Desert Island Books  

All of the members of this team manage a different area of the collection and select books for the whole Dunedin Public Libraries network. They are incredibly passionate about the library and are always striving to make sure we have a fantastic collection.

Each castaway was given a virtual copy of the SAS Survival guide and was asked to choose five books to keep them company on a hypothetical desert island. We thought it would be great to see which books inspire this team, but being limited to just five books caused some major angst and deep soul searching for them. (Not to mention several rewrites!)

Here are their choices:

Jackie Howell – Collection Development Team Leader

Rebecca. Daphne Du Maurier
The writing is poetic, the story is epic, the revelatory ending blew me away when I first read it.

Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Thomas Hardy
A wonderful story with powerful social commentary.

Under Milk Wood. Dylan Thomas
Beautiful, poetry-like prose, hilarious.

The Tempest. William Shakespeare
This contains my favourite line in anything: “Full fathom five thy father lies…”

Ring of bright water. Gavin Maxwell
I had a different book in its place but this will remind me that the watery prison that keeps me on the island can also be a haven, plus there are the otters, and Maxwell is one of my heroes.

Shona – Collection Specialist

Holy Bible

Phantom. Susan Kay
This is based on the The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. I loved the stage show and decided to read this book. It gave more in-depth background of the Phantom right from when he was born, his journey to the opera house and Christine.

Power of One. Bryce Courtenay
This brings you back down to earth; makes you realise how good your life is compared to what others have. (Although life on a desert island wouldn’t be the greatest!)

The Book Thief. Markus Zusak
You just have to read it.

The Dressmaker. Rosalie Ham
I saw the movie, then read the book. It was full of laughs, which would be needed on a desert island.

Tracey – Collection Specialist

The Magic Faraway Tree. Enid Blyton
I always wanted to live in that tree - maybe there will be one on the island! Enid had the best imagination.

Longbourn. Jo Baker
I finished this book at the hairdressers, hugged it (I know…weird) and had a wee tear in my eye. I told my hairdresser and then she read it.

The Book Thief. Markus Zusak
All book lovers should read this.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. Katarina Bivald
Such a sweet story about a woman in Sweden who works in a book shop corresponding with an elderly woman in small town America. The Swedish woman goes to visit her, and when she arrives the American woman has died. The town then rallies round to look after their visitor.

I almost hugged this one.

Robot in the Garden. Deborah Install
Yes, as the title says, it’s about a robot who turns up in a man’s garden - in the UK. A great story of friendship and travel. I think I did hug this one!