This week's best-selling books

This week's bookcase star is Michael Bennett, author of the new crime novel Better The Blood, about a tenacious female Māori cop trying to do her job against a backdrop of conflicted colonial history. He says of the book Abnormal Psychology at bottom right, "When I was 10 years old, my big brother Bruce was away from home doing Psychology at Canterbury. His first summer holidays he brought this book home with him; I read it cover to cover and when Bruce went back to uni, I hid it so he couldn’t take it back. This book sparked a curiosity in me that has never died about the dark corners of the human mind."

This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias

FICTION

1 Eddy, Eddy by Kate De Goldi (Allen & Unwin, $29.99)

2 Poor People With Money by Dominic Hoey (Penguin Random House, $37)

The author of the surprise hit novel of the year has written an astonishing self-portrait which may well appear next week in ReadingRoom.

3 Return to Harikoa Bay by Owen Marshall (Penguin Random House, $37)

The great master of the short story will appear with another wonderful author of short fiction, Elizabeth Smither, at the Auckland Writers Festival on Saturday at 5pm.

4 The Wrong Woman by JP Pomare (Hachette, $36.99)

5 Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $35)

The author of the most celebrated debut novel since Auē will appear at the Auckland Writers Festival this afternoon (Friday) at 12:30pm, in a panel alongside Madeleine Chapman and Himali McInnes, chaired by Rosabel Tan.

6 Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers, $35)

7 Harbouring by Jenny Pattrick (Penguin Random House, $36)

The author of the year's biggest-selling historical novel will appear  at the Auckland Writers Festival this morning (Friday) at 11am, chaired by Nicky Pellegrino.

8 Arms & Legs by Chloe Lane (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30)

Second novel  by the author of The Swimmers. It's set in Florida, and partly concerns an affair. Blurbology: "New Zealand-born Georgie’s marriage has stagnated….Termites swarm the neighbourhood, and she finds a dead boy in the burning woods…The  repercussions of her discovery of the body, and her affair, come to land…Arms & Legs is a deliriously insightful excavation of love, desire, parenthood and relationships at their best, and worst."

Nice cover.

9 How to Loiter In a Turf War by Coco Solid (Penguin Random House, $28)

The author of the year's most genre-bending novel will appear alongside the fabulous Lana Lopesi at the Auckland Writers Festival, this afternoon (Friday) at 5pm.

10 Echidna by essa may ranapiri (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $25)

The author's second collection of poems. From a review by Hamesh Wyatt, in the Otago Daily Times: "This is modern, entertaining story-telling that creates its own magical chemistry. Milton, R S Thomas, Hinemoana Baker and Keri Hulme are acknowledged…The whole thing is slanderous and colourful. There is something inventive and ambitious here. Echidna is, above all, brave."

NON-FICTION

1 Ross Taylor: Black & White by Paul Thomas (Upstart Press, $49.99)

Leanne McGoldrick tells the following really very boring and yet also sort of quite interesting story in the cricket player's bio: "For Ross, there were always certain things that brought him good luck or bad luck and, the longer he played, the more superstitious he became. Early in his career, I was staying with Ross and Victoria. It was the evening before a game. While they were out, I noticed Ross's playing gear in a pile on the floor; thinking I was being helpful, I put it in the wash. When Ross and Victoria got home, I noticed Ross seemed upset. He was clearly trying to compose himself so I thought it best not to say anything. Sometime later I found out that he had to wash his own gear the night before a game — no sooner. (He actually rewashed the gear that I'd put through the laundry.) Luckily for me, he played well the next day."

2 Sons of a Good Keen Man by the Crump Brothers (Penguin Random House, $38)

Crumpy.

3 Everyday Favourites by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)

Food.

4 Tools For the Top Paddock by Kane Brisco (HarperCollins, $37.99)

Self-helper.

5 Yes, Minister by Christopher Finlayson (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)\

From Matthew Hooton's very entertaining review of the very entertaining memoir by the former Attorney General: "Finlayson claims to have followed the old idiom that if you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, then don’t say anything at all. He tries to follow the rule. He has a lot to say about those National Party figures he rates, predictably John Key, Bill English and Joyce, plus Gerry Brownlee and Anne Tolley. Many others earn at least a few nice words. Mercifully, though, Finlayson fails to be entirely faithful to his pledge. …"

6 Owning It by Brad Smeele (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)

The story of the wakeboarder who crushed his spinal cord in 2014 and becoming a quadriplegic immediately. Blurbology: "For someone whose whole life was built around his physical prowess, this was completely and utterly devastating. Brad has had to work through a great deal, from being an incredibly physical person in all senses of the word to being someone with very limited use of his body. The struggle has been monumental, but he's come to a place of acceptance. In this book he shares his epic story and the lessons he has learned through an unexpected teacher. He brings the same focus and determination he brought to his wakeboarding career to inspiring others."

Incredibly handsome guy.

7 Aroha by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)

Whakataukī.

8 Blue Blood: The Inside Story of the National Party in Crisis by Andrea Vance (HarperCollins, $36.99)

Hopelessness.

9 Yum! by Nadia Lim (Nude Food Inc, $55)

Food.

10 No Excuses by Dave Letele (Penguin Random House, $40)

Self-helper.