• what's new
• storytime
• staff spotlight
• staff recommend

What's new @ Brooklyn?

Welcome to Autumn!

How are your New Year resolutions ticking along? Come to Brooklyn and browse the 600's in our non-fiction collection to revamp your resolutions. Giving things up is pretty boring so why not try something new and stick to that?
How about slow food? Making your own bread is cheap, satisfying and delicious. Look on the shelf at 641.815 for our collection of books for making luscious loaves. My favourite is "The Handmade Loaf" filled with instructions for creating your own sourdough leaven and recipes from all over Europe. Our vegetable gardening collection (635) is expanding to meet the demand of all the keen new gardeners. The latest is "Easy on the pocket vegetable gardening" a simple guide for inexpensive ways to set up your first veggie plot. You can also be inspired by "The grower's cookbook - from the garden to the table". I made a delicious broad bean and lemon zest risotto after flicking through this book.
How about loving yourself just as you are? "The Science of Sexy" (646.34) is a fun way to learn how to dress to suit your body shape. It has realistic, wearable options that do not involve control undergarments or scary TV presenters poking helpless victims.
And for those of you that ARE giving something up - we have several good guides for giving up smoking (613.85). "Allen Carr's easy way to give up smoking" and "Free yourself from smoking" have been flying off the shelf.

New displays...

Historical Films

Atrocities, intrigue, double-crossing, murder and mayhem! What more could you ask for, it's all there in our new Historical DVD display at Brooklyn library. A jaunty ride from ancient Rome to the Vietnam war, with many stops in-between. Tales of heroes and heroines, dastardly villains and dubious politicians. If it's significant we've got it covered, pop in down for a look at some award winners, some crowd-pleasers and some slash and hack epics.

Are you havin' a laugh?

Feeling blue? Has the recession got you down? Well no problem, our new CD display at Brooklyn will cure your ills. All you need is a good chuckle. Come on in and have a browse through a selection of our Comedy CDs. Something old, something new and a few that are bound to offend, there are guaranteed laughs to be found, from Steve Coogan to Bob Newhart, there's plenty of giggles on offer.

Roald Dahl!

A collection of some of the best by Roald Dahl. Includes Dahl's timeless classics Matida, the BGF and the Magic Finger!

Ukuleles at Brooklyn

At 10.30 one Tuesday morning more than 60 children from the Brooklyn Kindergarten and the local Play Centre packed into Brooklyn Library to sing along with Marg and Odette as they played songs with a transport theme on their trusty ukes. The Wheels on the bus were circulated, a ride was taken in the 'Car Car' and a person came around the mountain wearing pink pyjamas. Favourite stories were read including 'Puff Puff Chugga Chugga' - riveting tale about a grossly overloaded train and an elephant sneeze causing a calamity that resulted in an alfresco feast. Stamps were given out and everyone left looking happy.

What: Ukulele Singalong and Storytime
When: !!! Watch this space !!!

Storytime

• Storytime is every Tuesday at Brooklyn Library at 10:30am in the children's area
• Storytime runs for about half an hour, with stories and songs
• Pre-school storytimes are fun and free - there's no charge, and you don't have to book
• Storytime is aimed at pre-school age children (three and four years old) - but younger siblings are always welcome!

Holiday Programme

Shiver me timbers! Wednesday the 21st of April Brooklyn Library was looted by pirates! The scallywags requested Treasure Island Stories and demanded to be addressed in their new pirate names. When it was discovered we did not have any pieces of eight or pirate booty for them to carry off, the buccaneers settled for pirate hats, pirate parrots and pirate patches. Much merriment was had and we at the library send out a big thanks to all our pirate participants.

Staff Spotlight

This month we talk to Monty ...

Q: We haven't seen you at Newtown library for the last 6 months. What have you been doing in that time?

A: I've been hanging around Central and Karori library on a secondment with collection and development. Collection and development look after the purchase and selection of the collection. They also make sure Wellington City Libraries are responsive to new trends and involved in new areas for development like recent collection additions Zines and Overdrive audiobooks. It was a pretty stimulating 8 months but I'm glad to be back!

Q: You were one of the performers on the Baby Rock & Rhyme CD. Have you played or sang in any groups in the past?

A: Yep, I played with friends in a covers band and we destroyed songs by the Rolling Stones, Elvis and The Exponents. We were truly awful exponents of pub rock. Really bad on occasion. 'Don't give up your day job,' was one of the kinder, gentler heckle phrases! Still, by the time I came to singing 'The Wheels on the bus,' and 'Do your ears hang low,' for the Baby Rock & Rhyme CD I felt truly prepared. The Naenae tavern was a demanding training ground...

Q: Before you took up your secondment you organised a writers evening at Island Bay Library. Can you tell us about your interest in writers and writing?

A: I'd like to say that I found 'The stories of John Cheever,' in a shadowed corner of a library but I found its 600 or so pages in an old second-hand store amongst left-handed rubber gloves, other people's compilation tapes and polystyrene life-size rhinos. I hardly looked back. Cheever led to Carver and Carver led to Calvino and Calvino led to Carpentier and... Then, I never looked back. It was gratifying to get the Island Bay writers evening off the ground and to have real Island Bay writers involved but the library is like a writers evening every nerdy-book-day of the week!

