Absorbing stories are an ideal way to unwind over summer.

Mussolini hated pasta and Hitler, famously a vegetarian, liked to eat baby pigeons. A new book tells us what tyrants liked for tea. John Walsh reports.

Linda Herrick delves into four new cookbooks that transport the palate around the globe.

Lena Dunham found it "very, very painful" to be criticised for revealing she was date-raped.

Facebook's boss is the latest to hail an ancient pleasure, but he may have missed the point, writes James Walton.

"The Oprah Effect" could turn minor works into million-sellers. Mr Zuckerberg may just do the same.

It's so popular it has been named No1 on the missing book list for Auckland's 55 libraries.

Parents are being urged to encourage their children to read over the summer in light of research showing kids who forgo books while on holiday lose reading ability at alarming rates.

If you’re still wondering what to get the father-in-law for Christmas or intend reclining under a shady tree for the holidays, the Herald on Sunday looks at some of the best sports books on the shelves this year

With the national carrier entering its 75th year, here's a wee stocking-filler for the sky-gawping plane nerd in your life.

My childhood was happy, although not always easy. My parents separated when I was 2 and my mum's parents played a huge role in my upbringing.

Like other students at Koru School in Mangere, Tyler Adams has his own burgeoning library at home.

With so many gadgets and gizmos available these days, seeing a child getting excited over a book can be pretty extraordinary.

Autobiographies and beautiful coffee-table tomes make great stocking fillers.

If you write a sex scene, no one believes it’s fiction, writes Jon Stock.

With a new novel out, and a potential film finally on the horizon, Patricia Cornwell tells Judith Woods how Dr Kay Scarpetta was held hostage by Hollywood.

"Short stories don't sell," is the current mantra of publishers everywhere, as a way of refusing to look at proffered manuscripts in case they love them and are sorely tempted.

Some Luck is the first volume of Pulitzer Prize-winner Jane Smiley’s trilogy set in the Iowa badlands. Boyd Tonkin reports.

Kiwi comic creator Dylan Horrocks' love of the medium was beaten to a pulp by Batgirl, but was sparked back into life through a trip into his own imaginary landscape.

'I have had my character and credibility questioned at every turn,' said Dunham of her sexual assault claim.

Actress Lena Dunham will reportedly make an amendment to her memoir after the identity of an alleged rapist was revealed.

British author JK Rowling will publish new Harry Potter material every day from December 12 to 23 on her website Pottermore.com as a gift to fans.