News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Do you ever get given flyers for parties and nightclubs in the street and just throw them in the nearest bin? Well, you might have passed up an opportunity to appreciate some real graphic art, such as the kind featured in Fly by night : the new art of the club flyer. Other books in our Graphics selection this month deal with typography, logos, and how to unlock your imagination and get creative. You can also discover the possibilities the two- and three-dimensional qualities of CD disc packaging offer artists to create unique artwork, in Best of disc art. Plus, get advice about in-house design in every type of company and organisation. All in this month’s Graphic Art Recent Picks.

Art is a medium that serves many purposes – as we discover this month in our Wellington City Libraries Art Recent Pick! Amongst our selection this month, Confrontational ceramics surveys the work of a number of artists who express their social and political views via clay. Plus, if you’re already missing the Wearable Arts festival, you can console yourself by diving into Contemporary textiles : the fabric of fine art for an insight into the use of fabrics and textiles in art. You can also discover the truth in the old adage of “learning to draw what you see” – let go of your logical side and draw like an artist with help from Carl Purcell in his book Drawing with your artist’s brain. Also included this month, items concerning the photographer and artist Luigi Ghirri, and photographs covering East and South East Asia from the 19th century through to the 20th. Finally, if a collection of twentieth century postcards is more to your taste, check out Postcards in this month’s Art Recent Picks.

The 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to a French novelist and philosopher, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio. Born in 1940, he spent his early life in Nigeria and several years in the 1970’s living with the Embera-Wouaan tribe in Panama. He has published more than 36 books, that include short stories, novels, essays and translations on the subject of Native American mythology. In 1980 his novel Desert was the winner of the Grand Prix Paul Morand award. This is one of his best known publications set in the Sahara, it is one of few works that address the relationships between France and her former colonies.

Wellington City Libraries can keep you healthy whatever your age! In our selection this month, discover how to feed your toddler and yourself nutritious and healthy food, defy statistics that say men die first, and learn how you can counteract the effects of menopause. Our selection also includes books that give you pointers on how to discern good from bad medicines, use tai-chi to live well with diabetes, and control your stammering. Lastly, if the history of a New Zealand medical school interests you, you might like to check out A history of medicine at the university of Otago, 1875-2000 in this month Health Recent Picks.

If you are a sports fan there is lot to choose from at Wellington City Libraries. This month we offer a selection of books covering a wide range of sports and games. If you follow the Formula 1 world championship, you’ll be interested to know about significant events in the fifty years since it has been created. If you’re keen on swimming, you can borrow a guide that will tell you everything there is to know about the sport. If poker is your game, you can learn all about its newest version, Texas Hold’em. And A social history of English cricket will unveil a side of cricket you’d never suspect. Fitness, rugby, cycling, horseriding and climbing are also featured in our selection, so if you are interested, check out this month’s Sports and Fitness Recent Picks.

How would you cope if you had a massive stroke that left you paralysed and you could only communicate with the bat of an eyelid? You can find out by checking out The diving bell and the butterfly in our Popular Non-Fiction books selection this month. Other items of interest cover ecology and how to reduce one’s impact on the environment, the threat posed by the growing availability of nuclear weapons, and the appearance and increasing influence of private bodies in the machinery of the public state.  Our selection also includes a view of today’s middle-class struggles and challenges, a history of our world’s greatest philosophers, and a portrait of the British soldier through the ages. Finally, if the issues of globalisation, consumerism, and sustainability interest you, check out this month’s Popular Non Fiction Recent Picks for more details.

If you are a newbie to computers, or want to learn more about computer systems and software, we have what you need at Wellington City Libraries. This month’s selection covers the Mac and how to make the most of it when you don’t know anything about it, whether you’d be a senior or a beginner. There are a few items dealing with Linux, the open-source computer operating system, and its latest flavour: Ubuntu (more approachable if you are an average user). And for the Windows aficionados, we also have a couple of books dealing with the administration side of the software – including the Big book of Windows hacks – all this and more in this month’s Computing Recent Picks.

The Man Booker prize 2008 has been awarded to 33 year old Aravind Adiga for his first novel The White Tiger. Although born in India, he emigrated with his family to Australia where he finished his high school education. He studied English Literature at Columbia University, New York and at Magdalen College Oxford. As a financial journalist, he worked for The Financial Times, Money and The Wall Street Journal. This was followed by several years with Time as a correspondent, before becoming freelance. He is now based in Mumbai.

The White Tiger is both shocking and entertaining. A harsh, satrical look at modern India. From the desperate struggles of the poor to the fantastic cravings of the rich and what happens when these two levels of society collude and then collide with each other. This is an exhilarating  page turning novel, that is filled with humour and pathos, and winning the Man Booker prize will prove it to be well worth reading.

Are you an armchair traveller? Then do we have the selection for you this month! Let Alastair Humphrey amaze you with his adventures across the globe … riding a bicycle. Be charmed by Parisian stylish pleasures as you follow an Australian journalist in search of the perfect lingerie. Discover the perfect Italian romantic gem amongst a selection of the most delightful villas in the country. And let yourself be transported to Morocco where visitors are charmed with stories and where friendship can lead you on unexpected paths. Or, if you are more adventurous, re-discover New Zealand with the latest New Zealand Eyewitness travel guide. You can find out more about this selection in this month’s Travel Recent Picks.

This month in our New Zealand selection there are a number of items that may resonate… Towards the summer, a previously unpublished novel by NZ literary figure Janet Frame, explores themes of travel and return, homesickness and belonging as the author describes the struggle of living away from one’s homeland and all the questions it raises about identity. Learn about yet another facet of Kiwi identity with a history of Croat migrants to the Far North and their relationship through intermarriage with Maori – discover the history of the Tarara community of the Far North. Also included this month: successful fashion designer Denise L’Estrange-Corbet writes about her life and battle with depression, and World War I’s least known and unlikely ANZAC fighters are revealed – discover the stories of New Zealand and Australian nurses at war. All this and more (a guide to NZ unknown marvels, a study of filmmaker Barry Barclay, questions and answers on New Zealand tax…) in this month’s New Zealand/ Aotearoa Recent Picks.