April 25 may be a public holiday on both sides of the Tasman, but a batch of new picture books and novels will ensure its meaning is not forgotten for another generation of young readers.

Spooky events in an English manor house entertain Nicky Pellegrino.

Sadie Jones’ highly entertaining third novel seems perfectly conceived to appeal to two popular tastes — fascination with the Edwardian country house and the revival of the English ghost story.

Georgina Harding's Painter of Silence is set in Dumbraveni in Romania, and spans the period from the onset of World War II, through the war's ongoing impact, to the imposition of Communism.

British writer Geoff Dyer tells Stephen Jewell how a book about tennis became something very different.

Lurid yarn fails to score a favourable impression with Nicky Pellegrino.

The police are investigating the death of a well-known Kiwi artist who died in unexplained circumstances. Jan Nigro, who was 91, died at her home in Takapuna on March 28.

Lisa Gardner is a US mystery suspense author whose latest novel is Catch Me (Headline).

Dear Heart takes its title from a poem by Michele Leggott addressed to her dead mother and is a pointer to what makes Green's collection different from its predecessors.

Tanveer Ahmed has written a memoir that entertains but also gives you something to think about. The Exotic Rissole explores mixed cultural relations.

Lenny is "a perfectly unremarkable 20-year old who just happens to be in a wheelchair". He's there because of a rugby accident and he doesn't want to live any more. So he kills himself, in front of a parish priest.

Expat Kiwi author Adam Christopher tells Stephen Jewell how his superhero novel was born and why he won’t base a story in New Zealand.

Viva takes tea with Little & Friday - the little cafe that could.

Kim Evans of cafe, Little and Friday, celebrates the launch of her new cookbook, Treats from Little & Friday, over a spot of tea and dainty treats.

May’s Writers and Readers Festival has a diverse lineup of international guests to tempt lovers of all genres, writes Linda Herrick.

If you were to write a story set in Bombay, as the poet Jeet Thayil prefers to call the city now known as Mumbai in his outstanding debut novel, you don't have to work too hard.

Tumbling tresses, midnight-pool eyes, alabaster brow. None of these features in the debut novelist's publicity photo should be held against her.

Those who are nervous about speaking in public usually have the perfect way out. They simply don't do it.