New books on display at Hurunui District Library from 26 Feb – 5 March

 ”Dear Fatty” by Dawn French

With a sharp eye for comic detail and a wicked ear for the absurdities of life, Dawn French shows just how an RAF girl from the West Country with dreams of becoming a ballerina/air hostess/bridesmaid/thief rose to become one of the best-loved comedy actresses of our time. Here Dawn French invites us into her most personal relationships with, among others, her mum and dad, her husband, her daughter and her friend Jennifer. Dawn reveals the people, experiences and obsessions that have influenced her and that helped shape her comedy creations – including kissing, dogs, grandmas, David Cassidy, teenage angst, school, stealing and Madonna. She is as open about her fears and sorrows as she is about her delights and joys, and for the first time shares the experience of losing her beloved dad and later finding a tip-topmost chap in Lenny Henry [Cover].

 “Knit two” by Kate Jacobs

Knit Two returns to the Manhattan knitting store Walker & Daughter five years after the death of the store’s owner, Georgia Walker. Georgia’s daughter Dakota runs the knitting store part-time with the help of the members of the Friday Night Knitting Club. Drawn together by their love for Dakota and the sense of family the club provides, each knitter is struggling with new challenges. [Cover]

 “Entirely up to you darling” by Richard Attenborough and Diana Hawkins

Richard Attenborough and Diana Hawkins have been friends and colleagues for nearly 50 years. They have now teamed up to write this frank and funny account of their unlikely partnership and his extraordinary life. Attenborough is the octogenarian celebrity peer, happily married since 1945, describing a lifetime of ceaseless activity as film star, director, producer, company chairman and indefatigable campaigner. Hawkins, 70, a twice divorced author and single parent who lived for a time on benefits, went on to become Attenborough’s publicist, business partner and, ultimately, his co-producer. He is staunch Labour, she is a committed Conservative. His glass is always half full, hers obstinately half empty. Together, laughing and squabbling, they have travelled the world, meeting people and making films. Among the eclectic cast of characters who appear in this two-handed memoir are Steve McQueen, Mother Teresa, Charlie Chaplin, Robert Mugabe, Edward G Robinson, Shirley MacLaine, Ronald Reagan, David Lean, Margaret Thatcher, John Mills, Steven Spielberg, Noel Coward, Tommy Lawton, Indira Gandhi, George Brown and Nelson Mandela. Prompted by his adventures in the movie business, Attenborough goes on to reflect on the highs and lows of a long life, both in and out of the public gaze. He writes revealingly of his passion for football and politics, of his avuncular relationship with Princess Diana and finally about the tsunami tragedy which engulfed his family in December 2004. [Cover]

 

 “A daughter’s journey” by Lyn Andrews

Angela O’Rourke is six when her parents hand her over to an aunt and uncle in a distant village. It’s a common practice for large, hard-up families in 1950s Ireland, but for Angela it means that her mother and father don’t love her any more. Still, she’s well cared for till she’s sixteen, when her uncle starts to take too much of an interest in her. Moving to Liverpool in the early 1960s, she becomes a success in the world of fashion design. The pain of a disastrous love affair sends her home to Ireland just after the death of her aunt: and there, among old papers, Angela makes an astonishing discovery. As she learns the truth about the past, a brighter new future beckons. [Cover]

 “Jane Hunter : growing a legacy” by Tessa Anderson

From Marlborough to Manhattan, from Rapaura Road to the Ritz – the inspiring story of a quiet, unassuming woman who took her wines to the world. Jane Hunter had no romantic illusions about life among the vines. Growing up in South Australia, she always knew it was a business. When she met Ernie Hunter, a passionate, larger-than-life Northern Irishman with a fledgling vineyard, they were the perfect team. Their complementary talents – his for dreaming large and her knowledge and experience – clearly belonged together. Ernie’s genius for promotion saw their wines win international acclaim and their future seemed clear. It would be hard, but they had the right terroir and their wines were world class. When Ernie died tragically in a road accident, Jane’s world was thrown into confusion. How she survived the personal trauma is a testament to the quiet strength and determination of this remarkable woman, who worked her way through an emotional and legal minefield, nurturing the vines and the business alike, fulfilling and exceeding their original dream. One of the pioneering marketers who introduced the world to Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs, her wines successfully challenged the established wine world. Now an internationally respected vintner, and recipient of the prestigious Women in Wine Award and an OBE, Jane shares both her own extraordinary story and its part in the history of the modern New Zealand wine industry. [Cover]

