Books

Today's Bookmarks guest is Kiwi punk rocker, poet and author Richard von Sturmer. Best known for writing the lyrics to Blam Blam Blam's song "There is no Depression in New Zealand", Richard is making… Audio

Quentin Johnson reviews Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love and Rivalry in 1920s Paris by Mark Braude, published by Two Roads. Audio

Packing up their lives and becoming farmers was meant to be fresh start for New Zealand born writer and producer Nicola Harvey and husband Pat. But their move from young, burnt-out Sydney… Audio

Catriona Ferguson reviews The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell, published by Tinder Press Audio

In November 2019, Zarifa Ghafari became the mayor of Maidan Shahr, the capital city of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. She is one of the only female mayors in Afghan history and the youngest - appointed… Audio

Set in Renaissance Italy, Maggie O'Farrell's ninth novel The Marriage Portrait imagines the lost story of Lucrezia de' Medici, who was betrothed to the Duke of Ferrara at age 13. Audio

Martene McCaffrey of Unity Books Auckland reviews The Seaplane on Final Approach by Rebecca Rukeyser, published by Granta Audio

In December 1941, as the Japanese made their lightning attack on Pearl Harbour, Hong Kong also came under bombardment and fell two weeks later. Marie Broom was trapped in Hong Kong with her four… Audio, Gallery

Paul Diamond reviews Grounded: How soil shapes the games we play, the lives we make and the graves we lie in by Alysa Bryce, published by Text Publishing Audio

Leila Mottley is the youngest writer ever to be long-listed for the Booker Prize. She was 17 when her book Nightcrawling was completed and 19 when it was published by Bloomsbury worldwide. The… Audio

Louise O'Brien reviews The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid, published by Penguin Random House. Audio

Vidyamala Burch is a UK-based New Zealander whose mindfulness programme for chronic pain and other illnesses has just earned her an OBE. Through her own experience of extreme pain which began in her… Audio

Today Catherine Ross talks to Jesse about Mythological Themed books for children and young people. You can find her review and recommendations here. Audio

David Hill reviews Billy Wallace: A True Rugby Legend by Denis Dwyer, published by Bateman books. Audio

Marine mammals suffer several direct impacts of coastal development, in particular the development of ports. America-born scientist Deanna Clement's research has been a deep-dive into the lives of… Audio

The annual Auckland Writers Festival is upon us, Waituhi o Tamaki, one of the best-attended festivals in the world, and on Festival Director Anne O'Brien talks to Jim.  Audio

Music writer and reviewer Nick Bollinger traces through a somewhat turbulent time in our past with new book Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of Counterculture in New Zealand Aotearoa. Video, Audio, Gallery

In the 1960s June Nelson and her husband, renowned ornithologist Bryan Nelson, spent a "madcap" year camping in the Galápagos Islands to study the abundant birdlife. Audio, Gallery