News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Welcome back to the second Business e-newsletter. As previously mentioned, this also includes relevant books from computing, travel and personal development as well. A couple of weeks ago when Wellington was celebrating it’s first snowfalls in many years, your intrepid business librarian made it in to work, so as not to let her patrons down. Here is the proof.

Library News

• Our eAudio collection just got a lot bigger!

Shake off the winter blues and embrace the spring with fresh ideas about cooking, gardening and craft projects for your home and garden by browsing through our latest selection of library books. Get inspired by the clever design ideas shown in our picture gallery below.

“Wellington on the Plate” display at the Wellington Central Library

Library News

• Great new graphic novels

Welcome to the Fiction Newsletter. We have a tasty selection of the lastest fiction available for borrowing that will wet the appetite of any reader. This selection includes contemporary fiction, graphic novels, mysteries, science fiction and fanatsy, and translated novels. Remember you can reserve these titles and even suggest titles you would like us to buy.

Library News

• Subscribe to our eNewsletters now!
• Our eAudio collection just got a lot bigger!

This month we feature some biographies of people so well -known that they are almost household names. It would not be thought possible that there was more to be known about Captain Cook and Winston Churchill yet two writers have found interesting new aspects to their stories. And what would life be without a few rogues and renegades – an interesting study of the unconventional life of the wife of a former Archbishop of Canterbury and the autobiography our own Paul Henry provide a delicious counter-balance.

“Captain Cook : master of the seas / Frank McLynn.
“Numerous biographies of Capt. James Cook have been written, but this one takes a fascinating and refreshing new look at Cook’s life, personality, and nautical exploits. British historian McLynn (Napoleon) begins with Cook’s humble upbringing in Yorkshire, followed by his early career in the Royal Navy during the time of the Seven Years War. His rise from an ordinary seaman to an officer resulted largely from his outstanding navigational and cartographic skills. Cook is most famous for the three voyages of discovery that he led to the Pacific region during the late 1760s and 1770s, culminating in his untimely death at the hands of native Hawaiians in 1779. McLynn effectively probes Cook’s complex character, his ambition, and his leadership style while focusing also on his major achievements in oceanic navigation and his uncanny accuracy at mapping newly discovered lands.” (Syndetics summary)

Sister Queens : Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile / Julia Fox.
“The history books have cast Katherine of Aragon, the first queen of King Henry VIII of England, as the ultimate symbol of the Betrayed Woman, cruelly tossed aside in favor of her husband’s seductive mistress, Anne Boleyn. Katherine’s sister, Juana of Castile, wife of Philip of Burgundy and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, is portrayed as “Juana the Mad,” whose erratic behavior included keeping her beloved late husband’s coffin beside her for years. But historian Julia Fox, whose previous work painted an unprecedented portrait of Jane Boleyn, Anne’s sister, offers deeper insight in this first dual biography of Katherine and Juana, the daughters of Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabella, whose family ties remained strong despite their separation. Looking through the lens of their Spanish origins, Fox reveals these queens as flesh-and-blood women-equipped with character, intelligence, and conviction-who are worthy historical figures in their own right” (Summary from globalbooksinprint.com)

“The inner life of empires : an eighteenth-century history / Emma Rothschild.
“This remarkable book is both a moving evocation of an extended family’s intimate experience of empire and Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, and a powerful meditation on the work of historical writing in the post-Enlightenment, postimperial present. Profound and strikingly original, this book will become a classic.”–Robert Travers, Cornell University”This is an important and original book. Based on a wealth of archival research–much of which has been neglected by previous historians–”The Inner Life of Empires” looks at the Johnstone family to explore issues of British imperialism. It makes a critical intervention in the history of intimacy and interiority, and poses a series of challenges to concepts of the public and private. A wonderful read.”–Margot Finn, Warwick University” (Syndetics summary)

