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Lock down Reading Challenge – 4+ weeks

Four weeks can feel like a long time if you don’t have anything planned. For those of you who enjoy a challenge or are just looking for a bit of structure we have a reading challenge for you – based on four books per week.

There are five challenges (one for each week) and three separate sheets for children, see how many you can get through before our lock down is finished. If people don’t stay at home and keep safe, we could be in lock down for much longer. If that happens (and we hope it won’t) then we will add more challenges for you.

Or you might decide to do your own reading challenges. We would love to hear how you went by commenting on the blog or our facebook page.

Week 2:

  1. A book in your ‘too read’ pile for over a year
  2. A book in a genre you wouldn’t normally read
  3. A book that’ll make you cry
  4. A book with a one word title
  5. For children – we have a Challenge sheet to print or download for fun reading challenges – see the another 2 at the bottom of this page.

Download all five weeks of our challenges here:
Reading Challenge week 1
Reading Challenge week 2
Reading Challenge week 3
Reading Challenge week 4
Reading Challenge week 5

Download the children’s reading challenges here:
Lock down reading challenge 1
Lock down reading challenge 2
Lock down reading challenge 3

Happy reading everyone.

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Popular genres for 2018

What books sell best in the shop? This is a question we get asked often and off the top of our heads it was difficult to say – picture books did well, but so did historical fiction and non-fiction as well as crime thrillers. With the thanks of a bit of spare time and a spreadsheet we set about looking at the sales for 2018 and what genre had the highest percentage.

Here are the results:

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Manawatu Writers’ Festival 2018 (Sept 7 – 11)

We welcome our guest blogger Rita Stirling-Vincent…

As a newbie to the “I’m gonna be a writer” gang, I really didn’t know what to expect from the festival. It’s the first I’ve attended. I was prepared to sit in dark, draughty town halls, sifting through the pearls of wisdom scattered by successful writers, published writers, real writers. Now I would get guidance on how to begin this crazy career. There would be illumination of the way forward.

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Our staff Picks for Mother’s Day

Mothers Day this Sunday 13th May and what better way to say to mum that she is appreciated than to spoil her with books and some time for herself to read.
We asked some of our volunteers and frequent buyers what they recommend or what they would like to get for Mothers’ Day. We hope you can find some inspiration among the picks – either for yourself, or for a woman in your life that deserves a treat.

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Why We Don’t All Like the Same Books

We welcome our guest blogger Nōnen Títi …

Why do we go around saying that one or another book “is good”, “is fascinating”, “is realistic”, or, alternatively, “is stupid”, “is simplistic” or “is not proper literature”? Why do we express our opinion about certain genres of books as if they are factual?

I am not talking about books that can justifiably be labelled “not very good”, because they have problems with grammar, punctuation, cohesion, pace, tone and characterization – problems related to the ability to use language or the craft of writing itself – which are somewhat objective measurements. Continue reading Why We Don’t All Like the Same Books

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Book, Chocolate and Wine Pairings – Perfect for a relaxing weekend

As book lovers and avid readers, we ask – What’s better than a good book? A good book paired with the perfect glass of wine, and favourite chocolate deliciousness of course. However, we also know that all books are best consumed with cheese, but we are leaving that for another day.

Not a wine drinker? Then we have some alternatives further down the page –

There is no wrong or right way of doing this, and here are a few to get you started…

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We caught another author with the promise of a choccie fish!

Kia ora,

Please welcome our latest victim guest, V. L. Dreyer On the metal plate suspended above that puddle by wires is a chocolate fish. Behave and the delicious pink marshmallow fish covered in chocolate won’t end up a goopy mess on the floor.

In the event of an earthquake/zombie plague/or random occupation – you’ll find emergency procedures taped to the bottom of your seat. Yes, just like a flotation device. You’ll also find a Glock 17 with a full magazine.

Remember you cannot reason with zombies and it’s a head shot every time.

Comfy?

1. What’s your favourite type of takeaway?

Depends on my mood, location, and budget at any given time.  I’ll pretty much eat anything that isn’t spicy.  Not a fan of pizza, though.

Continue reading We caught another author with the promise of a choccie fish!

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Our first victim for 2017 is Belinda Mellor!

Kia ora,

Please welcome our latest victim guest, Belinda Mellor. On the metal plate suspended above that puddle by wires is a chocolate fish. Behave and the delicious pink marshmallow fish covered in chocolate won’t end up a goopy mess on the floor.

In the event of an earthquake/zombie plague/or random occupation – you’ll find emergency procedures taped to the bottom of your seat. Yes, just like a flotation device. You’ll also find a Glock 17 with a full magazine.
Remember you cannot reason with zombies and it’s a headshot every time.

Belinda Mellor
Belinda Mellor

Continue reading Our first victim for 2017 is Belinda Mellor!

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A Ginormous WPRR welcome to our latest victim, Paul Corrigan

Kia ora,

Please welcome our latest victim guest, Paul Corrigan. On the metal plate suspended above that puddle by wires is a chocolate fish. Behave and the delicious pink marshmallow fish covered in chocolate won’t end up a goopy mess on the floor.

In the event of an earthquake/zombie plague/or random occupation – you’ll find emergency procedures taped to the bottom of your seat. Yes, just like a flotation device. You’ll also find a Glock 17 with a full magazine.
Remember you cannot reason with zombies and it’s a head shot every time.

Right. Comfy?
Yes. I’m clinging on tenaciously, just like Powdered Toast Man in Ren & Stimpy.

Continue reading A Ginormous WPRR welcome to our latest victim, Paul Corrigan

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A big WPRR welcome to Anya Forest

Kia ora,

Please welcome our latest victim guest, Anya Forest. On the metal plate suspended above that puddle by wires is a chocolate fish. Behave and the delicious pink marshmallow fish covered in chocolate won’t end up a goopy mess on the floor.

In the event of an earthquake/zombie plague/or random occupation – you’ll find emergency procedures taped to the bottom of your seat. Yes, just like a flotation device. You’ll also find a Glock 17 with a full magazine.
Remember you cannot reason with zombies and it’s a head shot every time.

Comfy?
Yep. I have my retriever Crockett supervising and the TV on.

Continue reading A big WPRR welcome to Anya Forest