Why Don't You Blog About It: the best blog-to-books



With people these days spending half of their lives online, it’s no wonder that ‘normal’ has changed the world over. Even in book publishing, technology has been slowly reaching its’ tentacles in. While the concept has been building in popularity for a few years now, recently there has been an explosion of blog-to-book concepts.

From mega-famous YouTuber’s getting in on the act, including Pewdiepie, Miranda Sings, Shane Dawson, and Zoella’s bestselling effort (which outsold Harry Potter and Fifty Shades of Grey in its' first week), it seems that one of the best ways to get a book deal nowadays is to have a strong online following (*cough, cough* hello?). With a ready community to sell to, it seems an obvious way to re-start the currently struggling publishing industry.

The trend, however, started with the original digital over-sharers, the bloggers. Here are some of the best blog-to-book adaptions I have read.

Slaughterhouse 90210 is a book I stumbled on while checking in items, and I was struck by the unusual title. If you’re the type of person who loves keeping up with philosophy, but you also can’t turn down a good trashy TV show, you. will. love. this. It mixes the high with the low-brow, printing literary quotes alongside pop culture icons, and the results will surprise and intrigue you. It is a philosophy nerd’s dream.

The insanely popular twitter account Sh*t my dad says is one of the original examples of how online popularity has translated into other mediums. This bought the eponymous dad’s son a TV sitcom deal, which starred William Shatner (it was cancelled after one season), and several book deals. The first book on the shelves was ‘Sh*t my Dad says’ (funnily enough). The author, Justin Halpern has also recently published a book about his lack of talent with the opposite sex. The namesake book, however, is true to the original content, full of his Dad’s’ blunt and hilarious sayings, and personal anecdotes from their life. If you’re looking for a light read about a man who doesn’t know the meaning of ‘passive-aggressive’, this will be your cup of tea.

If you have been on Facebook recently, (and let’s face it, who hasn’t) you might have stumbled upon a striking photograph of a person, followed by a caption telling an intriguing story of that person’s life. This is the social media-famous ‘Humans of New York’ blog, which has gone on to spawn many imitations. Renowned for their share-ability, the posts provide a remarkable insight into the similarities and differences in humans across the world. This is obvious in the books they have spawned, the beautiful tomes a permanent record of the influence of the blog. As well as two separate volumes of the posts, there is also a picture book for the smaller humans on our planet, titled ‘Little Humans'.

Lastly, there’s Stuff White People Like. Yes, that’s the name of the book. Based on the blog of the same name, it is captioned ‘A guide to the unique taste of millions’. Taking aim at liberal, left-leaning white North Americans, it satirises their ‘unique’ tastes. The book includes the full list that first appeared on the website, including notable entries such as ‘#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes’, ‘#5 Farmer’s Markets’ and ‘#62 Knowing what’s best for poor people’, with pretty hilarious explanations. As a self-identifying Liberal White Person, it is scary how accurate it is. Read on if you would like to find out how to befriend your local “cute girls with bangs and cool guys with beards”.

Have any more recommendations of great books by bloggers? Comment below!



And I Brought Some Corn For Popping...

Christmas cake, mince pies, candy canes, chocolate... food is endless at this time of year, what with work functions and family gatherings and drinks and nibbles with friends.  

I'm kind of glad that I don't cook and that I'm very fortunate to have such lovely people around me who do all the hard work.  

Thanks Mum.

If you're struggling for inspiration for yet another Christmas get-together then why not check out some - if not all - of the books above and below.  There's pretty much something for everyone, be you a vegan, a paleo or raw lover.

And if you more of a traditionalist then we've got you covered too.

There's books on cakes and desserts, both large and decadent; and vegetables from artichokes to zucchinis.

And last but not least books on how to make every kind of cocktail imaginable.

G & T anyone?

Wiling The Winter Away

Click click click, clack, clack clack...

There is something very soothing about the sound of knitting needles busily working away and with winter slowly making an appearance now is the time to pull out those patterns and wool and curl up on the couch with a hot cuppa and craft those wintry evenings away.

Of course if knitting's not your thing there are a realm of other crafts that you can do from the toasty warmth of the sofa, from crocheting to sewing to stitching to colouring.  And here at Auckland Libraries we have plenty of books to help get you started.

So get into that wintry mood and get crafting.

A Little Bit Of Something New

I love finding new things and, as always, our hardworking selectors at Auckland Libraries have been busy ordering heaps of new titles to add to our collections.

It's always exciting and interesting seeing what is coming out; a new book by a favourite author, a sequel you've been waiting absolutely ages for or a title that sounds and looks intriguing that you just have to add it to your holds lists.

That Sugar Guide  ---  The Girl Who Fell ---  Wink Poppy Midnight  ---  What's For Dinner  ---  At The Edge Of The Orchard  ---  See Me  ---  The Ice Child  ---  Crow of Mist and Fury  --- Six of Crows  ---  The Glittering Court

And it's not just new books that we order but new music CD's, DVDs, AudioBooks, ebooks and eaudio, magazines and a host of other things, all to enhance our collection.

