Welcome to the libraries’ News Blog! Here you’ll find reviews of new books, information about what’s happening at our libraries, and any breaking author news. We’ll also keep you up to date with exciting book award shortlists and prize announcements as they come to us, so check back often!
Thinking about the future? Come along to Law for Lunch at Central Library this Wednesday between 12-1pm for a guide to family trusts – politicians use them, so can you!
Topics include:
Short-term savings versus long-term gains
Keeping your trust in order
Trust Busting (when courts overturn property transfers to trusts)
Helping children buy houses
How is a trust’s income taxed?
Our speaker will be John Stevens, who is a Managing Partner in the law firm Johnston Lawrence Lawyers, and is the author of To Trust or Not to Trust. John is also involved in offering legal advice to the wider community.
This is the third session in the current series of Law for Lunch – free lunchtime seminars brought to you by Wellington City Libraries and Wellington Community Law Centre.
Friends like these: my worldwide quest to find my best childhood friends, knock on their doors and ask them to come out and play by Danny Wallace is an exercise in whether you can go back and recreate an earlier part of your life. Wallace found an address book with the names of his ten best childhood friends and wondered if the relationship between them was still intact after so many years. His “quest” led him from Berlin to Tokyo, from Sydney to LA. Did they still have things in common? Read and find out.
One of the most appealing books, Little Women has been read worldwide but what is known of the author? The biography by Harriet Reisen of Louisa May Alcott: the woman behind Little Women fills in the gaps. Using journals, letters and reader’s recollections her life-story is told. Early family economic difficulties, frequent moves and poor health were overcome ultimately leading to recognition and financial security. This is a classic rags-to-riches tale.
Read about these lives and others including J. M. Barrie, Churchill, Paulo Coelho, Harriet Cohen and Che Guevara in this month’s Biography Recent Picks.
Our selection of DVDs this month has a focus on powerful women in the Fashion world. Borrow The September issue and find out about Anna Wintour and what it is really like to be the editor of Vogue. If you want to discover the debuts of a Fashion icon, watch Coco avant Chanel, a movie depicting how the young orphan Gabrielle became the fame designer Coco Chanel. Other DVDs available in our selection are TV series like The Mentalist (season1) and The Wire (season 5). And if you are interested in other movies such as Lemon Tree, Boy A or Two Lovers, check out this month’s DVD Recent Picks for more.
New Zealander Lisa Tamati’s autobiographical book Running hot is about challenge, endurance and a will to never give up. The Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley in the United States is 135 miles long and temperatures up to 55 degrees in the shade is not unusual. As the first Australasian woman to complete this, along with other desert runs puts her in the upper echelon of long-distance runners.
Sporting contests occur frequently but there are some that will always stand out and be remembered. More than a game: when sport and history collide by Jan Stradling looks at those occasions. Everyone remembers Jessie Owen, Billie Jean King and Maradona as much for how they changed history as for their sporting prowess.
With the Rugby World Cup next year pressure and expectation will be put on the All Blacks and particularly the captain to regain the most prestigious rugby crown. John Matheson’s book Richie McCaw: a tribute to a modern-day rugby great looks at the fast rise of this talented player. From his first provincial appearance to All Black captain he has gained a reputation for a never-say-die attitude which will be needed in 2011.
Read about other sportspeople including Imran Khan, Va’aiga Tuigamala or learn more about Phar Lap, North Island trout fishing guide, the Warriors, Stormrider guide and skateboarding in this month’s Sport Recent Picks.
Every month, the amazing diversity of our cookery collection is brought to light with our Recent Picks. Our selection includes recipes from India, Mexico, France, Greece, and New Zealand. You can experiment with barbecue treats, feed your family for $21 a week, and discover what is going on backstage of Ace of Cakes, the tv show on the Food Network. And the list doesn’t stop there with books on how to cook vegetables, how to make the perfect coffee and how to eat better while saving money. All these and more, you can find in this month’s Cooking Recent Picks.
The Human Rights Commission have produced a short video all about the Diversity Action Programme.
The New Zealand Diversity Action Programme brings together organisations taking practical initiatives to:
Recognise and celebrate the cultural diversity of our society (diverse)
Promote the equal enjoyment by everyone of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, regardless of race, colour, ethnicity or national origin (equal)
Foster harmonious relations between diverse peoples (harmonious)
Ada Nally, Multicultural Community Customer Specialist at Wellington City Libraries, welcomes you to Earth People 2010 – a series of race relations day events!
For more information, check out the Earth People page of posts and pictures on our blog, or for a full schedule of Wellington City Libraries’ Race Relations Day events visit our Event Calendar.
As the title, My dearest enemy, my dangerous friend: making and breaking sibling bonds indicates, this is an area of relationships that can be fraught with tension. Most siblings have tales to tell and author Dorothy Rowe presents a different way of thinking about these conflicting feelings.
Shyness can be debilitating for some people. In Steve Flower’s book The mindful path through shyness: how mindful & compassion can help free you from social anxiety, fear and avoidance looks at patterns that can isolate shy people and shows ways to change. Techniques include stress reduction, meditation, breathing and yoga.
Some people appear confident in all situations. Leslie Sokol and Marci G. Fox’s book will teach this through Think confident, be confident: a four-step programme to eliminate doubt and achieve lifelong self-esteem. Cognitive therapy is the basis of their programme and by recognising, rethinking, eliminating and replacing self-doubt confidence will be achieved.
Learn about yourself in these books and look at others including sadness, what motivates us, meditation and personology in February’s Self Development Recent Picks.
Age can reduce flexibility causing aches and pains. In Anita Boser’s book Relieve stiffness and feel young again with undulation 10 minutes a daycan make a difference. 52 simple exercises, one for every week linked with easy-to-follow guidelines and photographs will provide relief without medication, equipment or expense.
Written by the NSW Family Planning Contraception: healthy choices: a contraceptive clinic in a book is an accessible guide to all main forms of contraception. This up-dated edition allows women to make the best choice for today and the future.
Even small injuriescan mean time off training and ChiRunning: a revolutionary approach to effortless, injury-free running by Danny and Katherine Dreyer aims at preventing this. ChiRunning combines the principles of yoga, Pilates, and t’ai chi increasing the strength of the core muscles. This is suitable for all levels of runners.
Look at these books to improve lifestyle, and others about living with chronic conditions, healing depression the mind-body way, the seven-day total cleanse and food for sports performance in February’s Health Recent Picks.
Law for Lunch returns Wednesdays in March! Come along to a series of free lunchtime seminars brought to you by Wellington City Libraries and Wellington Community Law Centre.
Our first topic is Navigating the ACC, and our speaker is John Miller. John is a Wellington-based lawyer specialising in ACC matters and crime victims’ compensation. He is the recipient of the Human Rights Commission’s Millennium Human Rights Award, for his work in helping seriously injured people. He was 2002 Wellingtonian of the Year and in 2006, Victoria University dedicated an annual John Miller Community Service Award to the law student who demonstrates an outstanding community service contribution.
Interested? Come along to find out what your entitlements are, get information about the different kinds of ACC compensation, or find out about challenging an ACC decision.
Want to find out about upcoming seminars? Check out our Event Calendar for more information. Other seminar topics include family trusts, school bullies, and more.
Thinking about the future? Come along to Law for Lunch at Central Library this Wednesday between 12-1pm for a guide to family trusts – politicians use them, so can you!
WCL has over 600,000 books, 450,000 magazines, and 85,000 CDs, DVDs, videos and other items at our central library and 11 branches. We are located in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. Looking for your local branch? Have a look at our 