BOOKLOVERS FAVOURITE BOOKS of 2022

2022-11-26 -

How do you play favourites in a world where so many great books (of all sorts) are being released all the time? Well, we decided to outsource the problem! This year, we asked New Zealand booksellers and authors what their favourite releases were for 2022. And here are their picks: New Zealand releases

// Nicole Titihuia Hawkins, author of Whai, winner of the Jessie Mackay Prize for best first book of poetry at this year’s Ockham Book Awards

HOW TO LOITER IN A TURF WAR by Coco Solid

A multi-genre pukapuka, this had me laughing, bawling, screeching and left me hungry for Coco Solid’s next offering. An intelligent, thought-provoking, piercing look at racism and relationships, set in Tāmaki Makaurau – served with sass, side eye and a sausage sizzle. Read this book if you live in a gentrified community, buy this book for rangatahi and takatāpui, read this book to bask in brown excellence.

ALWAYS ITALICISE: HOW TO WRITE WHILE COLONISED by Alice Te Punga Somerville

This hotly anticipated collection by Alice Te Punga Somerville, is an eye-opening journey into the world of academia for indigenous women. There is much discussion of loss in this book yet it is skillfully balanced with moments of tenderness and restraint and punctuated with humour. This poetry takes us on a journey around the Pacific and beyond then back to ourselves. It will remind you how multifaceted and bad ass indigenous women are.

SEDITION by Anahera Gildea

This long-awaited, first full length collection of poetry does not disappoint. Gildea takes readers into the depths of grief, the puku of anger, the relentlessness of colonisation, and delivers us back along the “marae way” to the safety of our aunty’s place in summer. There is warmth and rich nostalgia, middle fingers in the air, familiar arms to hold you safe. Read this book if you believe in land back. Read this book if you don’t believe in land back.

General releases

// David Hedley from Hedley’s Books, New Zealand’s oldest family-owned bookseller

THE BOY FROM GORGE RIVER by Chris Long

Reading A Life on Gorge River and A Wife on Gorge River, there wouldn’t have been a single person who didn’t wonder: “But how will the kids turn out?” Well, now we know. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Chris Long, gives his account of growing up at Gorge River, a two-day hike from the nearest road, in what must be New Zealand’s most remote family.

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

Smart, funny and completely joyous. This debut novel, set in the 1960s, is centred around an unconventional female scientist with a quiet gameplan to change the world. Wit, science, feminism and a dog named Six-thirty, this captivating story has won the hearts and minds of many readers this year.

MOONAGE DAYDREAM

by David Bowie A luxurious 20th anniversary edition of David Bowie’s Moonage Daydream, complete with the kaleidoscopic photography of Mick Rock. This incredible volume features more than 600 photographs, but best of all, very personal and often humorous commentary from David Bowie gives unprecedented insight into his work and creative process.

New Zealand releases

// The team at the Christchurch’s Curious Dog Bookshop

POOR PEOPLE WITH MONEY by Dominic Hoey

Grim, gritty and difficult – but also a witty pageturning wild ride. Dominic Hoey’s latest novel, is an intelligently written and tautly plotted tour of the underside of Aotearoa. The characters aren’t lovely but they’re believable and despite yourself you’ll be rooting for them to win.

TE WIREMU – HENRY WILLIAMS: EARLY YEARS IN THE NORTH EDITED by Caroline Fitzgerald

Personal letters and journals by the Rev Henry Williams transport the reader to New Zealand in the 1820s and 30s. These eyewitness accounts describe daily life in the Bay of Islands, the struggles of the Musket Wars, and pre-Treaty cultural exchanges for Māori with European whalers and traders.

SURVIVING MARMITE: A MEMOIR by Anisa Maclean

A delightful and enchanting memoir of an Iranian woman’s childhood impressions of arriving in Timaru with her family – all unable to speak English. This collection of funny, endearing and at times tender stories captures the struggles of leaving their ancient homeland and together facing the cultural shocks of their new life.

Young adult fiction

// The Children’s Bookshop

INDIGO MOON (#1 ETERNITY LOOP) by Eileen Merriman

“Promise you will never, ever mess with time…” Except time-travelling shape-shifting teenagers most definitely mess with time in this series set after Merriman’s Black Spiral trilogy in which a new virus has arisen. A pacy thought-provoking read, which has its protagonists leaping around the world in order to save the future.

