Amber beads and brown owls

Our new fiction picks for July include Gautam Malkani's electrifying debut 'Londonstani', Louise Doughty's 'Stone cradle' about a Romany family, and the story of a literate rat born in a bookstore, 'Firmin : adventures of a metropolitan lowlife' by Sam Savage. In 'Dancing with the two-headed tigress' by Tina Biswas, unsophisticated Mousumi arrives in London from India.

Good medicine

Our new health books cover art therapy, health after 50, overweight children, walking chi kung and more.

Tales etched in blood

Was the home-baked quiche poisoned? Will the sewers beneath Victorian London reveal all? Where did the little girl vanish to? Find out in our new mysteries for July.

Blood feuds and beautiful concubines

New science fiction and fantasy this month includes a Harlan Ellison retrospective and titles about cuckolded sorcerers and Magi wars. Conor Corderoy's 'Dark rain' is set on dying Earth, where the super-rich experience crime-free luxury in Domes and the rest of humanity lives outside in endless rain. Mel Odom's 'The destruction of the books' features "lowly librarians" who must save the precious volumes of the Vault of All Known Knowledge or darkness will descend upon the world. Sounds like daily life at WCL.

Smart guys and buried treasure

Our latest bestsellers include 'The smartest guys in the room : the amazing rise and scandalous fall of Enron', the definitive account of the Enron debacle; 'Buried treasure : travels through the jewel box', a fascinating journey into gemstones; 'Married to a Bedouin', a New Zealander's remarkable story of married life in the ancient caves of Petra; and new books by Norah Roberts, James Patterson and more.
If you want these items right now, look out for a bestseller copy; if you don't mind waiting, please place a reserve.

The shyest fish in the sea

Dive into a magical underwater realm, climb a tree into the clouds, spy on penguins stealing the furniture and meet Moho the ugly Pukeko in our new Children's picture books. We also have great new Children's fiction and Children's AV.

Quiz quandary

Test your knowledge of children's books in our latest quiz quandary.

New religion and beliefs books

Several books on Muslim intellectuals feature in our
Religion recent picks this month. Scientist Robert Winston, on our televisions currently with Child of our time, examines science and religion in 'The story of God'. Jacques Berlinerblau argues that non-believers must have greater knowledge of religion in his book 'The secular Bible'. Fenton Johnson tells his story of growing up with Trappist monks and later studying Buddhism in 'Keeping faith'.

Māori recent picks

Māori Recent Picks for July includes 'He pitopito kōrero nō te perehi Māori = Readings from the Māori-language press', full of fascinating excerpts from 19th century newspapers such as letters, obituaries and advertisements. 'Maoriland : New Zealand literature, 1872-1914' by Jane Stafford and Mark Williams investigates NZ literature from the 1880s till the beginning of World War I.

What's popular this month?

If you're everyone, you're listening to Gnarls Barkley, watching Grey's anatomy, reading the latest from Noam Chomsky and NZ's Ginger series, and waiting with baited breath for new books by Monica Ali, Haruki Murakami and the story of Marguerite Van Geldermalsen's marriage to a Bedouin. Of course, you're not everyone, but good taste abounds so check out what's popular this month. We also list all our new fiction, genre fiction, large print books and DVDs.

Tea with Einstein

New biographies for July involve vile kings, a disillusioned Red Guard, an incomparable salon hostess, the original Angry Young Man, a gentlemen explorer-adventurer and a German cousin's mysterious disappearance. James Wyllie's biography 'The warlord and the renegade' investigates the lives of Hermann Goering, Hitler's most trusted henchman, and his anti-Nazi brother Albert.

Food glorious food

We have new cooking books on the pleasures of slow food, children's cooking, biodynamic foods, sweets from Savannah's Lady and sons and the appealingly personal 'A tale of 12 kitchens: family cooking in four countries'. For the adventurous, Tessa Kiros' gorgeous 'Apples for jam: recipes for life' arranges food by colour.

