We love our All Blacks, but the new flag debate shows our obsession with the darkest hue may be fading, observes Lindsey Dawson.

She may have just won the best actress Oscar for her new film, Still Alice, about a professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, but Julianne Moore is as down-to-earth as ever.

We work shorter days than ever, spend less time on household chores and more time on social media —so why are we are all so busy and why do we brag about it? Rebecca Barry Hill looks at the busy-ness trap and how we can escape from it.

You can buy a deluxe edition of this new, independent New Zealand publisher's handsome production, with "Yulong cream paper ... Woodfree real leather ... foil stamping".

Known as an actor in TV satire The Thick Of It and as a comedy writer for Veep, Will Smith has written a mystery thriller set in the Channel Islands. It’s John le Carre meets Middlemarch, he tells Alice Jones.

S.J. Watson’s ambitious follow-up to his best-seller Before I Go To Sleep delves into the murky world of cybersex, he tells Stephen Jewell.

I write these few words to you, the people of free New Zealand, from the suburb formerly known as Grey Lynn.

A couple of close calls prove life is a series of tests, writes Steve Braunias.

Three New Zealand wines seeking points of difference while retaining those elements you expect to find in wines you particularly enjoy.

Once, she was the undisputed queen of the toy cupboard. But today, sales of Barbie are in free-fall. Rachel Halliwell (and her 8-year-old daughter) explore her decline and ask how toy manufacturers can win over girls now.

My husband and his best friend had a punch-up and are not speaking, but his friend’s wife and I are really good friends. Now my husband does not want me to talk to her.

Julia Donaldson’s most famous book, The Gruffalo, has won the hearts of children around the world. During a fleeting visit to Auckland and Wellington, Britain’s best-selling author talks to David Larsen.

Roddy Doyle’s new novel, aimed at people with poor literacy, is inspired by a death in his own family, the Booker winner tells Arifa Akbar.

To begin a novel with a character who is dead from the very first page is a risk.

Thirty years after he fell in love with Japan, author Edmund de Waal returns to take his family on an intense tour of its urban and rural charms.

Guess you've heard the bad news by now that our friends holding the reins of power (yeah, right) won't be forking out over the table with the actual cash payout they reckoned they'd stump up with when we took them out for drinkies before the election.

Left things too late? here are some fashionable last-minute Valentine’s Day gift ideas available in store today.

Up early and looking for a new spot to dine this weekend? Check out this week's brunch review.

Fashion designer Denise L’Estrange-Corbet and her daughter Pebbles answer your agonising questions.

Award-winning Auckland playwright Elisabeth Easther was once an erotic fiction writer. As Fifty Shades of Grey hits our screens, she reveals the highs and lows of her short-lived career in smut.

Debut novel combines writer’s love of music with her love of words, writes Rebecca Barry Hill.

I would rather read Kelly Link than breathe. Writing about her is another thing again. I do not know why her new book is called Get In Trouble.

New Zealand-born Peter Walker has been living in Britain for nearly 30 years now. He's made a considerable reputation as an author there, under as many as six nom-de-plumes, writing well over 100 books.

As a bloke can I just say that this weekend is simply quite wonderful in that not one but two mighty sporting events are upon us, simultaneously.

He’s the most-capped in All Black history but you won’t hear Tony Woodcock shout about it. He prefers his hard work on the field to tell the story.

Left things too late? here are some fashionable last-minute Valentine's Day gift ideas.

Hawkes Bay, blessed with the kind of undulating landscape and climate that grapes love, is responsible for a fine array of whites and reds. Here are three:

A seaside location is a huge drawcard for a new Takapuna venue — and the food is pretty good, too.