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Julianne Moore struggles to comprehend Mrs. Dalloway in the 1950s.
Julianne Moore struggles to comprehend Mrs. Dalloway in the 1950s.

BooksJune 7, 2019

Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending June 7

Julianne Moore struggles to comprehend Mrs. Dalloway in the 1950s.
Julianne Moore struggles to comprehend Mrs. Dalloway in the 1950s.

The essential best-selling book chart in New Zealand, recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.

AUCKLAND

1 The New Zealand Wars: Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books, $40)

O’Malley continues his reign at the top, and in case you haven’t already bought it, can we tempt you with an extract?

2 Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (Sandstone, $27)

Looks like even winning the Man Booker Prize can’t get your apparently amazing saga of love and loss in Oman to the top of the charts. In Auckland! You’ve changed, snooty urbanites.

3 Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $23)

A whole host of people clearly boosting to get the book now they’ve announced and cast the film, just so they can smugly compare the two.

4 Sincerity/Irony by Hera Lindsay Bird (KLIM Foundry, $47)

Book or design provocation? You decide! (Or the charts decide, because it is on the Unity Books Chart.)

5 Orchid & the Wasp by Caoilinn Hughes (Oneworld Publications, $23)

Not the much anticipated spinoff to Marvel’s The Ant-Man and The Wasp, unfortunately. Fortunately, you can read about author Caolinn Hughes mistaking a period for a head-cold.

6 A Brief History of Thought: A Philosophical Guide to Living by Luc Ferry (Canongate, $25)

This is 304 pages, and is not brief at all! Misleading title!

7 Ordinary People by Diana Evans (Random House, $26)

Also, unfortunately, not a novelisation of the 40-year-old film Ordinary People.

8 Dead People I Have Known by Shayne Carter (Victoria University Press, $40)

According to Auckland, ordinary people are more interesting than dead people.

9 Whale Oil by Margie Thomson (Potton & Burton, $40)

Also according to Auckland, dead people are more interesting than the liquid oozings of a whale.

10 Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble (Victoria University Press, $20)

Another one boosting up the charts again thanks to an Ockham!

WELLINGTON

1 The New Zealand Wars: Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books, $40)

If you missed your chance to click on that extract before, don’t worry! Here it is again.

2 This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman (Vintage, $38)

Fresh off an Ockham Award, Kidman’s book sits pretty near the top of the charts.

3 Whale Oil by Margie Thomson (Potton & Burton, $40)

This is a stonking good read, much more than just the ten shocking revelations we pulled out for your clicking enjoyment.

4 Loving Sylvie by Elizabeth Smither (Allen & Unwin, $37)

“It’s a book that could only have been written by someone whose life has been filled to every crevice with books and beautiful things – paintings, objects, lasting images, glimpses and influences.” says broadcasting legend on Elizabeth Alley on this week’s number three.

5 Marilyn Waring: The Political Years by Marilyn Waring (Bateman $40)

Waring was the Swarbrick of her time, if her interview with the Green MP is anything to go by, and you can read an extract where she describes how she crossed the floor from Labour to National right here.

6 Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy (Penguin, $28)

It’s almost as though there’s a much-buzzed about HBO show that could boost this show halfway up through the charts.

7 Dead People I Have Known by Shayne Carter (Victoria University Press, $40)

People still want to hear about what dead people Shayne Carter has made acquaintance with. Good on them!

8 Upheaval: How Nations Cope With Crisis (Or Don’t) by Jared Diamond (Allen Lane, $40)

How To Get Dragged Kicking and Screaming to 2050: The Book.

9 Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth (Massey University Press, $45)

Disappointingly, a book about economics and not how to start a doughnut shop.

10 Poukahangatus by Tayi Tibble (Victoria University Press, $20)

Tens! Tens across the charts!

Keep going!