Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Laura Hillenbrand

“Unbroken” chronicles the amazing life of American, Louis Zamperini. An Olympic competitor in the 1936 Berlin Games, Louis starts training for the Tokyo Olympics in 1940. However, when World War II breaks out in Europe, the Tokyo Games are cancelled. Drafted into the Army Air Corps, Louis is posted to an island in the Pacific. One day, whilst out on a search and rescue mission, Louis’s bomber ditches into the ocean, leaving Louis and two other crewmen adrift on a tiny raft in shark infested waters. After many weeks floating along on the current, starving, thirsty and constantly harassed by sharks, the survivors wind up in Japanese territory. Louis’s journey has only just begun.

“Unbroken” is the extraordinary true story of a juvenile delinquent turned Olympic runner turned War hero. A riveting read, it will appeal to a wide readership.

(Reviewed by Jill)

The Distant Hours

Kate Morton

A letter delivered in 1992 – 50 years late – provokes such an emotional response in Edie’s normally-repressed mother, that Edie becomes determined to find out why. Her search leads her to a crumbling castle in the English countryside where she finds three elderly sisters and becomes entangled in their tragic family mysteries.
Set in both 1992 and wartime England, this is an intriguing story of madness, lost love, forbidden love, family duty, and a literary mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and got completely drawn in to the mysterious world of the Blythe family. Readers who enjoy historical and family dramas with a bit of mystery thrown in should enjoy this.

(We also have this book on CD in our Adult's Spoken word collection)

(Reviewed by Angela.)

Do you love mysteries?

Stop, you’re killing me! is an online resource for lovers of mystery, crime, thriller, spy, and suspense books.

This is a great website for any fan of mystery fiction of all kinds. Over 3 200 authors are listed, along with 36 000 of their titles. A great place to start if you’ve run out of ideas for what to read next or want to check what comes next in a mystery series.

The site has numerous ways to access information and compiles lists of mystery award winners, mysteries set in specific locations and historical periods, and readalikes. You can also discover lists of books by character name, character job (e.g. lawyers, teachers, librarians, clergy) or character “diversity” (e.g. Jewish, Seniors, Gay & Lesbian).

Go to www.StopYoureKillingMe.com and explore … if you dare!

Haunted heart: the life and times of Stephen King

Lisa Rogak

Ever wondered where Stephen King comes up with his scary story ideas? Well, this book goes some way to answering this question. It seems the books are often based on his own fears, and he feels writing about them helps keep them under control.

I found this unauthorised biography fascinating reading: from King’s dirt-poor childhood, to his college years, to the publication of his first book, to his battle with alcohol and drug addiction, to his huge success, and his battle back from the life-threatening injuries sustained when hit by a van while out walking. Fans of King will enjoy learning some of the background to his most famous works, plus find out what he really thought about the film version of The shining!

(Reviewed by Angela.)

New term, New teen books

More New Releases

Email notices address change:

There is now a new email address from which all library email notices are generated:

library@southlib.govt.nz

Please note this was previously telemsg@dcc.govt.nz. Please update your “safe senders” list if necessary.

Through thick and thin : my autobiography

Gok Wan

Gok Wan, presenter of the How to Look Good Naked television series, tells us his story of how he came to be where he is today. He describes his early years growing up in a housing estate in Leicester, practically living in his parent’s Chinese restaurant. As a teenager, being Asian, gay and, at one stage weighing 21 stone, Gok was an easy target for bullying.

Gok’s story of his battle with anorexia and how he reinvented himself is both humorous and touching. Truly inspirational and highly readable, Through Thick and Thin reads exactly the way Gok sounds when he is talking – so, thoroughly entertaining, but beware of the occasional F-bomb!

(Reviewed by Jill)

Opposing Viewpoints

Now here is the database for those of you who want different views or debates on topics. This is very good for new concepts or ideas as it covers all the angles. Great for school projects or general research. There is a main search box in the top right of the home page or there are eight headings that you can choose from as follows:

• Business and Economics
• Energy and Environmentalism
• Health and Medicine
• Law and Politics
• National Debate Topic
• Science, Technology and Ethics
• Society and Culture
• War and Diplomacy

If you choose the View All option beside a heading you will get a list of subheadings to choose from.
Also under the homepage heading are tabs for Home, Issues, Maps and Resources. The Issues tab will take you to an alphabetical list that you can choose from. If you click on Resources you then see a list of Curriculum Standards and there is one for New Zealand. This leads on to options for drilling down into study topics for age levels.
Down the right of the homepage are the Featured Video and Featured News links.

