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Lifestyle
Steve Braunias

This week's best-selling books

This week's bookcase star is the one and only Kate De Goldi, author of Eddy, Eddy, number one in the fiction chart. She is pictured (by Bruce Foster) at her Wellington home, and says, "My inner librarian long ago lost control: nonfiction and fiction wantonly together. Somehow I know where everything is and I enjoy the unlikely pairings – Shirley Hazzard and Ronald Hugh Morrison close together, Louise Erdrich on top of Patrick Evans. The three figurines on are meticulously handmade by the brilliant Ellen Henry from Christchurch. Tiny people – Borrowers! – living with text."

The week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias

FICTION

1 Eddy, Eddy by Kate De Goldi (Allen & Unwin, $29.99)

Of course it's gone to number one; it's the latest novel by De Goldi, a national treasure, and one of our most imaginative and appealing story tellers. Paddy Richardson's review will appear in ReadingRoom next week.

2 Harbouring by Jenny Pattrick (Penguin Random House, $36)

3 The Leonard Girls by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins, $36.99)

4 Winter Time by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Random House, $36)

From a very admiring review by Owen Marshall: "The novel is a success, most obviously because it captures people and place – a place of scents and colours, warmth and cold, wind, trees and birds, sounds, rocks and water, the houses of the people who live there… It's a brave story, and well told. There's a sincerity in all of Laurence Fearnley's work that gives it a special weight and character."

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

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

Literary tweet of the week was by The Spokesvagina, who wrote, "As a New Zealander, frankly I am disgusted that the entire nation is not camped outside of Te Herenga Waka University Press right now demanding a sequel to Greta and Valdin. What do we want? MORE TIME WITH THAT FAMILY! When do we want it? RIGHT NOW PLEASE".

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

8 Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers, $35)

9 Loop Tracks by Sue Orr (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $35)

10 Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant by Cristina Sanders (The Cuba Press, $37)

NON-FICTION

1 Everyday Favourites by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)

There goes good old unbeatable Allen & Unwin, proving their amazing acumen once again as the publisher of this week's number one book in fiction and non-fiction. Insull's cookbook has "tasty, affordable recipes the whole family will love". They all say that don’t they but the proof is in the pudding and her puddings include classic chocolate cake with butternut frosting. Butternut!

2 A Quiet Kitchen by Nici Wickes (David Bateman, $45)

3 The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

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

5 Yum! by Nadia Lim (Nude Food Inc, $55)

6 The Boy from Gorge River by Chris Long (HarperCollins, $39.99)

7 No Excuses by Dave Letele (Penguin Random House, $40)

New self-helper. Blurbology: "Dave Letele’s incredible life has taken him from footy to failure, crime to community, fat to fit and riches to rags - and back again. Today, he is an award-winning community leader and life coach who, as the face of Buttabean Motivation, helps literally thousands of ordinary people achieve their goals. He provides targeted health and fitness programmes, helps young people find jobs, and runs a foodshare for those in need. But it wasn’t always like that. He has overcome poverty, obesity, intergenerational trauma, depression, the lure of a life of crime and his own demons. Like Dave says, 'I’ve been at the bottom and I’ve been at the top, and everywhere in between … If I can do it, you can. No excuses.'"

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

9 I am Autistic by Chanelle Moriah (Allen & Unwin, $29.99)

10 Imagining Decolonisation by Rebecca Kiddle & Bianca Elkington & Moana Jackson (Bridget Williams Books, $14.99)

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