We find a lot of our new titles by looking through magazines and newspapers, websites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook.... you name it and our selectors are looking through it.

Of course we miss things too, mostly because there is just so much information for us to look through.  We is why we rely on you, our customers, to let us know if we have missed something.

Water or Gold  ---  Harmony House  ---  Lukas Graham  ---  Mind of Mine  ---  Telluric  ---  I'll Forget 17  ---  Blues of Desperation  ---  Beautiful Lies  ---  Know-it-all  ---  The Narrows

Many of our new titles are from customer suggestions which is just awesome - would you believe we get around 900 suggestions for purchase a week.

Now that is pretty wonderful.

So check out some of the new titles in our collection and maybe make a few suggestions of your own.

Spotlight  ---  The Dressmaker  ---  Human Universe  ---  Suffragette  ---  Brooklyn  ---  The Night Manager  ---  In The Heart Of The Sea  ---  The Peanuts Movie  ---  iZombie  ---  Ripper Street

Of Ye Olde Tymes And Men In Tights

There's nothing like losing yourself in a good historical romp.  One with sword fights and men in tights acting all manly and swoony.

Or maybe that's just me.

Either way there's something about getting lost in the past, whether through a book or a TV show that is immensely addictive.   Even better with the TV shows you get even more swoonish appeal with the likes of  Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston and Henry Cavill to name just a few.

And if you want to know more about some of these real-life people and the times they lived in there is also a ton of non-fiction for you to wade into.  True stories of scandals and mysteries and love affairs and deaths that will make you realise that the past was definitely not an era of the staid and strait laced.

It almost seems fitting then that there are 2 events coming up in Auckland that celebrate this - The Pop-Up Globe Theatre which will be showcasing a series of Shakespearean productions and The James Plays, which is screening as part of the Auckland Festival.  So why not check them out.

After all you can never have too much of a man with a sword...

For those who avoid the non-fiction

I love to learn new things. Learning crafty things, especially - particularly now, with the new crazes on handmade gifts and items and the amount of craft blogs everywhere. Crafting is cool now, and more than once have I made goals to start 'learning how to _____' - it will probably happen again for this New Years.

I am always looking at the latest craft books, and admiring the handmade quilts on pinterest or being envious of my friend who just recently made her first bar of soap (and not from other soap shavings, like you do in Tech at high school, but with all the fandangled techniques and the big cutty wire thing and lye).

However, though it pains me to admit it, I can't read a non-fiction how-to book to save my life.

Oh, I can read, of course. And I know what the words say. I know what all the words mean, separately, but put together in a string like that, it turns into a jumble of nonsense that makes my head hurt. I have to put the book down and am thus left without a clue how to make a handmade tea cosey.

 
Now, there are ways to get around this, of course. With an abundance of tutorials on almost anything on youtube, there is a video to help get you through whatever you so desire. I bound my very first book (which I made for a friends 21st gift. I was very proud) by watching a very lovely, slow and simple tutorial (this coptic stitch tutorial by Sea Lemon). But even then, sometimes, I just can't stand hearing someone tell me how to do something. I've listened to other tutorials before as well, and half of them just drove me crazy. 

Until I found a perfect little book that was just my speed.

That book was My first crochet book : 35 fun and easy crochet projects for children aged 7+.Using that book, along with my mothers careful instruction and company, I began to crochet. It was amazing - the pictures helped me to understand and it was in such simple language (not that dastardly jargon) that anyone would probably be able to follow the steps. My mind was blown, and before long I had a little bundle of crocheted-something that I was again, very proud of. It's wonky, and missing a few stitches, and overall a general failure as any kind of usable item, but it was my first step into a world of crafts I might actually be able to do.

Since then, some others I've come across include this baking cookbook, and these books about gardening, cooking, embroidery and sewing - so many things I've always wanted to try my hand at but always been put off by intimidating tutorials and books. 

When you have a short attention span like me, I guess it just pays sometimes to be more open-minded about where you get your information from... The important thing is to understand and learn - no matter how you do it or how simple or silly it feels. If one of your New Years Resolutions is to be more crafty or good with your hands, these could help - so get crackin' with these handy dandy kids books (which just happen to be, of course, suitable for actual children as well).

