Rodney Writes - winning stories online

As promised the winning stories from Rodney Writes are online. Congratulations to all the winners.

"The household guide to dying" by Debra Adelaide

"The household guide to dying : a novel" by Debra Adelaide.

Debra Adelaide is another one of the authors appearing at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival that I have a ticket for but haven't read. Apparently she has written several books although "The household guide to dying" is the only title of hers that Rodney Libraries holds. If the others are anything like this I will be seeking them out (maybe taking advantage of the reciprocal lending arrangement Rodney has with North Shore and Waitakere Libraries...)

The book is written by Delia. She is a mum, a wife, the author of several 'how-to' books celebrating the 'household arts'... and she is dying. The story charts her coming to terms with her past and planning the future for her children. She writes lists planning her daughters' far-off weddings. She writes her column. She plans a raid on the neighbours garden. She encourages her husband to think about a new partner after she is dead. (That doesn't go so well.)

A wonderful story about a difficult topic. Warm, funny, ultimately uplifting.

Booksellers Favourites

Bestsellers for the week ending 25 APRIL 2009. Anzac makes some impact in the NZ Non-fiction and Childrens & Teens NZ categories, while it was easy to see that the approach of the cold weather is getting everyone to dust off their crock-pots and slow cookers as well. The international categories reveal all the usual suspects with their latest (or most topical) titles.

NZ Fiction – Adults
1 Isle of Tears, Deborah Challinor
2 The Bone Tiki, David Hair
3 Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones
4 The 10pm Question, Kate De Goldi
5 Limestone, Fiona Farrell

NZ Non-fiction – Adults
1 Walking in Light, Kelvin Cruickshank
2 Fernleaf Cairo: New Zealanders at Maadi Camp, Alex Hedley & Megan Hutching
3 100 Ways to Use Slow Cookers and Crockpots, Alison Holst & Simon Holst
4 Edmonds Cookery Centenary Edition
5 Sins of the Father: The Long Shadow of a Religious Cult, Fleur Beale

International Fiction – Adults (excluding NZ)
1 Gone Tomorrow, Lee Child
2 Assegai, Wilbur Smith
3 Handle with Care, Jodi Picoult
4 The Best of Times, Penny Vincenzi
5 Long Lost, Harlan Coben

International Non-fiction – Adults (excluding NZ)
1 Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything, Elizabeth Gilbert
2 A Lion Called Christian, Anthony Bourke & John Rendall
3 Always Looking Up, Michael J. Fox
4 Jamie's Ministry of Food, Jamie Oliver
5 Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama

Children and Teens – International (excluding NZ)
Once again the name Stephenie Meyer with her "Twilight" series dominates this list.

Children and Teens – New Zealand
1 Awesome Aotearoa: A Kids' History of New Zealand, Margaret Mahy
2 Willie Apiata, VC: The Reluctant Hero, Paul Little & John Lockyer
3 Wearing the Poppy, A. J. Toledo
4 Perky the Pukeko, Michelle Osment
5 Old Drumble: The Smartest Drover's Dog There Ever Was, Jack Lasenby

International Children's Book Awards

The 2009 CILIP Carnegie & Greenaway Medal Shortlists have been announced. These medals are awarded annually by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The winners will be announced on Thursday 25 June.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2009 (fiction)
Frank Cottrell Boyce – Cosmic
Kevin Brooks – Black Rabbit Summer
Eoin Colfer – Airman
Siobhan Dowd – Bog Child
Keith Gray – Ostrich Boys
Patrick Ness – The Knife of Never Letting Go
Kate Thompson – Creature of the Night

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlist 2009 (picturebook)
Angela Barrett (text by Paul Gallico) – The Snow Goose
Marc Craste (text by Helen Ward) – Varmints
Thomas Docherty – Little Boat
Bob Graham – How to Heal a Broken Wing
Oliver Jeffers – The Way Back Home
Dave McKean (text by David Almond) – The Savage
Catherine Rayner – Harris Finds His Feet
Chris Wormell – Molly and the Night Monster

Check out these titles and choose your favourite at your local library.

Celebrate Kiwi Music

New Zealand Music Month 2009 kicks off today and Rodney Libraries are celebrating all our talented Kiwi musicians by promoting our New Zealand music collection.

The Official NZ Music Month website has lots of news, reviews, photos and details of where to find your favourite artist (or check out a new one) during May.

There are a lot of different ways to find what CD's we have in our collection. One of the best ways to find our Kiwi music is to do a subject search for Musicians - New Zealand.

And while you are listening to the music, you can also check out lyrics and the stories behind some of the songs with our non-fiction book collection. You can find most things to do with music under Dewey Decimal (or Call) number 780 - 789.

Watch this space for more NZ Music Month information as we get further into May.