Category: Subjects

What Have We Here? New Biographies in the Collection

KathLeave a comment

There is something magical about delving into the life of a person who is so different to yourself, and finding out that despite their extraordinary lives, we all have much in common.  This month’s new crop of biographies in the collection showcases many amazing lives while also highlighting the shared humanity of us all.  Try these titles to get you started.

What have we here? : portraits of a life / Williams, Billy Dee
“Billy Dee Williams was born in Harlem in 1937 and grew up in a household of love and sophistication. He studied painting, before setting out to pursue acting with Herbert Berghoff, Stella Adler, and Sidney Poitier. He became a true pop culture icon when, as the first Black character in the Star Wars universe, he played Lando Calrissian in George Lucas’s The Empire Strikes Back.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Beyond hope : from an Auckland prison to changing lives in Afghanistan / Shah, Bariz
“At age 18, Bariz Shah ended up in an Auckland prison. As an Afghan migrant who was deeply affected by 9/11, Bariz spiralled from schoolyard fights into crime and drugs – until prison made him rethink the story of his life. Years later, in Christchurch, Bariz had turned everything around when a terrorist walked into the local mosque and took the lives of 51 people in his community. Driven by a new purpose, Bariz and his wife Saba raised money to return to Afghanistan and establish 51 small businesses in honour of those they lost. In this memoir about finding self-belief, belonging and positive change, Bariz’s story reminds us that we always have the power to change ourselves for the better.” (Catalogue)

Molly / Butler, Blake
“Blake Butler and Molly Brodak instantly connected, fell in love, married and built a life together. Nearly three years into their marriage, grappling with mental illness and a lifetime of trauma, Molly took her own life. In the days and weeks after Molly’s death, Blake discovered shocking secrets she had held back from the world, fundamentally altering his view of their relationship and who she was.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

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Win tickets to local family film ‘The Mountain’, in cinemas now

MarkLeave a comment

From the Producers of Hunt for the Wilderpeople & Jojo Rabbit and directed by Rachel House, ‘The Mountain’ is a heartfelt drama about three children on a mission to find healing under the watchful eye of Taranaki Maunga, and discover friendship in the spirit of adventure. A childhood cancer narrative is explored in this film, so we encourage you to view gently, especially for those with childhood cancer stories close to their hearts.

The Mountain is now showing at these cinema locations.

Win double passes to The Mountain over on our Facebook page.

Feijoa Fever: New Popular Non-Fic

MadeleineLeave a comment

Feijoa season is upon us! This abundant little fruit is everywhere in autumn – falling off trees and filling up bags and containers, ready to share. But how exactly did a South American fruit nestle itself so neatly into the hearts of people all across Aotearoa? Kate Evans asks that question and more in her book Feijoa: A Story of Obsession & Belonging. 

Explorations of culture and history through the lens of one specific type of food are not unusual: there have been books written about milk, salt, sugar, bread, olive oil, the general concept of breakfast, and even two on cod – and that’s only scraping the surface. Whether you love them or hate them, it’s about time feijoas made the list, because this back-garden fruit has a global story, and a fascinating one at that. Click below to place a reserve, and browse the rest of our non-fiction picks for the month.

Feijoa : a story of obsession & belonging / Evans, Kate
“The feijoa comes from the highlands of Southern Brazil and the valleys of Uruguay, where it was woven into indigenous and Afro-Brazilian cultures. Today, it is celebrated by one small town in the Colombian Andes, and has become an icon of community and nationhood in New Zealand. Feijoas are among only a handful of plants that have made the journey from the wild to the orchard in the last few generations, providing a rare opportunity to watch, up close, the myriad ways plants seduce us. Feijoa is a book about connection: between people and plants, between individuals, between cultures, across disciplines, celebrating the ways our lives and loves intersect in surprising ways.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Material world : the six raw materials that shape modern civilization / Conway, Ed
“Sand, iron, salt, oil, copper and lithium: the struggle for these fundamental materials has created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and our greed for thousands of years. Though we are told we now live in a weightless world of information, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. And it’s getting exponentially worse. Even as we pare back our consumption of fossil fuels we continue to redouble our consumption of everything else. Why? Because these ingredients are the basis for everything. Our modern world would not exist without them, and the hidden battle to control them will shape our future. This is a story of our past and future, from the ground up.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A day in the life of Abed Salama : a Palestine story / Thrall, Nathan
“Milad is five years old and excited for his school trip to a theme park on the outskirts of Jerusalem, but tragedy awaits – his bus is involved in a horrific accident. His father, Abed, rushes to the chaotic site, only to find Milad has already been taken away. Abed sets off on a journey to learn Milad’s fate, navigating a maze of physical, emotional, and bureaucratic obstacles he must face as a Palestinian. Interwoven with Abed’s odyssey are the stories of Jewish and Palestinian characters whose lives and pasts unexpectedly converge. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama is a deeply immersive, stunningly detailed portrait of life in Israel and Palestine, and an illumination of the reality of one of the most contested places on earth.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

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New Service: Portable CD Players

MarkLeave a comment

Libraries are no longer just places to get books. We have a large collection of non-book items from music equipment, to power meters and C02 meters, to tablets and memory bags.

Once upon a time, most houses had a dedicated home electronic device that could play CDs through a home stereo set up or a television. However, the advent of music streaming services has replaced a majority of these physical devices and cars no longer come with CD players. While we still have a diverse collection of physical media, we realise that some of our patrons no longer have a way to appreciate our extensive music and audiobook collections, so we are excited to launch a new collection of portable CD players!

These lendable CD players enable you to listen to our music collection and enjoy audiobook stories with your whānau!

