335 ships and 40,000 men

This month our history recent picks feature: the story of the Union Jack, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 (involving 335 ships and 40,000 men), India after Gandhi (the history of the world's largest democracy), and more. Check out 'Bankrolling Basra', Andrew Alderson's account of his time as an officer in Britain's Territorial Army in charge of Basra's Central Bank. Given authority for over one fifth of Iraq's finances, he decides that the route to stability is to get the cash flowing again. What follows is a series of frequent, hair-raising adventures delivering suitcases, crates and binbags stuffed with millions of dollars wherever needed and by whatever means - in helicopters, speedboats, planes and landrovers...

Culinary dedication

Amongst our travel recent picks this month: William Black explores the highways and byways of French cooking with his mind (and his mouth) firmly open. In the process he samples such delights as tete de veau and fried cow's udder, and has a mixed bag of gastronomic experiences... Also included this month are a solo journey by bicycle through South America, the official travel guide for the Rugby World Cup 2007, one hundred and one beautiful towns in Italy, and the true tales of an American Nanny in Paris.

Wisecracking sisters on a shocking pink motorcycle

Vampires, Venice Beach, the 19th Amos Walker mystery from Loren D. Estleman, wisecracking sisters on a shocking pink motorbike, a detective with synesthesia who sees coloured shapes when he listens to suspects talk, an Irish noir thriller featuring Private Eye Ed Loy, and a murder-mystery speculative-history Jewish-identity noir chess thriller. All this (and more) in this month's mysteries recent picks.

State of the universe 2007

Human-grizzly bear interactions, a natural history of the atmosphere, and profiles of 120 amazing, terrifying and bizarre prehistoric monsters that strode the land, terrorised the seas and patrolled the air - all in our science recent picks this month. Plus, take stock of the universe in 2007, become a historical tourist in the world of weights and measures, and re-discover your sense of wonder in the natural world through Darwin. Factoid: hapless 1920s inventor Thomas Midgley was responsible for both the process of adding lead to petrol, and the development of CFCs. Solving a refrigeration problem, he inadvertently created chemicals that punched a hole in the sky...

Singing our song, all day long, at Hogwarts

We were very excited this morning to receive our 50 normal lending copies of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. Eager library staff rushed out on Saturday to pick up 10 interim copies to fill early reserves but we now have our full complement - so make sure to put your name down on the waiting list for one of the library's copies!You can click here to go straight to the catalogue record and place a reserve.

Mr. Allbones' ferrets

Check out our suspense/thriller recent picks for, amongst other things, 'Mr. Allbones' ferrets : an historical pastoral satirical scientifical romance, with mustelids' by New Zealand author Fiona Farrell. Other suspense/thriller recent picks include: a personal story of a family's history in Southern Italy, a smart comedy of manners and obsession, an illicit relationship in the summer of 1953, and an eco-thriller with ruthless fishing industrialists.

Dramatherapy

Our health recent picks this month feature the art of learning (highly-ranked chess player Josh Waitzkin muses on his personal experience mastering chess and his discovery that the mindset and learning techniques he'd applied to chess were actually transferable to other skillsets...), dramatherapy (the power of drama as a therapeutic medium because of its foundations in metaphor), history's first pandemia plague which occurred seven centuries before the Black Death, and the true-life story of Dr. Jayant Patel, better known as Doctor Death, who shocked Australia when the truth came to light that he may have killed as many as 87 people under his care.

Making stuff

This month our craft recent picks feature beaded beads, perfect pearl jewelry, goldsmithing, silver work, sketchbooks for embroiderers and textile artists and inspiring craft projects to recycle your old possessions and make something out of nothing. (Make a notebook out of a record cover, knit an i-Pod cosy, fold beautiful origami fairy-lights, recycle your old T-shirts into bathmats or placemats, customise your own clothes, make your own jewelry, decorate your house...)

Would you believe?

Would you believe Cleopatra's lipstick was crushed beetles? Check out our children's non-fiction recent picks this month for the next instalment of the 'Would you believe' series of books, complete with awesome (and sometimes gruesome!) photographs of weird fashion trends. Also included this month: books on global warming, dogs, how to draw animals, World War I, railway stations, rubbish, comets, asteroids, meteors, and ear-invading creepy crawlies...

