Here we are at the end of another year of happy bookselling with the shelves groaning under the weight of all the gorgeous books that have recently arrived. So much choice but lots of fun in the choosing. In the last few months, we have had Belinda managing our Facebook page and what an amazing difference she is making. She has helped us showcase books that we are recommending in a creative and compelling way. We are very grateful to have her as a part of our team.
If you have never checked out our Facebook page, now might be the time to try. There is a special promotion to win a lovely pile of Summer reading for all the family and to gift a matching selection to a friend. The promotion ends on December 8th when the lucky winners will be announced.
You can access the Facebook page easily via the website here.
Patricia Morrison: We were shocked and saddened at the sudden death of Patricia, a previous owner of the shop, friend and great supporter for many years. In the last few years, Patricia had been very involved in libraries at the prisons and made a huge difference there. We will miss her.
NZ Post: Christmas posting dates are as follows:
For Airmail Rest of World: Wednesday, Nov 29th
UK and Europe and America: Friday, December 1st
Australia: Wednesday, December 6th
International Courier dates are a week later for each date.
Christmas Bags: Beatrice has been busy making sustainable Christmas bags, $12, which you can use to wrap a book or gift.
Christmas Books: We have a comprehensive range of Children’s Christmas books for all ages, including Nativity stories.
Christmas and Holiday Hours:
Sundays in December: From Sunday, December 3, we are open Sundays, 11am to 3pm.
Christmas Day: Closed
Boxing Day: Closed
December 27, 28, 29: Open 9am to 5pm
December 30, Saturday: Open 10 am to 2 pm
January 1 and 2: Closed
January 3, 4, 5: Open 9am to 5pm
January 6: 10am to 2pm.
Thanks for all your support this year, Happy Christmas and enjoy a safe and relaxing holiday, from the team at Marsden Books; Anna, Philippa, Heather, Anne, Megan, Beatrice, Belinda, Charlotte and Emily.
FICTION
NON FICTION
CHILDREN
George Saunders (Bloomsbury Publishing)
On 22 February 1862, two days after his death, Willie Lincoln is laid to rest in a marble crypt in a Georgetown cemetery. That very night, shattered by grief, his father Abraham arrives at the cemetery, alone, under cover of darkness.
Over the course of that evening, Abraham Lincoln paces the graveyard unsettled by the death of his beloved boy, and by the grim shadow of a war that feels as though it is without end. Meanwhile, Willie is trapped in a state of limbo between the dead and the living – drawn to his father with whom he can no longer communicate, existing in a ghostly world populated by the recently passed and the long dead.
Unfolding in the graveyard over a single night, narrated by a dazzling chorus of voices, Lincoln in the Bardo is a thrilling exploration of death, grief and the deeper meaning and possibilities of life.
The full list of winners of the 2017 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults is:
Snark Being a true history of the expedition that discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock . . . and its tragic aftermath illustrated and written (after Lewis Carroll)
by David Elliot
Otago University Press
That’s Not a Hippopotamus! by Juliette MacIver and illustrated
by Sarah Davis
Gecko Press
My New Zealand Story: Bastion Point
by Tania Roxborogh
Scholastic New Zealand
The Severed Land
by Maurice Gee
Penguin Random House (Penguin)
The Discombobulated Life of Summer Rain
by Julie Lamb
Mākaro Press (Submarine)
More information about the winners, the shortlist and the judges can be found at New Zealand Book Awards Trust.
Image via New Zealand Book Awards Trust
This week happens to be National Grief Week. Consequently, we are showcasing our grief books which are a mixture of memoirs and guides to dealing with the death of a loved one.
We also have a comprehensive collection of books for young children to help them
understand death, whether it is a close family member, a pet, or just a question being asked about death.
There are also some excellent books, recently published, discussing our approach to death as a society. For example “Being Mortal” by Atal Gawande and “The Way We Die Now” by Seamus O’Mahony.
