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March 2008

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  • Prudence, Subtext

    SUBTXT Review Eleven

    31.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    Letters From The Coffin-Trenches
    Ken Catran
    140 pages
    Theme:     The theme of this book is a love story set during WWI. While New Zealand are trying to help win the war, Harry and Jessica are still trying to succed with their love for each other.

    Recommend?: I would recommend this to others as it is such a good book to show you the life of soldiers fighting during the war. It shows the pain and glory they went through while their friends and comrades are dying around them. It also shows the life of family at home and the pain they went through, even though they weren’t fighting they were hoping their father, brother, son, uncle, husband or friend would return home to them safely. Read more…


  • Books, Edna Welthorpe, Writing

    Bernard Beckett speaks

    29.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    NZ author and Lower Hutt teacher, Bernard Beckett, was interviewed by Kim Hill on the radio this morning. You can listen directly here or follow the link from this page (the audio will be up for another eight weeks). Beckett made the news recently when the UK rights to his book Genesis were sold for 100,000 quid.


  • Balls, Jack, Sport, Top 10

    Top 5 Sport Websites

    27.03.08 | Permalink | 1 Comment

    Sporting expert, Jack, has compiled a Top 10 5 list of sport websites. If you can add any, leave a comment!

    1. cricinfo.com – All the goings-on in the world of cricket. Includes all the latest results, news, blogs, opinions and the most comprehensive archived statistics section I’ve ever seen. It even has a games section packed full of fun flash based mini-games to try. If cricket is your sport, then this should be your homepage!
    2. www.stuff.co.nz/sport – Everything you need to get up to speed on what’s happening in New Zealand and international sport. From Rugby to Running, Bowls to Basketball, it’s all covered here with articles from national newspapers, opinion pieces, videos and blogs.
    3. espn.com – If you follow any of the major American sports (Football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice Hockey, Nascar etc.) or just want an American perspective on the world of sport then this should be your first port of call. The site includes all the latest news, results, statistics and opinions, but that is just scratching the surface. There are also podcasts by leading sports journalists and highlights videos sourced from the ESPN network. There certainly are a lot of options here!
    4. allblacks.com – Rugby is New Zealand’s national sport and this is the website for our national team. Keep up to date with the Tri-Nations, Super 14 and Air New Zealand cup competitions with all the latest news, results and fixtures. Also download desktop wallpapers and watch videos all while pretending the 2007 World Cup never happened!
    5. motorsport.com – Whether you enjoy cars going around in circles very quickly (Nascar, Indycar), cars flying through snow and mud very quickly (World Rally Championship), motorbikes going around in circles very quickly (superbikes) or some other sort of really fast motorised vehicle (F1, drag-racing) it’s almost certainly on here. Keeping up to date on the fast (haha!) world of motorsport is made easy with motorsport.com’s sheer amount of up to the minute news and results. Other more specialised sites may go deeper, but none have a scope quite this wide.


  • Happenings, Sam

    “All the world is a stage…*”

    27.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    Want to be a film star?  Maybe act, dance or sing professionally?  The National Youth Drama School (NYDS) 2008 offers you the opportunity to acquire or hone your skills over an 8-day residential drama school at Havelock North High, Hawkes Bay.  From Aril 19 through to April 27, the NYDS will hold intensive workshops covering all aspects of performing arts.  Check out www.nyds.co.nz for further details.

    (* inspired by Shakespeare ’s  As You Like It)


  • Edna Welthorpe, Games, Internet

    Warhammer time.

    27.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Warhammer Online Collector’s Edition has been announced; this will mean very little to anyone who doesn’t know what Warhammer Online will be. But for those in the know, good news! It will be packed with books, in-game extras and a graphic novel.


  • Comics, Edna Welthorpe, Nostalgia

    Elfquest for free!

    25.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    Elfquest was a comic series that began in the late 70s, and it is still being published today. We have several graphic novels in the library. But! Like all good things, it can be found for free on the Internet. Each week several issues are added to the archives at the Elfquest website – eventually all 6000 pages (!) will be available.

    Enjoy!


  • Prudence, Subtext

    SUBTXT Review: X

    25.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    Black Juice
    Margo Lanagan
    261 pages
    Theme:     The frailty of humans.

    Recommend?: I would recommend this book because it is very, very unusual. It is a collection of short stories that are thought-provoking and leave you thinking about them for ages after.

    Favourite Character: : One particularly interesting story is ‘House of the Many’. My favourite character would be Bonneh because she is loving and good-intentioned. She never gives up on her handicapped child. Bonneh also has the ability to change and move on.

    Favourite Scene: : My favourite scene in this story is the wonderful descriptions of the sounds of the accordion. However, it is not revealed that it is an accordion until near the end of the story. Instead the ‘voices’ are interestingly described as those of different people.

    Score: 4 stars
    ~ pinkpanther


  • Books, DVDs, Simon, Top 10

    Top 10 DVDs based on Books

    20.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    There are several big films due to come out that are based on books. Books that we have in the library! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian , and Iron Man, for example, are all due out this year. But we do have plenty of DVDs already available that are based on books. Some aren’t very good, but some are great. And here are the ten greatest!

    1. Clueless – This is Jane Austen’s Emma, brilliantly transposed to modern (well, mid-90s) LA. Hilaaaarious.
    2. Howl’s Moving Castle – based on the Diana Wynne Jones book of the same name.
    3. To Kill a Mockingbird - based on Lee Harper’s classic book. It is also the 25th best movie ever.
    4. The Colour Purple – based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer-prize winning book. You will need a box of tissues.
    5. Hellboy – based on the excellent Hellboy comics. Hellboy II is due out this year! I can’t wait.
    6. Sleepy Hollow – based loosely on Washington Irving’s 1820 tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It stars Johnny Depp and the fabulous Miranda Richardson.
    7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - this is one of the better Harry Potter films yet, I think; it’s darker, more exciting, and if you had not seen any other of the series you’d still enjoy it.
    8. Lord of the Flies – based on the novel, this – the 1963 version – is better than the 1990 version. There, I said it!
    9. The Lord of the Rings trilogy - of course.
    10. I, Robot – not a particularly good film, but the book that it’s based on is.


  • Books, Grimm, New

    ‘Once Upon a Time in the North’ by Philip Pullman

    20.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    The companion book to Lyra’s Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North comes out soon-ish. While studying at Oxford, Lyra uncovers the story of Iorek Byrnisson’s first meeting with Lee Scoresby…

    Apparently this also contains a board game. I’m trying to work out how a board game’s going to fit inside a relatively small book. Maybe it’s magic!


  • DVDs, New, Simon

    New DVDs

    19.03.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    Yet again, more new YA DVDs are available. Since they’re so new and so popular you may need to reserve them, which you can do online. Click on the title!

    These are the new DVDs:

    YA DVDs cost 50c when issued on a YA or Child’s card. Reserves are free.


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