1 Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Michael Joseph, $38)

“What an absolutely absurd, bizarre, and outlandishly fun read this turned out to be – could it be that progression fantasy is the genre I never knew I needed!” Ira Perkins, Good Reads.

2 Hungus by Amber Esau (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30) 

“Hungus is a work of world-building that draws on myth, pop culture, pūrakau and science fiction – and the arrival of a dazzling new voice in New Zealand poetry.” And it has one of the best covers of the year so far.

3 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Penguin, $28)

If you’d like to regain some faith in both humanity and aliens then highly recommend this book and also the film.

4 The Black Monk by Charlotte Grimshaw (Penguin, $38)

Complex, beguiling new novel from one of the best.

5 Flesh by David Szalay (Vintage, $28)

Last year’s Booker Prize winner. (See also: this year’s International Booker Prize shortlist, out now).

6 Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press, $28)

The movie was pretty good but the book is miles better.

7 The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Michael Joseph, $38)

Delightful and satisfying novel in letters.

8 Heart the Lover by Lily King (Canongate, $37)

“Lily King owes me financial compensation for ripping my heart out and stomping on it.” Maxwell, Good Reads

9 Hooked by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate, $37)

From the brilliant author of Butter.

10 Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs by Antony Beevor (W&N, $60)

“Just as Rasputin cast a spell over the Romanovs, his legend has bewitched historians. More than a century later, we still fail to comprehend fully the collapse of the greatest autocracy on Earth. Was there any truth to the wild tales that brought down the empire? Or was his true legacy an unsettling lesson on the potency of myth?”

WELLINGTON

1 Be Brave: The Life of a Pacific by Barbara Dreaver (Awa Press, $45)

Dreaver’s compelling, action-packed memoir is a hit in Wellington! Preview an excerpt here, on The Spinoff.

2 Childish Palate by Shariff Burke (Tender Press, $32)

From one of the most interesting indie publishers in Aotearoa comes this superb collection of short stories: “Childish Palate follows a cast of outsiders in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, searching for hope in a country caught in an identity crisis.

A philosophy student makes a striking proposal to the imam of the Kilbirnie mosque; flatmates ignite a flame over a bowl of chicken ginseng soup; an office worker finds a sense of purpose in the brightly lit aisles of Thorndon New World.

Across eleven stories, Shariff Burke wrestles with possibility, ignorance and the ways we compromise in order to survive. Childish Palate savours the richness and warmth of community, rejecting easy answers about whose tastes should define our world.”

3 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Penguin, $28)

4 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (Hamish Hamilton, $40)

Turbulent and unputdownable.

5 The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Michael Joseph, $38)

6 The Only Way is Up: On Foot to Rome by Jennifer Andrewes (Parallel Lives, $35)

A gently compelling walking memoir that will take you on a pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome.

7 Flesh by David Szalay (Vintage, $28)

8 The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a Radically Changed and Changing World by Rebecca Solnit (Granta, $50)

“A convincing vision of a brighter future.” Read the rest of the Kirkus Review, here.

9 How Will I Ever Get Through This? A Practical Guide to Navigating Life’s Toughest Times by Dr Lucy Hone (Allen & Unwin, $38)

Timely advice. May go nicely with item eight, above.

10 Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison (Virago Press, $28)

A fantasy classic blurbed by Ursula K. Le Guin back in the day.