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  • DVDs, Espionage, Miss Moneypenny, New

    Double O seven

    27.05.09 | Permalink | Comment?

    The YA DVD collection will soon be somewhat expanded by the addition of almost all (maybe all; I’m too lazy to confirm) the James Bond films. They’re not quite in yet but you can reserve them – YA DVDs are 50c on a YA card, and reserves for ya’ll are free.

    Here they are in our catalogue. If you’ve never seen any of the classic Bond films you really should, as they’re great fun.


  • DVDs, Library, Movies, New, Simon

    Twilight DVD all go!

    22.04.09 | Permalink | Comment?

    The library now has Twilight on DVD. If the book’s popularity is anything to go by, the reservation queue for the DVD will quickly become huge. Here are some links to the catalogue entries; the YA copy is 50c for a YA cardholder, but the adult copy is the full $4 charge. There will also be ‘Select‘ copies, which cost $4, are issued for 3 days, but are available directly from the shelf (when not taken) as they can’t be reserved.

    Twilight DVD – YA Copies
    Twilight DVD – Adult Copies

    We will be getting more copies soon. The film is rated M for supernatural themes and violence. The official trailer is after the Read more …

    Read more…


  • Books, DVDs, Espionage, Exclusive academies for rich kids who form cliques, Fantasy, Horror, Movies, New, Nostalgia, Sci Fi, Simon

    Beautiful new books & DVDs

    12.03.09 | Permalink | 2 Comments

    Remember This, by S. T. Underdahl (282 pages) – Lucy’s looking foward to summer. But she embarrasses herself when trying out for the cheerleading team, ends up dating a boy she previously disliked, and has to watch her grandmother suffer from the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

    First sentences: ‘Remember this: I love you. It was the special saying my Nana Lucy and I had for each other, ever since I was tiny.‘

    Sword : A Novel, by Da Chen (232 pages) – Martial arts expert Miu Miu turns fifteen and is told by her mother about her father’s violent death. Miu Miu is asked to avenge her father, and to find her fated true love, all in the faraway city of Chang’an. The Emperor has ‘other plans’.

    First sentence: ‘On the morning of Miu Miu’s fifteenth birthday, her mother did not arrange a visit by a matchmaker, as all the mothers of Goose Village did when their daughters reached marriageable age.‘

    The Bloodstone Bird, by Inbali Iserles (326 pages) – Sash finds a riddle in his father’s study, which leads him – and his enemy, Verity – on the search for a magical bird. Their search takes them to a dazzling new world.

    First sentence: ‘“In the beginning, Aqarti was a lush paradise surrounded by endless sea.”‘

    Sharp Shot, by Jack Higgins and Justin Richards (297 pages) – Twins Jade and Rich are kidnapped and find themselves at the centre of a deadly plot, involving the first Gulf War and explosives. This is the third book in a series.

    First sentence: ‘John Chance raised his powerful binoculars and focused on the low building on the other side of the sand dune.‘

    The Other Side of the Island : A Novel, by Allegra Goodman (280 pages) – Honor and her family move to Island 365, where the weather is always nice, there’s no unhappiness or violence, and everyone prays to Earth Mother and her Corporation. Honor and her family don’t fit in, however, and she meets Helix; together they uncover a terrible secret about the island.

    First sentence: ‘All this happened many years ago, before the streets were air-conditioned.‘

    Crushed : A Year in Girl Hell, by Meredith Costain (137 pages) – It’s Lexi’s first year of high school and life is changing fast. Her friends split up and Lexi has to choose between her old friends and her new, cooler friends. And she develops a crush on Jack, one of the cool kids. For younger teens.

    First sentence: ‘“Lexi, can you hurry up please?”‘

    Undiscovered Country : A Novel, by Lin Enger (308 pages) – Seventeen-year-old Jesse is out hunting with his father in Minnesota on a cold, wintery day. His father is shot; and it looks like he had killed himself. His father’s ghost begins to haunt Jesse, and he soon uncovers family secrets and his own, new responsibility. This book is a ‘bold reinvention’ of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

    First sentence: ‘As I write this, I am sitting in the kitchen of the small house where we’ve lived now for a decade.‘

    Fouth Comings : A Novel, by Megan McCafferty (310 pages) – This is the fourth Jessica Darling book and it will be very difficult to summarise in my usual two or three sentences. But if you’ve read the others you will be hanging out for this (I know Grimm will probably be first to read it).

    First sentence: ‘”Waiting sucks.” The voice was male and came from behind my right shoulder.”

    Bliss, by Lauren Myracle (444 pages) – Bliss has grown up in a Californian commune, and is sent to live with her strict grandmother and to study at Crestview, an exclusive school for the rich with an old, dark history. There she is targetted by Sandy, a girl obsessed with the occult. A ‘contagiously creepy tale of high school horror.’

    First sentence: ‘Grandmother won’t tolerate occultism, even of the nose-twitching sort made so adorable by Samantha Stevens, so I’m not allowed to watch Bewitched.’

    In brief:
    The Beginner’s Guide to Living, by Lia Hills (248 pages)
    A Small Free Kiss in the Dark, by Glenda Millard (225 pages)
    Dead is a State of Mind, by Marlene Perez (175 pages)
    Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, retold by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Chris Riddell (347 pages)
    Saving Sam, by Susan Brocker (192 pages)

    New DVDs:
    Skykids (Rated M) – Two friends sneak aboard a plane for a look and it takes off. They discover a bomb and then – to compound the dire situation further – realise that they’re the only ones left on board.
    Grange Hill Series 1 & 2 (Rated PG) – Grange Hill was a British drama series about a group of kids at a high school. It lasted from 1978 until late last year. This DVD collects the first two series. Very retro. Maybe.


