News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Spring is here and it’s always a good time to change something in the home or slap a new coat of paint on the house. This month in our Home & Garden recent picks, we feature a excellent selection of books that can help you do just that! Learn the latest trends for decorating your kitchen or bathroom and discover simple ways to decorate and personalise your home. Get tips on what colour suits your house best, and if you are a fan of the 70s check out Living Retro – a showcase of retro style. A keen gardener? Amongst our selection this month you’ll find books on growing organic fruits and veggies. Short of ideas to decorate your children’s bedrooms? We have books that will tell you how. And if you want your home to give out good vibes, check out Feng shui for today’s living. All in this month’s Home & Garden Recent Picks.

Our Collection Development team has been hard at work again, selecting a range of our most intriguing new items for your perusal. This month, their line-up includes books about celebrities’ iconic photographs, the vintage (or “shabby chic”) interior design trend, and 45 years of fashion design from the couture house Valentino. You’ll also find an encyclopaedia of Christmas (it’s never too soon to think about it!) and a collection of antique postcards, plus books about achieving success, gardening, weird science, and even a biography of Steve Price! (For the uninitiated, he’s the leader of the Warriors rugby league team). Body Toxic : how the hazardous chemistry of everyday things threatens our health and well-being is one of our most interesting new items this month – it deals with chemicals we are in contact with in our daily life, and how they can affect our health. All this and more in this month’s Buyer’s Choice.

Science is a diverse subject and encompasses a wide variety of topics – so it makes sense that this month’s science recent picks span a wide range of subjects… In our September selection, expect hilarious and often eccentric accounts of innovation in science, discover the history of lightning, and learn about the succession and impact of climates on Earth. Also covered off this month: the history of genetics and the story of mathematics, not to mention the story of a British family who purchase a run-down zoo… Last but not least, The deep is an amazing book that reveals life in the abyss as you have never seen it before! (Think terrifying sea monsters, living fossils and ethereal bioluminescent creatures…) Go to this month’s Science Recent Picks to learn more about these items.

Many issues are dealt with in our Health selection this month. First is a question that is probably on every parent’s’ mind: ‘what’s in my kids’ food?’ There are also items dealing with autism, addiction, bipolar disorder, and gluten intolerance. If you want to know the latest about research on memory, natural medicines, and how saturated fats and cholesterol might actually be good for you, we have the books that will answer your questions. And as Spring is in the air and babies on the way, you might want to check out Best birth : your guide to the safest, healthiest, most satisfying labor and delivery in this month’s Health Recent Picks.

Our literature selection can teach you many things this month, like how to be funny, creative, or how to publish children’s books. Poetry written by women is also featured this month, as well as the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. And if poetry is not your cup of tea, there are two books in our selection which compile newspapers’ columns which will give you a taste of America and New Zealand. But, Uncommon arrangements : seven portraits of married life in London literary circles, 1910-1939 is probably one of the most interesting books this month for anyone interested in the private lives of some of the most famous XXth century British authors. Learn more about these titles in this month’s Literature Recent Picks.

Did you know that Wellington City Libraries can help you to have a successful business? For example, this month, we have books that help you rank your website first with Google, that give you basic tips and tricks to succeed, and help you be a good leader and get the best out of your employees and colleagues. You can get advice on accounting, negotiation skills, presentations, and how to enhance your marketing/PR using Web 2.0 and new technologies. And for women who want to be as successful at home as they are at work, Kitchen Table Tycoon is the book to check out in this month’s Management Recent Picks.

There is an extensive selection on books about Maoritanga at Wellington City Libraries this month. Items dealing with Maori mythology, pre-history, and migration are featured. There are books about current affairs, as well as race relations in the 19th century. Also, a story about how sisters have kept a whanau together, and some material about Maori sports and recreation activities. Come on shore and we will kill and eat you all is the story of an American woman ’s relationship to her Maori husband as it sparks a reflection on the period of first contacts between Pakeha and Maori. All this, you can learn more about in this month’s Maori Recent Picks.

New Zealand fiction is definitely worth a look at this month. Our selection includes the story of how a secondary school play is just the reflection of a high-school drama. We follow the adventures of private investigator Theodore Tate as he reluctantly attempts to solve the mystery of bobbling coffins. The two World Wars are highlighted in three novels, and the peregrinations across America and Mexico of a modern Don Qixote are recounted in Butterflies in straitjackets. Find out more about these titles in this month’s New Zealand /Aotearoa Recent Picks.

Who said libraries can not make you happy? There is everything in our selection this month to help you lead a more fulfilling life. You can learn to develop your psychic abilities, finally accept things that will not change, turn every situation into something positive bringing you success, and be happy even if you are a busy bee. Other books in our selection feature New Zealanders telling their success stories, help you deal with friendships that hurt, and offer advice for any young grieving widow/er. Last, but not least The now habit is a book that is perfect for anyone who is tired of excuses and wants to experience life to the full. For a closer look at these items, go to this month’s Personal Development Recent Picks.

Australian author Steve Toltz’s first novel, A fraction of the whole, has been selected for the 2008 Man booker Prize shortlist. This massive 700 page narrative, covers most genres, from adventure and suspense, to romance and mystery. Although covering a good part of the globe is wonderfully Australian. It has also been nominated for the Guardian First Book Award.

The five other shortlisted novels for the Man Booker Prize show a great diversity of author nationality, subject and location. All provide great entertaining reading and it will interesting to see who the judges decide will win this pretigious award, when it is announced on 14th October.