Little Bets: How breakthrough ideas emerge from small discoveries by Peter Sims

Start with small and imperfect ideas, arrive at extraordinary outcomes. 

Little Bets will tempt you to throw off the shackles of over-analysis, predictions and projections in order to embrace uncertainty and creativity. Sims states that the rapid changes in society and technology mean traditional ways of business development are no longer producing great results. 

 

Modern businesses need to innovate in order to grow - requiring an attitude of curiosity, experimentation, and healthy perfectionism. This book gives a set of tips on how to create a more flexible approach to reaching the big goal. It is a management book, but it will inspire open-mindedness to opportunity and innovation, whatever goals you have. It’s worth a look....Posted by Spot
 

About the Author

"Peter Sims is an award-winning author and entrepreneur. His latest book is Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, selected as a one of the six best advice books for entrepreneurs by the Wall Street Journal and as one of the best business books of the year by The Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, and AmEx OPEN and he was the coauthor with Bill George of True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, which was a Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek best-seller."

Read more at Peter Sim's website:  http://petersims.com

 

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Little Bets: How breakthrough ideas emerge from small discoveries by Peter Sims, 2012

The Absolutist by John Boyne

What seems to be a story about the stand of a WW1 conscientious objector actually turns out to be...not. At base an average love story, it is lifted above mediocrity by its setting, the larger themes involved and some really nice writing. By the author of  The Boy in Striped Pyjamas... Posted by Winsome in Wairoa Author Notes "I was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where I was awarded the Curtis Brown prize...." Read more at John Boyne's website: www.johnboyne.com/about Also  www.johnboyne.com/fiction/the-absolutist-2 Check our Catalogue and reserve online The Absolutist by John Boyne, 2011

The Feng Shui Detective by Nury Vittachi

I’ve just downloaded one of The Feng Shui Detective novels from ePukapuka, the library’s online collection of ebooks. If you haven’t encountered Hong Kong author Nury Vittachi’s Mr Wong before, he’s a treat. Ostensibly a feng shui expert, he somehow uses his calling to solve mysteries with his Australian sidekick Joyce. Quirky, charming stories set in exotic locations... Posted by JAM

Nury Vittachi (born 2 October 1958 in Ceylon) is a journalist and author based in Hong Kong. His columns are published daily, weekly in a variety of newspapers in Asia.

 Read this as an eBook on ePukapuka Overdrive

Click on the author's name to see his other works

What is ePukapuka?  www.hastingslibrary.co.nz/ebooks-and-audiobooks-are-available 

The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes

Have you been enjoying the Downton Abbey series? The world was so different a hundred years ago, for better and for worse.

"This lovely book includes a foreword by the series scriptwriter, Julian Fellowes. The book is written by his niece, but the focus is behind the scenes rather than the programme's plot. The chapters cover family life, fashion, servants, and marriage at that time. The photos are fantastic and the book gives a real insight into what went on behind the scenes." Thanks Kay at the Havelock North Library YAH Book Club for your review.

From the Publisher

Downton Abbey portrays a world of elegance and decadence, a world of duty and obedience and a world of romance and rivalry: this companion book takes fans deeper into that world than ever before. Step inside the front door of one of the most beautiful houses in Britain and wonder at the sumptuous decoration, marvel at the glamorous dresses as the family gather for dinner and sneak down the servants stairs into the kitchens and watch the staff working from dawn till dusk. Go out into the park and see the family head off for the hunt or out in the car to make visits; see the world of Downton come alive before you. Experience the inner workings of the downstairs life and be dazzled by the glamour of upstairs life with profiles of all the major characters, interviews with the actors, behind the scenes interviews and insights, and in-depth information on costumes and props. Using a structure to illustrate the main themes of the series, such as the family, daily life, war, servitude, society and style, different characters will be focussed on for each chapter. Also the text will give insights into the political and social history of the period, and real-life characters and situations for comparison and illustration.

Author Profile

"Formerly the Deputy Editor of Country Life and a columnist for the London Paper..." read more at Jessica Fellows' website: www.jessicafellowes.com

Read an interview with Jessica Fellows at http://bit.ly/pb40OB

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 The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellows and Nick Briggs, 2011 

 

Finders Keepers by Belinda Bauer

We first came across the town of Shipton and its surrounding Exmoor landscape in Bauer’s debut novel, Blacklands. With her third book, the author revisits the town and inflicts on the locals another psychopath, this time a child abductor. When Jess Took goes missing from a horse-box while her father is leading a fox hunt, the perpetrator leaves the note: You don’t love her.

