Fables, Haruki Murakami and office jobs in space: New graphic novels

Fables, Haruki Murakami and office jobs in space. This month’s new graphic novels have a wide range of stories for you to enjoy. From the darker things in life to funny light-hearted stories, the variety in graphic novels is endless. Check out some of our new graphic novels and see where they take you!

The mysteries / Watterson, Bill
“In a fable for grown-ups, a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns. From Watterson and Kascht comes a mysterious and beautifully illustrated fable about what lies beyond human understanding.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Haruki Murakami manga stories / Deveney, Jean-Christophe | eBook available for Haruki Murakami manga stories
“Haruki Murakami’s novels, essays and short stories have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages. Now for the first time, many of Murakami’s best-loved short stories are available in graphic novel form in English. With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami’s characteristic themes of loss, remorse and confusion.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Space job / Goodman, David A.
“Each day is an exciting new adventure in incompetence aboard the Bush. The Captain with self-centered priorities spends more time on space eBay than in command, the Chief Engineer can’t even fix a chair, the Operations Officer would rather be anywhere else, and the Communications Officer only seems to take personal calls. It’s a wonder they get anything done at all, but surely they can handle a simple cargo run. What could go wrong?” (Catalogue)

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Poor Things

Book cover of Poor Things which shows a father figure with two children, on a background image of ocean and cogs.

This time of year sees the start of the big annual film awards ceremonies, such as the British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, and of course later on the Oscars.

One of this year’s most hotly tipped and also controversial films is Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos, which is based on the novel of the same name by Scottish author Alasdair Gray. The narrative is controversial to some because one of the threads of the book follows the young main protagonist, Bella’s, sexual awakening. Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer, to give it its full title, won both the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1992. The book is a pastiche of a Victorian melodrama, and weaves in elements of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus , Lewis Carroll, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov and Arthur Conan Doyle. However, Gray’s totally unique voice ensures that the book is very much his own creation, much more than a combination of its inspirations. It is surreal, has strong gothic horror elements, is often bizarrely funny, and is also disturbing and uncomfortable in places.

Alasdair Gray was a widely celebrated artist, before Poor Things he wrote his landmark literary masterwork Lanark in 1981. Lanark is a complex, multi-layered, book in four chapters that mixes fantasy, science fiction and reality; looking simultaneously at Scotland’s past and future. It is often regarded as the most influential Scottish novel of the 20th century. Alasdair Gray wrote many other novels and essays before his death in 2019; his books have been compared to writers like Italo Calvino, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, and George Orwell. On his death, the Guardian said he was “the father figure of the renaissance in Scottish literature and art.” His works are often heavily illustrated, with distinctive graphic designs from Alasdair himself, and the designs from Poor Things (the novel) have clearly influenced the visual design of the Yorgos Lanthimos film. Another unusual aspect of his literary output is that his books often include a mixture of fonts and typefaces, created by Alasdair himself!

Below is a small selection of Alasdair Gray’s novels and short stories, all available at Wellington City Libraries.

Poor things : episodes from the early life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish public health officer / Gray, Alasdair
“Godwin Baxter’s scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realised when he finds the drowned body of the beautiful Bella, who he brings back to life in a Frankenstein-esque feat. But his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless’s jealous love for his creation . . .But what does Bella think? This story of true love and scientific daring whirls the reader from the private operating-theatres of late-Victorian Glasgow through aristocratic casinos, low-life Alexandria and a Parisian bordello, reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Lanark : a life in four books / Gray, Alasdair
“40th anniversary commemorative hardback edition of the modern classic, introduced by William Boyd” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

 

Ten tales tall & true : social realism, sexual comedy, science fiction, and satire / Gray, Alasdair
“An original and brilliantly eccentric collection of stories from the author of Lanark and Poor Things ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

Unlikely stories, mostly / Gray, Alasdair
“The first short story collection from the irreplaceable Alasdair Gray, sublimely decorated throughout” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

 

A history maker / Gray, Alasdair
“”Set in Scotland’s Ettrick Forest of the twenty-third century, A History Maker tells a rollicking tale of border warfare, military and erotic. Superbly muscled Wat Dryhope, son of the Ettrick chief, is unhappy about his clan’s violent and permissive lifestyle. Only when challenged by the fearfully seductive Delilah Puddock and her plot to restore the competitive exploitation of human resources does he learn to embrace the women and traditional values he truly loves.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The ends of our tethers : 13 sorry stories / Gray, Alasdair
“The Ends of Our Tethers is vintage Gray – experimental, mischievous, wide-ranging but also subtly connected. And as always the work is hall-marked with his engaging prose style, dry wit and fecund imagination.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A feast of new Aotearoa New Zealand fiction

Welcome to our first round up of newly acquired fiction titles for 2024.

To start the year off we have  a veritable feast of daring, diverse and adventurous Aotearoa fiction titles, most of which have only just been released. The breadth, range, genres employed and subjects explored, not to mention different styles, in evidence is stunning and shows what a rich literary community we have in Aotearoa.

