{"id":27715,"date":"2025-09-17T12:21:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/27715\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T12:21:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:21:21","slug":"ive-already-read-36-books-this-year-but-this-is-my-standout-favourite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/27715\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve already read 36 books this year \u2013 but this is my standout favourite"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IndyBest\"<\/p>\n

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping expertsSign up for our free IndyBest emailSign up for our free IndyBest email<\/p>\n

\"IndyBest\"<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the high calibre of new book releases in 2025<\/a>, or perhaps it\u2019s that I keep deleting TikTok, but I\u2019ve already read more than 35 books this year \u2013 and there\u2019s one that I\u2019ve been recommending to everyone. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been sucked into the \u201cromantasy\u201d genre with Rebecca Yarros\u2019 Fourth Wing series<\/a>, enjoyed comedies including Alison Espach\u2019s The Wedding People and Sarah Harman\u2019s All The Other Mothers Hate Me, and been equal parts shocked and inspired by the real life stories of World War Two secret agent Pippa Lantour and former-Mormon Tara Westover in their beautiful memoirs, The Last Secret Agent and Educated.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s Florence Knapp\u2019s new novel, The Names, that\u2019s a future classic. Curiously, her only other book is a non-fiction guide to English paper piecing, but her first foray into fiction is a masterclass. It\u2019s as devastating as it is life-affirming, which is a recipe for the perfect book.<\/p>\n

The novel is an utterly original take on the \u201csliding doors\u201d concept. Beginning on the day a mother sets off to name her baby son, it follows three versions of a boy\u2019s life as dictated by his given name. An exploration of how small decisions can echo down the decades, the novel is a gripping and moving family drama. <\/p>\n

I tore through the book in two sittings while on holiday. The story might not be the typical easy-breezy beach book, but the novel is hugely readable, with beautiful prose and compelling characters. Debuting at number two in The Sunday Times bestseller list and with an average rating of 4.18 on Goodreads, it\u2019s one of those rare mainstream novels that live up to the hype. <\/p>\n

\"II devoured the book in two sittings (Daisy Lester)<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re packing for a summer holiday or looking for your next weekend read, here\u2019s why I\u2019m recommending The Names to everyone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping expertsSign up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-27715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}