1. (1) The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Heading all the local charts is Catherine Chidgey’s latest novel, which tells the mysterious, ominous story of three boys in an alternative 1970s Britain.
It’s a “tense, compelling, genre-fusing book,” said the rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener/books/guilty-pleasure-catherine-chidgeys-the-book-of-guilt-reviewed/KFCCC3BP2VFBRC6XKHEFXK52GY/"> Listener in its review. “There is the hint of submerged identity; of aspiration and prosperity, rubbing skins with disappointment and neglect; a preoccupation with what is authentic and what is fraudulent; the self and truth only dimly visible … Calling on the deeply rooted psychological power of the storytelling rule of three, the novel is divided into The Book of Dreams, The Book of Knowledge and The Book of Guilt. Three women, Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, care for a set of 13-year-old triplets in an all-boy’s orphanage. There are three main narrative perspectives: Vincent, one of the triplets; the Minister of Loneliness, a government minister in charge of national care institutions known as the Sycamore Homes; and Nancy, a young girl kept in seclusion by fastidious older parents. This attention to pattern also cooly embodies the quest for order and control, the troubling obsession at the core of the fictional investigation.”
You can read Michele Hewitson’s interview with Catherine Chidgey here.
2. (RETURN) Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Being judged the best book of fiction at this year’s Ockhams sees the Wellington author and teacher return to the bestsellers list.
From the Listener‘s review: “Wilkins confronts the much-promoted glow of retirement and reveals some harder-edged truths, both personal and general. The distinction between expectation and reality is telling. Delirious has suspense and pace.
“Mary and Pete live in a large two-storied house with a view of Kāpiti Island over the beach dunes. Both are in their late 70s and the future now looms in their thoughts. The expectations of others are clear: the couple will downsize and move into a retirement village.
“But this is no ordinary novel. While the pace of life seems easy and pleasant, the past has a way of returning. Events seldom run to plan. Mary and Pete’s son died in an accident 40 years before, at the age of 11. A sudden call comes from the Wellington CIB with the possibility of new information.”
3. (6) Full Circle by Jenny-May Clarkson (HarperCollins)
Steadily rising in the charts is this memoir from the TV presenter.
From the publisher: “From a childhood in rural Piopio, Jenny-May Coffin grew up to achieve international success as a Silver Fern and then began a stellar career on radio and television as a sports commentator and morning presenter. But outward success can often mask inner uncertainty, and Jenny-May lost her grip on the confidence she possessed as a 10-year-old. The ups and downs of a full life, with tragedies as well as triumphs, left her in need of renewal. Here is the story of how she found self-confidence again, reclaiming strength and identity through her connections to te ao Māori, with the support of her husband, Dean Clarkson, and her close ties to her parents and siblings.”
4. (4) Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin)
Vanya Insull, aka VJ Cooks, is back among the bestsellers with her third cookbook, focused on satisfying winter meals (you can find recipes from the book here).
Her publisher writes: “Vanya has built her reputation on simple, delicious, never-fail recipes. She knows what works in the kitchen when it comes to feeding a family and how to whip up the perfect dish for every occasion. Following on from the runaway success of Everyday Favourites and Summer Favourites, Everyday Comfort Food celebrates the colder seasons, with warming winter meals and nostalgic treats to keep the whole tribe happy — as well as more of the everyday winning dishes Vanya is known for. From hearty soups, tender slow-cooked lamb and flaky golden pies to sweet delights and indulgent self-saucing puddings, Everyday Comfort Food delivers 70 mouth-watering recipes that taste like home.”
5. (5) Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (A&U)
Manapōuri bookshop owner Ruth Shaw returns to tell the second half of her fascinating life story.
The Listener noted: “One could be forgiven for looking at the cover of this book, with its gentle peach and grey-blues, the idyllic three buildings lit up like little beacons, and the title (I mean, little bookshops! How appealing can you get?) and expect a book of lovely little tales about finding the perfect book for the perfect reader. These tales are here, but they are interleaved between chapters of Ruth’s adventures. The main thrust of this book is the second half of her memoir, begun in The Bookseller at the End of the World.
