Those seven sisters will be in a world of pain yet again, as they have had to let go of their Gold medal Commonwealth Games dream and accept winning the Bronze. But those Fijian wahine are pretty mighty and totally deserve their win!! Bent Heavens is part horror, part psychological thriller and comes with aliens and warnings – be prepared. Dune (Book 1) is now published in Graphic Novel format – which is less intimidating to read than the brick sized book. If you have seen the film, the book will be a perfect accompaniment. Last up is The secret world of Connie Starr. A nostalgic character driven historical fiction set in the Australian town of Ballarat between the years 1939-1955. 

Seven Sisters / Rikki Swannell

A reset was needed for the Black Ferns Sevens after their Rio Olympic campaign and people first would be at the heart of that change. As they faced curveball after curveball, the Black Ferns Sevens had one simple premise to keep coming back to - are you on the waka and will you leave mana in your wake? The Sevens had been the dominant Women’s World Sevens force since its inception in 2012 but having to settle for the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Games forced a reset and this book is about them rebuilding their team through forging whanau-like relationships and creating a culture of openness, honesty, and hard work, with Mana at the centre. Authored by sports commentator Rikki Swannell who has a comfortable connection to the team members and only wrote the book once everyone was on board. Go the Ferns! – a mishmash from Wheelers booksite, the back of the book and me

Bent Heavens / Daniel Kraus

I read a comment by someone who stated, “For so long, I’ve been on the lookout for a YA horror that truly terrifies me, and I think I’ve found it”. (Goodreads) Horror is a hard genre to write – what is scary for one person is not very for another – so if a few people have said this about this book, maybe it really is. Another reader advises this book will blow a lot of readers brains. That could be messy is my first thought but maybe they meant figuratively. It’s about aliens, conspiracies, the power of the media, family, and plain old human nature with all its good and bad parts. Dad has been convinced for years that aliens exist and are after him so has set traps to catch them. Then one day he just disappears. Two years later, his daughter decides to get rid of the traps as they are simply a sad reminder of her loss – only to find ‘something’ caught in one of them – and off the story goes!

Dune / Frank Herbert; Brian Herbert

If you like a bit of Sci-Fi, are curious about monster sand worms that travel underneath deserts devouring everything in their path, the foretelling of a saviour and those who will stop at nothing so that they continue to remain in power – then check out this story set in a galaxy far far away (but not the Star Wars one.) Dune is an absolute classic in the Science Fiction genre with immense world building. It is the story of Paul Atreides and the control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the most important and valuable substance in the Cosmos. Encompassing politics, religion, ecology, and technology alongside human ambition and the desire for control. Universal themes it seems.

The secret world of Connie Starr / Robbi Neal

A heartwarming richly detailed story set in a rural Australian town during WWII and in its aftermath. Connie Starr is a different and difficult child, prone to mischief making and make believe. The lives of her family and their group of friends intertwined with the hardship of Australian war experiences – underage young men enlisting, the attack on Darwin, polio and how it was treated back then – combined with everyday dramas of life, love, truth and lies makes this an enjoyable and engrossing read.

Research Website to check out:

https://www.madisonlibrary.org/at-home/digital-escape-rooms

https://codc-qldc.govt.nz/blog/digital-escape-rooms

Not actually a research website this time, but a bit of indoor fun. Are there people in the house that would like to try an Escape Room? Maybe it’s (another) wet indoors day, and this could be just the thing… lots to choose from within these two websites.

And you can access the library website here at any time to see what else is new, search for items, reading lists and links to Research and Academic databases.