Books
Ten of the best literary chats of 2025
RNZ met with authors from around the literary world this year, taking in famous fictional sleuths, true life murders, medical mysteries and dystopian futures.
What’s on your summer reading list? We asked six dedicated readers
Summer reading is often characterised as paperback romance or detective fiction. And it is that. But it's also anything your tired, finally well-rested brain wants to apply itself to in the sunnier…
The Good Story in Akaroa
While Spotify has revolutionised the way we listen to music, online shopping has done the same for retail, not to mention books. More and more people are buying online, so what's it like running a… Audio
Summer reading with Claire Mabey
Looking for a good book to get stuck into these summer holidays? Claire Mabey shares her reckons for kids, teens and adult readers. Audio
Why Jane Austen still connects with readers
Associate Lecturer in English Literature, Dr Naomi Walker explains why the author's connection with her readers is as strong as ever. Audio
Book review: What Have I Done? My Autobiography by Ben Elton
Gina Rogers reviews What Have I Done? My Autobiography by Ben Elton. Audio
Book review: The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three
Ralph McAllister reviews The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three by Philip Pullman, published by Penguin Books NZ. Audio
Jane Austen would have turned 250. Here's why she is still relevant
Few writers have made a greater mark than Jane Austen.
Book review: Franz Josef by Alan Carter
Louise O'Brien reviews Franz Josef by Alan Carter, published by Fremantle Press. Audio
Fast Favourites with Professor and author Deidre Brown
The academic, teacher, mentor, art historian, and multi-award-winning author joins Perlina Lau share some of her cultural favourites. Audio
Vasanti Unka: representing NZ's diversity in children's books
Vasanti Unka's newest children's book PukaPuka is a celebration of reading and the role library's play in our communities. Audio
My First Ikura
The founder of storytelling platform Nuku has published a book to normalise discussion around a young woman's first menstrual cycle. Audio
Book review: Katabasis by R F Kuang
Laura Caygill reviews Katabasis by R F Kuang, published by Harper Collins. Audio
Book review: A Woman's Eye, Her Art by Drusilla Modjeska
Melanie O'Loughlin of Lamplight Books reviews A Woman's Eye, Her Art by Drusilla Modjeska, published by Penguin Books NZ. Audio
In pictures: 150 years of quirky Kiwi collectibles
Christine Fernyhough has built an extraordinary collection, spanning from the 1860s to the 1970s.
Book review: Angel Train by Elizabeth Smither
Renata Hopkins of Scorpio Books reviews Angel Train by Elizabeth Smither, published by Quentin Wilson Publishing. Audio
When a Margaret Mahy classic mixes with raucous sea shanties
The West End, a chance discovery of a children's book and a night of raucous sea shanties in Wellington, inspired The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate.
Book Critic: Some top picks for the holidays
Our critic Catherine Robertson has got some cracking recommendations for you Clown Town by Mick Herron (Baskerville) It's Been Six Weeks Since My Last Confession by Peta Mathias (PM Books) The Last… Audio
The story of a fraudster and bigamist condemned to the gallows
Brian Stoddart on his book Outcast: The Extraordinary Life and Death of Etienne Jean Brocher - about the 1896 double murder of an elderly shopkeeping couple in Petone. Audio
Book review: The Way to Spell Love by Nina Nola
Gail Pittaway reviews The Way to Spell Love by Nina Nola, published by The Cuba Press. Audio