The novels range from Booker-nominated Anna Smaill’s second novel Bird Life, to a collection of short stories by Edmond Murray about Auckland called Aucklanders, a book in the same vein as James Joyce’s Dubliners.

Other Aotearoa picks include a historical romance called The Girl from London by Olivia Spooner. There is also Joy Holley’s much anticipated debut collection of short stories, Dream Girl, plus a climate change novel called Dear Tui by M . C Ronen. Also, just in from our own fair shores there is Checkerboard Hill by Jade Kake, Landed by Sue McCauley and, to round things off on the Aotearoa front, Everything I Have by Tammy Robinson.

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Puns galore: New mystery titles


We love a good pun at the library and it appears that many cosy crime writers do too, especially when it comes to the titles of their books. This pun-tastic obsession comes into play even more so when it comes to seasonal releases.

This month’s selection of slightly out of season titles sees several books that fit this bill including, Let it crow! Let it crow! Let it crow! by Donna Andrews, Up on the woof top by Spencer Quinn, and our favourite this month ‘Twas the bite before Christmas by David Rosenfelt; a “seasonally themed canine detective tale.”

Incidentally our all-time favourite title in this field of wordplay is Dachshund through the snow.

There were several other titles that caught our attention, such as the new book by the multi-award-winning Aotearoa crime writer Paul Cleave called His favourite graves. We also have The new detective by Peter Steiner, a novel set in Germany before, during and after World War One.

Let it crow! Let it crow! Let it crow / Andrews, Donna
” Meg has been roped into participating in a blacksmithing competition, a kind of Forged in Fire wannabe organized by a blacksmith friend. Meg originally turned down his invitation to participate, but when Faulk, her blacksmithing mentor, breaks his wrist the night before filming begins, Meg agrees to step in as his replacement to keep the project from failing. She’s not thrilled that the filming will take place during December–Christmas is already a crazy time for her. At least she doesn’t have to abandon Michael and their twin sons during the filming, since that’s taking place on Ragnarsholm, the picturesque estate that her friend Ragnar, the retired heavy metal drummer, is turning into a Goth castle…” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

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New science fiction and fantasy titles

Image via pixabay.

Welcome to our first round-up of newly acquired science fiction and fantasy titles for 2024.

We start the year with a wonderous mixed bag of titles, which cover an incredible wide range of styles topics and underlying themes. We have a Korean science fiction blockbuster bestseller called DallerGut Dream Department Store: the dream you ordered is sold out by Miye Lee. Also in this month’s selection, we have After world : a novel by Debbie Urbanski, a highly topical work about AI. There’s several fabulous afrofuturist titles, including the new book by one of the most exciting writers around Nnedi Okorafor, called Like thunder. This month also brings an anthology of indigenous dark fiction based around myths and folklore about whistling, called Never whistle at night. If that isn’t a wide enough choice, we also have a Japanese fantasy novel called Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa based on traditional Japanese folk tales. To round things off, we have a home-grown paranormal fantasy romance fiction novel called Shrine of stars by our very own Melanie Harding-Shaw.

Like thunder / Okorafor, Nnedi
” This book begins with Dikéogu Obidimkpa slowly losing his mind. Yes, that boy who can bring rain just by thinking about it is having some… issues. Years ago, Dikéogu went on an epic journey to save Earth with the shadow speaker girl, Ejii Ubaid, who became his best friend. When it was all over, they went their separate ways, but now he’s learned their quest never really ended at all. So Dikéogu, more powerful than ever, reunites with Ejii. He records this story as an audiofile, hoping it will help him keep his sanity or at least give him something to leave behind. Smart kid, but it won’t work–or will it?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

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Some literary treats for 2024

Consult Betty Boop GIF by Fleischer Studios

Image via Giphy.

A very warm welcome to 2024. As is now our annual custom for this time of year, we are going to peer into the tea leaves of the future at the bottom of the literary teacup. In this blog, we will be selecting just a few of the literary highlights that we at Wellington City Libraries are looking forward to. In the process, we hope to spot just a few of the novels that everyone will be talking about this year.

These are of course just the few of the fiction treats that have already been scheduled and announced for this year, many of the books that will feature in the ‘Best of 2024’ lists aren’t even listed yet. Indeed, one of the great delights of the literary world are the surprise novels that seemingly come out of nowhere to become one of the shining stars of that year, so there will be plenty of surprises in store. Having said that, there are already lots of interesting titles to look forward to. So, let’s start off with our list of what to look out for in the fiction world in 2024.

The first book on our list, due out later in January, is a Bird Child and Other Stories by the legendary Aotearoa author Patricia Grace.  This is Patricia Grace’s first collection of short stories in 17 years, and needless to say it is already hotly anticipated! Further afield in January, My Friends by Hisham Matar is getting a lot of advance interest. The novel starts off in London during a protest at the Libyan embassy and contrasts the civil war in Libya and life in Britain.  Also in January, we have Sigrid Nunez’s The Vulnerables, a lockdown novel beginning in 2020.

In February we have Kitten by Olive Nuttall, a debut Aotearoa novel that’s already causing waves in reviewing circles.

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