News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Christmas is getting closer and closer and you may still be wondering what present to get for family or friends. If you want to purchase affordable and useful gifts, look no further than your local libraries!

We have nifty pressies you can get for book worms and library users: our Concession Cards ! These are available for Bestsellers books, Reserves, and Magazines (excluding Bestsellers magazines). You can purchase them at our libraries for less than $30 each.

Also, our annual Summer Book Sale  is taking place until the 21st of December at Central, so pop in and see what bargains you can get. These will make nice Christmas presents for your loved ones (or yourself), and provide some good summer reading!

Every year thousands of avid readers and music lovers gather at Wellington Central Library for the Christmas book sale. And judging by its past popularity, this sale should be no different. Past buyers have used the sale to find the best book deals, to complete their personal collections or just to rummage and find a gem. And the sale helps the library by making room for its ever increasing collection.

The sale includes books, CDs, magazines and journals on every topic imaginable. Stock is replenished at regular intervals during the sale ensuring there are always fresh bargains to be found. And they really are bargains – prices start from 50 cents for magazines, with most other items between $1 and $6 and some marked prices.

If you love a bargain and love music or literature, you won’t want to miss it.

The Book Sale starts tomorrow: Tuesday 8 December, 9.30am at Wellington Central Library, 65 Victoria Street.

The British born writer Robert Holdstock has died suddenly, aged 61 from an E-Coli infection.

He began writing full time in 1976, after using his Master of Science in Medical Zoology working as a researcher for the Medical Research Council in London. He began his writing career with many published short stories and novellas. His first science fiction novel Eye Among the Blind was published in 1976. His break through fantasy novel, Mythago Wood, which was published in 1984, began as a novella published in 1981. This title became his most popular book, drawing on English folklore and Celtic myth.

The sequel Avilion was published in 2009. He also wrote the Merlin Codex series of three novels, six other novels and a collection of short stories.

Wow – what an amazing and fun year we’ve had celebrating the International Year of Astronomy!  It has been great meeting and getting to know some of you throughout the year and thank you to everyone who has participated in the wide variety of events provided by the Wellington Astronomical Society – including talks, telescope observing, the Cosmodome, and activities for younger astronomers such as launching rockets and making comets.

Although our events at the library are now over for the year, there are still plenty of opportunities to continue enjoying all things astronomical.  The Wellington Astronomical Society welcomes visitors and new members to their monthly talks, telescope observing and other events and you can visit their website for more info.  And the much anticipated re-opening of Carter Observatory is scheduled for February 2010 – to receive regular updates and the latest news click on the Big Bang link on their website.   And of course, we hope you will continue to enjoy reading and using our books, magazines and science databases at Wellington City Libraries for information on astronomy too.

We hope you’ve enjoyed making new discoveries in the International Year of Astronomy – happy stargazing everyone!

We had heaps of fun at Wellington Zinefest last Saturday. It was really great to see and meet so many people into zines!  Thanks for those who came and visited us in our cosy reading area too (see how cute we made it look?).

We brought loads of zines (like 50 something) for the collection so expect to see them up in a special zinefest display in the next week and of course reviews on this page.

The new rules of marriage: what you need to know to make love work looks at 21st century marriage. Modern expectations may have lead to marriage breakdown and the increase in divorce rates. Therapist Terry Real identifies five situations to avoid and shares practical strategies to work towards a happy marriage.

It is not always easy to forgive. The power of forgiveness: why it’s good to forgive your friend, your boss, your family and everyone who hurts and betrays by Janise Beaumont discusses the barriers to forgiving. She shares experiences and stories which are honest, at times funny and sometimes touching.

Cleo: how an uppity cat helped heal a family by Helen Brown is a moving story. With the death of her son, taking the kitten that was due to be part of the family seemed to be the wrong time for the family but slowly the cat made her way into their hearts and helped the family through the tragedy.

