Auckland Libraries blog

Librarian Karen and literary biographer Joanne Drayton Karen chats with acclaimed literary biographer Joanne Drayton, whose works include the NY Times bestseller The Search for Anne Perry , about the Christchurch schoolgirl killer who forged a new life as a writer of popular historical crime novels. Her new book about TV chefs Hudson and Halls is due out this year. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast . Auckland Libraries' radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and… beyond. Catch us on Planet FM104.6, Sundays at 9.35 pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast.

This week on Books and Beyond, librarian Karen talks with poet Serie Barford about her work and the influence of her mixed Samoan and European descent. Serie reads from her latest book Entangled Islands  and the new anthology of political poetry Manifesto Aotearoa . Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast. Auckland Libraries' radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and… beyond. Catch us on Planet FM104.6, Sundays at 9.35 pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

Join Karen and Louisa on Books and Beyond this week, to explore works from some of New Zealand's finest Pasifika writers.  Listen to this week's episode on  PlanetFM's website  and read on for all the books mentioned in the show. A celebration of Pacific literature: Slavers in Paradise by Henry Evan Maude The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt Tupaia: The remarkable story of Captain Cook's Polynesian navigator by Joan Druett The sea! The sea! by Peter Jay Mātini by Rachel Reeves   Auckland Libraries' new radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and... beyond.  Catch us on Planet FM104.6, Sundays at 9.35pm. Recent shows can be listened to via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

On this week's Books and Beyond, Louisa is joined by Keven Mealamu to discuss children's books, illustrations and the All Blacks.  Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast  and read on for all the books mentioned in the show. Keven Mealamu - from All Black to illustrator: Paul and the Magic Pencil by John Parker Home Sweet Home by Josephine Sim And Keven's own recommendation: Iceman: the Michael Jones story by Robin McConnell Auckland Libraries' new radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and... beyond.  Catch us on Planet FM104.6, Sundays at 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

This week on Books and Beyond, Anton Blank discusses his new book Global Roaming , a collection of short stories that focus on the journey of identity.  Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast. Auckland Libraries' radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and... beyond.  Catch us on Planet FM 104.6, Sundays at 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

Had the eclectic public which filled Central City Library's Whare Wānanga earlier this month come to hear Finlay Macdonald interviewed by Steve Braunias, as the publicity had seemed to announce and Finlay picked up on in his opening gambit? No worries. I was there -- I'm not a "horrible trout" wont to pronounce without first-hand experience, to borrow one of Steve's colourful animal kingdom descriptors which he used on the night -- and I can attest that the only thing threatening to upstage Steve Braunias was the lure of the subject of his new book The scene of the crime . The book, which developed out of Steve's reporting from a dozen notorious trials for variously heinous crimes, is not actually a study of the criminal mind, despite the book being placed in the true-crime area of the library collections. As the title suggests, what he repeatedly found himself most interested in was the places. "It's impossible and pointless to try to put yours

"I have always imagined paradise as a kind of library." If - as I imagine - you're visiting this blog because you like reading about books, chances are you've already encountered this quote from the great Argentinian poet, writer, and essayist Jorge Luis Borges. Maybe you also know that for many years Borges earned his living as "first assistant" at a municipal library in Buenos Aires, cataloging books down in the basement (also, apparently, catching up on his reading), until he was dismissed for political reasons when Juan Perón came to power – only to be appointed the director of the National Public Library of Argentina after Perón was deposed. My appreciation of this feel-good quote for readers par excellence was turned upside down recently when I read Paul Monette’s Borrowed time: an Aids memoir . Monette's friend Roger Horwitz (I use the word 'friend' because in the book Monette spends some time telling us how it is the term he p