Invercargill Libraries Blog

In Information services there has been a few changes to our fees structure as well.

Scan and email now $2.50

Research fee minimum $10.00

Interloans will now have overdues charged on them if they're late back and if you would like and interloan urgently there will be a $25.00 urgent request fee.

Student Eve is recovering from a vicious attack which left her scarred for life. Detective Noah Webster also has his own demons to battle. Eve and Noah have secretly admired each other from afar for a year but are suddenly thrust together when several women from Eve’s graduate study of an online interactive game—Shadowland—are found dead. This is standard thriller fare but is a good book to get stuck into if you don’t want anything too demanding but with enough suspense to keep you interested. It’s also an interesting take on today’s internet society and the dangers that can lurk online for the unwary.

So library week has come and gone again. Thank you to all those who took advantage of our fines amnesty to return books we thought we'd never get back. For others who still have books of ours listed as lost remember that the most we will charge you if you bring the book back in one piece is $5. Even if it's years overdue.

For the Friday of library week we decided dressing as our favorite book characters would be great fun. Below are a few of the results. See if you can guess which characters we are and what books we come from.

This novel is set in January 1945 and consists of three storylines intertwined. Firstly, there are the remnants of the Emmerich family, who are fleeing the Russians to reach the American and British lines. With them is Callum Finella, a Scottish POW who is Anna Emmerich’s lover. They are joined by Uri Singer, who disguises himself as a Wehrmacht corporal under the name of Manfred. He luckily escaped a train bound for Auschwitz. Lastly, there is Cecile, a French Jewish woman who is in a concentration camp. These individuals will unwittingly and unknowingly change each others lives forever.

This book was written beautifully. It has some sort of magic that draws you in until the last breathtaking page. It certainly is a page turner, and I highly recommend it to all. As the author put it, it is about “love, terror and the tragedy of war”.

Jane Alison

When author Jane Alison was four years old, her parents (Rosemary and Edward) divorced - trading partners with a couple who were close friends of the family and had children of a similar age. Jane and her older sister went to live with their mother and her new partner (Paul) and Jenny and her sister went to live with Jane’s father and Jenny’s mother (Helen). This is Jane and Jenny’s story. Being close in age, Jane and Jenny developed a fierce rivalry - each competing to win the love of their new father and each insanely jealous of the other’s relationship with her own father.

Jane Allison allows us to get inside her head to understand the emotional turmoil that filled her life and how she felt coping with these convoluted relationships. To Jane, it was if she had been discarded by her father, she felt that she had no value and there was a ‘constant absence of presence’. The absence of her father was like a gaping, aching wound. The Sisters Antipodes describes Jane’s struggle to find herself, and come to terms with her relationship with her step-sister, Jenny. A journey to identity that ends in tragedy. Beautifully written, yet profoundly unsettling.

We are now working on improving shelf labels and signage to help you find the subject areas you need. If you need assistance finding your favourite non-fiction section, please do not hesitate to ask any staff member to point you in the right direction.

Peter Rees

Eyewitness accounts from the nurses themselves make this a fantastic and interesting read. These nurses witnessed things that people at home would never see, and they themselves were victims of war and were often attacked by the enemy. It also has a chapter on the Marquette, a ship carrying New Zealand nurses, which was torpedoed by the Germans in 1915. I loved this book, as it showed the vitally important roles that nurses played in the Great War. Their sacrifice is illustrated by the fact that 45 died in the service, and more than 200 were decorated. I think this is a book that everyone should read, and not forget.

At 10.30am on Wednesday 18th August, children, librarians, parents and teachers will gather in libraries all across the country (including ours!) for this very special Library Week event. The story we will be reading this year is Mr Muggs the library cat by New Zealand author Dave Gunson.

Do you love your library? Then get down here on Friday 20th August to celebrate Love Your Library Day! Libraries across the country will be celebrating Love Your Library Day with special themed exhibitions, displays, events and give-aways.

Competitions:

We want everyone involved in Library Week so this year we have 4 different competitions on offer and there is something for everyone!

Are you a great illustrator? Then why not enter the Graphic Novel competition, this one has two age categories so there are no excuses for not entering! The guest cartoonist/judge for the graphic novel is the 2009 winner Jason Winter.

We’re asking everyone who loves their library to make a short video and load it up and get your friends and family voting!

The Interactive Book competition is just for school kids in years 6, 7 and 8. Help create a nationwide story and win book prizes for yourself and your school library! The story is begun by well known NZ short story writer, an author of young adult fiction and children's book author Kate De Goldie.

The Te Reo Writing competition for ages 10 to 14, Whakataetae Tuhituhi, starts Maori Language week with one winner per week. The Te Reo interactive story is started by well known Te Reo children’s author, Peti Nohotima.