Read these books and look at others including subjects such as infertility, happy children and popular psychology in this month’s Personal Development Recent Picks.

Listening to depression: how understanding your pain can heal your life by Lara Honos-Webb is a new way of thinking about depression. She sees it as an opportunity to review, change and let go of what is actually causing the depression leading to greater understanding of the illness. The book concludes with a section on when to seek professional advice.

As many as one in eight women have a thyroid condition but diagnosis can be difficult as symptoms can mimic other illnesses. Mary J. Shomon is a health writer as well as a thyroid patient and discusses both aspects in Living well with hypothyroidism: what your doctor doesn’t tell you that you need to know. Both conventional and alternative treatments are included.

Living with gluten intolerance gives clear information on both Celiac disease and gluten-intolerance and how they differ from other digestive disorders. Information is given on treatments and self-help measures.

Get advice on these topics as well as ADD, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Manic Depression and children’s allergies in the month’s Recent Health Picks.

In two years twelve thousand children went through the Theresienstadt internment camp on the way to Auschwitz and few survived. In Girls of Room 28: friendship, hope and survival in Theresienstadt by Hannelore Brenner, ten of these children, now mothers and grandmothers give personal insight through letters, photos, diaries and remembrances on how they survived.

Sport has always produced personal rivalries – Ali-Frazier, Palmer-Nicklaus and McEnroe-Borg to name a few. In today’s era of tennis the rivalry is between Federer and Nadal with totally different personalities. Stroke of genius: Federer v Nadel: rivals in greatness by L. John Wertheim looks at the aspects of psychology, technology, strategy and personality needed to become a winner.

Seeing Central Park: the official guide to the world’s greatest urban park by Sara Cedar Miller takes readers through America’s most popular and well-known park. 25 million people visit annually and this book will guide them through the well and little known features.

Enjoy these books and others covering Evelyn Waugh, rock and roll photographs and how to write histories in this month’s Recent Picks Buyer’s Choice.

Journalist Lorna Martin had always thought that therapy was for people to whine about their myriad of problems and that people should just deal with it. But after yet another bad relationship, problems at work and a feeling of despair she found herself in a therapist’s office. Surprisingly her year of therapy was very positive. Her book Girl on the couch: life, love and confessions of a normal neurotic is her personal dairy outlining what she calls the strangest journey of her life.

Does today’s youth warrant the being called the me generation? They can appear self-centred but author Michael Ungar feels that they need the same things as previous generations including close family relationships, acknowledgement of achievements and encouragement. Turning the me generation into the we generation: raising kids that care combines professional expertise and international research to assist parents to help children to achieve their full potential.

Growing great marriages by New Zealand couple Ian & Mary Grant is a guide for anyone who is married or about to be. It contains advice on how to build intimacy, increase communication and enjoy a fun-loving marriage. The Grants have been married for over 40 years – they’ve been there and done that and written the book to help others.

Read these and other books on play, courage and the self intelligence experience in this month’s Personal Development Recent Picks.

It’s weird, wacky… and utterly addictive. This is how Wholly irresponsible science: 120 daring experiments to do in your home and garden by Sean Connolly is described. It is an introduction to the hands-on principles and includes quirky experiments, eye catching design and witty and informative text. Light the touch-paper and stand back.

Taking a different and insightful look at the world of numbers As easy as Pi: stuff about numbers that isn’t (just) maths by Jamie Buchan is an entertaining and accessible guide. Numbers affect commerce, money and even what we say. 3rd degree, 3 sheets to the wind, at sixes and sevens, cloud nine, dressed up to the nines – the list goes on.

The joy of X: how algebra shapes your daily life by Michael Willers explains how algebra influences many things, for example calculating mortgage interest or planning a journey. Covering the basic elements of algebra, complex theoretical puzzles and the discoveries of key mathematicians this book will appeal to all levels.

Read these and others on evolution, early modern science and shooting stars in this month’s Science Recent Picks.