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Book Review: The Confession
John Grisham clearly felt deeply about this book - perhaps because he's recently become concerned about wrongful convictions, and the treatment of that theme here has a very passionate edge.

Crime on the rise
A mystery wrapped in an enigma is the very apt winner of the inaugural New Zealand crime-writing award.

Book lover: Ben Hurley
Auckland stand-up comedian Ben Hurley gives insight into his reading preferences.

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.

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.

Book Review: Katherine Mansfield The Story-Teller
This is the first full biography written since the publication of the two-volume edition of Mansfield's Notebooks (2002), transcribed by Margaret Scott, and the final (fifth) volume in 2008 of her Collected Letters.

Book Review: Minding Frankie
Maeve Binchy does it again. After more than 20 novels, novellas and short story collections, and at an age when some writers have trouble staying current, Binchy has pulled off yet another thoughtful yet undemanding story that will delight.

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.

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.

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.

New York hot shot
New Zealander Henry Hargreaves is an ex-model making a name for himself in the Big Apple with a book celebrating breasts.

Royal wedding books set to hit shelves
The hype over the publication of a royal wedding biography nearly matches the fervour accompanying the event itself.

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.

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

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