A weekly feature at the Spinoff Review of Books: the best-selling books at the Auckland and Wellington stores of Unity Books.

THE BEST–SELLER CHART FOR THE WEEK JUST ENDED: May 27

UNITY BOOKS AUCKLAND

1. A Little Life ($25) by Hanya Yanagihara

The novel you have to read, apparently; it’s been the number one best-seller all year.

2. How Did We Get Into this Mess? ($39) by George Monbiot

The great Guardian essayist on inequality and other states of crisis.

3. When Breath Becomes Air ($37) by Paul Kalanithi

A neurosurgeon asks: what makes life worth living?

4. All the Light We Cannot See ($25) by Anthony Doerr

Improbable but beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy who try to survive the devastation of World War II.

5. Chronicles: On Our Troubled Times ($37) by Thomas Piketty

Essays by the economist du jour.

6. Coming Rain ($37) by Stephen Daisley

Hm! The only New Zealand writer in this week’s top 10. Winner of the 2016 Ockham NZ novel of the year

7. My Life On the Road ($37) by Gloria Steinem

Memoir by the superstar feminist legend.

8. The Night Manager ($26) by John Le Carre

In the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade, etc.

9. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World ($33) by Peter Frankopan

Most immodest sub-title of the year.

10. The Romanovs: 1613-1918 ($50) by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Three centuries of cruelty, barbarism and vodka.

UNITY BOOKS WELLINGTON

1. The Sympathizer ($28) by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer prize for fiction.

2. Silencing Science (Bridget Williams Books, $15) by Shaun Hendy

Essays about the moral and social obligations of scientists.

3. How Did We Get into This Mess? ($39) by George Monbiot

Essays by the pessimist du jour.

4. Coming Rain ($37) by Stephen Daisley

5. Chronicles On Our Troubled Times ($37) by Thomas Piketty

6. My Brilliant Friend ($30) by Elena Ferrante

First of the series of Neapolitan novels by the new great master of fiction.

7. In Gratitude ($30) by Jenny Diski

One of the best books of the year without a doubt: cancer diary by the London Review of Books essayist.

8. Being Chinese: A New Zealander’s Story ($40) by Helene Wong

Worthy memoir.

9. Silk Roads: A New History of the World ($33) by Peter Frankopan

10. Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 ($35) by Lionel Shriver

A bloodless world war will wipe out the savings of millions of American families: such is the gloomy, terrifying premise of the new novel by the author of the gloomy, terrifying We Have to Talk About Kevin.