OXYGEN MASK: A GRAPHIC NOVEL

by Jason Reynolds, art by Jason Griffin

What does it mean not to be able to breathe, really breathe, for generations? Being a teen living through Covid lockdowns and being black in America meld together in this verse/graphic novel. With just 10 sentences and some stunning imagery, a real sense of breathlessness is created and then released.

SCATTERED SHOWERS by Rainbow Rowell, art by Jim Tierney

Star Wars, trolls, Christmas, Simon Snow. And romance. In Rowell’s first short story collection, we get nine love stories exploring raw and real relationships with imperfect yet irresistible characters. Rowell nails her teen protagonists’ voices as usual and this is an excellent introduction to one of the most popular YA authors.

Picture books The Children's Bookshop THE GRIZZLED GRIST DOES NOT EXIST by Juliette MacIver and illustrated by Sarah Davis

Class 2B and their teacher are off on a school trip where there is certainly no Grizzled Grist and it will definitely not try to eat them. The always observant student Liam is back in this follow up to the award-winning That’s Not a Hippopotamus! Hilarious with lots to spot.

LION GUARDS THE CAKE

by Ruth Paul Lion guards the cake all through the night but perhaps he forgot the biggest danger … himself. This darling book won Best NZ Picture Book 2022. Ruth Paul is back with another delightful page-turner – this time exploring temptation. Very relatable for young readers with excellent rhyme and onomatopoeia.

ROAR SQUEAK PURR: A NEW ZEALAND TREASURY OF ANIMAL POEMS, edited by Paula Green and illustrated by Jenny Cooper

Creatures large and small skitter, leap and soar through this collection of more than 200 poems celebrating animals both native and non-native. With old favourites, new poems, and poems by children around the motu, charmingly illustrated and both funny and thoughtful, this is a treasure all homes and schools should have.

General releases

// Mandy Myles from Bookety Book Books ISAAC AND THE EGG by Bobby Palmer This book takes you on a wild journey through Isaac’s grief. It is a little bit fantastical, a little bit raw, full of imagination and with a lingering twist that you’re never quite sure where it is going to wind up. I suggest you have your tissues on hand.

THIS IS NOT A PITY MEMOIR by Abi Morgan

Abi Morgan’s book is a tragic story of resilience and long lasting love. The true meaning of “till death do us part”. My heart was in my throat a few pages in as Morgan, a British screenplay writer, describes the unfolding days, weeks and years following her partner’s collapse that changes their lives forever.

GIRL FRIENDS by Holly Bourne

This is the perfect portrayal of long-standing childhood friendships and the complexities that these years of history can carry through into adulthood. Written in the easy manner of “chick lit”, this book covers many relevant and important topics. I imagine many millennial females will feel this book has been written about their high school years.

Non-fiction

// Vincent O’Malley, winner of the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards General Non-Fiction category for Voices from the New Zealand Wars/He Reo nō ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa

WE DON’T KNOW OURSELVES: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF IRELAND SINCE 1958 by Fintan O’Toole

Acclaimed writer Fintan O’Toole was born in Dublin in 1958, and draws on personal experience to describe the remarkable changes Ireland has undergone since that time – from a Catholicclergy dominated backwater to one of the most progressive places in Europe and an end to the Troubles north of the border. A dazzling read. TE MOTUNUI EPA by Rachel Buchanan The incredible story of five intricately-carved wooden panels from Taranaki, known as the Motunui epa, that are today housed at Puke Ariki in New Plymouth. Spanning centuries, continents and cultures, the remarkable history of these taonga is told with considerable flair and skill in this richly-illustrated volume.

LEGACY OF VIOLENCE: A HISTORY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE by Caroline Elkins

Not a comprehensive history of the British empire, Elkins’ book instead describes its operation in selected places – Ireland, India, the Middle East, Kenya and other hot spots – in the 20th century. It is more than sufficient to dispel myths of a benign and benevolent British version of imperialism. Elkins rather shows it to be deeply rooted in violence.