shipped from India and forced to walk across the harsh landscapes of Tanzania, part of Leopold’s rapacious Congo plans #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka
June 6, 2025 at 1:24 AM
A magnificant piece of creative non-fiction by Sophy Roberts. Colonial brutality, and the heartbreaking stories of the four Asian Elephants shipped from India and forced to walk across the harsh landscapes of Tanzania, part of Leopold’s rapacious Congo plans #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka
An alternate history, a bildungsroman, a mystery to solve, a #YeahNoir thriller, a cautionary tale, a vivid description of the self-serving cruelty of those in power - The Book of Guilt by @catherinechidgey.bsky.social My Review: tinyurl.com/evtmvt6e #NZBooks @thwupbooks.bsky.social
May 29, 2025 at 10:48 PM
An alternate history, a bildungsroman, a mystery to solve, a #YeahNoir thriller, a cautionary tale, a vivid description of the self-serving cruelty of those in power - The Book of Guilt by @catherinechidgey.bsky.social My Review: tinyurl.com/evtmvt6e #NZBooks @thwupbooks.bsky.social
An excellent continuation of the Hana Westerman series, full of warmth and threat, Carved in Blood by Michael Bennett. My review: tinyurl.com/yc64akr6 #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks @simonandschuster.bsky.social
May 24, 2025 at 12:18 AM
An excellent continuation of the Hana Westerman series, full of warmth and threat, Carved in Blood by Michael Bennett. My review: tinyurl.com/yc64akr6 #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks @simonandschuster.bsky.social
Congratulations to all the winners, and nominees, in this year’s Ockham Book Awards www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-... #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks
Winners | New Zealand Book Awards Trust
www.nzbookawards.nz
May 14, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Congratulations to all the winners, and nominees, in this year’s Ockham Book Awards www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-... #Aotearoabooks #NZbooks
An exquisite depiction of colonial attitudes - Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King #pukapuka #ThePowerOfReading
April 26, 2025 at 10:24 AM
An exquisite depiction of colonial attitudes - Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King #pukapuka #ThePowerOfReading
Northbound by @naomiarnold.bsky.social - a love song to Aotearoa, to its beauty, its dangers, and its people. My review: tinyurl.com/272c4r2j #pukapuka #aotearoabooks #nzbooks #TeAraroa @harpercollins.bsky.social
April 9, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Northbound by @naomiarnold.bsky.social - a love song to Aotearoa, to its beauty, its dangers, and its people. My review: tinyurl.com/272c4r2j #pukapuka #aotearoabooks #nzbooks #TeAraroa @harpercollins.bsky.social
A stunnng evokation of intergenerational trauma, breathtaking - We Do Not Part by Han Kang #pukapuka #ThePowerOfReading
March 9, 2025 at 2:57 AM
A stunnng evokation of intergenerational trauma, breathtaking - We Do Not Part by Han Kang #pukapuka #ThePowerOfReading
Nine tails. Nine tales. Nine mortal lives - Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud by @leemurraywriter.bsky.social, wonderfully conceived and executed. My review: tinyurl.com/yenvjwp6 #YeahNoir #aotearoabooks
February 19, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Nine tails. Nine tales. Nine mortal lives - Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud by @leemurraywriter.bsky.social, wonderfully conceived and executed. My review: tinyurl.com/yenvjwp6 #YeahNoir #aotearoabooks
Sometimes it is leaving your comfort and braving it with complete strangers that can trigger healing – At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley - a wonderful book. My review: tinyurl.com/3f25tbpx #pukapuka #aotearoabooks #nzbooks penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social
February 8, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Sometimes it is leaving your comfort and braving it with complete strangers that can trigger healing – At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley - a wonderful book. My review: tinyurl.com/3f25tbpx #pukapuka #aotearoabooks #nzbooks penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social
A riveting depiction of the fracturing of a stable reality – personal, institutional, and societal: The Royal Free by @rcshuker.bsky.social My review: tinyurl.com/mrymkauk #YeahNoir #nzbooks
@thwupbooks.bsky.social
@thwupbooks.bsky.social
January 30, 2025 at 11:15 PM
A riveting depiction of the fracturing of a stable reality – personal, institutional, and societal: The Royal Free by @rcshuker.bsky.social My review: tinyurl.com/mrymkauk #YeahNoir #nzbooks
@thwupbooks.bsky.social
@thwupbooks.bsky.social
“Investigating a murder that involves the Church never ends well in Florence”, Aldo and Strocchi have more murders to solve – A Divine Fury by @dvbishop.com - my review of the latest Cesare Aldo mystery: tinyurl.com/5n8v63zf #YeahNoir #nzbooks #CesareAldo
January 19, 2025 at 4:16 AM
