The weekly Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve Braunias
FICTION
1 Kāwai by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)
Māori fiction; number one for 12 weeks.
2 The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $35)
3 The Doctor's Wife by Fiona Sussman (David Bateman, $37.99)
4 Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $35)
Māori fiction; one of the biggest-selling novels of the past two years, named best novel of 2021 at ReadingRoom, and subsequently the winner of the Hubert Church Prize for Fiction for Best First Book at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and winner of the Aotearoa Booksellers' Choice Award at the 2022 Aotearoa Book Trade Industry Awards.
5 The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press, $37.99)
6 Eddy, Eddy by Kate De Goldi (Allen & Unwin, $29.99)
7 Harbouring by Jenny Pattrick (Penguin Random House, $36)
8 Tauhou by Kotuku Titihuia Nuttall (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30)
Māori fiction; there is genius at work in this new collection of short stories by the winner of the 2020 Adam Foundation Prize (basically the best student of the year at the IIML, previously won by such as Rebecca K Reilly and Eleanor Catton) and runner-up in the 2021 Surrey Hotel–Newsroom writer's residency award. A taste of her work can be found in a story first published at dear old ReadingRoom, "The cabin".
9 Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers, $35)
Māori fiction; winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for best novel of the year at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
10 Pounamu Pounamu by Witi Ihimaera (Penguin Random House, $30)
One of the great first books of Māori fiction; it received third prize at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards in 1973, and has since become established as an enduring classic.
NON-FICTION
1 Straight Up by Ruby Tui (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)
Two titles in this week's top 10 are hotly tipped to be named among the best 10 books of 2022 as named by ReadingRoom and Tui's memoir, as told to Margie Thompson, is very hotly tipped indeed. It's such a good, honest, frank, positive read.
2 Wawata by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)
3 Simple Fancy by Margo Flanagan & Rosa Flanagan (Allen & Unwin, $45)
A free copy of the Flanagan sisters' latest awesome cookbook was up for grabs in last week's ReadingRoom book giveaway. Readers were asked to name a New Zealand author living or not living who they would like to cook a meal for, and to describe this literary dish. Claire Ross nominated poets Anahera Gildea, Alice Te Punga Somerville, Nicole Hawkins "and even James K Baxter" and would cook them mini pāua fritter starters, flash fried snapper and oven baked chips with stunning summer berries and cheeses "and plenty of Marlborough wines keep the conversation flowing". Victoria Smith said she would cook poet Ati Tuhoe some Titi on a bed of NZ spinach with red cabbage and roasted beetroot, with a dessert of steamed pudding with double cream. Nicky Page said she would cook me crumbed blue cod fillet and hand-cut chips (yum!). There were other contestants but the winner is: Rachael King of Christchuch, who rather very touchingly nominated her Dad, the late historian Michael King: "He was diabetic (type 2) and he lived by the sea so I’d make him home-smoked kahawai fresh from the estuary (which we would catch together that morning) with a rocket salad and some steamed asparagus. Anyone who knew him knew he only drank Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc because someone told him it has the least amount of sugar, and is therefore good for diabetics (sometimes he took it with him to restaurants even if they weren’t BYO), so I’d serve that. Then some fresh blueberries and cream for dessert." Congrats to Rachael; a copy of Simple Fancy ("I loved their last book and use it all the time so would love this one") is on its way to her home and kitchen.
4 Aroha by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)
5 Whānaukai by Naomi Toilalo (HarperCollins, $55)
6 Learning to be French (and failing) by Anna Bibby (Allen & Unwin, $45)
7 Kai by Christall Lowe (David Bateman, $59.99)
I made the smoked fish bites the other night. Lowe writes that she created her recipe with smoked kahawai; I used smoked salmon, which she describes as "equally delicious". I endorse this opinion. It's an awesome dish, made by combining 250g of sour cream, 150g of fish, two cups of panko crumbs, and three beaten eggs, with dashes of lemon zest, salt and pepper, rolled into balls, refrigerated for 15 minutes, and cooked in oil for about two minutes. Tasty as hell and fun to make in quite possibly the best cookbook of the year.
8 Ripe Recipes: Thought for Food by Angela Redfern & Sophie Merkens & Amy Melchior (Beatnik Publishing, $59.99)
A free copy of this awesome new cookbook - created by the owners of Ripe Deli in Grey Lynn, with a focus on salads and sweets including the store's classic smoked eggplant hummus salad and vegan chocolate chip cookies - is up for grabs in this week's ReadingRoom giveaway. To enter the draw, email stephen11@xtra.co.nz with the subject line in screaming caps I WANT THIS YUM RIPE COOKBOOK PLEASE and compose a short poem (no rhyming; none, zero) about food. Entries close midnight, Sunday December 4.
9 A History of New Zealand in 100 Objects by Jock Phillips (Penguin Random House, $55)
Like it says on the packet, stories and images of 100 objects; they include the sewing kete of an unknown 18th-century Maori woman; the Endeavour cannons that fired on waka in 1769; the bagpipes of an Irish publican Paddy Galvin; the school uniform of Harold Pond, a Napier Tech pupil in the Hawke’s Bay quake; the Biko shields that tried to protect protestors during the Springbok tour in 1981; Winston Reynolds’ remarkable home-made Hokitika television set, the oldest working TV in the country; and the soccer ball that was a tribute to Tariq Omar, a victim of the Christchurch Mosque shootings. Kelly Ana Morey will review it anon for ReadingRoom.
10 Salad by Margo Flanagan & Rosa Flanagan (Allen & Unwin, $45)
