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Sherwood School (Auckland)

20,048 pages read and 2,766 team points

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    AKC

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AKC

9,485 pts
(7,155 pages read)

  • Whale and the Snapper

    By Jo Van Dam
    5 stars

    I was lucky enough to meet the author, and I’m very excited to add it to our school library. The book is bilingual and is about friendship and bravery.

  • Pipi Dance

    By Angie Belcher
    5 stars

    I bought this book for our school library, and it brought back wonderful memories of collecting pipis at Langs Beach. It is a beautifully illustrated, rhyming New Zealand picture book that celebrates family and nature.

  • There's a cure for this

    By Dr Emma Espiner
    4 stars

    This memoir covers her whānau, love, loss, and student life. She certainly had an interesting childhood and writes openly about navigating parenthood. She reflects on the inequities she noticed early in life and the insights she gained later as a Māori medical student and junior doctor working through the Covid-19 pandemic. Definitely an eye-opener and well worth reading.

  • ThrThree Wee Bookshops at the End of the World

    By Ruth Shaw
    4 stars

    I loved her first book and liked her second, and this one is another great read. I really enjoyed the mix of travel, bookshops and the people she meets along the way. I particularly enjoyed reading about her sailing adventures, she’s certainly braver than me! She’s such an interesting person, and we need more people like her and her husband, Lance, doing great things for the environment and living with real purpose.

  • The Housemaid

    By Freida McFadden
    3 stars

    The Housemaid is your classic psychological thriller with a great twist. I looked up the movie trailer afterwards and was a bit disappointed that the main characters, and especially the attic room, didn’t look how I’d imagined them.

  • The Correspondent

    By Virginia Evans
    5 stars

    Oh dear, I think I’ve found another favourite author. I looked Virginia Evans up and discovered she wrote eight novels before finally getting one published. She described this one as a “palate cleanser,” saying, “I’m going to write a book that’s just a book I want to write.” At first, I worried a novel told through letters might be hard to get into, but she weaves the story together so well. The main character, Sybil, initially comes across as rude and petty, but as her life unfolds, you start to understand her vulnerability and admire her intelligence. I also loved the way the other characters were introduced so naturally, each one adding another layer to the story. It’s beautifully narrated, warm, and very moving. The ending is sad but fitting. I think I need to buy a hard copy for my bookshelf.

  • Addressed to Greta

    By Fiona Sussman
    4 stars

    Addressed to Greta reminded me a bit of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, with its gentle humour and human perspective. The author takes you on a journey in size-10 shoes, seeing the world through Greta’s innocent, awkwardly honest eyes. I loved the characters and the way she brings both people and places to life. The settings were so well described that I could picture them clearly as I read. It does feel a little old-fashioned at times, and that occasionally annoyed me, but it also suits the style of the story.

  • The Doctor's Wife

    By Fiona Sussman
    5 stars

    I love crime fiction, and this book did not disappoint. Set right in my backyard, I could picture the scenes and even the cliff where the deed took place. The author’s medical background adds real authenticity, and her writing is rich without ever feeling pretentious. Little clues dropped throughout the story all came together perfectly at the end, and her characters felt completely real. I can’t wait to read more of her novels.

  • At the Grand Glacier Hotel

    By Laurance Fearnley
    4 stars

    I was so pleased to receive this book as part of my book-review prize, especially since it’s been on my 'must-buy' list for ages. Having recently spent time in the glacier region of the West Coast, I found the descriptions of the landscape constantly taking me back to our holiday. It is a beautiful, quiet read that gently explores deep themes of resilience, solitude, love, and friendship. I even found myself researching the author halfway through because the writing was so engaging.

  • A Beautiful Family

    By Jennifer Trevelyan
    4 stars

    This novel is told through the eyes of a young girl trying to make sense of her family while they’re all on holiday together. While away, she befriends Kahu, a young boy, and the two of them play at being detectives, piecing together the strange behaviour and secrets of the adults around them. She sees more than anyone realises, picking up on the silences as much as the words. The story is gentle yet quietly unsettling, showing how love, neglect, and confusion can coexist in a family. I found the ending frustrating, but it would be a great bookclub read.

