Prime Minister John Key's wife Bronagh has taken on a few royal-like duties herself as an ambassador for the Blind Foundation and passed on a Hairy Maclary 'touch and feel' book for Prince George while dining with the royal couple last night.
Stephen Jewell talks to ‘Swedish Agatha Christie’ Camilla Lackberg about her close friendship with her characters, fact being darker than fiction and the myths surrounding her country.
The charming title of this book is a quotation from The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe.
Val McDermid's Northanger Abbey is the second stage of The Austen Project, for which four writers have been invited to produce a contemporary version of a Jane Austen novel.
Don Brash devotes all of three paragraphs to the Exclusive Brethren in his 330-page autobiography despite his dealings with the Church.
No continent is left out in this roll call of diverse and wonderful sites.
On December 19, 1910, a few months after the publication of Howard's End, E. M. Forster began sketching out the plan for a new novel.
When Carole Beu opened the Women’s Bookshop 25 years ago, she didn’t realise she would be creating something much bigger than a retail space, writes Linda Herrick.
BBC journalist Kirsty Wark tells Stephen Jewell about her debut novel, and how it feels being the subject of the critics for a change.
A Massey University author was surprised to hear Prince George would be getting his book as a memento when his parents visit Cambridge next weekend.
A Lorde figurine performing atop three circular cakes to depict The Lord of the Rings was among creative entries for a Canterbury edible story-telling competition.
Nicky Pellegrino is a novelist and former magazine editor who moved to New Zealand for love.
David Larsen discovers the intriguing backstory behind cartoonist Michael Leunig’s whimsical birds
I had to buy a book recently. It hurt. Much as I love books, my financially sensible self would rather get them from the library or stock up on a few good novels at the school fair at $2 to $3 each.
Hyperbole often surrounds big novels, especially big novels from New York about New York and by New Yorkers, but in Gilbert's case it is all justified.
Many contemporary male novelists, particularly comic ones, are incapable of depicting an unsympathetic female character.
American novelist Gary Shteyngart tells Alexander Bisley why he likes to combine hilarity, sadness and introspection.
If you happen to spot celebrity stylist and designer Rachel Zoe out and about, do not worry - she's not judging you.
Whatever you're doing this Monday, wherever you might be, take a moment to reflect on the most popular word in the English language, OK?
A new book charts Abba’s progress from camp 70s novelty act to enduring musical phenomenon. Anna Tyzack meets one of the famous four, Bjorn Ulvaeus.
Could Britain have avoided World War I? Historians Max Hastings and Niall Ferguson have presented rival views on the BBC.
Linda Herrick surveys the wealth of names coming to Auckland’s Writers Festival in May.
An Arabic scene of dunes and camels was the backdrop for a diverse literary event, writes Linda Herrick.
Divergent, the latest young adult novel poised to become a blockbuster movie, meets all the criteria for the genre.
Imagine a world in which the advances of the science since the publication of 'On the Origin of Species' - or even since Charles Darwin was born - were ignored.