The local books Kiwis have been buying this week. Photos \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
1. (1) Murder and Mojitos by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin)<\/p>\n
The third and apparently final cosy crime novel in the Bookshop Detectives series by two actual bookshop owners.<\/p>\n
\n From the publisher: \u201cBooksellers Garth and Eloise Sherlock (and their cowardly dog, Stevie) have been roped into hosting Murder and
\n Mojitos, a glamorous Art Deco festival event starring Cuba\u2019s queen of crime fiction. Between flapper frocks, rooftop hijinks and competitive cocktail shaking, it should be the bookshop\u2019s biggest break yet. But when mysterious parcels arrive at the shop and a body turns up on a quiet local beach, every clue points back to Arthur Pinter \u2013 the literary-obsessed serial killer from the Sherlocks\u2019 past. With the mojitos flowing and half of the town in costume, Garth and Eloise must untangle a web of old betrayals, new alliances and international intrigue before the festival\u2019s finale turns into a bloodbath. Can they protect their staff, their small town and their beloved bookshop \u2013 or will this be their final chapter?\u201d\n <\/p>\n
The Bookshop Detectives: Murder and Mojitos by Gareth & Louise Ward. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
2. (NEW) Go Hard Or Go Home by Kiri Allan (Penguin)<\/p>\n
Memoir from the former justice minister enters the charts at No 2.<\/p>\n
From the publisher: \u201cKiri Allan\u2019s six-year political career spanned some of the most challenging times in recent history. Events a government might encounter once in a generation stacked up: a terrorist attack, a volcanic eruption, destructive and deadly weather events, a global pandemic \u2026 And as a highly recognisable figure, Kiri\u2019s overlapping personal story also played out under scrutiny: divorce, new parenthood, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and mental health struggles culminating in the car crash that led to her resignation.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo Hard or Go Home is the story of the person beyond the headlines, from church-going child to charismatic hitchhiker to precocious law student to former politician. Honest, fierce and deeply moving, Kiri\u2019s memoir asks what it costs to keep going when you can\u2019t live in half measures, and what it takes to rebuild your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danyl McLauchlan\u2019s interview with Kiri Allan is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. (3) One Last Question, Prime Minister by Barry Soper (HarperCollins)<\/p>\n Barry Soper\u2019s memoir-through-Parliament is like its author: feisty, honest, no-nonsense. Soper signed up for the police aged 17, but within six months realised its hierarchy and requirement to bend to authority weren\u2019t for him. Back in Gore, he ran into a writer for the Southland Times and the rest is history. It\u2019s a very readable account, Soper\u2019s views are refreshingly independent-minded, and his memory of people and events is elephantine. After a brisk personal account of his life, he jumps into what he thinks of 12 PMs from Muldoon to Luxon. Helen Clark he rates the highest; John Key comes not far behind. Jacinda Ardern he rates the weakest, judging her government largely ineffective despite a huge majority. As for Hipkins and Luxon, for him the jury is still out.<\/p>\n 4. (NEW) A Bushman\u2019s Book of Yarns by Sam Gibson (Allen & Unwin)<\/p>\n Stories from the bush and a guide to edible native plants from the Gisborne-based bushman, hunter, trapper, conservationist, and Instagram star.<\/p>\n From the Listener\u2019s review<\/a>: \u201cGibson offers us the creamed rice tree (mamaku), bush asparagus (kareao), jewelled fruit (mingimingi) and bush noodles (hakeke). From hors d\u2019oeuvre to dessert, the New Zealand bush features something for every taste. Should you suffer from digestive upsets otherwise known as Bush Belly, Gibson suggests a handful of koromiko leaves brewed in a tea is highly efficacious. No fern roots here but he offers the new shoots of mouku (hen and chickens) ferns. Harvest the manehau, the new shoots, sustainably and responsibly, fry in butter and garlic or serve in a salad. Manehau are also a balm for skin ailments \u2026 What separates this book from many others is that it fuses Gibson\u2019s own work and experiences with how the plants and trees inhabiting the forest must provide food and medicine on a sustainable basis. New Zealand\u2019s bush has always occupied a special place in the collective heart of M\u0101ori and P\u0101keh\u0101. But it is also an environment which demands respect and understanding \u2026 We can enjoy New Zealand\u2019s bush for its own merits, but it also demands respect and understanding to ensure its survival. \u2018This is a book which can help us transition from thinking \u2018that is a tree\u2019, \u2018that is a fern\u2019 or \u2018that fluffy stuff on the ground is a moss\u2019 to understanding a little more of who a plant is and what our relationship with that plant could be,\u2019 he writes. \u2018We need to understand the context of what a plant is and the actions we need to take to ensure that they remain abundant.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n 5. (7) The Valley by Asher Emanuel (Bridget Williams Books)<\/p>\nGo Hard or Go Home by Kiri Allan. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
One Last Question, Prime Minister: From Muldoon to Luxon, untold stories from the House of Parliament by Barry Soper. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
A Bushman’s Book of Yarns by Sam Gibson. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n