The best-selling books at the two best bookstores on land.
AUCKLAND UNITY
1 Sleeps Standing: A Story of the Battle of Orakau by Witi Ihimaera and Hemi Kelly (Vintage, $35)
Publisher’s blurbology: “During three days in 1864, 300 Maori men, women and children fought an Imperial army and captured the imagination of the world…Instead of following the usual standpoint of the victors, this book takes a Maori perspective.”
2 Legacy of Spies by John Le Carré (Penguin, $37)
Smiley, redux.
3 The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday & Steve Hanselman (Profile, $28)
“A richly rewarding spring of practical wisdom to help you focus on what’s in your control, eliminate false and limiting beliefs, and take more effective action. Make The Daily Stoic your guide and you will grow in clarity, effectiveness, and serenity each day!”: Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul.
4 A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman (Vintage, $26)
Black comedy.
5 Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (Penguin, $26)
Curdled melodrama.
6 The Force by Don Winslow (HarperCollins, $37)
“Think The Godfather, only with cops. It’s that good:” Stephen King.
7 Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss (Bloomsbury, $27)
“A brilliant novel. I am full of admiration”: Philip Roth.
8 Optimism Over Despair: On Capitalism, Empire and Social Change by Noam Chomsky (Penguin, $18)
Chomsky, cheerfully.
9 Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Orbit, $25)
Longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker award; the shortlist is announced on Wednesday.
10 The Power by Naomi Alderman (Penguin, $26)
Longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker award, etc.
WELLINGTON UNITY
1 Strange Beautiful Excitement: Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington 1888-1903 by Redmer Yska (Otago University Press, $40)
“As he [Yska] traces her childhood walks and prowls his way through the likely sources of her fiction, the city emerges as beautiful, mysterious and atmospheric partly because, like all places, it lives in the minds of its inhabitants, and is expressed by them”: Charlotte Grimshaw, the Spinoff Review of Books.
2 Legacy of Spies by John Le Carre (Penguin, $37)
3 9th Floor: Conversations with Five New Zealand Prime Ministers by Guyon Espiner and Tim Watkin (Bridget Williams Books, $40)
Politics.
4 The Power by Naomi Alderman (Penguin, $26)
5 A Moral Truth: 150 Years of Investigative Journalism in New Zealand by James Hollings (Massey University Press, $45)
Journalism.
6 Apartment Living New Zealand by Catherine Foster (Penguin, $50)
Apartments.
7 The New Zealand Project by Max Harris (Bridget Williams Books, $40)
Max!
8 Can You Tolerate This? by Ashleigh Young (Victoria University Press, $31)
The most celebrated New Zealand writer of 2017 is about to head off to the US to receive her amazing Yale University award, and asked on Twitter this week, “How many coats should I take to America?”
9 The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (Hamish Hamilton, $38)
Fizzer.
10 Democracy and Its Crisis by A C Grayling (Oneworld, $37)
“A compelling book worthy of being shelved alongside the Federalist Papers and Two Treatises of Government”: Kirkus Review.
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