Succulent steak, beautifully cooked every time, is one of life’s simple pleasures — and a tradition for the patrons at Jervois Steak House.

Once, she was the undisputed queen of the toy cupboard. But today, sales of Barbie are in free-fall. Rachel Halliwell (and her 8-year-old daughter) explore her decline and ask how toy manufacturers can win over girls now.

My husband and his best friend had a punch-up and are not speaking, but his friend’s wife and I are really good friends. Now my husband does not want me to talk to her.

Julia Donaldson’s most famous book, The Gruffalo, has won the hearts of children around the world. During a fleeting visit to Auckland and Wellington, Britain’s best-selling author talks to David Larsen.

To begin a novel with a character who is dead from the very first page is a risk.

Roddy Doyle’s new novel, aimed at people with poor literacy, is inspired by a death in his own family, the Booker winner tells Arifa Akbar.

Thirty years after he fell in love with Japan, author Edmund de Waal returns to take his family on an intense tour of its urban and rural charms.

Marooned and without a captain, the evening is rescued by perfectly cooked grilled turbot and delectable buttery sauced flounder.

Left things too late? here are some fashionable last-minute Valentine’s Day gift ideas available in store today.

Up early and looking for a new spot to dine this weekend? Check out this week's brunch review.

Fashion designer Denise L’Estrange-Corbet and her daughter Pebbles answer your agonising questions.

Award-winning Auckland playwright Elisabeth Easther was once an erotic fiction writer. As Fifty Shades of Grey hits our screens, she reveals the highs and lows of her short-lived career in smut.

New Zealand-born Peter Walker has been living in Britain for nearly 30 years now. He's made a considerable reputation as an author there, under as many as six nom-de-plumes, writing well over 100 books.

I would rather read Kelly Link than breathe. Writing about her is another thing again. I do not know why her new book is called Get In Trouble.

Debut novel combines writer’s love of music with her love of words, writes Rebecca Barry Hill.

As a bloke can I just say that this weekend is simply quite wonderful in that not one but two mighty sporting events are upon us, simultaneously.

Hawkes Bay, blessed with the kind of undulating landscape and climate that grapes love, is responsible for a fine array of whites and reds. Here are three:

A seaside location is a huge drawcard for a new Takapuna venue — and the food is pretty good, too.

How did a Hollywood novice who hadn’t even read the book come to direct the film version of the mega-hit Fifty Shades of Grey? Sam Taylor-Johnson reveals all.

What would you do — or not do — for a bet? Alan Perrott talked to three people who prove how serious it can be when you’re issued a dare.

Chef Gordon Ramsay has been hit with a multimillion-dollar bill in the latest round of his family feud, but he’s still very much in the game, finds Julia Llewellyn Smith.

There’s nothing sexier this season than 50 shades of beige.

Heading out for brunch? Check out the latest review in Canvas magazine for inspiration.

What makes Grumpy Cat so special? Nothing, writes Greg Dixon. His cat is far cuter.

Back in the familiar rural midwest of her previous novels, Moo, Horse Heaven and A Thousand Acres, Pulitzer prize-winner Jane Smiley presents us with the first volume of a projected trilogy.

A novel is a place where past and present versions of one person can co-exist, and in his fifth novel Andrew O'Hagan movingly explores the way the "flotsam" of a life can rise to the surface as old age and memory go about their strange and poignant work.

To modern eyes, the little wagon in a Berlin museum looks like a model of an old horse-drawn cart. Solidly made, about as big as a baby's cot, it is in fact a handcart, to be pulled by people, not animals.

Plaudits to the publisher for their tactile, trim presentation of this small-is-beautiful novella. And to the Australian author herself for a rewarding — and riddling — little read.