View the latest Divergent trailer

Followers of Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy will be excited to know that the trailer of the movie version has been released.

You can view the trailer by following this link

 http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=39368

The final book in the series will be released next year.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

This is the first of a trilogy. I've nearly finished the last one now and I have really enjoyed all of them. I first came across Scott Westerfield when I read the fast paced fantasy series 'Uglies'. This trilogy is just as fast paced with equally strong protaganists. It's set in an alternative history of WW1, in a world of fantastic machines and fabricated beasties. It's in the 'steampunk' genre of which I'm a fan. If you enjoy this trilogy you'll enjoy The Mortal Engines series. Morrin sensei

HE'S BACK....

The eagerly anticipated 8th book in the series 'Last Stand of Dead Men' is in the library and Skulduggery Pleasant doesn't disappoint.

Non-stop action, some shocking plot twists and the world is pulled back from the brink of disaster .... for today. But Darquesse is back again so no one will be safe for long.

Latest Manga

If you would like to read the latest edition of your favourite manga this site has many titles, all free to read.

http://www.mangareader.net/

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is my favourite book ever. I've read it over and over and I always find more reasons to love it. It was written in 1813 and is considered a classic. Several film and TV interpretations have been made of it. It has romance, wit and fabulous characters. I find myself laughing the whole way through it but also enjoying the delicious tension between the two main characters Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
The first line of the book is one of the most famous opening lines of any novels.
Quoting Jane Austen, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

The Bone Bearer Book Launch

The Death of Bees

The Death of Bees is a first novel by Lisa O'Donnell. It won the Commonwealth Book Prize in 2013. I loved this book. It's about two teenagers who bury their parents in the garden. Yes, sounds odd but as you read the book you start to find out why and what has happened in their lives. There are some pretty heavy themes in this book but O'Donnell manages to get a lot of humour into the story. People who enjoy stories about relationships between people will enjoy this book.

Are you a Telesa Fan?

If you are a fan of the Telesa trilogy and would like to meet Lani Wendt Young she will be running a free mini book festival at the BNZ Manukau on Saturday 17 August 9am - 1pm.

The Apothecary's Daughter

The Apothecary's Daughter by Charlotte Betts is an entertaining romance set in London in the seventeenth century. It includes romance, plague, a wicked step-mother, secrets and finally the Great Fire of London. Who will Susannah finally find happiness with?

Plugged

There is not a fairy in sight in this new senior fiction series from Eoin Colfer, author of the popular Artemis Fowl stories.
Former army sergeant Daniel McEvoy is a bouncer at a run down New Jersey casino. What starts out as just another day on the door rapidly becomes a battle to survive as Daniel out fights and out wits gangsters, corrupt lawyers, police officers and his crazy neighbour who thinks he's her missing husband.
A great book with lots of action and humour, I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series over the holidays.

Librarians at Marcellin School Ball 2013

 


We had a great time at the School Ball. We loved seeing all you lovely students looking so polished and so very glamorous!

Slated

Slated is the first of a trilogy. It's set in the not too distant future in the UK. Deadly youth riots led to the government bringing in slating wherby young people who show tendencies towards rebelling are slated. That means their brains are wiped, they're reset and sent to another family to start a new life. However, Kyla the main character can remember bits of her past and this starts to get her in all sorts of trouble. This series ( we have Fractured the second one) is action packed and good fun. I highly recommend it to people who enjoy series like The Hunger Games and The Uglies series. 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Don Tillman is getting married. He just doesn't know who to yet.

Highly intelligent but socially inept, Don decides to take a scientific approach to finding a partner and launches The Wife Project complete with sixteen page questionaire. But when he designed the project he didn't factor in Rosie who breaks all his rules and teaches him some unexpected lessons on love.
This is a very funny book as the world can be a confusing place for Don sometimes but you will be cheering him on in his quest to win Rosie.

MARCELLIN LIBRARY BLOG

If you become a:

FOLLOWER: You will receive updates each time new content is published on the

                          blog. You’ll be able to keep up to date easily with what’s happening

                          in the library, reviews of new books, links to authors’ sites, etc.

