Books

The history and uses - benign and sinister - for 26 prickly, stinky, tricky, troublesome fruit are told in a new book by American essayist and poet Kate Lebo. The Book of Difficult Fruit is the title… Audio

Paul Diamond reviews The Survival of Māori  as a People by Whatarangi Winiata, published by Huia Publishers. Audio

After being the victim of relentless trolling by people who objected to his last book, Irish writer John Boyne has turned the tables on them in his new satirical novel, The Echo Chamber. Audio

For today's Bookmarks we're joined by Christopher Walsh, the founder of MoneyHub - a website that has a guide to help answer almost any question about personal finance you might have. Audio

Melanie O'Loughlin of Lamplight Books reviews The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo, published by Picador. Audio

Ralph McAllister reviews The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris, published by Headline Publishing Group. Audio

You could probably write a book about what's happening in locked down Auckland, but publishers in the city would be hard pressed to do much with it under the level 4 rules.

After last year's big… Audio

Louise Ward of Wardini Books in Havelock North reviews Our Own Backyard by Anne Kayes, published by Bateman. Audio

Dr Sue Stuart-Smith is a psychiatrist, psychologist, gardener and literature lover who, in her much hailed UK bestseller The Well Gardened Mind brings all her passions together to look at the… Audio

Ahmed Rashid's bestselling 2000 book Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia was used extensively by American analysts in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The Lahore-based… Audio

Briar Lawry from Unity Books Auckland reviews Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston, published by Orion Audio

Deputy editor of The Economist Tom Standage's new book is A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next. It is in fact, five and a half thousand years of the history of… Audio

Library fines can be so scary they'll stop a borrower from ever going back. Now there's a world-wide trend to change that. 

Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb of University Book Shop, Dunedin reviews The Dark by Emma Haughton, published by Hachette Bronwyn says: "The Murder. The Suspects. The Isolation… Not so much a locked room as a… Audio

Catherine Raven lives in a remote mountain valley in Montana. She has lived more or less alone since leaving a troubled home aged 15. She was a National Park ranger for 20 years, and gained a PhD in… Audio