From outer space to Earth’s oceans, from powerful Aotearoa poetry to empowerment; these are four pukapuka that caught my eye to highlight this week.

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.

Fractal noise / Christopher Paolini

The author of the Eragon series. Set in the same world as his “To sleep in a sea of stars” but 23 years prior, the year 2234. An atmospheric, existential journey of Man vs Man vs First Contact. A spaceship discovers an anomaly on a foreign planet, Talso VII, and sends a crew of four down to investigate. It appears to be a hole, but of such perfect dimensions it has to be of conscious design. As they get closer they can feel in their bodies a pulse of some sort – a high powered fractal noise that gets stronger the closer they get and begins to have an effect on each of them. As they travel across the harsh terrain towards this hole, existential topics are raised as each crew member battles not only themselves but each other. What is the purpose of our human species; the purpose of our lives; our place in this Universe? If you like a high-tech, First Contact, Science Fiction tale, you might enjoy this one.

Blue machine / Helen Czerski

“All of Earth's ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine.” In a book that will re-calibrate our view of this defining feature of our planet, physicist Helen Czerski dives deep to illuminate the murky depths of the ocean engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. From the Ancient Polynesians who navigated the Pacific by reading the waves, to permanent residents of the deep, like the Greenland shark that can live for hundreds of years, she explains by way of vast currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls how all have their place in the oceans' complex interlinked system. Blue Machine presents a fresh perspective on what it means to be a citizen of an ocean planet. The understanding it offers is crucial to our future. Drawing on years of experience at the forefront of marine science, Helen Czerski captures the magnitude and subtlety of Earth's defining feature, showing us the thrilling extent to which we are at the mercy of this great engine. – back cover of book

Tōku Pāpā / Ruby Solly

Ruby Solly (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha Kāti Māmoe) is a poet, a musician, a taonga puoro practitioner, music therapist and writer living in Wellington who will be in Whakatu/Nelson as part of the Nelson Arts Festival and the Pukapuka talks in October.

Tōku Pāpā is a book that serves as a map of survival for Maōri growing up outside of their papa kāika. “These poems look at how we take the knowledge we are given by our ancestors and hide it beneath our tongues for safekeeping. They show us how we live with our tupuna, without ever fully understanding them. This book encompasses a journey spanning generations, teaching us how to keep the home fires burning within ourselves when we have forgotten where our homes are. But have our homes forgotten us?”– back cover

Here is a link to a touching piece of writing by her that will make you tangi. Also a thing of beauty is the book cover – very clever. If you would like to hear her (and others) here are the dates:

Sun 22 October 7pm - Witi & Friends Gala Event with Witi Ihiimaera, Vaughan Rapatahana, Ruby Solly, Donna McLeod, Arihia Latham and Airana Ngarewa (MC’d by Emma Espiner)

Monday 23 October 7.30pm - After Dark II - Dusk Chorus with Arihia Latham and Ruby Solly

I kick and I fly / Ruchira Gupta

“On the outskirts of the red-light district in Bihar, India, fourteen-year-old Heera is living on borrowed time. Her father plans to sell her into the sex trade to repay the family’s debts. But after watching her cousin suffer this fate, Heera is determined to find a way out. A chance encounter introduces her to the power of kung fu. Through martial arts, Heera learns to harness her own strength to protect herself and those around her. When her best friend goes missing, Heera suspects the worst. So she embarks on a daring rescue mission – one that will take her straight into the path of danger and halfway across the world.” - book cover

Ruchira Gupta is the founder-president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide and Apne Aap International. She is a social justice activist, feminist campaigner and journalist. She is also a professor at New York University and a Distinguished Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

For over three decades, Ruchira has been campaigning and working for a world where no girl or woman is bought or sold. She pioneered gender-sensitive interventions to end intergenerational prostitution among denotified tribes in India’s Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and West Bengal. She has helped in the introduction and shaping of anti-trafficking policies and laws across the globe, including the Indian anti-trafficking law. Here is a link to a short clip by Ruchira talking about this book.