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Need to update your bookshelf? We've got the lowdown on the hottest book releases this month. From a glam autobiography, through to some heartfelt chick lit, there's a book to suit every mood and nzgirl...  Poppyland, Raffaella BarkerGrace and Ryder meet one night in Copenhagen and are instantly struck by a connection they can neither explain nor ignore. After they are separated, each dreams of that night for the next five years, while doing nothing to find each other again. However, their circumstances eventually collide once more in this stunning story of love and survival. This beautifully written novel had me on the edge of my seat, willing Grace and Ryder to find a way back together. As ‘Poppyland’ traces their lives in the intervening years between meeting and reunion, it questions the nature of love and loneliness, centring on how our past can shape our future. Highly recommended. Headline, RRP $38.99 Stars: 5  Over the Wide and Trackless Sea, Megan HutchingImagine leaving your home and everything you knew to sail to the other side of the world and start afresh. Over the Wide and Trackless Sea details the lives of eleven pioneer women who did just that in New Zealand. Amongst the endless work and natural disasters, these women became suffragettes, started New Zealand institutions, and gave birth to the next generation of New Zealanders. In many cases using their own words, Hutching provides a fascinating and easy-to-read historical account of the first nzgirls. HarperCollins, RRP $38.99 Stars: 4
 Gold Dust, Megan FreemanSofi and her cousins Natalya and Lena grow up in Cold War Russia dreaming of a better life and a different future. To escape Russia, the girls concoct a scheme to trick Western men into sending money. When they succeed, they make their home in Britain, and for a while it seems that they have truly found a new life. Sofi becomes a successful jeweller, Lena has two beautiful children and Natalya becomes the star she has always claimed she would. However, their relationships weaken, and a figure from their past looms to threaten what has always been their ultimate bond. Gold Dust is thrilling and impossible to put down. Comparisons with the novels of Paullina Simons are easy and the writing is just as good, but Freeman is definitely a talent in her own right. Hodder, $38.99 Stars: 4.5
 Wonderful Today, Pattie Boyd with Penny JunorPattie Boyd definitely lived the sixties ideal, modelling with Twiggy, experimenting with drugs, and marrying George Harrison of The Beatles, aged just 22. Her autobiography details all this and more, starting with her childhood in Kenya, and following her rise to become one of the 'It Girls' of the 60s. Her life was not easy though, as she battled addiction, infertility, obsession, and a crazy love triangle between her, George, and another superstar, Eric Clapton. The inspiration for iconic songs such as ‘Something’ and ‘Wonderful Tonight’, Pattie’s autobiography is a fascinating look into a whirlwind life, packed with amazing details and personal insights. Headline, RRP $27.99 Stars: 4.5  The Glass of Time, Michael CoxEsperanza Gorst is sent by her guardians to become a lady’s-maid at the great house of Evenwood. However she is no ordinary maid, as her guardians wish her to carry out their Great Task, which they will reveal to her as time passes. Esperanza quickly becomes enmeshed in the secrets of Evenwood, in which her own past and future lie. As she wins the confidence of her mistress, Esperanza must make a choice between betraying those she loves and fulfilling her guardians’ wishes. The Glass of Time is an enthralling novel, filled with excitement, passion and mystery. John Murray, RRP $38.99 Stars: 4.5
Jessi
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