Sequels, vampires, and vampire sequels...

Vampires stalk the streets of New York and a group of friends form a band in Scott Westerfeld's Last Days; Jacky Faber is a pirate with a price on her head and the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls to save in L.A. Meyer's In the Belly of the Bloodhound; and Ruby Oliver is back at Tate Prep in The Boy Book. Check out our hype page for new teen books.

From Gutenberg to Google

Our popular non-fiction recent picks this month feature a collection of truths and trivia about sheep, the effect of Wal-Mart on the economic life of America, the difficulties of transferring literary texts to electronic media (Gutenberg vs. Google), healing relationships with adult siblings, and an alternative guide to road rage.

Bambi vs. Godzilla

Read about the nature, purpose and practice of the movie business in David Mamet's cutthroat Hollywood, go 'on location' for a Harry Potter tour of London or a Breakfast at Tiffany's trip to New York, and discover the movies of the '30s - all in this month's film featured books.

In search of Africa's city of gold

A history of modern Lebanon, the race for Timbuktu, the myths of Churchill's war and the untold story of the Great War in Africa are all among our May history recent picks.

Catching the big fish

This month's personal development recent picks include: internationally acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch on his development as an artist and his personal working style, a guide to happiness for the overthinker, and how to learn faster and more effectively.

Hospitality under the influence

Bridesmaids, vintage tshirts, videogames, eco-friendly solutions for real people, pre-historic grooming rituals and more feature in our Buyers' Choice this month.

Grey's Anatomy and Boston Legal

This month our dvd recent picks include: the first season of Dead Like Me, and the second seasons of both Grey's Anatomy and Boston Legal. Enjoy!

Monkey Ninjas

Check out our children's av recent picks for new titles from Kim Possible, Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob and Clifford!

Chromotherapy

One thousand years of world architecture, thriftstore pots remade as canopic urns (ancient Egyptian repositories for the organs of the dead...) and the place and power of colour in life and art, are all among the topics of this month's art recent picks.

Get your library notices by email

We have introduced a new service for hearing about reserves and any overdue items on your card - you can now get these messages by email. If you want to switch to this option, all you need to do is complete the online form or ask at your local library. And of course if you find you prefer paper or phone notices you can switch back again at any time.

Internet forensics

Defending against internet fraud, OpenOffice.org, Maya7, utopia for HTML users and personal computing demystified are among our April computing recent picks.

First to see the sun

This month, discover the Chatham Islands, read about the baubles of office, family law policy and Martin Hawes's 8 lessons for buying and selling property in New Zealand - all in our April New Zealand/Aotearoa recent picks.

The Lamb Who Came For Dinner

A very featherbrained owl, a hungry wolf, a friendly little lamb and Lettice Rabbit are among the animals featured in our recent children's picture books this month.

Tickle your bunny phone

Tickle your bunny phone and start your own laughter epidemic, read about mighty machines and a car that has jet engines, and learn about conserving kiwi. All this and more in our April children's non-fiction recent picks.

Stretching anatomy

Morning workouts, body image, unseen illness, anxiety disorders and stretching anatomy are among the subjects of our latest health recent picks.

Terrible T-Rexes

A genie inside a teapot, Nosy the pterodactyl, an incredible spaghetti machine, and a magic book that can't quite get its facts straight - see our children's fiction recent picks for some of our new favourites.

Treasures and tombs

Our history page this month features Ancient Egypt. Discover the treasures of the pharaohs, read about obsessed treasure seekers and uncover the secrets of the pyramids. Also, this month in history the Queen Mother and Pablo Picasso died, the Vietnam War ended and ANZAC troops landed at Gallipoli.

Eleven metre anacondas

Among our most recent science books this month we have: the complete history of the universe, how to cut a cake (and other mathematical conundrums), eleven metre anacondas, and a story of arctic tragedy and continental drift.