I’ve stopped reading, what can I do?

In times of stress I stop reading.  I have the concentration span of a gnat.  Books I have reserved and coveted for a long time are languishing by my bed.  I will return them to be read by someone more deserving.

What I can manage however are magazines – nothing too serious, mind you.  I fill my head with tittle tattle and meaningless fluff that satisfies my desire to read but not think.  The library of course has a huge variety of magazines to satisfy all tastes, including mine, thank goodness.

Another past-time  guaranteed to sooth my unquiet mind and to stop all those jobs being done around the house is crosswords.  When I have the urge to cheat (which of course is not often…)  our library webpages  thankfully have an invaluable  link to various crossword solving resources.

Our games pages and hobbies page list other suggestions for tired brains and for a times when books feel a bit overtaxing.

Rebuilding Christchurch – Your voice

All sorts of people are popping up with ideas about the “new” Christchurch. Some are local, some are national and some are international commentators. As a resident and citizen of Christchurch you might  still be in the stunned mullet stage of coming to grips with the new normal. But if you are already thinking about what you want to see happen in your city there are a number of places where you can  share ideas.

One of the casualties of the quake was the Before After lecture series and display at the Christchurch Art Gallery but still has some interesting  ideas and comments.

• Greening the Rubble got underway after the September quake and are also on facebook.
• In 2009, Danish urban designer Jan Gehl undertook a Public Space Public Life Study of Central Christchurch for the Christchurch City Council.
• Well known New Zealand architect Ian Athfield has been involved in planning ideas for central city revitalisation since before the quakes and post quake has caused some controversy.

If you want to do some reading check out our Urban Design resources. If you are thinking about what kind of houses we might build then I think Kevin McCloud’s 43 principles of home is a great place to start.

Are you a bit common?

We may have lost access to some of our family history resources at Central Library but we still have many great online resources if you are interested in “breeding”. Who knows, maybe you should have been invited to Will and Kate’s wedding?

Findmypast.co.uk is a family history and genealogy website which focuses on the United Kingdom. It contains among other resources:

• The only 1841-1911 census collection online;
• An online index of births, deaths and marriages (1837-2006);
• Parish records for baptisms, marriages and burials dating from 1538;
• Passenger lists for all long-haul voyages leaving the UK between 1890 and 1960.

This fantastic resource is  available at all our open  community libraries but is not available outside libraries. Come in and have a play an explore our other electronic family history resources.

History, a happy escape

Yesterday I read that a film that has just been made based on Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel The Eagle of the Ninth. This has always been a favourite book of mine and it made me think about how much I enjoyed historical novels when I was kid. Geoffrey Trease, Henry Treece, Ronald Welch and of course Sutcliff herself – how I devoured those books! They fired my imagination by taking me to places and events  far removed from my everyday existence.

I was a keen reader of adult historical novels for a while, but seem to have fallen away from reading many lately. Wolf Hall has been a highlight, but not much else. A quick check of my bookshelves showed some old favourites I’ve been hanging on to – Mary Stewart, Cecelia Holland, Alfred Duggan, Graeme Shelby. These could provide some great escapist re-reading over the coming months but I think I need some new suggestions.

Any historical fiction fans out there with some good suggestions? In the meantime I’ll take advantage of our wonderful library storehouse – many of those old favourites are available.