Childrens’ Bookshop: It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to John MacIntyre from The Children’s Bookshop. In the spirit of cooperation that prevails amongst the Wellington booksellers, he was a great support and mentor to many of us. He will be missed.
John ran the bookshop in partnership with his wife Ruth, who is now leading a great little team at the Children’s Bookshop. We will continue to support her and the shop and wish her well as she steps into John’s shoes.
Lonely Planet Promotion: Lonely Planet is now producing a wonderful range of children’s books, activities and guides. We will be running a promotion in August to showcase these.
NZ Post: There have been some changes to NZ Post prices. These are only affecting Fastpost letters and some increases to international post parcels.
Facebook and Instagram: We now have the lovely Belinda Robins managing our Facebook page and Instagram. She is making a huge impact for us with the increased communication offered and the opportunity to see daily the books we are promoting. This has also meant that out-of-town customers can get a better idea of the books available here and have books posted to them. If you are not following us on Facebook it would be worth a look. You can access via our website if you are not on Facebook. Marsdenbooks.co.nz
NZ Children’s Book Awards: We have a display of all the finalists for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The winners will be announced in August.
Music: Beatrice is busy collating a wonderful collection of CDs and is happy to take orders. She is in the shop on Fridays if you would like the chance to talk to her.
In the meantime, Happy Reading from the team at Marsden Books.
Now that we are well into 2017, the year of the Rooster, the Marsden Books team is working hard to stock the best books, cards, and extra little treasures you might need. It is great to see our fellow local businesses in Marsden Village thriving and enjoying much deserved support. In the difficult times, some communities such as Christchurch and Kaikoura have faced, the importance of a supportive local community comes to the fore.
“Leap of Faith”
We are thrilled to be hosting an event to celebrate Jenny Pattrick’s new novel Leap of Faith.
Thursday April 6th
5.30pm at St Ninians in Karori.
Refreshments and seating will be available so join us to hear Jenny talk about the book and read from it.
Please rsvp by 3 April.
Copies of the book will be available to buy at the event, and Jenny will be happy to sign them then.
Gecko Promotion:
For the month of March, we are promoting local publisher Gecko. Buy a Gecko book during the month of March and go into the draw to win a wonderful collection of their children’s books.
The winner will be able to nominate a local school or preschool to receive an identical collection of Gecko books. Our thanks to Gecko publishers for their support of this promotion.
Facebook followers can be in to win a copy of The Gecko Annual edited by Kate de Goldi and Susan Paris. You can access our Facebook page here.
Stocktake:
Our stocktake will be on April 1st which means the shop will close early at 1 pm.
Easter Hours:
CLOSED: Good Friday, 14 April.
OPEN: Saturday 9 till 3.
CLOSED: Easter Sunday and Monday
Books To Look Forward To by some of our favourite authors:
Leap of Faith by Jenny Pattrick. A vivid novel about ingenuity and hard slog, crooks and dreamers, bootleggers and love, during the construction of the main Trunk Railway line, set in a rugged difficult landscape.
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore. An unsettling mystery set in Britain in the 1700’s as the French Revolution takes hold just across the water.
House of Names by Colm Toibin. A retelling of the story of Clytemnestra and her children.-spectacularly audacious, violent, vengeful, lustful, and instantly compelling.
How to Measure a Cow by Margaret Forster. This is her last novel published after her death last year and written in her wonderful style reminiscent of her best earlier novels.
Breaking Ranks by James McNeish. Three distinct stories about three New Zealanders, a doctor, a soldier and a judge, but with one thing in common — they all paid the price for standing up for what they believed in.
We welcome Charlotte and Emily Sinclair who will be working on Saturdays. They have shown a great passion for reading and will now be able to share that knowledge with our customers. We look forward to having them as part of our team at Marsden Books.
Piotr Sacha tracks the history of bees from the age of dinosaurs to their current plight, examining along the way the role bees have played in history and in the rest of the natural world.
