Christchurch City Libraries Blog

After a random draw,  the winner of the copy of Christchurch Dreaming is OisO. We will be in contact to get your prize to you!

Her favourite image in our collection is “A horse with cart is watered at Armagh Street Bridge, Christchurch : Provincial Buildings and Supreme Court at left”:

Thanks to those of you who shared your favourites:

Roy chose these two  image “Princes Street Bridge, Woolston (now Rutherford Street), looking east” and “The old Rakaia combined road & rail bridge : at right the new road is under construction”:

Jan chose this image of “Cashel Street Christchurch, looking west toward the Bridge of Remembrance “:

And sweetasnzgirl chose this fab pick of a 1960s musical interlude in New Regent Street:

Is there a better place to be in this world than sitting on your couch with a bag of potato chips to your left, a steaming cup of tea to your right and a really good book open in your lap? If there is a better place than this, I am sure it involves money or sin!

To help you find that really good book, we have  Books & Authors, a fun online tool which seeks to answer the question of “what do I read next?” You can search in many ways:

• Author
• Title and Series
• “If you like…”
• Genre
• Awards
• Who, What, When, Where
• Expert picks from librarians and subject experts.

Access this and many other fantastic electronic resources  from home with your library card number and PIN, or at our community libraries through the Source. Enjoy the search!

Dandy Gilver and an unsuitable day for a murder by Catriona McPherson

Book six of this cosy-ish crime series set in 1920s Scotland finds Dandelion Gilver, Dandy to her friends, summoned to Dunfermline on a mysterious commission and a case which involves two feuding merchant families. Stage left, The Aitkens, owners of Aitkens’ Emporium and stage right the Johnny-come-lately Hepburn family, proprietors of the upmarket department store House of Hepburn. The author kindly includes family trees for this tongue-in-cheek take on the Capulet and Montague clans and by story end only the most attentive reader will not have made use of them. While this series has great period detail and a pair of eminently likeable upper middle-class sleuths in Dandy and her long-suffering sidekick Alec Osborne, I found this particular title a slightly torturous read. A cast of millions, layers upon layer of sometimes overly descriptive detail and ultimately a dark and faintly depressing dénouement.

A capital crime by Laura Wilson

Based on a disturbing and tawdry real life crime, Laura Wilson’s trilogy featuring Detective Inspector Ted Stratton, reaches the post-war period. Wilson beautifully captures the mixed emotions of the times and shows that the hardships of war are still very much evident in London, as are the privations of peace.

Stratton’s investigation into the murder of a pregnant mother and toddler initially seems straightforward with a voluntary confession from the husband/father of the victims. Justice is meted out but later as the body count continues it become clear that the real perpetrator is alive and killing. D.I. Stratton is a solid, straight-forward and likeable character bogged down by police bureaucracy, and struggling with grief and guilt over the death of his wife. Once again Laura Wilson successfully weaves Stratton’s domestic life and his “friendship” with recurring character Diane Calthorp into a satisfying and sophisticated read.

The hanging shed by Gordon Ferris

A runaway e-book bestseller, The hanging shed is set in post-WWII Glasgow and introduces Douglas Brodie, ex-cop, ex-soldier and now a freelance journalist teetering on the verge of alcoholism and poverty. His former school pal, Hugh Donovan, has been found guilty of murder and is all set to hang at the notorious Barlinne Prison. Donovan vehemently maintains his innocence and Brodie agrees to re-investigate the case. First stop is Donovan’s lawyer Sam Campbell, a classic Hitchcock blonde, and with slightly tedious inevitability the thriller’s love interest.

Cool, icy blonde clichés aside this is an engaging title: fast-paced action sequences, corrupt cops, the mean streets of The Gorbals and period “Weedgie” lingo as well as a complex and well-drawn central character all contribute to a very credible detective debut.

Gang of three brings you short and sharp reviews of criminally good reading. If these aren’t enough, you can:

• Search our BiblioCommons catalogue for novels about murder investigations or detective and mystery stories
• Sign up for our email newsletters - there is a monthly dose of  Thrillers and Suspense

Christmas brings to mind a lot of treats, including watching the kids open their presents, good food and and atmospheric music. You may not get your choice for all of them, but you can for music. Not only can you raid our Christmas CD collections, but a quick look into Naxos Music Online gives a seemingly endless list of Christmas recordings to get you into that yuletide spirit.

There is nothing like being read a story out loud, even for us grown-ups. I once worked in a Rudolf Steiner community in Germany where we were read Christmas stories by candle light on Christmas Eve and it was magical.  I was pleased therefore to notice Classic Christmas Tales on Naxos, as well as The Night Before Christmas narrated by Stephen Fry. The latter supplies Christmas music with the story embedded into it (if you just want the story.

There is also a recording of Victorian carols with readings of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol embedded in the same way. I can’t think of a nicer way to spend a quiet evening before Christmas than to listen to these with some youngsters. Another Christmas favourite which shows up in Naxos Video is The Nutcracker ballet and I will certainly be watching that.

Of course there are lots of traditional albums of Christmas carols to browse through  and plenty of classical Christmas music too, including the Bach Christmas Oratario and Handel’s Messiah. Or you might like a bit of jazz, or even some vintage 30s & 40s songs, or the Grimethorpe Colliery Band playing some of your favourites.

• These albums (and over 60,000 more) are available online for free from anywhere with your library card number and PIN.
• Listen to free online music from Naxos Music Library and the Source.

I have heard there are 60,000 road cones around Christchurch. I dodge street repairs and pot holes to get to and from work each day and I’m sure I pass most of the 60,000.

The Certificate of Design students from CPIT borrowed some road cones from Fulton Hogan and created  forty sculptures. These works of art were on display in the Botanic Gardens, under a shady tree  near the Peacock fountain.

I visited the gardens last weekend to admire  the creativity that was on show. I was asked which one I liked the most. I couldn’t choose. Was it the shoe, the icecream, the gramophone player, the butterflies or the cone fish? Why not have a look at my photos and cast your vote?

Sadly, the exhibition ended on Monday 28th November.  I don’t know what has happened to the cones. Maybe you’ll drive past one on your way to work one of these days.