There follows a spate of further abductions, and more notes. The police are called in and expect to find bodies any day, but none turn up. DI Reynolds is hoping to make a breakthrough quickly – his credibility is on the line and he is anxious to appease the townsfolk, while worrying about his new hair transplant. Local bobby, Jonas Holly, has just been cleared for active duty following a harrowing serial killer case and personal tragedy that have left him potentially unstable.

Young Steven Lamb, a central character in Blacklands, is worried too – about the motorbike he bought which is all in pieces, about what the new girl at school thinks about him and also about his brother Davey, who wants to catch the child abductor and claim the reward.

The reader is well entertained following the lives of the characters, the tension mounting all the while as the child abductor begins to lose control. Belinda Bauer manages to instil humour and human interest while delivering a gripping storyline to reach an ending that is both unexpected and shocking. My only concern is just how many psychopathic criminals can a small town endure without compromising the logic of this series? If you can put that aside, this is a great read from a talented author. ...Posted by Paige Turner

Author Notes  

 

Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa. She has worked as a journalist and screenwriter and her script The Locker Room earned her the Carl Foreman/Bafta Award for Young British Screenwriters.

Her debut novel Blacklands earned her the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year. She lives in Wales and is currently working on her next novel.

She was longlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library Award 2012 and Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2012.

Belinda Bauer's website: www.belindabauer.co.uk
...and Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BelindaBauerBooks

Hot off Facebook! Belinda's new novel, Rubbernecker,  is due for publication in January 2013.

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 Finders Keepers by Belinda Bauer, 2012

Wuthering Heights Revisited by G M Best

An interesting theory that Charlotte Bronte murdered her brothers and sisters because Heathcliff was a real demonic person who had raped her mother. This is like saying Charles Dickens was a murderer!  

Would love to know what you think of this book and the author's using real people and book characters to create this story...Posted by Page Carr
 
Publisher's Synopsis:

The tragic love affair between Cathy and Heathcliff in Emily Bronte's famous novel took the world by storm. Imagine, therefore, the shock of Charlotte Bronte's long-time friend, Ellen Nussey, when she discovers that, far from just existing in the pages of a novel, Cathy and Heathcliff lived. Her resulting investigations uncover the Brontes' horrific secret of their relationship with the demonic Heathcliff. Forced to question Charlotte's behaviour she has also to suspect the sudden deaths of not only Emily but also Branwell and Anne.

Review:

 Bronte Blog Review - http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/wuthering-heights-revisited-review.html

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Wuthering Heights Revisited by G.M. Best, 2011

Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death By James Runcie

When mystery novels seem increasingly long and convoluted, it is refreshing to come across a book of shorter whodunits – such as you will find in James Runcie’s, ‘Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death’. Set in 1950s Cambridge, these six mysteries read like a cross between Agatha Christie, McCall Smith and Barbara Pym, full of philosophy, wit and terrific characters... Posted by JAM

"Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death" is the first of the "Grantchester Mysteries" - a projected series of six novels, to be published in May each year until 2017.

"Beginning in 1953, and ending in 1978, each volume contains six inter-connected stories that feature the clergyman-detective, Canon Sidney Chambers. Tall, with dark brown hair, eyes the colour of hazelnuts and a reassuringly gentle manner, Sidney can go where the police cannot. It's Father Brown with attitude, Agatha Christie with Cathedrals, and Barbara Pym with sex."  

See the author's website: www.jamesruncie.com  

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Sidney Chambers and the shadow of death by James Runcie, 2012

Under Pressure by Carl Honoré

An epidemic of hyper-parenting is causing kids harm and parents unnecessary stress and anxiety. This is the view of Carl Honoré, the bestselling author of ‘In Praise of Slow’. He uses anecdotal stories told by families, teachers and coaches from around the world to illustrate his research findings on just how much children’s lives have changed recently. 

 

You might feel the chill of recognition as you compare your own free and leisurely childhood to the frantic, high pressure world of accelerated learning, extracurricular activities, and sports practices your own kids are involved in. Want to slow down? This book gives you the reassurance that everyone will probably benefit. It’s certainly been working for my family...Posted by Spot 

 

Author's website:  www.carlhonore.com

 

 

 

Check our Catalogue and reserve online:
Under pressure : how the epidemic of hyper-parenting is endangering childhood by Carl Honore, 2008

Talking to Zeus: My year in a Greek Garden by Jane Shaw

Jane Shaw was working as a volunteer in Chelsea's famous Physic Garden when she earned a placement to work for a year on a very special organic garden in Greece. But this was to be no easy-going break in the Mediterranean. The five-acre plot, which Jane swiftly named 'Alcatraz', was devoid of creature comforts, perched on a steep, remote hillside that was blindingly hot in summer and freezing in winter, and overseen by a 74-year-old, passionate, mercurial eccentric English lady called Joy.

