News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

This month, our selection of Travel books has North meeting with South, and East mingling with West. Paris the Most Romantic City on Earth is a common cliché and still, it is a truth that few can deny. You can check out what other places in France are the most romantic with In love in France.Meanwhile, Khiva, on the Silk Road, has many things to offer for Christopher A.  Alexander who delves into its many treasures in A carpet ride to Khiva. Other books in the selection deal with the river Ganges, the USA, Krakow, South America, Beijing and New Zealand. To find out more, check out this month’s Travel Recent Picks.

This weekend is the New Zealand Independent Comics Festival! It’s being held at The Basement Gallery (39 Dixon St) from this Friday April 2nd until Sunday April 4th.

Events include wonders such as exhibitions of NZ Comix in 70’s and The Work of H.W. Bennett plus the Wellington launch of Hicksville!

It all culminates with The Black River Digital New Zealand Comics Awards on Sunday Saturday night. We have a display up on the first floor of Central Library (next to the Zines collection) of some of the glittery nominees right now, so come in and have a look!

New Zealand and Iceland have some things in common, being small land masses surrounded by miles of ocean with relatively small populations. Like New Zealand, literarily speaking, Iceland is doing rather well for itself, with a Nobel Prize winner (unlike New Zealand – Halldor Laxness in 1955), and a couple of international best-selling contributors to the Arctic murder mystery literary canon.

Here are ten books written by Icelandic writers, or set in Iceland, or in which Iceland is of some importance.

1. Walking into the night, Olaf Olafsson (2003). Christian Benediktsson is a butler in California haunted by his past and his wife, who he left twenty years previously in Iceland, and to whom he writes letters that he never sends.
2. Hypothermia, Arnaldur Indriðason (2009). Arnaldur’s excellent murder mysteries often examine issues faced by Icelandic society (genetic disease, immigration etc). In Hypothermia, a woman - seemingly overwhelmed with grief following the death of her mother - is found hanging in her summer house. Jar City (variant title: Tainted Blood) is the first in the series, and was made into an excellent film.
3. Last rituals: an Icelandic novel of secret symbols, medieval witchcraft, and modern murder, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir (2009). A German student is found dead at a Reykjavik university, and (as the subtitle suggests) torture and witch-hunting is involved, plus some lessons in Icelandic manuscripts.
4. The pets, Bragi Ólafsson (2008). Dark humour. Emil comes home from overseas and hides under his bed (as you would) when Havard knocks on his door. Getting no answer, Havard breaks in (as you would) and hosts a party, all the while with Emil stuck under his bed. As you read you discover a bit more about Emil and Havard’s acquaintance.
5. 101 Reykjavik, Hallgrimur Helgason (1996). Belongs most definitely to the slacker fiction genre. Hlynur lives with his mother, is jobless and an expert in wasting his time when his life is upturned by a couple of surprises involving babies.
6. Quick quick said the bird, Thor Vilhjálmsson (1968, translated 1987). The title is taken from a line in T S Eliot’s Four Quartets.
7. Iceland’s Bell, Halldor Laxness (2003). Published in three parts between 1943 and 1946, Iceland’s Bell is a historical novel set in 18th century Iceland and Denmark. Jon Hreggvidsson is a fugitive (don’t tell jokes about the king); Snaefridur is a beautiful noblewoman; and Arnas Arnaeus is the manuscript collector who loves her.
8. The tricking of Freya, Christina Sunley (2009). Within the context of Icelandic communities in Canada, The Tricking of Freya explores family relationships (particularly those of mothers, daughters and granddaughters). The novel is also a bit of an ode to language, particularly the Icelandic language and Iceland has a fair bit to do with the tricking alluded to in the title.
9. Ice Land, Betsy Tobin (2009). Set in 1000 AD Iceland, and drawing from Norse mythology. The central character is Freya, a god who can fly (cool!), but there are also dwarves, giants, the imminent arrival of Christianity, and the volcano Hekla (volcanoes in Iceland being topical recently).
10. A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne (1864). Professor Lidenbrock discovers a note in the manuscript of an Icelandic saga in which it is claimed that the entry point to the centre of the earth is in Snæfellsjökull in Iceland, and it (the journey) begins.