Not Your Usual New Year Resolutions

New Year Resolutions are hard.  Really hard. And every year we break them.  So it's time that we throw the usual resolutions out the window and opt for resolutions that are a little more realistic.... or at the very least attainable

1.  Eat what you like when you like especially if it comes in a mug (see yesterday's post Can't Cook Won't Cook for some inspiration)
2.  If you want cereal for lunch then have cereal for lunch... and dinner too.  Because cereal is the ultimate comfort food
3. Try a boozy shake. Go on I dare you

4.  Paint your nails a different colour... every week
5.  Embrace your inner mad cat lady (see post Purr, Purr, Meow, Meow for all the cat books you could possibly want)
6.  Take up a craft.  Whether it's making friendship bracelets or Pride and Prejudice characters or pixel blankets.  Just think of all the gifts you'll be able to give your friends.
7.  Follow Shona Rhimes example and say yes to something at least once a week
8.  Clean out the clutter... you're going to need room for all those gnomes
9. Drink at least one cup of tea day.  Even better try a tea cocktail (see post The Elixir of Life)

And finally...

10. Read all the books mentioned in this blog post and all the others.

Can't Cook Won't Cook

I love food.

Unfortunately for me I am the world's worst cook.  Trust me. You don't want me anywhere near your kitchen or your oven or any kitchen appliance that makes beeping noises.  If it can be burnt, flattened or fall apart I'm your man... well woman really.

So as you can imagine cooking is pretty much off my agenda.  Occasionally though I am filled with the sudden yearning to make something, anything really, as long as it tastes yummy and requires very little cooking.

You can guess then how thrilled I am that there are now a plethora of cookbooks made for someone just like me.  Books that require very little, if any, cooking.  Books that are filled with yummy delicious easy recipes that even a bad cook like me can fail at... *cross fingers*

And don't get me started on mug cookbooks. Because yes there is a God and she's a woman who hates to cook as much as me.  Mug cookbooks are the best.  Seriously.  You just have to try them out. Because once you do you won't want to cook any other way.

Mmm do I smell something burning....

The Elixir of Life

I love a good cup of tea.

Something I entirely blame my parents for, who were and are, tea drinkers and nothing else.  Glass of water?  Nope.  A mug of coffee? No way.   Tea was the elixir of them all.  And in our household it was drunk morning, day and night ... and pretty much everywhere in between.

So it's probably not that surprising that I am a tea drinker myself... even if it did take awhile.  Because yes like the Gemini that I am I flirted with other drinks before hand.  Milo as a kid, then coffee in my 20's, followed by hot chocolate - which I still love - and then finally tea.  And not just tea with milk the way my parents have always drunk it.  But tea in all its forms.  Black tea, milky tea, green tea, herbal tea, fruit tea.... you name it, I drink it.  And like any addiction I've got to have the accessories too which probably explains my ever growing collection of tea cups and mugs.  Because yes you've got to have more than one.

And now I have discovered that there's books about tea and that we have a whole collection of them at our library.

Now that is awesome

Have Feet Will Travel

Travel books are my mojo. 

Particularly weird and quirky travel books about everyday people going off on not so ordinary adventures. The fill me with all sorts of warm-fuzzies and glowy feels and make me want to see the world and isn't that the way it should be. 

Of course the list of places that I want to visit is long and never ending but that's half the fun, as is picking which destination to go to first....

A Very Bookie Christmas

I love books.

Especially books about books.  Because who wouldn't.  And luckily for me and you there are plenty at Auckland Libraries to choose from.  Tales of bookstores and bookclubs and libraries and librarians and so much more and isn't that just the bestest thing.

It just makes you want to dance.

                   
And when you've stopped dancing you can collapse onto a comfy chair with a glass of wine and a large (make that a very large) slice of Christmas cake and start on that huge pile of books that you have surrounded yourself with.

I have a feeling I may be awhile...

Purr, Purr, Meow, Meow - It's The Cat Post You've Always Wanted

I am the mad cat lady.

Or I would be if I a) lived on my own or b) my lovely partner finally gave in and let me embrace all things catish.

Luckily for me and the world I haven't yet managed to persuade him to let me have free reign and adopt all the cats.  Because if he did we both know our house would soon be a feline paradise.... or hell and that we would quickly succumb to our feline masters and be their slaves for life. Until then I have to settle for reading all the cat books and dreaming of all things catish and Garfield related. Because Garfield is my life role model

Purr, purr, meow, meow.

Your Favourite Media

An interview with myself in which I ask myself about my reading habits. So meta!

Hello. What is your favourite kind of media?

Books! Hands down, it’s books. I mean, you can’t live without music, and I love blogs, but books are my number one.

Where do you get your books from, the library? Or do you buy them?

I get most of my books from the library. I sometimes buy books but usually after I’ve test-driven a library copy first.

So you re-read books?

Sometimes. I mostly read nonfiction, so if I buy a book I’ve already read it’s for future dipping-in, rather than for reading it again from cover to cover. I like to have books around.

What do you mostly read?

Mostly nonfiction. My favourite books are ones about interior decorating, but anything might take my fancy: architecture, art, photography, craft, biography, history, science, social issues, fashion, whatever.

Do you ever not finish reading a book?

Yes, all the time. There are too many excellent books in the world to waste time on lame ones.

