1. (1) View from the Second Row by Samuel Whitelock (HarperCollins)
All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock’s memoir begins with 14 full lines of the injuries he suffered playing rugby, the outcome of which was five surgeries under general anaesthetic. And then deciding to play in the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific final with an Achilles tendon injury. The most capped AB in history speaks about his career with the help of sports journo Dylan Cleaver. The book covers four World Cups and 153 appearances in the black jersey, his life and his family. Whitelock (he’s called Samuel by most of his family, Sam by his friends) knew when to toggle as captain between rooster and sheepdog, says ABs coach Scott Robertson in the foreword: leading from the front or guiding his flock. Whitelock has serious rugby lineage on both sides. He claims not to be a complicated guy: “family, footy and farming” are at the centre of his life.
2. (NEW) Seriously Delicious by Polly Markus (Allen & Unwin)
Straight in at No 2 is the follow-up to the top-selling Miss Polly’s Kitchen, which promises 70+ great new recipes from Auckland cook and instagrammer Polly Markus. From the publisher: “Packed with those signature punchy flavours and classics with a Miss Polly twist, this cookbook will be on high rotation in your kitchen. With simple but impressive starters, bold salads, main meals you’ll want to cook again and again, plus decadent desserts, Seriously Delicious has everything you need to bring the joy of cooking — and eating — well back into your life. You’ll find recipes from the book here.
3. (2) Serviceman J by Jamie Pennell (HarperCollins)
There’s a famous photo of NZ soldier and Victoria Cross winner Willie Apiata emerging from some grim fire fight, gaze and jaw fixed, looking like a still from a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. The bloke next to him is Jamie Pennell. From the publisher: “In 2011, following the Taliban siege on Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel, an SAS soldier identified only as Serviceman J was awarded New Zealand’s second-highest military honour by showing outstanding gallantry in the face of danger. After 18 years in the New Zealand SAS, ex-commander Jamie Pennell is now ready to tell his story.”
4. (3) The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone by Gareth Ward & Louise Ward (Penguin)
“When we opened Sherlock Tomes, people warned us that we’d made a terrible mistake. People warned us that e-readers were taking over. People warned us that we’d never compete with Amazon. The one thing they didn’t warn us about was the murders.”
And so begins this first joint novel from actual Hawke’s Bay booksellers Gareth and Louise Ward, a cosy murder-mystery that promises bookshop insider titbits and literary puns galore. The plot has Garth and Eloise and their dog Stevie, who, telling the story in alternate chapters, “are drawn into the baffling case of a decades-old missing schoolgirl. Intrigued by the puzzling, bookish clues, the two ex-cops are soon tangled in a web of crime, drugs and floral decapitations, while endeavouring to pull off the international celebrity book launch of the century.” You can read more about Gareth and Louise Ward here.
5. (4) Sam the Trap Man by Sam Gibson (A&U)
Sam Gibson is a Gisborne-based trapper, hunter and conservationist who has become something of an Instagram star as Sam the Trap Man. He established a project to restore the whio, the native blue duck, to rivers on the East Coast, which is starting to bear fruit. From the publisher: “From shooting his first deer, to labouring through freezing cold South Island winters as a young trapper and the time he woke up somehow covered in blood, each chapter weaves together the story of an incredible life full of adventure, hard work and a deep love for the bush and the native creatures who live in it. Protecting these animals and ecosystems is a life’s calling for Sam – every decision he makes in the bush is made to help it thrive.”
6. (7) The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson (A&U)
It’s 80 years since D-Day. Pippa Latour, who died in West Auckland late last year aged 102, helped lay the groundwork for the operation’s success by acting as a secret agent in France for Britain during WW II.
“I was not a James Bond-style spy,” said Latour. “I was a secret agent whose job it was to blend into the background and cause quiet chaos.” It was exhausting work; she was unable to trust anyone, had several code names and was often hungry. It was desperately perilous, too. Many of the 13,000 agents were killed, including 14 women out of 39 in France. The average life expectancy of male wireless operators in France when she served was six weeks. Latour’s was a truly remarkable life all around, and The Last Secret Agent, co-written with Jude Dobson, is a clear and fluent account. You can find out more about the story behind The Last Secret Agent here.
7. (6) The Road to Chatto Creek by Matt Chisholm (A&U)
In which the former TV presenter reveals what happened after he and his family, wife Ellen and three kids, exited the big smoke to buy land in Chatto Creek, Central Otago, to build a house and rear some sheep and cattle. There are insights into rural life, farming, family and mental health, with splendidly bucolic photographs.
8. (5) Home Truths by Charity Norman (A&U)
The Hawke’s Bay-based writer, formerly a barrister in the UK, writes about how far down the conspiracy rabbit hole people can go when they’re going through trauma. From the publisher’s blurb: “Livia Denby is on trial for attempted murder. The jury has reached a verdict. Two years earlier, Livia was a probation officer in Yorkshire, her husband Scott a teacher. Their children, Heidi and Noah, rounded out a happy family – until the day Scott’s brother died. Grief and guilt leave Scott searching for answers, a search that takes him into the world of conspiracy theories. As his grip on reality slides, he makes a decision that will put the family on a collision course with tragedy. Livia’s family has been torn apart, and now her son’s life is hanging in the balance. Just how far will she go to save the ones she loves?” You can read the Listener review here.
9. (8) The Life of Dai by Dai Henwood & Jaquie Brown (HarperCollins)
For a long time, Dai Henwood never told anyone he had incurable cancer. He was diagnosed in with stage 4 bowel cancer in April of 2020, during lockdown, and told a small group of friends via WhatsApp. Turns out the large tumour found had circulated itself to his liver and beyond. It was not till early 2023 that he went public via a TV interview with his friend, comedy writer and actor Jaquie Brown. The Life of Dai (HarperCollins), written with Brown, came out of interviews done between chemo sessions in 2023. Unsurprisingly, it’s anything but linear, Dai-gressive even. Split into three sections called Comedy, Love and Peace, it’s half memoir, half spiritual search cum life advice for those going through cancer diagnosis and treatment. It begins with his early life and influences, Monty Python, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams. He was a comedy geek. There is his father, the teacher-turned-toxicologist-turned-actor, his mother the judge who underwrote his early shows. Despite the topic, the tone is generally light, honest, loving in his familiar style. He adores his wife, his children, his friends. Loves rugby league. The book doesn’t shy from details of the “horrendous, life-saving poison” that is chemotherapy, the surgeries, his fear and anger and acceptance. “I’ve made the conscious decision to live now.” You can read more about Dai Henwood’s cancer journey here.
10. (RETURN) A Life Less Punishing by Matt Heath (A&U)
Coming back into the charts is broadcaster, writer and musician Matt Heath’s popular self-help guide. Subtitled “13 ways to love the live you’ve got”, it begins with the 1980s TV show The Greatest American Hero, about a hapless teacher, Ralph Hinkley, who can’t control the superhero suit he’s been given because he’s lost the manual, and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. If you don’t see the connection, it happens in an epiphany for Heath, feeling sorry for himself on the shore of a South Island lake. “I will consume the writings, lectures and podcast appearances of great thinkers and regurgitate them into a personal Hinkley manual.” It’ll be a self-help book in its purest form, he says, written to help himself in times of trouble, dealing with, in his chatty, easy style, anger, fear, loneliness, stress, boredom, grief and so on.
Source: Nielsen Bookscan NZ – week ending August 24