The Whakataetae Tuhituhi, Graphic Novel & Video Competitions begin on Monday 26th July and the Interactive Story starts on Monday 16th August. Visit http://www.libraryweek.org.nz/ for full details of all the national competitions.

Imagine an avian flu pandemic which kills every second infected person. Imagine being trapped at home in the dead of winter with your family, unable to even call on your closest friends and neighbours for help for fear of contracting the deadly virus. Imagine being trapped with your daughters and your estranged husband and his beautiful young assistant. Imagine now that the electricity goes off. This is the nightmare situation Ann Brooks finds herself in. This is a scary book which shows how quickly panic, greed and an "every man for himself" mentality can spread, faster even than the flu itself. People find themselves acting in ways they thought they never would. Gripping and terrifying, the claustrophobic and tense atmosphere of a household under siege from an invisible enemy is realistically portrayed.

Singer, songwriter and poet, Patti Smith describes her early beginnings and relationship with photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe. ‘Just kids’ is their story, of how they met, their shared love of art, their ‘hungry years’- when Smith worked in a bookshop and Mapplethorpe ‘hustled’ to make ends meet. It’s a beautiful story of unconditional love that ends as an elegy. ‘Just Kids’ is also a salute to the New York City of the late sixties and early seventies, and the characters Smith encountered during her rise to fame. Patti Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Ignatius Parrish's girlfriend was raped and murdered. Everybody though Ig was the killer but they never proved it. Problem is in the court of public opinion he never proved himself innocent. One year after the murder Ig got drunk, really really drunk. Now, the morning after, he's woken up with horns growing out of his head....

This is the wonderful concept behind Joe Hill's second novel.

If you thought that was strange things are about to get stranger. Ig knows all the evil deeds from a person's past if he touches them. What's more people are asking Ig for permission to sin. It's not all bad however. With his new talents Ig will uncover the real killer and maybe exact his revenge.

The story is told not just in the present but through memories as well (both Ig's own and those of the people he touches). I love the way Hill digs inside his character's minds with this novel. He constantly toys with the idea the Ig's new form may not be a punishment as much as it is a chance to fix things.

Joe Hill, son of Author Stephen King, writes under a pen name to minimise comparison with his father. It must be hard writing in the same genre as your famous father but Hill does it and does it well. If you like slightly twisted horror novels then journey with Ig as he unleashes his inner devil.

A fascinating look at the funeral industry in New Zealand. Former funeral director, Chris Mann describes the 8 years he spent working for an Auckland Funeral Home. He tells of his many experiences, including assisting police at fatal accidents. His profession is one that always attracts a lot of curiosity – people are always interested in the processes that are carried out after a death. Mann talks about bereaved families, the funerals where attendance is in the thousands – and the ones where no-one comes at all. It’s not a job that any one could do – there are tragedies and sadness – but Mann also talks about the joy of celebrating the deceased’s life, and there are many moments of laughter too where things don’t quite go according to plan.

Chris Mann and the funeral trade featured on 60 Minutes recently. He his now in the Police force, having developed a passion for this career after his years of attending accident scenes.

With our new library system we are able to send notifications out by email. So when holds you've placed come in the library will send an email out to notify you. If you haven’t given us an email address, don't worry a letter will go out to you by post. To accommodate this we now give you and extra 3 days to pick up your holds (10 days instead of 7).

Remember you can check your own holds from our online catalogue when you log in to your account. You'll need your ID number (the number under the barcode on your card) and a pin. If you don't have a pin we can set you up with one next time you're in the library. Just see the help desk. It takes only a minute.

by Kate De Goldi

12 year old Frankie is a perpetual worrier. He relies on his Ma to answer his “10pm question” each night to allay his fear of the day (bird flu, worms, smoke alarm batteries), but there are certain questions he never allows himself to even think about, including why his mother never leaves the house. Then one day, a new girl arrives at school, a free spirit who questions everything and forces Frankie to confront the things about his life which scare him the most. A wonderful, warm, funny, young adult novel which accurately portrays the ups and downs of family life and the anxieties

which can plague and sometimes overtake our lives. Anyone who has ever been 12 or finds the thought of a cat called “The Fat Controller” and a dog called “Ray Davies” funny should enjoy this book.

So on the 16^th of July (the last Friday of the school holidays) we are going to have a few little parties. We'll kick off with a children's party from 1pm – 3pm including a story telling session, puppet show ad lucky dip prizes. Starting a 3pm there will be family entertainment with all sorts of entertainment. Finally at 6pm there will be a celebrity debate. Tim Shadbolt, Tom Sawyer, and Eric Roy take on Nicole Gourley, Sarah McCarthy and Milton Munro in a battle for youth and exuberance over age and guile. Tickets are only $5 each from Information Services.

