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Keith Richards to chop Fiji tree down
That tree Keith Richards fell out of and almost killed him when he was last down this way? It's not long for this world.

JK Rowling hits back at online abuse over gay Dumbledore
The author told her ex-fan to follow alleged homophobe Brian Souter instead.

Heartbreak through Irish eyes
Elegant writing takes us through the highs and lows of a woman’s life.

Self-publish and be damned
Sometimes it’s the only way to get in print, and sometimes it’s the best way to keep control of your work. James Russell charts the rise of self-publishing.

Ian McEwan: Great expectations
Ian McEwan’s new novel centres around a family court judge who gets too involved in one of her cases. She blows it, McEwan tells Linda Herrick.

Sarah Waters: Blood, sweat and scrubbing
Sarah Waters’ new novel explores what happens when an ‘unruly passion’ in the form of two lodgers enters a house. She talks to Linda Herrick.

Book review: Four Stories
Oh, to write like Alan Bennett. The consummate modulations of mood and structure. The utterly English urbanity and self-deprecation.

Ten best Roald Dahl lines
Roald Dahl was born in this month in 1916. As a tribute, here are 10 of my favourite quotes from his books.

'Subversive' Roald Dahl chapter released
An unseen chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory deemed too subversive for young British children has finally been released.

Jennifer Weiner: Paperback fighter
A bestselling author who sells books by the million, Jennifer Weiner is on an almighty mission to get ‘chick lit’ the serious attention she believes it is due.

South Sea Vagabonds: Gone with the tide
When author Johnny Wray was a lad at school in the 1920s, his form master was most disparaging of his writing, describing it as: “Conglomerations of facts occasioned by heterogeneous concatenations of stupid irrelevancies.”

Michele Hewitson interview: Nicky Hager
Nicky Hager, the investigative journalist, was in Auckland on Wednesday to give three talks and promote his latest book, Dirty Politics.

Supermarket bans Roald Dahl classic
Children's classic removed from Australian supermarket chain after complaints it contained the word "slut".

Bio beats out Luminaries
A "stunning" biography of a Wellington art dealer has beaten Eleanor Catton's acclaimed novel The Luminaries to win the top New Zealand Post Book Award.

'50 Shades' dangers revealed
Women who read 'Fifty Shades of Grey' are more likely to have abusive partners and eating disorders, according to academics worried about the novel's impact.

The ultimate punishment
In keeping with the almost impermeable wall that prevents a healthy transtasman book trade, Helen Garner is relatively unknown in New Zealand.

Good for your digestion
I'd love to meet John Crace. The Guardian columnist is acerbic, focused, appallingly funny.

Why Whaledump came forward
The hacker who took years of Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater's communications has reached out from behind the pages of 'Dirty Politics' and promised further revelations.

Details of emails released
Some of the emails to and from Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater which investigative writer Nicky Hager based his Dirty Politics book on have been posted online.

Ex-PM staffer in spotlight
Data release shows emails between Slater and an email account linked to former worker in the PM's office and it's just a fraction of the information the hacker has.

Kerre McIvor: Hager 'dirty' bombshell is old news
The revelation from Nicky Hager that politics is a dirty business comes tens of thousands of years late.

Rodney Hide: Hager's 'explosive' claim a fizzer
I have tried really, really hard to read Nicky Hager's books. They interest me. But I have never been able to do it. They make my head hurt.

Hager's tell-all chapters
Have our politicians reached a new low in gutter tactics? Nicky Hager picks five crucial parts of his book and invites you to make up your own mind.

The dark side of Jane Austen
Ignore its uptight reputation. Mansfield Park, celebrating its 200th anniversary, seethes with sex and delves into England’s murkiest corners, writes Paula Byrne.