Latest from Books

Paul Little: We're the surveillance state
Children in early-childhood education, ages 3 to 5, are to be given ID numbers.

When every word counts
Lexicographer Dianne Bardsley tells David Larsen about her love affair with words.

Interview with Ben Sanders
Funny, bossy 23-year-old crime writer and engineer has firm ideas on how he wants to be portrayed.

Rowling angry over secret leak
JK Rowling spoke yesterday of her anger after discovering that a lawyer at a firm that represents her had leaked the fact she had published a detective thriller under a false name.

Alyssa Milano: Twitter inspired me to write a book
Actress Alyssa Milano was inspired by Twitter to write a book.

Book of bizarre bras (+pics)
Bras made of dead hedgehog skins, human hair, old telephones and a typewriter are just some of the kooky creations compiled in a new book.

Publishers miss out on Rowling payday as book sales soar
In the mid-1990s, a string of publishers turned down a manuscript by an author called Joanne Rowling about a boy wizard.

Haunted by the tour
A fiery episode in our recent history is plumbed for drama, writes Rebecca Barry Hill.

Book awards veto Pakeha author
An author of a popular Maori children's book series cannot enter a national library award because she is Pakeha.

Book review: Joyland
When did the amusement park coming-of-age story become a thing? Did I miss the memo?

Book review: Round House
This well-told story won the American National Book Award last year.

Obituary: Ray Richards
Ray Richards was a modest man who made a significant impact on New Zealand publishing.

Lyrical tale wins writer's prize
A young student who was a finalist in last year's inter-school writing competition has gone a step further this year, winning the top prize.

Book Review: The Fall Of Light
Rudy’s 43rd year is not a good one. He’s on bad terms with his wife and daughters; his parents (living or dead); his assertive younger fellow-architects. He’s falling off the booze wagon and he’s just fallen off his Vespa.

Pursuing the primate
Carl Hiaasen needn’t look far for a story on which to base a novel. It’s all right outside his door in Miami, he tells Stephen Jewell.

Michele Hewitson interview: Ted Dawe
Having never before met a polluter of the moral innocence of youth, I have no idea whether the author Ted Dawe is an unusually engaging example of one.

Judge defends racy kids' book
Detailed descriptions of sex acts, coarse language and scenes of drug-taking are at the heart of why a novel was voted the best children's book of the year.

Award-winning kids' book drops c-bomb
A novel voted this week as the best children's book of the year is laced with detailed descriptions of sex acts, coarse language and drug-taking.

The secret is out on The Keeper Of Secrets
Julie Thomas was forced to spend the first four years of her life in bed — any physical exertion, even crying, threatened her life. Books were her saviour.

'Battle of Baghak' to become a book
The New Zealand commander of the "Battle of Baghak", in which two Kiwi soldiers were killed, has been allowed to interview witnesses for a book he is writing.

Herald on Sunday editorial: Book prize lets down the young
Good, well-written stories that go to the heart of a reader and touch the truth of any human experience, including sex, can help a young mind rise above smut.

The buzz about The Hive
When your husband and brother are best-selling authors, writing your first novel takes guts, writes Stephen Jewell.