 

To reserve any of these items please contact your local library or email info@hurunuilibraries.govt.nz

 

Avril

 

 

 

New books on display at Hurunui District Library from 12 Feb – 19 Feb

 “Scott Dixon” by John Matheson

Scott Dixon’s triumph at the Indy 500 in 2008 was the climax of a career that had played out in front of the country since he first appeared on our television sets as a 13-year-old car-racing phenomenon. This book charts Dixon’s career from those early days through to this year’s incredible drive at Indianapolis and his triumph in the drivers’ standings in the IndyCar Series. Author John Matheson follows Dixon’s career in remarkable detail, from his days racing at the top New Zealand and Australian circuits through to his breakthrough in the Indy Lights in 1999 when he signed for the Johansson Motorsports team. Fly-on-the-wall coverage of Dixon’s days in the USA takes the reader on a virtual race-by-race guide of his rise from the Indy Lights to the PacWest Racing team, and his eventual move to the Indy Racing League. Includes numerous interviews with Dixon and those closest to him -his family, team-mates and team owners – to help tell his remarkable against-the-odds story of triumph in one of the world’s most competitive sports. It’s easy to think that Dixon – given the potential he showed as a teenager – was destined to be one of the world’s great drivers. But this book smashes that theory, as Matheson recounts the dark days of Dixon’s career between 2004 and 2006 – including a run of 40 races without a win. Scott Dixon’s success has come in the face of much adversity and a tribute to the Indy 500 legend will leave readers convinced that Dixon is indeed one of New Zealand sport’s greatest treasures. [Cover]

 “Courtyards for modern living” by Stephen Crafti

Gardens have changed significantly over the last couple of decades, and clever architects and designers know that incorporating an outdoor living space can improve a dwelling’s aesthetic, not to mention its value. In the 1980s, manicured lawns framed with box hedges and annuals were a common site. It seemed that both space and water supply were unlimited. “Courtyards for Modern Living” presents beautiful gardens which have been designed for locations around the world that represent the changed reality of drier climates, and heralded in a preference for native species, drought-tolerant plants, and even a new popularity of the humble succulent. Contemporary houses also reflect a move towards enjoying larger houses built on smaller sites, so that available space is turned into a multifunctional courtyard that is usually accessed from the kitchen and living areas. [Cover]

  

 “The new Moosewood cookbook” By Mollie Katzen

In 1977, when Mollie Katzen created a book about the food served at Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, vegetarianism was still an exotic way of life to most Americans. However, there was something about Katzen’s hand-lettered recipes and charming drawings that captured the attention and affection of both vegetarians and omnivores. Since then, Katzen has written eight more books, including three for children, and revised the Moosewood Cookbook in 1999 to reflect new ideas on healthy eating. Original or updated, Moosewood Cookbook is a treasured possession of the many thousands who love it for proving that meatless eating can be a pleasure. [Cover]

 “Appreciating art – an expert companion” by Diana Newell

This is an authoritative, concise guide to the history, principles and theories behind Western paintings. Easy to dip into and refreshingly simple to navigate, this book provides the background and context for the most popular paintings and painters from 1400 to the present. It is divided thematically into genre chapters and the paintings are arranged chronologically in each chapter. The book is also filled with cross references to help the reader make comparisons both as to genres and across centuries. Most art history books are either scholarly or deal with a specific movement, subject or artist. Where this book scores is in the breath of the subject and its easily accessible – yet authoritative – manner. [Cover]

