NONFICTION
1 Become Unstoppable by Gilbert Enoka (Penguin Random House, $40)
2 Saving Elli by Doug Gold (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
3 Habits of High Performers by James Laughlin (HarperCollins, $39.99)
4 Ara by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)
5 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House, $59.99)
6 Just a Mum’s Kitchen by Anna Cameron (Allen & Unwin, $45)
7 Hard-Case Heroes by Gerard Hindmarsh (Swamp Press, $40)
Blurbology: “Stories of quirky and largely untold characters associated with the Abel Tasman coast and its uplands: early settlers and park rangers; an island hermit and defiant squatters; graziers and a limestone miner.”
8 The Unlikely Doctor by Timoti Te Moke (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
9 How to Save Democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand by Geoffrey Palmer (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30)
The preface to Sir Geoff’s new collection appeared as an excerpt in ReadingRoom on Monday.
10 Edible Weeds Handbook by Andrew Crowe (Penguin Random House, $35)
A free copy of Crowe’s excellent guide was up for grabs in last week’s giveaway contest. Readers were asked to describe their favourite forage. It was an extremely popular contest.
There were numerous votes for good old miner’s lettuce and chickweed. Blackberries sent Rob to lyric heaven: “Delinquent bastard brother of the raspberry, or maybe free and indomitable cousin of said refined, red sycophant?” Alix, too, took a poetic delight: “My favourite free food would have to be something that I have been sucking up ever since I can remember – the little drops of nectar that get pulled down along the tube of the honeysuckle flower.”
Iain chose parengo: “Plucked off the rocks below the lighthouse at low tide. Wash in seawater, can be dried for keeping. Cook with 1lb parengo, 1lb butter. Delish! Dried, it was sent to soldiers in WWII.” Carey chose kawakawa leaves: “Place 1 leaf in cup and add boiling water. Bush pick-me-up at its pure simple best. Full of vitamin C and antioxidants. Place a little cool water in the cup if desired or linger over it hot for while … as you should with good cup of tea … and thank the bush.”
Julia wrote, “Sticky Buns or Slippery Jacks that flourish in autumn. They seem to grow in abundance under old pine trees. I gather them and peel off the slimy top skins, then ease off the yellow, sponge like gills. I’m left with a beautiful, saffron, yellow fillet. I fry them in butter to add to an omelette or pizza or anything really. But I always dehydrate some for use in risotto, soups or Asian dishes. I think that they have a mellow, slightly truffle like flavour. Delicious.”
But the winner is Liz, who wrote, “My favourite foragable edible is the bane of home gardeners and local councils: onion weed (Allium triquetrum).
“The entire plant is edible including the bulbs that can be harvested in late summer and pickled. I use the leaves raw in place of spring onion, leek, chives or garlic chives, in salads, dressings, stir-fries, etc. They also make great pesto.
“The flowers I use to garnish salads, egg dishes, soups, dips, and – best of all – they are sensational deep fried in a tempura batter. When the flowers start dying off, I pick them, remove the petals to reveal a caper that can be pickled.
“The bulbs and white parts of the stem make a fabulous mayo, and the entire plant, along with some kawakawa and kelp, makes an incredible and healthy super salt. The complete,” she concluded, with a swish of her apron, “all-rounder!”
Huzzah to Liz; she is the very deserving winner of Edible Weeds Handbook by Andrew Crowe (Penguin Random House, $35).
FICTION
1 The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin (Hachette, $37.99)
2 Julia Eichardt by Lauren Roche (Flying Books Publishing, $36.99)
3 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38)
4 Hooked Up by Fiona Sussman (David Bateman, $38.99)
A free copy of Sussman’s highly readable thriller about a serial killer on the loose in Auckland is up for grabs in this week’s giveaway contest. To enter, share a story or theory about the possibility of serial killers operating in New Zealand, and email it to stephen11@xtra.co.nz with the subject line in screaming caps SERIAL by midnight on Sunday, September 28.
5 Tea and Cake and Death (The Bookshop Detectives 2) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $38)
6 See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Hachette, $37.99)
7 Dead Girl Gone (The Bookshop Detectives 1) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $26)
8 Lepan’s Shadow by Douglas Pearce (Opihi, $28)
Blurbology: “An international mystery that spans decades and continents, triggered by a death in Chile’s Atacama Desert.”
9 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin Random House, $38)
10 The Stars are a Million Glittering Worlds by Gina Butson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
The author is a finalist in the Surrey Hotel writers residency award, announced this coming Wednesday, September 31, live on air by Jesse Mulligan on his RNS Afternoons show.