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1. The Team That Hit the Rocks by Peter Jerram (David Bateman)
In April 1968, the interisland passenger ferry Wahine hit Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in a cyclone, the worst storm recorded in New Zealand’s history. Among the 610 passengers and 125 crew was the Lincoln College cricket team with one Peter Jerram among its number. Some 53 people lost their lives and while the cricket team all survived, the disaster had a huge impact on them.
Initially, they didn’t discuss their experiences, but over the years that has changed. Drawing on the written and oral testimony of his teammates, crew and rescuers, Jerram tells their stories, and examines what led to the disaster and loss of life, finding serious fault with the Court of Inquiry into the tragedy.
The Listener said that there have, of course, been other books and documentaries about the catastrophe but few, if any, that have captured the catharsis of the event so directly and with undemonstrative emotion. “These are remarkable stories; enduring but unvarnished personal accounts of what it means to confront death … [it’s] an intensely felt exploration of tragedy and survival.”
2. Evolving by Judy Bailey (HarperCollins)
In which the person who presented our TV news from 1986 to 2005 (“I just fell into it”) offers an “inspiring and personal guide to ageing well and with happiness”. It covers older health, fitness (she does Pilates), finances and embracing joy, as well as the inevitable losses and griefs of a life. Bailey says being in your 70s today is a world away from what it used to be. “We’re out there doing things and we’ve got a lot to contribute,” she told the Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
3. Foraging New Zealand by Peter Langlands (Penguin)
Kiwis love the idea of foraging our forests and fields and riverbanks for edible wild plants, and in current times there’s probably an economic element as well. Liv Sisson’s Fungi of Aotearoa sold pallet-loads when it came out last year, and we can expect Peter Langlands’ book, from the same publisher, to do the same. Langlands is perhaps the country’s only professional forager, collecting wild flora for restaurants and running workshops. It’s a chunky guide, 500 pages, that picks out 250 plants and fungi from about 7500 edible species. The book warns of stuff not to touch, and plants that look like others but are verboten. The range is impressive. You may know you can eat samphire and wild chervil but be surprised that you can scarf parts of rengarenga, pōhutukawa stamens, wandering willie.
4. Dame Suzy D by Susan Devoy (Allen & Unwin)
Petra Bagust describes Dame Susan Devoy’s autobiography as “a rollicking story of a life well lived”, and John Campbell says the book is “the story of becoming Suzy D – in all her determined, triumphant and unabashed singularity”.
In her own words – and in the straight-up style that won her legions of new fans on Celebrity Treasure Island – Dame Susan tells the story of her life so far: the wins, the losses, the battles, as well as the bonds that got her through life’s hardest challenges.
Some might be surprised to learn that as well as being a sporting champ, chief executive and Race Relations Commissioner, she also answered the call when our horticulture industry needed staff and worked as a kiwifruit picker.
5. Māori Made Easy Pocket Guide by Scotty Morrison (Penguin)
Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy Pocket Guide does exactly what it says on the kēna, or tin. A bit wider than a cellphone, it’s an updated and reworked “careful selection of some of the best and most useful content from my previous books”. This includes pronunciation and communication basics, as well as history, tikanga and essential phrases like “Aue, kei te tino rongo au i te whiu a te waipiro” – “Gosh, I am terribly hungover.”
6. Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin)
Laura is a successful communications manager on a break from work and back in her home town for a visit before walking from one end of New Zealand to the other. But her plans get thrown out the window when the family of her long-term ex-boyfriend, Doug, come back into her life. Then Doug’s kid brother, Mick, begins to take an interest.
From the Listener’s review: “Take Two is a great small-town drama in which local gossips try to make mischief with Laura’s situation, while the family bookshop needs to be kept running and a murky property development is being sold to vulnerable locals. It’s a cosy read, though the author isn’t afraid to broach some bigger issues, such as how families manage illness, women deal with infertility and the sometimes tricky relationships between mothers and daughters.”
