Auckland Libraries blog

This week on Books and Beyond, Karen and Louisa share recordings of some of their favourite poets in performance, including many NZ Poet Laureates, with a cameo from Janet Frame and a driving finale from current NZ Poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh. Listen to this Books and Beyond episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast  and read on for the books mentioned in the show. Special thanks to Auckland University Press for their fantastic Poets in Performance series of book-and-CD sets. Classic New Zealand Poets in performance: A song about the moon: Classic New Zealand Poets in performance – CD 1, track 38, read by Bill Manhire.  The Mountains of Ta'u: Classic New Zealand Poets in performance – CD 2, track 40, read by Albert Wendt. The Goose Bath: The Icicles: Classic New Zealand Poets in performance – CD 1, track 38, read by Janet Frame. Seeing you asked: Classic New Zealand Poets in performance – CD 2, track 33, read by Vincent O'Sullivan. Co...

Congratulations to the five lucky winners of our annual Matariki Take 3 promotion, who have each won a $50 JBHifi gift voucher. Left to right: Senior Library Assistant Kaikokiri Ratonga Māori Daphne Tangihaere, Paige and Meri (Paige's Nan) Paige from Te Matariki Clendon Library Alana from Māngere Bridge Library Christine from Papatoetoe War Memorial Library Jacqui from Glenfield Library Nazife from Rānui Library Thank you to all who took part in the promotion, aimed at encouraging Aucklanders to explore the variety of items available to borrow from our Māori collections .

Inspired by the Festival of Adult Learning Ahurei Ākonga  (3 - 9 September), Karen and Louisa talk about the variety of things you can learn from library books, from languages to creative writing, or even Salvador Dali's secret technique for lucid dreaming! Listen to this Books and Beyond episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast  and read on for the books mentioned in the show. ' The Quick Reads series , including  Humble pie by Gordon Ramsay and  Kung fu trip  by Benjamin Zephaniah Travel, food and ghostwriting Lonely Planet's guide to travel writing: expert advice from the world's leading travel publisher by Don George Get started in food writing by Kerstin Rodgers 'Teach yourself visually' series Ghost writing: how to write for others by Lynne Hackles Poetry and memoirs The ode less travelled: unlocking the poet within by Stephen Fry The Liars' Club: a memoir by Mary Karr Lit: a memoir  (eAudiobook) by Mary Kar...

It’s Family History Month!  This week Karen and Louisa talk family histories and stories that last through the generations. Read on for the books mentioned in the show. This is me: a story of who we are & where we came from by Jamie Lee Curtis and illustrated by Laura Cornell.  Donald: The Book by Donald Robertson. Uncle Andy's by James Warhola. Uncle Andy's cats by James Warhola. Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father by Diana Wichtel. The Hare with Amber Eyes: the illustrated edition by Edmund de Waal. Ethnology of Manihiki and Rakahanga by Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter H. Buck). Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje. The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes. Diaries in the Sir George Grey Special Collections: Diary of Sir George Grey (1812 - 1898). Diary kept by J.W.Fedarb, Esq., from March,1839 to May 1852 . Journals and letters of Felton Mathew and his wife, 1840-1847 Sarah Mathew: explorer, jou...

This week on Books and Beyond, Karen and Louisa talk about the world’s most expensive books.   Listen to this episode  on the Auckland Libraries podcast  and read on for the books mentioned in the show. The top 10 most expensive books of all time: Book of Mormon:  The Codex Leicester St. Cuthbert Gospel Bay Psalm Book Rothschild Prayer Book Gospels of Henry the Lion The Birds of America The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer Shakespeare’s First Folio The Gutenburg Bible Other works about rare and unique books and their fate: The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu: and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts by Joshua Hammer. Lost, stolen or shredded: stories of missing works of art and literature by Rick Gekoski. The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám translation by Edward Fitzgerald. Auckland Libraries Special Collections collection of Rubáiyáts . Norman Mailer’s MoonFire  deluxe edition by Taschen Publish...

This week, Books and Beyond celebrated Cook Islands Language Week, with Louisa hosting a panel of librarians. They talked treasured books, what their culture and the Cooks Islands language means to them.  Listen to this episode  on the Auckland Libraries SoundCloud and read on for the books mentioned in the show. Treasured books from our Pacific collection: Soldiers from the Pacific: the story of Pacific Island soldiers in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War One by Howard Weddell. This book includes stories about the over 500 men from the Cook Islands who bravely volunteered to serve New Zealand. Among them were the great grandfathers of Angelique Tuaputa and Mati Ngari. Patterns of the past : tattoo revival in the Cook Islands by Therese Mangos & John Utanga, with photography by Kirsty Griffin. Mati Ngari shared how this book helped her research into what her own traditional tātatau would look like, one that reflects her family and cultural ...

On this week's Books and Beyond, Karen and Louisa talk about the best, worst and most memorable film adaptations from books and their picks for this year's New Zealand International Film Festival  (NZIFF). Read on for the books and movies mentioned in the show. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx. Also available on DVD Hunger  by Knut Hamsun; translation and afterword by Robert Bly; with an introduction by Paul Auster. Learn more about the 1966 film adaptation on the NZIFF website . Breath by Tim Winton. Currently screening at the NZIFF and will also  be released on DVD later this year . Movie adaptations authors weren't happy with after their release "My Foolish Heart" was adapted from J. D. Salinger's short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" from Nine Stories .  A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  The Shining by Stephen King.  Breakfast at Tiffany's: a short...