Queen by right

Anne Easter Smith

This is the latest novel about the War of the Roses from Anne Easter Smith. It goes back to the start, to Richard, Duke of York and wife, Cecily Neville. It is evident that both Richard and Cecily love each other very much, which is a rare occurrence when the marriage has been arranged. It follows Cis from when she first met Richard to the crowning of their son, Edward, as king of England. When she first meets him, he has just been made an orphan by King Henry. His father tried to revolt against the Henry and proclaim himself king. This is because Richard and his father had more right to the throne than Henry (a family tree at the start shows this very well). So Richard must now grow up with this shadow over his head, and he spends the majority of his life trying to prove that he is loyal to the king.

Once Cecily and Richard are married, they become very wealthy and together they own much land between them. This status leads Richard to English holdings in France and Ireland, before he is forced to come back to assert his right in England. This novel follows his frustration at not being able to take his place at the king's side, due to powerful enemies. However, it also follows Cecily, and how she must also fight to keep her family alive and well. It shows how powerful and powerless women could be, in a time when a woman was little more than her husband's possession. Cecily Neville was a strong woman who fought tooth and nail for everything that she had. As a result, she will forever known as “Proud Cis”. She is also the ancestor of the current royal family in the UK.

I really loved this book. Sometimes the politics became confusing, but the author provided a family tree, a map and a list of characters at the start which helped immensely. I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, and to anyone who enjoys reading medieval fiction.

(Reviewed by Jasmine)

Going Bovine

Libba Bray

Cameron has got Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of mad cow disease. There are two things you need to know about Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease:

1. It's fatal. There is no coming back from this one.

2. It eats little holes in your brain and makes you go mad.

   With that in mind Going bovine is told from Cameron's point of view and when a punk rocker angel tells him to save the universe and himself in the process he's off on a wild adventure with an hypochondriac dwarf and an immortal garden gnome.
   

   This book plays with reality and Libba Bray has no problem seeing just how far we are willing to go. She takes us on an insane journey in and out of conciousness making sure to poke fun at reality T.V. consumerism and terrorism along the way. A great read for anyone with a sense of humour willing to laugh in the face of death.

(Reviewed by Donald)

Young adult winter reads

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The Happiest Refugee

When Anh was two years old, his parents made the decision to escape war-torn Vietnam and make a new life elsewhere. A crowded boat, attacked by pirates (twice), days and days at sea drifting without food or water, and eventual rescue by the Australian Coastguard – this was how Anh’s new life began.

Settling in to Australia, the Do’s felt nothing but gratitude for the wonderful country that welcomed them, gave them somewhere to live, and provided them with so many opportunities. Ahn’s parents worked long hours so that their children could go to the best schools and dress like other Australians. Inspired by his parents, (father Tam’s mantra being “there’s only two times – now or too late”) Ahn works hard at school and then University. Always at the back of his mind is that he wants to “give something back” to the country that adopted him and to his mother who sacrificed so much to give her children a better life.

The Happiest Refugee is an incredible, uplifting story filled with humour and heartache. Anh Do is a stand-up comedian who has featured regularly on Australian television on programmes such as Dancing With the Stars, Deal or No Deal, and Rove Live.

(Reviewed by Jill)

One day

by David Nicholls

There has been a bit of hype about this book recently, and in my view it is well-deserved. Beginning on their university graduation day in 1988, we visit Emma (working class, aspiring writer, bit serious) and Dexter (wealthy background, aspiring TV presenter, bit of a cad) every 15 July for the next two decades, and discover how they (and their friendship) evolve. Their friendship (mostly) survives their personal ups and downs: failed relationships, spectacular career disasters, substance abuse. Very funny in parts, very moving in others, One day is a wonderful romp through the past 20 years (lots of "Oh yeah, I remember that!" moments) as experienced by two great characters, which will appeal particularly to thirty- and forty-somethings. A great will they/won't they?, should they/shouldn't they? story.

(Reviewed by Angela.)

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InfoTrac Onefile

OK, so what does that mean? InfoTrac General OneFile is a database that has a wide subject coverage. You should find something here to support your academic study.

It is a one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics such as: business, current events, economics, health care, law, politics, science, technology, and much more. The timeframe covered is 1980 through to 2011 and it is updated daily.

What does it contain?

• Full-text titles, images, refereed journals, and hundreds of newspapers.

• More than 500 travel guides, including hundreds of Fodor's titles

• The full collection of National Public Radio programs from 1990 to the present, including searchable transcripts

• Full-text of the New York Times from 1985 to the present, updated daily

• The ability to translate articles into 11 different languages, helping ESL researchers

• More than 4,000 full-text titles recommended by Bowker's "Magazines for Libraries"

• Access to a range of additional new collections created to fill subject-specific curricular needs

How does it work?

You have different search options:

• Browse by subject or publication

• “Search for words in” subject, keyword, and entire document with the search box

• Advanced search You also have a “limit results” option to refine your search:

• To documents with full-text

• To peer-reviewed publications

• To documents with images

When you have your search results displayed, you are shown what category they are in such as magazines, academic journals, books, news, or multimedia.