“In that book she detailed her first 35 years, and now she delves into her life from 35 to 78, admitting wryly but without guile that this ‘period of my life was not as chaotic as my first 35 years’. This has to be a good thing. Surviving another 35 years as eventful as Ruth’s first, which included three marriages, several tragic deaths and close encounters with pirates, would take more fortitude than one can imagine – perhaps more than even Ruth has. But she still takes on considerable adventures with gusto in this period, advised or non-advised.”
6. (NEW) Whānau by Donovan Farnham & Rehua Wilson (Moa Press)
This illustrated pocket hardback, ideal as a gift, aims to improve your te reo Māori one special phrase at a time. Donovan Te Ahunui Farnham and Rehua Wilson offer up dozens of expressions, often with metaphorical or proverbial origins, such as “He toka tū moana” (stalwart) and “Kei mate wheke” (never surrender).
7. (3) No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins)
Slipping a few slots down the list due to big sales of local fiction at the Auckland Writers Festival is TV journalist Alison Mau’s new book, which promises to be an “inspiring, honest and intimate memoir about family, love and rising from the ashes”.
From the publisher: “From the age of 12, Alison Mau wanted to be a journalist like her father. He was a beer-swilling, straight-talking Aussie who was rough around the edges but could quote passages of Hamlet at will. He taught Ali everything – from how to skin a rabbit and throw a punch to how to craft a sharp sentence – and she craved his validation as she navigated the sexist badlands of Australian print and television journalism through the 1980s and ’90s.
“From Melbourne to London and Auckland, Ali built a glittering career and became a media darling – until an unexpected call from her sister brought her professional and personal lives crashing together with devastating force. As an investigative reporter bringing New Zealand’s #MeToo stories to light, she had to survey the wreckage of her family myth and ask herself, ‘Am I strong enough?’ and ‘Are there words for this?’”
8. (RETURN) Hine Toa by Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (HarperCollins)
Another book getting a second wind after being judged best in its category at the Ockhams.
Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku is a respected Māori scholar, an expert on tā moko, and now an emeritus professor. But in 1981 she was the first Māori woman to be awarded a PhD in New Zealand, and she took up political fights, leading protests for the Vietnam War, the 1970 All Blacks tour of South Africa, Waitangi Day, women’s liberation. To achieve success, she had to fight against family pressure, peer contempt, the academic and Māori establishment, racism, sexism and homophobia.
Her childhood, centred around the pā, Ōhinemutu, on the western shore of Lake Rotorua, is richly evoked. “This was a place of drifting thermal mists and streams of trout and crayfish; her family had its own bathhouse, mostly open to the sky and sandy below,” wrote the Listener‘s reviewer. But if anyone still imagines New Zealand in the 50s and 60s as a wholesome pastoral idyll, Hine Toa will dispel those illusions. “Ngāhuia’s parents separated, but to attend her local school she had to live with her abusive father. He beat her and perhaps more.”
This memoir is ultimately a contradiction, “honest but often frustratingly oblique; explicit in some places and coy in others … And yet this is an important book: vital to write, vital to publish and vital to read.”
9. Dreamslinger by Graci Kim (Penguin)
The first in a very readable series for older tweens/young adults from the Korean Kiwi about 14yo Aria Loveridge.
Aria has a special genetic mutation that transports her to a magical realm in her sleep. It also gives her special powers, and when she heads to a tournament for dreamslingers in a Korea-like city state, she begins to find her community.
10. (7) See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Moa Press)
Sydney-set thriller from Auckland writer features a Succession-style family gathering in their retreat after the patriarch dies.
The Listener noted: “the gilded family will fall … Some of the family will fall by dying. By poison. Others by other methods: loss of reputation, loss of fortune. Those golden sands turn out to be quicksand which swallows nasty rich people up. You have to applaud.”
Source: NielsenIQ BookScan – week ending May
