1. (NEW) Lessons on Living by Nigel Latta (HarperCollins)
The recently departed TV psychologist Nigel Latta’s mental toolkit for life’s ups and downs.
From the publisher: “What do you do when you’re told you only have months to live? If you’re Nigel Latta, first, you’re going to eat a lot of ice cream. And then you’re going to assemble a mental toolbox to deal with every conceivable conundrum the world could throw at you (the small ones and the big ones). After three decades working as a clinical psychologist, Nigel has found there are just three principles you need to deal with life’s ups and downs. Whether you want to be a better parent, build an empire or get through some tough times, these easy-to-carry principles will help you to do that. Consider this book a guide to how to respond in any situation, drive your own bus, and do it all with resilience, joy and attention to what matters most.”
2. (NEW) Nadia’s Farm Kitchen by Nadia Lim (Nude Food)
The publisher (who’s also Nadia Lim) says: “Welcome to my farm kitchen – where food is real, the stories are personal, and every recipe begins with what’s growing around us. Inside Nadia’s Farm Kitchen you’ll find the food I turn to as the seasons shift – meals shaped by the rhythm of the land. From rhubarb pushing through frost-hardened soil, to sun-warmed peaches and tomatoes bursting with ripeness, to the comforting aroma of a slow-roasting lamb shoulder on a snowbound afternoon – this is food that connects us to the seasons and the simple joy of cooking. But this is not just a cookbook – it’s also a glimpse into our life on Royalburn Station, filled with personal stories of farming and living through the seasons. It has been a true labour of love, created over years, with photography captured across the last 5-6 years on the farm. I am so proud of it – and I can honestly say it’s my best book to date.”
3. (NEW) Perspective by Shaun Johnson (Penguin)
Shaun Johnson, who retired at the end of 2024 aged 34, was one of the country’s greatest rugby league players, and one of the best in the game. This is his autobiography, “a half-Laotian kid from the Hibiscus Coast with big dreams”. Written with sports journo Scotty Stevenson, it’s a lively, footy-lingo-ed romp with the halfback – random line: “We were absolutely shit-canned by the Roosters …” – through the highlights and low-lights of a league career, beloved family in tow. He is looking to move into a career in media.
4. (NEW) The Hollows Boys by Peta Carey (Potton & Burton)
Frequent Listener contributor Peta Carey tells the story of Gary, Mark and Kim, three siblings who grew up on Kawau Island, who all went to Fiordland to hunt venison. It’s a lively, intimate tale, of helicopters, planes and jet boats, of characters and derring-do, of success and joy and risk and loss, full of the voices of the family, of catching deer, fish, crays, with plenty of photos.
5. (2) Ara by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin)
From the publisher: “Dr Hinemoa Elder introduces us to a profound journey guided by Hinengaro, Māori goddess of the mind, leading us through 23 specific rua, caves, into the unfamiliar depths of Papatūānuku, our Earth mother, and back to the surface again.
“Hinengaro offers us a dedicated path to gather insights, face challenges and help us navigate the complexities of our minds. Ara: A Māori Guidebook of the Mind is a resource for anyone seeking some comfort and clarity amid the chaos of our life’s path. Travel through this mind map navigating growth and discovery.”
6. (3) Become Unstoppable by Gilbert Enoka (Penguin)
Getting a winning mindset the All Black way.
From the publisher: “In a career spanning almost three decades, visionary psychological coach Gilbert Enoka changed the way the All Blacks played their game. With a 77% winning record in test match rugby, the highest of any professional sports team, they are the only international team to have a winning record against every opponent. That is only possible because they leave no part of their preparation to chance. Their winning mindset and resilience are as important as the physical training and Gilbert Enoka was their secret weapon.
“For the first time, Gilbert distils his essential lessons to building unshakeable staying power – particularly at times of high pressure when others would crumble – creating a winning team mentality and leaving things better than how you found them, so that we can all learn the All Blacks’ way. Discover how to build a winning culture, hone your leadership to inspire your team in times of need and establish iconic rules for performance that will become your competitive advantage for years to come.”
