This week's bestselling books

We begin a new series of photos of author's pets with this adorable image of Jiffy, owned by Catherine Chidgey, whose novel The Axeman's Carnival was shortlisted this week for the fiction prize at the 2023 Ockham book awards. She says, "He's an SPCA rescue, 13 years old. He's completely deaf and very loud; one night, desperate for sleep, I shut him in the internal garage and barricaded the door with a mattress, pillows and blankets - could still hear him. He enjoys sitting on my desk and walking across the computer keyboard. Once he typed lolololololololololololololol in my novel The Wish Child."

The latest Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve Braunias

FICTION

1 Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38)

This week's book giveaway is special: a very handsome $50 hardback copy of Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. The paperback has gone straight to number one in the New Zealand charts, and greeted with very favourable reviews here (Rachael King, ReadingRoom: "This is a great book") and the UK (The Guardian: "This book is truly great"). To enter the draw, imagine the fate you think should befall a blathering right-wing shockjock munter in 100 words or less, or more if the fate you imagine can only be described at length, and email it to stephen11@xtra.co.nz, with the subject line in screaming caps I REALLY WANT TO READ BIRNAM WOOD BY ELEANOR CATTON. Entries close on Sunday midnight, March 12.

2 Kāwai by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)

Shortlisted this week for the fiction prize at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand national book awards. I think there are two leading contendoes among the four shortlisted titles to win the prize, the glory, the $64,000, and Soutar’s massively popular historical novel is one of them. It has a zeitgeist appeal - Māori stories told by Māori, no whites involved (it’s set in the pre-colonial 1700s) - and although the prose and dialogue are sometimes poor, the story is simple and powerful.

3 The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $35)

Also shortlisted for the fiction prize, also one of the two best bets, I think, to win. Chidgey’s story told by a magpie is at once gothic and good clean fun, with dazzling language and a strong rural setting, and although the ending is signalled a mile off, it’s a work of art.

4 Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $35)

5 Eddy, Eddy by Kate de Goldi (Allen & Unwin, $29.99)

6 How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid (Penguin Random House, $28)

7 The Doctor’s Wife by Fiona Sussman (David Bateman, $37.99)

8 Chappy by Patricia Grace (Penguin Random House, $38)

9 Auē by Becky Manawatu (Makaro Press, $35)

10 People Person by Joanna Cho (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30)

Shortlisted this week for the poetry prize at the 2023 Ockhams.

NON-FICTION

1 Straight Up by Ruby Tui (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

2 Be Your Best Self by Rebekah Ballagh (Allen & Unwin, $32.99)

Self-helper; soothing your nervous system and inner critic to lead a happier life, etc.

3 Aroha by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)

4 Fear by Byron C Clark (HarperCollins, $39.99)

“Increasingly I’ve found myself thinking that the combination of far-right and conspiracy-theorist movements we’ve seen grow during the pandemic is a dress rehearsal for what we’ll see once the impact of climate change becomes more significant”: the concluding chapter from Clark’s excellent investigation into New Zealand extremists appeared in ReadingRoom on Thursday.

5 Wawata by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)

6 Māori Made Easy by Scotty Morrison (Penguin Random House, $38)

7 The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $38.99)

8 The Sharesies Guide to Investing by Brooke Roberts & Leighton Roberts & Sonya Williams (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

9 Māori Made Easy Workbook 1/Kete 1 by Scotty Morrison (Penguin Random House, $25)

10 Salad by Margo Flanagan & Rosa Flanagan (Allen & Unwin, $45.00)