1. Untouchable Girls by Jools & Lynda Topp (A&U)
Holding fast to the No 1 slot for the fifth week is the memoir of our beloved Topp Twins. As their interview with the Listener notes, when putting this together they “made a list of significant periods in their lives, then worked their way through it non-chronologically. Eventually, they had 31 chapters that recall how the Waikato farm girls ran away to the army, stayed on in Christchurch, and found a new home among the increasingly vociferous local lesbian community, turned their country music-honed voices into protest songs … then somehow, via the magic of television, abundant charisma and their array of characters, became beloved mainstream entertainers. Oh, and in chapter 23, cancer.” Also in the book is a topic largely uncanvassed: the sisters’ sometimes roller-coaster love lives during the decades.
2. Smithy by Wayne Smith & Phil Gifford (Mower)
The memoir from one of our off-field rugby greats, Wayne “The Professor” Smith. Regarded as one of the best rugby thinkers in the world, former All Black Smith, with the help of eminent sports journalist Phil Gifford, gives his account of coaching the Black Ferns to victory in the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup. It’s full of insight and anecdotes from the man himself, but also talks to many of the women and men who took the team to a world title.
3. Bookshop Dogs by Ruth Shaw (A&U)
The author of the bestselling The Bookseller at the End of the World, which was about life and retailing in her bookshops in Manapōuri, in the southwest of the South Island, has turned her attention to the dogs that visit. These are the hounds of locals and those who are holidaying or just passing through. Amond them is Hunza, the german shepherd that worked alongside Shaw when she was a youth worker helping troubled teenagers.
4. Slinky Malinki’s Christmas Eve by Lynley Dodd (Puffin)
Holding on in the top five, just in time for the festive season, is a lift-the-flap board book for the smallest Kiwis. In national treasure Dodd’s latest, it’s Christmas Eve and the sneakiest, most troublesome cat, Slinky Malinki, has stolen the tree decorations. Where has Slinky hidden them? Kids will have to lift the flaps to find the baubles and bells, trinkets and tinsel.
5. Patu: The New Zealand Wars by Gavin Bishop (Picture Puffin)
The New Zealand Wars of the 1800s are the focus for the award-winning Bishop in this large-format history. It’s a beautifully illustrated and painstakingly detailed account of the key movements of people and troops, battle sites and villages. The Listener said: “What makes the kaumatua of New Zealand children’s literature uniquely qualified to cover this turbulent period in our history is the personal connection: his Scottish grandfather, Benjamin ‘Banjo’ McKay, born 1847, was one of the children of John Horton McKay and Irihāpeti Hahau, sister of the Māori King Tāwhiao.”
6. Gangster’s Paradise by Jared Savage (HarperCollins)
NZ Herald reporter Savage spends a fourth week in the top-10. His latest book follows Gangland, an exploration of how organised crime in New Zealand has evolved in recent years, particularly around illegal drugs. This time, in that fast-paced, breathless newspaper style, he tracks how organised crime has escalated – more drugs, more shootings, more corruption – driven by the arrival of “501″ deportees from Australia. Gangs have grown and new ones have sprung up, bringing a harder edge to the scene, he writes. “They have better connections with international drug syndicates, better criminal tradecraft and encrypted communications, and are more willing to use firearms to enforce their will.” Existing gangs have responded in kind, escalating their approach and making life harder for police, who have had to get more innovative and sophisticated to try to counter the threat.
7. The Crewe Murders by Kirsty Johnston & James Hollings (Massey University Press)
Investigative reporter Kirsty Johnston and journalism academic James Hollings explore a murder case 53 years on, that of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970, one that captivated the nation then and clearly still does. The case saw the conviction of Arthur Allan Thomas, two appeals, books, a film, and a royal commission. Thomas was eventually granted a free pardon, the only time the NZ government has bypassed the courts to free a convicted murderer. It’s a well-written, well-researched account (with notes and index), which talks to some who have never previously spoken -- though it doesn’t come to any firm conclusion about the killer.
8. Whakawhetai: Gratitude by Hira Nathan (A&U)
Hira Nathan’s te reo Māori gratitude diary, released in May, is still selling loads. Why is a gratitude diary so popular? Here’s the publisher’s blurb in part: “Kia ū ki te pai, kia whai hua ai. Hold on to what is good and good things will follow. An inspirational, bilingual gratitude journal, based on the Māori holistic approach to health, hauora. Discover the four dimensions of hauora: taha tinana (physical), taha hinengaro (mental), taha wairua (spiritual) and taha whānau (family). No matter how difficult life can seem, there is always something to feel grateful for. Taking note regularly of the positives – no matter how small – in each of these areas of your life can have a huge impact on your health and happiness.”
9. On the Record by Steven Joyce (A&U)
With National poised to form a government, people are perhaps looking to this tell-all from the Mr Fixit of the John Key years for insights into what it might do. The one-time radio network boss was variously Minister for Transport, Infrastructure, Science and Innovation, Tertiary Education, Economic Development and finally Finance – “He got stuff done,” said Bill English – and National’s election campaign mastermind. Joyce writes about his life in and out of Parliament and his opinions of key players, as well as revealing how politics in NZ works. He writes on NZ First leader going with Labour in 2017: “As to why Winston didn’t choose us, it’s hard to say. Subsequent events showed he spent much of his time in the three-year term stopping Labour and the Greens from doing lots of things he disagreed with. It’s not hard to construct the argument that he would have been more at home in coalition with us. Certainly, many of his former supporters think so.”
10. Every Effing Inch by Tim Pankhurst (Panky Press)
Retired former newspaper publisher Pankhurst took on the 3000km Te Araroa Trail with his wife and their friend, former Wellington mayor Kerry Prendergast, and, like a few who do, wrote a book about it. They survived some hairy moments and suffered a few injuries, he says: New Zealand has some “pretty demanding territory” and a “volatile climate”.
(Source: Nielsen Bookscan NZ – week ending November 11.)