CONTRIBUTOR: You will have the added advantage of being able to publish your

                                 own posts on the blog.

How to join in:

1. Go to Marcellin Library Blog icon on your desktop
2. Enter your email address to become a follower. You will get an email back to verify this is what you want.
3. To become a contributor you will need to set up a gmail account. You can do this online. Then come and see on of the librarians and we will invite you to join the blog.

Wool by Hugh Howey

I really loved this sci fi novel. It's exciting and intelligent too with some great characters. It's the first of a trilogy, the second one being Shift. I enjoyed that one just as much. Apparently, the last one will be out in a couple of months. The story involves the world a few hundred years into the future and the characters live underground in a vast multi levelled silo. What happened to the Earth and why they're living in a silo comes out over the course of reading Wool and Shift. This knowledge though brings great danger for the characters who try to find out if there is life beyond the silo.

NZ Post Book Award winners announced

A teen novel that begins its dramatic journey on New Zealand’s East Coast has picked up the top prize at this year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.

Ted Dawe’s book Into the River won the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and was also the winner of the Young Adult Fiction category.  This engaging coming of age novel follows its main protagonist from his childhood in small town rural New Zealand to an elite Auckland boarding school where he must forge his own way – including battling with his cultural identity.

The New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards promote excellence and provide recognition for the best written and illustrated children’s books published by New Zealand authors each year.

As the winner of both the Young Adult Fiction category and the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, Mr Dawe received a total of $15,000 in cash prizes.

The New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards winners for 2013 are:

Best Young Adult Fiction and New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Into the River* by Ted Dawe Mangakino University Press ISBN 9780473205089
Best Non-Fiction 100 Amazing Tales from Aotearoa by Simon Morton & Riria Hotere Te Papa Press ISBN 9781877385797
Best Junior Fiction My Brother's War by David Hill Penguin Group NZ ISBN 9780143307174 (paperback) ISBN 9781742532653 (e-book)
Honour award, Junior Fiction The Queen and the Nobody Boy: A Tale of Fontania series by Barbara Else Gecko Press ISBN 9781877579493
Best Picture Book Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy & Gavin Bishop Gecko Press ISBN 9781877467929
Best First Book Reach by Hugh Brown HarperCollins ISBN 9781869509569
Children’s Choice Melu by Kyle Mewburn, Ali Teo & John O’Reilly, Scholastic NZ ISBN 9781775430278

Copyright © 2011 Booksellers New Zealand

Jamie's 15 minute meals

This cookbook is for people who are in a hurry but want  interesting and healthy meals.  There are yummy recipes from around the world like Spicy cajun chicken, Asian beef and many fish and vegetarian recipes. This cookbook is clearly set out and you are even told what pans/saucpans etc to have ready and at what temperature. The pictures of the food look really colouful and Jamie says his book is "suitable for all ages and skill levels.
Next week I will put some of the recipes to the test see how long it takes me and let you know how it goes!

New Skulduggery Pleasant title!

The new Skulduggery Pleasant title has been announced. 'Last stand of Dead Men' will be released at the end of August this year. In the meantime if you are missing your favourite Skulduggery characters we have a novella from the world of Skulduggery Pleasant featuring Tanith Low in "The Maleficent Seven". This is a high action tale featuring many of the regular characters from the Skulduggery stories. It fills in some of Tanith Low's history and sets up some background for the title coming out in August. A good snack for fans to help them make it to August.

Library Funnies

       

Read the Hunger Games? What next...