Staff recommend

Movies:

The Dark Knight (DVD)
Easily the best action film in years. Heath Ledger as the Joker is a sight to behold, a tour de force performance as he completely inhabits his role. Big explosions, huge action set pieces, witty dialogue and a nice gritty undertone. Even if you hate action movies it's well worth watching as a film dedicated to exposing the ease of moral corruption and personal conflict. --Craig

In the Valley of Elah (DVD)
A thrilling expose of post-war shock. Tommy Lee Jones is amazing as a father, struck numb by grief, searching for answers about his son's disappearance following his return from Iraq. Certainly not a 'happy' film, but one that is steeped in realistic portrayals of the widespread consequences of conflict, both personal and political. --Craig

Good luck Chuck (DVD)
Beautiful Jessica Alba, handsome Dane Cook - and - thousands of good looking women. Funny, naughty, offensive - hilarious! --Violetta

P.S. I love you (DVD)
Finally!!! Hilary Swank has a role where she isn't required to kill or be killed. Her character still deals with heavy emotional issues but this time the end is uplifting. --Violetta

CDs:

Remember that I love you, Kimya Dawson (CD)
This is folk for those that are anti-folk. Kimya Dawson (made mainstream for her sweet tunes on the soundtrack for Juno), has released another gem. Dawson does what many songstresses aim for and engenders herself to the listener as "the girl next door". If only all neighbours were really so humorous, talented and darn right charming. --Lucy

Watershed, Opeth (CD)
Swedish death and progressive metal masterpiece. 20 years into their career and Opeth are still offering up surprising, inspiring and heartfelt pleas to underground metal fans. Heavy, doomy and yet never remotely gloomy. --Craig

Ricochet, Tangerine Dream (CD)
Progressive experimental electronica from 1970's West Berlin. Minimalist trance and ambient innovation, way ahead of its time, and still sounding fantastic today. --Craig

Books:

The graveyard book
by Neil Gaiman
I read Neil Gaiman's new book 'The graveyard book' and loved it. The story was mysterious and magical and Chris Riddell's illustrations were perfect as a compliment to the book.Really recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of genre. --Ellie

Death of a dissident : the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the return of the KGB, by Alex Goldfarb with Marina Litvinenko
This is a very interesting and shocking book. It's about connections, money, power, Russian politics, KGB, the Chechnyan war, Putin and massacres executed in the name of democracy. --Violetta

Breath
by Tim Winton
I enjoyed reading Dirt Music by Tim Winton and was excited when a copy of Breath came my way. I was not disappointed. The story opens with a fifty-something ambulance officer attending the apparent suicide of a teenage boy. This experience triggers memories of his own rites of passage as a teenager spent with his friend "Loonie" and "Sando " a big wave surfer who has retreated to this western Australian backwater after a varied career. Together the trio seek out bigger and bigger surf breaks confronting the fine margins between life and death. How long can a single breath sustain life? The rugged landscape of the coast with its extremes of weather and tug of war between sea and land dominates the narrative vividly described in Winton's prose echoes the increasing tensions in the lives of the characters. --Marg

What's Michael? Planet of the cats., by Makoto Kobayashi
"What's Michael?" is a simple comic book series with a touch of the bizarre. It is based around the very everyday life of a young couple in Japan and their family of cats, including the hilarious title character; Michael. Although it is catalogued under Young Adults I would recommend it to anyone aged seven up, especially those into cats and their peculiarities. All the comics relate but they do not necessarily need to be read in order. My favourite is "What's Michael? Planet of the cats". If you enjoy this series I would also recommend the animated film"My Neighbours the Yamadas" directed by Isao Takahata who, like Kobayashi, is a master of finding comedy and tenderness in the mundane. --Lucy

In Search of Ancient New Zealand
By Hamish Campbell.
My interest in this topic was the result of a recent visit to the Chatham Islands when I was told that the Chatham Islands were the eastern most point of the sunken Continent of Zelandia, the other parts above water being the rest of New Zealand. The book uses readable English to decode the science of geology by understanding the process of reading the history of Earth through its soil and rocks and to understand the massive changes that have taken place on Earth over millions of years. The book is lavishly illustrated with photos and diagrams. The captions and photos are numbered for easy cross referencing and the book is in a format that can be read from cover to cover or dipped into topic by topic. --Marg

For parents:

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (DVD)
Funny, playful, entertaining. --Violetta

Jazz for kids sing, clap, wiggle and shake
I don't usually like jazz. I don't usually like kids' music either. This compilation album "Jazz for Kids: Sing, Clap, Wiggle and Shake", combines both in such an appealing way even I can appreciate the catchy tunes."Jazz for Kids" is a clever pairing of famous singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong with songs that kids know and love like "Old MacDonald"and "The Muffin Man". This is one CD that parents will not mind listening to again and again and again.
If you enjoy listening to "Jazz for Kids" you may want to try the three "For the Kids" compilations we have at the library. These compilations are also well known kids' songs but rehashed by contemporary folk rock/pop artists. Also, if you have wee ones, another good end of the day option are the Rockabye Baby! albums with lullaby renditions of favorite rock bands like Nirvana and Led Zeppelin.
--Lucy