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

A gripping account of the highs and lows of Dreaver’s phenomenal career: read an excerpt right here on The Spinoff.

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

A beguiling novel exploring the lingering shadow of family dysfunction.

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

One of the big fiction hits of the year so far.

4 Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman (Gollancz, $38)

First published in 2012, this historical horror about a war between heaven and hell is clearly staging a come-back.

5 Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate, $35) 

The foodie crime novel that keeps on giving.

6 Strangers: A Memoir of a Marriage by Belle Burden (Ebury Press, $40) 

Extremely compelling account of the end of a marriage.

7 Hoods Landing by Laura Vincent (Āporo Press, $35)

The only short-listed Ockham book to feature in the charts this week.

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

Anyone else rooting for Jessie Buckley to take out the Oscar for best actress in a few days’ time?

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

The universal subject made specific.

10 Lyrical Ballads by Bill Manhire (Te Herenga Waka University, $30)

“To read it, as I did, cover to cover, is to traverse a landscape that rises and falls, moves you in and out of the sun. One moment you’re contemplating the wonder of light slipping over a distant landscape (‘Dusk’, above) and in another you’re struck by ‘A Final Warning’ which opens with “I walked past the stars / the silence of grandfathers” and ends with an image of a person being tested for medical problems: “I think I’ve got the lot”.” Read the rest of books editor Claire Mabey’s review of this magnificent collection, right here.

WELLINGTON

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

2 Universality by Natasha Brown (Faber & Faber, $33)

This week’s Wellington list reflects the fact that Unity Books was the official bookseller at the Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts x Verb Wellington’s writers programme last weekend. Natasha Brown drew a large crowd of fans eager to listen to her speak about her two, extraordinary (and really short) novels. Brown was articulate and generous and spoke about how she was an avid and studious reader before she even considered being a writer.

3 Pātaka Kai: Growing Kai Sovereignty by Jessica Hutchings and Jo Smith (Massey University Press, $45)

Hutchings also appeared on the stage last weekend in a superb, urgent and rousing event with Nadine Hura (below).

4 Assembly by Natasha Brown (Penguin, $28)

Brown’s first book and utterly devastating and funny and you must read it (it’ll take you two hours, tops).

5 Slowing the Sun | Essays by Nadine Hura (Bridget Williams Books, $40)

A rich, rewarding and deeply personal series of essays that make sense of environmental destruction and the climate crisis by truly investigating what happens when people are severed from their land. Read Hura’s brilliant “climate change glossary for the overwhelmed”, which gives you a sense of Hura’s style, here.

6 Perverse Verse by Michael Gould ($30)

“Perverse Verse’s short iconoclastic poems offer humorous (often black) and reflective observations on life in our contemporary screwed-up world.”

7 What to Wear by Jenny Bornholdt (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $25)

The final event of the festival weekend was dedicated to the marvellous career of Jenny Bornholdt. Damien Wilkins chairs the session and led us through Bornholdt’s shifts and influences, with the poems themselves taking a staring role. Sublime. Read a review of this latest collection on The Spinoff, here.

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

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

Essential reading for the current fucked up moment.

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

The electrifying debut from Amber Esau – a rising star in poetry – with one of the best covers of the year so far.