The 19th century novels I still like give a strong sense of demanding to be read aloud to an audience. But by 1950, I would say, that lingering expectation of how a novel delivers had changed, in most languages and even most genres.

All sorts of unexpected, unsettling things happen in these 30 short stories. In Phoenix, Arizona, jobless Victor heads south with his nation's worst-ever storyteller to reclaim parental remains.

This fishing fleet has nothing to do with cod or snapper. It’s a witty, whimsical account of the boatloads of British belles, who, from the mid-18th century to the mid-20th century, were shipped out to India to marry English males.

Compare these two statements. "If the foreign forces are ready to leave our country ... then we can help them. But if they insist on continuing the war, we don't have any other way than fighting." An Afghan warlord, speaking in 2009.

We're back at work, the kids are back at school and already the summer break is an all-too-distant memory. Joanna Mathers finds out what the rest of 2013 will have in store for us.

A chance discovery may have unlocked the secrets behind one of the most notorious nudes in art history after a 19th-century portrait was unearthed in a bric-a-brac shop.

Jeny Curnow was widely known as the wife of the celebrated poet Allen Curnow but she was a remarkable and gifted person in her own right.

The premise of New Finnish Grammar is inspired: a wounded soldier is found by a German crew on the quay at Trieste in September, 1943. He has no identification on him, no memory whatsoever and, crucially, no language.

Peta Mathias may wear a medal on her chest but the vibrant author, chef and television presenter still doesn't cast a shadow on her mum.

Diaries at the ready! From fashion to film, music to must-reads - there’s much that’s exciting us about the year ahead.

An investiture ceremony for author, chef and television presenter Peta Mathias will be held at Government House in Auckland today.