There are so many books in the Tauranga City Library that you could spend a great part of your day (or lunch hour) just deciding what you’d like to take out and read. Fortunately the Library Staff set out tempting displays, often on current themes, and it’s possible to race into the Library and scoop up a wide selection of titles and topics without having to enter those entrancing places “the library shelves”. My rapid reviews are a combination of “staff assisted choices” and “shelf cruising”.
The Donna Leon essays I picked because I so much enjoy her Venice-set detective stories – often with troubling contemporary social themes overlain both by the unpicking of the crimes and the family lives of the members of the various Police departments and the wider communites they move in. Leon’s essays disclose the breadth of her life and her views. Not only have I decided they are must reads, the book, if you can obtain it, is a “keeper”.
MY VENICE AND OTHER ESSAYS
DONNA LEON
Atlantic Monthly Press New York 2013
A series of essays by one of my favourite authors. Witty but piercing and insightful on a wide range of topics.
A must read.
THE DIRTY SIDE OF GLAMOUR
TYLER SHIELDS
itbooks Harper Collins New York 2013
Beautifully crafted photographs. Some of the content and topics made me uncomfortable perhaps because of my gender, previous occupation or current age.
Worth reading but I’ve warned you about the contents.
NOSTALGIA IN VOGUE 2000 – 2010
Edited by Eve MacSweeney
Rizzoli Internation Publications Inc 2011
A physically large book. A compilation of photographs and essays. I left it on the dining room table (yes it’s that big) and eventually read it from cover to cover. Beautiful photographs and excellent writing. . A must read
ORCHARD BEACH: THE BRONX RIVIERA
WAYNE LAWRENCE
Prestel Verlagsgruppe Random House 2013
Almost a social commentary on the New York residents visiting this beach. It also shows the internationalism of style, body art and personal expression. Beautifully crafted portraits and images. A worthwhile read.
FOUREYES New Zealand Street Style
Edited by Janet McAllister
Beatnik Publishing Auckland NZ 2013
A compilation of some of the out-there street style recorded by Foureyes. “In a society where so many aspects of our lives are dictated by the desire to fit in, there is something rebellious, subversive and heroic about those who either naturally or consciously decide to stand out…” Yes I loved this record of personal, visual creativity and the cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse faces of Auckland. A must read.
THE DRESS CIRCLE New Zealand Fasion Design Since 1940
Lucy Hammonds Douglas Lloyd Jenkins Claire Regnault
A Godwit Book, Random House, Auckland New Zealand 2010
Another book that spent a very long time on the dining table as it was read from cover to cover as I recalled my teenage days in Auckland in my own-created then unique clothing. This is more than a good read about New Zealand fashion it’s a text book/academic text written by a trio of museum fashion professionals. A must read for those interested in both the development of fashion and societal changes in post-war New Zealand.
CABBAGES & ROSES
GUIDE TO NATURAL HOUSEKEEPING
Live a Calmer, Healthier Life, Recycle and Reuse, Clean Naturally, Garden Organically
CHRISTINA STRUTT
CICO Books London 2008
If I was looking to give a young person a beautifully presented, readable and useful guide for “domestic” happiness, I’d hand over this. It’s another book I don’t want to take back to the Library. There’s how to’s from herbal oils, natural pet care, sustainable gardening and lifestyle tips often with an economical edge. Yes it’s written with the UK market in mind but it’s content is applicable here too. A must read even to learn how to make “sticky fly paper”
STREET AND THE WAR ON TERROR
HOW THE WORLD’S BEST GRAFFITI ARTISTS SAID NO TO THE IRAQ WAR
GENERAL EDITOR ELEANOR MATHIESON TEXT XAVIER A. TAPIES
Rebellion Books a subsidiary of Korero Books LLP, London 2007
A compiliation of internationally created images from the early 2000’s opposing the “Wests” involvement in the Middle East. From the rough to the Banksey. In view of current developments it’s a Must Read.
THE TWELFTH DEPARTMENT
WILLIAM RYAN
Macmillan Publishers Limited 2013
Multi-thread murder mystery in 1930’s Salinist Russia written by a Dublin lawyer. An absorbing and interesting read. Don’t be put off by the list of characters at the start of the book – it’s useful. An look into the power of the state among other things. A definite Must Read
THE REDBREAST
JO NESBO
Translated by Don Bartlett
First Published in Great Britain by Harvill Secker 2006
An intense read. Scandanavian death, murder and historical explanations interwoven with historical and contemporary text. At times I had to really concentrate to keep up. It features the odd-ball detective Harry Hole. A must read but it may not make you happy.
ROSEMARY BALU. Rosemary is the founding and current Editor of ARTbop.
TAURANGA CITY LIBRARIES BOOK CLUBS:
Tauranga City Library meets:
3rd Wednesday of every month of 2014 at the Tauranga City Library
10.30am to 11.30am and 5.30pm to 6.30pm
Papamoa Library Book Club meets:
3rd Wednesday of every month of 2014 at Papamoa Library
10.00am
“Discover new parts of the Tauranga Library with monthly themes and enjoy the company of a friendly group.”
June 17th Risk Taker
July 15th Life Changing Stories
August 19th New Zealand Book Month
September 16th Adventurers
October 21st Heroes + Heroines
November 18th Villians/Crims
December 16th Best of 2015
and get one of the wonderful promotional Book Club bookmarks from the Library counter.
FRIENDS OF THE TAURANGA CITY LIBRARIES
Any one can join the Friends. Annual membership is $10. and members receive six issues of Bookline, the Friends newsletter. Monthly meetings with guest speakers. Friends are volunteers who link the general public and library management; support library initiatives and raise money for special library projects.
Contact: Secretary Barbara Moore barbara.m@xtra.co.nz Phone 07 575 6823
