Stalking the catalogue: No regrets

"Growing up I had always thought of tattoos as merely representing the idea itself. That having a tattoo simply said, "I'm the kind of person that would have a tattoo." That may have applied to the standard prison or military tattoo, but somewhere down the line tattoos stopped being the sole province of the badass and seamlessly slid over to he propriety of the soft, sensitive, malnourished hipster."

No regrets : the best, worst, and most #$%*ing ridiculous tattoos ever by by Aviva Yael and P. M. Chen
I'm fascinated by people's tattoos. I'm even more curious about the reasons behind them. They mostly come with quite good stories. (FYI: mine doesn't). For example, why would a guy get the Nike tick tattooed on his back? Why would another person choose to have theirs be two brightly coloured unicorns fornicating? Or the rapper ODB on their foot? Or 'WTF' on your finger? Or Frank Zappa picking his nose? See. Stories. This book doesn't provide the stories. It does, however, provide snark galore, and sometimes that's giggle-worthy, too.

Being a Doctor with no Borders (and Other Ways to Stay Single).

Band-Aid for a Broken Leg - Being a Doctor with no Borders (and Other Ways to Stay Single)

You guys will notice that I really like reading books about people who are better than I am so here's another one:

'Damien Brown, a young doctor, thinks he's ready when he arrives for his first posting with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Africa. But the town he's sent to is an isolated outpost of mud huts, surrounded by landmines; the hospital, for which he's to be the only doctor, is filled with malnourished children and conditions he's never seen; and the health workers—Angolan war veterans twice his age who speak no English—walk out on him following an altercation on his first shift. In the months that follow, Damien confronts these challenges all the while dealing with the social absurdities of living with only three other volunteers for company. The medical calamities pile up—including a leopard attack, a landmine explosion, and having to perform surgery using tools cleaned on the fire—but it's through Damien's evolving friendships with the local people that his passion for the work grows. This heartbreaking and honest account of life on the medical frontline in Angola, Mozambique, and South Sudan is a moving testimony of the work done by medical humanitarian groups and the extraordinary and sometimes eccentric people who work for them.'

I learned a lot about Angola which is a country I know very little about. For example: Did you know that they speak Portuguese in Angola? I didn't. Learning!

If you're one of those people who reads to escape the horrors of our world then maybe this one isn't for you. But if you're like me and sometimes you need a reminder of human goodness then make sure you check it out. It's a very good book. 

E-readership - the smackdown

First, there was the paperless office. And we all know how successful that was. Now, they're threatening the paperless home. Instead of bulky shelves lined with colourfully expensive, tree-murdering, oxygen-depleting papery things gathering silverfish, dust and mould, we will have - a squinty little screen and a sore thumb.

I'm just wondering if any of you received an e-reader for Christmas, or bought one to take away with you. How many of you had one already?

And how many are still in love with paper?

It has occurred to me that I really should talk about ebooks, because of the number of requests we get for books that aren't printed in the usual 3D format. Especially Kindle ebooks. You may or may not be aware that Auckland Libraries cannot and does not purchase Kindle ebooks. In case you didn't know this, there's a war on. There's the read-anywhere type of ebook, then there's the sort formatted to only be used on one sort of e-machine - like a Kindle. As we don't want to disadvantage people who use all the other devices, it means we don't use those. It means a bloody headache, actually.

Auckland Libraries uses special library suppliers that have their own suppliers - the publishers - and every single one has a different view on allowing libraries access to their precious works. Some will not permit libraries to buy their ebooks, as they think they'll lose too much money having people simply download their stuff free. Some allow a maximum number of downloads, which can mean having to buy the same book several times a year. And all suppliers have a different range, because they have different agreements with publishers, meaning you can't buy - or even order - all books.

And more and more books are only being published as ebooks, including half a series, when the other half is printed.

Night-maaare!

Anyway, I guess this is building up to an apology. We do apologise for all those times you've seen a book advertised, and request it from us, only to discover it is a Kindle ebook and we can't purchase it for you. We do hope the publishing industry gets itself sorted, but unfortunately, libraries have never been the priority.

In the meantime, we still have a pretty impressive range of ebooks, both fiction and non-fiction, which you can check out here. If you're not sure what format the ebook you want is, you are also more than welcome to suggest it to us!

Let us know if you are an e-reader or a paper fan, like me. Or both.

Stalking the catalogue: Crap graffiti

"Graffiti can be a diverse form of expression and thought-provoking art; whether painted on the side of a train or on a canvas hanging in a gallery. Or, as you will experience in the pages to come, it can be crude, drunken daubing, nonsensical statements or hilarious outpourings of uncontained rage."
 
