Jenny Dowde
Freeform knitting and crochet
Winter is on the way, time to dust off the knitting and crochet needles. If you are looking for inspiration this is the book. Crochet a basic bag and decorate to look positively funky, or perhaps knit a log cabin bag – a stylish addition to any collection. This book includes 18 ideas including hats, vests, scarves, shawls. There is a great little section at the back of the book where you can learn how to make that special little something to add to your latest creation. There is a lot in this book, take a minute to browse through and enjoy.
-- Doreen, Central
Ian MacNeill
The beginning runner's handbook : the proven 13-week walk/run program 
If you have made a New Years resolutions about improving your fitness but are unsure where to begin this is the book for you. You can choose the walk programme, walk/run, run faster or run farther for marathon training options. All are delivered with common sense and are do-able. I started with the 13 week walk/run programme and at the end to my total amazement, I am after all a “mature librarian” with a liking for wine, chocolates and curling up with a good book, able to run non-stop for 60 minutes! The training methods emphasis the importance of rest days so that joints, tendons and muscles don’t get over-stressed. And excellent stretching and strengthening exercises are outlined in the book. All through there are helpful tips and inspirational pieces. So see you at the Round the Bays!
-- Juliana, Leys Institute / Ponsonby
Alison Houtte and Melissa Houtte
![Book cover of Alligators, old mink , and new money](http://syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=0060786671/SC.GIF&client=elgar&type=hw7") Alligators, old mink, and new money: one woman's adventures in vintage clothing
In Brooklyn, if you look hard enough you will come across an enchanting clothing store with a difference. On the racks are to be found an array of vintage and quality clothing from another area. Houtte, an ex model, is known for her passion and flair for detail and fashion and can marry up an assortment of clothing and accessories to get that special look. The store has it’s own following of discerning buyers looking for that special something to stand out in the crowd. Although buying is something of an adventure, the selling is what really matters. The adventures along the way are not to be missed. Quality clothing, great style is what people have come to expect from the Hooti range.
-- Doreen, Central
Jan Lars Jensen
Nervous System
This memoir is a compelling and honest account into the author’s descent into mental unwellness that necessitated his stay in a psychiatric ward. Jensen’s account is personal and recounted with an amazing attention to detail, that records not only his confused thoughts, but also his response to the various methodologies used to treat him. While the memoir is set in America, it has international appeal in that the author recounts various episodes from his life that may have been symptomatic of mental unwellness, rather than the character quirks they were attributed to. This biography is thoughtfully written and fluent in style.
-- Xena, St Heliers
Kevin Clash
My life as a furry red monster : what being Elmo has taught me about life, love, and laughing out loud
All I want to say is that “You.Should.Read.This.Book”
Kevin Clash has spent twenty odd years as one of the most popular three and a half year olds on the planet, Elmo from Sesame Street. It is impossible not to feel humbled by the people and experiences that Kevin recounts in his life story. He has led an incredible life and done so much good with that little red puppet. He really knows how children tick and has great respect for them and their potential. The learning curve that Elmo has taken Kevin on is huge and fatherhood has made it even steeper. While he is, essentially an actor Kevin is also a born educator. His biography is written in such a way that the situations and lessons are accessible to everybody and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
-- Anita, St Heliers
Jill Caldwell
8 Tribes: the hidden classes of New Zealand
According to Caldwell, author of '8 Tribes: the hidden classes of New Zealand', Kiwis fall into eight tribes or classes. Each tribe is named after a suburb in the greater Auckland area, e.g Otara, Grey Lynn, etc. It's fun to read the profiles of each tribe and decided which one(s) describes you best. This book will appeal to anyone who enjoys completing IQ and personality tests in popular magazines and new immigrants who want to know more about the Kiwi identity.
-- Betty, Central
Laurie Voltaro
Autobiography of a fat bride: true tales of a adult childhood 
These slice of life excerpts had me snorting with laughter and revelling in Votaro’s wicked sense of humour. Perhaps it was the cover page of the book, which stirred my curiosity, as it was rendered in black and white, and showed a woman’s rump clad in frilly undies as she peers into the depths of the fridge. Votaro occupies the realm of sassy chick-lit writer who so accurately captures the absurdities of life and the urban neuroses of women in their 30’s. Think Sarah Kate Lynch and Helen Brown with cherries on top. This woman is seriously funny, devour anything she has penned.
