Auckland Libraries blog

Sharing little-known facts, talking about the weather, gossiping, pondering the big questions… What are your favourite conversation topics as you while away a weekend afternoon at the beach, or, one of our long summer evenings? Karen and Louisa recommend a selection of books which will assure you a brilliant head-start at the game! Listen to this week's episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast . Books mentioned in the show: The Guinness book of world records    Come rain or shine: a weather miscellany by Storm Dunlop The cloudspotter's guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney A million years in a day: a curious history of everyday life: from the Stone Age to the phone age by Greg Jenner Can a bee sting a bee? and other big questions from little people compiled by Gemma Elwin Harris Is it true? The facts behind the things we have been told by Max Cryer Factfulness: ten reasons we're wrong about the world - and why things are better than you think by Hans Rosling

This week on Books & Beyond, Karen and Louisa celebrate Auckland Anniversary weekend by paying tribute to our city by choosing books of historical recollections, novelistic descriptions, and poetic odes. Listen to this week's episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast .  Read on for the books mentioned in the show: Dove on the waters by Maurice Shadbolt The new animals by Pip Adam High hope in hard times: a history of Grey Lynn and Westmere by Kaaren Hiyama Te Atatu me: photographs of an urban New Zealand village by John B. Turner; historical essay by Grant Cole A fine prospect: a history of Remuera, Meadowbank and St Johns by Jenny Carlyon and Diana Morrow Urban village: the story of Ponsonby, Freemans Bay and St Mary’s Bay by Jenny Carlyon and Diana Morrow Auckland by the sea: 100 years of work and play by David Johnson Flowers after the sun: poems by John Pule Sonnets to Van Gogh & providence by John Pule Love as a stranger by Owen Marshall

Karen chats with Joanne Drayton about Hudson & Halls: the food of love , her new book about two television chefs who helped change the bedrock bad attitudes of a nation in the 1970s and 80s to that unspoken thing – homosexuality. They were also captains of a culinary revolution that saw the overthrow of Aunt Daisy and Betty Crocker and the beginnings of Pacific-rich, Asian-styled international cuisine. Listen to this week's episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast. Read on for the books mentioned in the show. Joanne Drayton is also the author of the New York Times bestseller,  The search for Anne Perry , about the bestselling crime novelist who left behind another identity - that of Juliet Hulme of ' Heavenly Creatures ' fame - as well as a number of critically-acclaimed biographies. 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… beyo

Mike Lee wears his scholar and author’s hat as he talks with Karen about his new book Navigators and naturalists: French exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas (1769-1824) , which weaves together geography, natural philosophy and human history, in telling the story of the great French naturalist-voyagers. 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 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

Karen and Louisa celebrate the 50th anniversary of Books & Beyond with a stroll through past shows, bloopers, and the ones that got away, plus a dip into the Auckland Libraries Top 100 and Great Summer Read . Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud . Books mentioned in the show Body parts: essays on life-writing by Hermione Lee Galileo’s middle finger: heretics, activists, and the search for justice in science by Alice Dreger Winter eyes by Harry Ricketts Murray’s Handbook for Scotland (1894)  The trauma cleaner: one woman’s extraordinary life in death, decay and disaster by Sarah Krasnostein The Pacific: in the wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill Navigators & naturalists: French exploration of New Zealand and the Pacific (1769-1824) by Michale Lee  Authors mentioned in the show Jojo Moyes Liane Moriarty Nicky Pellegrino Catherine Robertson Auckland Libraries' radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of boo

This week on Books and Beyond Louisa chats to Peter Millett, author of over 50 children’s picture and fiction books. Peter introduces his new book  More Classic Rhymes for Kiwi Kids , and the latest in his superhero  Johnny Danger DIY Spy  series, which we find out is as popular in the UK than home in Aotearoa NZ.  Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud . Books by Peter Millett: The ANZAC biscuit man and other classic kiwi tales . Jean Batten   by Peter and Ruth Millett.  The ANZAC puppy .    The kiwi go marching one by one , sung by Jay Laga'aia with lyrics by Ngaere Roberts. Johnny Danger: lie another day , as part of The Johnny Danger series. The petrifying plot of the plummeting pants , as part of The Boy Zero series. 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 a

On Books and Beyond this week, Karen chats with author, oral historian and biographer, Deborah Shepard, about her new book The writing life , one of our picks for the 'Life and times' category of this year’s Auckland Libraries Top 100. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud . The writing life comprises a series of curated conversations in which twelve of New Zealand’s most acclaimed and admired writers speak candidly about their lives and their work. They are: Joy Cowley Marilyn Duckworth Tessa Duder Chris Else Patricia Grace David Hill Witi Ihimaera Fiona Kidman Owen Marshall Vincent O’Sullivan Philip Temple Albert Wendt 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 .

The Great Summer Read He Pānuitanga Raumati is centre stage this week on Books & Beyond, as Karen and Louisa shared what they might be reading for their favourite challenges. Listen to this week's episode on the PlanetFM website and read on for the books mentioned in the show: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro The prime of Miss Jean Brodie  by Muriel Spark Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg Becoming by Michelle Obama Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead by Tom Stoppard Nightwork by Jachym Topol Black Beauty by Anna Sewell Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi Watership down by Richard Adams Winter eyes by Harry Ricketts Bonsai: best small stories from Aotearoa New Zealand edited by Michelle Elvy, Frankie McMillan and James Norcliffe 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. 

