As the year unfolds, Aotearoa’s literary landscape continues to reflect the complexity, beauty, and contradictions of the society it serves. For those in the judiciary and legal professions — readers attuned to questions of ethics, power, and human behaviour — 2025 offered a particularly rich crop of New Zealand books. From historical reimaginings and political memoirs to Indigenous art histories and psychological fiction, these works explore justice in its many forms: social, moral, and personal. Here are five standout titles to add to your summer reading list.

The Auckland Art Gallery’s long-running exhibition Threads of Time: Travel, Trade & Textiles is far more than a visual feast of silk, satin, and portraiture. Curated by Sophie Matthiesson and Kenneth Brummel, this jewel-box display in the historic Mackelvie Gallery examines how fabric — the literal threads of civilisation — reveals the movement of people, power, and ideas across centuries.

From courtroom dramas to coming-of-age journeys, these 10 novels showcase women at their most resilient, flawed, bold, and unforgettable. Whether you're seeking stories of quiet defiance or powerful transformation, these female leads will challenge, comfort, and inspire you.

Getty Museum is continuing its digital exhibition offerings, which is great for us in New Zealand wanting to explore what’s on offer without making a big trip! Here is a selection of this month’s showcases:

After long days filled with responsibility, precision, and often the emotional weight of others' lives, even the most accomplished professionals need time to unwind. For women judges — and other women in leadership roles — that break needs to be more than escapism. It should nourish, inspire, and remind us of joy, humanity, and hope.

Split Enz are back. The legendary New Zealand band is set to reunite for the first time in two decades at the Electric Avenue Festival in Christchurch, marking a monumental moment for fans and music history alike.

August is that glorious, chaotic time of year when Edinburgh’s population doubles and its collective sanity halves, and, with it, an avalanche of gags, puns and high-concept performance art. But the true measure of the festival is found in the one-liners and punchlines. Here are some of the  funniest lines from Max Fulham, Becky Umbers, Olaf Falafel, Jessica Fostekew, Ben Pope, Amelia Hamilton, Stuart Laws, Bella Hull and more.

Getty Museum is continuing its digital exhibition offerings, which is great for us in New Zealand wanting to explore what’s on offer without making a big trip! Here is a selection of this month’s showcases:

Following a school choir practising for a competition, Tinā is now the sixth-highest grossing Kiwi film of all time – and it all stems from a Samoan love ballad

Both a sequel and prequel to the Māori and Pākehā author’s acclaimed debut, Auē, Kataraina is filled with heart-achingly beautiful vignettes.

Getty continues its online-accessible series of exhibits and art exploration. Explore the range of online events, podcasts, and articles.

Getty continues its online-accessible series of exhibits and art exploration. Explore the range of online events, podcasts, and articles.

As winter settles in, what better time to revisit some of the most celebrated books of the year? The 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in March delivered a powerful shortlist, blending poetic insight, rigorous non-fiction, and fiction that lingers long after the final page.

Getty continues its online-accessible series of exhibits and art exploration. Explore the range of online events, podcasts, and articles.

Getty continues its online-accessible series of exhibits and art exploration. Explore the range of online events, podcasts, and articles.

The Netflix hit Adolescence has shown parents that icons have taken on new significance among youths. Learn the true meanings in our interactive guide.

If you need an antidote to all the grimness of the world, there is a show on Prime Video called Last One Laughing. When I started watching it, we laughed so much — up in the higher register, where it borders on a scream and physically hurts — that our distant neighbours must have thought we were in the middle of a kidnapping attempt!

What does it mean for a novelist to be brave? Voicing inconvenient truths? Challenging received wisdom? Speaking truth to power – wherever that power may lie? I’ve been reflecting on these questions after reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s big, noisy, ambitious new novel, Dream Count.