-- Sue, St Heliers
Edwin John Wintle
Breakfast with Tiffany
 This is an amazing book about love, the loss of innocence, struggling with circumstance and learning not to sweat the small stuff. Uncle Ed and Tiffany take us on a drama-filled journey over their first year together. Tiffany is thirteen and Wintle has written her character superbly. She is a fiercely loyal, intelligent and gifted young woman with major authority issues. Ed is a somewhat stereotypical sensitive, promiscuous and musical loving gay man. There are fireworks when Tiffany moves in with Ed but they slowly work each other out and even when they hate each other their bond gets stronger and stronger. The genius of this story is that it offers great insight into the minds of both the child and the parent. The author really seems to understand where the troubled teenager is coming from and offers younger readers a compelling look at how they make their parents feel. This is a beautiful story that does not have a happy or easy end but which manages to be completely satisfying anyway. I give it a ten out of ten.
-- Anita, St Heliers
Chris Jones
Too far from home: a story of life and death in space
 When the space shuttle Colombia disintegrated, three astronauts were left in space wondering when – and how – they would return to earth.
Expedition Six were due to be replaced by Expedition Seven, and brought home, on the next shuttle mission, but the Colombia tragedy grounded the shuttle fleet.
This is a fascinating and readable look at space, science, psychology and cultural differences.
-- Annie, Central
James Newman and Ian Simons
100 videogames
Anyone of a certain generation remembers games like Space Invaders, Pac Man and Pong. These are perhaps the more venerable mentions in this book of 100 video games. The book doesn’t claim to list the ‘Best’ 100 video games of all time, rather mentions games which have left some lasting impact, or perhaps have used the genre in a new and interesting way.
Pac Man and Donkey Kong aren’t the only things that take up pages, either. Even as a knowledgeable gamer myself there were a few surprising inclusions. And, the book doesn’t tend to favour any particular platform, including console, PC, video arcade, and even web based flash games.
It’s not an intimidating book by any stretch of the imagination, each game is given a few small pages detailing its place in history. It’s the perfect sort of book to pick up and browse, and read here or there. Whether you’re an old time gamer, or a weekend console jockey, or even someone to whom video games mean nothing, chances are there’s something in here you might have heard of.
-- Tama, Central
Amy Sedaris
I like you: hospitality under the influence
I first came across Amy Sedaris years ago, when I would sometimes catch her TV show ‘Strangers with Candy’, while um, under the influence, at 3am on a Friday night. I remember it being terribly hilarious, but I never really saw it again. This book has fuelled an instant obsession for me, it’s quite easily the funniest cook book I have ever read – though it is not just a cookbook, it’s a guide to entertaining in all sorts of situations (need to cook lunch for a lumberjack? Entertain a rich uncle and hopefully get something out of it?), with bonus crafts, mostly involving pantyhose. While it’s absolutely hilarious, it’s also got really great recipes, including lots of tasty looking Southern recipes and some of the most amazing looking cakes I’ve ever seen. I made the cherry pie and it went down very well. Amy Sedaris is a comic genius and an excellent hostess! I highly recommend this book and will be buying my own copy soon. Oh yeah, in case you’re wondering, she’s David Sedaris’ younger sister.
-- Elisabeth, Central
Galen Rowell
Galen Rowell: a retrospective
Galen Rowell, together with his wife Barbara, died in a plane crash 11 August 2002, and thus ended the career of this exceptional photographic artist. This book is a tribute to a man whose “iconic images” can be found featured in leading magazines and galleries and who has inspired many of today’s leading nature photographers.
His photographs are masterpieces of composition where he has combined light, colour and textural contrasts with nature images from across Earth’s continents to provide us with a view into the splendour of the world that we live upon.
The way he viewed the world, and therefore the way he reveals the world to us, whether the images are of man, beast, sea, sky, desert, mountains, or the green rolling hills, reminds us that some of the most beautiful artworks occur naturally.
Includes biographical details, a bibliography and hundreds of colour illustrations of Galen Rowell’s photographic art.