Frogs, butterflies and dinosaurs

New science books for July include 'Frogs : a chorus of colors', 'Butterflies of the world', 'The illustrated encyclopedia of dinosaurs' and 'Galileo's instruments of credit : telescopes, images, secrecy'. Well-known mathematician Ian Stewart explains what it's like to be a mathematician. In 'Chances are... : adventures in probability', we realise "once you know that daisies usually have an odd number of petals, you can get anyone to love you."

Indigenous peoples resources

Our Indigenous peoples resources page highlights books and articles throughout our collection on Māori and first nations of the world. Topics covered include culture, education, environment, sovereignty and literature.

Zombie shops and slackers at summer camp

New graphic novels this month feature a lab experiment gone disastrously awry, a beautiful young Japanese woman who can raise the dead, Nikolai Dante (thief, brigand and bastard son of the Romanovs), a camp counselor in 1979 Quebec, and a desert road trip. Comic great Will Eisner's The plot : the secret story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion dramatises the anti-Semitic hoax, exploring its twisted history from nineteenth-century Russia to modern-day Ku Klux Klan members and Islamic fundamentalists.

Lasagna gardening for small spaces

DIY and gardening recent picks include lasagna gardening (layering), creating a cosy winter house, tailoring, curtain-making and one-minute organising.

Most new DVDs ever?

Booklists - new fiction, large print, DVDs and music. We have fiction about wanton redheads, the smell of the moon, dolphin people and the single gentleman's dining club. We have large print books about Pope Benedict XVI, an ice queen and the pride of Lancashire. New DVDs include The standard of perfection - show cats & show cattle, Love of quilting, The best of queer eye, FIFA fever, Dirty Harry, She-devils on wheels, Walk the line, The Beatles down under, Ricky Gervais live and 8 1/2. And more. Much, much more.

New bestsellers this week include Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp and Frank Schätzing's The swarm. A publishing phenomenon in Germany, the English version of ecological thriller The swarm was translated by Sally-Ann Spencer of Houghton Bay.

Closure of Mobile Library Service

Wellington City Council has voted to end the Mobile Library service. The last day for full library services will be Friday 30 June 2006. More information is available on our website.

A dour missionary uncle

New NZ fiction on leftie Wellington students in the 1970s, a brush maker, colonials in London on their OE, a dour missionary uncle and a bird scientist. And isn't this the best - "A missile has shot down Air Force One after it took off from Christchurch, New Zealand. A call was made to the Washington Post earlier that day from a group claiming responsibility for the assassination of President Cleveland. For Susan Hill, New Zealand's Prime Minister, it's a personal tragedy and a national one." From the book jacket of Unseen element by Bill Rodger.

Firefox and Thunderbird are go

New computing books this month cover home internet security, Linux toys, Illustrator CS2, Photoshop CS2, Mozilla's open source browser Firefox, and more.

Disneyland opens and Hemmingway commits suicide

This month in history Gershwin and Eva Peron died, NZ adopted decimal currency and the Rainbow Warrior was bombed. Our July history page feature is on the formation of the U.S.S.R.

Morons and extreme headbangers - books for teens

Our new books for teens includes a book by NZ teens - Cupid on a Friday Night : The Fifth in the Re-draft Series. Clever sods. There are also books about nuts, morons and extreme headbangers, "Storms thet change whatever the touch, rearranging streets, turning children into statues of glass, remaking the world over and over", and another installment of the Princess diaries.

(Remember - you can write a review and we might publish it on our website)

Pasefika stack showcase

We're featuring old gems of Pacific history on our Pasefika page. Many of the books are by missionaries and early travellers to the region, and their accounts can be fascinating.

A treasury of deception

New to our non-fiction collection this month - books on liars, misleaders and hoodwinkers; philosophy; the necessity of men; Russian fairy tales; a British Muslim's Guantanamo experiences; gadgets; skilled NZ migrants; why culture can't be jammed, and more.

Freaky fridge magnets

Come along and make freaky fridge magnets, experience puppet pizzazz, become a superhero, and create things that fly - our holiday programmes are are great fun.

Win in the kickboxing ring

We have new sports books on kick-boxing, Muay Thai, bowling, dressage, rowing and more.