Churchill / Ashley Jackson.
“Winston Churchill attracted far more criticism alive than he has since his death. He was, according to Evelyn Waugh, always in the wrong, surrounded by crooks, a terrible father, a radio personality? Whatever one? view of ?he greatest Briton? and despite the best efforts of an army of writers who have penned portraits of him, Winston Churchill remains splendidly unreduced. He also remains enormous fun. In this new biography Ashley Jackson seeks to describe the contours of Winston Churchill? remarkable life and political career, whilst giving a sense of the man behind the dark eyes and bulldog features. From thrusting subaltern to political pup in a hurry, from Cabinet outcast to the greatest war leader ever, from electoral loser to elder statesman on the international stage in the years of Cold War and imperial decline, this is the eternally fascinating story of Winston Churchill’s appointment with destiny.” (Summary from globalbooksinprint.com)

Autobiography of Mark Twain. Volume 1 / Harriet Elinor Smith, editor ; associate editors: Benjamin Griffin, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Sharon K. Goetz, Leslie Myrick.
“The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain’s death. In celebration of this important milestone, Twain’s uncensored autobiography is available in its entirety and exactly as he left it.”(Syndetics summary)

As good as God, as clever as the devil : the impossible life of Mary Benson / Rodney Bolt.
“”As Good as God, As Clever as the Devil’ tells the extraordinary story of Mary Benson and her family, bringing the late Victorian and early Edwardian period vividly to life.”(Summary from globalbooksinprint.com)

The Alastair Campbell diaries. Volume 2, Power and the people, 1997-1999 / edited by Alastair Campbell and Bill Hagerty.
“The second volume of Campbell’s riveting diaries, rejoining New Labour as they come into power. Power and the People is the second of four volumes, and covers the first two years of New Labour government, beginning with their victory at the polls in 1997. Volume Two details the initial challenges faced by Labour as they come to power and settle into running the country. It covers many of the memorable events of the period: from the Omagh bombing to President Clinton’s ‘relations’ with Monica Lewinsky.” (Syndetics summary)

What was I thinking : a memoir / Paul Henry.
“From the man whose outrageous comments on TV divided the country, and almost caused an international incident, comes this very funny memoir. Packed with stories from his eventful childhood and his long and adventurous career in journalism, this is a gripping, often hilarious and always entertaining read. It gives a fascinating insight into the complex character of Paul Henry.”(Summary from globalbooksinprint.com).

“Louisa May Alcott : a personal biography / Susan Cheever.
“Susan Cheever’s comprehensive and definitive biography sheds new light on the life of Louisa May Alcott, whose work has inspired generations of women. Cheever laces this provocative biography with musings on the genesis of genius, and her identification with Jo March when she was a rebellious girl in the throes of puberty.”(Syndetics summary)

Below is a selection of the latest items we received that might interest Classical music lovers.

Books:

The power of music : pioneering discoveries in the new science of song / Elena Mannes ; foreword by Aniruddh D. Patel.
“The award-winning creator of the acclaimed documentary “The Music Instinct: Science & Song” explores the power of music and its connection to the body, the brain, and the world of nature.” (Syndetics summary)

A search for tradition : &, a search for a language / Douglas Lilburn.
“Unsurprisingly, Douglas Lilburn doesn’t date -his ideas are as fresh and pertinent now as when he wrote these lectures. And he knows that audiences matter as much as writers, artists and musicians. He is especially good on heritage and future, on the need for wonder and imaginative awe, and on the sheer hard work involved when artists decide to speak for themselves. He is also alert to the tricky negotiations New Zealanders need to manage between the local and the global. Above all, he shows us not only how to stand upright, but also how to dance around a little.” (Syndetics summary)

Chamber music : a listener’s guide / James M. Keller.
“This book comprises program notes for the most-played and most-beloved chamber music works. Keller, who is a contributing editor for Chamber Music magazine and was a program annotator for the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, has compiled well-written, informative essays on standard chamber music works for two to eight players (excluding sonatas for solo instrument and piano). He arranges the works alphabetically by composer and for each includes an essay describing the date, location, and circumstances of the first performance; personnel involved in the first performance; compositional history of the piece (including revisions and the working process of the composer); and the piece’s thematic highlights…. K. Boyd Butler UniversityCopyright American Library Association, used with permission.” (CHOICE)

