This week's best-selling books

This week's bookcase star is loather of government-funded New Zealand literature, Taxpayer's Union PR trout and right-wing ratbag Louis Houlbrooke. He writes, "I’ve heard that owning an Elon Musk biography is a ‘red flag’ so I balance it out with two copies of David Seymour’s book. Optionality is by Richard Meadows, the Kiwi journalist who ate $5 pizzas for 222 days in a row. It’s basically a self-help book that takes financial concepts and applies them to all aspects of life. I’ve made it sound terrible, but it’s excellent. Dad reckons Michael King’s books are where it all started to go wrong for our country. His Penguin History of New Zealand seemed pretty balanced when I read it, but I guess that’s how he gets you."

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 To Italy, With Love by Nicky Pellegrino (Hachette, $34.99)

Straight in at number one in its first week, and billed thus: "A shamelessly escapist and uplifting read, that will take you to Italy, with love."

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

3 The Last Guests by JP Pomare (Hachette, $34.99)

"Cain and Lina Phillips narrate most of the novel. He’s an ex-SAS soldier whose failed business isn’t helping a rocky return to civilian life that includes increasingly pointed questions about his role in civilian deaths in Afghanistan. She’s a paramedic whose own career is about to blow up after a call goes tragically bad.  Both have secrets that come to light when they’re not as good at scrubbing their internet histories as they think": from a rave review by Craig Ranapia, at ReadingRoom.

4 Pounamu, pounamu by Witi Ihimaera (Penguin Random House, $30)

A new edition of the 1972 collection of short stories. It's regarded as a modern classic but the author later turned on his first book, in  a 1981 essay, when he wrote that for post-war Māori, "It was if we'd all been given sleeping pills, tranquilisers. Even the literature we were writing lacked strength and direction. It was illustrative, pictorial… [and] what I have termed 'the pastoral tradition of written Māori literature'. The work lacked anger or political thought…[My] books Pounamu, pounamu, Tangi and, to a certain extent, Whanau, in 1972, 1973 and 1974 are tender, unabashedly lyrical evocations of a world that once was. But they are a serious mismatch with the reality of the times…The basic purpose of [my] writing had been to establish and describe the emotional landscapes of the Māori people. The landscapes of the heart…[But] I had created a stereotype. Of warm caring relationships. Of a people who lived in rural communities. But what was the reality? The reality in 1974 was a hardening of attitudes. By 1975 I felt my vision was out of date. I made a conscious decision to stop writing. I said that I would place a ten year embargo on my work. It was the right decision to make."  

5 Double Helix by Eileen Merriman (Penguin Random House, $36)

“An entertaining and quite adorable love story, a riveting medical drama, and a thought-provoking dive into contemporary ethical issues": from a rave review by Tiffany Matsis, at ReadingRoom.

6 Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Victoria University Press, $35)

7 Loop Tracks by Sue Orr (Victoria University Press, $35)

"A remarkable novel, beautifully and sensitively written, which demonstrates how the secrecy of the past may so unfairly encroach on the present": from a rave review by Paddy Richardson, at ReadingRoom. 

8 The Author's Cut by Owen Marshall (Penguin Random House, $36)

9 Cousins by Patricia Grace (Penguin Random House, $26)

10 Bug Week by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press, $30)

Award-winning short story collection; includes "Psycho Ex".

NON-FICTION

1 Lost and Found by Toni Street (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

Surrogacy memoir.

2 National Identity by Simon Bridges (HarperCollins, $37.99)

"If I was writing for political motivation, I wouldn't be telling New Zealanders about how un-coordinated I am, that I'm religious, that I've been beaten up a lot, that I don't feel particularly masculine at times," the author said recently on Q + A, not very convincingly.

3 After the Tampa by Abbas Nazari (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

4 Steve Hansen: The Legacy by Gregor Paul (HarperCollins Publishers, $49.99)

5 Still Standing by Jessica Quinn (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

6 The Accidental Teacher by Tim Heath (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

Matt Heath's uncle! Another teacher, University of Canterbury's Dr Jarrod Gilbert, posted a nice photo on Twitter this week to mark his school visit to Villa Maria: "A terrific bunch of young women interested in criminal justice."

Also on Twitter this week, Scottish author Jane Feaver posted this photo, and wrote, "This is the best photo of a teacher I have ever seen."

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

8 Salad by Margo Flanagan & Rosa Flanagan, (Allen & Unwin, $45)

Vegetables.

9 Imposter by Matt Chisholm (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

10 The Edible Backyard by Kath Irvine (Penguin Random House, $50)

More vegetables.