The Film Festival is upon us

Telecom 35th Wellington Film Festival brochures are out and the website is up. If you're feeling peckish for quality DVDs (only $3/week), you can search our collection by genre, including foreign language, classic novels, nostalgia and documentaries. Work your way through the Criterion collection or Director's suite series. From last year's film festival we have adored documentary The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill, David LaChapelle's urban doco Rize, Wong Kar Wai's 2046, The edukators and more.

New to Oxford Reference Online

Some of the best reference books are available online at Oxford Reference Online and Oxford English Dictionary Online. New to Oxford Reference Online - The Oxford Dictionary of Plays, Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, The Oxford Companion to the Garden, The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and The Oxford Dictionary of Animal Behaviour.

There are also new editions of Dictionary of Ecology, A Dictionary of Psychology, A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, The Pocket Latin Dictionary, and the Oxford Companion to English Literature.

Oh, and they now offer over 775 maps. Phew.

New Zealand artists database

Our index of WCL material on NZ artists (painters, photographers, sculptors, installation artists...) is available to search online. The aim of the database is to be a useful resource for the general interested reader and students at secondary and tertiary levels.

(Plus, new art and graphic arts books are displayed each month on our Art page)

We'll do your research for you!

If you're stuck with a project and need some assistance, we can provide up to two hours of research for free. All Wellington City Libraries members are eligible for this service. Just talk to us (801 4059) or email us and we'll provide help or research results within 3 days. If you need further help or if you have a tighter deadline, our ProSearch team provide professional research for a charge.

Listen to the library

Music Ad Lib on Access Radio 783 AM, Saturday 17th June at 4.30pm, will feature our usual mixture of oddities - rock-goth-piano-punk-cabaret-jazz. You may even be able to listen online.

Religion page updates

We've added new books, articles and websites to our Religion pages. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam is now available online from the Oxford Reference Centre. In his new book, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh explores 'Calming the fearful mind' in an age of terror. 'The Gospel of Judas, from Codex Tchacos' shows another side of Judas and Jesus. The classic book 'Hinduism' by K. M. Sen has been reprinted.

Who won what?

Zadie Smith has won the Orange Prize for her novel On beauty (30,000 pounds!). Ian McEwan has won the James Tait Black Memorial prize for his novel Saturday (10,000 pounds!).

Check out our Fiction book awards links for more prize-winners.

Music & movie news

Music news - tuneful anarchists, hip-shakers and football music.
Movie news - what frightens horror directors, tiresome actors and what's up with Wonder woman.
Also, what's in the latest music and movie magazines.

Watch television without adverts (on DVD)

Our new DVDs for June are mainly television programmes - great shows like 'Grey's anatomy', '24' (4th season), 'Aeon flux' (the animated series, not sucky movie), 'Gilmore girls' (1st season), and 'Arrested development' (1st season). Also available - Jodie Foster's blockbuster 'Flightplan' and Wong Kar Wai's moody '2046'.

Wellington Embroiderers' Guild exhibition

As part of the Wellington Embroiderers' Guild 40th anniversary they are exhibiting work around the city. There is an exhibition of the Guild's gorgeous work on the first floor of Central Library until Saturday 24 June. Guild members will be available daily to discuss embroidery and demonstrate current work. The library has many books and magazines on embroidery.

Aristocrats of leonine nonchalance

We have new Biographies this month about aristocrats, celebrity chefs, wildlife artists and NZers Jacqueline Fahey and Gordon Tietjens. 'I have heard you calling in the night : a memoir' by Thomas Healy shows how the life of this alcoholic writer was turned around when he bought a Dobermann puppy.

Evidence of good taste among Wellingtonians

What's popular this month? Our most highly reserved books include Alain De Botton's 'Architecture of happiness', Irene Nemirovsky's 'Suite Francaise' and 'Hard way' by Lee Child. New CDs by the Eels and Calexico are very popular. Many people have reserved new books still on order by Kate Atkinson, Linda Howard and Terry Goodkind.

