Geekalicious gifts you can make Mum this Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day, why not make Mum something a little different, something a little geektastic even. I took a wander around our library this afternoon and found an absolute treasure trove of books full of gift ideas that I would be proud to get from my own little mini-geeks this Sunday ;)

1000 steampunk creations. Surely Mum would love a little steampunk goodness in her life, this book is full of inspiration for home design, art and sculpture, fashion, jewellery and more. My personal jewellery collection is chocka with steampunk goodies but could always use some more (hint hint).

Maybe you have some old books you would like to turn into something special for Mum. The repurposed library : 33 craft projects that give old books new life could be just the thing for you! Can we just suggest maybe not using your library books for this one, we have lots of withdrawn books you can buy that would totally do the trick though ;)

Maybe Mum would love something that is a little eco-friendly too. MiniEco: a craft book is full of cool paper craft, macramé and more. Who wouldn't want an awesome pop-up pixel card or an incredible origami lampshade?

Just perfect for the cosplaying Mums out there is 1000 incredible costume & cosplay ideas : a showcase of creative characters from anime, manga, video games, movies, comics, and more! With ideas and inspiration from across a HUGE range of platforms, she'll be all sorted for future Armageddon events and cosplay picnics in no time at all.

If steampunk jewellery isn't Mum's thing, perhaps she'd be keen on some Creative chain mail jewelry. There are some beautiful pieces in this book, from the Bicycle chain bracelet to the chain mail watchband.

If Mum needs a little more adorable in her life (I know, she probably doesn't when she has you already, just humour me here), you can't really go wrong with Felted knit amigurumi : how to knit, felt and create adorable projects. I squee'd my way through the contents page, the book is just crammed full of cuteness :)

Perhaps you'd like to whip up something special for Mum in the kitchen? I picked up Gastrogeek for it's lovely geeky title, but apparently it is just the trick when you are in a hurry, hungry or hard up. I sure wouldn't say no to a batch of Salted peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, om nom nom!

The feisty stitcher : sewing projects with attitude uses all sorts of cool unexpected materials and top techniques to make Mum loads of home sewn goodies. I'm pretty sure we all need a Hit-the-road backpack and Nip & tuck T-shirt in our lives at some stage.

So these were just an handful (or rather an armful) of fab books I found in our library today - go forth and check out your local branch and make Mum something magical! We all know that Mum really loves something you've made yourself especially for her :) (although wine and chocolates never go astray either, ahem).

Armageddon Auckland 2014

Recently over Labour weekend, Auckland hosted the annual Armageddon Entertainment Expo. I thought rather longingly about attending, but wasn’t sure it would be manageable with two rather hectic under 5 year olds, even a couple of pop culture loving ones. Then just two days before, I managed to win tickets to the show, so WAHOO! It was obviously meant to be. Here are a just a few of my highlights from the Monday I attended.

The cosplay
Due to those pesky pre-schoolers (I love them really), it has been a good 5 or 6 years since I last went to Armageddon, and oh my goodness how the cosplay has grown! My significant other and I used to lament the fact that NZ didn’t really do it on the level of overseas conventions, but that has changed indeed and I absolutely loved it :) My sons were in seventh heaven posing with an array of characters, including Iron Man, a rather amazing Dalek, and Star Wars characters galore.
We have some fabulous books on cosplay in our catalogue (I’m getting started on planning my costume for next year) such as:

1000 incredible costume & cosplay ideas : a showcase of creative characters from anime, manga, video games, movies, comics, and more! / Yaya Han, Allison DeBlasio & Joey Marsocci a.k.a. Dr. Grymm.

Cosplay New Zealand / Sylvie Kirkman.

Cosplay world / Brian Ashcraft and Luke Plunkett.

And you really need to see this video of Eveychu, the overall winner of this year’s cosplay competition (not to mention the Trans-Tasman Champion 2014), with her stunning cosplay of Katniss from the Hunger Games; she really deserved her win!

The exhibitors 
Ahhhh, there was something for everyone. From the big stores such as Mighty Ape to smaller stall holders selling the most amazing pop culture goodies. I’m a steampunk fan, and picked up some stunning steampunk pretties, Achievement Christmas shopping was indeed unlocked!

Yet our favourite stand would have to have been the Auckland Libraries one. I may be a little biased, but my aforementioned significant other and small people were extremely happy to have somewhere to put their feet up and play games on the library iPads, while I checked out the cool Makerspace badge making going on.

I did manage to get in a little trouble though, as said SO perused the collection there for borrowing, and noticed that we loan out games…I CAN BORROW GAMES! How did I not know this? (said he) *cough cough* (said I).  Did you know you can borrow console games from the Library? We have Nintendo DS, Playstation 2 and 3, Xbox and Xbox 360, PSP and Wii games for hire….there, hopefully I'm sparing anyone else from getting into trouble :)

The celebrities
There was a huge range of awesome guests this year, none of whom I ACTUALLY got to see (blame those small people, not so good with queues). From a number of brilliant voice actors from shows such as Ben 10, Regular Show and Adventure Time, to cast members from great shows such as Stargate SG-1 and Supernatural. The big two this year were MacGyver and Stargate SG-1's Richard Dean Anderson, and Jenna Coleman, Dr Who’s current companion Clara. Who, according to the many friends that DID get to meet her,  is just super lovely in person. I'm trying to be happy for them, really I am :) Guess I’ll just have to settle for watching her fantastic Dr Who episodes through our collections, or perhaps a little Richard Dean Anderson in his earlier (and somewhat tastier) years ;)

Wondering if I cosplayed myself? Miao ;)

PS - would love to hear about your highlights too, please comment away!

Embracing your inner teenager

A few years ago the genre barely existed; now it's a major money-spinner for publishers and movie studios alike.

Hands up how many of you have read a young adult novel in the past year. Some of you will be teenagers, (like, duh), but many of you will be well past the age of adolescence, if not the angst part. And you are a major reason why teen fiction is doing so well. Thanks to Harry Potter, adults need no longer feel ashamed to pick up a book for "children". While they should actually be ashamed of picking up a book about sparkly vampires and vapid heroines, those days are long gone. In fact, publishers are now packaging books with separate covers for adults and teens.

This, my friends, is the age of the crossover. Now that the stigma of reading teen fiction is gone, so is the writing of it. Every big-name adult author is writing for teens now - Philippa Gregory, Elizabeth George, Harlan Coben, Gena Showalter, John Grisham, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult. They're all at it. Once Lee Child figures out how make his sentences any shorter, no doubt he'll get round to it too.

If you're like me, you probably want to forget your adolescence entirely, but the teenagers in the best of today's books are dealing with a lot more than what to wear to the prom, and the stories are generally easier to get into than the stuff written for adults. They're perfect escapism with bite. Ignoring The Hunger Games, which I've already written about at length, there are futuristic books in which evil regimes are overthrown, by heroes with complex problems. There are fantasy quests (think the Eragon series). There's historical fiction with intrigue. There are even stories based on real events, about refugees and concentration camp survivors.

And lots of paranormal stuff, of course.

So here it is: a list of crossover YA and adult books that will appeal to all audiences. Give one a try!