7. The Space Between by Lauren Keenan (Penguin)
This novel, set during the New Zealand Wars in 1860, focuses on Frances, an unmarried Londoner newly landed in New Zealand. She meets Henry White, who had jilted her and is now husband to Matāria, who is shunned by her whānau because of her marriage. The blurb says, “As conflict between settlers and iwi rises, both women must find the courage to fight for what is right, even if it costs them everything they know.”
An extract: “Frances heard the commotion before she saw it: a man being arrested by two soldiers of the Crown, right in front of Thorpe’s General Store.
‘I belong here!’ the man shouted. ‘Nō Te Ātiawa au. This is our place.’ He wore a European shirt over trousers that were far too short. His black hair was unkempt, his eyes bright.
‘You need a pass to enter the township,’ one of the soldiers said, hands gripping his rifle. The soldier’s uniform was crisp and tidy: black trousers and a navy-blue tunic with shiny buttons. ‘Natives are not allowed here without swearing allegiance to the Queen. You should all know that by now. And you’re disturbing the peace by yelling.’
‘Go,’ the other soldier said. ‘Move.’
The man was led away, head bowed, past the staring customers at the butcher’s, the seamstress’s workshop and the bakery. Past the pile of cut wood that would soon be another military blockhouse, built to ensure that the likes of this loud, shabby man were kept out of the settlement. How unpleasant. Frances preferred not to think about what the newspapers called the ‘native troubles’ — it was all too frightening. So, she wouldn’t. She’d think about something else instead.”
8. Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan)
A boutique-published novel in the top 10? The debut work of fiction from Auckland lawyer Dermot Ross promises to challenge your perceptions about Ernest Hemingway and modern relationships in the #MeToo era. It’s about university lecturer Nick Harrieson, who is accused of sexually harassing one of his students. While he’s waiting for this hearing of his case he decides to investigate some family history involving his grandfather and the writer. “‘Fancy that. It seemed a bit far-fetched, but he is a level-headed fellow and he gave no indication that he was making it up.’ Adrienne stopped. ‘You’ve got to be joking! That’s amazing.’ Nick was stunned. Could this be true? Hemingway was a renowned boxer, often picking fights with friends and strangers alike. But with his grandfather? How on earth did they meet?”
9. Feijoa by Kate Evans (Moa Press)
A new guide to and history (with recipes) of our second-favourite oval fruit.
David Hill in the Listener said: “Feijoas: there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground with them. You either breathe in their sun-and-summer scent as you anticipate that first honey-lush slide of them over the papillae (indeed, I’m salivating), or you recoil from contact, going ‘Ewww! Too perfumed! Too sickly!’ … Foreign? Well, yes: they originated some 30 million years ago, in Brazilian highlands and Uruguayan valleys. There’s something pleasingly incongruous about a plant with such provenance becoming commonplace in Kiwi side streets.
“Raglan-based, internationally published journalist Kate Evans offers this as ‘a book about connections’. So it is: connections with other feijoa fanatics (Evans neatly calls them ‘disciples’); between plants and the animals who spread their seeds; between ‘tamed’ varieties and environments; and, of course, between humans and nature. No plant is an island.
“Evans is an irrepressible investigator, phoning or visiting experts across multiple continents. From its origins in South America, the feijoa was studied in Germany, collected in France, domesticated in the US, transplanted to NZ. She heads to virtually all venues.”
10. Nine Girls by Stacy Gregg (Penguin)
From a writer much loved for her horse stories – her standalone titles, set in seven different countries, have made the NZCYA book awards finals eight times and scooped the coveted Children’s Choice three times in a row – comes a very different tale. No horses, for starters. Instead, at a turbulent time in our recent history, a peeved teen displaced from a posh Auckland suburb returns to her mother’s home town of Ngāruawāhia, divided by race and a river. There’s a mystery, concerning buried treasure, dating back to the land wars, tapu and – yes – a talking tuna (eel). The taniwha, with an impeccable tribal pedigree, serves as a device for imparting a lot of historical information. Just don’t go looking for nine characters – the title is explained in an author’s note.
(Source: Nielsen Bookscan NZ – week ending April 20.)