-- Helen, Central
Lisa Crystal Carver
Drugs are nice: a post punk memoir
 I really don’t like Lisa Crystal Carver very much, in fact you could say I find her extremely annoying! However, I really liked this book! I think that reflects pretty well on it, it was a lot of fun to read, even if I didn’t care for the subject. Lisa Crystal Carver made one of the first personal zines, Rollerderby, in the late eighties/nineties, performed with her band Suckdog and put on all manner of crazy performances with her husband-at-the-time, the French shock-noise musician Jean Louis Costes. Basically, she’s from this whole scene that wanted to tear every convention apart and shock everyone – pretty boring, really.
The end of the book is where it gets interesting. Lisa ends up married with a son to industrial musician and rumoured neo-Nazi Boyd Rice and gets emotionally and physically abused and kept captive in his basement. It’s then that she realises she’s not in control anymore, not being “interesting” and “shocking” – she’s just another abused wife and is going through the same thing her mother experienced with her father, who she’d always idolised. And hey, she actually has to change her life, for her and her son! A timely reminder that nothing exciting lasts forever.
--Elisabeth, Central
Harry Ricketts
How to catch a cricket match
Watching a test match between the Black Caps and the West Indies at the Basin Reserve in 2006, Harry and his Australian friend Tony reminisce, discuss and analyse the summer game that has obsessed them for most of their lives. In between Ricketts explains the oddities of the game including the origins of the term ‘googly’ (and what it is), field placement, and comes of with some Dream XIs. Cricket is an odd sort of sport and has its share of eccentrics. This gentle book is the perfect read for those obsessed with cricket – or those confused by the whole thing.
-- Annie, Central
Ann Packer
Stitch
The beautifully padded front cover of this hardback gives more than a hint to the contents of the book. The pages flow with inspirational stories about our creative and talented textile artists who each have their own special story to tell. The abundance of stunning colour photography is a real bonus and serves to further detail the amazing work of these dedicated people. If you have an appreciation of craft, design and fabric enjoy this book and recommend it to your friends as well.
-- Doreen, Central
Courtney Love
Dirty blonde: the diaries of Courtney Love
 This book is really worth browsing through, but only if you have extreme feelings towards Courtney Love – you should either really really love her, or really really hate her (it’s fun to be annoyed). I think I’m both, but more leaning towards the love side, especially after reading this. I totally get Courtney’s whole thing now. Either way, it is an interesting historical document, containing lots of lists of records, bitchings about the riot grrl scene and bits of paper she’s scribbed on – including a list of characteristics to learn for “Nancy Studies”, hmmm.
See letters from Courtney written while living in NZ! See her teenage collage of Bay City Rollers pics! Even read her email exchange with Lindsay Lohan! Seriously though, there’s some quite moving stuff about Kurt Cobain in there, plus cute family pictures of them with Frances Bean. It’s all presented in a haphazard zine-like cut n paste way, which can be kind of hard to read, but honey, it’s all so authentic.
Read with Kurt Cobain: journals, for added intensity.
-- Elisabeth, Central
Richard E. Grant
The Wah-Wah diaries
 Richard E. Grant has written a lively and entertaining book based on the making of his film Wah-Wah, which saw his transition from an actor to first time director. Film buffs should really enjoy all the drama associated with putting a film together from beginning to end. It began in October 1999 with a discussion about a possible script and concluded with the film's world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2005.
The book is in four parts, Development, Pre-Production, Shooting and Post- Production. Each has its joys and disappointments. The shooting of the film and its settings in Swaziland are a delight. Although, raising finance meant the director had to accept a French producer and associated technical people. The detailed disputes between the director, Grant, and the producer, MC, particularly in the Pre- and Post- production periods are at the heart of the book. Nothing new in this the reader might think. Rarely has the 'Entente' been 'Cordiale' between the British and the French over the years!
-- Maureen, Glen Innes
Donald Kerr
Amassing treasures for all times : Sir George Grey, colonial bookman and collector
Previous biographies of Sir George Grey portray him as a politician, soldier, colonial administrator, statesman, visionary and even as a failed husband. Donald Kerr is a former rare books librarian at Auckland City Libraries, and takes a totally fresh approach to Grey’s career including as Governor and later Prime Minister of New Zealand through the books that helped inspire his vision. Through knowing of his collecting and his books, we can get closer to the personally aloof and often remote Grey.
