Dim Phoenix Pumpkins

For the latest music news, visit our popular music page. The Dudes are returning, the Pumpkins reuniting and a Bebop pianist has died.

Snakes and Spike Lee

There's a fresh batch of news links on our movies page - read about how Hollywood relies on test screenings, the growth of animated movies for grown-ups and the 5o greatest indie films.

A terrorist teddy bear

Our fiction picks this month are debut novels, always a risky bet so our specialists have selected some of the best. The titles deal with Libya in the 1970s, violent historical re-enactment, an innocent teddy bear (Winkie) accused of terrorism, and more. There are also new librarian's choice books including titles by Alison Lurie, David Baddiel and classic crime noir author Wade Miller. Customers recommend books by Ben Elton, Neil Gaiman, Fay Weldon and others.

Surfing sand dunes

Our travel page features articles on dune-boarding, Ayurveda, cycling through landscapes that Rembrandt painted and travel safety.

Icons and wild animals

We have new art, architecture & graphics books on Cezanne, George Stubbs, the spiritual in art, Russian and Greek icons, Frank Lloyd Wright (a Ken Burns film), IM Pei, visual grammar and more. 'Lord of Mess My Head is a Visual Township' is about Jaybo who has influenced European street art. We also recommend websites.

New in our reggae section

Fascinating historical document Alpha Boys' School 1910-2006 : music in education, Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu's album Youth, women of reggae's I shall sing!, tracks from 1968-9 on Dawning of a new era : the roots of skinhead reggae plus the obligatory Marley number, DVD I shot the sheriff.

Man Booker longlist announced

The long list for the Man Booker Prize for fiction has been announced. From the 19 novels listed a short list will be chosen and announced on 14th September 2006 from this the winner of the £50,000 will be decided and announced on 10th October 2006.

12 meals a day

Two of our quirkier new cooking and food books: food writers Jane and Michael Stern recall fried food wonders and the joys of Amish bloomers (necessary on their diet) in the hilarious Two for the road : our love affair with American food. Journalist Bill Buford experiences the frantic world of New York kitchens and the peculiar meats of Tuscany in Heat : an amateur's adventures as kitchen slave, line cook, pasta maker, and apprentice to a Dante-quoting butcher in Tuscany.

Lemons are not red

Giddy goats, red lemons, silly billys, lamb-a-roos, witches with twitches, wondercats - it's all on our Children's picture books recent picks page.

Toe-tappin' good

Great new alt-country and Americana albums - Neko Case's atmospheric Fox confessor brings the flood , Jolie Holland's languid Springtime can kill you, Sarah Harmer's rootsy I'm a mountain, the Wailin' Jennys' folksy Firecracker, Calexico's highly-reserved Garden ruin, Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins' Rabbit fur coat, plus Emmylou. You can check out our latest country and folk albums anytime with these links.

Unexpected songs

New classical music DVDs include the Glyndebourne production of Pique Dame by Tchaikovsky and a new opera based on Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Little prince. New books and CDs are also featured on our classical music recent picks page.

1001 catalogue links

Our fiction librarian has created catalogue links for every NZ author we have listed on our NZ fiction by genre and surname webpages. Now it justtakes one click to see what we've got and if it's available. If you find any errors among the links (when you click on Janet Frame, does it bring up a list of window framing books?), we'd just love to tell her!

Subtext - double points this week

There's still time to join subtxt. Everyone with over 350 points can go in the draw for an iPod Nano, PSP, or pxt phone. Reviews this week earn double points. 'hot_chic_with_brains' already has 400 points, so if you're aged between 13 and 17 and are a member of WCL, get in quick.

Brain-bending bestsellers

New bestsellers include Kathy Reichs' latest Dr Temperance Brennan title, some odd short stories by Haruki Murakami and a novel about an undercover CIA agent who may have gone over to al Qaeda. Sergei Lukyanenko's 'Night watch' is about the Others (magicians capable of entering the shadowy Twilight world) who walk Moscow's streets.

Lost songs

What are we listening to this month? Gnarls Barkley (not that one could avoid them if one wanted to, really), Talib Kweli, Jackie DeShannon, Cyndi Lauper singing standards, St. Germain, lost songs of Lennon and McCartney, and more.

1037 All Blacks

There have been 1037 All Blacks. We have a feature on the history of rugby on our history page. Also, this month in history has been updated for August.

Body piercing saved my life

New popular music books this month explore the lives of Peggy Lee, Johnny Cash and Bob Marley. Well-known British music journo Simon Reynolds has released 'Rip it up and start again : postpunk 1978-1984'. Andrew Beaujon investigates American Christian rock in 'Body piercing saved my life', a genre in which fundamentalist evangelical Christianity is set to folky ballads and wrenching metal.

Exuding affection and goodwill

According to Amazon.com, "a sad, melancholy ache pervades Brokeback Mountain", "Syriana is an oil-based soap opera set against the world of global oil cartels", 'Lord of war' features "black-as-coal humor", Steve Martin's 'Shopgirl' "glowingly captures the bittersweet tones of a May-September romance" and 'The world's fastest Indian' exudes "affection and goodwill". These DVDs and more are featured on our DVD recent picks page.

The book of senior moments

Was Pride & Prejudice the first chick-list masterpiece? What role does a Nietzschean "master morality" play among Narnia's villains? What do madwomen get up to in the attic? What role did language play in Nazi Germany? All this and more (including The book of senior moments) in our latest literature picks.

Children's DVDs

From 1 August there is a limit of 3 children's DVDs per library card. Children's DVDs are free to take out on a child's library card, and this policy ensures there will be a greater selection of the best DVD titles each time you visit the library.

For the latest Children's DVDs, click here. You can also search DVDs by branch and genre on our Quicksearch and Movies pages.

There are no limits on any other AV items, such as YA and adult DVDs or children's videos.