"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality." ~ Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), American author
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Learn something new in 2015
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If you have plans to try something new in 2015, why not jump into learning? We support all ages – from preschoolers and parents, to lifelong learners who want to get more out of their computers. Our Learning Centres at South, New Brighton and Upper Riccarton run programmes throughout the year.
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New and Recently Released!
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A parallel life
by Bonnie Greer
Award-winning playwright, author and critic Bonnie Greer's touching, funny and thought-provoking memoir is a voyage into the making of a woman who set out to unmake what she'd been born and brought up to be: 'a proper girl' a precious definition in a segregate and racist America where black life was deemed only three-fifths of white life and the life of a black woman even less.
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Focused: my life in pictures
by Andrew Nicholson
This book tells the story of the boy from a farm in New Zealand who went to Britain as a raw 19-year-old and conquered one of the most demanding sports in the world. Illustrated with superb photographs of Andrew's career and life with horses, it reveals how he got to the top and how hard he still strives to up his game. We discover the personalities of his top horses, and the secrets he has learnt in his 35 years as a horseman.
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Barefoot years
by Martin Edmond
A memoir in which the author attempts to re-inhabit the lost domain of childhood. It is evocative and poignant, detailed yet fragmentary, full of half-forgotten things: what may be recovered also reveals that which is gone forever. These remembered beginnings, both familiar and strange, take us back to when a world was being made.
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One girl, one dream
by Laura Dekker
The amazing autobiographical account of the youngest ever solo circumnavigation of the Earth. Aged just 14, New Zealand-born Laura Dekker defied the authorities and braved the open oceans to realise her dream of becoming the youngest ever sailor to circumnavigate the Earth. When she finished the journey she was still only 16, the youngest ever person to achieve this feat.
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Professor Penguin
by Lloyd Spencer Davis
Part memoir, partly the research of a field biologist, Professor Penguin could be called 'How Penguins Shaped My Life'. Based on journals kept during Davis's years of working with penguins in the wild, the story takes readers to remote locations: Antarctica, the Galapagos, the deserts of Chile and Peru, the Falkland Islands, the wild coasts of Argentina and South Africa, and New Zealand.
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The dwarf who moved: and other remarkable tales from a life in the law
by Peter Williams
In his time as a criminal defence lawyer in the New Zealand courts, Peter Williams QC has seen it all. From the days when abortion, homosexuality and even telling fortunes could see a person hauled before the courts, to sensational cases of wrongful imprisonment and police corruption, he has witnessed the defining moments in the evolution of our modern judicial and penal systems.
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The truant from medicine: how a decent young doctor was seduced to the dark side
by Ivan Donaldson
It all began when Ivan Donaldson's girlfriend, Chris, gave him Hugo Johnson's book Wine in 1966. A light bulb went off in the mind of the talented, ambitious young doctor. A fascination with wine started when he and that girfriend, now his wife of 46 years, started making fruit wines, then wine made with table grapes from her parents' garden. Things got more serious when he was working in London in the early 1970s and they were able to head off to France in their rackety old car to tour vineyards. Things got more serious still when, in the late 1970s, he and a group of Christchurch doctors planted out Mountainview vineyard in Halswell. And things became very serious indeed when, in 1984, Ivan and Chris Donaldson bought a parcel of land in the Waipara Valley on which to start Pegasus Bay Wines.
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Sol[3] Mio: our story
by Donna Fleming
Sol3 Mio are Kiwi stars on a meteoric rise. The award-winning operatic trio - tenor brothers Pene and Amitai Pati, and their baritone cousin Moses Mackay - stormed the New Zealand popular music charts in 2013. Almost out of nowhere, their success has been rapid and undeniable. But it wasn't always easy. Sol3 Mio: Our Story charts their remarkable life story: overcoming adversity, a real connection to family and community, living and loving life, working incredibly hard for your dreams - and realising them.
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RJ's story
by Robin Bloomfield
Robin 'RJ" Bloomfield was a commercial fisherman in Motueka for over 30 years. He has also run ten-pin bowling centres, been involved in stock car racing and collected and restored vintage cars.