  • Movies, Music, Simon

    Zac-less High School

    05.03.09 | Permalink | Comment?

    It’s been announced that there will be a High School Musical 4. It won’t have stars Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, unfortunately, but will replace them with a new cast of singing and dancing actors. It won’t be released to theatres (instead it will screen on the Disney channel) and will be unleashed in 2010.

    We have all kinds of HSM stuff in the YA section – oh look at it all:

    High School Musical (soundtrack)
    High School Musical (DVD)
    High School Musical 2 (soundtrack)
    High School Musical 2 (DVD)
    High School Musical 3 : Senior Year (soundtrack)
    High School Musical : The Concert (Live DVD) 
    High School Musical : The Essential Guide (Book)


  • Movies, Sci Fi, Simon

    Transformers

    28.02.09 | Permalink | Comment?

    There’s a new trailer out for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – you can view it in HD at the official site. It’s about two minutes long and full of robots blowing things up. Cars, bridges, buildings, and even an aircraft carrier; it’s just that fantastic!

    We have the first Transformers film on DVD as well, if you need to catch up before the sequel’s release. We also have Transformers : Beast Wars series one and series three.


  • DVDs, Jack, Movies, New

    FOUR NEW THINGS TO PUT IN A DVD PLAYER

    28.01.09 | Permalink | Comment?

    We have four new DVDs to issue, watch and enjoy. Here they are …

    First up is Speed Racer, which is about a young man who races speedily. Based on the catroon of the same name (remember that? It had a top theme tune) Speed Racer is a high-octane, turbo-charged joyride. It really revs my engine, ok, I’ll stop with the punning.

    Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is based on the books by Louise Rennison and is directed by Gurinder Chadha, who also did Bend It Like Beckham. File under coming-of-age chick flick comedy.

    In Hellboy II: Golden Army our hero is once again charged with saving the world by shooting, punching, looking tough etc. Will he and his band of misfits save the day? Probably until the next sequel at least.

    Lastly we have a new David Attenborough doco titled The First Eden. It examines the Mediterranean in the pleasing style we have come to expect from David and the BBC. <3 Edutainment <3


  • DVDs, Music, New, Simon

    Newest DVDs and a New CD

    23.09.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    A few new DVDs (and one CD/DVD) have arrived:

    » Disposable Hero (M) – This is a documentary about Brian Deegan, a freestyle motorcyclist who has won the most awards in his sport. He’s also lost several organs in the process.
    » Futurama : The Beast with a Billion Backs (PG) – The second feature-length Futurama DVD. (Rather than reviving the television series, a total of four films will be made.)
    » Batman : Gothic Knight (M) – These six episodes of the animated television series form, taken  together, form one complete film.
    » My Chemical Romance : Things That Make You Go Mmmm! (M) – A documentary about My Chemical Romance, featuring interviews with the band and people close to them, shot in New Jersey where the band began. Also …
    » The Black Parade is Dead : My Chemical Romance – This is a CD and a DVD; the CD is a recording of a live concert in Mexico City, and the DVD a concert in Mexico and Hoboken, New Jersey, in the U. S. of A.

     


  • Edna Welthorpe, Movies, Sci Fi

    By your command

    08.08.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    If you’re a massive fan of Battlestar Galactica (and you’d be right to be – it’s one of the best things on television) you may be interested to learn that some web-only episodes were made to bridge the story between the second and third series. Previously they were only accessible to viewers in the US, but now they’re available through the C4 website.

    We have the DVDs (in the adult collection, so the full charge applies):
    Mini-series (start here)
    Series 1
    Series 2
    Series 3
    The fourth – and final – series is still yet to be released.


  • DVDs, Grimm, New

    Men in tights

    05.08.08 | Permalink | Comment?

    man in tightsExcitement: we now have the complete series one and two of Robin Hood in the Young Adult DVD collection for your viewing pleasure. All swashbuckling fun, gripping action and witty one-liners, we know you’ll love it … and for the bargain basement price of 50 cents each (on a YA card) you can’t really say no, can you? I was going to describe the series to you, but the blurbs on the DVD cases are so entertaining…

    Series One:
    Robin of Locksley heads home from the Crusades to find his people starving and brutalised under the tyrannical rule of the new sheriff. Robin quickly discovers that the only way to reason with this Sheriff is with bow and arrow – even if it means sacrificing his title and his lands and consigning himself to life in the forest.

    Series Two:
    In the second series of Robin Hood the stakes are now much higher. The fight is for the very soul of England as the Sheriff of Nottingham and his sadistic lieutenant, Guy of Gisborne, hatch a scheme to assassinate King Richard and put Prince John on the throne. With a traitor in the gang, Maid Marion remaining in the castle as a spy, and Prince John threatening to raze Nottingham to the ground if the Sheriff is killed, the odds are stacked against Robin and his men. Only through bravery, breathtaking archery and swordplay, as well as more outrageous scams, disguises and tricks, can the band of brothers hope to save the king and the country…

    I love that last sentence. It really does sum it up perfectly.


  • 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.



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