Grey donated two libraries in his lifetime: one to Cape Town in 1861 and the other to Auckland from 1887. He died in London in 1898. Kerr details his gathering of books and other materials from a wide variety of sources. Of note is his extensive collection of Maori language manuscripts. Henceforth, I will simply refer those who want to know something more about Auckland City Libraries’ foundation in the 1880’s and early 1890’s to this book. There is no better source to background the Grey collection at Auckland City Libraries.
--David, Heritage
Anne Lamot
Bird by bird: some instructions on writing and life
For those who want to learn how to write, reading books on the subject of writing are a good way of getting out of the actual business at hand. After all, it’s so easy to think to oneself that you're doing yourself a service by reading ‘just one more book’ so you will really know what to do when it comes to sitting down and writing. If it’s going to be one book, it should be Bird by Bird.
Anne Lamott deals with each of the issues of writing, whether it’s plotting, characterisation, or dialogue, but also deals with the realities of writing, like how to get through in those tough times. Written in a highly anecdotal fashion, she reminds aspiring writers that it’s ok not to be a best seller the first time around, and that you’re not alone in the sometimes lonely and painful struggle of getting word to page. Having read one too many books on the subject of writing, Bird by Bird is one of the few that have really stuck out and grabbed me.
--Tama
Richard Hammond
What not to drive
Richard Hammond, co-host of BBC’s Top Gear, advises on the best car for certain occasions and lifestyles. Like, what to hire for your second time around wedding. Or suitable cars for fighter pilots, and cars to avoid.
On the understanding that it’s guys who use cars to attract the opposite sex – the first chapter is all about what car you need to pull a certain type of girl.
If you’ve ever watched Top Gear, you can hear Hammond in your head – he writes just like he talks. A fun read to pander to your inner petrolhead.
--Annie
RZA; with Chris Norris
The Wu-Tang manual
This book is a necessary read for anyone who is interested in legendary hip-hop pioneers the Wu Tang Clan. Written by the RZA and journalist Chris Norris, the Wu Tang Manual is not simply a RZA autobiography, nor is it the final word on one of the most influential 90s hip-hop groups. Instead, the Manual serves to give insight into the collective and explains some of their philosophies, such as the Clan’s love of kung fu movies, and the eastern philosophies associated with martial arts, the influence of comic books, and the Wu’s take on spirituality (what RZA calls the “grand spiritual megamix”). The Wu Tang Manual includes the annotated lyrics of some of their most popular songs (“C.R.E.A.M”, “Protect Ya Neck”), never before seen photos of clan members, and a dictionary of “Wu-slang”. It is a fascinating and entertaining read which I highly recommend.
-- Rose
Judith Bell, aka Stephen Tindall - the woman
I see red: the shocking story of a battle against the Warehouse
When I picked this book from the pile on my desk, I had no prior knowledge of the story within, or of the publicity it had been garnering leading up to its publication. It was with great pleasure then, that I found myself so utterly absorbed by it, that I finished it all in one evening sitting, and loved every bit of it.
On 27 November 2001, Judith Bell changed her name to Stephen Tindall, the most absurd moment yet in an already farcical chain of events. This is the story of her and her husband Nelson’s protracted battle to save their business from the machinations of big business and government intervention, exposing along the way a very different spin to the public face of the free market ideology. Bell writes with a clear and direct voice, injecting plenty of wry humour into her storytelling, without undermining the seriousness of the points she is trying to convey. Whether you want scandal, a basic introduction to economics, or just a good story to while away the day, I can’t see this book failing to deliver.