From Deadwood to Luther

Our DVD staff picks for June include television series 'Deadwood' for those fond of cigarettes, whusky, an' wild, wild women, and the story of 16th-century German monk 'Luther'. Other highlights include 'The 40 year-old virgin', 'Jeeves & Wooster' and gorgeous Apollo mission documentary 'For All Mankind'.

See also new DVDs for June.

The myth of cholesterol

Our new Health recent picks feature whole foods, bi-polar disorder, anxiety, bird flu, ancient herbs, immune systems, asthma... we've a wealth of information!

Unlock the meaning behind Lost

We didn't buy many new movie & TV books this month, but what we did get is great - Lost, David Lynch, and Hollywood's iconic flops.

1001 albums you must hear before you die

New popular music books this month include Greil Marcus's 'Like a rolling stone' (the entire book is about that Dylan song), and 'Manchester, England: the story of the pop cult city.' Learn about the underbelly of rock'n'roll in 'Tupac: resurrection', 'Lobotomy: surviving the Ramones' and Chuck Klosterman's 'Killing yourself to live: 85% of a true story' in which he drives around America's most famous rock death sites.

What are we listening to?

This month's Staff CD picks include a Swedish group who make Belle and Sebastian sound fierce, Nashville teenage punks and a surf band for the Arctic Ocean. 'Without a song: the 9/11 concert' by Sonny Rollins shows how art can lift the human spirit in times of great tragedy.

Art, skateboarding and life

New design books - folk art, hip-hop art, business cards, New Orleans zines, storyboards and more. 'Andy Howell : art, skateboarding & life' traces Howell's journey through pro-skateboarding, the action sports industry and DIY movements within art, music and design.

Where women die of love

Our History recent picks for June include Juliet Nicolson's well-reviewed book 'The perfect summer : dancing into shadow : England in 1911', an idyllic summer for the wealthy, but full of strikes and unrest among the poor. We also feature histories of the Arctic, un-grim Lancashire, and America's participation in regime change.

Madeleine Albright reflects on God

New Religion & Beliefs Recent Picks for June include 'The mighty and the Almighty : reflections on power, God, and world affairs' by Madeleine Albright, 'Jesus and Yahweh : the names divine' by Harold Bloom and 'Plan B : further thoughts on faith' by Anne Lamott. New Buddhist books discuss environmentalism and the heart sutra. Galina Krasskova explores the gods and lore of Norse, German, and Anglo-Saxon traditions.

I dreamt I was a dinosaur

New Children's Picture Books include 'My mummy is magic', 'The bad good manners book' (by the wonderful Babette Cole) and 'Hello twins'. 'I dreamt I was a dinosaur' was created by fabric artist Clare Beaton from felt, sequins, beads and buttons. What kind of dinosaur would you like to be? Children's Fiction picks are also available.

Get back in the box!

New Management books cover stress in the workplace, moral intelligence, team dysfunctions, changing careers, cover letters and more.

Radical simplicity

'21st century Thoreau' Dan Price's new book 'Radical simplicity' is featured on our Personal Development Recent Picks for June. There's a fascinating history of happiness, advice on helping young people with stress, and an exploration of the Tibetan art of serenity.

The well-dressed window

You, too, can have a gorgeous window. Plus nurturing children's rooms, a budget home make-over and an outstanding poolscape. Our Home & Garden recent picks for June include 'Merry Christmas quilts' - start quilting now and give them as presents in December! 'How to decorate' gives you the basics on wallpapering, tiling, painting and more.

New New Zealand books for June

Wine, Hotere, Nelson's railway, religion, the greatest rugby matches - it's all here on our June NZ/Aotearoa recent picks page.

Godslayers, dreamers and stormcallers

Yes, it's time for new science fiction and fantasy books. There are new titles by popular authors David & Leigh Eddings and David Weber. Jim Butcher's Proven guilty features the only wizard in Chicago's phonebook. C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp have produced Touch of evil, in which Kate is troubled enough by her probable future as queen of the parasites; then she meets a sexy werewolf.

What do our buyers recommend?

For June our buyers have picked books about the French occupation, small foods, Arabs and Jews in Jaffa, rugby sevens coach Gordan Tietjens and 500 cupcakes. On magazine Sports Illustrated's 50th anniversary, they have produced a gorgeous photography book, now on order for the library collection.

