With Christmas almost here, Canvas book reviewers take the hassle out of gift-shopping with ideas for all ages and tastes.

Going by the feedback we’ve received in the last month, there’s been a great deal of interest in Paula Morris’s new novel Rangatira.

New Zealand's own favourite food writer dishes the dirt on what it's like to be a bookworm.

The characters, once they finally arrive, are great, writes Nicky Pellegrino.

Mirabel Osler, as one friend has said of her, "could make a shopping list seem lyrical".

A new book checks out 70 outlets sure to delight coffee-lovers, writes Jim Eagles.

An updated guide to Te Araroa, our national walkway system, which now stretches the length of the country.

The default opening for any review of a Neal Stephenson novel is the "cult author, but not really" explanation. Here's how it goes.

The epic scale of a tragic story numbs and grips Nicky Pellegrino.

Boyd Tonkin talks to Victoria Hislop about being inspired by landscapes and why she is ready for passionate criticism of her new book.

Jane-ites may quail at first, but should enjoy this, says Nicky Pellegrino.

The producer of 7 Days shares his insight on what it's like to be a bookworm.

Books almost always make the perfect gift. They can be beautiful, challenging, inspirational, educational or simply fun. There is something for everyone.

"The best travel," wrote Paul Theroux in his book Dark Star Safari, "is a leap in the dark".

New Zealand writer Paula Morris has travelled the word in her novels, but the inspiration from her latest release, Rangatira, came from closer to home. It was in her blood.

Parents wishing to change the attitude of their science-averse teenage boys could do worse than to drop into their Christmas stocking this account of Tim Flannery’s adventures as a young zoologist.

William Bligh, he of the mutiny on the Bounty, was arguably the most complex, interesting and observant of the European explorers in the South Pacific.