| Bookends: Collected intros and outros by Michael ChabonWhat it is: an upbeat collection of introductions and afterwords penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.
Read it for: Chabon's enthusiastic discussion of his favourite books (including some of his own); insights into his literary influences and writing process.
Notable favourites include: Andrew Bolton's Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy; Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth; Ray Bradbury's "The Rocket Man;" Chabon's Summerland. |
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| All that Heaven allows: A biography of Rock Hudson by Mark GriffinWhat it's about: the complex rags-to-riches life of 1950s film icon Rock Hudson, whose public persona as "Hollywood's Most Eligible Bachelor" concealed his homosexuality until his death from AIDS in 1985.
What's inside: over 100 interviews with co-stars and loved ones; a comprehensive analysis of Hudson's filmography.
Movie buzz: A film adaptation helmed by Love, Simon director Greg Berlanti is in the works. |
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Saturday night at the movies: The extraordinary partnerships behind cinema's greatest scores
by Jennifer Nelson
From Jurassic Park to James Bond, Vertigo to Titanic, a powerful score can make a movie truly extraordinary. The alchemy between composer and director creates pure cinematic magic, with songs and melodies that are instantly recognisable and eternally memorable. So what is their secret? 'Saturday Night at the Movies' goes behind the scenes to reveal twelve remarkable partnerships, and how they have created the music that has moved millions. Discover how these collaborations began and what makes them so effective: the dynamic personalities, the creative chemistry, the flashes of genius.
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| The birth of loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the guitar-pioneering rivalry that shaped rock 'n' roll by Ian S. PortWhat it's about: the epic rivalry between guitar manufacturers Leo Fender and Les Paul that changed the sound of rock music forever.
Don't miss: Jimi Hendrix (playing a Fender Stratocaster) besting Eric Clapton (playing a Les Paul Gibson) at a 1966 concert.
Reviewers say: "this love letter to American creativity and rock and roll belongs in every library and should be read by all rock fans" (Library Journal). |
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| How to date men when you hate men by Blythe RobersonWhat it's about: the pitfalls of modern love, as recounted by 27-year-old Blythe Roberson, a researcher for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and self-described "horned-up perv."
Topics include: Good Flirts That Work; Bad Flirts That Do Not Work; Definitive Proof That Tom Hanks Is The Villain Of You’ve Got Mail.
For fans of: Phoebe Robinson and other feminist comedy writers. |
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| Coach Wooden and me: Our 50-year friendship on and off the court by Kareem Abdul-JabbarWhat it is: a sensitive portrait of the friendship between NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Basketball Hall of Fame coach John Wooden, which began after Wooden recruited Abdul-Jabbar for the UCLA Bruins in the 1960s and endured until Wooden's 2010 death at age 99.
Read it for: the lessons Abdul-Jabbar learned from Wooden over the years, including the importance of properly attired feet during games. |
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Fair go, sport: Inspiring and uplifting tales of the good folks, great sportsmanship and fair play
by Peter Fitzsimons
Sport was never meant to be complicated. No gibberish, no statistics, no talk of green-zones, black-zones, channels and percentage plays, no cheating, no grubbiness and certainly no ball-tampering. Peter FitzSimons celebrates the good, the generous and the kind in Australian sport, the genuine characters, the national treasures and the special moments when the losers were the true champions and the game, whichever game, was done proud. Hilarious and heart-warming, this is Fitzy at his passionate best. He reminds us that there really are good men and women in sport, that fair play still exists and that anyone can be a winner.
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Black boots New Zealand's rugby legends
by Gifford, Phil
Over 200 photographs from a classic era of amateur New Zealand rugby - 1950s-early 1990s, many unusual images from behind the scenes. Fascinating (and funny) captions from renowned rugby writer Phil Gifford. The perfect gift for the nostalgia-loving rugby fan, which will bring back many great memories of All Black greats and tours. Barry Durrant's photographs and Phil Gifford's captions capture the nostalgia of that wonderful time, when the All Blacks were just like us - they were the pig farmer down the road in Inglewood, the bank clerk who stamped our savings account book in Hawera and the freezing worker on the bus with us in Otahuhu - and all they got for pay was glory.
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A ringside affair: Boxing's last golden age
by James Lawton
Bringing the most compelling and climactic phase of boxing’s long history to life, the chief sportswriter of the Daily Express and the Independent pays tribute to the epic quality of boxing’s last years of glory, retracing arguably the richest inheritance bequeathed to any sport and pondering the possibility that we will never see such fighting again.
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What did you say stopped play? 25 years of The Wisden Chronicle
by Book Author
It's normal for rain to stop play in cricket. But that's not all: flying objects, passing dictators, animals of all kinds including a very improbable tiger; they have all had the same effect. But even when the game keeps going, cricket is a magnet for the weird and wonderful. For the past quarter-century the Chronicle section of Wisden has been collecting the most remarkable events in the game: the eccentric, the extraordinary and the excruciatingly funny. This is the cricket that reference books would normally ignore, from the village greens of England to the back alleys of Asia. This selection is about Tendulkar-worshippers and angry neighbours; about scoring a thousand and being all out for nought. There are politicians and protesters; celebs and streakers; judges and jobsworths and batsmen who really do murder the bowlers.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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