Find your next great idea

Our new management books claim they will help you master consultancy, spot ideas, become an exceptional manager, build a better business, get good people to stay, win the war against bloated bureacracy and distinguish between hard facts, dangerous half-truths and total nonsense. So, no powers of invisibility then.

A less-than-famous goat

Nina Dewdrop loves ballet; a goat travels on Cook's first voyage and saves everyone from scurvy; a Tennessee mountain boy experiences the horrors of the American Civil War; kennel boy Brind is more dog than human; and Jax stumbles upon a mysterious monastery hidden deep in an ancient rainforest park. Visit MyLibrary for more new children's fiction.

We feel with human hearts

The characters in our new historical fiction recent picks include an East End gangland boss with a devastatingly attractive personality; Memnon of Rhodes; sensual dancer Nesrin; desperately poor Marjorie, unable dislodge her writer's block; and Sunderland and Middlesbrough football marksman Brian Clough. Philippa Gregory is back with more on Henry VIII's wives, and Bernard Cornwell with more of Richard Sharpe and the Napoleonic Wars.
Fiction about historical figures is featured on our seniors page.

Updates to our seniors page

From Shirley Bassey to Haydn, from Maurice Gee to Health solutions for sleep, our DVD and CD collection is full of great material. Also check out Smartview which allows you to view text, images and objects on an enlarged scale. For more information and new website picks, please visit our seniors page.

New graphic novels

More new graphic novels.

New magazines

We have a few new magazines - Redbook (sex, parenting, food, health, beauty, fashion, celebrity profiles...), Invest today : for people who want more (New Zealand mag), Spoke : New Zealand's mountain biking magazine - check them out at Central Library today.

Does a worm have a girlfriend?

Our children's non-fiction picks look at Atlantis and other lost cities, how Egyptian pyramids were built, global warming and rare and endangered animals. New to the great cross-sections series with fascinatingly detailed pictures is 'Greece: in spectacular cross-section'. 'Pirates' by John Matthews is a gorgeous book full of maps, letters tucked into envelopes and other intriguing tid-bits.

Golf dates with Alice Cooper

New popular music books this month include 'Highway of legends : on the road with the kings and queens of country music' by Dianne Haworth about NZ country music stars, Julian Cope on himself, and a definitive guide to heavy metal. 'Life on Planet Rock : from Guns n' Roses to Nirvana : a backstage journey through rock's most debauched decade' by music journo Lonn Friend is full of fascinating gossip.

New Zealand Book Month

Celebrate New Zealand Book Month by reading some NZ fiction or non-fiction. Our September featured genre is also NZ fiction.
There are more ideas on the official NZ Book Month 2006 website. "Thinking man's rugby player" Anton Oliver recommends Owls do cry by Janet Frame, When gravity snaps by Owen Marshall and Footfall by Brian Turner. Naked Samoan Oscar Kightly recommends The God boy by Ian Cross, The halfmen of O by Maurice Gee and The mango's kiss by Albert Wendt.

Meteors, viruses, killer bees and movies!!!!!

"Smart and punchy" new book 'Disaster movies' has four exclamation points in its title, so I've gone one better. Anne Billson unravels Buffy the Vampire Slayer's magic and examines her antecedents and influences. 'Getting Lost' collects essays on the hit TV series from people such as science-fiction writer Adam-Troy Castro and paranormal-romance author MaryJanice Davidson. Want more new movie books? Check out our movies page.

Salsa and depressed noodlings

What are we listening to this month? The sweet 70s harmonies of Midlake, McLeod's Daughters' star NZer Lisa Chappell, Lily Allen's tales of jeans that don't fit, and the good album to come out after the Libertine's collapse (Dirty Pretty Things). Smokey Robinson has put out an album of standards and our reviewer argues that it's much better than those of "hacks" like Rod Stewart and Michael Buble.

We hope you like our new site design

The look of our site has been refreshed. The pages are in the same place, so hopefully no one will get confused! We're still updating some details, so if you experience any difficulties, please contact us.

New website design coming soon

We're rolling out a new website design early next week. The pages will all be in the same place, but they'll feature a fresh new look. We hope you like it.

