JK Rowling explains Harry Potter named his middle child Albus Severus out of "forgiveness and respect" to Severus Snape.

Heroic fantasy books, Jack Reacher novels and crime thrillers top the reading list inside our prisons.

Although Paul Hartigan's art has roamed from pop-art painting and posters, to Polaroids and beyond, his neon work is the most familiar.

Our top reads of the year for 2015.

The 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards inaugural longlist has been announced. There are 40 long-listed works; ten each from the four awards categories - illustrated non-fiction, general non-fiction, poetry and fiction.

A Hunger Games prequel might be in the works, according to series' director Francis Lawrence.

Waiheke artist Emma Wright became a best-selling author after blogging about her art, her life and her battle with bulimia.

The Fault in Our Stars, which debuted at No 1 on the New York Times bestseller list for children's chapter books, had been borrowed 3006 times by this week.

Will the Pacific save us? In his biography of an ocean, Simon Winchester finds an optimistic note among all the doom we humans trail in our wake.

The style of the narrative can best be described as a darkly comic fairy tale. All the familiar tropes are there; jilted hero, beautiful damsel, dark castle,mysterious forest and a collection of untrustworthy characters who mean our hero no good.

There's only one person who can reduce Kiwi men to starstruck school girls clamouring for a peep of their idol.

You'll go a long way to find a more complex character than French writer Michel Houellebecq. He has attracted (and courted) controversy throughout his literary career.

Bill Manhire's new collection of stories includes a powerful essay on growing up with a father who liked a drink.

Patricia Cornwell's best-selling crime novels are based on obsessive detail and gory research. But the author's own back story is one of the most frightening of all.

The Sun may shine once winter falls as Game of Thrones author George RR Martin hints at a bittersweet ending for his famed book series.

Photographer Jane Ussher has captured some of New Zealand's most beautiful church architecture in her new book, Worship. Here are some of those images.

A new book breaks down the surprising ingredients in popular foods.

Francoise Gilot expresses controversial views in her new book: 'About Women: Conversations Between a Writer and a Painter'.

Kiwi Steve Williams opens up about golfer's affairs in tell-all book.