Autobiographies rule in the week's top 10 best-selling NZ books. Photos / supplied
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1. The Team That Hit the Rocks by Peter Jerram (David Bateman)
In April 1968, the interisland passenger ferry Wahine hit Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in a cyclone, the worst storm ever recorded in New Zealand’s history. Among the 610 passengers and 125 crew was the Lincoln College cricket team with one Peter Jerram among its number. Some 53 people lost their lives and while the cricket team all survived, the disaster had a huge impact on them.
Initially, they didn’t discuss their experiences but over the years, that has changed. Drawing from the written and oral testimony of his teammates, crew and rescuers, Jerram has produced a “riveting firsthand account” of their stories. He also examines what led to the disaster and loss of life finding serious fault with the Court of Inquiry into the tragedy.
From the publisher: “Told for the first time from a survivor’s perspective, The Team That Hit the Rocks is a powerful account of our nation’s worst modern maritime disaster and the unbreakable bond formed by those who survived”.
2. Evolving by Judy Bailey (HarperCollins)
In which the person who presented our TV news from 1986 to 2005 (“I just fell into it”) offers an “inspiring and personal guide to ageing well and with happiness”. It covers older people’s health, fitness (she does Pilates), finances and embracing joy, as well as the inevitable losses and griefs of a life. Bailey says being in your 70s today is a world away from what it used to be. “We’re out there doing things and we’ve got a lot to contribute,” she told Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
3. Dame Suzy D by Susan Devoy (Allen & Unwin)
Petra Bagust describes Dame Susan Devoy’s autobiography as “a rollicking story of a life well lived” and John Campbell says the book is “the story of becoming Suzy D - in all her determined, triumphant and unabashed singularity”.
In her own words - and in the straight-up style that won her legions of new fans on Celebrity Treasure Island - Dame Susan tells the story of her life so far: the wins, the losses, the battles, as well as the bonds that got her through life’s hardest challenges.