Every year Wellington City Libraries’ staff nominate their favourite fiction reads of the year. These usually cover a wide range of genres, but each staff member is totally enthusiastic about their choice. This year, for the first time one title, The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Doaz was selected by two staff members. The full list, with comments, can be found on the Fiction web page.

One title not included on the web page was The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford. Although published in 2007, Monty, our nominator said it was “dense, weighty, satiric, all-but-the kitchen-sink novel from one of America’s best. It continues the comic-tragic musings of U.S.-Everyman, New Jersey real estate agent Frank Bascombe”. Monty also added, “ it was one of my favourite books ever”!!!

The 2008 fifth edition of The Best New Zealand Fiction has this year been edited by the veteran short story writer Owen Marshall. Dame Fiona Kidman began the series in 2004, editing the first three volumes followed by Fiona Farrell in 2007. The latest edition includes a short story by Julian Novitz who won $10,000 for this year’s BNZ Katherine Mansfield Award for his story Three Couples. Previous winners of this award, Charlotte Grimshaw and Carl Nixon also have stories included in this fifth volume of stories, along with Craig Cliff a previous winner in the novice category. The most recently reveived New Zealand fiction can be found on My Library