Poet, writer and journalist, Kirsten Warner, talks with Karen about her debut novel The sound of breaking glass , a tour de force set in Auckland in the 1990s which invites us to contemplate how many ways of shattering or being shattered one person’s story can contain. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud . The sound of breaking glass has just made the Auckland Libraries Top 100 of 2018 in the New Voices category. 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 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows via the  Auckland Libraries podcast .

Prize-winning poet and novelist, Anne Kennedy, chats with Karen about her new novel The ice shelf , a wicked and hilarious satire on life and literati as experienced in the course of a wild night in Wellington by a modern-day Moll Flanders. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud . Anne's books:  The ice shelf  The last days of the national costume The darling North  The time of the giants Sing-song 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 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

This week on Books and Beyond, Louisa talks to Lorraine Thomson about walking the 800km Camino de Santiago across northern Spain from France. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud. Lorraine's book: The French way: trekking the 40-day El Camino de Santiago by Lorraine Thomson Other books about the Camino de Santiago: Camino de Santiago by Andy Symington Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago (Camino Frances) by John Brierley On the Camino by Jason Jason (graphic novel) The Lore of the Camino de Santiago: a literary pilgrimage by Jean Mitchell-Lantham The way, my way: a Camino memoir by Bill Bennett I'll push you: a journey of 500 miles, two best friends, and one wheelchair by Patrick Gray and Justin Skeesuck Kiwi authors who have written about the Camino de Santiago: Kiwi on the Camino: a walk that changed my life by Vivianne Flintoff Exciting Eighties: a time of high expectations by Esther Paddon A movie ab

The 2018 winner of the  Diagram Prize for Oddest Title is being chosen this week by public vote! Karen and Louisa tell you all about it while recalling some other offbeat literary awards, such as the Weird-Ass Picture Book prize and the Three Tokes Anti-award. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud. Diagram Prize historic winners and shortlisted candidates: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on nude mice The 2009-2014 world outlook for 60 milligram containers of fromage How to avoid huge ships Greek rural postmen and their cancellation numbers Cooking with Poo  The mushroom in Christian art  Mr Ando’s Pennine diary: memoirs of a Japanese chicken sexer in 1935 Hebden Bridge  The Great Singapore Penis Panic and the future of American mass hysteria  Estonian sock patterns all around the world  Advanced pavement research Divorcing a real witch: for pagans and people that used to love them   Diagram Prize 2018 short list:  Are

Inspired by this month's Auckland Walk Challenge , Karen and Louisa recommend good reads for pedestrians and ramblers, whether they are walking for protest, pilgrimage, therapy or exercise. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast . Books mentioned in the show Walking historic Auckland by David Palmer The bottom of the harbour by Joseph Mitchell Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit A philosophy of walking by Frédéric Gros 100 days: walking Te Araroa by G.J. Coop The pants of perspective by Anna McNuff Te Araroa: walking New Zealand's 3000 kilometre trail , photography by Mark Watson Walking in ruins by Geoff Nicholson The alchemist by Paolo Coelho The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald 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 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows on the 

Karen and Louisa celebrate Halloween with some tricks from Karen, aka horrific reading recommendations, and a treat from Louisa, a spooky and sinister Roald Dahl story for your listening enjoyment. Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast . Books, authors and a website recommended by Karen: Books The Odyssey by Homer Hansel and Gretel in Grimm’s Fairy Tales The complete fiction of HP Lovecraft   Against the world, against life, a biography of HP Lovecraft by Michel Houellebecq  The cask of Amontillado and The pit and the pendulum in  The complete tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe The Haunting of Hill House and The lottery and other stories by Shirley Jackson Don’t look now in Don't look now and other stories by Daphne du Maurier Authors Stephen King  Edward Gorey Joe Hill Website Visit  www.creepypasta.com . Please note this website is not recommended for children due to its terrifying nature. Louisa’s read: The Landlad

Karen and Louisa celebrate Labour Weekend with books about labour and labouring, from ancient Rome to the Victorian mills of Dickens’s Hard Times , even a thriller set during Auckland’s waterfront dispute, Jonothan Cullinane’s Red Herring. Listen to this episode of Books and Beyond on the Auckland Libraries podcast . Books mentioned in the show: Samuel Duncan Parnell - a legacy: the 8 hour day, Labour Day and time off by Paul Corliss North and South by Mrs Gaskell   David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Hard Times by Charles Dickens Orgy planner wanted: odd jobs and curious callings in the ancient world by Vicki León Screw work, break free: how to launch your own money-making idea in 30 days by John Williams Would you believe - bed testers get paid to sleep: and other jammy jobs by Richard Platt Careers for introverts & other solitary types by Blythe Camenson Careers for perfectionists & other meticulous types by Blythe Camenson Red Herring by

For Mental Health Awareness Week , Karen and Louisa recommend good reads which speak to the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand's five ways to wellbeing: Connect, Give, Take notice, Keep learning and Be active. Listen to this episode of Books and Beyond on the Auckland Libraries podcast . Books recommended by the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand Beloved by Emma Farry Vitamin N: the essential guide to a nature-rich life by Richard Louv The nature fix: why nature makes us happier, healthier and more creative by Florence Williams The art of mindful birdwatching: reflections on freedom & being by C Thompson How to raise a wild child: the art and science of falling in love with nature by Scott D. Sampson Te Taiao Māori and the natural world by Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand Blue mind: the surprising science that shows how being near, in on, or under water can make you happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what you do by WJ Nic