Crap graffiti edited by Adam Elliott and Richard Frazer

When is graffiti art and when is it just plain 'ol graffiti? I grew up in the 80s and Beat Street (the film) I liked for the music but, more, for the graffiti. Ever since then, I stop to admire it - on trains, buses, walls, toilet mirrors, fences, school books. Everywhere. And executed in a number of different ways - etched in glass (let's not talk about the inappropriate one I saw on a downstairs window), black vivid tagged on a bus stop seat, spraypaint on a freight train rolling past, pencil on a school book, pen on a desk. Everything. Some of it is barely legible. A lot of it is full of references to genitalia (like toddlers who've suddenly discovered they have them and need to keep showing everybody). And then, sometimes, they're so witty you wish you could meet the people behind them. This book, according to the title, is going to be all of the former. Maybe I win?

Confession: I sometimes see the visual cacophany that is Twitter as a form of online graffiti. We use it to express ourselves in a myriad of ways - witty banter, social chit chat, indulge the nonsensical, share ALL THE RAGE, and yes, even crude and drunken tweets. See? Online graffiti.

This month I'm loving...

Well not the heat, that's for sure but even if the weather can sometimes be a bit much to handle there are plenty of things on offer at Auckland Libraries to take one's mind off it.

January is one of those lazy month's where we all ease ourselves slowly back into work after the madness of Christmas, eat bucket loads of cherries (well you do if you're me) and winter seems like a million days away.

For me there are always plenty of wonderful things coming across my desk.  At times it's hard to decide what to choose and what to start with first.

This month I've discovered new bands, new authors and indulged in a few fav's.  So what have you been enjoying this month?

The glorious dead / The Heavy.

I so love these guys but can't help wonder why I hadn't come across them before.  Still never mind, I've found them now and have been busy listening to all 3 of their cd's, courtesy of my bestest bud Youtube.

This, their latest album, is just brilliant.  It's bluesy and rocky and just a little bit indie with a touch of soul thrown in for good measure.

My favourite's are Same Ole' and What Makes A Good Man.

Best served cold / Joe Abercrombie.

"Monza Murcatto is one of the best mercenaries around but being the best can sometimes have a hefty price.  Only thing is Monza never thought that price would be her life..."

I've been meaning to read Joe Abercrombie for absolutely ages and I'm so glad that I finally did.

Bloody and violent and ruthless and that's just the female character, Murcatto could so kick Buffy's butt.

There's a lot to love. Betrayal and back-stabbing are so me. All I can say is... on with the sequel.

Pines : a novel / by Blake Crouch.

"FBI Ethan Burke wakes up near the town of Pines with virtually no memory of who he is.  Pines though is not the safe haven he would like it to be and there are things going on around him that make him wonder what exactly it is that the town is hiding."

The ending of this book will thrown you for a loop.  Trust me, you won't see it coming, or maybe you will and it was just me you went Oh My God.

Like the book above I'm now hanging out for the sequel.  Why do authors insist on teasing us so...

Wool / Hugh Howey.

"In a ruined and hostile landscape, a community exists in a giant underground silo. To live, you must follow the rules. But some don't. These are the dangerous ones; these are the people who dare to hope and dream, and who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple and deadly. They are allowed outside. Jules is one of these people. She may well be the last."

First published as an e-book Wool is now in print after the huge and I mean HUGE public demand.  Having recently read it myself, I can see why.

It's so good to see Sci-Fi books doing so well.  As with the others I am now waiting impatiently for the sequel Shift which is due this April and also for the film adaption, which rumour has it, Ridley Scott is interested in making.

Ghost planet / Sharon Lynn Fisher.

"Imagine an alien world where the alien's manifest themselves in the form of the dead.  What would it be like to be haunted by a loved one? Psychologist Elizabeth Cole is about to find out, only not in quite the way she'd imagined.  Living with a ghost should be relatively easy but what if you're the ghost..."

A book with a little bit of something for everyone, from romance to sci-fi to paranormal to adventure, Ghost Planet covers them all.  A genre mesh or should that be mess.  Either way it was enjoyable.

The essential Supernatural : on the road with Sam and Dean Winchester / Nicholas Knight

"Fill a flask with holy water and make sure your car is stocked with rock salt and shot guns, you're about to drive headfirst into the world of Sam and Dean Winchester, hunters of demons, ghouls, vampires, and all things supernatural."

Yeah, you just knew that I had to include something to do with Supernatural, but trust me, for fans of the show this book is a must.  Filled with glorious coloured photos, a history of the show and its characters plus interviews with the actors and behind-the-scenes-staff, this is the ultimate book.

In the words of the boys... Got salt?