Entertainment
WIN A COPY: Hard look at death
Hard look at death memorable
Nina Riggs' The Bright Hour: A memoir of living and dying (Text Publishing) is no Pollyanna-style rendition of the end of a life which was all too short.
Portrait of a woman who was ‘what other people made me’
Portrait of a woman who was ‘what other people made me’
Half Wild, by Pip Smith, offers a mulitfaceted portrait of a woman who has spent her life trying and failing to fit into the shape that society expects of her.
Fine as a light read but ultimately unsatisfying
Fine as a light read but ultimately unsatisfying
The Woman in the Wood, by Lesley Pearse, is perfectly acceptable and inoffensive. Thus it's ultimately forgettable, too.
Fast-moving story set in Australian grazing land
Fast-moving story set in Australian grazing land
In An Uncommon Woman, Nicole Alexander continues to roam over the Australian Outback.
Ethereal worlds of slippery code
Ethereal worlds of slippery code
The Secret Life looks at the challenges to our consciousness and integrity from the cyberworld we inhabit.
Crime and punishment
Crime and punishment
A round-up of recent crime fiction.
Courage in a music shop
Courage in a music shop
Rachel Joyce's fourth novel, The Music Shop, follows a record-shop owner who has a rare gift for music therapy.
History recast as a real gas
History recast as a real gas
The history of Earth’s atmospheric gases is a provocative and entertaining read, writes Robin McKie.
The lives and loves of teenagers
The lives and loves of teenagers
In Teenagers: The Rise of Youth Culture in New Zealand, Chris Brickell provides a window into age-old motivations.
Female repression in bleak island sect heats up, boils over
Female repression in bleak island sect heats up, boils over
Jennie Melamed's first novel, Gather The Daughters, evokes an isolated pseudo-religious sect.
Contemplations on the nature of violence and love
Contemplations on the nature of violence and love
House of Names, by Colm Toibin, and Bright Air Black, by David Vann offer reworkings of Greek myths. Tragedy, indeed . . .
International children’s picture books
International children’s picture books
A roundup of international children's picture books, by Helen Speirs.
Gripping account of Osage murders and FBI
Gripping account of Osage murders and FBI
In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann explores the calculated murders of the Osage tribe in early 20th-century America.
Clinton memoir looks at failed election
Clinton memoir looks at failed election
Hillary Clinton's memoir about her failed attempt to win last year's US presidential election will be called "What Happened" - a declaration rather than a question.
New 'Game of Thrones' books could be released next year
New 'Game of Thrones' books could be released next year
Author George R.R. Martin has hinted at the possibility of not one but two new 'Game of Thrones' books in 2018, whetting the appetites of fans who have been waiting for the next instalment of the epic saga since 2011.
Amiable writer in pursuit of a perfect sleep
Amiable writer in pursuit of a perfect sleep
In his non-fiction work, Snooze: the lost art of sleep, Michael McGirr desperately searches for a few winks.
Pulp fiction roundup
Pulp fiction roundup
A wrap-up of recent pulp fiction: Tom Clancy's Point of Contact (by Mike Maden), The Thirst (Jo Nesbo), Exile (James Swallow) and Nighthawk (Clive Cussler with Graham Brown).
Children of Tane
Children of Tane
The story of the totara tree is also the story of New Zealand, writes Shane Gilchrist.
Things to say and uplifting, upbeat poems
Things to say and uplifting, upbeat poems
Poetry reviewer Hamesh Wyatt takes a look at new collections from David Howard and Michael O'Leary.