Great new contemporary fiction

This month we've new novels from Jodi Picoult, Anne Tyler, Andrei Makine and more. Man Booker Prize short-lister David Mitchell's new book Black Swan Green is the wonderful tale of bright bullied 13-year-old stammerer Jason Taylor, who lives in a dull town with no swans of any colour.

All good things must come to an end

New Zealand Music Month at Wellington City Libraries - Ends Tomorrow.
Secret CD vouchers all but gone!
Borrow NZ CDs from the Central Library's Collection and you could win a $20 music voucher from Real Groovy or Music Works.

NZ Music Trivia Quiz - entry time extended now closes Wednesday 7 June - you could win an i-pod shuffle.

NZMM Last Performance, Wednesday 31 May Library and WCC waiata groups combine to entertain you with a short bracket of waiata and are followed by the amazing Ray Ahipene-Mercer and Holden Hohaia duo - just brilliant!

Library Pre-Winter Book Sale
All items 50c - everything must go, unbelievable bargains there for the taking!

Seven deadly colours

Extinction, the secret history of gemstones and the genius of nature's palate are the topics of some of our Popular science recent picks. In Sex, drugs, and DNA, Michael Stebbins discusses the taboos which work to prevent scientists from plaining discussing their work in public. Esteened Australian scientist Peter Doherty discusses his life in The beginner's guide to winning the Nobel Prize: a life in science.

Travels through unfamous places

Our new travel books for June include Eat pray love, as much a self-help book as memoir, and photographer Mirella Riciardi's African visions. In Great British bus journeys: travels through unfamous places, David McKie visits unfashionable towns. British Philip Ells asks, Where the hell is Tuvalu?, and becomes a lawyer there.

New to MyLibrary - Graphic novels

Whether Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian or Egyptian gods showing up in 2023 Paris are your thing, our new Fiction (Graphic novels) recent picks page is the webpage to visit. WCL's new graphic novels range from the cute (A.L.I.E.E.N.) to serious and heartfelt (Joe Sacco depicts his mother's harrowing WWII experiences). If you thought comics were just for kids, here are some titles to convince you otherwise.

Terrorists, riots, the plague...

Our fiction genre pick this month is Suspense & thrillers. New titles involve bioterrorism, dying popes, cryptic messages, the secretly-pregnant Lady Celia, a missing Amish child, and undying Wallachian vampires. In Patrick Quinlan's 'Smoked', Smoke Dugan hides from his criminal past, which of course will catch up with him.

Copland, Shostakovich, Lilburn

Our Classical music picks for June include books on the composers Copland, Shostakovich and Lilburn, plus 'Composers in the movies : studies in musical biography'. We also feature some new scores by NZ composers.

History - The United Nations

This month's History page features the United Nations. In world history for June, Orwell, Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe were born. On 15th June 1959, the Chinese gooseberry was renamed the Kiwi fruit.

Geeks on call

New computer books for June cover RSS, Photoshop CS2, Maya 7, switching to Firefox and InDesign CS2. Plus there's Geeks on call security and privacy, by JR King.

Dogs and whistleblowers

Our Popular non-fiction picks are broad this month - from the crimes and misdemeanours of M15 and M16 to calming signals for dogs, from magic and divination in Russia to climage change. Titles include David Porritt's thoughts on sustainable capitalism in Capitalism : as if the world matters, and The hip hop generation : young blacks and the crisis in African American culture by Bakari Kitwana.

S is for silence

Yes, it's time for a new Sue Grafton mystery. What will she do when she's finished with the alphabet? We also have new mysteries from Lisa Scottoline, Italian Giampiero Rigosi and Jessica Mann.

Tuck yourself in with a quilting book

Quilting dominates our Craft recent picks page for June. There are quick quilts, clever quilts, cuddly quilts, quilt borders, floral quilts, Amish crib quilts and quilts from Italian mosaics.

