The week’s best-selling books at Unity Books stores in Wellington and Auckland.
WELLINGTON
1 The Cage by Lloyd Jones (Penguin Books NZ, $38)
“Two dishevelled strangers, perhaps fleeing a catastrophe, are given shelter in a hotel in a town in a country near enough to being New Zealand….Unsettling questions are raised by the story. Who watches whom, and what do they think they are seeing? What foils imaginative leaps into sympathy for the apparently abandoned? Jones probes the cruelties of attention as well as of neglect…It would demean his bold and austerely compassionate book to suggest that certain politicians ought to read The Cage. Anyway, how many could?”: Sydney Morning Herald.
2 Fire & Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff (Little Brown, $38)
“I can describe his junk perfectly,” said Stormy Daniels; the book attempts much the same.
3 The Only Story by Julian Barnes (Joanthan Cape, $35)
We have received Stephanie Johnson’s very warm review of the latest novel by the English master and we look forward to publishing it.
4 Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard (Profile Books, $23)
The great Beard is currently presenting a new version of Kenneth Clark’s TV masterpiece from 1969, Civilisation.
5 History of Bees by Maja Lunde (Simon & Schuster, $38)
Acclaimed futurist novel by the Norwegian writer, who appears today (Friday) as a guest of the New Zealand Festival in Wellington, at 4:15pm at the Michael Fowler Centre, chaired by Lydia Wevers.
6 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B Peterson (Allen Lane, $40)
The 13th rule is: everything in this book is fucked in the head.
7 Tinkering: The Complete Book of John Clarke by John Clarke (Text, $40)
Daggania.
8 Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – & the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari (Bloomsbury, $30)
Toby Manhire said much when he wrote on Twitter recently, “V much looking forward to hearing NZ’s No 1 eviscerator of bullshit Kim Hill interview Johann Hari on Saturday morning.”
9 Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood (Allen Lane, $45)
Celebrated memoir by the American writer, who appears as a guest of the New Zealand Festival in Wellington on Sunday at 1:15pm at the Michael Fowler Centre, chaired by NZ”s No 1 eviscerator of bullshit Kim Hill.
10 Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell (Profile Books, $33)
Celebrated memoir by the Scottish writer, who will be at work in his second-hand bookstore this weekend.
AUCKLAND
1 Sun & Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur (Simon & Schuster, $30)
the idea that we are
so capable of love
but still choose
to be toxic
2 Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Windmill Books, $26)
Trash fiction.
3 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson (Allan Lane, $40)
4 Tinkering by John Clarke (Text Publishing, $40)
5 The Only Story by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape, $35)
6 Māori Word a Day by Kelly Hēmi (Raupo Publishing, $30)
Te reo per diem.
7 Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search For a Lost Father by Diana Wichtel (Awn Press, $45)
Shortlisted this week in the best nonfiction category at the Ockham NZ Book Awards.
8 History of Bees by Maja Lunde (Simon & Schuster, $38)
9 Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson (MacMillian, $35)
Advice.
10 Underground Railroad: A Novel by Colson Whitehead (Orbut UK, $25)
Literary fiction.
The Spinoff Review of Books is brought to you by Unity Books.