1. (1) The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Heading all the local charts for the second week running 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 Listener. “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 thirteen-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 coolly 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. (6) 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).
3. (9) Dreamslinger by Graci Kim (Penguin)
The first in a very readable series for older tweens/young adults from the Korean Kiwi about 14-year-old Aria Loveridge, who 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.
4. (2) Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Being judged the best book of fiction at this year’s Ockhams has seen 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-storeyed 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.”
5. (3) Full Circle by Jenny-May Clarkson (HarperCollins)
Holding steady 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 her 10-year-old self possessed. 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.”
6. (10) See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Moa Press)
Sydney-set thriller from Auckland writer features a Succession-style family gathering at their retreat after the patriarch dies. Tragedy ensues and, as 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 quick sand which swallows nasty rich people up. You have to applaud.”
7. (RETURN) 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin)
From the Listener’s review: “Young Obi lives in a decrepit villa at the lowest, flood-prone point of Grey Lynn’s Crummer Rd, with his teenage sister, hard-drinking father and chronically ill mother. He’s blessed, or cursed, with a hunger for escape and adventure that video games only partly satisfy – and the arrival of a sinister figure from his dad’s past sets everything on a fateful course.
“A gritty coming-of-age story set against the end of an era, poet and novelist Dominic Hoey’s latest (it follows 2022’s well-received Poor People with Money) is nominally a period novel but far from an exercise in nostalgia. Hoey puts the sensations and smells of Auckland in the 1980s under our fingers and in our nostrils, as facts of life that Obi accepts with the readiness of childhood. The Rainbow Warrior sinking is humorously dismissed on the first page as a non-event, and although the manhunt for the saboteurs provides thematic colour and a moment of fateful idealism later on, the signal is clear: these are people with more immediate concerns on the table.”
8. (4) Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin)
Vanya Insull, aka VJ Cooks, offers her third cookbook, focused on satisfying winter meals.(You can find recipes from the book here).
From the publisher: “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.”
9. (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 Ruth’s 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.”
10. (RETURN) The Bookshop Detectives: Tea And Cake And Death by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin)
The bestselling Bookshop Detectives, owner of Sherlock Tomes, have another mysterious case to solve.
From the publisher: “In this rollicking new adventure, Garth and Eloise (and Stevie) must sniff out a prolific poisoner ahead of a vital fundraising event, the Battle of the Book Clubs. As time runs out and the body count rises, it seems the bad actors are circling closer to the people and places they care about. Could Pinter, the infamous serial killer from Eloise’s past, somehow be involved? And when anyone could be a suspect, how can Garth and Eloise keep their customers, their small town and their beloved bookshop safe?”
Source: NielsenIQ BookScan – week ending May 24.
