We have the idea that the celebrity cult is a modern phenomenon. But when Charles Dickens visited America in 1842 he was surrounded by cheering crowds wherever he went.

It's said that you are as sick as your secrets.

The boldest travel writing crosses every frontier of genre as well as place.

The turbulence of the title keys us into the parts weather and water play, but that turbulence also works on a metaphorical level.

If modern life is a battlefield, then everyday etiquettes are the mines hidden across it, many laid where you least expect them. So why, asks Greg Dixon, do people not tread more carefully?

The final scenes of my December feature read, Animal People by Charlotte Wood, seem especially appropriate at this time of year.

Nicky Pellegrino checks out a pithy perspective on self-improvement.

An offbeat thriller with dementia as a theme absorbs Nicky Pellegrino.

This slim volume, which purports to "provide a guide to the many art galleries of all types that are scattered throughout New Zealand", is by no means comprehensive.

Characters in good books have a way of lingering long after the final page is closed. For author Charlotte Wood it was, Stephen, from previous novel, The Children, who worried her so much she wanted to see him progress through the next stage of his life.

Tara Moss's husband could be forgiven for feeling a little concerned over a rival's competition for his wife's affections.

Max Cryer's books are published worldwide. His latest is Preposterous Proverbs (Exisle).

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is said to have hated the character of Sherlock Holmes, which he first created for a short story in 1886.

New Zealand's own favourite food writer dishes the dirt on what it's like to be a bookworm.

The characters, once they finally arrive, are great, writes Nicky Pellegrino.

Mirabel Osler, as one friend has said of her, "could make a shopping list seem lyrical".

A new book checks out 70 outlets sure to delight coffee-lovers, writes Jim Eagles.

An updated guide to Te Araroa, our national walkway system, which now stretches the length of the country.

The default opening for any review of a Neal Stephenson novel is the "cult author, but not really" explanation. Here's how it goes.

Many of us go through the daily grind, but sometimes, even those ordinary moments add up to an extraordinary and life-changing day - that's the premise of December's feature book, Animal People.

The epic scale of a tragic story numbs and grips Nicky Pellegrino.