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| Napoleon the Great by Andrew RobertsHistorian Andrew Roberts relates Napoleon Bonaparte's early life in this voluminous biography, detailing his military campaigns and tracing the formation of his empire. Arguing that Napoleon was an effective statesman and an intellectual as well as a brilliant commander, Roberts strives to refute the conclusions of less admiring biographers. He also highlights Napoleon's influence on later military strategists. Napoleon should appeal widely to readers of all types. |
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| Ambition and desire: the dangerous life of Josephine Bonaparte by Kate WilliamsIn Ambition and Desire, biographer Kate Williams brings Josephine Bonaparte out from the aura surrounding her husband, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, to claim her place on the stage of history. Born to an ordinary but aspiring family on the tiny West Indian island of Martinique, Josephine made her way to Paris. After surviving the Revolution and subsequent Terror, she became a star of the salons and married the man who was her match in both brilliance and ambition. This compelling biography offers up-close insight into Josephine's passion and achievements as well as her tumultuous relationship with Napoleon. |
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| Victoria: a life by A. N. WilsonQueen Victoria reigned over Britain and its Empire for 64 years, becoming the namesake for a whole era and overseeing significant political developments in her government. Her children married royalty throughout Europe, extending her influence well past her death in 1901. Victoria's life was darkened by the great sadness of Prince Consort Albert's premature demise, but was also notable for her collaboration with a series of effective prime ministers. Biographer A.N. Wilson's fluid and balanced account brings Victoria's complex personality to life, portraying her as an interesting woman and successful monarch. |
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The Queen, her lover and the most notorious spy in history
by Roland Perry
The intensely revealing and entertaining account of a great royal secret and hidden love story an unbuttoned history of Queen Victoria's loves and intrigues. Long before her successful marriage to Prince Albert, Princess Victoria had an affair with the dashing Scottish 13th Lord Elphinstone. After the liaison was exposed, Elphinstone was banished to India, appointed Governor of Madras, which allowed Victoria's mother to engineer a royal union for her with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. After five years pining for Elphinstone, Victoria finally gave in and married Albert. Despite a successful marriage, Victoria never forgot Elphinstone and after a decade in India he returned to her side as Lord-in-Waiting at Court.
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The woman who would be king
by Kara Cooney
A portrait of the longest-reigning woman pharaoh in Ancient Egypt draws on surviving artifacts to consider her unprecedented rise, her achievements and why most of her monuments were destroyed after her death.
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January and February Birthdays
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| Ethel Merman: a life by Brian KellowJanuary 16, 1908. In this entertaining and well researched biography of "the Broadway belter," Ethel Merman, Opera News feature editor Brian Kellow recounts her early life, her rapid rise to stardom, her many successful roles, and her turbulent relationships. Known as a temperamental diva, she was also one of the most successful Broadway performers in musical comedy, beginning in 1930 with George Gershwin's Girl Crazy. Merman's fans and Broadway buffs will revel in Kellow's book. |
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| Poe: a life cut short by Peter AckroydJanuary 19, 1809. Having already tackled several literary giants, including William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, acclaimed biographer and novelist Peter Ackroyd turns his considerable talent toward one of the most enigmatic writers in American history, Edgar Allan Poe. Ackroyd examines Poe's literary accomplishments -- including his poetry, short stories, and contributions to the genres of detective and science fiction -- and also looks at Poe's complicated and often sordid life and mysterious death at age 40. Over 200 years after Poe's birth, he still fascinates readers and historians. Check out this intriguing biography to find out why. |
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| Days that I'll remember: spending time with John Lennon and Yoko Ono by Jonathan CottFebruary 18, 1933 (Yoko Ono). As a longtime contributing editor to Rolling Stone, Jonathan Cott interviewed many talented musicians. But in Days That I'll Remember, Cott doesn't just interview Yoko Ono and John Lennon -- he relates entire conversations from their times together, giving readers the chance to "hear" them speak openly and honestly on myriad topics. From the breakup of the Beatles to the duo's experimental music, their relationship, and Yoko's influence on John, |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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