The essential best-selling book chart in New Zealand, recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 The New Zealand Wars: Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books, $40) O’Malley continues his reign at the top, and in case you haven’t already bought it, can … Read more
The essential best-selling book chart in New Zealand, recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 The New Zealand Wars: Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books, $40) Please read this breathtaking extract from some of O’Malley’s finest work. 2 The Meaning of Trees … Read more
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the long-awaited – and outstanding – novel by Marlon James, who won the Man Booker prize four years ago with A Brief History of Seven Killings. It was some canny marketing to release a book self-described as the “African Game of Thrones” just before the final season on TV of the actual Game of … Read more
New poetry by Oscar Upperton. Cross dresser I am a pious woman. I watch as the men leave for war. I rake the garden over with my hands. War visits on the roof of the church. She sits like a great owl, hooting. I turn my face away. I pray, Lord I pray. … Read more
The only published and available best-selling book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 best-seller list recorded every week at at Unity Books’ stores in Willis St, Wellington and High St, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber, $33) Let’s all go round to Leah McFall’s house and force her to … Read more
AUT diet researcher George Henderson beholds the new weight-loss bible by 5:2 diet superstar Dr Michael Mosley – and declares it a triumph, with its “relaxed, considered, co-operative, mindful, repeatable, and hopefully enjoyable approach.” Disclaimer: This is a review of a book that supplies strong medical advice about diet. If you’re interested in it but … Read more
The full list, with mild critique, of the 2019 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. O’Sullivan is a tough sonofabitch and the favourite to take the crown but he’s up against big hitters. Kidman has experience, stealth, and the popular vote. Jones goes in hard and doesn’t let up. Makereti has to be taken seriously and you can never … Read more
Cat Connor of the Writers Plot Bookshop in Upper Hutt backgrounds the birth and development of New Zealand’s only bookstore devoted exclusively to Kiwi authors. One day three years ago I grumbled about the lack of support for Kiwi authors and voiced this discontent at my writing group. We talked about how we’d never see our … Read more
An essay in praise of Amazon by Kirsty Wright, a Southland erotic romance author who is ‘killing it’ thanks to sales generated by the online empire. Sarah Forster’s story in The Spinoff, headlined “In Which Amazon Goes to War with NZ Bookstores”, suggested Amazon is the enemy, taking money away from local brick and mortar … Read more
Young and emerging writers, rejoice! The dear old Spinoff Review of Books unveils a new writer-in-residence award – open only to those tender of age and prodigious of talent. Young and emerging writers in New Zealand get a pat on the head now and then, a little bit of praise, limited exposure, sod-all money, and not a … Read more
Steve Braunias reviews the latest cookbook by Nadia Lim, and declares it a plate of two halves – half-dumb, half-divine. Bizarre cookbook. A large portion of Fresh Start, Feel Good! by Nadia Lim and her Fresh Start team appears to be the work of a first-class moron. You can lead a horse to water, but you … Read more
The Monday Extract: Dutch émigré artist Theo Schoon was an anti-Semite and a shithead in so many ways, but he was also a brilliant artist who recognised the beauty and power of Māori art at a time when few Pākehā gave it a second thought. His biographer Damian Skinner reckons with a ghastly genius. In the summer … Read more
Linda Burgess on the biggest-selling, most-loved book of summer: Becoming, the memoir by Michelle Obama. Celebrity memoirs are usually written by someone else. I’m fairly sure this isn’t the case with Becoming. There’s a lengthy list of people to thank in the book’s acknowledgements (“Many of my former staff helped confirm critical details and time … Read more
Jesse Mulligan reviews the new cookbook by Jamie Oliver. His calm and measured verdict: It stinks. This post was originally published 1 November 2018. I made three dishes from this cookbook and they all stank. One of them was the pot-roasted cauliflower, a recipe pushed hard in the Jamie Cooks Italy publicity materials, and one … Read more
All week this week we count down the five best books of 2018. Number one, the very best: Kim Hill reviews Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People. The buzz around young Irish writer Sally Rooney made it very difficult to review Normal People. Even to read it. Would it be as good as everyone insists it … Read more
