Smoke by Michael Brissenden. Crime……Detective Alex Markov returns to her hometown of Jasper, California after a stint with the LAPD where she’s been accused of corruption – some good ole boys on the force there want her gone – but her colleagues back at the Jasper precinct don’t want her either. After a wildfire sweeps through the town a body is found in a shed, and the other cops are certain it’s just a casualty of the fire – but turns out the shed was locked from the outside. As Alex investigates she discovers a really dark underbelly to the town which seems to be for sale to the highest bidder, and the authorities are playing games within games, where she’s the prize pawn.

Everest, Inc. by Will Cockrell. In the 1980s, some entrepreneurial climbers started offering guided tours up Mt Everest – which has ballooned into an enormous industry where today, more than 90 percent of people who go to climb the mountain are clients or employees of guided expeditions. It’s morphed from being a heroic endeavour on the part of individuals, to becoming Big Business. There’s been triumph and tragedy along the way – notably the expedition which included Jon Krakauer (author of Into Thin Air) and during which five people died, among them New Zealander Rob Hall. New Zealand guides have been very active on the mountain, though today several of the big companies operating there are owned and staffed by the Nepalese. The book is subtitled The Renegades and Rogues who Built an Industry at the top of the World – which is exactly what they did.

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BloggerAtLarge writer Megan Singleton managed to find a way into the elusive Gibbs Farm sculpture park - and she says it's worth a look.

Situated north-west of Auckland in the Kaipara Harbour, the carefully curated collection belonging to Kiwi rich-lister Alan Gibbs gives visitors a wide range of art and sculptures to see.

Megan says it's an 'extraordinary' experience exploring the wide open spaces of the area.

Read more about Megan's experience at Gibbs Farm here.

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This week on the Sunday Panel, TV producer and journalist Irene Gardiner and Freebairn and Hehir Lawyers partner Liam Hehir joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

ZB host Heather du Plessis-Allan has accused Finance Minister Nicola Willis of overspending in the 2024 Budget - do we agree? Were the tax cuts the right call during a tough economic climate?

Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. How can America justify having a presidential candidate with these convictions?

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Experts are concerned more people are at risk of suffering from a 'digital overload', as technology becomes more prevalent.

Excess time in front of a screen watching TV, playing games or 'doomscrolling' have been found to increase anxiety, fatigue and contribute to depression and low moods.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara explains the benefits of attempting a 'digital detox' to improve your mental and physical health.

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It's been over one year since King Charles III took to the throne - and it's been a rollercoaster for the ruler.

The monarch's had to deal with scandals, family drama and even significant health issues within the first 12 months of his reign.

Royal biographer Robert Hardman, off the back of releasing his new biography Charles III: The Inside Story, says it's been an eventful time - for good and bad reasons.

"I think a lot of people were predicting a rocky patch for the monarchy - how could anyone possibly step into the shoes of the longest-lived monarch in our history... people thought this was going to be a very different kind of reign."

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Hearty veggie soup with parmesan, garlic bread:

Serves 6

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

3 carrots, peeled and large diced

1 cup chopped celery

4 bay leaves

1 x 400g can whole peeled tomatoes

1 x 400g can cannellini beans, drained

1.5 ltr water

2 vegetable stock cube

½ tsp toasted and crushed fennel seeds

5 large silver beet leaves, destalked and roughly chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

1 x Ciabatta loaf

Preheat an oven to 180*c

Heat oil in a large pot or cast iron dish. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add carrot, celery and bay leaves. Cook for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans, water and stock cube. Cook for 20 minutes and add the lemon zest. Cook on a low heat for another 30 minutes.

Take the ciabatta loaf and slice down ¾ of the way into 1 cm slices. Fill the gaps with a generous amount of Parmesan butter and then wrap in tin foil before placing into the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve the piping hot soup with freshly toasted bread, ripped into pieces.

Parmesan, garlic butter

150g butter, softened

4 tbsp chopped parsley

4 tbsp finely grated parmesan

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Juice of 1 lemon

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.

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We know that the quality of the sleep we get at night sleep has a strong impact on our waking lives. However, what we don’t know is how the different sleep stages contribute to how we process life experiences and memories.

New research out this week in the journal eNeuro has used an unusual method to try and understand this more.

Our sleep consists of different stages that help us to process our day. Deep sleep, also known as slow wave sleep (SWS) is associated with memory consolidation and helps to make our memories longer lasting. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is the period of sleep where we dream and consolidate our memories. It is less well understood, but thought to be associated with the way that we process emotions and how we remember experiences that are more emotionally charged.

To try and understand this better, scientists took 29 volunteers and asked them to sing Abba’s Dancing Queen on karaoke while wearing headphones that meant they couldn’t hear their own voice. They then took this recording of their singing, removed the background music and played the out-of-tune singing back to the volunteer right before bedtime. The volunteers reported feeling embarrassed when they heard the recording. The volunteers then went to sleep while being monitored and the researchers woke them up during the night either during their SWS or their REM sleep stage. The volunteers were then replayed the bad singing tape the next morning after their disrupted sleep and 5 days later.

Every time they were played the tape, the scientists measured the physiological stress response of the volunteers through a skin conductance level test and measured their reported stress level through a subjective embarrassment rating test.

The researchers found that the volunteers who had been disrupted during their SWS sleep phase but kept their REM sleep intact had higher measured stress levels every time they listened to their embarrassing tape compared to those who were disrupted during their REM stage.

They concluded that the REM stage of sleep plays a crucial role in preserving and even strengthening how emotionally charged a stressful memory is.

The study could help those suffering from anxiety disorders to use sleep therapy that disrupts their REM stages of sleep to help them to reduce some of their negative emotions.

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The career and history of one of the world's most influential puppeteers gets examined in a new documentary on Disney+.

Directed by Ron Howard, Jim Henson Idea Man, explores the life and creative output of Jim Henson, the man behind the Muppets and Sesame Street, among others.

Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall says the documentary offers viewers a compelling and clever, if sanitised, depiction of Henson's work.

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