Our selection of New Zealand non-fiction includes biographies, historical books, and tourist guides. Key to Victory relates the 2008 New Zealand General Election. Burt Monro’s life is illustrated in World’s Fastest Indian, Kiwi music is showcased in 100 Essentials NZ Albums, and the fauna & flora of New Zealand is revealed in Wild Encounters. If you want to find out more about our selection (ie the story of a NZ pilot during WWII or that of Nava Scotian Scots in New Zealand), check out this month’s New Zealand Recent Picks.

Is letter writing a lost art? Read 800 years of women’s letters by Olga Kenyon and it may inspire you to put pen to paper. Organized by subject matter it covers a wide variety of topics including politics, work, war, childhood, love and passion. Read letters from Queen Victoria, Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf and many more.

Shrinking the world: the 4000-year story of how email came to rule our lives by John Freeman looks at the rise and rise of communication via modern technology. The first email was sent less than forty years ago and the daily volume is enormous. From carrier pigeon to computer mouse, this history of how we communicate will make people look at the inbox in a whole new way.

A presentation is more likely to be successful if the speaker comes across clearly and with a degree of self-assurance. Love your voice: use your speaking voice to create success, self confidence and star-like charisma by vocal coach Roger Love shows how to improve the way you speak for all occasions. An accompanying CD complements the text.

Read about these books or choose from others looking at detective fiction, Raymond Carver and travel writing in this month’s Literature Recent Picks.

Local craft fairs are everywhere, are popular and often profitable. With Made & sold T-shirts, prints, zines and other stuff by Agathe Jacquillat and Tomi Vollauschek learn how to create individual and marketable items. Graphic designers, illustrators and artists give their advice on a wide range of projects.

This will not be the winter of discontent with Hot-water bottle covers by Chrissie Day. With practical and fun designs these easy to make covers will make great gifts. Personalise them for all the family.

There are Pretty little things to make in Judith More’s book featuring patterns using vintage or vintage-inspired fabrics. Pinafore, overalls and shawls from around the world are just some of the nostalgic garments to create. Photographs and illustrations are included.

Enjoy making these as well as others including crocheting,  patchwork  and appliqué in this month’s Craft Recent Picks.

We all have people in our lives that we may prefer not to! Dump ‘em: how to break up with anyone from your best friend to your hairdresser by Jodyne L. Speyer is a practical guide written with frankness, empathy, and humour on how to say goodbye to a bad relationship. Personal stories and interviews from experts help to overcome the fear of confrontation and achieve a permanent parting.

Daniel H. Pink’s book Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us will change how we think. Previously the mindset around motivation is that the best way to accomplish success is to link it with money, fame or fear – the carrot and stick approach. Pink though feels that the key is more an internal motivation that will ultimately achieve a higher level of success affecting all aspects of life.

Geoff Colvin has expanded his Fortune article entitled “What it takes to be great” and his book Talent is overrated: what really separates world-class from everybody else is the result. New evidence shows that practice and perseverance overtakes natural ability whether it is sport, business or academia. Practical advice covers negotiating, evaluating and a range of other skills.

Learn from these books and view other subjects including relationships, intimacy and self-esteem in this month’s Personal Development Recent Picks.

Race Relations Week was celebrated at Johnsonville Library through a Festival of Cultures attended by more than 60 people on Friday 19th March.

All the librarians and most of the guests and children from a local   kindergarten were dressed in their national costume.

A showcase of rich cultural performances from the different members of the community highlighted the event – a traditional Chinese Guzheng instrument, originally shipped from China, played beautiful music pieces performed by Cris and an Ethiopian Traditional Coffee Ceremony was described and interpreted by Taitu, one of the librarians.

The children loved the story telling by Veronica and the amazing paper cutting crafts by Yu. The event was also attended by Johnsonville Community Centre ESOL class & the Chinese Senior Community.

As part of Race Relations Week, Miramar and Kilbirnie libraries played host to the famous Italian puppet, Pulcinella, cousin to the English Punch. His friends, Teresina, La Morte (Death), Fred and the Black Sheep came along too.

Anna Bailey, our puppeteering librarian, gave the traditional tale a NZ twist, when Pulcinella left his darling Teresina and her delicious pizza for an ill fated trip to NZ. What with a cannibal sheep and a visit by Death it wasn’t a story for the faint hearted.

The brave students from St Pats, Holy Cross and Miramar Central and a few fearless preschoolers were a wonderful audience. They played there role to the max, yelling encouragement to Pulcinella, booing the Black Sheep and La Morte and laughing at all the silly goings on.

All in all it was a very raucous but enjoyable morning in both libraries.