“Investigating a murder that involves the Church never ends well in Florence”, Aldo and Strocchi have more murders to solve – A Divine Fury by @dvbishop.com - my review of the latest Cesare Aldo mystery: tinyurl.com/5n8v63zf #YeahNoir #nzbooks #CesareAldo
"Apparently it was permissable to recall and return all that she had sought to cherish on this earth" - second inspiring read of 2025: Concerning the Future of Souls by Joy Williams #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka #aonzbooks
January 1, 2025 at 9:30 PM
"Apparently it was permissable to recall and return all that she had sought to cherish on this earth" - second inspiring read of 2025: Concerning the Future of Souls by Joy Williams #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka #aonzbooks
"Rejoice, small ant, she thought, in your one life, though too soon dimmed it shall be" - great start to 2025 reading: The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff, @legroff.bsky.social. #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka #aonzbooks
December 31, 2024 at 10:53 PM
"Rejoice, small ant, she thought, in your one life, though too soon dimmed it shall be" - great start to 2025 reading: The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff, @legroff.bsky.social. #ThePowerOfReading #pukapuka #aonzbooks
“The fables come always to the same end; this beautiful bird that touched all who met with them or heard their call from their forest places, is gone.” The Huia & Our Tears by Ray Ching. My review: tinyurl.com/ydh3rvac #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks
December 21, 2024 at 5:05 AM
“The fables come always to the same end; this beautiful bird that touched all who met with them or heard their call from their forest places, is gone.” The Huia & Our Tears by Ray Ching. My review: tinyurl.com/ydh3rvac #AotearoaBooks #NZBooks
“Exhilaration, anxiety, rapture, depression, tenderness, anger, hope, despair.” The breathtaking endless spiralling journey that is Orbital by Samantha Harvey. What a reading experience! #Orbital #ThePowerOfReading #Pukapuka
November 24, 2024 at 5:57 AM
“Exhilaration, anxiety, rapture, depression, tenderness, anger, hope, despair.” The breathtaking endless spiralling journey that is Orbital by Samantha Harvey. What a reading experience! #Orbital #ThePowerOfReading #Pukapuka
Goodness, just finished The White Book by Han Kang. So quietly moving ...
"The only things which the mind cannot examine are memories of the future."
#Pukapuka
"The only things which the mind cannot examine are memories of the future."
#Pukapuka
November 15, 2024 at 11:38 PM
Goodness, just finished The White Book by Han Kang. So quietly moving ...
"The only things which the mind cannot examine are memories of the future."
#Pukapuka
"The only things which the mind cannot examine are memories of the future."
#Pukapuka
Short stories exploring the origins and boundaries of ‘a person’ - surprising, entertaining, disturbing. Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn. My review: tinyurl.com/2kmuyh6y #AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka www.otago.ac.nz/press/books/...
November 15, 2024 at 12:08 AM
Short stories exploring the origins and boundaries of ‘a person’ - surprising, entertaining, disturbing. Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn. My review: tinyurl.com/2kmuyh6y #AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka www.otago.ac.nz/press/books/...
“An attack against a man of God on the steps of a cathedral on an ungodly winter’s night”, a cold case for the wonderful Detective Sam Shephard – Prey by @vandasymon.bsky.social my review: tinyurl.com/vbbfufvz #AotearoaBooks
#Pukapuka #YeahNoir @orendabooks.bsky.social
#Pukapuka #YeahNoir @orendabooks.bsky.social
November 9, 2024 at 10:00 PM
“An attack against a man of God on the steps of a cathedral on an ungodly winter’s night”, a cold case for the wonderful Detective Sam Shephard – Prey by @vandasymon.bsky.social my review: tinyurl.com/vbbfufvz #AotearoaBooks
#Pukapuka #YeahNoir @orendabooks.bsky.social
#Pukapuka #YeahNoir @orendabooks.bsky.social
“How did the world become so devoid of magic?” Kataraina by Becky Manawatu, a breathtaking red. My review: tinyurl.com/yc4rrutp
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #YeahNoir
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #YeahNoir
November 6, 2024 at 11:18 PM
“How did the world become so devoid of magic?” Kataraina by Becky Manawatu, a breathtaking red. My review: tinyurl.com/yc4rrutp
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #YeahNoir
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #YeahNoir
A brilliant political satire, also a chilling cautionary tale: The Life and Opinions of Kartik Popat by @brannavan.bsky.social My review: tinyurl.com/49p29mwj
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #NZBooks lawrenceandgibson.co.nz
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #NZBooks lawrenceandgibson.co.nz
October 30, 2024 at 5:31 AM
A brilliant political satire, also a chilling cautionary tale: The Life and Opinions of Kartik Popat by @brannavan.bsky.social My review: tinyurl.com/49p29mwj
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #NZBooks lawrenceandgibson.co.nz
#AotearoaBooks #Pukapuka #NZBooks lawrenceandgibson.co.nz