CDs:

Piano music. Vol. 3 [sound recording] / Frank Bridge.
“Frank Bridge, teacher of Benjamin Britten… Yes, that was all he was known as for decades; but as a composer he moved far more forward than his basically inhibited, almost prissy student (for all I love his music) ever dared. This third volume in Mark Bebbington s deft, elegant and probing exploration of Bridge s music for piano is so revealing, redolent of how much Bridge was au fait with what was going on in Europe (no wonder the closeted English establishment were so suspicious of him). We hear on this warmly recorded release Bridge s teetering on the verge of Schoenbergian and Bergian atonality, right from the opening of Sunset from the Three Poems. Later we find links with the French school, and Chopin, Rachmaninov, and even Scriabin. And the final track, Gargoyle would fool anyone in a quiz question. Christopher Morley –Birmingham Post” (Amazon.co.uk)

Vienna premières [sound recording].
“First ever recordings of works by the Strauss family and their Viennese contemporaries, performed complete, in the original instrumentation”–Container.

Artemisia / Francesco Cavalli.
“… Although Cavalli has been known as a composer of Venetian seicento sacred music, it is his prolific contribution in the field of opera where he became one of the leading figures involved in the development of commercial opera companies from the 1640s onwards that has been receiving greater attention from artists in more recent times. And it is with a dramma per musica in Artemisia from the mid 1650s, with its tale of love, deceit and honour and the upholding of the virtues of the Venetian Republic (all this richly captured by the expressive style of Cavalli), that Cavina has chosen to contribute to that fresh look at Cavalli s music on this new recording from Glossa.” (Amazon.co.uk)

These are just a few of the new science books that have wandered they’re way over my desk in the past month.

Alex’s adventures in numberland / Alex Bellos ; illustrations by Andy Riley.
“In a charming, conversational prose style, and with diagrams to ease brain stress, he draws us into a forbidding world, often going into the history of famous bits of maths, including the origins of Tetris and Rubik’s Cube. The most immediately fascinating chapter is on the application of probability theory to gambling, with insights into slot machines, insurance, lotteries and a neat explanation of Pascal’s wager on the existence of God. –Metro” (Amazon.co.uk)

Hot X : algebra exposed / Danica McKellar.
“”New York Times-” bestselling author McKellar tackles the toughest math class yet: algebra. She shows teenage girls–and anyone taking algebra–how to feel confident, get in the driver’s seat, and master topics like square roots, polynomials, quadratic equations, word problems, and more.” (Syndetics summary)

The theory that would not die : how Bayes’ rule cracked the enigma code, hunted down Russian submarines, & emerged triumphant from two centuries of controversy / Sharon Bertsch McGrayne.
“Bayes’ rule appears to be a straightforward, one-line theorem: by updating our initial beliefs with objective new information, we get a new and improved belief. To its adherents, it is an elegant statement about learning from experience. To its opponents, it is subjectivity run amok. In the first-ever account of Bayes’ rule for general readers, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores this controversial theorem and the human obsessions surrounding it. She traces its discovery by an amateur mathematician in the 1740s through its development into roughly its modern form by French scientist Pierre Simon Laplace.”– Provided by publisher.

