library electronic resources

Using the library catalogue and clicking on resources students are able to access a comprehensive database called EPIC (see below).

EPIC [electronic purchasing in collaboration] is a venture between the NZ libraries and the ministry of education to purchase access to NZ and international databases : EBSCO, Gale cengage, Oxford online, Pro-Quest and Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Students should use this resource to help find researched base information; they are able to access up-to-date full text articles covering a huge range of subjects. Thousands of international magazines, newspapers and biographies can also be searched on this site.
Another excellent area within EPIC is BOOKS & AUTHORS. Through this you can search and brouse by genre, author, age group, period or theme. This section covers adult and children's fiction, and some non-fiction books. To access EPIC click here.

When prompted for a password please use your library card number.

Graphic Novels

Welcome to October,

Today I will talk about our Graphic Novel collection.

We have all sorts of graphic books. Asterix and Tintin (I devoured Tintin as a kid, I read and reread them over and over), collections of newspaper strips (I include Garfield and Footrot Flats here as they were originally published daily in newspapers), DC and Marvel titles (Batman, Superman and Spiderman) and serious novels in graphic form.

If you are old enough you may remember Commando and Battle Library Weekly. These are war stories in comic form. They are now being reprinted in book form. Ah the memories.

A title I will mention as an example of a graphic novel which isn't just a novel in comic form but a serious piece of writing which has depth and entertainment is

Whatever happened to the World of Tomorrow? by Brian Fies

Two very important writers of this form are Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Alan Moore has written superhero stories for DC but is best known for The Watchmen.

Neil Gaiman is a prolific writer. He has written picture books, childrens novels, adult novels and novels aimed at young adults (teens?) He usually includes magic and mythical beings or alternate worlds and there is a dark twist somewhere. He is probably best known for The Sandman series.

Coraline has recently been released as a movie and more people are now aware of his work.

View 30 Essential Graphic Novels here.

Enjoy

Nick

National Library resources

Its been a while since the last post, so it is time to add another .... um... post.

National Library is providing all of us (the world) with some amazing resources online including Publications New Zealand , NZ Research , Papers Past and Digital NZ.

Digital NZ is a collaborative site which accesses New Zealand digital content. This content is relevant, exciting and useful. I did a search for Matamata and came up with 237 results including 126 images. Impressive.

Try looking up the 1981 Springbok tour in Hamilton and you get video footage from TVNZ through Our Space. This footage is at a very high standard.

Check it out. I dare you

Nick

Hope to see you here on Saturday mornings....we have lots of new magazines. We have even got new Fashion magazine. Get plenty of GOOD reading for the weekend. See you here. Kay.

Matamata Library Catalogue

If you would like to search for a book in our library go to our catalogue / OPAC . You can also look for CDs, DVDs, renew and put holds on books. All you need is your library card and click on the OK button. If asked for a pin number, use the last 4 digits of your library card.

No country for old men

No country for old men by Cormac McCarthy,

I have seen the movie and now I have read the book. Whew. What a thriller. Chigurh is beyond any assassin anywhere. Moss is Joe Average who we hope will make it and Bell is the cop trying to save him. It is written on a number of levels. What hope for society with characters like Chigurh and the other criminals mentioned in this book. Cormac McCarthy's style of writing is sparse but it is done with feeling.
I am now going to seek out all of Cormac McCarthy's novels.
The road and No country for old men are both well written, fast paced and thought provoking.

Read them I say

Nick

Library Week

Well, Library Week has finished for another year. We had a successful story time on the Wednesday. The special prize for the guess the page number competition was won by Sarah Scott a Year 12 student from Matamata College. She was only 12 pages out. Super close.

Congratulations. You won a Boston fern pot plant from the local garden centre.

Nick

On the edge of darkness

I have just read Barbara Erskine's book "On the Edge of Darkness". A really great read. Seemed to drag a little in the middle, but maybe that was because I wanted to know what happens in the end and couldn't read quickly enough. It has a slightly Science Fiction flavour - something I have not read much of TO DATE but I think I will look into more books of that kind.
It's about a young boy who stumbles into the six century, gets involved with a ..... you had better read it for yourself. K

The Killer Angels

This amazing novel by Michael Shaara about the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War is page turning and thought provoking. Each chapter follows the actions and thoughts of different men from both sides of the conflict. It provides a good understanding of what happened before this battle and the strategies by the officers as events unfolded. I was interested also in the relationships between the officers from both sides. They knew each other before the war, they went to West Point together, were friends while there. But now they are fighting each other.

It won the Pulitzer and I can see why.

