Courtney Johnston
@auchmill.bsky.social
Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. She / her.
Only finished this because the same week my reserve came up at the library it made the Booker list. My problem, not the book’s: I just like more plot in my reading.
August 1, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Only finished this because the same week my reserve came up at the library it made the Booker list. My problem, not the book’s: I just like more plot in my reading.
Imagine Kate DiCamillo wrote a book about a little girl facing life’s problems and her family’s much-loved dysfunction for adult readers. That’s this book exactly.
July 27, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Imagine Kate DiCamillo wrote a book about a little girl facing life’s problems and her family’s much-loved dysfunction for adult readers. That’s this book exactly.
This is an Erdrich I had somehow missed. It’s wonderful! And it made me think about how the land has evolved as a bigger and bigger presence and driver of story in her books (contrary this to The Mighty Red, for example). Tender, rich, observant.
July 27, 2025 at 10:32 PM
This is an Erdrich I had somehow missed. It’s wonderful! And it made me think about how the land has evolved as a bigger and bigger presence and driver of story in her books (contrary this to The Mighty Red, for example). Tender, rich, observant.
This couldn’t be more different: a pick-up of Alice set in 1919, with the original’s grand-daughter Alyce being swept into Wonderland to settle a dispute between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon
July 27, 2025 at 10:28 PM
This couldn’t be more different: a pick-up of Alice set in 1919, with the original’s grand-daughter Alyce being swept into Wonderland to settle a dispute between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon
Can’t for the life of me keep my Books Thread threaded. So we start over again with a must-read: one of those ones all the American podcasts recommend and you’re like “do I really need a addiction-recovery-war-abandonment memoir” in my life? and then you read it and YES you do
July 27, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Can’t for the life of me keep my Books Thread threaded. So we start over again with a must-read: one of those ones all the American podcasts recommend and you’re like “do I really need a addiction-recovery-war-abandonment memoir” in my life? and then you read it and YES you do
Somehow I’d managed to miss this 2003 Erdrich, a sweeping epic of two world wars and an incredibly close character study of immigration, settler colonisation, love, despair and hardscrabble lives in small town America
July 12, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Somehow I’d managed to miss this 2003 Erdrich, a sweeping epic of two world wars and an incredibly close character study of immigration, settler colonisation, love, despair and hardscrabble lives in small town America
In the vein of Maeve Brennan’s “The Visitor”, Elizabeth Taylor’s “Angel” is another fantastically chilly novel, this one charting the life arc of novelist Angel Deverall
July 6, 2025 at 4:41 AM
In the vein of Maeve Brennan’s “The Visitor”, Elizabeth Taylor’s “Angel” is another fantastically chilly novel, this one charting the life arc of novelist Angel Deverall
This book pulled me out of my reading rut. Utterly embedded in its remote Alaskan setting, with a cast of deeply realised characters and a shapeshifting twist that stays firmly in the real world.
June 20, 2025 at 12:46 AM
This book pulled me out of my reading rut. Utterly embedded in its remote Alaskan setting, with a cast of deeply realised characters and a shapeshifting twist that stays firmly in the real world.
Queer romance and English folklore combine in a very satisfying novella. Particularly taken with the dryads.
June 20, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Queer romance and English folklore combine in a very satisfying novella. Particularly taken with the dryads.
Sooooooo close. Again, would make an AMAZING tv series, such incredible world building
June 10, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Sooooooo close. Again, would make an AMAZING tv series, such incredible world building
“Gwen and Art Are Not In Love” was such a charmer; this didn’t quite live up to that sparkle but if you like Sherwood Forest and chosen families, it’s likely spot on for you
June 10, 2025 at 8:19 AM
“Gwen and Art Are Not In Love” was such a charmer; this didn’t quite live up to that sparkle but if you like Sherwood Forest and chosen families, it’s likely spot on for you
I wanted to love this more. Would make an elegant tv series. Telepathy, political manipulation, divided societies, friendships across the lines.
June 10, 2025 at 8:17 AM
I wanted to love this more. Would make an elegant tv series. Telepathy, political manipulation, divided societies, friendships across the lines.