How many books do you usually have on your library card at a time?

You can only get out 35 books at a time, so I’m usually in the 30s. It’s probably a good thing that there’s a limit to how much you can borrow at one time. And thank goodness for due dates! Deadlines are great for getting books read.

I hear that! What do you think of e-books?

I think e-books are great for books that don’t have pictures. I like being able to touch a word and get the definition, and I like the iPad for reading at night. If it’s just text, like a novel or a biography, then e-books are excellent for that.

So you read e-books yourself?

Sometimes, but only for books with no pictures. Don’t laugh.

I’m not laughing?

Anyway, I don’t think that, for example, coffee table books could really work on e-readers. Like, if there are a lot of photos or pictures I’d rather look at them in a big glossy tree-book. But I love e-audiobooks, especially about science or history or something, if it’s told in an interesting way. And podcasts! Yeah!

Where do you get ideas for what to read next?

I read the Auckland Libraries New Book Lists every month and have a bit of a reserving frenzy. I also get ideas from magazine reviews, and stuff I see in bookshops or read about on blogs. Or word of mouth. Just anywhere, really. I have a bit of FOMO about books and a bit of anxiety if I’m behind on my reserving.

Anxiety?

Yeah totally. Being at the bottom of a long line of holds is…challenging! I like to have a lot of books at home, all the time, and lots of books coming in. A big fear of mine is being stuck somewhere with nothing to read. And don’t even get me started on magazines. American Vogue, British Vogue, Australian Vogue, there’s a new issue every month! Vogue anxiety, I has it.

What is your favourite book?

That’s like asking someone who their favourite child* is! I’ve thought about this before, and while I can’t seriously pick just one book, I’ll say ‘Pineapple: King of Fruits’ by Fran Beauman.

Is that a book about pineapples?

Well, yes. But it’s also about history, trade, colonialism and horticulture. It was one of the first nonfiction books I read that just sparked something in me, where I just thought “Yeah! Nonfiction is for me!”

You’re a total nerd.

What’s your point?

Do you keep track of all the books you read?

Yes I do. I have Library Thing account where I record nonfiction books I’ve read that I really like. But I’m way behind on updating it, so I also have lots of lists. Like, a lot of lists. I have list anxiety.

Would you like to tell me anything else about your reading habits?

Once I brought a wheelie suitcase to the library with me to pick up all my holds. It was one of my cleverest ideas ever!

Thanks for sharing your favourite media here at PopculturAL. Readers, stay tuned for the next exciting instalment of Your Favourite Media, where I will interview someone who is not me. Honest.

*I do not have a favourite child, but I concede that it might be whichever one is asleep.

GNU Terry Pratchett

When I hear people mention things about fantasy, my knowledge is pretty much limited to fairy tales, those little ones with badass chicks on the front or Terry Pratchett. And even about those things, I hardly know much of outside of the books I've read. I don't really care much for the lives authors have outside of writing the books I love - except for if they're writing their next book and when can I have it.

However, just because I don't know jack about the world of authors and what they do, it didn't stop me from shedding a tear or two earlier this month when I found out that Terry Pratchett died.

I know nothing about him, except that he wears wide brimmed hats, appeared as cameos in film versions of his books and that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's (courtesy of one of my great reader friends who was devastated at the news). I know nothing about the guy personally and I know nothing about who he was as a person - but I did know that he wrote very, very amazing books.
So, I won't pretend I know him and write about how amazing he was and how he changed the world, whether he did or not. I'll write about the only thing I feel at liberty to write about.

His books have a magical kind of power. Discworld, his main series (which can also be read as stand alone novels) is a mess of hilarious illogical logic and such detailed and reasonable chaos that you either had to put the book down because it was too much to grasp, or fall directly down the rabbit hole into the most amazing, well put together world that you can actually imagine co-existing with ours in some kind of crazy parallel universe. Funny, stupid, wise, heartbreaking, all rolled into one.

The first Terry Pratchett book I ever read was Going Postal (the second word will link you to the film instead of the book, as the first does). As such, it holds a special place in my heart as my favourite book in the Discworld series. No, I haven't read all of them - I just checked Wikipedia and I've only read 11 out of the 41 listed there (did I mention I don't keep track of this stuff?). Anywho, Moist von Lipwig's adventures into being a Postmaster was my first adventure into Discworld, and I still haven't left.

Moist is a scruffian big-time crook, who likes to have money, and lots of it. He likes it especially if it comes out of others pockets - which he often dips into. When finally caught by Lord Vetenari, he has the choice of either dying or facing the ultimate punishment... Becoming the Postmaster of Ankh-Morporks run-down and shabby postal office.