CD Player Kit, contents listed below

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Ngā Pukapuka Hou: Recent Picks from our Kohikohinga Māori

ShaneLeave a comment

Our latest batch of recent picks lean heavily into the arts, suggesting skills to be developed as the days grow shorter and the nights cooler, while also giving a selection of titles you can use to enhance your reo, and gain a greater understanding of Te Tiriti.

Understanding Te Tiriti : a handbook of basic facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi / Smail, Roimata
“Understanding Te Tiriti: A Handbook of Basic Facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi by Roimata Smail distills essential information for every individual in Aotearoa. Leveraging her two-decades of legal expertise in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Smail presents the facts in this short book in a way that is easy to digest. The handbook uses accessible language and beautiful design to make it easy to understand, leaving room for the reader to absorb these basic facts. Suitable for adults and younger readers.” (Catalogue)

Māori prosperity and development / Clydesdale, Greg
“Twenty years ago, the Ngāi Tahu Development Corp contracted Dr Clydesdale to write a strategy to enhance the prosperity of its members. This triggered a life-long motive to raise Māori welfare. For decades, government policy has failed to close the gap between Māori and Pākehā. Several reasons exist for this including a failure to understand the drivers of economic prosperity and a vision of history that stops at 1840. Clydesdale argues that the policies have failed because they have placed mana of a few above the prosperity of a people.” (adapted from Catalogue)

Reo ora : a Māori language course for intermediate learners. Ko te weu level three / Wiri, Kingi Robert J
“Take your Māori language learning to the next level. This intermediate course teaches twenty key sentence patterns in te reo Māori to extend beginners’ language skills. Dr Rāpata Wiri is a Māori language expert who has developed this course to teach people to speak, read and write te reo Māori confidently. Step through the modules and complete the exercises, and see your Māori language grow.” (adapted from Catalogue)

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Flying solo: New travel books

AmyLeave a comment

Traveling is an incredible experience, being able to see other parts of the world and to learn about different cultures. While it’s great to travel with loved ones, there are benefits to travelling alone as well. You can have complete control over the itinerary, meet new people and it can really help build your confidence. It can sound intimidating at first, but it can be a positive experience that will create many memories. Check out these new travel books for inspiration:

Solo travel / Mylne, Lee | ebook available
“A friendly resource to help you prepare for exciting domestic or international travel — on your own. Solo Travel For Dummies teaches you how to plan the solo trip of a lifetime with must-know info, insider tricks, safety essentials, and more. Get expert tips on safety, budgeting, and so much more! Solo Travel For Dummies is for anyone who needs a trusted, comprehensive source of information as they prepare to travel independently.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Amazing train journeys
“Discover 60 of the world’s greatest and most memorable train journeys, from classic long-distance trips, such as Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer and Darwin to Adelaide’s The Ghan, to little-known gems on regular commuting lines. Each profile features a detailed description of the whole experience, with practical information such as ticket recommendations, key stops and the best time to travel. Inspiring photographs and an illustrated route map bring every train journey to life.” (Catalogue)

The man who loved Siberia / Jacobsen, Roy
“Siberia, to me, is a fairy-tale land. Fritz Dorries set out on his first trip to Eastern Siberia in 1877, when there were still blank spaces on maps of the world. Through his twenty-two years in Siberia, Dorries collected a wealth of essential material for scientific institutions, fundamental to our understanding of fauna and flora. This account of his adventures, set down for his daughters in his ninetieth year, and adapted for publication by Roy Jacobsen and Anneliese Pitz, is his second great legacy.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Mexico
“Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. Mexico: once synonymous with escape and freedom, better known nowadays for widespread violence, narcotraffic, and migration. The ocean, the beaches, the ancient ruins, the tequila: under the patina of mass tourism there’s a complex, neurotic country trying to carve out a place for itself in the shadow of its hulky neighbor.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Epic : adventures across Aotearoa / Salisbury, Ray
“Over the years, countless sea kayakers, climbers and alpine trampers have attempted journeys across New Zealand’s incredible landscape. In Epic, the stories of a dozen memorable Kiwi explorers are brought together, with detailed maps, backstories and stunning images. From the first traverse of the Southern Alps, to the nineteen-year-old who travelled 8000km of coastline, Epic is a testament to endurance, and a reminder to get out there and experience the wild, stunning places of our planet.” (Catalogue)

Wavewalker : breaking free / Heywood, Suzanne | ebook available of Wavewalker
“Aged just seven, Suzanne Heywood set sail with her parents and brother on a three-year voyage around the world. What followed turned instead into a decade. Suzanne fought her parents, longing to return to England and to education and stability. From the bestselling author of What Does Jeremy Think?, Wavewalker is the incredible true story of how the adventure of a lifetime became one child’s worst nightmare – and how her determination to educate herself enabled her to escape.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Best beaches : 100 of the world’s most incredible beaches
“Discover the world’s most extraordinary shorelines inside this dazzling display of diverse beaches. Featuring transporting photography, tips for how to reach each beach, and reasons why Lonely Planet selected these as the 100 best, this is the ultimate collection of the sand, stone and sea the world has to offer. Whether you’re looking to be inspired for your next trip or simply desire some beach-chair travel, experience the world’s best beaches in this book.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Edgeland : a slow walk west / Swire, Sasha
“In Edgeland, the political diarist Sasha Swire escapes the confines of Westminster to walk the northern stretch of the South West Coast Path. She discovers that the path is not only a walk-through Britain’s windswept and wave-battered western fringes but a tale about how we and nature have, through extraordinary resilience and relentless spirit, learnt to tame the various forces that are stacked against us. That we live at the edge of the possible.” (Adapted from Catalogue)