You can then further sort your results by publication date and relevance.

When you have found a suitable result that you wish to use, you have a “tool box” that enables you to bookmark, cite, download, download mp3, email, print preview, share, access a dictionary and translate.

Give it a go and you might just find that missing piece of information to add that extra authority to your research. The database does contain New Zealand data and information. For further assistance with the databases, please contact any Help Desk.

Vanessa

Goth Girl Rising

Barry Lyga


Barry Lyga has finally given us a second instalment to the story of Fan boy and Goth Girl. This time he shows us the world from Kyra Sellers' (A.K.A. Goth Girl's) point of view. Did you wonder why Kyra was so angry in Fanboy and Goth Girl? Well this is where you go to find out.

Once again Lyga manages to get inside his character's heads without going all judgy on them and once again we want to reach into the story and give the character a good shake, make her look at the world differently.

That being said I preferred "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl" to "Goth Girl Rising" because I found Fanboy to be a more sympathetic character. To be honest I didn't like Kyra much. Still it's a good book. Just make sure you read the Astonishing adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl first.

(Reviewed by Donald)

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On this month

Just a couple of upcoming events this month which you might find interesting. First the 2011 Dan Davin Literary Foundation Short Story Writing Competition is now underway. Entry costs $5 each and is open to all. There are 3 great prizes are up for grabs: $250 for first place, $150 for second, and $100 for third. Entry forms with full conditions of entry are available at the Library. Entries close 5pm Friday 22 July.

If your in town on Wednesday June 15 at 6.45pm come along and meet Linda at Information Services. Linda is the manager of Information Services and she'll be introducing people to family research. Find out what resources the library has and how we can help you get started on the search for your ancestors. Later you are welcome to join the Southland Society of Genealogists at their monthly meeting in the meeting room.

Lastly just a quick note. If you are placing a hold on an item from home, please select only “Invercargill Library” or “Bluff Library” as the “Pickup at” location, even if the item is held in Storage or Archives. Remember that Storage and Archive are staff only areas so you will not be able to pick up your book from there. We'll move it to Invercargill or Bluff for you to pick up.

Recently added Hot Picks

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A rose for the crown

Anne Easter Smith

This is one of the very few works of fiction that paints Richard III in a good light. It is the story of Kate Haute, a young woman who falls in love with Richard. Kate is a young woman with very strong convictions. She is born into a world where women are more or less possessions of their husbands and fathers.
The story takes the reader from Kate growing up as a child, right through to the Battle of Bosworth Field, and the beginning of the reign of the Tudors. Through Kate’s eyes we see the Wars of the Roses, the changes in kings and how this affected people. It explores what really happened to Richard’s nephews in the Tower, and what Richard was most truly like. The politics of the time can be confusing, but I feel that the author does a very good job of explaining what is happening. It shows the reader what life was like in the last days of the Plantagenet kings, and how the politics of the day affected the everyday people.
There are beautiful elements of fiction which really add to the story, and it obvious that the author researched for a very long time to write this book. A little drawn out in parts, it is still a very enjoyable story, and I highly recommend it to all those who love a good historical read.

(Reviewed by Jasmine.)

Fleur Beale and other winners

So the New Zealand Post Children's book awards have come and gone for another year. I hope you all had a go at voting for the children's choice award as there was a great prize to be won.

We were lucky enough to have Fleur Beale down as our visiting author during the awards period. She visited local schools and held a writing workshop for teenagers while here. I hope she enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed having her.

On top of that Fleur's book, Fierce September, won the young adult's section of the awards so I'm claiming the Southland influence helped her win (I'm not really sure how I can justify that but I'm saying it anyway). Fierce September is the follow up to Juno of Taris which won Fleur the Esther Glen award in 2009. Juno of Taris was reviewed here as part of our Pursue 100 reading competition last summer (thanks Aliesha).

Fierce September picks up the story where Juno left off a ship arrives at Taris saving the occupants from their crumbling world and taking them to New Zealand as refugees. The New Zealand they find is not the New Zealand we know however. The calamities of climate change and pandemics has given rise to right wing extremists. Extremists who are eager to use the people of Taris for their own political ends.

Now I've got to admit I liked this book better than Juno of Taris. While they both hive some great themes and characters Fierce September to me digs further into the future world Fleur Beale was trying to create. This makes it in a way more real. I loved the interactive side of the book as well. Fleur set up two Warningtheworld.blogspot.com and bobbingontheocean.blogspot.com. Each one gives the reader a different perspective on the action of the story again making things more real.

Check out the blogs and see if they peak your interest.

Anyway I'd best let you know about the other New Zealand Post Children's book award winners too. The Moon & Farmer McPhee by Margaret Mahy & David Elliot for best picture book. This wonderful gentle story about stopping and taking time to smell the roses also won book of the year. The non-fiction prize was taken out by Leon Davidson for Zero Hour: The ANZACs on the Western Front. From the junior fiction category Hollie Chips by Anna Gowan won best new book while Finnigan & the Pirates by Sherryl Jordan won the category. Lastly and not surprisingly Baa Baa Smart Sheep by Mark & Rowan Sommerset won the children's choice award.

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