History is rather contemporary this month at Wellington City Libraries. We have a few of books that highlight the Middle-East and its neighbouring countries: what kind of people its inhabitants are like, how Saddam Hussein came to be captured, and what America’s involvement in Afghanistan has evolved into. Asia is featured with a book on Burma, as well as Africa with South Africa’s brave new world. Empires are not forgotten with books about the emperor Hadrian and the Mongol empire. The bonfire sounds especially interesting if you are into the American Civil war and the fall of Atlanta. And if you want to know what other books we have in store for you, check out this month’s History Recent Picks.

Our travel selection this month is a bit different and unusual. First we have Gordon Hempton and John Grossmann who travel across America in a 1964 VW bus to record the sound of silence that is Nature. Over two hundred years of natural history is presented with its adventures and discoveries in Remarkable creatures. Eat my globe tells of Simon Majumdar’s culinary experiences across the world. Clarissa Dickson-Wright, the Two Fat Ladies’ co-presenter recounts stories and anecdotes from her travels around Britain and Stephen Fry cabs his way around the US states in a documentary on DVD entitled Stephen Fry in America. All these and more you can check out in this month ’s Travel Recent Picks.

Did you think that Aphrodite’s island was Cyprus? Well, think more in terms of South Pacific and more to the point, think about Tahiti as Anne Salmond explains how Europeans and Tahitians fared when they first discovered each other. Closer to home, you can read about fascinating characters in our NZ books’ selection, like the writer and activist Elsie Locke and the soccer player Ricki Herbert. If you want to discover what kind of childhood famed NZ writers had, read Way back then, before we were ten; and borrow Struggling to fly for an account of being a woman in 1970s New Zealand. I f you want to know more about other worthy items available to you, check out this month’s New Zealand Recent Picks.

A handful of men have gone to the moon and back and are still alive to tell the tale. Buzz Aldrin is one of them and you can read the account of his life from then on in Magnificent desolation. A little closer to home, if you ever wondered what the big web companies (and others) are doing with your data, Numerati is a must-read. The story of Sandra Laing whose skin dictated her fate during the Apartheid is described in When she was white and is the subject of a movie entitled Skin. All these books are available for borrowing and more in this month’s Popular Non Fiction Recent Picks.

Have you ever wanted to brew your own beer? Well now you can with Froth! The science of beer, by Mark Denny. Our selection this month also includes recipes for people suffering from diabetes and heart problems. Ready steady party will help you organise fun cooking sessions with your kids, and Bourke street bakery will enable you to indulge in fine patisseries. If you are interested in the history of fruits, find out about Fruit hunter and if you want to know what other cook books we have available, check out this month’s Cooking Recent Picks.

Soul of the age: the life, mind and world of William Shakespeare by Jonathan Bate gives an insight of the extraordinary, colourful and often violent world that shaped Shakespeare’s thinking. Little known facts about his life add mystique to a writer who produced such a large volume of work. Why was he the only dramatist not to be imprisoned? How did Bottom’s dream rewrite the bible? How did his play lead to the death of an Earl? The answers are in this book.

Many people write a book but why do some become published authors and others don’t? Comprised of 20 letters, The Maeve Binchy writers’ club offers advice and tips with focus on what editors and publishers are looking for.

Simply memorizing or blindly accepting information has the potential to lead to the wrong answers and can impact on day-to-day decisions. Asking the right questions: a guide to critical thinking by M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keeley teaches how to think critically, how to spot fallacies and avoid being manipulated. If something seems to good to be true, it probably is!

Read these books and others about poetry, what would happen if Aristotle ran Hogwarts and free speech in this month’s Literature Recent Picks.

Peter J. Bentley has written The undercover scientist: investigating the mishaps of everyday life to help understand why some days things just go wrong. He explains the science that lies behind the most mundane mishaps such as sleeping through the alarm and battling with superglue and how to be in control of these situations.

Ed Zine, an otherwise healthy 24 year old has a form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) where his mind tells him that if going forward in time leads to death, then reversing time will lead away from it. In Life in rewind: the story of an OCD prisoner and the Harvard doctor who broke all the rules to set him free by Terry Murphy highlights the relationship between doctor and patient and how the breakthrough finally occurred.

Experiments on animals and plants have been used for generations. In Pavlov’s dogs and Schrodinger’s cat: scenes from the living laboratory: tales from the living laboratory by Ron Harre the focus is on the history of how and why living creatures have been used for scientific purposes rather than the moral aspects. It includes extraordinary stories, curious incidents and scientific fraud through five centuries.

Learn more through these books and others including titles on how to build a dinosaur, the Hadron Collider and viruses in the month’s Recent Popular Science Picks.

Boring lampshades – not any more with The lampshade lady’s guide to lighting up your life: 50 custom lampshades & lamps by Judy Lake. Using inexpensive basic frames, a range of fabrics, photos, postcards or anything that inspires, a tired lampshade will be resurrected or a personalised new one produced.

It can be difficult to be enthusiastic about creating that personal touch for a short term home but Decorating to go by Robin Bernard and Adrienne Nappi gives suggestion on how to do just that. Advice, design ideas and how to achieve a lot with little money will create a feeling of home as well as an ability to transfer the result to another home.

How do you hang a big screen television? Why can’t you ever find your tools?  What should you do with that old sun-lounger? Solutions to these questions and others will be given in Weekend projects: a step-by-step guide to more than 50 DIY projects by Reader’s Digest.

Learn new skills from these books or others including self-sufficient living, upholstery and cooking home-grown produce in this month’s Home and Garden Recent Picks.

Cloth dolls are very popular in the creative world and textile artists are also using them as a three-dimensional medium for their art. They range from simple stump dolls to the more complicated jointed doll. Cloth dolls for textile artists by Ray Slater includes patterns and step-by-step instruction for all levels.

Feltique: techniques and projects for wet felting, needle felting, fulling and working with commercial felt by Nikola Davidson and Brookelynn Morris includes 45 projects to try from gloves, earrings, rattles to floppy flying discs! They are simple to make and suitable for all ages.

The art of Kalamkari painting is one of the oldest in India. An expert in this field, Shakuntala Ramani explains how this ancient craft, deeply rooted in religion has evolved into both market craft and folk art. Read about this little known art in Kalamkari and traditional design heritage of India.

Learn about these arts and crafts and other types including tapestry weaving, gift making and crocheting in this month’s Craft Recent Picks.

A bicycle is the most used method of getting from A to B and this has been David Byrne’s primary mode of transport in New York City since the 1980’s. Travelling with his folding bicycle he began to explore other cities. Part travelogue, part journal, part photo album his Bicycle diaries are an account of his experiences travelling through Berlin, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Sydney and more.

Small fry: play; inspiration for creative play with kids is written by the Small Fry team. The focus is to encourage parents and carers to return to basics and encourage free play rather than more structured activities. Other books by the Small Fry team cover creative play and being outdoors.

This is the ideal book for lovers of sport and statistics. Rugby to remember: a collection of programmes and match reports from 100 years of New Zealand rugby by Lindsay Knight celebrates games at the provincial level through to test matches.

Read these and others about hunting, mountaineering, sports heroes and the Swiss Eiger in this month’s Sport Recent Picks.