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.

Where does an erotic novelist get their inspiration? NZ author Leigh Marsden spills the secrets of sexy writing.

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.

We're stuck in the past this month, or so it would seem from our selection of hot new novels.

Nick Duerden’s daughters are hooked on Enid Blyton. But, 70 years on, why is the writing of the Noddy and Famous Five author still so compelling?

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

Ten thousand copies of a "mummy porn" novel - based on Twilight characters - have hit Kiwi bookshelves.

A convoluted crime yarn disorients but enthralls Nicky Pellegrino.

Carroll du Chateau talks to writer Stephanie Johnson about her special bond with her latest subject.

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.