Nick

Library Week

This week is Library Week and tomorrow we are joining the nationwide storytime at 10.30am. Itiiti's gift is this years book. Check out the Library Week website to see what other exciting things are happening around the country.

We are also having a small competition which runs all week and closes Saturday. People have to guess the number of numbered pages in a pile of books. There is a small mystery prize.

Enjoy the week

Nick

Photos of the library

Here are two photos of the library. The desks can go up and down

Nick

Montana Book Awards winners

Drum roll please....

and the winners are.....

Emily Perkins for Fiction or Poetry

and Jill Trevelyan for Non Fiction.

More details at the website including all the other winners

Nick

Maori Language Week

Kia ora,

This week is Maori language week. We have a display up

Here is the official website

Nick

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book Award, Canada and the Caribbean

Finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize

In a moment of self-absorption, Clara Purdy’s life takes a sharp left turn when she crashes into a beat-up car carrying an itinerant family of six. The Gage family had been travelling to a new life in Fort McMurray, but bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer rather than remnants of the accident. Recognizing their need as her responsibility, Clara tries to do the right thing and moves the children, husband and horrible grandmother into her own house—then has to cope with the consequences of practical goodness.

As Lorraine walks the borders of death, Clara expands into life, finding purpose, energy and unexpected love amidst the hard, unaccustomed work of sharing her days. But the burden is not Clara’s alone: Lorraine’s children must cope with divided loyalties and Lorraine must live with her growing, unpayable debt to Clara - and the feeling that Clara has taken her place.

What, exactly, does it mean to be good? When is sacrifice merely selfishness? What do we owe in this life and what do we deserve? Marina Endicott looks at life and death through the compassionate lens of a born novelist: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance on the precipice.

Fans of Ann Tyler will love this book. Like Tyler, Marina Endicott writes about ordinary people coping with life's problems and trying to do their best. Susan

Lance Armstrong is riding in the Tour de France.

Check out his book It's not about the bike

Nick

Jack Lasenby the respected children's author grew up in Waharoa, a township situated just outside of Matamata.

He has written many books including the The Seddon Street Gang trilogy and The Travellers series which is a sort of fantasy series with place names which play on New Zealand place names.

Nick

Pulitzer Prize winners

I have just read a Pulitzer Prize winner. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. How about the other fiction winners including this years winner Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

I am setting myself yet another challenge. Read them all! Whew. I haven't even started the last challenge.

Here is the link to the list

Nick

The Road

I haven't finished White Tiger yet. But I have finished reading the post apocalyptic novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

This is very very grim. We follow The Man and The Boy travelling The Road after an unknown disaster has destroyed pretty much all life and left only a few people to survive in a cold, bleak, ashen world. This is extreme and people use many means to stay alive. There are some gruesome scenes as the two make their journey and meet all sorts of people.

Cormac McCarthy style of writing is matter of fact. He uses short sentences and some pages are just dialogue. But it works.

This is a brilliant novel which is thought provoking and scary.

Watch out for the movie later this year. I have seen the trailer and it looks just as grey and grim. It stars Viggo Mortensen and will be well worth seeing

Nick

Talking of book awards check out the Montana NZ Book Awards 2009. There are some amazing titles listed as finalists this year. I haven't read the novels but I have browsed the non fiction books and they are worthy.
Nick

Man Booker prize

How's this for a challenge. Read every Man Booker Prize winner. I have looked at the list and realise I have attempted to read several of them without success namely Midnight's Children, The Bone People (two pages maybe), The Ghost Road, Life of Pi (I didn't even get to the scene on the cover), The Sea and now White Tiger. I am actually getting through this one and enjoying it if that is possible considering the subject matter. I will let you know as I read more. Here is the list. I know I know we don't hold all the titles especially after what I wrote in the previous blog.
Nick

Dark Echo

Dark Echo by F.G. Cottam

This a good old fashioned supernatural thriller. Similar to early James Herbert. It has its heroes and its evil bad guy who is still around because of black magic. A few things irked me though. Sir Peter Blake is a New Zealander not an Australian and Suzanne would never have been able to bribe the staff member to take the original archive material. Still I enjoyed it. The best part of these stories are always the beginning when you don't know whats going to happen. Martin and Suzanne were likable and Harry Spalding is a terrific nasty ghost.

Nick

School Holidays

What a perfect time to bring the kids in and have a good look around. Maybe it's just a DVD to watch or something more exciting like finding out about a new hobby you might like to start or finding more information about a certain subject, a big plus is, it's a nice warm friendly place to spend time in. Don't be shy - come in and see us!