Day: 29 January 2016

What was popular in 2015?

Mo-moLeave a comment

Cover of Through the seasons: The free range cookYou may have read recently in the media about the top titles borrowed from Christchurch City Libraries in 2015, but that just scratches the tip of the iceberg. We’ve got even more to share with you.

If the publishing industry is a literary popularity contest then these titles from our library collection are the cool kids in school.

In non-fiction last year food and health were the overriding themes. Last year’s king of the culinary castle, Simon Gault was ousted by kitchen queen Annabel Langbein in 2015 with her Through the seasons: The free range cook taking out top spot.

Honorable mention must go to Dr Libby Weaver for appearing no less than 5 times in the top 10 non-fiction.

Cover of PersonalIn fiction, Personal by Lee Child finally made the top spot after getting pipped at the post in 2014.

Mysteries, thrillers and suspense titles continue to be popular and is reflected in the most popular authors for adults list which for the second year in a row was topped by James Patterson, but there’s still ran audience for perennial favourites like Danielle Steel, and even more perennial Agatha Christie, whose popularity continues unabated.

Novels by Lee Child also make a strong showing in the top eBooks list (5 times in the top 20), though the number one spot goes to Eyes on you by Kate White.

The most popular eAudiobook was cross-generational film-franchise juggernaut The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, with the three books of the series taking out the top three spots.

In fact, books with successful movie tie-ins made up a whopping 14 out of the top 20 eAudiobooks, showing that fans of franchises like Harry Potter, and the Divergent series aren’t solely interested in the visual part of “audiovisual”.

Cover of We're going on a bear huntIn kids books, again classic titles were very popular with Michael Rosen’s We’re going on a bear hunt, originally published in 1989, continuing to find an audience and securing the number one slot.

Geronimo Stilton featured strongly in the most popular kids’ titles and was the overall most popular author of children’s books whilst still leaving room for old favourites like Enid Blyton, Dr Suess and Margaret Mahy.

For teens The maze runner by James Dashner was the most popular fiction title with several other “books of the movie” also appearing in the teens top 20.

Top of the top titles

Cover of Cross Justice by James Patterson    Cover pf The race against time by Geronimo Stilton Cover of The maze runner Cover of Eyes on you Cover of The hunger games

See more annual lists of popular titles.

The most popular items in our collection

2016년의 태양이 더 크게 웃는 이유는?

cclkoreanjoLeave a comment

항상 되풀이되 듯 연초가 되면 새로운 다짐과 함께 많은 계획을 세우게 됩니다. 물론 이 맘때 쯤이면 작심 3일이 되기도 하지요. 다시 한번 마음을 다 잡고 머리를 흔들어 봅니다. 오롯이 이것 하나는 지켜야 겠습니다. 그 어느 해 보다 많이 웃으며 살기!

새로이 소개 할 책입니다.

누리야 누리야 – 1994년에 ‘누리야 누리야 뭐하니’ 라는 제목으로 출간된 후 2015년에 네 번째 재간된 작가 양귀자의 유일한 어린이 장편 소설입니다. 나 누리라는 아홉살 소녀가 엄마를 찾아나서며 만나는 세상의 양면, 그 이야기하는 책입니다. 힘겨운 현실에도 따뜻한 마음을 가지고, 자존감을 지키며 강하게 살아가는 주인공 누리는  읽는 내내 먹먹하던 가슴에 결국 눈물을 흘리게합니다. 이 책은 Upper Riccarton 도서관에서 만날 수 있습니다.

감성현 작가의 감성 SF 소설 ‘19 씩씩하게 아픈 열아홉‘은 우리 주변의 많은 루다와 다해들, 그들이 꿈을 향해 달리다 좌절하고 다시 일어서는 청춘의 이야기입니다. – 어른도 아이도 아닌 열아홉, 달리기를 좋아하던 난, 열 아홉 살이 되던 해, 더 이상 달랄 수 없게 되었다………기억할게. 내 첫 기억. 내 기억의 끝까지. 달려 루다. 멈추지 말고, 끝까지 달려 – 본문 중에서.

평양의 영어 선생님 – 재미 작가 수키 킴의 ’Without you there is no us’ 의 번역서입니다.  평양과학기술대학에서 학생들에게 영어를 가르치며 그녀가 진실로 원했던, 북한의 실상을 직접 보고 느낀 것을 책으로펴냈습니다.

가족 또는 주변 친구분이 아직 Christchurch City도서관 카드가 없으시다면 도서관 카드를 권해보세요. 올2016년을 도서관과 함께  보다 더 행복하고 건강한 시간이 되시길 바람니다.

Korean books
Korean books. January 2016. Flickr 2016-01-IMG-0170

Sick bags and bedspreads: New titles from our Literature Selector

cclbloggerLeave a comment

The Bloomsbury set just keep on delivering. Hard on the heels of the TV series (yet to be seen here) about the sexy carryings on of the Bloomsbury set comes a new biography of David Garnett called Bloomsbury’s Outsider. Garnett – scientist, writer, free love enthusiast, conscientious objector in WW1 and spy in WW2 – certainly had an interesting life which is covered in this new book.

Cover Cover Cover Cover

Some centuries back and we are in the world of Ancient Rome and Daisy Dunn, in a new biography, Catullus’ bedspread : the life of Rome’s most erotic poet, which looks at the life and poetry of the Catullus who put it about more than a bit.

More contemporary, but still not one for being prim, is Nick Cave whose new book The Sick Bag Song is described as a narrative song and poetry. It started its literary life being scribbled on airplane sick bags during a tour of America.

And the master of all writers, Mr Shakespeare himself, is covered in  a new biography called Worlds Elsewhere which has had enthusiastic pre-publicity from the likes of Anthony Holden and Margaret Drabble.

See more of our new titles.

Philip Tew
Fiction selector