The proliferation of household focused magazines has brought housekeeping professionalism to the fore.

The striking photos of geothermal activity and scenery in this 64-page booklet certainly make you want to go to Rotorua.

Stephen Jewell talks to director-turned-writer Guillermo Del Toro about his life post Middle-earth and the newly released second part of his spine-chilling vampire trilogy.

Jonathan Franzen, Tony Blair and Ken Follett are all guilty of crimes against brevity, writes Robert McCrum.

This is the first full biography written since the publication of the two-volume edition of Mansfield's Notebooks (2002), transcribed by Margaret Scott, and the final (fifth) volume in 2008 of her Collected Letters.

Theme-based anthologies serve several purposes. They explore and represent particular subjects from a thousand vantage points and they assemble diverse voices, both familiar and unfamiliar.

Way back in the 1980s I was addicted to Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels.

Jock McLean is sticking to his claim that his late father - sportswriter Sir Terry McLean - had an affair with a South African MP.

Making teachers' lives easier is the mantra for Invercargill company.

Chat-show supremo Sir Michael Parkinson pays tribute to guests but despairs at TV's descent into mediocrity.

Celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo shares his recipes of Italian food like Mama used to make in his new book.

New Zealander Henry Hargreaves is an ex-model making a name for himself in the Big Apple with a book celebrating breasts.

Nicki Greenberg loves Shakespeare, she "gets" Shakespeare, and she has done something wondrous with him, a thing I have never seen done before.

Wellington chef Martin Bosley's new book is a work of art. He explains to Kerri Jackson why he couldn't have done it five years ago.

Move over Bridget, it's the blokes' turn.

David Hill reviews two new Australian novels depicting two very different sides of modern life.

It is a tricky little bugger of a book this one. Distant, confusing and perhaps a little cliched in parts, it is also compelling, subtle and maybe even brilliant.

Judge not a book by its title.

Israeli David Grossman tells Helen Brown how writing helps him cope with grief.

Melbourne restaurant Red Spice Road has released a cookbook modernising age-old Asian dishes.

The book that has everything, Kehua! offers murder, adultery, incest (and plenty of it), redemption and ghosts.