On arrival, Jane is immediately drawn into the intrigue of village life, such as the ongoing feud with the nouveau riche ex-pat neighbour with a sports car, whom Joy suspects has dug an illegal bore hole to water his terraced lawns. But most of all she is beguiled by the vibrant energy of the landscape, the folklore, the food and the numerous engaging characters who flock to Joy as the wise matriarch of the locale. The story arcs through a year of seasons in the garden as Jane learns to love its wild beauty and to relish the hard work and care it needs. This is a charming, wildly entertaining and joyful portrait of a very special place, and will appeal to anyone who loves gardening, or who has enjoyed books such as Driving Over Lemons...From the Publishers

A customer told me that this book was delightful to read. Full of interesting experiences and snippets of poetry. Her enthusiasm was catchy, so biography readers this sounds like one to try.   ...Posted by Moxie

LibraryThing review:  www.librarything.com/work/10890734

Read about the author Jane Shaw: http://bit.ly/9yVuxm

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Talking to Zeus: My year in a Greek Garden by Jane Shaw, 2010

The Necessary Aptitude by Pam Ayres

Pam Ayres is one of Britain's best-loved personalities, appearing regularly on TV and radio and performing on stage around the world. Her poetry collections are bestsellers.

Pam has a wonderful sense of humour and often includes wry and evocative anecdotes about her own life. Her autobiography briefly mentions her parents and grandparents, but mostly follows her childhood and early working life.

Growing up in a council house, the eight family members squashed together, in what was then Berkshire in the 1940s and 50s, Pam started her working life at fifteen. She really didn’t enjoy her jobs and wanted to travel so joined the Women’s Royal Air Force where she plotted aerial maps.

It wasn’t until she started going to folk clubs and playing music and reciting her poetry that she knew what she really wanted to do. Would it pay the bills? Her television appearance on a talent show in the 1970s changed her life, and the rest as they say is history.

Writing with her usual mix of good humour and poignancy, Pam’s autobiography is a classic memoir of a post-war country childhood in the vein of Cider with Rosie.

Author's website:  www.pamayres.com

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The Necessary Aptitude by Pam Ayes, 2012

The Mascot by Mark Kurzem

This story of how a small Jewish boy survived a massacre to become a “Mascot” for the Latvian SS and a propaganda star is so amazing! If you didn’t see the photographs you would not believe it. Stunning...Posted by Page Carr 

From the Publisher's description:
A survival story, a grim fairy-tale, and a psychological drama, this memoir asks provocative questions about identity, complicity, and forgiveness. When a Nazi death squad raided his Latvian village, Jewish five-year-old Alex escaped. After surviving the winter by foraging for food and stealing clothes off dead soldiers, he was discovered by a Latvian SS unit. Not knowing he was Jewish, they made him their mascot, dressing the little "corporal" in uniform and toting him from massacre to massacre. When the war ended he was sent to Australia with a family of Latvian refugees. Fearful of discovery--as either a Jew or a Nazi--Alex kept the secret of his childhood, even from his family. But he grew tormented and determined to uncover the story of his past. Shunned by a local Holocaust organization, he reached out to his son Mark for help in reclaiming his identity. 

New York Times Review
www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/books/30book.html

Obituary for Mark Kurzem in The Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/feb/22/mark-kurzem-obituary

Photos from The Mascot on Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/pritheworld/sets/72157603664986952/detail

Check our Catalogue and reserve online

The Mascot : unraveling the mystery of my father’s Nazi boyhood by Mark Kurzem, 2007

The White Lie by Andrea Gillies

A lovely story with memory at its centre. The 19 year old narrator takes us through the havoc wreaked by well-meant white lies and illustrates just how families operate.  It is a page turner!  Posted by Inky Fingers

The following 5 star review appeared on LibraryThing:
“What an extraordinarily perceptive and thought-provoking book this was - and what a relief to read, after having read a batch of much-hyped contemporary fiction which had proved disappointingly pretentious and vacuous..."


See Andrea Gillies' own website: www.andreagillies.com

See Publishers' website: http://shortbooks.co.uk/newsevent/the-white-lie

Andrea Gillies' book Keeper won both the Orwell Prize 2010 and the Wellcome Trust Book Prize 2009

Check our library catalogue and request online

The White Lie by Andrea Gillies

LIANZA Children's Book Awards winners announced

The  LIANZA Children's Book Awards winners have been announced. These are awarded annually and are " a unique event in the New Zealand literary scene, the Medals and Pounamu are awarded by Children's Librarians for outstanding books for children and young people and the Judges all have a mad passion to promote children's literature and to energise children to love books."

