Claire Inkson

Best thing about my job? Interviewing legends like this. Such an honour 🖤

A life in song: Barry Saunders returns to Tussock Country There are some songwriters whose music feels woven into the back roads of New Zealand.Not because they set out to write “rural” songs, but because they have lived that life. They have travelled the country, watched people closely, and learned how to tell a story the way New Zealanders talk. Stra...

Love it when you stumble across an author and suddenly you’ve got a stack you can’t put down.

Frederik Backman has been that for me. Picked these up from The Next Chapter Bookstore and now I get the hype. He writes people properly. Flawed, awkward, kind, frustrating, all at once. The sort of characters that feel familiar, like you’ve met them before or maybe been them at some point.

What I love most is the way he threads in the why. Why people react the way they do, why they say the wrong thing, why they carry what they carry. It reminds you that everyone is showing up with a backstory you don’t see, and that maybe a bit more grace wouldn’t go amiss.

If you’re looking for something that pulls you in but also makes you think a little deeper, start here. And if you’re looking for a bookstore that stocks books you actually want to read, check out The Next Chapter.
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