NON-FICTION
1 View from the second row by Samuel Whitelock (HarperCollins, $49.99)
A free copy of All Black Sam Whitelock's as-told-to memoir was up for grabs in last week's giveaway competition. Readers were asked to name their favourite sports book. The winner is Jim McCormick, who No ordinary Jan by Joe Schmidt: “The book drew me into Joe’s family growing up, his work, and made me feel like I knew him. His honesty and intellect, with an exceptional ability to listen to those around him, pushed him through challenges to become a master coach. The book made me feel connected to Joe’s emotions and courage and inspired me.”
Hooray for Jim; a free copy of View from the second row by Samuel Whitelock is his.
2 Conscript J by Jamie Pennell (HarperCollins, $39.99)
Reminiscences of an NZSAS commander who served in Afghanistan. It contains an incredibly exciting chapter about tracking down a “terrorist” and cornering him: “The problem we faced was that the terrorist had a firing position in a lethal funnel, which is the opening of an access point where most of the fatalities occur. But in this case he was deep and we were faced with two rooms, which means there were two lethal funnels. So we had to innovate and do something we had never trained for. Firstly we decided to find out which room he was in by using the doorway as cover – something we could do because the walls in this building were thick concrete. Once we knew where he was, the second part of the plan was to place an access charge in line with his position and blow it up, hoping to kill or incapacitate him enough to advance quickly, and then shoot him down.”
It took 14 grenades to kill him.
3 The Road to Chatto Creek by Matt Chisholm (Allen & Unwin, $45)
4 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
5 Unmasking monsters by Chook Henwood (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
Former cop David “Chook” Henwood looks back on 40 years of police work; chapters include his hunt to identify, capture and jail serial rapists Joseph Thompson and Malcolm Rewa. A free copy of Chook’s memoir is available in this week’s free book giveaway.
To enter the draw, share a story – your own or with someone you know – about good police work, in as many words as you like, a few or a lot, and email it to [email protected] with the subject line in screaming capital letters GOOD COP POLICE. Registration closes at midnight on Sunday, August 18th.
6 Signature by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $35)
7 Street people become by Avril Bell (Auckland University Press, $29.99)
From a masterful review by Philip Temple: “Avril Bell makes the purpose of her book clear from the outset. She hopes that the ‘voices in this work will harmonize with the voices of Māori, adding to the range and volume of the decolonization/indigenization call’ … One of the shibboleths in this book is that Pākehā need to learn and accept our history, including the many wounds inflicted on Māori, particularly in the 19th century. If I agree with this view, I suggest that its proponents need to read our history more carefully. British immigrants were coming, ready or not. The first New Zealand Company settlers had arrived in Wellington before the treaty was signed and more were on the way, treaty or not. One of the main drivers for the treaty was the British government’s desire to control this settlement and the resulting demands for free land from Māori. The idea that there would be no non-Māori today without the treaty ignores the huge global diaspora of European peoples that occurred after the Napoleonic Wars. It was unstoppable.”
8 The life of Dai by Dai Henwood and Jaquie Brown (HarperCollins, $39.99)
9 A less punishing life by Matt Heath (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
10 Love by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30)
FICTION
1 The Bookstore Detectives: Dead Girl Disappeared by Gareth Ward & Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $38)
Currently, Hawkes Bay is the capital of fiction in New Zealand; The Bookstore Detectivesa crime novel by Hawkes Bay writers and booksellers Gareth Ward and Louise Ward, has been at number one for three weeks.
2 Home Truths by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)
Confirming that Hawkes Bay currently dominates the New Zealand fiction world, Hawkes Bay author Charity Norman's latest crime novel has been in second place for two weeks.
3 All we know by Shilo Kino (Moa Press, $37.99)
Moa Press is currently the most popular fiction publisher in New Zealand, topping the Nielsen BookScan bestseller list last year with The Bone Tree by Airana Ngarewa; they were recognised in December when ReadingRoom named Moa Publisher of the Year, and just a few weeks ago Moa was named Publisher of the Year at the Aotearoa New Zealand Book Industry Awards. This year’s successes include Shilo Kino’s powerful new novel.
4 The mess we made by Megan O'Neill (Moa Press, $37.99)
Confirming that Moa Press is currently New Zealand’s most popular fiction publisher, Christchurch author Megan O’Neill’s debut novel, a love story, has shot to number four in its first week on the shelves. I really like the sound of it: “Quin and Henry are high school sweethearts until one bad decision sends everything tumbling down. Years later, Quin is working at a local takeaway. She hasn’t spoken to Henry since he left town nine years ago. When Henry suddenly returns – and keeps turning up at work to take Quin home – she finds herself falling apart all over again. But his reappearance triggers the secret she’s been keeping for the past nine years…”
I also like the cover.
5 At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Random House, $37)
6 categories by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)
7 The space between by Lauren Keenan (Penguin Random House, $37)
8 Birnam wood by Eleanor Catton (Teherenga Waka University Press, $28)
9 But by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $37.99)
Further confirmation that Moa Press is currently the most popular fiction publisher in New Zealand.
10 Take two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)