-- Richard
Cookie Mueller
Ask Doctor Mueller: the writings of Cookie Mueller
 Ask Doctor Mueller collects many out of print writings by Cookie Mueller from the sixties onward, including excerpts from previous publications, her art column in Details magazine and particularly funny selections from her advice column in the East Village Eye, where you’ll find advice on everything from lactose intolerance to substances to cut cocaine with. Cookie Mueller was best known for her roles in John Waters films, though according to John, her real talent was writing and I think I’d agree. Her writing is a flurry of constant movement, drugs, sex and adventure, documenting her many jobs (including: clothing designer, racehorse hotwalker, go-go dancer, underground film actress, playwright, performance artist, fish packer, credit clerk, sailor, unwed welfare mother, and bar mitzvah entertainer) and out of the ordinary experiences. Though it’s often totally crazy, Cookie’s prose keeps it personal and relatable, hilarious and at times bittersweet. A must read for any John Waters fan, or anyone with an interest in the underground bohemian world of sixties America.
-- Elisabeth
Anthony G. Flude
Henry Charles Swan: the strange tale of a wealthy eccentric city lawyer who lived aboard his yacht for 30 years up Henderson Creek!
If you have ever romanticized about being a recluse, this modest publication does well to encourage those daydreams of perfect isolation. Henry Charles Swan carved out a private and remarkably self-sufficient world for his solitary existence, tolerating only occasional visitors to his Henderson Creek ‘abode’. Swan “often worked naked or with the barest of cover” growing his own apples, digging himself a cave-library to store his volumes of Encyclopaedia Britannica; always the busy bee, he was a shining example of bare-bottomed industry. I highly enjoyed this enthusiastic(!) account of our own famed recluse and hope others will also delight in this fascinating piece of local history.
- Kah Bee
Joan Didion
The year of magical thinking
“You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.” This phrase is repeated throughout Didion’s latest memoir, as she struggles to come to terms with the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, as well as the illness of her daughter, who died soon after the book was written. In her clear and journalistic, yet still highly personal prose, Didion explores grief, love and memory and describes the “magical thinking” she experienced after her husband’s death, finding herself unable to give away his clothes and expecting his return although it was not possible. The Year of Magical Thinking is an intensely sad and moving book and is one of Joan Didion’s best.
-- Elisabeth
Edmund White
My lives
When I heard this book had been published, I thought “what else could there possibly be to know about Edmund White?”, since most of his writing is autobiographical. My Lives works well alongside White’s fiction and reveals the real life people behind the characters in his books. This book chronicles White’s “lives” in sections dedicated to various influences, from “My Shrinks” to “My Mother” to “My Hustlers”. Obviously, like most Edmund White books this is not really for the faint-hearted reader, as there is a lot of sexually explicit materiel.
White’s memoir covers the history of homosexuality in the 20th century – the 1950s where attempts were made to “cure” the homosexual (Edmund White was pronounced “unsalvageable!”), the beginnings of gay liberation, and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s where White saw many of his friends and lovers die around him. Overall, this is a clear and elegantly written piece of work, as one would expect from Edmund White, and is humorous, moving and almost painfully honest.
-- Elisabeth
Brenda Buchanan et al.
Gunpowder plots
Six essays look at the gunpowder plot, each from a different viewpoint. The first is a detailed look at the plot itself, the who and the how, the essential cause of bonfire night. The second asks “What if?” What if the plot had succeeded? Who would be the next monarch? It isn't who you'd expect. The third traces the celebration over 400 years. At first it was a day of church thanksgiving; the fireworks came later. The fourth examines the celebration as an anti-Catholic feast, perpetuating religious intolerance. The fifth describes the celebrations in Lewes with the town divided into districts, each producing its own procession and bonfire. Nowadays the figures carried in the noisy processions are as likely to be local councillors as the Pope. The last essay looks at fireworks and the debt Europe owes to China for both gunpowder and its use in fireworks. The development in England is covered with references to public displays -- sadly not as spectacular as the European ones. Lastly - do look at the end papers, they're worth it.
-- Christine
Stephen Budiansky
Her majesty's spymaster
The Tudors fascinate people, and Elizabeth Tudor tends to overshadow those who surrounded her. Walsingham is one. This is not a straight-out biography of his life, but more an investigation of the society and culture in which he lived. The author credits him with the invention of 'modern spying methods', though that may be going a little far. I found this a fascinating and detailed account of England, the Queen, her court, Mary Queen of Scots and Walsingham's efforts to find out what England's enemies intended, and to block them. Quite successfully.
-- Christine
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