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It’s almost School Holidays! From the 23rd of September to the 8th of October, we’re inviting children and young people in Pōneke to explore the world through the power of art in Art Through the Ages / Toi Puta Noa i Ngā Tau — click through to find out more!
Find out more about School Holidays
Continue reading “School Holidays: Art Through the Ages | Toi Puta Noa i Ngā Tau”
Our selections this month offer a fresh take and plenty of food for thought as they tackle topics as varied as Chinese heroes and myths, teachings by ancient Indian women, the role of the Hindu temple in communities, and Tuvalu climate change implications for God-thoughts. It’s easy to reserve your title and have it delivered to your preferred branch for free.
Christianity in Oceania
As the title suggests, this is a survey of Christianity as applied in Oceania. Each chapter addresses individual countries with demographic information and essays by local writers. It charts patterns of growth and decline, explores major traditions, denominations and movements, and looks at current trends as well as themes such as migration, indigenous spirituality, worship or mission. Most treatments either deal with an individual country or take Oceania as a whole but this book’s strength is in its comprehensive collation of Oceanian countries.
Near-death experience in indigenous religions, by Gregory Shushan.
“In this book, Gregory Shushan explores the relationship between [near death experiences], shamanism, and beliefs about the afterlife in traditional indigenous societies in Africa, North America, and Oceania. Drawing on historical accounts of the earliest encounters with explorers, missionaries, and ethnologists, this study addresses questions such as: Do ideas about the afterlife commonly originate in NDEs? What role does culture play in how people experience and interpret NDEs? How can we account for cross-cultural similarities and differences between afterlife beliefs?”–cover.” (Catalogue)
Faithful disobedience : writings on church and state from a Chinese house church movement, by Wang Yi.
Underground movements of any kind develop unique local perspectives, both resilient and fragile. Key writings from the house church have been compiled, and translated for English speakers. Pastor Wang Yi and his church, Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, share their theological stance on the house church and its complicated relationship to the Chinese government. “This unique resource will be valuable to practical and political theologians as well as readers interested in international relations, political philosophy, history, and intercultural studies.”(publisher)
Continue reading “Sacred windows: Recent beliefs additions to the collection”
We have a huge number of books on environment and climate in our collection, and new titles are being published at an astounding rate as the science develops and as the reality of climate change sets in. It can be tempting to pass over these books, especially for those of us already experiencing climate grief or anxiety – the content is confronting and frankly scary. But the authors below are not here to bog us down in hopelessness. The facts they present are undeniable and their writing is urgent, but what they are offering us is a deeper understanding, showing how we might face our fears and channel our actions, and reminding us of the other paths that we – as individuals, as communities, as countries – can take.
There are all sorts here: poets and weather experts, gardeners and journalists, and between them all they cover a vast swathe of topics. If you want to understand the nitty-gritty science, then Under the Weather and Heat are the ones for you. To focus in on particular case studies, check out Fire Weather and Wasteland. For practical advice, Milkwood from Tasmanian-based permaculture experts looks fantastic, while Re-Food offers a road forward grounded in the Aotearoa context. Lastly, the philosophically-minded will enjoy the poetic Soil or the determined essays in Not Too Late.
Under the weather : a future forecast for New Zealand / Renwick, J. A.