All week this week we count down the five best books of 2018. Number three: Peter Wells reviews Calypso by David Sedaris. Many people know the sound of David Sedaris’s voice – high, thin, a drizzle of ironic sound. He himself says he has a “lady voice” and part of his shtick is being mistaken … Read more
All week this week we count down the five best books of 2018. Number four: Linda Burgess reviews the Ottolenghi cookbook Simple. Why the hell do people buy recipe books? Someone should do their PhD on the number of people who buy one, use it three times, then go back to the usual 10 things … Read more
All week this week we name and review the five very best books of 2018. Today: Holly Walker reviews the fifth best book, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, a novel about the desperate joys of sleep. New York. Late 2000. Our narrator is 27. She is thin, pretty, tall, blond. White. She works at … Read more
The best-selling books this Christmas at the Unity stores in High St, Auckland and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Becoming by Michelle Obama (Penguin Random House, $55) The smash-hit memoir of Xmas. 2 Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, $65) Cookbook, nominated among the best 20 non-fiction books of 2018 at The Spinoff. 3 Patterson: Houses of … Read more
All week this week we present the best books of 2018. Today: the 20 best novels. Previously: the best kids books, poetry books and non-fiction books of 2018. Past Tense by Lee Child (Bantam, $38) Reacher. Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber, $33) Was the Irish writer’s love story the best novel of 2018? From the forthcoming … Read more
All week this week we present the 20 best books of the year. Today: the 20 best books of non-fiction. Previously: The 20 best kids books of 2018 The 20 best poetry books of 2018 Māori Made Easy: For everyday learners of the Māori language by Scotty Morrison (Penguin, $38) Oh just give this guy a … Read more
All week this week we present the 20 best books of the year. Today: the 20 best collections of poetry. Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble (Victoria University Press, $30) The best book of poetry published in New Zealand in 2018. Tibble’s debut collection is agile, daring, compelling. The poems draw whānau close and the women who matter … Read more
All week this week The Spinoff Review of Books presents the best books of the year. Today: the best 20 books for kids. Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (Walker, $28) Picture book 3+. On the train one day, Julian is mesmerised by three mermaids in beautiful colors, long hair, and flowing gowns. Julian imagines himself … Read more
New poetry by Thames writer Bob Orr. Hawaiki My first university the freezing works at Horotiu – my first professor a tohunga in white overalls and gumboots who worked on the boning floor. One evening drinking beer as the setting sun was turning the Waikato River red … Read more
Only 17 shopping days till Xmas, for God’s sake! Find what you’re looking for by perusing the week’s bestselling books at the Unity stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Upcycling With Style by Sarah Heeringa (New Holland, $40) Publisher’s blurbology: “Reclaim unloved objects and improve your home and garden with this inspiring … Read more
Book of the Week: Charlotte Grimshaw reviews the profound final volume of the My Struggle series by the one and only Karl Ove Knausgaard. The first thing to say about The End, the sixth and final volume of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s series, My Struggle, is that it’s 1153 pages long. It’s enormous and it’s a … Read more
New Zealand literature! What is it, who reads it, and why does it exist? Some or none or all of these questions are about to be answered in the third annual Spinoff Review of Books literary awards. Some say 2018 will go down in history as the year between 2017 and 2019, but it’s too early … Read more
Only 25 shopping days till Xmas! Prepare NOW by windowshopping the week’s bestselling books at the Unity stores in Willis St, Wellington, and High St, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Becoming by Michelle Obama (Viking, $55) “I love it because it faithfully reflects the woman I have loved for so long”: Barack Obama. 2 Normal People by … Read more
New poetry by Auckland writer Steven Toussaint. Yes or No Are you happy with your service provider? Have you contemplated private piety’s competitive prices? Are you in the market for something like but not precisely eternal return? Have you been waiting long in our baffled room? … Read more