Ngā mihi o te wā! Find out more about Christmas and explore our seasonal stuff: Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from Christchurch City Libraries to you and yours.
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New and Recently Released!
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Brando's smile: his life, thought, and work
by Susan L. Mizruchi
Drawing from the actor's personal letters, audiotapes and annotations on screenplays and books, paints a unique picture of the legendary star's off-screen life including his embrace of foreign cultures and his collection of 4,000 books.
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My crazy century
by Ivan Klíma
The award-winning author of Waiting for the Dark traces his life under the totalitarian regimes of Nazism and Communism, describing his four-year imprisonment in the Terezin concentration camp, the revolt of young writers against socialist realism and his awareness-raising travels through free regions of Europe.
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Childhood of an idiot
by Dom Harvey
This is a book for any New Zealander who has ever been told to stop crying or you will be given something to really cry about.
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On the move: the autobiography of Garth Barfoot: businessman and triathlete
by Garth Barfoot
Garth Barfoot is a remarkable New Zealander who has applied his immense determination to achieving success in both the real estate world and the triathlon field. This biography follows Garth's life-long journey as he tackles the lows and celebrates the highs of business life, relationships and sporting challenges. After qualifying from university, Garth made his way up the ranks of the family real estate business, Barfoot & Thompson.
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The grass catcher: a digression about home
by Ian Wedde
From early childhood in post-war Blenheim to the remote regions of Bangladesh, from an English boarding school to 1960s Auckland, from Jordan during the civil war of 1969-70 to family homes full of children, this dazzling book traces the many shifts in Ian Wedde's life.
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Cosby: his life and times
by Mark Whitaker
In a book based on extensive research and in-depth interviews with Bill Cosby and more than 60 of his closest friends and associates, the author offers a frank account of the comedian's life and legacy.
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The unknown Henry Miller
by Arthur Hoyle
Henry Miller was better known in Europe than in his native America for most of this career. He achieved international success and celebrity during the 1960s when his banned "Paris" books were published in the US and judged by the Supreme Court not to be obscene. The Unknown Henry Miller recounts Miller's career from its beginnings in Paris in the 1930s but focuses on his years living in Big Sur, California, from 1944 to 1961, during which he wrote many of his most important books.
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I said yes to everything: a memoir
by Lee Grant
An Academy Award-winning actress and former Vogue “It Girl” describes her rise to fame and the subsequent destruction of her career caused by being added to the Hollywood blacklist and how she eventually rebuilt her life and career after being exonerated.
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| Life is a gift: the zen of Bennett by Tony BennettIn this amiable, conversational memoir by legendary crooner Tony Bennett, names like Lady Gaga appear alongside Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Aretha Franklin. Bennett's vast array of celebrity-studded stories captures hilarious, heartwarming, and inspirational moments from his extraordinary 60-year career, but he also shares the wisdom he's gained from his own experiences and from the people he met along the way. For more on his life and career, try David Evanier's thoroughly researched and engaging biography, All The Things You Are. |
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| Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: my life in music by Judy CollinsSinging legend Judy Collins has "looked at life from both sides now," and in this appealing memoir she reveals both ups and downs in her personal life and her career. Focusing especially on the 1960s, when folk singers were at the peak of their popularity, Collins provides intimate views of the Los Angeles and New York music scenes, including recording sessions and parties with other famous musicians (such as Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen). She also discusses her health issues and struggles with addiction as well as her multiple love affairs. Sweet Judy Blue Eyes is a "forthright, radiant work," according to Publishers Weekly. |
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| Kansas City lightning: the rise and times of Charlie Parker by Stanley CrouchKansas City native Charlie Parker was born during the Depression and rose to prominence during the time that jazz was gaining widespread popularity. In this detailed, thoughtful, and vividly descriptive biography, MacArthur fellow and music critic Stanley Crouch explores Parker's childhood and early professional life. Though drug addiction slowed Parker down, it didn't prevent him from achieving success while working with such figures as Lester Young and Buster Smith. Kansas City Lightning covers Parker's life to 1940; look forward to the completion of his life story in a planned 2nd volume. |
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| The soloist: a lost dream, an unlikely friendship, and the redemptive power of music by Steve LopezThe Soloist, which was made into a 2009 film, documents the unlikely, sometimes rocky friendship between the author, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, and a schizophrenic, homeless African-American virtuoso named Nathaniel Ayers, who once attended Julliard. The two men met when Lopez spied Ayers playing a two-stringed violin on the street and approached him. Recounting Ayers' early years as well as Lopez's attempts to help him get his life back on track (efforts that sometimes backfired), this is a moving but unsentimental account of a strong bond between two very different individuals and the disruptive power of mental illness. |
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| Lennon: the man, the myth, the music, the definitive life by Tim RileyIn this thorough and insightful biography of John Lennon, music critic Tim Riley explores both familiar biographical territory and less-noted details of Lennon's musical career. Covering his early life, the Beatles years (1960-69), and the subsequent decade before his 1980 murder, Riley draws on standard accounts and often overlooked primary sources to create a detailed portrait of the fabled rock musician and composer. Neatly separating myth from reality as he examines Lennon's relationships with the other Beatles and his wife, Yoko Ono, Riley delivers "one of the most thorough yet accessible rock biographies to appear in recent years" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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