See www.lianza.org.nz/awards/lianza-childrens-book-awards

LIANZA is the Library and Information Association.  

The Awards this year were dedicated to Margaret Mahy, who won seven times.

The LIANZA Children’s Book Award 2012 Winners 

 

LIANZA Junior Fiction Award – Esther Glen Medal
The Travelling Restaurant by Barbara Else, (GECKO Press).

LIANZA Young Adult Fiction Award
Pyre of Queens by David Hair, (Penguin NZ)

LIANZA Illustration Award - Russell Clark Award
Rāhui by Chris Szekely and Malcolm Ross, (Huia)

LIANZA Non Fiction Award – Elsie Locke Medal
Nice Day for a War by Chris Slane and Matt Elliott, illustrated by Chris Slane (HarperCollins Publishers (NZ) Ltd)

Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)
Ngā Taniwha i te-Whanga-nui-a-Tara by Moira Wairama and Bruce Potter, (Penguin NZ)

The winner of each category was awarded a medal or taonga and $1,000.

Librarians’ Choice Award
Rāhui by Chris Szekely and Malcolm Ross, (Huia)

Te Ropu Whakahau Award Winners

Te Ropu Whakahau is an organisation for Māori Librarians

Te Tohu Taurapa for te wahanga pikitia (picture book)
Ngā Taniwha i te Whanga-nui-a-Tara by Moira Wairama and Bruce Potter, (Penguin NZ).

Te Tohu Ngā Kete e toru for te wahanga pukapuka paki (fiction)
Te Poiwhana by Te Kauhoe Wano and Andrew Burdan, (Huia).

Te Tohu Pounamu
Kei Wareware tātou translated by Katerina Mataira, written by Feana Tu’akoi and illustrated by Elspeth Alix Batt (Scholastic).

Te Tohu Hoani Te Whatuhoro Jury for te wahanga pukapuka pono (non- fiction)
Not awarded due to lack of entries.

For more on the Awards and winners see:
www.lianza.org.nz/news/2012/aug/6/humorous-adventure-wins-oldest-book-award

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

I finished this book this week! (I have been reading it for two months.) It is a difficult but intriguing read. One of the reasons I persevered was because I was learning so much about French and Italian history. It deals with conspiracies, anti-Semitism, The Freemasons and the Catholic Church. All the names, places, publications and dates are purported to be true. I checked several of them and found that to be so. At the centre of this novel is a fictitious character called Simonini, he meets people like Giuseppe Garibaldi, Dr. Freud and Madam Blavatsky.

This book is beautifully illustrated and, would you believe, contains many recipes.
Reviewed by Moxie 

Visit Umberto Eco's website:  www.umbertoeco.com

Check our library catalogue and review online

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, 2011

Feel Good Reads

I started thinking about this topic when a library customer asked for such a recommendation. She had just finished a fairly harrowing Jodi Picoult book and needed to read something that was a bit less traumatic. I wish you would help me to compose such a list because I too have been had my mood altered by what I have read and sometimes I know I need a “pick-me-up”.

The LibraryThing website suggests the following authors:

• Nicholas Sparks
• Judith Michael
• Janette Oke
• Jane Austin
• Georgette Heyer

The Fantastic Fiction site recommends:

• Sarah-Kate Lynch
• Nora Roberts
• Bridget Asher
• Marsha Mehran
• Daniele Steel

May I add my favourites:

• Alan Warner
• Nick Hornby
• Lisa Jackson
• Kate De Goldi - (see book cover  - The 10 pm Question)
• Rosamunde Pilcher

Let us know who your favourite "feel good" authors are!...Moxie

New Zealand Post Book Awards 2012 Winners announced

Congratulations to the winners of the New Zealand Post Book Awards and indeed to all those selected.

The supreme award, the New Zealand Post Book of the Year, was won by New Zealand's Native Trees by John Dawson and Rob Lucas.  Containing more than 2,300 photographs, this also won the Illustrated Non-Fiction Category.

Other Category winners (links are to our catalogue):

Fiction Category Award
Rangatira by Paula Morris

People's Choice Award
From Under the Overcoat [a short story collection]
by Sue Orr

New Zealand Post Māori Language Award
Tōku Reo, Tōku Ohooho : My Language, My Inspiration
by Chris Winitana

Poetry Category Award
Shift by Rhian Gallagher

General Non-Fiction Category Award
Tupaia: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator
by Joan Druett

Best First Book Awards (announced earlier in the year) were also honoured at the ceremony, see previous post

For more on the winners see:
www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-book-awards/2012_winnershttp://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-book-awards/landmark-work-wins-new-zealand-post-book-year