Kelly Ana Morey's new Māori novel debuts atop Unity Books chart

Across multiple U.S. and New Zealand charts, recent reading trends show strong momentum for both fiction and popular nonfiction, with several titles appearing repeatedly in different formats. In New Zealand, Unity Books’ weekly chart highlights Kelly Ana Morey’s epic Māori novel Ordinary People Like Us alongside other bestsellers such as Elizabeth Strout’s The Things We Never Say and Asher Emanuel’s The Valley: Crime and Punishment in a New Zealand City. An American indie bookstore list for the week ending Aug. 30 also features The Things We Never Say and pairs it with a mix of debuts and nonfiction, including Jill Lepore’s The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State and David Sedaris’s The Land and Its People. Library eBook demand in the Mid-Hudson region similarly leads with Kathryn Stockett’s The Calamity Club and also includes popular crossover titles like The Correspondent and London Falling. The New York Times hardcover list for the week ended Aug. 15 shows The Calamity Club at No. 1 and spotlights a range of suspense and historical-leaning fiction such as The Secrets We Hide and The Unknown. For younger readers, The New York Times picture-book rankings emphasize school-and-friendship themes, with SEE YOU LATER, ALLIGATOR! leading and other classroom-focused favorites like The Pigeon Has to Go to School! appearing near the top.