In the weeks running up to the big day we are also running colouring completions for the children and a Quiz about the library for the Adults. Have a go. There are great prizes up for grabs.

Phillips

For those of you who don’t remember her, MacKenzie Phillips is a former child star – better known for her roles on the movie American Graffiti and ‘70’s sitcom One Day at a Time. Her father was John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas. As you can imagine, MacKenzie’s was no ordinary childhood. She had an ‘interesting’ relationship with her father and, mixing with celebrities and rock stars from an early age, it’s hardly surprising that she quickly got involved in the drug scene. High on Arrival is the story of MacKenzie’s life as an actor, as a singer with The New Mamas & the Papas, and as a mother. But mostly it is the story of her downward spiral into addiction and her ultimate redemption. A gripping read, I couldn’t put this one down.

The devil’s queen is about the life of Catherine de Medici. Right from childhood, Catherine is used as a political pawn. This ultimately leads to her being married to Henri, Prince of France. Catherine finds that she must compete with her husband’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers. On top of this, she is unable to produce an heir. She finds that she must resort to using dark magic, with the help of magician Cosimo Ruggieri. As time goes on, a war is brewing, a religious war between the Huguenots and the Catholics, and it threatens to tear France apart. I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a historical novel, or anyone who enjoys reading about French history. It was a brilliant, fair portrayal of Catherine de Medici.

Reviewed by Jasmine.

Written by Brian Azzarello, Art by Lee Bermejo.

An interesting comic focusing on Lex Luthor's obsession with superman. Luthor fears superman's inhumanity. It reminds me of Dr Manhattan from Watchmen. If a man is truly that powerful what connects him to humanity? Luthor sets out to remind humanity that although superman does what he thinks is right, this might not be what we think is right.
Lee Bermejo's pages are well structured and the use of colour gives a dark realistic feel to the whole book. This small graphic novel gives us a lot to think about. An interesting new point of view in the superman myth.

John Lockyer.

Line of Fire is a glimpse behind the public façade of the Armed Offenders Squad. Filled with the personal narratives of the men who serve on the Squad, the book provides an insight as to what goes on in the minds of the team members in the heat of many difficult and dangerous situations. Contain, control and appeal - these are the main aims of the squad. Contain the area - to make sure the offender can’t get out and endanger the public at large. Control the scene – to ensure the safety of the public, the police and squad members. And appeal – to negotiate with the offender. If an incident can be brought to a close by negotiation then that is a successful outcome. But sometimes, the offender crosses a line, and there is no going back – in these instances the AOS has no other option, and in the interests of the safety of the public, they have to take action.

Line of Fire outlines many high-profile incidents (such as the gunman at Outdoor World in Invercargill and the Aramoana tragedy) and describes how the team members feel when they are forced to shoot. When they receive the call-out to an incident, the last thing any AOS team member wants to do is to use their weapon. A good read.

VIEW CATALOGUE RECORD

Set in 1920s London, this is the story of 30 year old “spinster” Evelyn Gifford who is training as one of the first female solicitors. Evelyn is haunted by her brother James’ death in the trenches and her world is turned upside down when a mysterious woman appears claiming to have borne his child. Meanwhile she becomes involved in two legal cases, one involving a woman accused of kidnapping her own child, and one involving a man accused of murdering his new bride. In the midst of all this, Evelyn meets a man who captures her heart, in spite of her own misgivings and repressed upbringing. This is a heart-rending, poignant tale which cannot fail to move the reader. It really brings home the idea that the Great War continued to affect individuals and families long after the last shots were fired.

SEE CATALOGUE RECORD

( Reviewed by Angela)

Invercargill City Libraries has recently set up a presence on YouTube. We have started uploading some of the Library events which have been videoed so you can catch up if you missed them or relive the fun times. To view our video clips go to www.youtube.com and search for Invercargill Library. We will also soon have links to the videos from our own website. For starters we have never-before-seen footage of some of the talented library staff performing at last year’s Housebound Christmas party as well as a taste of a recent Cowboys and Indians themed storytime run by the wonderful Children’s Library staff.

If you have given us your email address and have been unlucky enough to have received an overdue notice over the past couple of weeks, you will have noticed that we are now sending these by email instead of post. This saves time and money for us and means that you are alerted to any overdue items more quickly than in the past, so we hope you are finding this new service useful.

If you have an email address which you check regularly and have not yet given us your address, please contact the Help Desk on 211 1765 or contact us online with your barcode number.

If you do not have an email address, please do not worry – your notices will still be sent by post as usual.