Second nature : the inner lives of animals / Jonathan Balcombe ; foreword by J.M. Coetzee.
“With vivid stories and entertaining anecdotes, Balcombe gives the human pedestal a strong shake while opening the door into the inner lives of the animals themselves.” (Syndetics summary)

Epigenetics : the ultimate mystery of inheritance / Richard C. Francis.
“Time to worry again–our lifestyle choices do impact our genetic code and that of our children (and even grandchildren!).” (Syndetics summary)

Edible and poisonous mushrooms of the world / Ian R. Hall … [et al.].
“This book begins with a warning, which is certainly justified when dealing with edible macroscopic fungi. The introduction includes charts of worldwide mushroom production, and even wholesale prices. A 60-plus-page chapter, unnumbered, follows with outstanding tips on how to cultivate the top eight species grown and eaten worldwide; this chapter alone is worth the price of the book. The following chapters outline how to collect fungi and offer invaluable information on the various families of toxins found in fungi, with outlines of the symptoms associated with the ingestion of each family of toxins.” (CHOICE)

Quantum man : Richard Feynman’s life in science / Lawrence M. Krauss.
“A gripping new scientific biography of the revered Nobel Prize-winning physicist (and curious character) Richard Feynman.” (Syndetics summary)

I try as often as I can to reuse fabrics, buttons, zips and the like when I’m sewing.  I really enjoy coming across new ideas for upcycling or repurposing, and found lots of new ideas in Sewn by Hand by Susan Wasinger.  While the book encourages hand sewing, I used my machine as often as possible.

My favourite idea from the book was the business shirt apron.  Using the front of two shirts, including the button holes and buttons, the shirts are cleverly cut and resewn to make a really neat apron. I used a white striped shirt for the apron bib and a brown shirt for the bottom.  The remainder of the shirts could easily be made into the cafe napkins with built-in napkin rings, also from the book.  My daughter’s jeans are looking very cool as well, thanks to Sewn by Hand.  I’ve patched the holes in the knees with pretty cotton prints and stitched around the patches with embroidery thread.  She can’t wait for more holes to emerge so I can add a few more patches!

My next project is the pilot’s hat.  I haven’t sewn it yet, but I have sourced a couple of ribbed jerseys from the local opportunity shop.  I’ve decided against adding the contrasting trim and fabric flowers, instead keeping it as simple and plain as possible.  I’m keen to get going on that project – it looks so warm!

I’m sewing with Christmas in mind, and have a family member who loves baking cupcakes who I’m sure could use an apron.  I’m also sure a friend who experienced a lot more snow then me last week could use a new hat.  With the remainder of the jersey I’m going to try the felted slippers for another friend with cold toes…just hope they don’t read this post!

Other titles that reuse and repurpose

Eco – Craft by Susan Wasinger

The reclaimers: a complete guide to salvage by Sally Bevan

1000 ideas for creative reuse: remake, restyle, renew by Garth Johnson

The repurposed library: 33 craft projects that give old books new life by Lisa Occhipinti

Alabama studio style: more projects, recipes and stories celebrating sustainable fashion and living by Natalie Chanin

The film festival is over but these new additions to the New Zealand collection may help to keep the post film festival blues away. The Film Archive has released the very beautiful, New Zealand film: an illustrated history. Other new additions are The Last Train to Paradise: Journeys from the Golden Age of New Zealand railways and for an interesting browse through Wellington “The Wellington Book” is a book about Wellington captured with illustrations rather than photgraphs.

New Zealand film : an illustrated history / edited by Diane Pivac with Frank Stark and Lawrence McDonald.
“The age of cinema began in Paris in 1895. Within a year New Zealanders saw their first films and in fewer than five they were making their own. New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of New Zealand film and film making from the very beginning. With contributions from 24 top film writers, historians, household names and industry insiders, this book is an entertaining narrative of more than a century of film making and an essential reference tool for students and film buffs alike.” (Summary adapted from Syndectics)

Last train to paradise : journeys from the golden age of New Zealand railways / Graham Hutchins.
“‘Last Train to Paradise’ describes the halcyon days of New Zealand rail, some of which the author was fortunate enough to experience personally. The ‘name’ trains and journeys cover a considerable period of New Zealand’s history, from the late 1800s, through the ‘golden’ era of train travel. The book includes a wide variety of fascinating and unfamiliar photographs, not just of the trains themselves but also of the characters who travelled in them.” (Summary adapted from Syndectics)

