Pencil Pal by Kylie 

This is a short but real sweet zine that we picked up at Auckland Zinefest last month by our very own ex zine librarian Kylie. It’s called ‘Pencil Pal’ after a peanuts strip where Charlie Brown wants to write to his pen pal but keeps getting ink all over the page, so he changes to pencil and calls his pen pal ‘pencil pal’ from then on. Cute huh? Well, along with tips on writing and replying to letters, there is also a list of reasons why you should get yourself a pen pal – my favourite is to have people to send cards to that you find in second hand shops. Tell me about it! I have a whole heap! What I found most interesting though was Kylie’s description of her pen pals past and present, including the 7 year old miss who sent back her letters with spelling corrected!

Stephanie

It’s for Cook, Volume 1.  by Emma Boyd 

E mate kai ana koe? Are you hungry?

To show my pleasure, I would have liked to get this little volume mucky on my counter, splodged with beetroot, carrot, and pineapple. It’s a small volume, cute sized and illuminated with photography.

Having only 9 recipes it could seem sparse, but this, it reads like a recipe book but looks like a menu, somewhat wholesome, but not in a yoga -every -day -only -organic- in- big -letters -self -help -self -righteous wholesome.

With much self-control I returned it to the library in the condition I borrowed it, with some cumin seed stuck between my teeth.

Kia mākona. Bon appétit. 

Anita

I Hate Mom’s Cat by Corinne Mucha

I Hate Mom’s Cat is a short comic in which Corinne Mucha does more or less what the title suggests – details how and why she hates her mother’s cat, Teddy. In simple, childlike drawings and sweetly funny text, she outlines Teddy’s many character flaws and compares them to her memories of the saint-like cats of her childhood – against which Teddy doesn’t stand a chance. This is one of six zines by Corinne Mucha that we hold, including the full length graphic novel, My Alaskan Summer.

Jeremy

This month’s Science Fiction Recent Picks feature assassins, sorcerers, clones, a portal to hell, warring gods and fallen angels, humanity on the brink of extinction, a math prodigy, the downtrodden masses of a corporation-owned world, sinister plots, vengeance, resurrection, space cowboys, mortal enemies, the founding of a new world, a witches’ coven, revolution, war, and a yeti in the frozen food aisle at the supermarket. For all of the above (and more!) check out our  Science Fiction Recent Picks for July. Whew.

1950s Calcutta, a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a small town in south-east Ireland in the 1950s, Shanghai in 1937, and Alabama in 1931 – our Contemporary Fiction Recent Picks this month range across many different times and places. You’ll find sprawling sagas, broken dreams, personal tragedies, a guilty conscience, one journey of a lifetime, crumbling masonry, a garden choked with weeds, and a journalist in search of justice and a Pulitzer who finds himself in the sights of a murderer (Michael Connelly’s The Scarecrow). And did we mention the prehistoric giant squid? Check out our Contemporary Fiction Recent Picks.

Feisty heroines, neo-Victorian melodrama, strange sounds, awful smells, a semi-demonic cat, and murder most foul – all wrapped up in a nice tidy package for your perusal in our Mysteries Recent Picks this month.

Just a few of the titles featured this month… Liars Anonymous is Shamus Award-winner Louise Ure’s new book, wherein damaged heroine and emergency roadside operator Jessie Dancing is drawn into a web of intrigue when she answers an emergency call from a driver who sounds as if he’s being murdered. Also on our reading list this month: the new Dalziel & Pascoe novel from Reginald Hill; an Irish tale of world politics, industry and organised crime in Brian McGilloway’s Bleed a River Deep; and Scott Frost’s new Lieutenant Alex Delillo book – the Lieutenant has a serial killer on his hands when the bodies of prominent community members start showing up posed as a copy of a Goya painting. Plus, for semi-demonic cats and all manner of the macabre, check out Daniel Edward Craig’s Murder at Graverly Manor.

Well known, and much acclaimed New Zealand writer Emily Perkins has won the fifth annual Believer Book Award for 2009 with Novel about my wife. The Believer Book Award winner is chosen by readers of The Believer magazine, from a short list of novels selected by the editors as representing the strongest works of fiction published in each year. Novel about my wife, although set in London, was completed in New Zealand when she moved from London to Auckland with her family. It can be described as a psychological thriller, ghost story or domestic drama and is her third novel, the others being, Leave before you go, published 1998 and New girl published in 2001.

Every year Wellington City Libraries’ staff nominate their favourite fiction reads of the year. These usually cover a wide range of genres, but each staff member is totally enthusiastic about their choice. This year, for the first time one title, The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Doaz was selected by two staff members. The full list, with comments, can be found on the Fiction web page.

One title not included on the web page was The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford. Although published in 2007, Monty, our nominator said it was “dense, weighty, satiric, all-but-the kitchen-sink novel from one of America’s best. It continues the comic-tragic musings of U.S.-Everyman, New Jersey real estate agent Frank Bascombe”. Monty also added, “ it was one of my favourite books ever”!!!

Get the next best thing to a Christmas cooked by Nigella by following her recipes in her latest book Nigella Christmas. We have plenty of books in this month’s selection dealing with the festive season and how to entertain your guests with stunning table decorations and delicious recipes. Our selection also includes items on catering, the best food in Melbourne, and Italian cooking, as well as books on chocolate, cheese and cooking with fat. Gordon Ramsay also contributes with hearty recipes, and you can find out a lot about New Zealand wine and food in this month’s Cooking Recent Picks.

Delve into the past of Australia and learn about the conditions under which it was first colonised. Share the memories of a journalist reporting about the Troubles in Belfast. Find out about the making of the American West. Re-live the crusades in the Middle-East through letters, songs and other first-hand resources. Learn about the liberating experiences of the first black congressmen in post Civil War era America. Get to know Versailles and Sissinghurst like the back of your hand. And if you want to find out more about how England went Dutch, how the Third Reich went to war, and what awaits us in the XXIst century, check out this month’s History Recent Picks.

Britain is the star of our selection of new sports books this month at Wellington City Libraries. Discover the technical know-how of the Formula One racing car industry in Britain, and delve into an autobiography of David Coulthard – one of the most famous British Formula One drivers. Plus, football in Britain will hold no more secrets for you once you’ve read The Guardian Book of Football (this book retraces this history of football in Britain since the late 1950s). If you’re into NZ sports, we also have books about 20th century bush adventures, tramping, 100 years of Māori Rugby League, and a humorous look at NZ rugby with the WoolBlacks cartoons (Shorn Fitzpatrick), as well as the inspiring story of William Pike’s survival on Mt. Ruapehu. And if you want to find out more about poker, Kiwi racing legend Paul Radisich, or how rugby saved South Africa as a nation, check out this month’s Sport Recent Picks.

Know how to boil an egg? If you don’t, you can find out how in Jamie Oliver’s latest book, Jamie’s Ministry of Food – and become a winner in the kitchen. Want to delve further into the art of cooking and entertaining? You can steal ideas from renowned designers and decorators about how to set a stunning table in Set with Style, by Caroline Clifton-Mogg. These are just a few items from this month’s selection of recent books about all things culinary. In our selection this month, we also showcase a variety of recipe books about French and Taiwanese cuisine, organic vegetarian cooking, recipes for kids, BBQ ideas, low GI recipes, and food and flavours of the Nelson region. And if you are interested in the best restaurants in Sydney, or the best wines from New Zealand and the world, make sure to check out this month’s Cooking Recent Picks.