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 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 at ReadingRoom this week by Craig Ranapia.
2 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.
3 Auē by Becky Manawatu (Makaro Press, $35)
Named best novel of 2019 at ReadingRoom, five months before it won the Jann Medlicott prize for fiction at the Ockham New Zealand national book awards.
4 Tell Me Lies by JP Pomare (Hachette, $29.99)
His previous thriller.
5 The Author's Cut by Owen Marshall (Penguin Random House, $36)
Short stories by a master of the form.
6 Back to You by Tammy Robinson (Hachette, $29.99)
Romance novel.
7 The Leaning Man by Anne Harre (The Cuba Press, $37)
Crime novel.
8 Bug Week by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press, $30)
Short stories, from New Zealand’s best publishers of fiction.
9 Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly (Victoria University Press, $35)
Debut novel, from New Zealand’s best publishers of fiction.
10 Cousins by Patricia Grace (Penguin Random House, $26)
Excellent news this week that Misconception Films, which brought Cousins to the big screen, has optioned Flight of the Fantail by Steph Matuku.
NON-FICTION
1 After the Tampa by Abbas Nazari (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)
Refugee memoir.
2 National Identity by Simon Bridges (HarperCollins, $37.99)
3 Steve Hansen: The Legacy by Gregor Paul (HarperCollins, $49.99)
“As a deep and unflinching investigation into Hansen’s complex character, it seems inconvenient truths have been too conveniently ignored”: from a review by Scotty Stevenson, at ReadingRoom.
4 Imposter by Matt Chisholm (Allen & Unwin, $36)
“In 2019, on a family holiday in the US, Matt Chisholm stood on the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, the highest in the country. Staring down at the Arkansas River rushing below him, he thought about jumping. It’s a moment Chisholm recounts in his new memoir, an account of his life up until the point when, aged 43, he left his job at TVNZ and moved his young family from Auckland’s North Shore to Chatto Creek in Central Otago”: from a profile by Emily Brookes, at Stuff.
5 Aroha by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)
Every week is Māori Language Week, via the 52 whakatauki in Dr Elder’s best-seller, eg Aroha mai, aroha atu (Love received demands love returned).
6 Māori Made Easy by Scotty Morrison (Penguin Random House, $38)
Every week is Māori Language Week.
7 Māori Made Easy Workbook 1/Kete 1 by Scotty Morrison (Penguin Random House, $25)
Every week is Māori Language Week.
8 A Māori Phrase a Day by Hemi Kelly (Penguin Random House, $30)
Every week is Māori Language Week.
9 Māori Made Easy Workbook 2/Kete 2 by Scotty Morrison (Penguin Random House, $25)
Every day is Māori Language Week.
10 The Forager's Treasury by Johanna Knox (Allen & Unwin, $45)
Foraging or something.
