Best of 2011 # 4

Here's another couple of librarian's view of the best books of 2011.

The first comes from Loryn a senior librarian at Mangere Bridge who specialises in children's and teens services. This is a mix of junior, teenage and adult fiction.

Darius Bell and the crystal bees by Odo Hirsch.
"The bees on the Bell estate are dying. There'll be no more delicious honey, and without the bees to pollinate flowers, no more fruit and vegetables. No more of Mrs Simpson's glorious pies and cakes! Worse still, Mr Fisher the gardener will have to leave the estate, along with his family. Darius Bell is determined that something must be done, even if the dastardly Mayor is against him..."

Gold seekers by Jane Johnson
The best children’s novel I’ve come across in a while. Well written and well researched with a great message.

Let me whisper you my story by Moya Simons
Set in WW II and a great history read for children to learn more about the world we live in

The Visconti House by Elspeth Edgar
Just remember this was worth the time reading it. And now being enjoyed by the children I suggest it to!

Nicholas Dane by Melvin Burgess
A very powerful story set in a boys home in England – read and enjoyed by the adults and teens I suggest try it.

The last Chinese chef by Nicola Mones
"Struggling to get back on her feet in the wake of her husband's premature death and stunned by a paternity suit against her husband's estate, food writer Maggie McElroy plans a trip to China to investigate the claim and to profile rising chef Sam Liang."

The second set of titles come from Matthew who has returned to summer at Warkworth as acting Library Manager there.

Young MacDonald had a farm written by Anna Crosbie ; illustrated by Scott Tulloch
Neat New Zealand children's book with lots of cool farm machinery that little boys love to point out! (and probably the big boys as well judging by Matt's reaction to it)

Life Class by Pat Barker
A well told story that focusses on the emotional effects WWI had on a young generation

Best of 2011 # 3

Rebecca Cooper works for the Marketing Department in Libraries. She helps us put together a lot of our fantastic posters and was a vital part of the team that worked on Dare to Explore. She is always a sunny voice at the end of the phone and incredibly busy. I don't know when she finds time to read...

Extremely loud & incredibly close / Jonathan Safran Foer. (2005)

Heartbreaking and yet innocently inspirational in some ways. It made me realise that the events of September 11 will affect the psyche of many generations to come.

Storey's illustrated guide to poultry breeds : chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, emus, guinea fowl, ostriches, partridges, peafowl, pheasants, quails, swans / Carol Ekarius. (2007)

As a new mother of hens this book fascinated me. It was also the cause of lunchtime hilarity on a number of occasions.

Hokitika Town / Charlotte Randall (2011)

I've started this and I'm taking it away on summer holiday with me. The story (narrated by a young Maori boy in his phonetic spoken English) immediately gives you a new perspective on things. His confusion as to why the English boats wear cloaks (sails) for example - beautiful imagery.

The Best of 2011 #2

The next Best of 2011 comes courtesy of Helensville Children's and Teens Librarian Rachel.

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis - This book is a biography of Katie Davis who moved to Uganda when she was 19 to spread love to it's citizens. She adopted 14 Orphans at age 21 and continues to be a mother to them. She is an inspiration and a demonstration of love in action.

Bow-wow bugs a bug by Mark Newgarden & Megan Montague Cash - It's a children's picture book and you may be thinking what the?!? This is a sophisticated picture book with no words. It's illustrations are cute and all the adults (and children) that I have shown it to have had a good chuckle.

Book of spies by Gayle Lynds - "The library can be a dangerous place..." Any book that starts like that grabs my attention very quickly. I enjoyed it so much that most of my branch has read it as a result! It's a thriller about a secret library. I don't want to say anymore in case I spoil it for you hehe.

Save me from myself by Brian "Head" Welch - This book is another biography but from a famous guy who used to belong to the death metal band Korn. This guy was on drugs and living a lifestyle that wasn't exactly conducive to living a long life. This book details that life and how he managed to change it around. It gave me a better perspective on what life is like for those people who end up in a bad place due to drugs and alcohol.

The Brick Bible by Brendan Powell Smith - A visual version of the Bible done in Lego. It's very cool!

Utterly Charming by Kristine Grayson - This book is a fairytale with a difference. This is told from the point of view of the evil stepmother Mellie. She is sick to death of her story being told wrong and aims to change it. Because it's a romance, the love interest is none other than Prince Charming! Yes, it's light, fluffy and a title page that would make me be embarrassed to read it in public but rest assured, it is a good read and the cover doesn't really match the story.

The Best of 2011 # 1

In the time honoured tradition for this time of year, it is time for the Best of 2011 lists. I have asked a randomly chosen group of people for their input and will be posting these throughout January.

First up is Vicki Clarke. She is Service Delivery Manager for the six Kowhai Coast Libraries in the North and West of Auckland, but may also be known to a lot of you as Library Manager at Kumeu Library or as Acting Library Manager for Rodney Libraries. As I discovered when looking at most of the lists, there is something in here that I will be putting on my request list.

Skippy dies / Paul Murray. A sad and memorable 'tragic comedy', this is a story of a group of teenage boys in a boarding school. The story is about their teenage angst (why on earth I read it I don't know!), their obsessions, relationships, and part of their journey in finding out who they are in the world. I'm glad I'm all grown up.

Open : an autobiography / Andre Agassi. I know, this has been out for a while, but finally I found it on the shelf! I really enjoyed this as a very honest expose of his life from being drilled for hours by his father, through his tennis career and marriages to Brooke Shields and the now Mrs Agassi, that other very famous tennis player.

The garden in the clouds : from derelict smallholding to mountain paradise / Antony Woodward. This memoir is set in Wales, about the author dragging his somewhat reluctant family to live on a hilltop farm, and their struggles to develop and present their garden for public tours in the presitigious 'Yellow Book'. No I had never heard of it before either.

The tent, the bucket and me : my family's disastrous attempts to go camping in the 70s / Emma Kennedy. This had me in stitches. The title is self-explanatory - if you're going camping this summer, this could be a really helpful guide of how not to do it.

A world history of art / Hugh Honour & John Fleming. Wow, a big book that gave me a short walk through art from prehistory through to the contemporary. I found the older history more interesting, so stopped reading once it got to the 1960's.....

Euan Macleod : the painter in the painting / Gregory O'Brien ; with a foreword by John McDonald. I would like to own one of this New Zealand artist's works. (My birthday is in March.)

Kirkus Books releases their Best of 2011 Lists

While Christmas and New Year's Eve are still a few weeks away, the "best of 2011" book lists have already begun to appear. Pity the poor author/illustrator/editor who publishes in December, as they won't ever make the list!

Kirkus Reviews - with the tagline "The World's toughest book critics since 1933" - have begun to drip-feed its best of lists onto their website, beginning with Fiction and Children's. Other lists, including Best Book App, will appear over the coming weeks.

So far I've only read four from the 2011 Best Fiction list - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Magician King by Lev Grossman, Embassytown by China Mieville, and Open City by Tenju Cole. Although I have now put some other titles on hold for summer reading.

Of the four books, I would highly recommend both Open City and Embassytown.