News release July 2, 2024
Kete Books, the website dedicated to helping readers discover New Zealand books and authors, has been rebuilt and is now live, connecting New Zealanders to their local books in all formats at an enhanced level.
Created by The Coalition for Books, ketebooks.co.nz is the place to discover reading ideas and inspiration, find independent reviews, read special book-related features and book news, find out about bookish events, sample the latest New Zealand books via extracts and read audiobook reviews. As the site’s homepage states, it is “all about books in Aotearoa, all in one kete.”
‘This hub for New Zealand readers and writers comes at a crucial time,’ says Coalition for Books Board member Nicola Legat. ‘Though New Zealand books are more high profile than ever, coverage in traditional media outlets has begun to fall away.’
To celebrate the relaunch, the site is full of compelling lists for its first week:
- 25 new, New Zealand classics published since 2000 predicted by much loved former bookseller Tilly Lloyd (full list below)*
- 10 thrilling crime novels by NZ authors to add to your e-reader selected by crime reviewer Greg Fleming
- 10+ winter warming New Zealand romance novels selected by romance writer Marie Cardno (Marie Hodgkinson).
The following week Kete will celebrate children’s books with a list of 10 of the best from the last 10 years, curated by Sapling editor Linda Jane Keegan. Throughout July and August there will be more special feature articles to delight and inform readers.
Other new site features include:
- Audiobook reviews – these consider aspects particular to the format including narrator and listening experience;
- A new-books carousel featuring the latest New Zealand books as they are released
- Handy books by category tabs to help readers find titles in their favourite subjects and genres.
Kete will be joined by WORD director and longtime book reviewer Kiran Dass who takes on the role of Editor in Chief in September.
‘New Zealand books have never been more relevant or more powerful. I’m very excited to be joining Kete,’ says Kiran. ‘Kete curates and celebrates New Zealand books in a way that they fully deserve.’
About Kete Books
ketebooks.co.nz is devoted to helping readers discover Aotearoa New Zealand books. It is an initiative from The Coalition for Books and was initially set up in 2020 with funding from Creative New Zealand.
The 2024 site redevelopment was funded through the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Manatū Taonga’s Regeneration Fund. The rebuild and launch has been project managed by editor and project manager Emma Rawson and development work has been conducted by Dave McDonald and the team at Native Alien. The project is governed by a subcommittee of book sector representatives from publisher, bookseller and author organisations.
Kete commissions independent reviews and articles on New Zealand books and authors. WORD Christchurch Programme Director, writer and reviewer Kiran Dass is set to join the site as Editor in Chief in September 2024. The site’s Interim Editor is writer and takahē magazine Board Chair Erica Stretton.
About the Coalition for Books
The Coalition for Books is a collaborative book sector organisation that works to raise the profile of Aotearoa’s books and authors; developing programmes and initiatives that serve authors, publishers, booksellers, festivals, readers, and organisations that make up the literary eco-system of Aotearoa New Zealand.
*Tilly Lloyd’s 25 new, New Zealand classics published since 2000
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox, Te Herenga Waka University Press /Michael Joseph.
Auē by Becky Manawatu, Mākaro Press.
The Author’s Cut by Owen Marshall, Penguin Random House.
The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey, Te Herenga Waka University Press.
Billy Bird by Emma Neale, Vintage
Black Ice Matter by Gina Cole, Huia Publishing
The Book of Fame by Lloyd Jones, PenguinThe Cowboy Dog by Nigel Cox, Te Herenga Waka University Press
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly, Te Herenga Waka University Press
How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid, Penguin
The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke by Tina Makereti, Penguin
The Invisible Mile by David Coventry, Te Herenga Waka University Press
Kāwai: For Such a Time as This by Monty Soutar, David Bateman
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, Te Herenga Waka University Press
Mary’s Boy, John-Jacques and other stories by Vincent O’Sullivan, Te Herenga Waka University Press
Max Gate by Damien Wilkins, Te Herenga Waka University Press
The New Animals by Pip Adam, Te Herenga Waka University Press
Novel About My Wife by Emily Perkins, Bloomsbury
Poor People with Money by Dominic Hoey, Penguin
Purākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers by editors Witi Ihimaera and Whiti Hereaka, Penguin
Rangatira by Paula Morris, Penguin
The Scornful Moon by Maurice Gee, Faber
Small holes in the Silence by Patricia Grace, Penguin
Songs from the Violet Café by Fiona Kidman, Vintage
The 10pm Question by Kate De Goldi, Longacre Press