His first in the Discworld series, The Colour of Magic (also a film), is literally about the very first tourist Ankh-Morpork has ever seen, Twoflower. As he wanders about in pursuit of fun and wonder (ie. dragons, barbarians, bar fights), his travel guide, the not-wizard Rincewind of Ankh-Morpork is driven around the bend by the constant shenanigans Twoflower gets them into, and he tries very hard not to let them get killed. That's it. No epic romance or spell-flinging swordfights (or not very many, at least) and yet it's everything that there is to love about the Discworld.

Which, by the way, is the (flat) world, on a disc, on the back of four giant elephants, on the back of an even bigger, great turtle flying through space.

I'm pretty sure Terry Pratchett is the only author who can think up the Discworld and still make a reader believe it, make them say, 'Okay, I get that. I see how that can work'.

The last in my favorite series in the Discworld of his (the Tiffany Aching series) was his last book he ever managed to write, and is planned to be published this year posthumously. If you ever feel the need to pick up one of his books, I suggest starting with The Wee Free Men, the first in that series. Its under Teen Fiction (and in some cases, Children's) but don't let that fool you. It's as amazing as any others of his. If you feel the need, order some of his books - read them for the first time, or the fifth time. Read all of them, or only one.

Why would a criminal taking over a post office be interesting? Why do you need to know what a tourist gets up to on his first OE? Why do I care what Death the Reaper is doing on a farm or dressed up as Santa the Hogfather (again, a film) or how a sports team made of incompetent wizards does? The answer is, I don't know. I don't know how it could pull me in as much as it did - it just did. That is the power, the magic of what Terry Pratchett did. And this is what I, and all of his fans all over the world, will miss.

'Certain things have to happen before other things. Gods play games with the fates of men. But first they have to get all the pieces on the board, and look all over the place for the dice.' - Soul Music

Shaking hands with Death - Sandara

Cats, books, love and eco-feminism.

I've been thinking a lot during the past few months about animals. How much they mean to me, and to us all. I grew up with one parent whose often very small flats were packed to the rafters with greyhounds and whippets, which accounts for the fact that most of my life I have been a dog person. Last year, my flat took in a cat that I immediately dismissed as 'rude' and 'snobby' (cat like) because she didn't leap into my arms immediately or respond to my meowing. However, tentatively, Lacey warmed to me and I to her. She was my first love of the cat world, and I became reliant on her companionship - I adopted her when our flat broke up and she moved house with me, and it became a source of pride to look after her well and see that she was happy, buy her the best kitty biscuits and make sure her fur was brushed. I felt like a grown up, and was glad to have a dependent. She was empirically and objectively the best cat to ever live, and when she was hit by a car the day before Christmas last year, her death really devastated me. I'm still heartbroken and I don't think I will ever be able to love another cat. I spend a lot of time looking at our pictures together, and watching the one video I have of her licking my eyelids.

This post is dedicated to her, and to all animals domestic and wild. At about the same time that Lacey entered my life, I had my job interview at Parnell Library and while I was there I borrowed a book which caught my eye, and which started something of a breadcrumb trail of fiction and non fiction, which fit very well with my romance with Lacey. That book was A New Zealand Book of Beasts, which is a wonderfully absorbing overview of the myriad roles of animals in the lives of New Zealanders. Covering animals in farming and agriculture, domestication and companionship, and representation in literature, art, and mythology, I found this book to be a very rewarding and compelling lesson in our cultural history. There are thrilling facts about the relationship of ancient Maori to our bird-life which blew my little mind, some adorable anecdotes, a look at the work of such beloved names as Janet Frame and Witi Ihimaera, and most importantly the ethical aspects of human-animal relations offer significant insights to some of the political characteristics of New Zealanders as a people. I would recommend this to vegans and vegetarians, agriculturalists and art historians alike, and it is a book that has had a lasting impact on my imagination and critical bearings.

Second in line in my breadcrumb trail of books about animals was The Postmodern Animal by Steve Baker, a treasure I found shelving in the basement not too long after finishing A New Zealand Book of Beasts, drawn in by the very appealing of a shark with a crudely executed painting clamped between its jaws (very cute). A more specifically art-focused collection of essays, Baker explores the animal via the lens of Postmodern theories of identification and creativity in a variety of mediums, including performance art, sculpture, and fiction writing. For fans of Derrida, performance art, body politics and so forth - another effectual and enjoyable collection of essays.

