Harry Potter fans mark 20 years of magic
Twenty years to the day after the first book in the Harry Potter series was published, fans gathered online and in the real world to express their enduring love for J.K. Rowling's magical creation.
Entertainment
Win a copy: Meditations on gender politics
Meandering meditations on gender politics
Gender politics can provide rich pickings for novelists, but Fay Weldon's Death of a She Devil and Dawn O' Porter's The Cows are a little unsatisfying.
That's an animal people call a gunman, on a spree, you see
That's an animal people call a gunman, on a spree, you see
Impossible to put down, Gin Phillips' Fierce Kingdom is a fresh, multifaceted take on a survival story.
Harsh reality of NZ prison life
No holds barred: the harsh reality of NZ prison life
Behind Bars by Anna Leask drops the reader into the chilling reality of prison life.
'I won't be able to teach you anything at all', he said
'I won't be able to teach you anything at all', he said
Dublin-born Colum McCann's Letters to a Young Writer provides nuggets of wisdom to all who write fiction.
Out of the frying pan, into the fire
Out of the frying pan, into the fire
Paddy Richardson's seventh novel Through The Lonesome Dark moves from small-town Blackball to the frontlines of World War 1.
Rich humanity amid slow-burning conflict
Rich humanity amid slow-burning conflict
Israeli Nir Baram's Land Without Borders, takes us around the occupied territories in Palestine and in the city of Jerusalem.
From Netherlands to new life in Dunedin
Journey from Netherlands to new life in Dunedin
In Astride A Fierce Wind, Dunedin author Huberta Hellendoorn charts her voyage from the Netherlands to a new life on the other side of the world.
Ambitious project fails to convince
Ambitious project fails to convince
The New Zealand Project is heavy on grand vision but light on serious policy analysis.
All not as it seems for Beth Own
All not as it seems for Beth Own
Some Tests is a kind of allegory about health systems and our views on death.
Wit flows in look at contemporary Indian life
Diamond-sharp wit flows in look at Indian life
Arundhati Roy's latest work is a meditation on the humanity, cruelty, humour and tragedy of contemporary Indian life.
The miracle of modern anaesthesia
The miracle of modern anaesthesia
Kate Cole-Adams offers a fascinating insight into a medical marvel.
Impressive collections of poetry
Impressive collections of poetry
Poets of a certain vintage, Ian Wedde and Elizabeth Smither offer collections that confirm their place in the sun, writes Hamesh Wyatt.
Tension grows steadily in an engaging drama
Tension grows steadily in an engaging drama
Helen Dunmore's Birdcage Walk is a slow-burning thriller set in Bristol in 1792, the time of the French Revolution.
Examining forgery career
Examining forgery career
In A Forger's Tale, author and criminal Shaun Greenhalgh discloses all the light and shade of his infamous career as art forger.
A glorious collision of columnist’s satire, wit and seriousness
A glorious collision of columnist’s satire, wit and seriousness
Veteran journalist Howard Jacobson depicts the grind and inspiration behind his opinion columns in The Dog's Last Walk.
Feast of crows and other wild creatures
Feast of crows and other wild creatures
The Gamekeeper, by Portia Simpson is an intrepid tale of a female grouse beater, vermin trapper, heather burner, ghillie and deerstalker.
New Tolkien book appears a century later
New Tolkien book appears a century later
A new novel by Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien was published a century after it was first written, prompted in part by the horrors he witnessed in World War One.
Breaking the silence of cloistered lives
Breaking the silence of cloistered lives
Susannah Grant provides a definitive history in Windows on a Women's World: The Dominican Sisters of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Living in the shadow of ‘Game of Thrones’
Living in the shadow of ‘Game of Thrones’
Despite too many characters and sub-plots, David Hair's fantasy novel, Empress of the Fall, offers somes interesting current political parallels.