If you enjoyed the Hunger Games we have lots of other dystopian novels you might like to try or take a look at this list for some new ideas.
So You Loved The Hunger Games...What Should You Read Next? What kind of narrator do you want? GIRL Legend by Marie Lu GUY Divergent by Veronica Roth FANTASY The Maze Runner by James Dasher There are like 100 holds on Divergent.
I want something today! The Bar Code Tattoo
by Suzanne Weyn Uglies
by Scott Westerfeld Article 5 by
Kristen Simmons I’ve already read
The Maze Runner! I want to try something a little different but as good as The Hunger Games
The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater Graceling by Kristen Cashore Cinder by Marissa Meyer Still
looking?
Try the next page The Knife of Never Letting Go
by Patrick Ness
With
Romance ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER OR FUTURISTIC OR PARANORMAL OR WAR Blood Red Road
by Moira Young America Pacifica
by Anna North Ashes, Ashes
by Jo Treggiano Life as We Knew It by
Susan Beth Pfeffer The Supernaturalist
by Eoin Colfer How about... Ashfall by Mike Mullin The Diary of Pelly D
by LJ Adlington Under the Never Sky
by Veronica Rossi Enclave
by Ann Aguirre Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi Cherry Heaven
by L.J. Adlington The Carbon Diaries
by Saci Lyod REPRODUCTION ARRANGED MARRIAGE DISEASE The Masque of the
Red Death
By Bethany Griffin Eve by Anna Carey Unwind by
Neal Shusterman The Declaration
By Gemma Malley The Kindling by
Jennifer Armstrong The Selection
by Kierra Cass Wither by Lauren Destafano Delirium by Lauren Oliver Bumped by Megan McCafferty Incarceron by
Catherine Fisher Birthmarked by
Carragh M O’Brien Matched by
Ally Condie Don’t worry...there’s more! PRESENT DAY CLONING/GENETICS GAMING COMPUTERS SPACE Feed by M T Anderson Variant by
Robinson Wells Little Brother by
Cory Doctorow The Line
by Teri Hall Candor by
Pam Bachorz Across the Universe
by Beth Revis The Adoration of
Jenna Fox
by Mary E Pearson The House of the Scorpion
b y Nancy Farmer Epic by
Conor Kostick Ender’s Game by
Orson Scott Card Or how about a classic? Gathering Blue
By Lois Lowry Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Handmaid’s Tale by
Margaret Atwood
1984 by George Orwell Brave New World
By Aldous Huxley Fahrenheit 451
By Ray Bradbury

The Hunters

This is the third installment in John Flanagan's Brotherband series. Hal and his crew are still in pursuit of the pirate Zavac attempting to retrieve the Andomal he stole from them. This is a fast paced story with lots of battles and adventures and fans of the series will not be disappointed. The Ranger's Apprentice series ran for eleven books so it will be interesting to see what other adventures John Flanagan has planned for the Heron Brotherband.

THAI-RIFFIC and THAI-NO-MITE

by Oliver Phommavanh

(Junior fiction 10- 14 yrs)


Thai-riffic and Thai-no-mite (the next instalment of the series) tells the story of Lengy, Australian born, but of Thai descent.  Lengy just wants to eat burgers or pizzas but this is a bit difficult when your parents run the local Thai restaurant. Thai-riffic is a funny, enjoyable novel and is a sensitive look at cultural diversity. Oliver Phommavanh is a stand-up comic and teacher and he says that his books are guaranteed 5 laughs a second.  Read it and find out for yourself!
I thought it was very funny and even though it is aimed for younger teens it would still be an easy but enjoyable read for older readers.

Ashfall and Ashen Winter

We have both of these titles in the library. Ashfall starts with a massive volcanic eruption in the Yellowstone National Park in America. This created massive devastation and loss of life in several American states. Alex, the main protaganist, is separated from his family and sets off to find them amidst the chaos around him. Anarchy rules with corruption not far behind as the survivors attempt to stay alive in a totally altered world. This trilogy contains some fairly gruesome parts and is more suitable for seniors. What struck me most about these books is that living in a volcanic region as we do how would we behave in similar circumstances. I'm waiting for the final in the trilogy now.

Worm 

the following is from the 'about' page for the story Worm, a web serial that updates on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I felt the author himself  would be able to give you a better idea on what it is about that i could.  -Thomas

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons.

