1. (2) The Life of Dai by Dai Henwood (HarperCollins)
For a long time, comedian Dai Henwood never told anyone he had incurable cancer. He was diagnosed 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, 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 subject, 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.”
2. (3) The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwim)
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 WWII.
“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. Read our story here.
3. (1) Waitohu by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin)
Dropping a few spots is this new guided life journal based on the Māori lunar calendar from the best-selling psychiatrist author of Aroha and Wawata. “This writing journey is fuelled by the whakataukī (proverb) ‘ka mua, ka muri’, ‘walking backwards into the future’. Every month we circle back to the beginning of the book, rediscovering thoughts from the month before under the illuminating gaze of each moon face. New layers of ideas are added to earlier reflections, then collected together in a way that uncovers new truths.”
4. (7) A Life Less Punishing by Matt Heath (A&U)
Broadcaster, writer and musician Matt Heath’s self-help guide, subtitled “13 ways to love the life you’ve got”, 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.
5.(NEW) Where is Hairy Maclary? by Lynley Dodd (Picture Puffin)
Toddlers love lift-the-flaps books and this one, following the rhyming clues – is he having a scratch in the strawberry patch, or taking a bath at the side of the path? – in search of Hairy and his canine chums, will be a wear-it-out favourite.
6. (NEW) More from A Quiet Kitchen by Nici Wickes (David Bateman)
A second helping from the “quiet kitchen” of Nici Wickes that promises to combine straightforward, tasty recipes with a dash of insight on some of the wider challenges of life in the 21st century, such as loneliness and self-esteem. For recipes from the book, go here.
7. (RETURN) Aroha by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin)
The wisdom of 52 Māori proverbs explained by psychiatrist Hinemoa Elder in this bestselling book first released in 2020. An extract:
“Ko te mauri, he mea huna ki te moana – The life force is hidden in the sea.
“Powerful aspects of life are hidden in plain sight.
“This whakataukī stems from one of our famous ancestors from the north, Nukutawhiti. He cast his kura, his feathered cloak, into the Hokianga Harbour to calm the waters for safe passage. And this treasure remains there, out of sight, yet signifies the ancient presence of those that have gone before.
“This saying has given me strength so many times. I have always found it comforting because it speaks to the hidden magic of life.
“It reminds me of those things we feel intuitively but often ignore – we can choose to tune in to our gut instinct, for example, or wait until the messages become clearer and more obvious.
And it reminds me that we all have hidden powers inside us that we can too easily forget.”
8. (10) Māori Made Easy Workbook 1/Kete 1 by Scotty Morrison (Raupo)
Scotty Morrison’s extensive series of books on learning Māori make regular appearances in the bestsellers, and this title, originally published in 2018, is the first in the series.
9. (RETURN) The Final Diagnosis by Cynric Temple-Camp (HarperCollins)
Kiwi forensic and coronial pathologist Dr Cynric Temple-Camp is back with his third book of death, disease and murder. As well as tales of everyday mortal weirdness, he weighs in on the New Year’s Eve disappearance of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, the murder trial of Mark Lundy, and the ill-fated Ansett Flight 703, which crashed in the Tararua Range in 1995.
10. (RETURN) Whakawhetai: Gratitude Hira Nathan (A&U)
Hira Nathan’s inspirational bilingual gratitude journal, based on the Māori holistic approach to health, was released last year and still makes regular appearances in the charts. 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.) 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.”
Source: Nielsen Bookscan NZ – week ending July 6.