Thirdly, as I was growing weary of the academic and conceptual, I turned to the work of Megan Mayhew Bergman on a recommendation from a library patron. Not only was it like a soothing balm to my brain after my non fiction binge, to my delight (I do love serendipity) it tied in with everything I had been reading and thinking about, and perhaps because it is Mayhew's craft, everything I had been feeling. Birds of a Lesser Paradise is a collection of short stories which focuses on the inner lives of a handful of women, each with reference to their relationship with the animal world. A woman compelled to visit the once loathed pet parrot of her now dead mother. A woman affianced to the landscape and wildlife of the swamp but divided by her father's deteriorating health and dreams of capturing an endangered species. A recovering alcoholic who searches for redemption volunteering in an animal shelter. Mayhew traverses companionship, independence, motherhood, identification and subjugation in a way that is deft, simple, yet rarefied and almost spiritual. Birds of a Lesser Paradise reveals, as do A Book of New Zealand Beasts and The Postmodern Animal, the complex and profound relationships we have with animals, and the interweaving strands of political, historical and cultural relevance that make them up but often go unnoticed. Beneath the subtle prose lies encouragement of radical ecological and feminist theories, and I was not surprised to learn that Mayhew is married to a veterinarian and lives on a small farm in Vermont (a dream existence if I were ever to picture one). I was also not surprised to discover that her latest collection of short stories published January of this year, Almost Famous Women is just as exquisite to read. A glimpse into the private lives of extraordinary women who were nonetheless only a footnote in the lives of larger personalities, it is just as touching and attentive as Birds of a Lesser Paradise.

So! Go forth, read, and give some extra attention to your animal friends. And here is Lacey, R.I.P

That New Book Smell

Ahh, that moment when the book you've finally been waiting for comes in. It's brand spanking new and shiny and perfectly covered. The pages aren't marked and it still smells​ of new book. And then sometimes, you get the book you'd long forgotten you'd even wanted. It's a favorite authors book and you've been waiting in line for it for months.The hold you put on, oh, what, late last year? It's finally come in! You pick it up and you think about it for a second - a memory niggles the back of your brain, and then BAM! It's exactly what you needed. Past you knows you so well. You hold it in your hands and you know that the instant you get home, you'll be unreachable to all others until you've at least finished the first 100 pages. That's the perfect moment and definitely one of my favorite things as a book-lover. 

You take that baby home, devour it in one, two sittings, and then afterwards you feel a mixture of excitement, contentment and sadness at the face that it's over so quickly. But it's okay! You're rejuvenated, you're ready for the next one. Hop on our webpage and put more holds on the latest additions, and hopefully beat the rush and get first in line.

If you're like me and you love to take out new books, check out our New Titles tab on the Auckland Libraries website. It has all the books the library has just bought this month (as well as a couple of previous months if you want to look back), plus the links to every one of them on the catalogue. (If you're not sure if we're going to get a book you're looking forward too, you can always suggest it for purchase, too).

Some of my favourite 'new' books that have just come in were these treasures -

Displacement - Lucy Knisley
A travelogue from one of my favourite authors and comic artists, Lucy takes us with her on a cruise... for the elderly. She volunteers to go with her grandparents when her family gets worried, and ends up being run around mad while trying to come to grips with mortality and the hard work of watching the ones you love get older.

First Frost - Sarah Addison Allen
My absolute favourite author. This is the second book in the Waverly Sister series (the first being Garden Spells), but is entirely fantastic as a stand-alone novel as well. The Waverly women are known for their powerful but obscure family magic. Claire starts to doubt her cooking magic which she has always been so sure of, while Sydney (hair magic) tries to understand her teenage daughter, Bay, the way most mothers do. Lovesick Bay knows where things belong - but doesn't know what to do when the person she belongs with doesn't think the same. A lovely, endearing story all aglow with magical realism.

In Real Life - Cory Doctorow, Jen Wang
A simple but thoughtful fiction graphic novel that looks at the way poverty and gaming come together in the form of gold farming - the act of collecting valuable items in-game to sell in real life to wealthier players. Anda, new player to the MMO taking the world by storm, starts out by taking out these gold farmers - until one of them stops to talk to her and an unlikely friendship begins.

And some I've just put on hold now, from browsing through the New Titles list (again)!

Cut, fold & hold : unique cardboard projects for the home - Petra Schroder & Dirk von Manteuffel
I love love love looking at craft books. I don't often make the things in them, but they inspire me nonetheless - especially ones to do with papercraft. 

"This book is filled with detailed photographic instructions on how to create amazing items from cardboard. Everything needed to complete the projects is outlines in the first chapter, and a vast majority are typical household items many people already have lying around."

Sound of a Woman - Kiesza

Yep, even the recent CDs that the library has bought are available to see on the New Titles page. I am a huge fan of what little I've heard of Kiesza and am totally stoked to hear what's on her album past the singles released on the radio. Check out her music and the rest of what we've recently got!

It's always interesting to just scroll through our catalogue and see what has popped up. And now that March has officially started, it's time for me to get requesting... Just joking, I already did on the very first of the month.

What to read: Not That Kind of Girl - Lena Dunham

“There is nothing gutsier to me than a person announcing that their story is one that deserves to be told,” writes Lena Dunham, and it certainly takes guts to share the stories that make up her debut memoir, Not That Kind of Girl.

Fans of Lena’s will know already, she is queen of the outrageous one-liner.

“I am twenty years old and I hate myself,” are the opening words of the book; from a writer who uses pure self-loathing to mask her incessant narcissism.

