Here’s the bestsellers list, courtesy of Booksellers New Zealand, for the two weeks ended 12 November. It’s starting to become clear what’s going to be in lots of lucky punters’ Xmas stockings now …

In the NZ-written fiction section, having said that, Patricia Grace has bounded into the number 1 spot with Tu, her novel based on the war experiences of some of the Maori battalion in Italy … it was reviewed this week in the Listener by David Eggleton. Sounds great. (Incidentally, I found an interesting artlcle written by Mark Williams, a lecturer at Canterbury University, while he was guesting at the University of Calgary. All about Patricia, Witi and Alan Duff, too.)

Anyway, back at number two is the good old Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick bobbing up again from number three, then down from number one last week is In My Father's Den (the movie tie-in edition), by Maurice Gee. Stonefish, by Keri Hulme is down to number four from two, and The Whale Rider (the movie tie-in edition) by Witi Ihimaera is down to five from four.

Non-fiction shows a good mix of history and sporting bios coming through for the festive season. The Penguin History Of New Zealand, by Michael King is still at number one, while An Illustrated History Of The Treaty Of Waitangi by Claudia Orange has jumped into the charts at number two – nicely topical, it’s sure to enjoy big sales for Xmas… Standing Tall: The Tawera Nikau Story by Richard Becht is steady at number three, and Sir Peter Blake: An Amazing Life by Alan Sefton is down to four from two last time. Carlos by Richard Becht has come into the charts at number five.

We usually only do up to number five, but there are a couple of other deserving mentions: Craig Potton’s New Zealand Aotearoa, which is sure to be glorious for those overseas rellies, and At Home: A Century Of New Zealand Design by Douglas Lloyd Jenkins. These are at numbers 8 and 9 respectively, but we’re sure they’re going to be movin’ on up … we’re on the scrounge for a review copy of the latter, so if we get it we’ll tell you all about it.

We’ll give you the kids’ listing too, as we’re moving into the Santa sphere. Cow Power by Kim Riley & Deb Hinde, the story of cow number 569 and how she saved Kim in the Manawatu floods, has been at number one for weeks now. It’s been moooving off those shelves rapidly. Sorry. Random House say that they've already reprinted Cow Power twice now, and there's no sign of its popularity abating. In second place is Clarice Bean Spells Trouble by Lauren Child, up from number 10, and in third place is A Kiwi Night Before Christmas by Yvonne Morrison & Deborah Hinde, up from number four. The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud, nice bit of fantasy, has entered the charts at number four, and Lion Boy: The Chase by Zizou Corder, also previously nowhere, has come in at number 5.

Finally, in the international charts, all we’re prepared to tell you is that in the top ten, there are three books by Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code is one of ‘em) and two by Terry Pratchett. Shouldn’t they be ordered to sort out third world debt or something? Nah: all power to them. Happy shopping.