Steven Eldred-Grigg is a well-known and respected popular historian and novelist. Bangs is the fourth book in a series of novels that began with the much loved Oracles and Miracles, published in 1987.

She’s best-known for her detective novels but British author Kate Atkinson’s latest work is a change of direction, writes Linda Herrick.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon tells Stephen Jewell why he likes visiting bookstores and supermarkets.

Sherry Turkle shows up begging for a latte. She's left her wallet in her hotel room. She's exhausted, she says, and could do with a coffee.

Dominic Corry went behind the scenes on Baz Luhrmann's extravagant film adaptation of classic novel The Great Gatsby.

New Zealand nature expert Gerard Hutching has pulled together some of the quirkiest Kiwi questions in his new book, Why can't Kiwis fly? Here's five of our favourite head-scratchers:

The 25-year-old former porn superstar has reinvented herself as a novelist, and her first book, The Juliette Society, revolves around a woman's introduction to a highly secretive sex club.

Nicky Pellegrino delves into a harrowing tale of survival that's also a story about love.

A running regime that would defy most of us is soul food to Malcolm Law, writes Andy Kenworthy.

A few years ago I visited the charming English port town of Whitby and was intrigued to discover its crucial role in the lives of two very different men whose names continue to echo down the centuries: Count Dracula and Captain James Cook.

People write - or want to write - for many reasons. For some, it is a compulsion, an itch that must be scratched. For others, it has more to do with the narcissistic conviction that the world wants to know what they're thinking and feeling.

The master of historical sagas, Edward Rutherfurd, talks to David Larsen about the symmetry of his writing.

For those readers eagerly anticipating the next effort from Sarah Waters, the queen of historical revisionism, look no further than Kate Worsley's debut novel.

If the adage "you are what you eat" rings true then I'm some sort of pickled mollusc given my penchant for clams, mussels, oysters and a crisp chardonnay. But I suspect "you are what you read" is more to the point.

Meet just-turned-105-years-old romance novelist Ida Pollock, the world's oldest producer of bodice rippers.

Nicky Pellegrino bones up on the damage fast food does.

A previously unpublished novel by Janet Frame, In the Memorial Room was written in 1974 and comes out of her experience as a Katherine Mansfield Fellow in Menton, France.

“Houses have their own ways of dying,” wrote E.M. Forster, “some with a tragic roar, some quietly.” Ashenden Park, the honey-stoned Palladian villa at the heart of Elizabeth Wilhide’s debut novel.

Gus van Sant is reported to have shot a steamy sex scene featuring Alex Pettyfer a bid to direct the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey.

A softer side to the Iron Lady is disclosed in Margaret Thatcher's authorised biography, including details about a love triangle involving her sister's future husband.

Nicky Pellegrino praises the author's skilful blend of human characters with the folklore of two cultures.

Lauraine Jacobs' new cookbook celebrates a lifetime in the industry, writes Grant Allen.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest, a new book published this week collects photographs from the other New Zealander in the 1953 British Everest Expedition.

Stephen Jewell talks to American writer Hugh Howey about why his post-apocalyptic tale is more grounded than its contemporaries.

As the number of living New Zealanders who have actually fought in a war declines, attendance at Anzac Day ceremonies continues to rise and ever more books about military history are published. Jim Eagles looks at the latest offerings.