Written in typical Dunham fashion, the book is disguised as an advice column in how to navigate the tribulations and awkwardness of girlhood. She delivers a candid and sincere reflection of the experiences that molded her young self into the empowering, confident and outspoken woman she is today.

Clustered into five main sections - Love & Sex, Body, Friendship, Work and Big Picture - the series of short essays provide insightful, and sometimes cringe-inducing, reflections on Dunham’s key life experiences.

Being an avid Girls fan, I waited patiently for months until her memoir finally hit the shelves. Having finished binge-watching Season three of the show in March, I desperately needed my Dunham fix. I had high expectations for the wild, witty, and warm girl I had grown to respect on screen – and in no way did she disappoint.

It is loaded with frank and intimate accounts that draw similarity to the trials faced by the fictional Hannah. She crafts a revealing, unfiltered, graphic and at times uncomfortable description of what she has learned thus far.

Before she was a sensation, Dunham was a 9-year-old vowing to be celibate; a 14-year-old playing dead at an all-girl sleepover, and the one girl sporting a tankini at an Oberlin University party.

It may seem like I’m gushing about this woman, but from my perspective, Lena’s likability stems from the fact that she doesn’t fit into a traditional celebrity mold. She is loud, unruly, imperfect, and some might say even a little gross. She speaks openly about feminism and sexuality, without apology, and for the majority of the book she is so wildly inappropriate, you don’t know whether to keep reading or slam the book down from embarrassment. Ironically, it is these unique qualities that I believe make her one of the most relatable celebrities to date.

I asked my friend the same question: ‘What is it that you like about Not That Kind of Girl”, to which she replied “her memoir just feels like an extension of the show and we get to dive in a little deeper into her personality – that, and she’s just so raw and hilarious, what’s not to love about her!”

Whether you have seen Girls or not, this book gives you access into the quirky mind and experiences that created one of Hollywood’s hottest comedic talents.

Not That Kind of Girl is from that kind of girl: bold, gutsy, ambitious and willing to stand out. This is why Dunham is not only a voice who deserves to be heard but one that will continue to shock, thrill and will most likely, continue to surprise us all.


- our thanks to Sophie Buchan for the guest post!

6 Movies that are Better than the Books they were Based on (IMHO)

Books that are better than the movie are ten cents for twelve (you know, a dime a dozen) but I really had to do some serious pondering to come up with some movies that surpassed their source material. Here’s my list of 6 movies that succeeded in spite of being based on books that were all just like blah blah blah.

American Psycho
It’s kinda hard to read a book with your eyes closed but that is how I got through ‘American Psycho’. The promising beginning soon descends into page after page of murder! madness! misogyny! mutilation! without really going anywhere - at least, nowhere that I wanted to go. The movie has all of that, but one thing the book doesn’t have but really needed: character development.

Once Were Warriors
Am I allowed to say that? The movie just made such a massive impact and was so accessible in a way that a novel could not be. Of course, the movie succeeds in part because of the depth of the source material but…it’s just BOOM! you know?

The Devil Wears Prada
A chick-lit novel about fashion would be easy to slate, but it’s actually not a bad read. It’s entertaining enough: there’s a beginning, a middle and an end. There’s just something that the movie has that the book does not: Meryl Streep. She gives her fashion editor character a depth that the book lacks.

Trainspotting
I owned this book for years before I even got past the first few pages, what with all that Scottish dialect and no speech marks. Just watch the movie, it’s so much easier. And it has a great soundtrack.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Yawns all round! But the movie has Colin Firth, so it wins by a smidge.

Anne of Green Gables
This is highly controversial of me to say, but mostly because Anne of Green Gables was technically a miniseries, not a movie. Come on! You know I’m right. The book is great, lots of chapters about Anne’s various shenanigans in Avonlea, but it’s all a bit old-timey in structure and I want a bit more direction from my novels. Many of the books’ scenes just work better after being tweaked a bit for the movie to really bring out the humour, drama and sadness. Plus, Megan Follows is the Best Anne Shirley Ever and Gilbert Blythe is a stone cold fox. Facts.

Well, I’m done dancing with the devil for now. There’s nothing left to do but invite the outpouring of offence in the comments below. Do you agree or disagree with my 6 choices? What movies do you think are better than the books? Who’s hotter, Colin Firth or Gilbert Blythe? Post your comments below!

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Excuse Me While I Curl Up On The Sofa...

I'm a sucker for a good romance story and I have a special weakest for Christmas romance stories.  There's just something about these holiday themed books that makes me feel all warm and glowy and probably explains, at least in part, my addiction to all things Christmasy.

Luckily here at Auckland Libraries we have heap to choose from so I have no trouble in adding to my growing to-be-read pile which at this time of year can get rather... big.  It's a good thing I have a very large book bag to take them all home with.

