1. Fungi of Aotearoa by Liv Sisson (Penguin)
Fungi enthusiast Liv Sisson’s popular guide to foraging our fields and forests for mushroom morsels, which came out last May, has returned to the very top of the local bestsellers list. Sisson makes them sound delicious: “Here are some of the most interesting fungi foods I’ve come across in Aotearoa. Slippery jack mushroom burgers, grilled over charcoal, with a dash of pine oil, served over a bed of creamy mushroom-stock polenta. Mushroom mince dumplings. A porcini mushroom chocolate mousse Yule log. Those first two dishes come from Max Gordy, and the third from Vicki Young – both are top Wellington chefs. When we think outside of the ‘mushrooms on toast’ box, we find that fungi offer us untapped foodie potential.”
2. Pee Wee the Lonely Kiwi Finds a New Friend by Blair Cooper & Cheryl Smith (Flying Books)
Back directly into the No 2 spot is this children’s book about a kiwi looking for a friend, searching high and low, from sea to mountaintop. It was a bestseller when it was first published in 2019 and now it’s popped back into the charts, for some reason. Will Pee Wee find a friend? You wouldn’t bet against it, though this one has a surprise ending.
3. Bookshop Dogs by Ruth Shaw (A&U)
The author of the bestselling The Bookseller at the End of the World, which was about life and retailing in her bookshops in Manapōuri, in the southwest of the South Island, turns her attention to the dogs that visit. These are the hounds of locals and those who are holidaying or just passing through. Among them is Hunza, the German shepherd that worked alongside Shaw when she was a youth worker helping troubled teenagers.
4. Untouchable Girls by Jools & Lynda Topp (A&U)
The memoir of our beloved Topp Twins has remained close to the top of the bestsellers since it was released last October. As their interview with the Listener notes, when putting this together they “made a list of significant periods in their lives, then worked their way through it non-chronologically. Eventually, they had 31 chapters that recall how the Waikato farm girls ran away to the army, stayed on in Christchurch, and found a new home among the increasingly vociferous local lesbian community, turned their country music-honed voices into protest songs … then somehow, via the magic of television, abundant charisma and their array of characters, became beloved mainstream entertainers. Oh, and in chapter 23, cancer.” Also in the book is a topic largely uncanvassed: the sisters’ sometimes roller-coaster love lives during the decades.
5. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Still in the top half of the top 10 is Eleanor Catton’s literary thriller, the highest-selling local novel for the past year, hands down. The story of a dastardly billionaire tech mogul doing bad things in the middle of the South Island, using a guerrilla gardening collective as cover, is many things. It is a genuine thriller, with deception and intrigue, chases by thugs and drones, and has an incendiary finale that – slight spoiler – veers towards horror. It’s a character study too, of several people, including the idealistic gardeners, a wannabe journalist, and our rich intruder, and contains within it a critique of left-wing politics and of New Zealanders, particularly our tendency to be complacent and even naive about corruption and bad actors.
6. The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Catherine Chidgey won last year’s $64,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction for The Axeman’s Carnival, which has rarely left the bestseller lists since it was released in 2022. It’s narrated by Tama, a fledgling magpie taken in and raised by Marnie on the South Island high country farm she shares with ace axeman husband Rob. “If it keeps me awake,” says Rob, “I’ll have to wring its neck.” Tama, who it turns out can speak and becomes something of a social media star, comments on the goings-on in his new home, providing something of a wry, well, bird’s-eye view on rural life, loss and relationships. A sense of dread hangs over proceedings until this kiwi gothic moves towards its final outcome.
7. Gangster’s Paradise by Jared Savage (HarperCollins)
Summer has seen a revival of readers for NZ Herald reporter Jared Savage’s latest tale of local mobsters. It follows Gangland, an exploration of how organised crime in New Zealand evolved in recent years, particularly around illegal drugs. Savage’s new book explores, in that fast-paced, breathless, newspaper style, how it has escalated – more drugs, more shootings, more corruption – driven by the arrival of “501″ deportees from Australia. Gangs have grown and new ones have sprung up, bringing a harder edge to the scene, he writes. “They have better connections with international drug syndicates, better criminal tradecraft and encrypted communications, and are more willing to use firearms to enforce their will.” Existing gangs have responded in kind, escalating their approach and making life harder for police, who have had to get more innovative and sophisticated to try to counter the threat.
8. The Abundant Kitchen by Niva & Yotam Kay (A&U)
In which the owners of the quarter-acre Pākaraka Permaculture Garden in the Coromandel share their recipes and know-how of “pickles, preserves, sourdough, kombucha, cured meats, yoghurt, vinegar and all kinds of ferments”. There’s also ginger beer and koji. There are 100 recipes, offering step-by-step instructions and clever tips and techniques, infused with Middle Eastern flavours.
9. Patu: The New Zealand Wars by Gavin Bishop (Picture Puffin)
A beautifully illustrated large-format account of the New Zealand Wars, aimed at younger readers but which clearly holds plenty of interest for adults, by the award-winning Bishop. The book explores key characters, movements, battle sites and defining moments in the early years of colonial settlement, honouring all those who played a part, including Bishop’s Scottish grandfather, born in 1847. The clues that enabled him to trace his whakapapa? His mother’s middle names: Irihapeti Hinepau.
10. Summer Favourites by Vanya Insull (A&U)
Summer is definitely here and Vanya Insull, aka VJ Cooks for those not on social media, is still among the bestsellers. Summer Favourites is the follow-up to 2022′s bestselling Everyday Favourites, a collection of her “tasty, easy and hearty” recipes. She’s back with 70 more, these being lighter dishes perfect for the barbecue or bach, including dinners, salads, baking, and desserts.
(Source: Nielsen Bookscan NZ – week ending January 20.)