Cook with hairy bikers

Our new cookbooks for June include The Hairy Bikers cookbook, Second helpings from the dinner lady and Delia Smith's winter collection. Monisha Bharadwaj's India's vegetarian cooking is so yummy that I want my own copy, and its division into regional cuisines is educational. Gina Mallet "muses on the fates of foods that were once the stuff of feasts" (Amazon UK) in Last chance to eat: the fate of taste in a fast food world.

New magazines

New magazines include Straight no chaser : interplanetary sounds : ancient to future, Islamica magazine, Scratch : hip hop, Total gamer, Psychologies and Landscape architecture. For more information, check out our Magazines subject help page.

New fiction for June

Our new general fiction for June includes books by David Mitchell, Suroopa Mukherjee and Louise Wenner. Our new other fiction includes mysteries by Colleen McCullough and Lisa Scottoline; sf and fantasy by David Eddings and Bruce Sterling; and the short story collection 'Dates from hell'.

Book sale - drastic price reductions!

Central Library pre-winter book sale - drastic price reductions!

Mega bargains to be had for the rest of this week only. All fiction and non-fiction books at the low, low price of $1.00 each and stock up your children's book shelves for a mere 50c per children's item. Sale finishes on Sunday.

New books in community languages

We try to buy books in all the languages popular among Wellingtonians. Check out our latest titles, or suggest a book if your language isn't covered. This month we have our first book in the Tigrinya language of Eritrea. There are also new books in Chinese, Hindi, Croatian and more.

So you like mysteries set in Iceland...

We have added to our murder mystery genres. Use our easy search box to find your favourite kind of mystery, whether it involve cats, war, English country life, the supernatural, rail travel or noir.

Top 100 baby purees

We've updated the new books on our parenting page, with titles on teaching babies maths, making smart toy choices and being a happy mother. The Families Commission's new online panel The Couch is our featured website this month.

Fiction Connection helps you find something to read

Whether you're after books about revenge, mothers and daughters, London, ex-convicts or the Tudor period, Fiction Connection is designed to help you. Explore by genre, character, location and timeframe or go on a quick tour. Just login with your library card number and begin to browse!

New Zealand fiction

Lost among the hundreds of NZ fiction books that we hold? Our new New Zealand fiction page assists you in finding NZ fiction that you'll like. Organised by genre, you can read NZ murders, NZ romance, NZ historical novels and more.

What are we watching this month?

It's a bit scary - we're watching everything from Christopher Guest comedies through Bollywood musicals to "The Thorn Birds". You're sure to find something among our Staff DVD picks. Thought-provoking documentary "The end of suburbia : oil depletion and the collapse of the American dream" was another favourite.

Big movies, big scandals

Enron: the smartest guys in the room and King Kong are two of our new DVDs for May. Also reviewed are Tim Burton's Corpse bride, Cinderella man and The constant gardener.

Reader's choice

See what fiction has been enjoyed recently by WCL customers in our Reader's choice section.

New debut novels

We are featuring new first novels on our fiction page. The librarian's choice section has also been updated.

Mere Boynton & Toni Huata at Central Library

Māori musicians Mere Boynton & Toni Huata are performing at Central Library. Singer and actor Mere Tokorahi Boynton, who trained at the Conservatorium of Music in Wellington, performs on Saturday 13 May at 1.00 pm. Toni Huata performs the following Sunday, 21 May at 1.30 pm, show-casing her special mixture of sounds and feelings from the past, mixed with today's international music.

NZ Music Month

Win an iPod shuffle or vouchers, see a great performance, listen to some great CDS - more info on our NZ Music Month page.

Plenty of bargains at library book sale

Every year thousands of avid readers and music lovers gather at Wellington Central Library for the pre-winter book sale. And judging by its past popularity, this sale should be no different. Past buyers have used the sale to find the best book deals, to complete their personal collections or just to rummage and find a gem. And the sale helps the library by making room for its ever increasing collection.

The sale includes books, CDs, cassettes, magazines and journals on every topic imaginable. Stock is replenished at regular intervals during the sale ensuring there are always fresh bargains to be found. And they really are bargains - prices start from 50 cents for magazines, with most other items between $1 and $6.

If you love a bargain and love music or literature, you won't want to miss it.