“A warmer world will change more than just our weather patterns. It will change the look of the land around us, what grows and lives on it – including us. Drawing on climate models that can travel to ice ages and hothouses of the deep past, Professor James Renwick untangles how we know exactly what the future holds and why it matters to our everyday lives. He looks at New Zealand’s more frequent natural disasters, warming and rising sea levels, and the ways that the changing weather will affect our agriculture, lifestyle, food security and economy. Arresting, galvanizing and clear-sighted, Under the Weather is a picture of a miraculous planet in danger, a stock-take on what it means for this small country, and a reminder that the shape of our future is up to us.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Re-food : exploring the troubled food system of Aotearoa New Zealand / King, Emily
“In “Re-food”, Emily King advocates for a food systems approach to help the troubled food networks of Aotearoa New Zealand. She looks at the best ways forward to address challenges we face with soils, waterways, climate change, food waste, packaging, unhealthy diets, and a lack of access to food. Written in three parts, “Re-food” traverses the full food system and unpacks its issues along the way while providing timely and relevant ideas and inspiration for readers to solve these problems themselves. It offers tools, insights and mindset changes that chart a path towards a healthier, more sustainable food future, one which incorporates Te Ao Maori and our strengths as a top-quality food-producing nation.” (Catalogue)
Morvin Simon, 1944-2014
Te Āti-Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa
b. Kaiwhaiki Marae, Whanganui River
Composer, kapa haka leader, choirmaster and historian
In this Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, let’s remember the special team of Morvin and Kura Simon, who gave a life’s partnership to sustaining Te Reo Māori and enhancing Māori performing arts:
Morvin composed many waiata including our workplace favourite: (Te Aroha 1983) – so simple and yet so beautiful but he composed many other waiata such as:
His wife Kura was his pou for the last seven years of Morvin’s chronic ill-health. Kapa haka is a wonderful way of promoting te reo and they brought aroha and whanaungatanga to the lives of rōpū such as Te Matapihi, and Te Taikura o te Awa Tupua.
Together, in 2013, they were awarded Queen’s Birthday honours – Morvin as Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and Kura as Queen’s Service Medal , for their services to Māori.
In the previous year, 2012, Morvin received an honorary Bachelor of Arts (Māori Performing Arts) from Te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
Our library has copies of Morvin’s history of pā of Whanganui – Taku Whare e! but his tuhituhinga included:
Te Kohanga reo, he ahurewa mana = A language nursery, seedbed of dignity (1990)
1946-1996 Hui Aranga : “Te Aranga Ake” = “The Resurrection” (1996)
He whakaaro hei korero (1991)
and a section of Te Wharekura. 46: Te Taonga nei o te tikanga.
Morvin exhorted his learners to be always prepared for any occasion:
You never know when you just might have to step up to the plate and get your reo on:
Moea to taiaha ; Moea to patu ; Moea to poi
Learn more:
The Bridget Williams Books – Text Collection is a diverse group of short eBooks on the big issues facing Aotearoa. Dive in to discover stories, insights and analysis by some of Aotearoa’s best writers and commentators. The collection is available to read online for free by logging in with your WCL library card here.
In 2013 BWB launched the first of their 100 BWB Texts series. A celebration of this milestone is happening at National Library at 6pm on Tuesday 26 September. Speakers on the night include Morgan Godfrey, Rebecca Kiddle, Rebecca Macfie, Damon Sales and Tom Rennie.
My all-time favourite Bridget Williams Book, and top of the charts, is Imagining Decolonisation (2020) because of the kōrero of Moana Jackson in the launch of the text at Unity Books: Read Anahera Gildea’s account of the “slim book that invites us to dream big.”
Protecting our emotional safety, serving others, and exploring our inner and outer worlds is best achieved from a place of simplicity and self-compassion. These excellent new personal development books will help you achieve just that.
Fake Love / Gibson, Nova
“Nova Gibson provides guidance for those who have experienced narcissistic abuse. With over a decade of experience working with clients and an online community, Gibson helps readers identify, navigate, and survive this damaging form of abuse. The book covers behaviours of narcissistic abusers such as coercive control, gaslighting, pathological lying, and smear campaigns. It also explores the concept of trauma bonding, offering practical strategies to break the toxic cycle, protect oneself, and heal.” (Adapted from catalogue)
Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality / Edmonds, David
“Parfit was a philosopher who argued for prioritizing the common good over our own individual interests and, from this, developed his own non-religious, grand unified theory of morality known as ‘Theory X’. Despite spending most of his life in cloistered institutions, Parfit had an enormous influence beyond philosophy in fields such as climate ethics and poverty relief. This biography aims to make his profound ideas accessible to a broader audience.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
A Philosophy of Walking / Gros, Frédéric
“This “passionate affirmation of the simple life” explores how walking has influenced history’s greatest thinkers–from Thoreau to Gandhi and Nietzsche. The book charts the many different ways we get from A to B, including the pilgrimage, the promenade, the protest march, and the nature ramble. The author draws attention to other thinkers who saw walking as central to their practice. It’s an entertaining and insightful manifesto for putting one foot in front of the other.” (Adapted from catalogue)
Continue reading “Exploration, Freedom and Simplicity – New personal development reads”
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