Day: 25 September 2015

Double the reading fun with the Big Library Read!

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Ever wanted to join a book club or reading group but never got round to it? Here’s your opportunity! It’s quick, easy and doesn’t require venturing out in dismal weather.

OverDrive Big Library Read

I am talking about the OverDrive Big Library Read, which is coming back from 7 to 21 October. The Big Library Read is a global book club: during this period, millions of readers around the word have unlimited simultaneous access to the selected eBooks – no need for waitlists or holds.

And, this time, the Big Library Read offers not one but two titles to choose from. You can place a hold now and you’ll be notified when the eBook is available:

Cover of The Door in the Hedge Cover of In THe Shadow of Blackbirds

The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley
(Suitable for ages 10 and up)
Ensorcelled princesses … a frog that speaks … a magical hind — Newbery Medal winner Robin McKinley opens a door into an enchanted world in this collection of original and retold fairy tales.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
(Suitable for ages 14 and up)
Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.

So get ready to join the global book club!

“You tell lies to get close to the truth” – Joe Bennett

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‘Twas a damp and misty Christchurch evening, supposedly Spring but feeling more like Winter, when a gathering of Christchurch people came to a WORD Christchurch event to hear celebrated columnist and author Joe Bennett talk about his new book – King Rich.

Despite nearly giving up partway through, Joe was persuaded by his publisher to continue the story that had begun  – where else ? – at the pub.He’d written a column about the man living in the Hotel Grand Chancellor Hotel, since demolished, and the nub of the story had stayed lurking in the back of his mind. Was it an urban myth? Who knows? Does that matter?

Hotel Grand Chancellor
Views of the Hotel Grand Chancellor and surrounds. January 2012. Flickr: CCL-2012-01-12-IMG_8860-HotelGrandChancellor

It was fascinating to hear the process of how the column had grown into a novel. No, he hadn’t met any red zone dwellers, hadn’t felt the need too. No, the dog Friday was not a kindred spirit and could not have been a cat, but yes, the name was based on Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.

“As the writer you are the puppeteer, but you’ve got to be invisible: to write yourself out it, which is very different from writing a column.”

“I’m a literary bastard,” he said, ” I read stuff and I want to be moved by it.”

“It’s a book about love, that’s the nub of where we live.”

WORD Christchurch tweets from the event:

Cover of fish like a drink Cover of Double happiness Cover of Celebrity Cat recipes Cover of The World's your lobster Cover of Where underpants come from?

Looking ahead to SCAPE 8 – New intimacies

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I love the biennial public art festival SCAPE. You can read about what’s coming, but there is nothing like seeing the art in situ. I disagree with Christopher Moore’s column in The Press. Our central city is the ultimate canvas – art within it gives us a sense of possibility, of imagination, of beauty. We need that.

Stay by Antony Gormley is the legacy public artwork, joining such Christchurch landmarks as:

Treehouses for Swamp Dwellers by Julia Morison (2014)
House for Swamp dwellers by Julia Morison

Kaleidoscopic Nights by Rachael Dewhirst (2013)
Kaleidoscopic Nights - Rachael Dewhirst SCAPE mural

Passing time by Anton Parsons (2010/2011)
Passing time

Flour power by Regan Gentry (2008)
Flour Power

Nucleus by Phil Price (2006)
Phil Price Nucleus - Manchester Street and High Street

SCAPE 8 New Intimacies takes place from 3 October to 15 November 2015. Explore the public programme of events and new site-specific art works created for SCAPE 8.

There has been a flurry of media coverage. Try these to get a good sense of what’s on its way:

SCAPE Public Art installs free-to-view public art in Christchurch. SCAPE have gifted 9 permanent artworks and commissioned more than 160 temporary works.

More SCAPE

Banned Books Week 2015

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Isaac Asimov once said that “Any book worth banning is a book worth reading”. And here at Christchurch City Libraries we like to give readers the choice!

Cover of The LoraxDid you know that before being green was in, Dr Seuss’ The Lorax was banned? Yep, you read that right… The Lorax!!! It was banned in 1989 because it portrayed the forestry industry in a bad light.

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden rise in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries in the United States, and more than 11,300 books have been challenged since.

You might be forgiven for thinking that New Zealand, being such a freedom loving country, would reject the idea of censorship of any kind, but there have been several instances of it through the decades. You can see some of them here: Banned Books in New Zealand.

Cover of Into The RiverThe latest book that has been challenged has become a cause célèbre. I’m talking of course about the young adult novel Into the River by Ted Dawe, which has been classified three times and is now under an ‘interim restriction order‘. If you would like to know what this actually means, our editor Donna has written an insightful post: Into the River – what is this banning all about?

This year Banned Books Week will run from 27 September to 3 October, and aptly the focus is Young Adult books.

The following are the 10 books most challenged in 2014 according to the American Library Association.

  1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
    Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullying”.
  2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
    Reasons: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”.
  3. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
    Reasons: Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “promotes the homosexual agenda”.
  4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
    Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”.
  5. It’s Perfectly Normal (aka Let’s Talk About Sex) by Robie Harris
    Reasons: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: “alleges it child pornography”.
  6. Saga by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
    Reasons: Anti-family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
  7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
    Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence.
  8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
    Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”.
  9. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
    Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
  10. Drama by Raina Telgemeier
    Reasons: sexually explicit.

“You want weapons? We are in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room is the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself.”  – The Doctor.

Cover of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Cover of Persepolis Cover of Tango Cover of The Bluest Eye Cover of It's Perfectly Normal Cover of Saga Cover of The Kite Runner Cover of The Perks of Being a Wallflower Cover of A Stolen Life Cover of Drama

We have all these titles and plenty more challenged books in our catalogue if you dare to read them. Do you agree with censoring books for their content?