Our holiday hours continue: today we shut at 5.30pm, with all our libraries closed Thursday and Friday for the New Year’s Day and 2 January public holidays. We are open on Saturday 3 January – and resume our regular library hours on Monday 5 January.
If you’re wanting distraction for the younger ones in your family (or you want to be entertained yourself), why don’t you check out our new online stories? Donkeys and Selma, both read by Thomas La Hood, are now available to view (our grateful thanks to Gecko Press for allowing us to use these books).
These videos join the other online storytimes on our Kids Downloads page.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is the winner of the Most Popular Item in our EasyFind visual catalogue over the last 16 months. In second place is the book that came top of our reserve queues recently: Twilight (Stephenie Meyer), with Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper coming in third.
Ms Picoult shouldn’t despair however – she wins Most Popular Author with nine books in the Top 25. Rounding out the winners, Richard Dawkins takes Most Popular Non-Fiction with The God Delusion.
Here’s the full list:
New Zealand is well represented in this month’s NZ recent picks. If you are interested in New Zealand arts and artists, we have a range of books available about the history of dance, the painter Patricia France plus photographs from film director Roger Donaldson. Also in our selection are books dealing with the best of Kiwi pubs and the most charming places to stay in the country. Three other New Zealanders are in the spotlight this month: the columnist Joe Bennett, the former All Blacks captain Buck Shelford, and the WWI Brigadier-General Herbert Hart. And if you want to know more about Maori schools from the late nineteenth century onwards, check out this month’s New Zealand/Aotearoa Recent Picks.
Two whole months might not be enough for you to peruse our Religion & Beliefs new selection. It includes The archaeology of the Bible, which allows you to learn about the archeology of the era as well as the ancient scriptures, plus books on the three different perspectives of Jesus, and Jewish theology. Christianity is well represented with items for gay and lesbian Christians, Christian conscience, spirituality and self-improvement. Change and Christianity are dealt with as well as progressive Catholicism, the history of the popes, the Exclusive Brethren community and Samuel Marsden. Finally if you are interested in mystics and spiritual guidance, do check out the December 2008 and January 2009 Religion & Beliefs Recent Picks.
If you are fascinated by the Middle-Ages and Renaissance periods, you will want to read Magnifico, the biography of Lorenzo de Medici, an Italian statesman and patron of the Arts who sponsored Boticelli and Michelangelo. In our selection also is a book dealing with Britain’s queens and consorts: great women who helped shape the history of the British Isles and Europe. Also available is an item unveiling the life of Casanova, who actually was a librarian in one of his numerous lives; and that of a Regency rebel: Lady Hester Stanhope. Contemporary characters are also featured in this month’s selection such as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge Craig Revel Horwood, Barrack Obama’s advisor Warren Buffet, and Jenni Murray, a not so dutiful daughter. And if you are interested by the post-war diary of a British housewife, check out this month’s Biography Recent Picks.
We wish all our customers a happy, safe and relaxing holiday season, filled with many good reads. If you’d like some advice on new books, DVDs and CDs, see the MyLibrary recent picks – the January editions are starting to become available on our website. However if you’d like to just come in and browse in our libraries between today and Monday 5 January, see our holiday hours for more details.
There is much to choose from in this month’s self-help selection. Marriage and partnership are in the spotlight with Why talking is not enough, a book that seeks to enable you to take control of your relationship and make it better. Not “just friends” is a title that deals with the ugly side of marriage: adultery; and gives advice on how to prevent it, recognise it and deal with it. However if you are more interested in learning more about the Enneagram and the Sedona method, then you’re in luck – we have introductory guides for both. Rounding out the selection this month is coping with the loss of a dear one, how to make the most of being the firstborn, and how to heal thanks to words and poetry. For all this and more, check out this month’s Personal Development Recent Picks.
Are you a Top Gear fan and missing the program at the moment? Be relieved to know we have the best of Jeremy Clarkson in Don’t stop me now, which gathers reflections, thoughts and the famous wit of the British TV host. There are many other books to choose from in this month’s Literature selection too! We have items dealing with how to write children’s books, what to expect when you’ve become an old couple, how to write at postgraduate level, and a dictionary that reveals all about Literary Terms. If you are more interested in writers, our selection includes books about Voltaire (the philosopher), William F. Buckley (the columnist), Michael Frayn (the director) and Chaucer (the author). And if you are into New Zealand authors, check out the latest works of K. Ireland, R. Hyde, and E. Knox in this month’s Literature Recent Picks.
Are you a fan of the TV series Heroes? Then look no further than The science of heroes which features in this month’s popular science selection, and you will be able to find out if evolution and reality can catch up with fiction. You can also get to know everything about a beloved city dweller: the pigeon, its population, habits and proliferation. You can then have fun with basic science, or delve into the mysteries of Quantum, its controversial history and the scientists that discovered it. And if you ever wondered if it is possible to make underwear with caramel, you want to check out The hungry scientist handbook in this month’s Science Recent Picks.
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 Library Locations page.