Latest from Books

Let me give you some advice ...
The proliferation of household focused magazines has brought housekeeping professionalism to the fore.

Travel book: <i>Rotorua: Stories Behind the Scenery</i>
The striking photos of geothermal activity and scenery in this 64-page booklet certainly make you want to go to Rotorua.

In the vein of Dracula
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.

Book Review: Brothers & Sisters
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.

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

Book Review: Saraswati Park
Set in Mumbai, Saraswati Park is a vivid portrait of intergenerational family dynamics in an ever-changing, modern day India.

Author stands by claim of father's affair with MP
Jock McLean is sticking to his claim that his late father - sportswriter Sir Terry McLean - had an affair with a South African MP.

Success: Publishers in a class of their own
Making teachers' lives easier is the mantra for Invercargill company.

Book Review: Mary Ann in Autumn: A Tales of the City Novel
Way back in the 1980s I was addicted to Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels.

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

Buon appetito (+recipe)
Celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo shares his recipes of Italian food like Mama used to make in his new book.

Book Review: <i>Shakespeare's Hamlet</i>
Nicki Greenberg loves Shakespeare, she "gets" Shakespeare, and she has done something wondrous with him, a thing I have never seen done before.

A few of Neil MacGregor's favourite things
The most ambitious history project of the year — the British Museum’s A History of the World in 100 Objects — is now a book. Boyd Tonkin talks to its creator and author and finds out that how the world looks depends on where you stand.

Book Review: <i>On Life, Death And Breakfast</i>
Move over Bridget, it's the blokes' turn.

Fine dining: A work of art (+recipes)
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.

Book Review: <i>Ethan Grout</i>
David Hill reviews two new Australian novels depicting two very different sides of modern life.

Book Review: <i>Hand Me Down World</i>
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.

Fine lines between pleasure and pain
Israeli David Grossman tells Helen Brown how writing helps him cope with grief.

The taste of Asia (+recipe)
Melbourne restaurant Red Spice Road has released a cookbook modernising age-old Asian dishes.