The blurb on the back of Breton Dukes’ debut short-story collection, Bird North And Other Stories, adds him to an esteemed line of New Zealand exponents of the genre: Frank Sargeson, Maurice Duggan and Owen Marshall.

Reading this very long book is deep immersion in the horrors of the Holocaust, and after a prolonged session readers may have to lift themselves from a state of depression about the human condition.

The Sense of an Ending is the kind of novel you might need to ponder for a few days before coming to any conclusions.

Ex-pat Geoffrey Wilson’s ironic imaginings are fuelled by his youth in South Africa and New Zealand, writes Stephen Jewell.

If I describe this memoir of life on the Kaipara as “charming”, it instantly sounds as if I’m sending it down the Damn-With-Faint-Praise chute. I’m not.

Michael Ondaatje talks about how he wrote The Cat's Table, where he gets his characters from and re-reading his favourite books.

When Patrick McGuinness’s debut novel The Last Hundred Days was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in July it had sold 64 copies. By September it was nudging 4000 sales.

Dan Cleary is one clever guy - actor, writer, producer and someone who doesn't mind poking the borax.

There are so many fine picture books about New Zealand these days that it's often difficult to find a point of difference that makes one stand out from the others.

Mark Lynch does love his rugby. I remember once when Lynch and I and a few stragglers went to see the Waratahs play the Stormers in Sydney.

When the sumptuous Great Gardens of Italy series recently screened here, you couldn't help but notice quite a few shots of its host, British garden guru Monty Don, staring pensively out at the scenery, chiselled chin on hand.

The tale of a nun's betrayal proves shocking - and thought-provoking, writes Nicky Pellegrino.

Some evenings when I pick up my October feature read, The Cat's Table, I feel like a spectator at a variety show.

Viva photographer Babiche Martens shares her journey to create a cookbook with leading chef Michael Van de Elzen.

Amy Winehouse's father Mitch is set to publish a memoir to tell the true story about the soul singer's life and to aid his recovery.

I'm a bit of a classics junkie. I've been known to go for several years without reading a single new-release book. It's not unusual for me to have not even heard of the titles on the Booker Prize shortlist, let alone read them.

Minrose Gwin clearly had a miserable time of it. Her father, Al the airman, only stuck around long enough to witness her birth, then fled to parts unknown, never to be seen again, although, to be fair, he did send Minrose a birthday present every year.