The top 10 sales lists recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.
2 Clown Town: Slough House #9 by Mick Herron (Baskerville, $38)
Of the two crime novels – here and the one above – this is the superior. Herron is a brilliant writer – propulsive and fulsome without being laggy. The above needs to be fiercely edited – 960 pages! Absurd.
3 Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Harper Collins, $38)
A dark academia roller coaster in which grad students Peter and Alice must walk through the courts of hell to save the soul of their professor.
4 The Safe Keep by Yael van der Wouden (Penguin, $26)
When are we going to get the film adaptation?
5 Ara: A Māori Guidebook of the Mind by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin, $30)
Elder’s latest book is guided by Hinengaro, Māori goddess of the mind. Hinengaro “leads us through 23 specific rua, caves, into the unfamiliar depths of Papatūanuku, our earth mother, and back to the surface again.”
6 Seascraper by Benjamin Wood (Viking Penguin, $40)
This novel comes with very impressive puff quotes from Hilary Mantel, Benjamin Myers and Douglas Stuart among others. Here’s the blurb: “Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp; spending the rest of the day selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.
When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?”
7 Strange Pictures by Uketsu (Pushkin Press, $37)
A mystery revolving around a series of creepy drawings.
8 The Unlikely Doctor by Timoti Te Moke (Allen & Unwin, $38)
Astounding and inspirational story of becoming at doctor at 56 years old after overcoming a traumatic early life.
9 Anything Could Happen by Grant Robertson (Allen & Unwin, $40)
Still going! Here’s what Henry Cooke’s had to say about it.
10 Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy (Hamish Hamilton, $40)
Roy describes her mother as “my shelter and my storm” – herewith a rollicking, moving, surprising memoir of the mother-daughter relationship that shaped the great writer.
WELLINGTON
1 Ara: A Māori Guidebook of the Mind by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin, $30)
2 How to Save Democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand by Sir Geoffrey Palmer (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30)
Stunning cover! Here’s the blurb: “In this timely and provocative book, Sir Geoffrey Palmer draws on his experience as former Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Attorney-General to get people thinking about the state of New Zealand’s democracy. Palmer offers rare insights into the machinery of power and its vulnerabilities, and rather than surrendering to pessimism, he presents a roadmap for renewal.”
3 Clown Town: Slough House #9 by Mick Herron (Baskerville, $38)
4 Rangatiratanga and Gentlemanship: a conversation in 1825 by Grant Hodgson (Writes Hill Press, $30)
This book looks closely at historical documents that reveal something of the nature of interactions between Māori and Pākehā missionaries at Kerikeri in 1825, in the earliest stages of colonisation.
5 Anything Could Happen by Grant Robertson (Allen & Unwin, $40)
6 Hallmarked Man #8 Cormoran Strike by Robert Galbraith (Sphere, $40)
7 Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Harper Collins, $38)
The fancy Katabasis display at Unity Books Wellington.
8 Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy (Hamish Hamilton, $40)
9 The Unlikely Doctor by Timoti Te Moke (Allen & Unwin, $38)
10 Pakukore: Poverty by Design edited by Rebecca Macfie, Graeme Whimp and Brigette Bönisch-Brednich (Bridget Williams Books, $20)
An incredibly timely, motivating book on how inequality is created and how those systemic failures might be shifted: “Poverty is not the result of individual failure or misfortune. It is a product of the design of our economic and institutional systems. Pakukore brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to expose the systemic nature of poverty in Aotearoa and explore pathways for change.
From education, health and housing to government finance, welfare and justice, this book shows how inequality is embedded in the structures of our society. It offers analysis from economists, public health experts, legal scholars, community leaders and those working at the front lines of social need.”