The FebFast 2012 challenge asks New Zealanders to go next month without alcohol, being sponsored by friends and family along the way. (source: NZ Herald)

The money raised would be given to four charities from the four main centres around the country. The four charities are :

• Evolve – a free Wellington service for people aged 10 to 25
• ADHD Association – which educates, supports and advocates for people with ADHD
• Rainbow Youth Auckland - a homosexual and transgender support organisation 
• CareNZ Waikato – an addiction treatment and recovery organisation.

If you are not someone who drinks anyway, I guess you could do this by foregoing something else you consider important to you - like chocolate, junk food, cigarettes, television or gaming!

For a little help, have a look at our catalogue to see some of the wonderful books available to assist with this. The following links and numbers may also be useful.

Smoking : Quitline

Drinking: Alcoholics Anonymous

0800 787 797 – Alcohol Helpline
0800 787 798 – Maori Line – Alcohol Drug Helpline
0800 787 799 – Pasifika Line – Alcohol Drug Helpline

Poor diet: Overeaters Anonymous or Dietitians NZ or Nutrition Action

First published in 1997, it has just been re-released.

These are fantasy books that have been written to scare the pants off you! 

They are great for boys aged 9+, although girls will probably enjoy them too.

The pace of the narrative in all three books is excellent, and you really will not want to put them down. Neil, our hero, is very realistic, and his dialogue, actions and emotions are very believable. There are also many elements of Norse mythology ‘woven’ throughout the story which may encourage readers to carry out further investigation into the ancient tales which these books use as a foundation.

Just one final warning…… if you are easily scared then it is probably best not to read these books just before you go to sleep; elements of books 2 and 3 in the trilogy especially have a habit of creeping into your dreams and turning them into nightmares.

 More detailed review

“The self-sufficiency manual” by Alison Candlin seems like a good manual for beginners. Aimed at New Zealanders and Australians, it’s a practical guide to living off the land. It explains the basics of growing vegetables and fruit ; keeping stock such as chickens, pigs, and bees ; preserving your produce ; and even a section on solar power.

If you want a project for 2012, there are plenty of other self-reliancy books too, and manuals on how to add solar power or generate wind power for yourself.

The Floods are a family of Wizards and Witches. The parents, Nerlin and Mordonna, have seven children, some of whom were not created in the traditional way, but were made in the cellar underneath their house, using incredible mystical powers, a set of very shiny ‘Jamie Oliver’ saucepans and a small chemistry set.

The Floods is a series of brilliant, funny, scary novels with black and white illustrations, written for primary school aged children. With a mix of wizardry and wise-cracks, it’s almost as good as having a new Harry Potter novel.

Check out the series on Colin Thompson’s homepage.

 The Addams Family returns, this time as the Floods, an exceptionally strange family of wizards and witches that includes a beautiful mother, Mordonna; a child completely covered in hair; and Betty, the normal-looking one. While essentially goodhearted, the Floods suffer from the worst neighbors ever. The Dents steal cars, fight, and make so much noise the Floods cannot concentrate on their magic. Mrs. Dent even foregoes searching for her lost son to watch her favorite television show, Mega-Extreme Celebrity Really Dumb Fat Ugly Idiot Loser Makeover (a fair example of the book’s broad humor). Systematically, the Floods eliminate each of the Dents in a variety of ways, mostly benign. Footnotes dot the text but do not always appear on the same page as the superscript numbers. The endnotes include a summary of each character and pet. Middle-graders will enjoy the over-the-top humor, gore, and magic and look forward to others in the planned series. Grades 3-6. –Suzanne Harold

2012 Alex Award Winner

Review by Jillian Quint

Fans of J.K. Rowling, Susanna Clarke and all forms of magical realism—rejoice. Erin Morgenstern’s long-awaited and much buzzed-about debut The Night Circus has all the makings of a historical-fantasy-for-adults hit: chronologically complicated and interweaving plotlines, wide-eyed descriptions of ever-changing labyrinths, a turn-of-the-20th-century European setting and a forbidden love practically swelling with Hollywood appeal. (Indeed, a Harry Potter producer has already snapped up film rights.) But perhaps most importantly, it creates a fantastical world so fully imagined and captivating, one cannot help but be swept along for the ride.

The story begins when Celia, a five-year-old with an already keen supernatural power, goes to live with her father, Prospero the Enchanter, a magician and key member of the world’s oddest, most awe-inspiring traveling circus: Le Cirque des Rêves. Sensing his daughter’s untapped power, Prospero pits Celia against another magician in a years-long (and exceedingly dangerous) battle of skill. Her opponent is Marco, a budding magician who begins studying the circus in order to learn his rival’s ways. But what neither he nor Celia anticipates is how much they will grow to like, and eventually love, one another—launching the novel into an age-old tale of star-crossed romance.

Intertwined with the lovers’ narrative are stories of other circus fans and workers—among them Friedrick Thiessen, Le Cirque des Rêves’ most enthusiastic scholar; Isobel, driven by unrequited love for Marco; and Bailey, a farm boy with a wanderlust who observes one magical performance and embarks upon a lifetime obsession.

This first-time novelist is heavy on description, and readers may find themselves skimming details about vanishing  contortionists and mystical rainstorms to get back to the actual plot and characters. But she is also dogged in her pursuit of epic love and tragedy.

