1 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) Oho! Number one with a bullet in its first week in the shops, and bound, surely, to stay there for weeks, maybe even months. A free copy is up for grabs in this week’s book giveaway contest. You will want to enter. You will want to read this book. It’s quite amazing, a fully imagined story about boys kept in some kind of weird and alarming medical experiment created by English and Nazi scientists. They are creepy little kids. They live in a big house. They are looked after by matrons. They try to be good but their sins are meticulously recorded in a special book kept by the ever-watchful matrons … ReadingRoom recently devoted a week’s coverage of the book and the author. Day 1: Chapter 1 of the new novel. Day 2: Her cohort enrolled in Bill Manhire’s writing class in 1995 remember Chidgey as destined for greatness. Day 3: Steve Braunias interviewed the author on the craft of fiction. Day 4: Philip Matthews reviewed the novel, and concluded, “This is a Holocaust-inflected novel, only with a jolly seaside-postcard cover and a lighter touch.” To enter the draw, share your thoughts on Chidgey, based on either the opening chapter, the memories of her cohort, the interview, or the review, and email them to stephen11@xtra.co.nz with the subject line in screaming caps THE BOOK BY THE CHIDGE by midnight on Sunday, May 18. 2 Tea and Cake and Death (The Bookshop Detectives 2) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $38) 3 See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Hachette, $37.99) 4 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin Random House, $38) Hoey’s new novel is fairly flying off the shelves – and ought to be a contender in next year’s Ockham book awards. It’s a coming-of-age story set in 1985, in Grey Lynn, and draws on the author’s childhood experience. “We lived on the corner of Firth and Dryden,” he told Radio New Zealand. “It was cool. We were quite poor, but there was lots of art happening, and community. But also lots of crime and craziness at well. I tried to capture that in the book best I could.” Pip Adam’s review will run in ReadingRoom next week. She liked it, a lot. 5 Black Silk and Buried Secrets (Tatty Crowe 2) by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins, $37.99) 6 The Good Mistress by Anne Tierman (Hachette, $37.99) 7 Sea Change by Jenny Pattrick (David Bateman, $37.99) 8 Dead Girl Gone (The Bookshop Detectives 1) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $26) 9 Tree of Nourishment (Kāwai 2) by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99) 10 The Secrets of Maiden’s Cove by Erin Palmisano (Hachette, $37.99) 1 Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin, $39.99) 2 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $39.99) 3 Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $39.99) 4 Full Circle by Jenny-May Clarkson (HarperCollins, $39.99) A free copy of the Breakfast host’s memoir was up for grabs in last week’s free book giveaway. Readers were asked to share their thoughts on her. Everyone who entered loved her but no one was as full-on enthusiastic as Christine, who wrote, “Such a wahine toa! Such an amazing sportswoman and sports news presenter. Ka rawe to have a young wahine Māori on our TV screens. Loved her taha Māori, pronunciation of te reo from such a long time ago. I love that she comes from such a little-known part of Aotearoa. Jenny-May you rock!” Huzzah to Christine; she fully deserves to win her copy of Full Circle by Jenny-May Clarkson. 5 Northbound by Naomi Arnold (HarperCollins, $39.99) 6 The Good Life by Gillian Swinton (Allen & Unwin, $45) Brisk account of an attempt to maintain self-sufficient farming on a 2.7-hectare property in Central Otago. It includes the author’s method of waterglassing eggs. 1) Get a glass jar 2) Get some hydrated lime 3) Get fresh, unwashed and clean eggs 4) Mix up one litre of unchlorinated water to 30g of lime and stir in your container to make a slurry 5) Cover eggs, in the water mix and try to stack them narrow end down 6) Keep a lid on your container to prevent evaporation. She writes, “The consistency of the eggs are slightly more watery than a fresh one, but once gently mixed, the consistency is similar to a fresh whisked egg. It is worth noting that the longer they sit in the lime solution, the more watery the yolk is, and the shell will become more fragile. Caution is required when handling them. “For experiments’ sake, I also tried frying and then poaching with less success, that watery consistency didn’t lead to a successful cook. Baking? Perfect. Every time I bake my banana bread, I grab a few of my limed eggs for the recipe.” Hm. I don’t entirely see the point but it sounds like a good thing to add to your supplies if you’re prepping for the apocalypse which is probably just around the corner. 7 Tasty by Chelsea Winter (Allen & Unwin, $55) 8 High Heels and Gumboots by Rebecca Hayter (HarperCollins, $39.99) 9 Inner Warrior by Jaye Pukepuke (HarperCollins, $39.99) Interesting memoir. Publisher’s blurbology: “Jaye Pukepuke committed 15 armed robberies before he was caught by police and sent to prison. He tells people that while he spent almost six years inside, he served 16, because it took him another decade simply to get his life back to the starting blocks. Prison also took away his lifelong dream: to be a professional rugby league player in Australia’s NRL competition. It was years before he was permitted to leave New Zealand’s shores. Jaye had to choose a different path to the one he had longed for – one that would take him on an unexpected journey to become a warrior of a different kind.” 10 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)