Thought rock, paper, scissors was a game of chance? Think again, says William Poundstone.

Comedy queen Amy Poehler’s new memoir spills the beans on her divorce and her dalliance with cocaine. Now, the much-feted comedian is on a new mission — to get rid of the cult of cool and promote humour that’s for everyone, writes Hephzibah Anderson.

Meetings with prize-winning authors form the basis for new satire, writes Stephen Jewell.

Kerikeri GP Chris Reid photographed - with their permission - more than 400 of his patients at the end of their 15-minute consultation. The photos have just been published in a book called 'Patient: Portraits From A Doctor's Surgery' and will feature in an exhibition in Auckland in November. Check out some of the photos in our gallery.

A new book exploring New Zealand’s long history of bush walking is published this week. In this Exclusive extract, writers Shaun Barnett and Chris MacLean discuss the evolution of that mysterious New Zealand term for hiking: ‘tramping’.

S.P.Q.R, hallmark of Auckland dining and Ponsonby road staple for over twenty years, publishes the cookbook S.P.Q.R with the restaurant's recipes, photographs and, republished here, a tribute written by Simon Farrell-Green.

This journey along State Highway 1 show that the nation's backbone is a place of life as well as an inanimate stretch of bitumen, writes Alex Robertson.

What compelled a 20-year-old Irish youth last month to murder his two younger brothers after finding out he was adopted?

The Hairy Maclary sculpture project planned for Tauranga's redeveloped waterfront is closing in on its fundraising target.

He used to be a fine dining chef in Wellington. Then he had an epiphany and moved to Auckland. Greg Dixon meets Al Brown, the man who learned to relax at dinner and made us do the same.

Book lovers will have a chance to see Eleanor Catton's specially bound copy of The Luminaries as part of Auckland Libraries' latest exhibition.

Richard Flanagan won the Man Booker prize for a tale inspired by his father's experiences in a Japanese PoW camp. It was a novel he never wanted to write, he reveals to Arifa Akbar.

Top author John Grisham has argued that not all men who watch "child porn" are paedophiles or should go to jail.

Richard Flanagan was tonight awarded the Man Booker Prize for a Second World War novel about the Burma Death Railway.

The massive foodie tome, 1001 Restaurants You Must Experience Before You Die, has just been released. Among the featured eateries are a dozen of NZ's best.

If ever there was a neon-lit example of cricket implosion, the Kevin Pietersen autobiography debacle is, to use modern management parlance, best practice.

Andy Griffiths creates worlds where killer koalas from outer space invade and robots riot — and kids can’t get enough of them, writes Dionne Christian.

Last year Craig Bullock brought us a book hailing the canine heroes and victims of Christchurch’s earthquakes. Now it’s the turn of the felines.

Enduring love for Agatha Christie sees British thriller writer Sophie Hannah add to the famous detective cases. She talks to Stephen Jewell.

A best-selling author is giving away the hefty book collection that lines every wall of his beachfront Auckland home.