Looking for something new to read/watch/listen? Get inspired with our Team Picks!
Each month we choose just six of our many new arrivals to share with you all. We'll let you know what we think is hot across Fiction, Non-Fiction, DVDs and Kids.
Remember, if you can’t regularly make it into the library to take a look around, you can use your library card to reserve items to pick up across our 15 fifteen branches or you can take a look at our online eResources that enable you to read, watch or listen at your leisure. Find out more about our eResources under our Library Online section.
Non-Fiction Picks
Living with the climate crisis : voices from Aotearoa edited by Tom Doig
‘It is there, in the background. Always. Increasingly urgent. Its ominous hum is the soundtrack to every other story we tell.’ It’s an uncomfortable thought, climate catastrophe, but one we simply have to face and do something about. This collection of perspectives, from mātauranga Māori and Pasifika, voices from academia, activism, journalism and economics gives the reader an important window into the seriousness of the world’s situation. But it is not a book without hope. While we are reminded that just last year, skies in Aotearoa were turned orange by the devastating summer of Australian bushfires, underlying a terrifying sense of a world pushed to the brink, and Covid-19, and with it another dramatic lurch away from business as usual, we also read of many people hoping for a ‘green Covid-19 recovery’: a cleaner, fairer and safer world. A stimulating, terrifying, gripping and inspiring read.
The flightless traveller : 50 modern adventures by land, river and sea by Emma Gregg
Although this book is largely Eurocentric, reading the way Emma Greggs packages her travel ideas in this beautifully little book is a pleasure in itself. Also – we need to be thinking of ways to enjoy our own backyard don’t we? Seeking options that are enjoyable and kind to the planet, award-winning travel writer Emma Gregg shows you how to get a no-fly holiday off the ground. The Flightless Traveller presents 50 inspirational, life-affirming trip ideas for those who would like to fly less, or not at all. They include eco-friendly city breaks and coastal retreats, bike rides and sailing voyages, short jaunts on vintage railways and incredible intercontinental journeys. Some shed new light on well-known places. Others reveal destinations, activities and experiences you might have never considered before. Books are the best for armchair travel!
Fiction Picks
Judith, Lana and Catrin have been best friends since primary school. They swore an oath on a Curly Wurly wrapper that they would always be there for each other, come what may. After embarking on the trip of a lifetime, the three girls are closer than ever. But an unexpected turn of events shakes the foundation of their friendship to its core, leaving their future in doubt - there's simply too much to forgive, let alone forget. An innocent childhood promise they once made now seems impossible to keep. Us Three is a funny, moving and uplifting novel about life’s complications, the power of friendship and how it defines us all.
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
A book about family, romance & knitting! Four adoptive brothers come together after the sudden loss of their beloved mother, Mama Joy. The family have owned their neighbourhood knitting store, Strong Knits, for a long time. One brother, Jesse, wants to keep it open, despite it not making financial sense. The other brothers want to shut it down. So Jesse teams up with his childhood friend, Kerry, who’s had a crush on him her entire life, to help him figure out how to save the business. But without Mama Joy keeping the community knitting, will the shop survive? Or can real men knit too?
Film Pick
Lucky grandma directed by Sasie Sealy
In the heart of Chinatown, New York, a bad-tempered, chain-smoking, newly widowed 80-year-old grandma is eager to live life as an independent woman. When a local fortuneteller predicts a lucky day in her future, Grandma decides to head to the casino, only to land herself on the wrong side of luck, attracting the attention of some local gangsters. Desperate, Grandma employs the services of a bodyguard from a rival gang and soon finds herself right in the middle of a Chinatown gang war.
Kids Pick
Aroha Knows by Craig Phillips & Rebekah Lipp
From the bestselling authors of Aroha’s Way and Let it Go. Aroha Knows inspires children to connect to and find value in nature. Aroha learns to appreciate the world around her and explore all kinds of wonderful emotions through this beautifully illustrated story. At the back of the book join Aroha and her friends as they look at ways to become Guardians of the Earth. They look at planting trees, saving seeds, composting and more.