 “As if running on air” by Jack Lovelock

In the 1930s the New Zealander Jack Lovelock was one of the world’s best known athletes. In the 1933 he broke the world record for the mile. At the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games he won a gold medal and broke the world record for 1500 metres. Throughout his running career Lovelock kept a remarkable series of journals and diaries, until now unpublished. As If Running on Air reproduces his journals from late 1931 to the end of 1935 and extracts from his 1936 training diary. There is an entry for every race: some are brief, little more than notes; others are eloquent and reflective. Collectively they constitute a unique record of a sporting life in the 1930s and offer insights into what it took to make a world champion. [Cover]

 

To reserve any of these items please contact your local library or email info@hurunuilibraries.govt.nz

 

Avril

 

 

 

New books on display at Hurunui District Library from 5 Feb – 12 Feb

 ”Love all” by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Set in the late 1960s in Melton, a small town in the West Country, this story revolves around a disparate group of people who come together there to establish an arts festival. The heroine here is the ravishingly named Persephone Plover, unravishingly known to her intimates as Percy. Beautiful, innocent, essentially good, with disastrous parents (father busy, mother a bolter), Persephone has experienced steady love only with her aunt, Floy, on whom she is billeted at the age of 12 when it is decided that she would benefit from an English boarding-school … [Cover]

 “Off the radar” by Te Radar

Te Radar has written a series of yarns about his experiences and the characters he has met while living off the land. The stories feature events not included in the TV series of his experiences. The TV series follows Te Radar trying to live a completely self-supporting and sustainable lifestyle (aka ‘the good life’) in a small community north of Auckland. A charming look at the challenges of being completely self-sufficient (relying on hunting, growing, fishing), with a small amount of ‘how-to’ thrown in – but really it’s about a bumbling city-boy (Te Radar) testing himself and seeing if he can live off the land. [Cover]

 “Mates & Lovers” by Chris Brickell

What are the historical changes through which the modern gay New Zealander has emerged? If he has not always been with us, then who preceded him? A landmark publication, this first-ever New Zealand gay male history combines lively and engaging scholarship with a remarkable collection of images. Chris Brickell tells the evolving story of New Zealand gay men through the lives of clerks, labourers, shop assistants, soldiers, actors and writers of all classes, and he shows that our erotic past was vibrant, complex and often surprising. With over 300 fascinating images, many never seen previously. [Cover]

 ”Pop-up cards” by Sandi Genovese

Pop-up cards, with their wonderful interactive, dimensional nature, are all the rage these days. And now crafters can duplicate the amazing techniques at home! Renowned artist Sandi Genovese shows you how with 25 wonderful projects that make cards pop. A birthday greeting becomes even happier with a multi-tiered chocolate cake design, topped with candles. The accordion-folded “Hand in Hand” card displays a variety of hand shapes that seem to applaud enthusiastically when it’s opened and closed. And an elaborate celebratory Christmas card showcases a three-dimensional tree bedecked with hanging ornaments. All projects feature a gorgeous color shot of the completed card, templates, and a vibrant page layout that’s both approachable and modern. [Cover]

 

 

 “Sam Stern’s student cookbook” by Sam Stern

 

Celebrity cook Sam Stern returns with his fourth cookbook, reaching out to an older audience. The world-famous teenage cook is back with a delicious book of tastebud-tempting recipes for independent living. Here Sam champions good food as the best preparation for student life, and shows that it’s fantastic fun to create – even on a budget. The book’s eye-catching symbols offer a speedy guide for checking on costs, while variations show how to adapt each recipe, whether you’re feeling flush or feeling the pinch. Perfect for college starters, gap-year travellers and first-jobbers alike, Sam’s cookery bible is grouped into user-friendly chapters based on food types. You’ll find a dish for every occasion – cooking and eating well for whatever life throws your way. [Cover]

 

To reserve any of these items please contact your local library or email info@hurunuilibraries.govt.nz

 

Avril