  • Little Secrets

    By Jennifer Hillier
    3 stars

    Another summer sorbet. Probably best for the book swap shelf. I get rather addicted to thrillers on holiday!

  • Wonderland

    By Jennifer Hillier
    3 stars

    A gripping thriller that quickly pulls you in. Set around a creepy, retro theme park, it explores obsession, revenge and the lasting damage of childhood trauma. If you like psychological thrillers with an edge, this one is for you.

  • My Friends

    By Fredrik Backman
    5 stars

    This devastating novel explores the bonds that shape us and the silences that pull us apart. I often found myself thinking, 'I need to write that phrase down; the writing was so sharp and resonant.' The novel is anchored in friendship, the steady presence that shapes the characters long after childhood. Running quietly through the story is the powerful way parents, for better or worse, shape their children, often without fully realising the lifelong consequences of their choices. Long after the final page, the characters lingered, reminding me how precious life is and how much joy lives in small, everyday moments.

  • The Axeman's Carnival

    By Catherine Chidgey
    5 stars

    At first, the similes and metaphors felt a little heavy, but I soon settled into this clever, distinctly Kiwi novel. Told through the eyes of Tama, a talking magpie, it captures the isolation of small-town New Zealand, where bush and community feel both beautiful and faintly menacing. The tension builds slowly and steadily beneath everyday life. Tama may be the jester, but it is Marnie who faces real danger, and the reader feels for her throughout. With its fable-like ending, the story heads inevitably towards a dark, unsettling conclusion. Two warnings: it contains domestic violence and, secondly, it is unputdownable.

  • Rome Apartment

    By Kerry Fisher
    2 stars

    A summer sorbet, only read it as we're going to Rome, and it was a good way to get an insight into the city! Very easy to read and fun characters.

  • The Names

    By Florence Knapp
    5 stars

    The Names by Florence Knapp is a quiet, thoughtful novel about identity, memory, and the weight carried by the names we are given. With restrained, elegant prose, Knapp explores family ties and the small moments that shape a life. It’s subtle rather than showy, but deeply affecting, leaving a gentle ache that stays with you after you’ve finished.

  • All the Colours of the Dark

    By Chris Whitaker
    4 stars

    All the Colours of the Dark is a gripping, unsettling novel that slowly tightens its hold. It blends mystery and psychological tension with a strong sense of place, pulling you into a world where secrets run deep, and nothing feels quite safe. The writing is atmospheric and assured, and the story lingers long after the final page. A dark, compelling read that rewards patience. It would be an amazing short TV series.

  • Careless People

    By Sarah Wynn-Williams
    4 stars

    This is a gripping and darkly funny memoir that exposes the toxic, power-hungry culture at Facebook/Meta from an insider's perspective. Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Director of Public Policy, provides an unflinching look at the decisions made by Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg that shaped global events, often with little regard for the human cost or accountability.

  • Gone Before Goodbye

    By Reece Witherspoon and Harlem Coben
    4 stars

  • Mad Mabel

    By Sally Hepworth
    5 stars

    A gripping and emotionally rich thriller centred on 81-year-old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, a woman long haunted by a cruel local legend. When a neighbour dies, and suspicion falls on her, Elsie finally tells her story, revealing a moving exploration of truth, prejudice, and community alongside a tightly woven mystery.

  • Kawai: Tree of Nourishment

    By Monty Soutar
    5 stars

    Kāwai is a groundbreaking and compelling epic of Māori life, bringing history vividly to life through a richly woven, multi-generational story. Authentic, immersive, and timely, it is a powerful first book in a trilogy and a significant contribution to our understanding of Aotearoa’s past.

  • Raising Hare

    By Chloe Dalton
    5 stars

    Raising Hare is a gentle, reflective memoir in which Chloe Dalton recounts caring for a rescued baby hare (leveret). With lyrical, unhurried prose, the book explores attentiveness to nature, the passing seasons, and the balance between care and wildness. It's one of my favourite books of 2025

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