Seat-of-the-pants expedition filmmaker Brian Armstrong has an eye for weird and wonderful alcoholic concoctions.

When Ben Crawford and sister Libby renovated the winning house in the first series of The Block NZ, one of the most distinctive features was the weatherboard wall in the living room.

Oldies reveal a rich, ripe vein of charm for Nicky Pellegrino.

The secret to putting together a really satisfying literary journal is to make sure you have an editor with catholic tastes at the helm.

My fairly positive "experience" with this book was abruptly, even rudely, spoiled by the very last item, a contribution by John Key, former merchant banker and Prime Minister of this country.

London-based American writer Patrick Ness tells David Larsen how a childhood accident inspired his new novel.

Jamie Oliver's next project is a book and TV show later this year, designed to make meals which cost less and waste little.

Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook has been slammed by critics who have branded the actress out of touch with her pricey recipes.

The book I love most is... Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Piggy. Ralph. Mayhem.

Aspiring, novelists, poets and playwrights were paid to write by the Sargeson Fellowship, a scheme now at risk, writes Graeme Lay.

Jason Segel penned three books based on a script he sold when he was 21, which he managed to buy back when he became famous.

William Palmer’s novels have always tried to superimpose great truths on relatively small-scale canvases.

A new novel imagines the shimmering yet ill-fated life of Zelda Fitzgerald, writes Rebecca Barry Hill.

Scottish writer Iain Banks said Wednesday he has been diagnosed with late-stage gall bladder cancer and has just months to live.

Despite moments of beauty, no one escapes the horror in Nadeem Aslam’s fourth novel.

It can be a struggle to find a book that's truly uplifting.

In the shadowed and sepulchral Florence of the 1690s, with the Medici dynasty in steep decline and the city cowed by the puritanical regime of Cosimo III, a sculptor in wax receives a commission from the Grand Duke himself.

When I first heard that Barbara Anderson had died I toured our bookshelves looking for the book that had me fall in love with her.

Renowned for his curving furniture and elegant lighting, lead designer David Trubridge's new book So Far explores his fascinating life and approach to design. Here he shares his approach to the creative process.

Veteran rocker Eric Clapton had to rewrite his tell-all memoirs after realising he had wrongly blamed friends for his descent into drink and drugs hell.

The premise of Richard C. Morais' Buddhaland Brooklyn is that an apparent fish-out-of-water can eventually find, and adjust to, its new pond. Morais takes rather a long time to get there, but he makes it.

Nicky Pellegrino finds the tale of a diary washed ashore intriguing and compelling.

C.K. Stead’s remarkable new collection of poems, The Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007-2012, was completed in his 80th year.

The book I love most is ...