This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias FICTION
1 Harbouring by Jenny Pattrick (Penguin Random House, $36)
In its third week at number one and destined to stay there for some time to come. Pattrick's historical novel is set in 1839, in Wellington; the characters include two settlers from Wales. She told Radio New Zealand, "I wanted them to be more or less destitute, as I think many of those early settlers, not the land-owning ones, but the ones who were brought out ... [who] had to pay back their passage when they got here, they were often people who were desperate."
2 The Leonard Girls by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins, $36.99)
More tales from the past! There's always been an appetite for sweeping historical novels telling yarns in New Zealand of years gone by; Challinor's 20th book is set at the height of the Vietnam war and features two sisters - one pro-war, the other a protester.
3 Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Victoria University Press, $35)
Shortlisted for the looming Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand book awards on May 11.
4 Auē by Becky Manawatu (Makaro Press, $35)
5 Another Beautiful Day Indoors by Erik Kennedy (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $25)
New collection of poems, including 'Phosphate from Western Sahara'. The author backgrounded the subject - and the vitriolic response - in an excellent story published on Wednesday at ReadingRoom.
6 Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers, $35)
Shortlisted for the looming Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand book awards on May 11, which certainly provides a good excuse to publish another update on the outfit the author intends to wear at the ceremony. It's a representation of the title character of her novel, the mythical bird-woman of Mokoia Island. She took to the Twitter machine this week, and wrote, "Yesterday I cut out my brocade waist cincher but auē! I’ve run out of needles heavy enough for that. So on to the skirt. I drafted this underskirt, which has a godet at the back seam to make a bit of a tail shape (like a bird!)." Photographic evidence, below.
7 The Fish by Lloyd Jones (Penguin Random House, $36)
A lecturer in creative writing at the University of South Australia has written something about Jones's latest novel at The Conversation. I have absolutely no idea what she's saying or whether she enjoyed the book.
8 To Italy, With Love by Nicky Pellegrino (Hachette, $34.99)
9 Notorious by Olivia Hayfield (Hachette, $34.99)
The latest novel by the Ponsonby author (real name Sue Copsey) is described as perfect for fans of Danielle Steele, Tilly Bagshawe and Penny Vincenzi.
10 Anomalia by Cadence Chung (We Are Babies, $25)
Debut collection of poems from the independent press based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and made up of Carolyn DeCarlo, Stacey Teague, Ash Davida Jane, and Jackson Nieuwland (their next collections are by Nicole Titihuia Hawkins and Khadro Mohamed). Cadence Chung is a poet, musician, and student at Wellington High School; Davida Jane describes the poems in Anomalia as "language so lush it drips with imagery", viz
i am made from milk teeth, not yet weaned
from this world though it may try
to pull itself from my wet pink gums
NON-FICTION
1 The Boy from Gorge River by Chris Long (HarperCollins, $39.99)
Memoir of the son of the famous Beansprout, who raised a family in the wild, in Gorge River, South Westland. Beansprout has written his own account of life in the wilderness, in 1990, as the author of A Life on Gorge River: New Zealand's remotest family. He gave an interview to the Otago Daily Times that year, and spoke about eating from the fat of the land, which wasn't very fat: "I harvest supplejack shoots, use koromiko, and occasionally eat kelp and sea lettuce."
2 The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)
More tales from the South Island! There's always been an appetite for yarns of isolation and endurance in the empty South; Shaw's memoir of running two wee bookshops in Manapōuri is a charming addition to the genre. A flavour of the book is caught in an excerpt in ReadingRoom.
3 Grand by Noelle McCarthy (Penguin Random House, $35)
The best book of the year so far. Alcohol and a mother's love form the two powerful and obviously resonant themes in McCarthy's memoir, which ReadingRoom devoted an entire week to, with a long excerpt, an even longer interview, and an epic review by Rachael King, who wrote, "You’d never wish material this good for a memoir on anyone. It’s complex, thrilling and raw. It even has a perfect beginning, middle and end. It’s the opposite of comfort reading. And yet the ending is so tender, peaceful."
4 Simple Wholefoods by Sophie Steevens (Allen & Unwin, $49.99)
5 Cracking Open the Nest Egg by Martin Hawes (Upstart Press, $39.99)
How much money will you need to retire? Can you ever afford to stop working? How do you make sure your money lasts as long as you do? Is it possible to worry yourself about these things to an early grave?
6 Letters to You by Jazz Thornton (Penguin Random House, $30)
The author and her dance partner Brad Coleman were judged second place with 30/40 on the scoreboard in Monday night's episode of Dancing with the Stars.
7 I am Autistic by Chanelle Moriah (Allen & Unwin, $29.99)
8 Salad by Margo Flanagan & Rosa Flanagan (Allen & Unwin, $45)
9 Natural Care by Wendyl Nissen (Allen & Unwin, $45)
Francesca Rudkin, Newstalk ZB: "Well, if there's anyone that comes to mind if I wanted advice on living a natural life, it would have to be Wendyl Nissen. She gave up corporate life 20 years ago to live a more laid-back life in the Hokianga. She's the author of 11 books on chemical-free living and old-fashioned ways of life. Natural Care is her latest book."
10 Aroha by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)