New to KC web

We have selected the best websites on Comets, Meteorites & Asteroids; Diwali; Global Warming; Halloween; Library Week; NZ Fashion Week; Taua'ahau Tupou IV: King of Tonga (1918-2006). Explore these current events in our Kid's catalogue.

Baby talk makes perfect linguistic sense

Among our new literature books - a mock guide to white trash etiquette, an analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a guide to the process by which children learn to talk and understand the spoken word, the story of a letter and lock of hair in a bottle that washed up on the shores of Kent, and selected writings by Penelope Fitzgerald.

New art and graphics books

Visit our art resources page for more.

Come hear Dame Kate

Dame Kate Harcourt will be reading 'Down the Back of The Chair' at Central Library on Wednesday, 20th September at 11am. We look forward to seeing you at our special Library Week storytime.

Thomas gets bumped

Much excitement with our new Children's DVDs and books on cassette - Thomas the Tank Engine experiences trouble with mud, a 12-year-old girl robs a bank to get money for an operation for her dad, a (very) hungry caterpillar eats more and more, a fairy casts a peskie spell and a mouse on a motorcycle ends up in a wastepaper basket.

Five hour lunches in Madrid

Read about a couple and their dog sailing from Hong Kong to Vancouver, a French woman's take on the English, Madrid's hedonistic response to the end of fascism and Australia's Murray river in our new travel books.

The Owl of Minerva

Our new history books ask big questions; discuss Lucretia Borgia's son's ceiling decorators, valet and doctor, the master of his wardrobe, and his stable boys; look at Hitler's death; detail the 1453 holy war for Constantinople; look at Attila's invitation to Rome by Emperor Valentinian's sister Honoria (he's not someone I'd invite); and much more.

Musicals on DVD

We have many new musicals on DVD, including Dennis Potter's Pennies from heaven, Hair, South Pacific and Jacques Brel is alive and well and living in Paris. Click on these links to bring up a list of all our musicals on DVD, Video and CD.

Bookbusters update

Congratulations to our graduating Bookbusters. Bookbusters is a club just for 7 and 8 year olds. We meet once a month at the library to talk about our favourite books, do activities, and listen to stories.

Roald Dahl holiday fun

Enter our Roald Dahl Revolting Rhymes Competition!
Come to Roald Dahl's Scrumdiddlyumptious Birthday Party!
Make an Enormous Crocodile!
Come to the Oompa-Loompa Costume Party!
More info here!

NZ's biggest storytime

On Wednesday 20th of September 2006, award-winning author Margaret Mahy's 'Down the Back of the Chair' will be read at libraries all across New Zealand, including Kilbirnie Library, Khandallah Library, Karori Library, Central Library, Tawa Library and Newtown Library. More information here.

The Dracula gene

Among our great new science books for September we have information on the gene that makes you smell like fish, the science behind dating and calendars and the quest to understand gravity. 'A different nature : the paradoxical world of zoos and their uncertain future' by David Hancocks argues that zoos have enormous potential for good. 'An illustrated guide to New Zealand hebes' by M. J. Bayly and A. V. Kellow is full of gorgeous photos.

Weird music

To protect library users, we cordone off the oddest music into the 'Experimental' section. If you're feeling brave, The wire tapper is a good starter, featuring the peculiar music that Wire music magazine advocates. Other recent CDs include Starless and bible black sabbath by Acid Mothers Temple and the Cosmic Inferno, Drums of death by DJ Spooky (who was here with the last arts festival placing his music against 'Birth of a nation') and Faust IV by Faust, a 2-cd re-release of the 1972 classic with Peel sessions and all sorts of extras.

New local fiction

Among our new NZ fiction for September we have books by Stevan Eldred-Grigg, Emma Neale, David Bishop and Paul Cleave. 'The Sound of Butterflies' by Rachael King is about a passionate butterfly collection at the beginning of the 20th century. 'Twilight of the dead' by David Bishop is the final frightening book in his Fiends of the Eastern Front trilogy, which combines WWII and vampires (sorry, vampyrs).

