NONFICTION
1 One Last Question, Prime Minister by Barry Soper (HarperCollins, $39.99)
Political memoir, dismissive of Ardern.
2 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House, $40)
Political memoir, dismissive of Soper.
3 The Valley by Asher Emanuel (Bridget Williams Books, $39.99)
Believe the hype, believe the repeated claims that this is the best nonfiction book of the year and it will take a goddamned miracle for anything else to come along that’s even within reach of it—The Valley is like nowt else ever produced here, which is partly to say Wellington writer Emanuel is the first New Zealand author to take on that great white whale of literature, the nonfiction novel, and succeed. His book is an account of two petty crims and their overworked legal aid lawyer in the Hutt Valley. It reads like a novel. It may be a masterpiece, although too soon to know.
A free copy is up for grabs in this week’s giveaway contest. To enter, nominate your favourite work of NZ nonfiction published this century, and share your remarks on why this is the case, by emailing stephen11@xtra.co.nz with the subject line in screaming caps I NEED TO READ THE VALLEY BY ASHER EMANUEL, by midnight on Monday (it’s a long weekend), June 1.
4 The Good Settler by Richard Shaw (Massey University Press, $39.99)
More contemplations of post-colonial reckoning by the prolific academic. He says, “Wherever you go in New Zealand, you will find yourself walking, living, or studying, or dying on land which has a problematic history. And I think being a good settler at the very basic level means reflecting on what that might mean for you.”
Shaw, Professor of Politics at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, hopes his collection of essays will inspire readers to “engage thoughtfully” with the legacies of colonisation: “This is a book that invites you to sit down and have a cuppa and work out your associations.” Hm. That’s a very placid expectation; I anticipate a more robust assessment from Philip Temple, who will review The Good Settler for ReadingRoom.
5 Lessons on Living by Nigel Latta (HarperCollins, $39.99)
6 Te Kaikaukau by Witi Ihimaera Smiler (Auckland University Press, $45)
7 Sāmoan Made Simple by Jason Tiatia (Penguin Random House, $35)
Broken down into the alphabet, pronunciation, greetings, meals, school, sports, and basic phrases.
8 No Pit Stops by Grant Baker (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)
9 Night, Ma by Elizabeth Knox (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $40)
10 Become Unstoppable by Gilbert Enoka (Penguin Random House, $40)
FICTION
1 All Her Lives by Ingrid Horrocks (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $35)
A free copy of the short story collection that won the $65,000 fiction prize at this month’s Ockham awards was up for grabs in last week’s giveaway contest. The author was a star attraction at the Auckland Writers Festival; to win a copy of All Her Lives, readers were asked to describe their favourite event at the AWF.
There were numerous replies and nominations. I got a few votes for my session chaired by Lady Deborah Chambers. Dame Jacinda Ardern got a number of votes, too. But the most popular session was the event with Karen Hao, author of The Empire of AI.
I liked this entry from Chris, who wrote, “The session where I learnt the most and came out most disturbed was The Empire of AI by Karen Hao. I had my head in the sand about the ethical, environmental and human costs involved in ‘making our lives easier’. With the proposed cuts to public sector jobs it is a book I would suggest those in power in NZ read and reflect on.”
I liked an entry from Toni even more. She wrote, “Karen Hao’s talk on her book Empire of AI was enlightening. Hao talked about AI being a collection of technologies, just as there are different versions of transportation from bicycles to rockets. She writes: ‘One version of AI takes up all the oxygen: large-scale, generative systems that power products like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT.’ These ‘empires’ consume a vast quantity of resources to run their AI and control data, under the guise of benefitting humanity. The massive scale of resources required is hard to comprehend, she described an example of a data centre being built in the US that is the size of Auckland.
“She also talked about her recently published AI Resist List, (empire) resistant AI initiatives with positive stories about the use of AI, and one of them is in Aotearoa. The Te Hiku Media Māori speech recognition toolis an AI platform for Māori language that also keeps control of their data.”
Fascinating. Huzzah to Toni; she wins a free copy of All Her Lives by Ingrid Horrocks.
2 Slash by Gavin Strawhan (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
3 Malachite (Valmora Academy) by Ashley Andersen (Hachette, $37.99)
4 Banjara by Shana Chandra (Hachette, $37.99)
5 The Other Catherine by Lauren Keenan (Penguin Random House, $38)
6 The Black Monk by Charlotte Grimshaw (Penguin Random House, $38)
7 Party Boy by Breton Dukes (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38)
Great to see the best novel of 2026 back in the charts; sales were evidently brisk after Dukes appeared at the recent Auckland Writers Festival. It’s a fast, intense story about a Dunedin cook with a Tramadol problem and a past he tries hard to forget. I’ve enjoyed three NZ novels published this year but nowt comes close to the pleasure of reading Party Boy.
8 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $28)
9 Black Velvet and Vengeance (Tatty Crowe 3) by Deborah Challinor(HarperCollins, $37.99)
10 The Secrets of the Lost Vineyard by Erin Palmisano (Hachette, $37.99)
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