The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending July 11

A moving, generous intergenerational novel that shows how water connects us.

4 Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Vintage, $26)

The kind of novel you can read in one day and then think about for months.

Could make some comparisons to a certain mushroom trial over the ditch but it might be too soon.

6 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $40)

The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and Claire Mabey had a lot of thoughts and feelings about this memoir.

7 Eurotrash by Christian Kracht (Serpent’s Tail, $30)

The road trip novel that’s really about intergenerational trauma.

8 On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (Vintage, $24)

The predecessor to number nine on the Wellington list.

9 The Safe Keep by Yael van der Wouden (Penguin, $26)

One of life’s perfect novels.

10 The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb (Simon & Schuster, $40)

A new father, freshly addicted, struggles with his relationships.

WELLINGTON

1 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin, $60)

2 Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Vintage, $26)

3 James by Percival Everett (Picador, $38) 

Terrific novel that Taika Waititi just might be getting his fingers into for the film adaptation.

4 Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38)

Another terrific novel that would make a beautiful film, also.

5 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38)

6 Pūkeko Who-Keko by Toby Morris (Puffin, $21)

Dad jokes for the win! A terrific and terrifically fun new picture book by beloved Toby Morris who has taken the humble Pūkeko and given him a witty, adventurous book that will delight all ages. The genius is that the question and answer format makes a read aloud experience interactive and funny while also helping children (and adults) stretch their vocabulary and think inventively about language. Bravo!

7 A Voice for the Silenced by Harry Walker ($35)

Harry Walker gave a fascinating interview over on RNZ’s Saturday morning show about this book which gives voice to people in prisons.

8 Mātauranga Māori by Hirini Moko Mead (Huia, $45)

If you’re unaware of Professor Mead’s work, here’s a bit about him: Distinguished Professor Tā Hirini Moko Mead Mead (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Manawa and Tūhourangi) is the author of over seventy books, papers and articles. He was foundation professor of Māori Studies at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and was an inspired founder of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in Whakatāne. A scholar of Māori language and culture, Tā Hirini was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006 and received a knighthood in 2009 for his services to Māori and to education.

9 The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Jonathan Cape, $38)

In the Times Literary Supplement, Claire Lowdon writes: “The Emperor of Gladness shares much with its predecessor [On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous]. The protagonist, Hai, is the gay Vietnamese American son of a refugee mother who works in a nail salon. He has fond memories of a schizophrenic grandmother. Once again, he is a teenager – just. ‘He was nineteen, in the midnight of his childhood and a lifetime from first light.’ In both books, the opioid crisis haunts the narrative and claims the life of a young man beloved of the protagonist. Above all, the two novels have a common poetic telos: to discover beauty in lives lived on the margins of society. ‘My dream was to write a novel that held everything I loved’, says Hai, ‘including unlovable things. Like a little cabinet.’”

10 I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Vintage, $33)

A post-apocalyptic tale of women and friendship.