BOOKLOVERS FAVOURITE BOOKS of 2022
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.