Books

Book critic Pip Adam recommends three books about writing. Audio

Jesse speaks to the co-authors of a new book offering a roadmap to improve your mental wellbeing. Audio

Kiran Dass with her top books from 2020: Funny Weather: Art in An Emergency by Olivia Laing (Picador) Real Life by Brandon Taylor (Daunt Books) A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux (Fitzcarraldo Editions). Audio

Phil Vine reviews his top reads from last year: Summer by Ali Smith (Penguin Books, $34), Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $33) and Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth (HarperCollins, $33). Audio

February's book giveaway on RNZ Concert's Daybreak is one for younger listeners. Itzhak - a boy who loved the violin is a beautifully illustrated account of violinist Itzhak Perlman's life and career.

Four of the world's keenest crime readers came together for a live podcast recently, called Four Critics Four Continents, where they reflected on the best books in the genre for 2020. With the… Audio

Prolific writer and journalist Simon Winchester is best known for his historical bestseller The Surgeon of Crowthorne, about an inmate in a prison for the criminally insane who was also a major… Audio

Tilly Lloyd from Unity Books with her top picks from 2020: Magdalena: River of Dreams by Wade Davis, Bodley Head paperback Upriver: from the Sea to the Southern Alps by Colin Heinz Upstream on the… Audio

This year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist has been announced! Journalist, writer and literary editor at Newsroom, Steve Braunias, shares his thoughts on the list with Jesse. Audio

Ralph McAllister with his top three reads of 2020: Honeybee by Craig Silvey (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) JFK by Fredrik Logevall (Penguin Books, $40) Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe (Penguin Books, $37) Audio

Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb of University Book Shop, Dunedin, with her three favourite books of last year.  Audio

Claire reviews The King's Nightingale by Sherryl Jordan, Tokū Pāpā by Ruby Solly, and Magnolia by Nina Mingya Powles. Audio

Hannah August shares her favourite reads from 2020, three New Zealand books: Sprigs by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson, $35), Rat King Landlord by Murdoch Stephens (Lawrence & Gibson, $20)… Audio

Writer and associate professor Paula Morris, who is the director of Auckland University's Master of Creative Writing talks to Jesse about novelists tackling books set in the 'now'. Audio

Paul Diamond with his three top reads from 2020: He Pukapuka TÄtaku i NgÄ Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui / A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha by Ross Calman (Auckland University Press, $59.99) A… Audio

With the Prada Cup underway as a precursor to the America's Cup Race next month, it's a great time to reflect on some of the nautical history that's cemented New Zealand as a sailing nation. Author… Audio

Working in a school library keeps Catherine Ross in a steady supply of books It's her job to give recommendations so students at Diocesan School in Auckland to girls between the ages of 11 and 18. She… Audio

RNZ presenter Wallace Chapman is loving spending time with his whānau this summer, but he did come back limping from a family holiday in Waipu Cove. The reason? Three-year-old Wallace Junior's daily… Video, Audio

For Bookmarks today, we're talking to someone who writes books for a living and often joins us on Afternoons as our book critic. Pip Adam joins us in the Wellington studio to share some of her… Audio