At the age of 63 Kiwi sailor Graeme Kendall, in his yacht the Astral Express, conquered the "Everest of sailing".

It's Harry Potter again, though not quite as we've come to know the boy wizard.

The script book for the stage production 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child', which has received rave reviews, has surpassed order expectations

A Time To Die (Hachette) Tom Wood $34.99 Englishman Wood says he got into the book business "to pen thrillers with the boring bits

Topping the list of favourite Kiwi reads this year was the hard-hitting romantic novel turned controversial film Me Before You.

From sipping champagne to studying the solar system - it's been a busy year for Gilda Kirkpatrick.

Gustav Perle, son of a dead policeman and a bitter mother whom he loves despite her disaffection for him, is merely 5 as this story

Often the books we read cover the same subjects.

A different side of Patricia Highsmith comes to life in a new book, writes Stephen Jewell.

Annie Proulx's new epic story stretches far and wide and south, writes Dionne Christian.

This hot love story from an American author, set on a freezing continent, has touches of New Zealand occasionally. The setting is

Written six years ago, the Israeli writer's novel is a disquieting mix of apocalyptic and quotidian, incongruous career jealousies in a time of national blood-letting.

Karl du Fresne's new book takes readers on a sonic journey around the United States.

The comic universe's original Superman, killed off by DC Comics a few years ago, is zooming back to life. But now he has a son ... and is faced with a pretender claiming to be Clark Kent.

Hussein's novella is being translated for a December release, the style of which is described as a mix of Thrones and House of Cards.

Artist Bob Kerr illustrated the seminal Kiwi comic Terry Teo which was made into a popular 1980s TV series.

This is The Taming of the Shrew retold for more modern times.

Danyl, the protagonist, is back after a six-month absence caused by a misunderstanding with the justice system.

On a chilly, rainy day, it's tempting to escape to the baking heat of Australia.

It sounds almost too extraordinary to be true: a Kiwi advertising executive makes a pilgrimage across the byways of China, where tourists are rarely seen, and tracks down a long lost son of Mao Tse Tung.

Helen Brown enjoys Sylvia Patterson's memoir, I'm Not With the Band.

The Flintstones are back but they look totally different and they're also kind of anti-Flintstones.

We now know what the houses are, who they're for, and how you get in - plus the history of how the US school got started.

Dr Seuss wrote a book for adults about a man in a bowtie who is wheeled through a hospital

COMMENT: We've just passed a milestone with 12 million books given out on our Books in Homes literacy programme.

An official Unesco City of Literature, Melbourne is also home to 'The Best Bookshop in the World'. In the run-up to its Writers' Festival in August, Dani Wright seeks out the city's best bookish spots.

The 1970s love affair between Meryl Streep and John Cazale saw them both on new acting paths but their journey together ended in tragedy.

Jennifer Dann meets an author whose book is inspired by violence but defined by humanity.

Julian Fellowes mines the past but is not constrained by it, writes Stephen Jewell.