Startled by his furry shorts

(or, I would rather snog my cat)


Visit our new look hype page for the latest teen books, mags, graphic novels, CDs and DVDs. There is new fiction about a vampire with one tooth, French kissing, being adopted, a flash flood in London, eating spearmint jelly candy, It girls, a vast toxic dustbowl that was once an ocean and best friends who aren't so friendly anymore.

Chesscricketrugbycyclingrunningtennis

We have new sports and games books on The Ashes, ocean canoeing, finding the perfect wave, triathlons and Hitler's 1936 Olympics. 'Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die : Golf Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations' may impell you to travel or make you envious of those who can afford to. 'Capoeira : the Jogo de Angola from Luanda to cyberspace' traces the lively dance and martial art form.

The library lion

We have many new children's fiction books and children's picture books. For older readers there is a vampire chicken, bike tricks, garden gnomes and Artemis Fowl. For those who prefer picture books there is a water-squirting stegosaurus, car crashing bugs and a sheep with a mind of its own.

A rather bemused bride

Cannibalism, Dickens, farm mud, happy marriages, serial escape artists and hunting rifles feature in our new biographies. 'Unaccompanied women : late life adventures in love, sex, and real estate' by Jane Juska tells what happened after the 66 year-old author placed a personal ad. The discovery of teenage Nina Lugovskaya's diary by the NKVD was enough for treason charges to be placed against her family in 'I want to live : the diary of a young girl in Stalin's Russia'.

Thunderbolt kid

Our new bestsellers include Bill Bryson's latest and 'Be near me' by Andrew O'Hagan, the story of a Scottish priest experiencing difficulties during a time of change. We have more bestseller copies of the latest Road Code, the most popular item in the library.

The natural disorder of things

New contemporary fiction for September - all this and more.

No business buzzwords here

(Well, just a few)
Project management, enthusiastic and toxic employees, leadership, restarting a career after motherhood and corporate communications are among the topics of our new management books. In 'The living dead', David Bolchover reveals the shocking truth of office life. 'Can two rights make a wrong?' by Sara J. Moulton gives insights into IBM's tangible culture approach.

A season of darkness and horror

Vampires, sorcerers and a shy psychic bookworm feature in our new SF and fantasy books for September. An elf has a reputation of cruelty, the savage Horsekin tribes raid villages, strategic marriages are planned and someone has cravings for hallucinogenic dragon venom. And we think we have problems.

The next victim

We have new Mysteries from Jeffrey Deaver, Karin Slaughter, J.D. Robb and more. There are sordid personal histories, vicious skinheads, hordes of gamblers and a hard-to-read veteran who resents a newcomer. Tough guys posture and bodies wash up on the shore. There are also birthing classes and baby showers, so life goes on.

His domestic apocalypse

Fragile creatures, family funeral homes, seven-foot granite bodies, quests for the Holy Grail (hasn't this been overdone recently?) and dungeons feature in our new graphic novels for September.

Banish bad habits

Women who worry too much, invisible acts of kindness, meditation and redesigning life are among the topics covered in our new personal development books. John F. Schumaker traces the history of happiness "from its prehistoric origins to its current super-commercialised form in an age of mass consumerism and epidemic depression" (Amazon). Controversial radio personality Laura Schlessinger offers advice in 'Bad childhood, good life : how to blossom and thrive in spite of an unhappy childhood'.

Yin-Yang principles

Chinese medicine, physiology, anatomy and going organic are some of the topics covered in our new health books for September. Carina Norris helps us turn back our body clocks, and Carole Hungerford offers 'a family doctor's unconventional guide' to 21st century health.

Six impossible things before breakfast

The coming Saudi oil shock, why 70% of Americans believe in angels, why our food choices matter, the evolution of myths and Victorian engravings of railroads of among the topics covered in our new popular non-fiction books. Geoffrey Ashe explores the strange rituals of Enlightenment Hell-fire clubs. James S. Griffith looks at folk saints along the Mexico-US border.

Computing

Our new computer books for September will help you with Firefox and Thunderbird, wireless home networking, PHP, Photoshop CS2, iWork 05, C# 2005 and more. We link to an online copy of the latest PC mag cover story, 'The mighty mini.' More CSS books are being published too, to our relief.

What's popular this month?

What's popular this month at WCL? All this and more. (Wellingtonians seem to be concerned with food at the moment).