The Wellington book / Jess Lunnon … [et al.].
“This book is all about imagination. It captures the Wellington your camera can’t in 120 gloriously illustrated pages. If you would like a visually diverting and mildly educational memento, feast your eyes on this.” (Back Cover)

Yvonne Rust, QSM : maverick spirit / Theresa Sjoquist.
“Yvonne Rust: Maverick Spirit is the fascinating, richly illustrated biography of Northland’s iconic artist, pioneer potter, and inspired arts educator, Yvonne Rust, QSM. Yvonne grew up during the Depression years as the only white child in Te Hapua, in the Far North. She graduated with a Dip.FA in 1946, and went on to teach art in schools. As a painter and at the forefront of the pottery movement in the 1950s, she worked closely with such luminaries as Barry Brickell, Ted Bracey, Faith McManus, Richard Parker, Sir Jon Trimmer and Michael Trumic. She believed New Zealand had its own spirit and she sought relentlessly to express it.”(Summary adapted from Syndectics)

Karori and its people / edited by Judith Burch & Jan Heynes.
“This book traces Karori’s transition from its beginnings as a rural outpost in the 1840’s, through to the thriving community it is today – one of New Zealands largest and most significant suburbs.” (Back Cover)

Kia ora zinesters,

Just in case you haven’t heard – stall-holder applications for Wellington Zinefest 2011 are now open!  You can find the registration form at http://wellingtonzinefest.blogspot.com/.  And let us know if you’re in a band, as we’re looking for some zine-making musicians to play at the after-party.

Here are some new mysteries for September, including the new ‘Prey’ novel from John Sandford; Walter Mosley’s latest entry in his Leonid McGill series; the new Joe Pickett novel from C.J Box; and the latest in Tess Gerritsen’s popular Rizzoli & Isles series…

Buried prey / John Sandford.
“When he was a young patrolman, Lucas Davenport insinuated himself into the case of two missing girls. He worked hard, and the result was the death of a troubled street person, which provided the case’s official closure, despite the girls’ bodies never being found. Davenport’s contributions accelerated his career, but he was never quite satisfied that the street person was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the bodies are discovered, and Davenport, now heading Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, gets a second chance. He reviews the original case, reinterviews some original witnesses, and confirms his nagging suspicion that the real killer was never caught…” (Adapted from Syndetics summary)

Watch me die / Erica Spindler.
“At the start of this gripping romantic suspense thriller from bestseller Spindler (Blood Vines), someone bashes in the head of elderly Father Girod at New Orleans’ Sisters of Mercy Catholic School and Church. The unknown killer also spray-paints the church’s stained-glass windows with the words: “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” When Det. Spencer Malone questions Mira Gallier, who restored the church’s stained-glass windows after Hurricane Katrina six years earlier and still mourns her husband, Jeff, who perished in that catastrophe, the police detective has to wonder why she appears more distraught by the vandalized windows than by Father Girod’s death…” (Adapted from syndetics summary)

Fallen / Karin Slaughter.
“Fallen, begins shockingly, with Special Agent Faith Mitchell of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation finding her life abruptly plunged into chaos. Her mother has been charged with looking after Faith’s child, Emma, but Faith comes home to discover her baby locked in a shed. In the house, a safe is open, a gun missing, and Faith encounters a grim blood-covered scene, with a man lying dead…Questions are plentiful: what were the killers seeking? What does the carnage have to do with the investigation of Ex-Atlanta Police chief Evelyn Mitchell, being undertaken by Faith’s partner Will Trent? And where is her missing mother?…” (Adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

When the thrill is gone / Walter Mosley.
“Starred Review. Mosley fills his third thriller featuring New York City PI Leonid McGill (after Known to Evil) with insights even deeper than the mysteries McGill is trying to solve. Chrystal Tyler, a potential new client, tells McGill that she’s afraid her billionaire husband is having an affair and may kill her. While McGill realizes the woman is lying, he needs the case and agrees to see what he can do to make her husband back off. Meanwhile, McGill’s wife of 24 years, Katrina, is having an affair; his favorite son, Twill, has a new scam working; and longtime boxing mentor Gordo Tallman is living in his apartment, fighting cancer… Readers will encounter the full panoply of complex Mosley characters, from deceitful women to ruthless killers, but it’s the often surprising bonds of love and family that lift this raw, unsentimental novel…” (Description from Publishers Weekly)