Still it's worthwhile because I can then curl up on the sofa with a bowl of cherries, a mince pie... or two and a pile of books to work my way through.

The only problem is deciding which one to start with first...

Mistletoe on Main Street / Olivia Miles.

Briar Creek's quaint shop windows, cozy homes nestled in snow, and neighborly residents are what Christmas dreams are made of--for everyone except Grace Madison. She left her hometown years ago to pursue a writing career. But when her father's death leaves his bookstore empty, Grace must return to face why she fled Vermont in the first place: Luke Hastings, who still heats her up like a shot of smoky whiskey on a cold winter's night.

Where the heart is / Darcy Blake.

The simple life is all Chloe English hoped it would be until her house burns down, leaving her homeless. When a handsome firefighter swoops in to save the day, she can't believe her luck. He's laid-back and unassuming, everything she's looking for in a man - or so he seems. It turns out he's as ambitious as her ex, comes with a family who could be more stifling than hers, and harbors dark secrets he may never be able to share. Can she help him face his bleak past so they can forge a happy future?

The heart of Christmas / Brenda Novak.

Eve Harmon has always enjoyed Christmas, but this year it reminds her of everything she doesn't have.  A husband and kids of her own. But the B and B she manages, and even Whiskey Creek, the small Gold Country town where she was born and raised, suddenly seem confining. There's no one in the area she could even imagine as a husband until a handsome stranger comes to town. Eve's definitely attracted to him, and he seems to have the same reaction to her. But his darkly mysterious past could ruin Eve's happily ever after just when it finally seems within reach. 

All he wants for Christmas / Lisa Plumley.

Jason Hamilton is on thin ice with the board of his toy company. The young CEO may be a kid at heart, but his party boy reputation requires damage control. So, Jason's off to Kismet to inspect a model store and stick to business--no goofing around. Which is too bad, because the store manager, Danielle Sharpe, is the definition of what makes Naughty fun. Danielle is thrilled to show off her thriving little toy store. But if she'd known Jason was this hot, she wouldn't have offered to host him.

A Christmas to remember / Jenny Hale.

Carrie Blake loves her job as a nanny but, while her friends are settling down, all of Carrie’s spare time is spent with other people’s families. Though it breaks her heart, her New Year’s resolution is to embark on a new career and fix her love life.  As Carrie starts her last job, she’s sure she’ll be going out on a high - the only problem could be her boss… single-dad Adam Fletcher might be both handsome and successful, but he’s always working. 

Doesn’t he realise he’s missing out on precious moments with his son and daughter?

It must have been the mistletoe / Judy Astley.

Thea's parents have split up but still seem to be together. Both her younger sister and her brother are Smug Marrieds. But Thea is single and very much wishes she wasn't. When her mother and father plan a great family Christmas in a big house by the sea, the idea is to make it all great fun and tremendously civilised - not remotely complicated despite the fact that what they will really be celebrating is the final break-up of their marriage and the Moving On to new partners. And the new partners will also be there - and why not? It's what they do in Sweden, apparently, and it all works out fine. But will they move on? And will Thea manage to navigate her way through the forced jollities and family disasters to find some happiness for herself?

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Tinsel Here, There And Everywhere

I'm pretty much a low-key sort of person in regards to decorations.

A tiny tree that will fit on a desk, a sprinkle of tinsel, maybe some fairy lights and voila I'm done.

Some people on the other hand can and do go full-on.

From the Christmas tree with everything...

... to a house that glows so much that you've got to wonder about their power bill...

... and if they can sleep at night, what with all the lights and things glaring in their face.

 Pretty to look at but terrible to live with.

I'll think I'll stick to a much simpler and less expensive Christmas.  Like maybe a book tree?

Of course if I was remotely crafty I would also make my own Christmas decorations.

Like maybe these superhero ornaments to hang off your tree

 Then again it just sounds like too much work.

Of course for those of you who are crafty maybe some of these books will give you decorating inspiration.

Martha Stewart eat your heart.

Washi Tape Christmas : Easy Holiday Craft Ideas with Washi Tape

Christmas decorations.  Made out of tape.

Now that is my kind of Christmas craft
 
Trim the Tree : Christmas Ornaments to Stitch

Just as I am not a shopper, I am also not a stitcher. 

Me and sewing go hand in hand like gasoline and a match with pretty much the same effect, in other words a disaster.

Trust me you don't want me anywhere a needle and thread.

Natural Christmas Crafts

I really like the candle decorations on the front cover of this book.

If only I was a crafter...

Have Yourself a Homemade Christmas

A play on that Christmas song, Gooseberry the publishers of this book have been churning out Christmas craft books and cookbooks for years now.

I must admit I'm very tempted to check this out, just for the Christmas cookies alone.

Handcrafted Christmas : Ornaments, Decorations, and Cookie Recipes to Make at Home

And finally another Christmas craft book.

Because you can never have too many.

Feeling inspired yet?