Learn Something New in 2015
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If you have plans to try something new in 2015, why not jump into learning? We support all ages – from preschoolers and parents, to lifelong learners who want to get more out of their computers. Our Learning Centres at South, New Brighton and Upper Riccarton run programmes throughout the year.
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New and Recently Released!
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| The Boston girl by Anita DiamantWhen her beloved granddaughter asks her about their family history, 85-year-old Addie Baum gladly obliges. The youngest daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, Addie describes growing up in a tenement in Boston's North Shore, frequenting the local settlement house, and spending summers at Rockport Lodge, a seaside inn where she formed lasting friendships with other young working-class women whose dreams encompassed more than marriage and motherhood. Addie's coming of age coincides with World War I, the Spanish influenza epidemic, and the women's suffrage movement, among other historical events, and her engaging narration provides a detailed look at immigrant life in early 20th-century America. |
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| Vanessa and her sister by Priya ParmarIn 1905, the Stephen siblings - Vanessa and Virgina, Thoby and Adrian - set up house in the Bloomsbury area of central London, which quickly becomes a popular gathering place for a coterie of artists and intellectuals. Among their regular guests are art critic Clive Bell, whom Vanessa marries, and Leonard Woolf, who becomes Virginia's husband. However, despite the sisters' various romantic entanglements, it's their own sibling rivalry that takes center stage in this atmospheric, character-driven novel. Readers interested in the Bloomsbury Group, particularly the loving but contentious relationship between Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf, may also want to read Susan Sellers' Vanessa and Virginia. |
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| The Paris winter by Imogen RobertsonAs her meager funds dwindle, Englishwoman Maud Heighton, an aspiring painter studying at Paris' Académie Lafond, wonders how much longer she'll be able to pursue her art. Unexpected assistance arrives in the form of Monsieur Christian Morel, who hires Maud as a live-in companion and tutor to his fragile sister, Sylvie. To Maud, the offer seems too good to be true - and, of course, it is. Best known for her Westerman and Crowther mysteries, author Imogen Robertson employs her eye for period detail and her skill in creating suspenseful stories in this atmospheric novel, which vividly depicts the lives of artists during La Belle Époque. |
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| The lodger by Louisa TregerLiving in a shabby boarding house in Bloomsbury and eking out a meager living as a secretary, Dorothy Richardson jumps at the chance to visit her former schoolmate, Jane, at the home she shares with her new husband, H.G. Wells (better known as "Bertie"). Despite her affection for her friend, Dorothy finds herself drawn to Bertie; their mutual attraction culminates in an affair that will prove to be life-changing for Dorothy. Based on the life of modernist writer Dorothy Richardson, who pioneered the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative technique in the 1910s, The Lodger examines some of the obstacles faced by women pursuing personal and artistic freedom at a time when they had few, if any, civil rights. |
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| Ship of Rome by John StackAtticus Perennis and Septimus Capito have little in common: Atticus, captain of the trireme Aquila, comes from a Greek fishing family; Septimus, a Roman and a marine centurion, has spent most of his military career on land. Nevertheless, the two reluctant comrades-in-arms must work together when confronted by a vast enemy fleet that threatens the very existence of the Roman Republic and its fledgling navy. Set in 200 BCE, this 1st book in the Masters of the Sea series is followed by Captain of Rome and Master of Rome. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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