The Librarian

Thanks again for all your lovely comments, and if you haven't yet entered the very exciting giveaway please do so!! (see all the details below) Today I stole a moment to take a look inside Rachel Ashwell's new book Shabby Chic Inspirations , and as always with her, this book full to the brim with beauty.  If you haven't yet happened upon her blog, I recommend that you take a peek here

Oh, thank you lovely followers! You make me so happy. All those sweet comments on Rosa's beautiful header, all the excitement about the fabulous Frank and Dean giveaway, and all the book recommendations!!! This little library girl is dancing a happiness jig. Still time to enter - see the details here And while we wait for the date to arrive when the giveaway prize winner is announced, I must tell you about the latest book on my 'must view now' list. Published by Random House You will know by now that I adore cookbooks. At the publishers' roadshow I went to a few weeks ago at  Havelock North Library (a place very dear to my heart!), there was much talk about this new cookbook. Jo Seagar's books are so beautifully put together that they are practically edible in themselves! Add Italy to the mix and this book is bound to be something spectacular. I just can't wait to get my hands on it.

If you ever hear of a Publishers' Roadshow near you, then my advice is to get to it by any means possible. Publishers' Roadshows are fab. Not only is there wine and usually a nice platter or two of chilly philly, but there is the thrill of hearing about all the new books that are coming out, way before they are on book shop shelves, (infact, way before their jacket pictures have come out on the internet...hence this post being a bit short on images), and there is something rather exciting about that, don't you think? So, since I suspect that sadly none of you made it to the Publishers' Roadshow that I went to the other night, consider me the informer. Here are the books I will be hunting down: Firstly, some non fiction goodness in time for Christmas - it's all cook books and station life:      Italia by Jo Seagar      Stoked by Al Brown      Otiwhiti Station by the Duncan family      Castlepoint -...

Every quite often it seems a New Zealand author writes a book that I love so much that I can't stop talking about it. In the last few years there was Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs, then Mr Pip , and this time it is..... The Conductor by Sarah Quigley. The Conductor by Sarah Quigley It's cold, it's spare and it's very stark, but Sarah Quigley has created something powerfully beautiful in this book that follows the story of the composition and first performance of Shostakovich's 7th symphony amidst the seige on Leningrad by the Nazi's in 1941. Based around the story of Shostakovich’s single-minded endeavour to write his 7 th Symphony, and see it performed, the book shows the lengths that an artist will go to to express himself. While most people are fleeing the city, and others starving and dying, Shostakovich determinedly writes his piece of music, and it falls upon conductor Karl Eliasberg to rise above his own starvation and grief to bring toget...

A Kitchen Garden companion by Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Companion by Stephanie Alexander A book that combines gardening and cooking...it just makes sense. It's a pretty enormous book though, I feel a tad overwhelmed!

All Blacks Don't Cry by John Kirwan All Blacks Don't Cry by John Kirwan If you have experienced depression, or have supported someone else who has, this honest and heartfelt book will be both reassuring and inspiring. John Kirwan has invested a lot of himself into helping people with depression - after reading this book, I think you will agree that the man deserves a medal. As well as sharing some of Kirwan's own experiences of depression, the book offers practical, sound and manageable advice on how to 'banish the black dog'. It really is a story of hope.  And don't be suprised if you suddenly find yourself a lot more interested in how well the Japanese rugby team does in the World Cup in October!

Away We Go directed by Sam Mendes Maya  Rudolf  and John Krasinski in Away We Go I didn't know what to expect when this film began (especially as the first scene is quite....shall we say, confronting!), but first scene aside what I found was a delightfully quirky indie film about a 30-something couple who, suprised by news that they are expecting, hit the road to try to find a suitable place to bring up their family-to-be. The character-driven movie celebrates both the ordinary and the ridiculous, as the couple drop in on friends and relatives around America in their search for a place to nest. While preparing this blog, I came upon a few scathing reviews of this movie, but I've got to say,  I liked it - alot!