Town of evening calm, country of cherry blossoms

A baby rabbit who goes to nursery school and can't come to terms with the fact that he's not human, the Trojan War, life after World War II in Japan through the eyes of a woman in 1955, and a 10,000-mile road trip on a greyhound bus. For these and many more ('Arabian Nights' in the Fables series, Frank Miller's 'Sin City: family values'...), check out our graphic novel recent picks.

Rain-slicked streets and 22,000 horses

This month's fiction recent picks range across place and time - Egypt and Palestine during and after World War I, 1960s London, the rain-slicked streets of Chicago, 1930s Europe, Labour's election victory in 1997, the smoke and ash of the burning towers and the global tremor of September 11 in the intimate lives of a few people...

Pimp Our Trollies

Karori Library's "Pimp My Trolley Competition" is on this Thursday @ 5pm for all teen SUBTXTers. You will have 30 minutes to pimp one of our library trolleys - and the best pimped-out trolley will win a prize! Food and drink will be provided and 50 bonus SUBTXT points will be given to all attendees. Register to compete at the Karori Library upstairs information desk (ask the nice librarian).

Ghosties & ghoulies & long-leggity beasties

This month our science fiction and fantasy recent picks feature: talking gargoyles, magic worked in the form of jewelled glass, an impending dark age, and the latest from Simon Green, Kage Baker and John C. Wright...

Timothy Pope, Timothy Pope, what can you see through your telescope?

Will Cornelius P. Mud ever be ready in time for school? Would Morton's baby brother be more fun if he were a hulkingly huge lime green dragon? What can Ben do to make Penguin speak? These and other questions answered in this month's picture book recent picks! (Also featuring such classics as 'Shark in the Park', and 'Mr. Gumpy's Outing'.)

Wicked fun and inspired lunacy

A return to form for The West Wing with season 6, a Wizard-of-Oz-inspired episode of Scrubs in season 5, and a teenaged Superman in Season 1 of Smallville - check out our DVD recent picks for these and much more. (Little Britain Live, Marie Antoinette, The Outer Limits, Hex, Apocalypto...)

Graphics and Games for SUBTXTers

Head along to the Kilbirnie Library this Wednesday 18th July for Teens Rule the Library: Graphics and Games! Between 6-8pm there'll be prizes, food, Playstation competitions on the big screen, comic drawing competitions, a real life comic artist, and of course great books, CDs, and DVDs.

All SUBTXTers that come will gain 50 automatic points. Bring your friends - and if they sign up for SUBTXT you will get even more points!!

Foodie adventures

Culinary journeys, cucina povera and fast food: treats in the Cooking recent picks include new cookbooks from Gordon Ramsay and Donna Hay, flavours from Provence, Italy and the Alps; plus edible Auckland.

The magic library @ platform 9 and 3/4

A free, fun Harry Potter celebration!

Appear at the Wellington Central Library for a free reading of a chapter of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with Sorceror Stu. Conjure up your favourite character's costume and play games to win prizes. Become spellbound by Zappo and Zappolina's funtastic Harry Potter magic show but watch out for Tom Riddle!

7pm until 8.30pm, Friday 20 July, Central Library, 65 Victoria Street Call 499 4444 for more details.

Friday 13th Zombie Party at Johnsonville

Tonight at the Johnsonville Library there will be a Zombie party (with pizza, not the usual zombie fare) - dress up as a zombie and win prizes! You will also receive 50 bonus SUBTXT points and more if you register a zombified friend. Come along at 6pm and join in the fun - more information here.

Practical handbooks of software construction

The July Computing recent picks include guides for Vista, PHP, Word 2007, Google's online tools, 1 hour websites and software construction; for the notebook-toting there's a book of laptop projects. There's also an overview of biocomputation: "where brand new creatures are engineered in the laboratory".

Newtown's Teen Idol

There's a Teen Idol competition this Friday at Newtown Library from 6pm-7.30pm. Food will be provided! If you're already a SUBTXT participant bring along a friend to join, and earn yourself some extra points. All who turn up will also get extra points for just coming along!

Tōku kāinga tumeke! My awesome place!

WCL has fun activities happening these school holidays. Create your own place name and make up some awesome stories, in celebration of te Wiki Ō te Reo Māori (Maori Language Week). It's all happening at Newtown, Island Bay and Karori branch libraries this week, other branches next week - see the Kids' WhatsOn page for more details.

Bows and arrows, "animals and hybrid beings engaged in otherworldly drama", &Fork, Kate Hepburn, creating a healthier planet, swimsuit history and fateful choices - just some of the variety in this month's
Buyer's Choice.