Review: Don Paterson’s memoir explores his ‘fights with God, drugs and insanity’
His clear-eyed accounts are excoriating and shot through with shafts of gallows humour.
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Review: Space adventure novel explores how society treats those outside the mainstream
If you want an immersive experience, this novel will challenge and enthral you.
Review: Author’s controversial remedies for the disinformation crisis
The remedies start with raising the minimum age for social media to 16 or 18.
Beyond the cover: Exploring Aotearoa’s troubled food system
Emily King looks for solutions to the challenges we face within the food industry.
Top 10 best-selling New Zealand books: July 7
Latest best-sellers include a cat’s wild adventure, AB memoir and self-help ADHD guide.
Review: A new history of world culture is still educational - even if it’s selective
Is it possible to traverse the evolution of cultures during human history on one volume?
Review: Rip-roaring account of an 18th-century mission gone wrong
Where does duty end and survival begin, David Grann asks in his harrowing account.
Review: The rise and fall of former All Black star uncovered in memoir
Searing honesty marks Hayman’s bleak story of star whose life has gone tragically wrong.
Review: Tense new novels from three leading thriller writers
One novel is a "strong contender for best of the year."
How crime genre pioneer Walter Mosley defied expectations
The iconic author has had nearly 60 books published in his career since 1990.
Author's sweeping family saga novel has its roots in his mother’s childhood memories
Does the work deserve the commitment of time or is it simply grandiose bloviation?
Review: Why the relationship between Russia and China is so important to the world
Philip Snow's new history book discusses Moscow and Beijing reforging their relationship.
Book extract: Let’s reconsider if keeping pets is what’s best for them
What is keeping furry friends as pets doing to the animals and the world we live in?
Review: Tom Hanks’ debut novel misses the mark
The actor's new book about big-time film-making is too sprawling and affectionate.
Review: Catherine Chidgey’s new novel is a portrait of 80s adolescence
Pet hurtles towards its shocking end like a speeding American muscle car.
Review: New crime and thriller books hitting shelves
Fresh releases exploring a range from an intrepid girl gang to 1970s civil rights.
Book extract: After trashing Earth, outer space risks the same fate
"The debris could be a hazard for traffic between Earth and the Moon and Earth and Mars."
Review: Kiwi author’s debuts novel on a woman in the 1645 witch trials
Inspired by history, Margaret Meyer's exploration of community corruption shines.
Lively history of alcohol extols the virtues of social drinking
A punchy, witty, very easy-reading book ponders just why humans crave a drink.
Book extract: The victims of the unvaccinated
Man died after waiting 15 days for treatment as Covid patients took up beds.
The varied finalists in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
With a crazy mixed bag of titles, Ann Packer considers who might win.
Haunting account of a friend’s life destroyed by schizophrenia
He was seen as role model for mental illness. Years later he killed his pregnant fiancée.
Author Joe Bennett turns his first three decades into a memoir
The columnist shares anecdotes about his childhood, career and sexuality.
Review: A look at microbial diseases and their impacts on human histroy
Writer entices reader into each “plague” chapter with analogies from modern culture.
Review: How two spooks and a chip shop owner brokered peace in Northern Ireland
Although UK spies have prominence, there's little doubt chip shop owner is hero of story.
Review: A science writer’s case for taking a long-term view of the world
Fisher argues adopting a longer perspective can help tackle slow-burning threats fairly.
Review: Three powerful women bonded by their time together in the French court
'Young Queens' is the latest in a recent flurry of books by female historians.
The rise of Edmonds: Archived photos of the NZ baking brand
A photo extract from Sure to Rise: The Edmonds Story.
Review: The uncomfortable truths in Dr Emma Espiner’s medical memoir
The most compelling chapters related to Espiner’s experience as a Māori doctor.
Author Sue McCauley doesn’t stick to convention in her new novel
The 81-year-old has plenty to say on society and ageing in her new novel Landed.
Review: Twentieth-century Auckland stories and photos compiled in new book
Paul Moon charts the social and physical changes in Auckland over the last century.
Review: Biography brings to vivid life the story of a rugged Arctic explorer
Accounts of explorations include harrowing details about how unforgiving elements were.
Review: Chilling anecdotes spark through the pages of Barbara Else’s memoir
Things start to crack when her husband says “I don’t have to respect you; you’re my wife.”