Book sale on now at Wellington Central Library, 65 Victoria Street.

Word fugitives : in pursuit of wanted words

Our May Literature Recent Picks include James K. Baxter poetry, 'Journalistas' about women journalists and The literature student's survival kit. Barbara Wallraff's Word fugitives : in pursuit of wanted words is a pleasure for everyone who enjoys her hilarious Atlantic Monthly column in which readers coin new words.

The armed man: a mass for peace

Our classical music DVDs for May include Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, Dance and dream by Strauss and The armed man: a mass for peace by Karl Jenkins. We also feature classical music CDs on our Classical recent picks page.

Get ahead of the pack!

Check out our new bestsellers to read the most popular books in NZ. And then you can drop plot twists into conversation and annoy everyone who isn't so up-to-date! Our new bestsellers include titles by Booker short-listed Peter Carey and David Mitchell, plus thrilling new murder mysteries.

Sex, lies, and menopause

Our Health recent picks for May include books on menopause, Chi gung and IBS. Jonathan Kaplan's new book Contact wounds, on his experiences as a war surgeon, is particularly recommended. According to Amazon.com, "As a volunteer surgeon in Baghdad, he treated civilian casualties amid gunfights for control of hospitals, gangs of AK-47 wielding looters stripping pharmacies, and militant Shi'a groups harassing doctors out of operating rooms."

Going sane

Check out Going sane : maps of happiness by Adam Phillips, or the other great titles on our Personal development recent picks page. Topics covered include controlling anger, living as a modern pagan and a zen response to terrorism.

New sports and games books

Archery, sudoku, a complete history of the FA Cup, casino jargon, the four-minute mile and boxing like a pro - our new sports books cover just about everything. The Lost Babes: Manchester United and the Forgotten Victims of Munich by Jeff Connor tells the story of the legendary football team that was lost to tragedy.

New murder mysteries

Among our new Mysteries are books by Colleen McCullough, Tami Hoag and Robert B. Parker. Plus chick-lit writer Jennifer Weiner tries her hand at the mystery genre with Goodnight nobody.

Deal with Darwin at work

Our new Management books cover subjects such as innovating at every phase of a company's evolution, business success, emotional intelligence and high-impact interview questions.

Discover Egypt and discover the South Seas

Our new travel books explore Africa, Spain's past, and two-thousand miles of the Rocky mountains in a canoe.

For more travel recommendations, visit our Travel recent picks page.

New biographies - Melville, Madame de Pompadour, Kublai Khan

First man : the life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen is one of our many fascinating new biographies this month.

Visit our Biography recent picks page for more titles.

New Māori books

Every month we feature our new books on Māori subjects on our Māori recent picks page. This month the picks cover art, indigenous responses to globalisation, ancient knowledge and M&#0257ori legislation.

Children's non-fiction is cuter than ours!

Check out Owen & Mzee : the true story of a remarkable friendship by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Paula Kahumbu. It is the true story of two great friends - a baby hippotamus named Owen and a 130-year-old giant tortoise named Mzee. Baby Owen was orphaned after the 2004 Tsunami. His friendship with Mzee saved his life.

Children's non-fiction recent picks

New local books

In the face of the enemy : the complete history of the Victoria Cross and New Zealand by Glyn Harper and Colin Richardson has been widely discussed in the media - read it here! Other new NZ titles include painter Jacqueline Fahey's autobiography and a book about magazine covers.

New Zealand recent picks

New computer books

Our new computer books include titles on Mac OS X Tiger and CSS. We have bought heaps of new computer books the past few months! As always, our computer books recent picks page links to the latest PC Magazine cover story - read computer magazines online for free with Ebsco.

What's popular this month?

'In cold blood' by Capote, Samurai graphic novels, and NZ books 'How to look at a painting' and 'Silk riders' are among the most reserved books this month. Check out our Booklists for more information.

Home & garden

Our Home & garden new book picks for May include 'P. Allen Smith's colors for the garden', 'Designing and creating a Mediterranean garden', 'Blinds, curtains & cushions' and 'Cut the clutter'.