Book Review: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
November 30, 2025
You don’t have to be a writer to enjoy this master class, but if you are, Saunders’ insights will delight and inspire.
Renata reads mostly fiction, especially novels and short stories from the broad church that is slipstream. Dearly beloveds include George Saunders, Toni Morrison, Mikhail Bulgakov, Ali Smith, Colston Whitehead, Louise Erdrich, Elizabeth Knox, Kelly Link, Alan Garner, Lydia Millet, Geraldine McCaughrean . . . She could go on and on — and if you meet her in the bookshop, she quite possibly will.
You don’t have to be a writer to enjoy this master class, but if you are, Saunders’ insights will delight and inspire.
Kate Riley’s unique heroine has such a wry, funny, subversive voice that her day-to-day reflections are completely absorbing.
Laing explores both the conditions that enable fascism, and the power of art to hold a mirror to the society that forms it.
Giselle Clarkson, creator of the award-winning Observologist brings the same magic to this fascinating exploration of all things feathery.
Stroud strikes a compelling (and rare) balance between rollicking action & personal quest as his antiheroes’ journey through the wastelands.
There is darkness in this story, but it’s leavened by Smith’s ever-playful storytelling, and her characters’ capacity for resistance & hope.
At the center of the story is Liddy, a plucky and unshakeable heroine whose facial expressions alone make every turn of the page rewarding.
A love of the natural world (Watership Down is a real place) enables Adams the storyteller to deeply inhabit the lives of his characters.
His writing is playful and virtuosic but the impulse to tell a great story is always in the driver’s seat – and pressing the accelerator!
Some books forget to tell a good story alongside the moral, but this one uses the rock metaphor in a funny, creative and poignant way.
Some books forget to tell a good story alongside the moral, but this one uses the rock metaphor in a funny, creative and poignant way.
While there is grief and despair, her vital and fiercely determined characters push against this darkness by continuing to reach for hope.
You will find yourself seriously pondering the curly conundrums, trying to pick the best of the not-very-appealing options.
Keegan’s small, crystalline stories conjure worlds beyond their size. This is restrained, nuanced storytelling at its best.
This is a warm, funny, and accessible introduction to the work and aroha that goes into protecting taonga species in Aotearoa
Adichie uses an intimate, even confessional tone to create immersive portraits of four women seeking a clearer understanding of their lives.
Larwood places his loveable underdog into a world of magick, resulting in a playful mash-up of the Last Airbender and English folklore.
If you like your books cozy, look elsewhere! This author delights in voicing the cynical, sinister attitudes that lie just below the surface.
Pokwatka’s compelling writing demands we suspend disbelief and focus instead on the tension she ratchets to fever pitch.
Many books in the “emotions for kids” genre pitch their subject too cutesy, preachy or simplistic. Oziewicz and Zajac get it just right.