Irish-born Kiwi author Nic Russell has dealt with an unrelenting amount of hardship and grief - and she's turned her experiences into a book.

She's survived breast cancer, she’s lost a child, had a heart transplant and been diagnosed with Parkinson's - all before the age of 50 - and that inspired Kenzie’s Gift, a charity that supports young people through times of grief.

She's shared her stories in a new book - Bollix.

"I'm changed, the events of my life have changed me - hopefully for the better. Hopefully I have more understanding and empathy and know what's important in life. I think that's really what life has taught me."

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Hundreds of family videos and years of research have gone into an intimate new documentary about rugby legend Jonah Lomu.

The film draws on archive footage to tell the story of the All Black, who died 11 years ago aged 40.

It follows Lomu from his time at Wesley College through his rise to the All Blacks, and the pressures that came with being in the limelight.

Co-director Vea Mafile'o says the film captures the quiet moments the public never got to see.

"He went through a lot...and he did get a hard time from multiple different places, and so it felt really important to just put a little more context so people could have a better understanding of his life and upbringing."

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The Body and the Blood by Molly Crighton. This is a crime thriller set in and around St Paul’s Cathedral in Dunedin’s Octagon. A woman is found on the floor beneath the organ loft - initially the police assume she’d fallen, but a young police administrator senses that something more sinister was afoot and recruits a notorious journalist to help get to the bottom of it. For people who know Dunedin well, it’s a great location.

Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty. Many readers will remember her excellent Big Little Lies some years ago which was subsequently made into a terrific TV series. This is a sequel, ten years later when the kids from the original book are now at college and their parents are navigating complex lives. There’s outrage in the community when the principal of the college receives a shocking delivery and a strange man starts hanging round the school, and eventually there has to be a reckoning. These are terrific characters, and anyone who loved the original book will also love this (though it can equally be read on its own).

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