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Mophead, by Selina Tusitala Marsh and The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood

BooksNovember 1, 2019

Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending November 1

Mophead, by Selina Tusitala Marsh and The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood

The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. 

AUCKLAND

1  Mophead: How Your Difference Makes a Difference by Selina Tusitala Marsh (Auckland University Press, $25)

“I think an excellent and topical example is new generation leader and environmental activist Greta Thunberg whose Asperger’s syndrome, OCD and selective mutism has become her superpower because it means, in her own words, that ‘I only speak when necessary’.”  – the author, to Good magazine.

2  The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (Doubleday, $55)

The New York Times headlined its review Your Body Is a Wonderland

3  I Thought We’d Be Famous by Dominic Hoey (Dead Bird Books, $25)

“I have a love poem to Channing Tatum called Sex Army that I really like, there’s a poem called Kill Your Landlord which is always a hit live, and a poem about my rescue Pomeranian, Prince Chilli, and how morons yell at me in the street for having a “gay dog”.” – the author, to Denizen.

4  Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner (Hachette, $35)

Anne was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, and married Colin Tennent, an aristocrat and absolute twat. Per RNZ: “Colin’s temper was so bad he was banned for life from British Airways after an incident in California which involved him lying down on the plane kicking and screaming because there wasn’t a first-class seat for him – then getting escorted off the flight by police.”

5  Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton, $40)

Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize.

6  Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré (Viking, $38)

The Guardian: “Last month, it was Ian McEwan’s satire, The Cockroach; now it’s John le Carré’s latest thriller: two contemporary masters compelled into print by Brexit’s bonfire of ancient verities. Motivated by despair and disbelief, both these first responders to our crisis of political faith seem to have found consolation in literature.”

7  Lie With Me by Philippe Besson (Penguin Random House, $24)

“I wanted to write a sadness” – the author, to The New Yorker

8  We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall and Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)

The Spinoff will publish a full review next week; meantime please enjoy this taster

9  How To Walk A Dog by Mike White (Allen & Unwin, $35)

Jane Clifton adores it and that’s good enough for us.

10  The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff (Profile Books, $28)

Subtitle: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

 

WELLINGTON

1  The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Chatto & Windus, $48)

Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize.

2  The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (Doubleday, $55)

3  Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton, $40)

4  We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)

5  How To Walk A Dog by Mike White (Allen & Unwin, $35)

6  Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré (Viking, $38)

7  I Thought We’d Be Famous by Dominic Hoey (Dead Bird Books, $25) 

8  Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Bloomsbury, $33)

One of those authors where reading one book compels you to immediately mow down the entire back catalogue. 

9  Colin McCahon: There is Only One Direction (Volume 1 1919-1959) by Peter Simpson (Auckland University Press, $75)

David Herkt, writing for the Herald: “It is the first real glimpse of his career as a painter as he saw it. Previously, his letters have been an almost untouched resource but now they are given pride of place. At one stroke, everything is changed.”

10 Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell (Allen Lane, $40) 

The Telegraph headlined its review “tastelessly galumphing over complex questions”.

Keep going!