Anthony Byrt is an award winning journalist and art critic, arguably New Zealand's most widely read art critic. This is a survey of how he found the state of NZ contemporary art on his return from a period in Berlin, in 2011. He visits galleries and artists' studios in NZ and internationally, interviews the artists and unpacks their work, their inspiration and motivation. I've always found contemporary art difficult and obscure, but Byrt manages to explain, not simplistically, but more by providing a pathway to understanding the works discussed.

The Jura Malt Whisky distillery sponsor a writers' retreat programme on the Isle of Jura off the west coast of Scotland, and this is a collection from the writers associated with the retreat. It includes writing from Kathleen Jamie, Romesh Gunesekera, Janice Galloway, Will Self and others. It's a varied collection of writing from a disparate collection of writers, but all evoke the wildness of the Jura landscape. Jamie's description of her arrival on Jura is particularly atmospheric, and Janice Galloway imagines George Orwell on Jura in 1948 while he was there writing '1984'.

On the 3rd of March 1949, most of the Transylvanian aristocracy were arrested by the Romanian Workers' Party, deported, imprisoned, tortured, and dispossessed. They were the ultimate class enemies. They were forced into hard labour in steelworks, quarries and the like, but secretly maintained connections and rituals. Jaap Scholten travels extensively through Romania and Hungary, meets survivors of the Romanian Gulag, and the next generation, and relates what happened to them, and how the process of restitution of assets is now under way.

Robin Dudding, the author's father, was the greatest New Zealand literary editor of his generation. He nurtured many of our finest writers, while living a determinedly bohemian life in a falling down house surrounded by chickens and long-haired children in 1970s suburbia. Adam Dudding's book relates what it was like growing up in an extremely nonconformist household, his gradual realisation of just how different his family was to most others, and his later realisation that his strange and depressed father was a hugely respected figure in the literary world.

Tim Winton seems to be publishing more non fiction than fiction in recent years, which is no bad thing, I reckon. His previous book, Island Home, was very good, and this slightly more substantial memoir is also very good. It has some overlap with the previous book, although this one is more personal. This is a collection of true stores about his life, rather than a continuous narrative. It's vaguely chronological, and the stories about his childhood are very moving and provide insight into some of the sources of his artistic vision and inspiration.

A brilliant, intelligent and provocative collection of stories, comic strips, activities, games, puzzles and more from a who's who of high profile New Zealand contributors, including Barbara Else, Damien Wilkins, Gregory O'Brien, Jenny Bornholdt, Bernard Beckett, Sarah Laing, Dylan Horrocks and others. Perfect for book loving 8-12 year olds, it's a beautifully designed, large format hardback, bright orange in colour, and quite evocative of the old-fashioned annuals that used to be very widely anticipated as Christmas presents. Hopefully, there will be another next year!