Thursday 27 December 2012

Staff Favourites

Looking for holiday reading?  Here is a random list of books our staff have enjoyed in 2012.  Something for everyone from some excellent authors.  

Click on the titles to go to the Catalogue records and reserve online if you wish.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell, c2011

Brings Dodge City to life and the old characters of  Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers are suddenly real people with real personalities, ambitions and passions.  Fascinating and thrilling but have a hanky handy.  Author's website: www.marydoriarussell.net 

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, 1999
Fantasy fiction fans, have you read the Sevenwaters series by New Zealand born author Juliet Marillier?  This is book 1 of the series of 6.  Flame of Sevenwaters (2012) is the latest.  Author's site: www.julietmarillier.com

The Red House by Mark Haddon, 2012
A symphony of long-held grudges, fading dreams and rising hopes, tightly-guarded secrets and illicit desires, all adding up to a portrait of contemporary family life that is bittersweet, comic, and deeply felt.  Mark Haddon is an award winning author.  His website is www.markhaddon.com

The wild rose by Jennifer Donnelly, 2011
In 1914, with World War I approaching, polar explorer Seamus Finnegan tries to forget Willa, a passionate mountain climber, as he marries a beautiful young woman back home in England.  Author's website: www.jenniferdonnelly.com


Friday 21 December 2012

The Search for Anne Perry by Joanne Drayton

This biography of celebrated crime writer, Anne Perry, reveals more than her identity as notorious New Zealand teenage killer, Juliet Hulme.

Hulme was jointly convicted of murdering her friend Pauline Parker’s mother in 1954, before sliding into obscurity. Through meticulous research into her life and her literature, Joanne Drayton has peeled back the layers of Anne’s carefully constructed existence to show us the woman underneath. Drayton explores Anne’s writing to uncover her world view and her compulsion to write.

This is a compelling and absorbing read which will be enjoyed by those who like biographies. Posted by Jenny, Havelock North Library

About the Author

Christchurch City Library Blog - Interview with Joanne Drayton

Search Catalogue and reserve online
The Search for Anne Perry by Joanne Drayton, 2012

 

Thursday 20 December 2012

Staff Favourites - Historical Fiction


Historical fiction is always popular.  Here are three recommendations from staff.  Click on the titles to go to the Catalogue records and reserve online if you wish.

The Captain's Daughter by Leah Fleming, 2012

When the Titanic sinks, May Smith is rescued then handed a baby that is not hers.  She keeps it and years later the family come looking for the child.
Read about Leah Fleming...

The queen's mistake by Diane Haeger, 2009

Catherine Howard makes the mistake of marrying King Henry VIII.  Her past lovers and enemies come to court...

Read about Diane Haeger...

The Painted Bridge by Wendy Wallace, 2012

A drama set in a Victorian mental asylum. Just who is really mad? The patients or their keepers? A brilliant story you won't want to put down.  JAM 

Read about Wendy Wallace...

Tuesday 18 December 2012

The Selector of Souls by Shauna Singh Baldwin

A real eye-opener of a book!

The Selector of Souls is about India and specifically Indian women and their choices, or rather lack thereof – even in the 1990’s and up to and including 2005.

Baldwin was inspired to write it by the appalling statistic of an estimated 4.5 million baby girls missing in India during the 1990s, 42.4 million between 2001 and 2008 as a result of pre-natal selection and an estimated 160 million worldwide since the 1970s. I will look out for her work in future. Posted by Hastings Book Chat

The Selector of Souls on You Tube


About the Author

Shauna Singh Baldwin’s first novel What the Body Remembers was long listed for the Orange Prize for fiction and was awarded the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best Book (regional winner for Canada & Caribbean region) and her second book The Tiger Claw was a finalist for The Giller Prize in 2004. Her short stories have won literary awards in the United States, Canada and India. She holds an MFA from Marquette University in Milwaukee, USA where she currently resides with her husband.

Visit the Author's website here

Check our Catalogue : Selector of Souls by Shauna Singh Baldwin

Friday 14 December 2012

Staff Favourites - Biographies

Enjoy biographies? A countess, a gypsy, a kiwi restaurenteur and an author.  Here are four biographies our library staff (and many others) have enjoyed this year.

Click on titles to go to the Catalogue and reserve online if you wish.

Fleur : the life and times of pioneering restauranteur
by Fleur Sullivan with Natalie Brown ; new photography by Aaron McLean, 2011

Why be happy when you could be normal
by Jeanette Winterson, 2011

Gypsy boy
by Mikey Walsh, 2010

Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey : the lost legacy of Highclere Castle
by Lady Fiona Carnarvon, Countess of Carnarvon2011

Friday 7 December 2012

Unfair Trade by Conor Woodman

The global economic crisis challenged the way many of us view our world and how we want to live in it. Conor Woodman gave up his job as an economist to travel the corners of the world investigating the shadier workings of international capitalism and to look behind the ethical, fair trade front of the iconic and everyday brands that fill our shelves.

Unfair Trade tells the personal stories of many hardworking men and women in developing or undeveloped countries, tracing the flow of raw materials along their journey to be processed, manufactured, and marketed for ‘socially responsible’ Western companies.

Unfair Trade did open my eyes to the complexities of ethical trading, but it did not give me, as a consumer, much practical advice on what to put in or avoid in the weekly shop.  It’s still very much up to the individual to put in the hard graft and peel away the façade in order to sort the good banana from the bad banana. This book was a good place to start to get to grips with the complexities of the real world, while being engaged in personal stories of real people. Posted by Spot

About the Author

Conor Woodman is a former City analyst. In 2009, Channel 4 broadcast his four-part series, Around the World in 80 Trades, in which he sold his property and used £25,000 of the proceeds to kick-start his journey through 13 countries.  From Publisher's website

Check our Catalogue : Unfair Trade by Conor Woodman 2011