Once you’ve entered Morgenstern’s world, you are not likely to forget it.

This 2010 movie featuring Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!) and Channing Tatum (Public Enemies) as young lovers Savannah and John, follows their story as John leaves to complete his military service and Savannah goes to college. A stream of love letters flow, as they look forward to being reunited in a year. But then war breaks out, and John doesn’t know when – or if – he will return. Can their relationship stand the test of time?

This romantic drama is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks.  There is a sprinkle of cliche here and there, plenty of romantic syrup and a dollop of heartache. Altogether a heart-warming serving of sentimentality. Not quite as good as ”The Notebook”, but a good effort from these young actors.

Check out the other movies that you can rent from the library for $3.50/7 nights (members only).

Patron: “I am looking for a globe of the earth.”
Librarian: “We have a table-top model over here.”
Patron: “No, that’s not good enough. Don’t you have a life-size?”
Librarian: (pause) “Yes, but it’s in use right now.”

Reviewed by Natalie

Young Prince Patroclus, exiled as a boy to the court of King Peleus of Phythia, is befriended by young Prince Achilles, son of Peleus and the sea-nymph goddess Thetis.  The boyhood friends are inseparable, and Achilles trusts Patroclus above all. But Thetis objects to Patroclus,  so she sends Achilles far away to the centaur Chiron for training.  But Patroclus follows, and they spend an idyllic three years learning many things, and their relationship develops into a passionate love.

At 17 years of age, Kings ask Achilles go to Troy to fight and  avenge the kidnapping of Helen of Sparta. Thetis foresees that if Achilles goes, he will achieve fame but at the expense of his life, so she whisks him away into hiding, forcing him to dress as a woman.  Patroclus pines for his lover so much he eventually tracks him down … but unfortunately, so does King Odysseus. Achilles is forced to choose -  go to war, or be ridiculed as his disguise is exposed. So he leaves the wife foisted upon him while in hiding, pregnant with his child, and Patroclus, Achilles and the Myrmidons sail to Troy.

Ten years later, the war continues but Achilles’ unsurpassed skills as a warrior have granted him great fame and god-like status. Patroclus is a surgeon and rarely fights. Achilles carefully avoids Prince Hector of Troy – prophecy foretells that once Hector dies,  Achilles will follow. Their love is strong, and enriched by the presence of Briseis, a girl who loves Patroclus, even though his love for her is platonic.

But then, as in the story presented in Wolfgang Petersen’s 2007 movie “Troy”, Patroclus impersonates Achilles during a fight and is killed. Grief and rage spur Achilles to hunt Hector down, and shortly after, he is killed by Paris’ arrow. Unlike that film however, the story continues…

Achilles young son, 12-year-old Pyrrhus, arrives to take his father’s place. Arrogant and cold, as one raised by the gods, he is instrumentall in the fall of Troy. However, he will not accept that Patroclus and Achilles had a homosexual relationship, and prevents Patroclus’ being included on Achilles monument. Therefore, the spirit of Patroclus is doomed to wander adrift while Achilles lives on in the underworld .. until Thetis finally accepts that their love existed and assists them to be re-united.

Author Madeline Miller has Master’s degrees in Latin and Ancient Greek, and also studied drama at Yale, specialising in adapting classical tales to a modern audience. That, and the ten years she reportedly spent writing this novel, have resulted in a extremely vivid, emotional, wonderfully detailed and riveting story.  Highly recommended. 8/10

“The borrower” by Rebecca Makkai

Reviewed by Natalie

Lucy Hull is a 26-year-old children’s librarian, in the small town of Hannibal, Missouri. Her favourite patron is 10-year-old Ian Drake, a ‘camp’ little boy who loves to read but his books are censored by his religious mother. So Lucy helps him by smuggling books out of the library for him, under her own name.

Ian’s parents enrol him in an anti-gay religious class. Pastor Bob – who has a dubious reputation – promotes his club with the promise that he can turn children who appear to be leaning in a certain sexual direction back onto the straight and narrow. As the weeks pass, Ian’s behaviour changes to the point that Lucy is quite concerned about his welfare.

One morning, Lucy arrives at work to find that Ian has run away from home and camped out in the library all night. Lucy gives him a ride home, but Ian directs her to the wrong house and then tells her that if she doesn’t take him where he wants, he’ll tell everyone that she kidnapped him.

Lucy once had a gay friend, and she felt that she failed him … as a teenager, he was so persecuted that he committed suicide. And Lucy doesn’t want that to happen to Ian. She wants to save him. So she goes along with Ian, and thus begins the adventure of Lucy and Ian’s trip through several states, with the police and a mysterious stranger on their tail. In the end, Ian gets what he wants and Lucy gets a new direction in life.

This novel is beautifully written, in a conversational but prosaic style. I found the story quite riveting, although the plot line is really quite simple. If this first effort from author Rebecca Makkai is anything to go by, I can’t wait for the next one.  7/10

I’ve also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don’t have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, my wife, and my kids. 
 
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not too much on physical activity anymore. 
 
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often. 

I’ve been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm. 
 
Sometimes I’m in Capable, and I go there more often as I’m getting older. 

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, and I don’t remember what country I was in. It’s an age thing.