I like how withheld Ali Smith’s books feel. If this was a long novel I’d be frustrated by the feeling of elisions and lacunae; as it was, it felt light (for an apocalypse novel)
June 10, 2025 at 8:15 AM
I like how withheld Ali Smith’s books feel. If this was a long novel I’d be frustrated by the feeling of elisions and lacunae; as it was, it felt light (for an apocalypse novel)
Gosh Donoghue pumps books out. This (a reimagining of a real life Parisian train crash told as a potential “terrorist” plot) wore its research a bit too heavily and the post-modern theory vibes of transport and modernity stuck out a bit too strongly
June 10, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Gosh Donoghue pumps books out. This (a reimagining of a real life Parisian train crash told as a potential “terrorist” plot) wore its research a bit too heavily and the post-modern theory vibes of transport and modernity stuck out a bit too strongly
“A Grief Observed” by CS Lewis set my bar for grief memoirs HIGH. I enjoyed the modesty of Brooks’ book, and the pragmatism of the advice offered in the closing pages.
June 10, 2025 at 7:45 AM
“A Grief Observed” by CS Lewis set my bar for grief memoirs HIGH. I enjoyed the modesty of Brooks’ book, and the pragmatism of the advice offered in the closing pages.
Catching up on books read in the last month or so. I ordered this thinking it was another Harding middle-grade (of which I’m a fan) but it’s a sophisticated picture book which is not my bag (and which I found pretty dull)
June 10, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Catching up on books read in the last month or so. I ordered this thinking it was another Harding middle-grade (of which I’m a fan) but it’s a sophisticated picture book which is not my bag (and which I found pretty dull)
Slipped behind on book posting as I hit a rut. This pulled me out. While it has a bit of books-as-therapy to it (probably great for actual child readers) which sticks out to an adult reader, the world-building is great and who doesn’t love a lost gods story?
May 3, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Slipped behind on book posting as I hit a rut. This pulled me out. While it has a bit of books-as-therapy to it (probably great for actual child readers) which sticks out to an adult reader, the world-building is great and who doesn’t love a lost gods story?
These two are in my current books of the year list - not relaxing reads, but engrossing.
April 19, 2025 at 7:52 PM
These two are in my current books of the year list - not relaxing reads, but engrossing.
Bringing the last of summer home on the train
April 13, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Bringing the last of summer home on the train
Good to read a fantasy that comes from a different heritage from where I normally read (gangster sagas / kung fu movies) but I didn’t become attached enough to the characters (who never did anything surprising) to continue
April 13, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Good to read a fantasy that comes from a different heritage from where I normally read (gangster sagas / kung fu movies) but I didn’t become attached enough to the characters (who never did anything surprising) to continue
A bit of a slow start, but an enjoyably chaotic, slapstick and well orchestrated ending. Perfect weekend read.
April 6, 2025 at 3:04 AM
A bit of a slow start, but an enjoyably chaotic, slapstick and well orchestrated ending. Perfect weekend read.
Pulled out of the stacks thanks to a mention from Jessie Bray Sharpin, this is an adored but lost book from my childhood
April 4, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Pulled out of the stacks thanks to a mention from Jessie Bray Sharpin, this is an adored but lost book from my childhood
Ever reliable comfort read while travelling. Might be the best thirteen bucks I ever spent, this book has gone to a lot of places with me
March 29, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Ever reliable comfort read while travelling. Might be the best thirteen bucks I ever spent, this book has gone to a lot of places with me
Can I recommend you read this alongside a visit to our Vivienne Westwood exhibition at Te Papa? Deeply researched, beautifully structured essays examining deep time and human values through the lens of organic gems — coral, pearl, jet and more.
March 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Can I recommend you read this alongside a visit to our Vivienne Westwood exhibition at Te Papa? Deeply researched, beautifully structured essays examining deep time and human values through the lens of organic gems — coral, pearl, jet and more.
Leading the race for my Book of the Year. The story of the encounter between Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma in Tenochtitlán on a single day in 1521 told as a farce, a palace intrigue, a pungent and hallucinatory pageant. Not straightforward to follow but incredibly rewarding.
March 15, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Leading the race for my Book of the Year. The story of the encounter between Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma in Tenochtitlán on a single day in 1521 told as a farce, a palace intrigue, a pungent and hallucinatory pageant. Not straightforward to follow but incredibly rewarding.