The story, titled Worm, takes the form of a web serial, posted in bite-sized reads in much the same way that authors such as Mark Twain would release their works one chapter at a time in the days before full-fledged novels.  Worm started in June 2011, updating twice a week.  It has (as of mid-May 2013) reached an excess of 1,150,000 words; roughly 9-20 typical novels in length.  The story updates on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with bonus chapters appearing on the occasional Thursday, as explained below.

The actual work is divided into a number of story arcs, each containing five to sixteen individual chapters.  Interludes (side stories) are inserted between each story arc to showcase events from different perspectives or provide some background information that the reader wouldn’t get from Taylor’s point of view.  Still more interludes continue to be released as bonus content when the audience reaches specific donation goals.

Readers should be cautioned that Worm is fairly dark as fiction goes, and it gets far darker as the story progresses.  Morality isn’t black and white, Taylor and her acquaintances aren’t invincible, the heroes aren’t winning the war between right and wrong, and superpowers haven’t necessarily affected society for the better.  Just the opposite on every count, really.  Even on a more fundamental level, Taylor’s day to day life is unhappy, with her clinging to the end of her rope from the story’s outset.  The denizens of the Wormverse (as readers have termed it) don’t pull punches, and I try to avoid doing so myself, as a writer.  There’s graphic language, descriptions of violence and sex does happen (albeit offscreen).  It would be easier to note the trigger warnings that don’t apply than all the ones that do.

All in all, this probably isn’t a story for the sensitive or the young.  I’d peg it with a PG-18 rating, but I think we all know that there’s kids who can handle that sort of thing and there’s adults who can’t.  Use your best judgement and ask in the comments below if you’re still unsure.

If I haven’t scared you off yet, you can begin reading Taylor’s story here at http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/1-1/

Wildbow. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Things We Did for Love

The things we did for love by Natasha Farrant
This romance is based on a true event. In June 1944 a contingent of German troops entered the little french village of Oradour-sur-Glane , not far from Limoges, and, for no apparent reason, massacred its inhabitants. This event is explored in the book where the village is renamed Samaroux but the dates and events echo historical fact. This is the love story of Luc, Arianne and Romy who must fight for what they believe in, and decide just how far they will go for love.

Blossoms and Shadows

If you enjoyed Lian Hearn's trilogy 'The Tales of the Otori' we have just received her latest book which is also set in Japan. Blossoms and Shadows follows Tsuru, the daughter of a village doctor, during a time of unrest in Japan. In 1857 Western influence is starting to spread in the country and many people react violently to this resenting the end of centuries of tradition. Tsuru longs to become a doctor, this has not been possible for a woman but will the changes brought from outside finally allow her to achieve this goal.

The Kid

The Kid is the sequel to Push that really popular book by the writer, Sapphire. Many of you have read Push and if you like gritty realism then I think you'll like this next offering by Sapphire. This book is for seniors only though as it can be pretty heavy going. Not for the faint hearted.

The Moorehawke Trilogy

This trilogy is set in a medieval fantasy world. It is fast paced with an edge. The main protagonists are Wynter, Razi and Christopher who have set themselves the seemingly impossible task of finding Prince Alberon in an attempt to bring stability to their kingdom. The series is full of intrigue, action and fascinating characters. Think Game of Thrones without the bad language and minus several hundred pages.

John Green's book signing marathon

John Green author of 'Looking for Alaska' and 'The fault in our stars' has posted this video showing all the copies of his book he has had to sign.
http://johngreenbooks.com/signing-madness/

On Two Feet and Wings

Imagine you're nine years old when you find yourself in a very dangerous foreign city alone!
This is what happens to Abbas and to make it more harrowing, it's a true story. Abbas Kazerooni the author of the book is an Iranian and the book is set during the Iran/Iraq war. Iran had lowered the age of conscription to ten and Abbas's birthday was coming up. His parents knew that if he went to war, he had little chance of returning alive, unable to leave the country themselves they sacrificed everything to ge Abbas out. His survival depended on his maturity, strength of character and wily ways.
A great story of danger, resourcefulness and overcoming adversity.