The silent girl / Tess Gerritsen.
“Homicide investigator Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles…have a tough case on their hands. It begins with a woman’s severed hand, which is soon accompanied by the rest of the corpse, which itself may be connected to a two-decades-old mystery involving a perpetrator for whom the word inhuman may be a more appropriate description than Rizzoli and Isles care to contemplate… Rizzoli and Isles are likable and industrious, as always, and Gerritsen seems more engaged this time out, her prose livelier, and her dialogue more memorable. Recent series entries have been solid, workmanlike thrillers, but this one has some real spark to it…(Adapted from syndetics sumamry)

Love you more / Lisa Gardner.
“*Starred Review* Detective D. D. Warren of the Boston police and Massachusetts state trooper Bobby Dodge are together again, this time not as lovers but as partners in the investigation of a state trooper who shot and killed her husband. Tessa Leoni’s bruised face leads to speculation that she retaliated when her husband hit her. But there’s a lot that doesn’t fit the model, not the least of which is the disappearance of the couple’s six-year-old daughter, Sophie. Could Tessa, by all accounts an exemplary officer and an exceptionally devoted mother, have shot her husband three times in the chest and then killed her own child? If so, where is Sophie’s body?…Gardner proves herself not only a very clever storyteller here, capable of pulling together a complicated series of events, but also a writer able to invest her characters…with emotional substance…” (Adapted from syndetics summary)

Nowhere to run / C.J. Box.
” Starred Review. Inspired by a real-life Wyoming game warden’s encounter with sinister mountain-man twin brothers, Edgar-winner Box’s outstanding 10th Joe Pickett novel (after Below Zero) takes Pickett into darker territory than ever before. Pickett’s eerie last patrol as a temporary game warden in a remote mountainous area turns into a savage brush with death, followed by a crisis of conscience that drives the decent Pickett back into the same mountains to rescue Diane Shober, an Olympic runner who vanished there—and to bring Caleb and Camish Grim, twin brothers suspected of poaching (and maybe worse) to justice. Box inexorably builds Joe’s harrowing personal quest into a complex meditation on human greed and government corruption…’’ (Description from Publishers Weekly)

No mark upon her / Deborah Crombie.”Olympic rowing hopeful and senior Metropolitan Police officer DCI Rebecca Meredith goes out alone to train on the river in Henley on a dark afternoon in late October – and doesn’t return. When a desperate search by the police and a K9 team reveals the possibility of foul play, Scotland Yard wants one of their own on the case. Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, returning from celebrating his marriage to long-time partner Detective Inspector Gemma James, is called to Henley to investigate. He soon finds that the world of elite rowing can be brutal, and that Rebecca Meredith’s ex-husband was not the only person with good reason for wanting her dead. Then, when a search-and-rescue team member is threatened, Kincaid realizes the case may be even more complex and more dangerous than he believed…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

Dangerous to know / Tasha Alexander.
“Alexander’s new historical mystery takes place in the late-nineteenth century and takes up at the point Tears of Pearl (2009) left off. In Tears, Lady Emily’s honeymoon with second husband Colin ended with her being shot and losing her unborn baby. Now she and Colin are staying in Normandy with his autocratic mother, Mrs. Hargreaves, who takes it amiss when Emily comes upon the body of a murdered young woman while horseback riding. Lady Emily can’t help but investigate the murder, especially when she learns the dead girl came from an aristocratic family in Rouens and was confined to an insane asylum… Readers who enjoy historical mysteries with strong female characters will find much to enjoy here and will want to seek out Lady Emily’s earlier adventures…” (Description from Booklist)