Vanessa

New Fiction

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Looking for Alaska

John Green

Although not John Green's best book this book is an amazing first novel. The book centres around Miles Halter during his first year at boarding school and His relationship with the other borders at the school, especially Alaska Young: Smart, sexy and self destructive.

The book is separated into two halves before and after an event that will change the way Miles sees the world.

Like all John Green's novels Looking for Alaska is a wee bit geeky and a wee bit philosophical. While the first half is full of fun and games the later parts of the book will make you think. A must read for all John Green fans and a great introduction to this great teen author for anyone else.

(Reviewed by Donald)

New Non-Fiction

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Adults’ Book Group

The next meeting of the adults’ book group will be held on Thursday 12 May at 5:30pm in the Library Meeting Room on the first floor and your all in for a bonus this month. Kirsty is away so I’ll be hosting the book club this time (she may never leave me in charge again).
Please note the change in meeting time from 6:30pm to 5:30pm.
To celebrate NZ Music Month, the theme this month is music: read a musician’s biography, or any other music-related book. If you can’t make it don’t let that stop you joining in. Leave a comment here about your favorite music related book. Send us a review of it if you can.

Desperate Romantics

Desperate Romantics follows the lives and loves of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, composed of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Millais. They are also joined by Fred Walters, a shy reporter who writes about the young men. Each of the artists is after the most important thing – recognition and patronage from Ruskin and the art society.
Rossetti is obsessed with finding the perfect model, a muse. He finds luck in Lizzie Siddal, whom Fred finds in a hat shop. Both men fall in love with her, and rivalry begins. Hunt uses a prostitute from a tavern as a model, and then tries to make her a ‘lady’, so that he can marry her. And Millais finds himself falling in love with Ruskin’s young, unappreciated wife.
Together, these men are the rebels of art society. We watch them as they create their masterpieces, battle their demons, find and lose love and have both successes and failures.
It is well worth the watch, and you will find yourself looking up the art of the young men, and thinking about the stories behind the paintings.
Check to heere to see if this BBC Miniseries is in the library.

(Reviewed by Jasmine)

Awards on the horizon

The New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards festival week kicks off on 9 May, culminating in the Awards dinner and winners’ announcements on 18 May.

Ever-popular NZ author and Young Adult Fiction Finalist Fleur Beale will be in town during awards week (9-17 May). Fleur will be holding a workshop for school students on Friday 13 May (9am to midday in the Library Meeting Room). Places are strictly limited for this free workshop and registration is essential; please contact Kirsty Graham at the Library for further information (211 1444 or kirsty.graham@ilibrary.co.nz ).

Fleur will then be off to Southland Boys’ High School for a lecture for school children at 2pm. Again, this free event has limited spaces, so any teachers interested in taking a class along should contact Kirsty Graham at the Library ASAP (211 1444 or kirsty.graham@ilibrary.co.nz ).

Children are being invited to create and decorate their own fossil to enter in our “Make a Fossil” competition. Instructions on how to make a fossil are available from Children’s Services and entries close Friday 6 May. Prizes for the best and most creative fossils are up for grabs. This activity is inspired by the award-nominated book The Kiwi fossil hunter’s handbook by J S Crampton.

We will be having giveaways and spot prizes for children throughout NZ Post Children's Book Awards festival week, so make sure you bring your kids in to be in to win.

New Graphic Novels

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Unbearable Lightness: a story of loss and gain

Portia De Rossi

You know your internal monologue - that little voice inside your head that helps you to mull things over, weigh up pros and cons and remind you of things that you’d thought you’d forgotten about? Mostly that little voice is a good thing, but sometimes it can be a little incessant. It can nag away at you, keep you awake at night and generally drag you down. And in the case of Portia De Rossi, that little voice (more incessant than most) just about cost her everything.

Unbearable Lightness allows us to ‘hear’ Portia’s internal monologue and we can see how that little voice drags her into a downward spiral, allowing her eating disorder to escalate out of control. A real eye-opener, Unbearable Lightness describes the mindset of someone who first suffers from Bulimia, then Anorexia, and finally, her journey towards self- acceptance. An awe-inspiring read, which, whilst sad, is also at times unintentionally funny, as the author tries to justify to herself her own behaviour and mindset. Un-put-downable.

(Reviewed by Jill)