Here are this week’s biggest books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias.
NZ Non-Fiction
1 How to Escape from Prison by Paul Wood (HarperCollins, $37.99)
By an ex-con turned doctor of psychology.
2 Magnolia Kitchen by Bernadette Gee (Allen & Unwin, $45)
Includes something called the allergy-friendly cookie sandwich.
3 The Note Through the Wire by Doug Gold (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)
“The love story of Josefine Lobnik, a Slovene resistance fighter, and Bruce Murray, a Kiwi prisoner of war. They met by chance when she passed a note through the wire of a POW camp seeking information on her brother Leopold who had been captured by the Nazis. Years later, they became my parents-in-law”: the author, in a personal essay at ReadingRoom.
4 Te Tiriti o Waitangi by Toby Morris, Ross Calman, Mark Derby and Piripi Walker (Lift Education, $20)
5 The Book of Knowing by Dr Gwendoline Smith (Allen & Unwin, $24.99)
“If you feel anxious or want to learn more about the way you think, then this book is gold. It shares tools on how to change how you think and feel — to how to have more control and feel calmer and happier”: Rachel Grunwell, Herald.
6 What the Fat? by Grant Schofield & Caryn Zinn & Craig Rodger (Blackwell and Ruth, $49.99)
ReadingRoom looks forward to receiving AUT food expert George Henderson’s background essay, including his thoughts on the book’s controversial inclusion of a laxative in the recipe for low-carb sausage rolls.
7 Purakau by Witi Ihimaera & Whiti Hereaka (Penguin Random House, $38)
Hereaka will appear onstage tomorrow afternoon (July 6) in conversation with Kate de Goldi at the Marlborough Book Festival in Blenheim.
8 The New Zealand Wars by Dr Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books, $39.99)
O’Malley will appear onstage tomorrow morning (July 6) in conversation with Ron Crosby at the Marlborough Book Festival in Blenheim.
9 Rich Enough? by Mary Holm (HarperCollins, $36.99)
10 Maori Made Easy by Scotty Morrison (Penguin Random House, $38)
NZ Fiction
1 When It All Went to Custard by Danielle Hawkins (HarperCollins, $35)
ReadingRoom anticipates receiving a profile of the Otorohanga novelist by Wintec journalism student Oskar Howell very, very soon.
2 A Dream of Italy by Nicky Pellegrino (Hachette, $34.99)
3 This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman (Penguin Random House, $38)
4 The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera (Penguin Random House, $26)
Classic.
5 Call Me Evie by JP Pomare (Hachette, $34.99)
6 Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh (Hachette, $29.99)
From the opening chapter: “Alexei’s grief remained locked up tight in an airless box where it stayed except for bleak midnight hours about once a month when he could no longer hold it inside. Those nights, he ran in wolf form, howling up at the cold moon.”
7 The Unreliable People by Rosetta Allan (Penguin Random House, $38)
8 The Gulf Between by Maxine Alterio (Penguin Random House, $38)
9 Short Stories by Katherine Mansfield (Penguin Random House, $35)
Classic.
10 What You Wish For by Catherine Robertson (Penguin Random House, $38)
“I often get reviewers saying, ‘Oh, it’s very well written’ in a tone of surprise. They expect commercial fiction to be a bit dire”: the author, interviewed by Britt Mann.
