In the shadowed and sepulchral Florence of the 1690s, with the Medici dynasty in steep decline and the city cowed by the puritanical regime of Cosimo III, a sculptor in wax receives a commission from the Grand Duke himself.

When I first heard that Barbara Anderson had died I toured our bookshelves looking for the book that had me fall in love with her.

Renowned for his curving furniture and elegant lighting, lead designer David Trubridge's new book So Far explores his fascinating life and approach to design. Here he shares his approach to the creative process.

Veteran rocker Eric Clapton had to rewrite his tell-all memoirs after realising he had wrongly blamed friends for his descent into drink and drugs hell.

The premise of Richard C. Morais' Buddhaland Brooklyn is that an apparent fish-out-of-water can eventually find, and adjust to, its new pond. Morais takes rather a long time to get there, but he makes it.

Nicky Pellegrino finds the tale of a diary washed ashore intriguing and compelling.

C.K. Stead’s remarkable new collection of poems, The Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007-2012, was completed in his 80th year.

The book I love most is ...

Stephenie Meyer was a Mormon housewife when her novel about vampires spawned a billion-dollar industry. But fame scares her, she tells Chris Ayres

The thing I love most about Maggie O’Farrell’s writing is the way she colours in her characters.

Set in Japan and on an island off the Pacific coast of Canada following the Japanese tsunami, A Tale For The Time Being has two narrators, Japanese Nao and American/Japanese Ruth, who are worlds apart yet eerily connected.

Harry Potter star Emma Watson has posed topless for a new book celebrating the beauty of nature.

Last Sunday saw Wales deny England a Grand Slam when thrashing them in Cardiff. Twenty-three years ago saw one of the most famous Grand Slams in what was then the Five Nations - and England were again the central protagonists.

Katy Perry has denied rumours that she is planning to write a book about her relationship with Russell Brand.

Emma Watson continues to be the subject of speculation she will star in the big screen adaptation of erotica novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

Nicky Pellegrino finds she wants 'something else' from a writer she admires.

The book I love the most is ...

Book clubs, commuters and celebrities have gone wild for Gone Girl, the smash-hit thriller that has Hollywood in a spin. Tim Walker talks to author Gillian Flynn about being this year’s literary sensation

The Franks brothers, famously, are allowed to follow their own training programmes so if All Blacks coach Steve Hansen wanted to get an idea of what they were up to he could do worse than read their new book.

A Kiwi country girl rubs shoulders with British celebs and shows us the good side to cakes and tarts in her debut cookbook

My happy place is my home in central Auckland. I travel quite a lot. Last year I went to Europe a couple of times and the States a couple of times and I had a few other trips - but part of the reason I love to travel is that I get to come home afterwards.

Six years ago, Sarah O’Neil was unhappy, unwell and living on one of Auckland’s busiest roads. Now she’s happily feeding her family all year round from her large rural garden south of Auckland. Greg Dixon talks to her about fleeing the city and about livi

British author Deborah Moggach returns to the rickety hotel setting that earned her big box-office success, writes Stephen Jewell

Parents are wasting money spending a fortune on books when a small selection of favourites can achieve far better results.