7. (5) A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin)
Ardern’s memoir is the first such account since Jim Bolger’s.
Ardern’s book has generally found favour among reviewers, including Henry Cooke for the Listener. He thought it intimate and fluent, “compulsively readable, easily consumable in two or three sittings, and often very funny”, even if it barely explained her government’s policy decisions. “Ardernism was always more a sensibility than a full ideology. It was a way of looking at the world and reacting to it, not a theory of change.” Cooke says “there are some hints, near the end of the book, that perhaps she isn’t so certain quitting was the right idea … There is little attempt to engage with the arguments against the latter half of the Covid period, when MIQ’s usefulness looked shaky and vaccine mandates radicalised thousands of people.”
Tracy Watkins, editor of The Post and Sunday Star-Times, agreed the book let us into some of Ardern’s emotional highs and lows. “We also gain some fresh insight into her own personal mechanisms for coping with such momentous events as the terror attack, and Covid. But we don’t learn a lot more about what was going on behind closed doors within her government, which must, at times, have been under enormous strain.”
The Guardian considered it “an emotionally rich and candid read, [but] the downside of skipping the political detail is that it’s hard to get a sense of how exactly her astonishing early popularity ebbed away”.
Tim Stanley of The Telegraph was more acerbic, writing that the natural disaster at Whakaari White Island and the Christchurch mosque killings “brought out Ardern’s best: authoritative and sensitive, she has a fine temperament”. But “the practicalities of the job don’t interest her: this book hinges on how everything felt”.
8. (1) Saving Elli by Doug Gold (Allen & Unwin)
Doug Gold’s latest based-on-fact tale of bravery and sacrifice.
Said the Listener: “Saving Elli is a compelling, well-told story, even a page turner, despite its harrowing subject matter.”
“Saving Elli … showcases a courageous Dutch couple, Frits and Jo Hakkens, who worked for the Resistance in Nazi-occupied Holland. At significant personal risk, Frits and Jo successfully hid Abraham and Gita Szanowski’s daughter Elli from the Nazis for two years, despite regular raids on their house.”
Tailor Abraham Szanowski suffered a period of forced labour at Buchenwald, before being transferred to Mauthausen, and was later among other prisoners who became early victims of the Nazis’ first mass gassings. Gita succeeded in reaching Switzerland after a perilous journey through occupied Belgium and France. Gita and her two daughters survived the war. In 1960, Frits and Jo emigrated to New Zealand with their three sons. After they died in the 1970s when only in their 50s, their son Marcel and his wife Gloria picked up the search for Elli, their lost “sister”. It wasn’t until 2011 that the brothers finally tracked her down.
9. (NEW) Everything But the Medicine by Lucy O’Hagan (Massey University Press)
Memoir of a GP.
From the publisher: “Over her long career Dr Lucy O’Hagan has developed deep insights into the profound but often complex relationship between patients and doctors. Reading about her own struggle with what it means to be a truly useful doctor is both fascinating and absorbing. From working with people living on the margins and her own burnout to her efforts to better serve her Māori patients and the humour that’s sometimes needed to get through the day, she keeps her eye on one key question: What is it to be a good doctor in this place?”
10. (4) Mum’s Busy Work by Jacinda Ardern & Ruby Jones (Picture Puffin)
The former prime minister is everywhere, writing a memoir (see #5), appearing in a documentary much of whose raw footage was filmed by partner Clarke Gayford (go here), and now producing a children’s book.
It’s written through the eyes of daughter Neve, based on real conversations between the two. Radio NZ’s reviewer said it isn’t really a story so much as “a schedule in the week of a kid with a working mum”.
The publisher calls it an “inspiring and heartwarming” book. “Today I got out of bed and asked Mum what day it was. ‘Monday,’ she said. I asked if that was a day care day. She said yes. I stomped my feet. Even though day care is fun, it’s still hard not to miss Mum throughout the week! But despite her busy job, there’s always time for stories, time for games, time for hugs, and time for love.”
Source: NielsenIQ BookScan – week ending October 4.
