News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

It’s never to early to expose your children to good design, and you can find some great examples of design objects for children in our selection of design books this month - check out Designed for kids. Other highlights are an exploration of CD cover art and a selection of really good logos, invitations and graphics. And if you’ve been wondering how to be innovative and ‘avant-gardiste’, you might find inspiration with Beyond trend : how to innovate in an over-designed world. Into fashion? Don’t miss out on the latest book about French fashion designer Christian Lacroix and his flamboyant style. And if you’re interested in culinary graphic identity and NZ digital art, make sure to check out this month’s Design Recent Picks.

Read all about art history in our selection of new art books this month! Our first pick for November is Art : the definitive visual guide, which collects a range of notable paintings and sculptures from around the globe and spanning over several centuries and examines them in intricate detail. This book has been produced in collaboration with the biggest art library in the world, so you can be sure you won’t miss a thing! Also this month… Dali and I is a memoir from a dodgy Art dealer who exclusively sold Dali’s work of art and discovered that, behind the scenes, things weren’t quite as they seemed. Plus, you’ll also find items about modern New Zealand architecture, the works of Chris Johanson, and a history of street photographs. Make sure to check this month’s Art Recent Picks to learn more!

Quality matters in this month’s selection of graphics books at Wellington City Libraries – good book covers help sell books, and the fact that this applies to music and CD covers is no surprise. Carefully designed album covers, posters and other promotional material can help boost an artist’s sales – discover more on this topic in 1,000 music graphics. Plus, whoever said postcards were only for holiday greetings? Designers use them extensively for promotion and advertising, and you can see some of the best of this medium in Postcard. And if you’re interested in Art & Design basics, or in the use of collage in contemporary art, check out this month Graphic Books Recent Picks!

There is a lot to learn about great men and women in our biography selection this month at Wellington City Libraries. If you are passionate about the Tudor era, don’t miss the biographies of Henry VIII (the first part dealing with his youth and first years as King) and his surviving wife Catherine Parr. You can also learn about the life of Ferdinand Mount and his years as Margaret Thatcher’s speech writer and adviser, and about what kind of philanderer Lloyd George was (the duel fighting kind!). We also have a selection of biographies including the lives of writers Kingsley and Martin Amis, historical figure Philip of Macedon, the late King Hussein of Jordan, and American politician Condoleeza Rice. And if you want to know more about the comic duo Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, or the journalist Hunter S. Thompson, check out this month’s Biography Recent Picks.

The Cuba Street Memories Project is the libraries’ first collaborative history project. It is based on a wiki-like software called a Kete and allows registered members to co-edit topics, upload images, audio-content, and videos. If you are a fan of this iconic location, help us build a history of Cuba Street online – share your memories and pictures of Cuba Street and contribute your knowledge of the area. All you have to do is register and click on ‘Add item’ to contribute a topic, an image, audio, video, web link, or a document (.doc OR .pdf).

If you want to know more about this project, check out this article on Stuff or go to our PressDisplay database and check the Dominion Post issue of Thursday the 20th of November, page A7.

There is a lot to chose from this month in our Māori selection. Interested in ecology in New Zealand? You’ll want to check out Quest for Kaitiakitanga, which explains the Māori concept of guardianship of the land. Also available is a biography of Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi, a remarkable Māori leader. You’ll also find books dealing with a variety of subjects, such as instructions to make a piupiu (experienced Rotorua weaver Leilani Rickard covers everything you need to know), the myth and reality of traditional Māori cannibalism, a bibliography of publications related to the Waitangi tribunal, a resource on Tauparapara chants for speeches, and a study of masculinity in contemporary Māori fiction. There are also theses and magazine articles to check out in this month’s Māori Recent Picks. Have a look!

It’s all about wildlife and birds in this month’s selection of new science books at Wellington City Libraries! Find out everything you ever wanted to know about albatrosses in the book, Albatross : their world, their ways. Interested in European species of bird? You’ll want to check out Birds of Britain & Europe. And if you have a fascination for crows, rooks, magpies or ravens, Corvus is the book for you! For the generalists amongst us, Dinosaur in a haystack collects a selection of essays dealing with natural science. And if you want to find out more about New Zealand wildlife, or want a break from beasts and birds and are interested in criminal capers, forgery and art thieves, make sure to have a look at this month’s Science Recent Picks.

Know how to boil an egg? If you don’t, you can find out how in Jamie Oliver’s latest book, Jamie’s Ministry of Food – and become a winner in the kitchen. Want to delve further into the art of cooking and entertaining? You can steal ideas from renowned designers and decorators about how to set a stunning table in Set with Style, by Caroline Clifton-Mogg. These are just a few items from this month’s selection of recent books about all things culinary. In our selection this month, we also showcase a variety of recipe books about French and Taiwanese cuisine, organic vegetarian cooking, recipes for kids, BBQ ideas, low GI recipes, and food and flavours of the Nelson region. And if you are interested in the best restaurants in Sydney, or the best wines from New Zealand and the world, make sure to check out this month’s Cooking Recent Picks.

Into crafts and out of ideas for your next project? Never fear, Wellington City Libraries is here with our November selection of recent craft books! Here are just a few morsels from our selection this month for you to nibble on…

Enjoy papercraft, beading or ribboncraft? Creative crafts showcases projects you can produce in a day – and there’s plenty here to keep you busy with around 75 projects to choose from. Want to try something new? How about eco-knitting or crochet using fibres such as bamboo, soy, and hemp to make useful and eco-friendly clothes and household goods? Into beading? You can always go the traditional route, but why not be daring and try your hand at Chinese jewellery, which involves skilful knotting? You can also try stitching projects, pottery for beginners and new woven quilt techniques in this month’s Crafts Recent Picks.

The focus is on leadership in our Management selection this month. We have four books devoted to that topic, from Leadership for dummies to The secret language of leadership, that will show you how to inspire your staff with stories. Other items cover coaching, project management, and customer service. Also featured are books about how to work as a freelance contracter in Australia, how to develop good marketing techniques for entrepreneurs, and how to build trust in business. And if you’re interested in new management ideas and human resources, make sure to check out this month’s Management Recent Picks.