News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

The American novelist and short story writer J. D. Salinger has died aged 91. Although his last published work was 47 years ago he was one of the century’s most controversial writers, shunning all publicity and living in total seclusion since 1965. His most famous work, The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951 and has sold an estimated 65 million copies to date, with 200,000 copies still being sold annually in the United States. His other published works include the novel Franny and Zooey published in 1961 and his last work of short stories, Raise High the Roof–Beam published in 1963. The publishing world will now wait to see if the work he amassed during his reclusive years, writing for himself will be made available for publication. This body of work is rumoured to contain 15 completed novels.

Have you noticed something quite unusual in Wellington lately ? A fair few folks sporting AC/DC t-shirts are roaming the streets, eagerly awaiting the last of the two AC/DC concerts taking place this Saturday at the Westpac Stadium.

If you are a fan of the Australian rock band and want to brush up on your knowledge of the music and history of the group, we have a list you might be interested in:
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The prolific, bestselling American crime novelist Robert B Parker has died aged 77.

He received his Masters degree in English Literature in 1957 and began working in advertising, followed by a PhD in English literature from Boston University.  Leaving academia, he became a teacher. His first novel was published in 1971 and he became a full time writer in 1979, with by then, five published novels. He is best known for his Spenser novels, about a tough street wise private investigator. There have been 38 published novels in this series – Promised Land, his fourth Spenser novel received the Best Novel Award in 1977. Parker also developed four other character-based series including a western series. Appaloosa, published in 2005 was recently released as a motion picture. He also wrote some young adult fiction and several works of non-fiction. Brimstone, published in 2009, is the most recent novel received by Wellington City Libraries.

Library Elf is a service which can help library customers keep track of the items they have borrowed, and the titles they have on reserve. The basic service can provide updates via email of when your items are nearly due and when items are overdue.

Library Elf is a completely independent service from Wellington City Libraries based in Canada, so we are unable to take  responsibility for Library Elf ’s failure to deliver e-mail or other notices.  If you’re interested in signing up to this service, we do advise you to read through the information provided first, in particular the privacy statement about the library card details you’re providing to them.

Watch this slideshow below to learn how to use Library Elf:

What Is Library Elf ? A quick user’s guide – Presentation Transcript

What is Library Elf ? Quick-user’s guide (Transcription)

1. Head to the Library Elf sign-up page
2. Fill in your details & click on ‘ Create Elf account’ Read these carefully, especially relating to privacy considerations Read these carefully , especially relating to privacy considerations
3. Type your card details, (if you clicked on the above link, Wellington City Libraries should be pre-filled out), no PIN needed, and click on ‘Save’
4. Click on sign-in
5. Click on ‘My Account Settings to edit your preferences for receiving updates from LibraryElf
6. Click on [Edit] to edit your preferences concerning how you prefer to get LibraryElf alerts You can edit your library card details
7. ‘ Options’ allow you to decide When/ how you get LibraryElf notifications For ‘ Advance Notice’ (before items are due) and ‘ Overdue notice’ (when your items are due) You can also decide on the delivery method (e-mail, RSS or both). Wellington City Libraries is a premium subscriber to Library Elf, which means that in addition to overdue notices, you can also receive notices of books you have reserved and add more than one library card to your account.

In recent years, a range of books have been published that all have something in common: thriftiness!

You can be a thrifty cook, a thrifty interior designer/ decorator, and a thrifty gardener too!

Check out our list:

• The real ministry of food : thrifty ways to feed your family (on order)
• The thrifty cookbook : 476 ways to eat well with leftovers
• The thrifty kitchen
• Thrifty chic : interior style on a shoestring
• The little book of thrifty fixes for the home
• Don’t throw it away : a mine of creative ideas for thrifty living
• Dirt cheap green thumb: 400 thrifty tips for saving money, time, and resources in and around the garden (on order)
• The thrifty gardener

Thrifty readers, enjoy!

Would you go on a pilgrimage in a foreign country to sort your life out? Lisa Dempster did and tells the tale in Neon Pilgrim, the story of her solo hike from one Japanese Buddhist temple to the eighty others. Other books in our selection allow you to share the experiences of New-Zealand overseas travelers, enable you to find out what it’s like to live in a remote South Pacific island, and give you a glimpse of Italy. And if you want to know about Paris, trips by train, and world travel, check out this month’s Travel Recent Picks.

Field guide to Indian mammals by biologist Vivek Menon looks at much more than just the elusive Indian tigers. 400 other species including elephants and rhinos are covered. Key characteristics, colour photographs, maps and habitats make this a colourful and comprehensive guide.

Scientist Idan Ben-Barak’s book Invisible kingdom from the tips of our fingers to the tops of our trash: inside the curious world of microbes will change how people look at them. They may cause diseases and make fruit rot but are essential for many other things. From the important role in our digestion, cleaning up chemical waste and making bread, beer, wine and yogurt, microbes are an essential part of life.

Science can be controversial but is an unavoidable part of every day. The history of science: a beginner’s guide by Sean Johnston looks at the history of where science has come from and what the future will bring. Possibly things we cannot even imagine.

Learn about our world with these subjects and others including plants that changed the world, summer bounty and dark matters in this month’s Science Recent Picks.

If you are an avid fan of non-fiction, we have what you crave! Our selection this month deals with the recent recession, carbon emissions and their impact on economic markets and consumers, as well as America and mysticism. Is this not enough? We also have books dealing with monsters, how women can make more money, globalization, and Al Gore’s latest opus. You can check these books out and many more in this month’s Popular Non-Fiction Recent Picks.

The 100: insights and lessons from 100 of the greatest speeches ever delivered by Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi discuss what makes a speech and a speaker memorable and inspirational. Bill Clinton, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, JF Kennedy, Barack Obama and many more have the X-factor. Read out loud words that have changed the face of history.

We all have odd habits, authors being no different. One shouted his words, some wrote naked, some dictated their words and some wrote in isolation while others needed noise and company to be successful. The page fright: foibles and fetishes of famous writers by Harry Bruce is an amusing look at what these writers needed to produce great literature.

In the movie Sex and the City there was a book of love letters which Carrie reads to Big. Fans keen to have a volume found that although the love letters existed they weren’t available in one volume. In response editor Ursula Doyle put the poems together in Love letters of great men. Letters include those of Beethoven, Lord Byron, Mozart, Charles Darwin and many more. Relax and share these words with someone special.

This month’s Literature Recent Picks also includes Victorian fiction, Australian writers and artists, Sam Hunt and crime writers – something for everyone.

Today I’m Alice: a memoir of multiple personality disorders by Alice Jamieson with Clifford Thurlow is a story of a tormented life. When Alice became a teenager, hours of her life disappeared with no recollection of what had happened. Institutionalised for many years it was not until her diagnosis with multiple personalities that she was given appropriate treatment leading to an understanding of her rare condition. 

Authors Gareth Morgan & Geoff Simmons take a hard look at New Zealand’s public health system. Using interviews from health professionals and examining recent reviews they discuss rationing, prioritisation and the implications of ad-hoc interventions. Written in an easy-to-read style Health cheque: the truth we should know about New Zealand’s public health system is for anyone interested where the health dollar is spent.

Healing the addicted brain: the revolutionary, science-based alcoholism and addiction recovery program by Harold C. Urschel looks at addiction and alcoholism as a biological disease rather than a personal weakness. He combines traditional behavioural treatment and scientific research to increase the ability for long-term success.

Read these books and others including allergies, stroke recovery, menopause and commitment therapy in this month’s Recent Health Picks.