How to be a Bad Birdwatcher and The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse

What's New at Arty Bees Books.
This is the spot to check out every week, as we bring you the latest on the fabulous, weird, interesting, intriguing, and wonderful books, big or small, mostly square-ish - although not always - that have come into the Arty Bees shops over the past seven days or so.

But first we have a couple public announcements...

It is almost time for our Annual Christmas Buying Holiday.

We will not be purchasing stock from
Tuesday 9th DECEMBER
and will not start purchasing stock again until
Monday 12th JANUARY
but then only at our Arty Bees branch on Manners Street.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause - as usual we are still taking small exchanges and credits to shop cards.

Now, many of you will have noticed that it says that only Manners Street will be buying from the 12th of January, and not our Courtenay Place branch, and there is a very cunning reason for this.

Courtenay Place will not be buying anymore books.

Ever.

It sounds drastic doesn't it, but the truth is that Courtenay Place is very, very full.

I haven't been able to fit in a bookshelf in over two years and books all over the floor may be cozy to a point (and don't get me wrong, we like that within reason) but sooner or later it stops being cozy and just ends up maddeningly, exasperatingly, claustrophobically FULL.

Oh, and our lease ran out. (And the rent went up (and up again) and did we mention that the building leaks and we hate getting soggy books... Ack stop me now, I could go on and on...)

So the Courtenay Place shop will be closed at the end of March 2009 and with those two prime motivators in mind we managed to secure (and this is the really cunning bit) the space directly upstairs from our Manners Street shop.

And with quite a lot of wrangling engineers, tradesmen and lawyers, and the inevitable getting of Consents, we will cut a big hole in the ceiling, pop in some stairs and Bob's your Uncle. (Or Bob's the Boss in our case!)

Which will leave us with one super duper really big bookshop.

We like to think of it, not as losing a branch, but as gaining another 150 square metres to pack books into (or to be more precise, gaining another half a kilometre of linear shelf space).

Suffice to say we are all very excited and a little exhausted and we haven’t even started moving the books!

Which is why Jessica at Courtenay Place won't start buying again, as anything we buy, we then have to move.

Imagine all those books in one place! Bee Heaven!

~ ~ ~ ~

What's New at Arty Bees Courtenay Place

Random interest titles this week seems to have taken a turn for the odd (as if it doesn't most weeks...)

• Build Your Own Log Cabin by Paul and Karyn Pfarr
• The Search for the Perfect Language by Umberto Eco
• Emergency War Surgery - Nato Handbook by the United States Department of Defense
• Lonely Warrior - The Journal of Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot Jean Offenberg Edited by Victor Houart
• Apples - The Story of the Fruit of Temptation by Frank Browning
• How to be a Bad Birdwatcher - To the Greater Glory of Life by Simon Barnes - a refreshingly irreverent introduction to the subject which makes birdwatching simple and enjoyable.
• Mortification - Writers' Stories of their Public Shame Edited by Robin Robertson
• Knot Sure - The Life and Work of Irish Fashion Designer Cyril Cullen by Margot Cullen - classic 1970s and 80s wool fashion design.

Carlos Castaneda titles mysteriously appeared in store this week - we can't work out whether they astral-projected onto the shelves and decided to stay, if they were actually always there, having been put there by visiting aliens 2000 years ago, (before the shop was built by lesser humans) or if in fact they are figments of our extra-sensory perception - shadows of Castaneda's who have come before on a mystical quest to enlighten lost souls drifting in through the doors in search of meaning in their life.
Suffice to say their presence is an irrelevant mystery and you should come in to look at them quickly if you are interested, before they wander back to a 5th dimension...

• A Separate Reality
• The Active Side of infinity
• The Eagle's Gift
• The Art of Dreaming
• The Teachings of Don Juan
• Tales of Power
• Magical Passes

New Zealand titles this week include:

• Mana Tiriti - The Art of Protest and Partnership by Haeata
• Homer and Molloy's The Fold of the Land - New Zealand's National Parks from the Air
• Early Paintings of the Maori & Maori Scenes and Portraits the paintings of George French Angas and edited by A W Reed
• Raymond Ching's New Zealand Birds - An Artist's Field Studies
• Sound-Producing Instruments in Oceania - Construction and Playing Technique - Distribution and Function by Hans Fischer
• Trees for the New Zealand Countryside - A Planter's Guide by John & Bunny Mortimer
• Facsimiles of the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Waitangi
• E. Mervyn Taylor's Engravings on Wood
• Mihi - Collected Poems by Hone Tuwhare
  

Also on a New Zealand note we have some great Children's books including Hairy Maclary by Lynley Dodd, and loads of other favourite titles of hers in paperback, hardback and baby board books, along with other loved New Zealand authors like Gwenda Turner, Margaret Mahy, and other favourites like Dr Seuss and Beatrix Potter


Book Candy yum yum. The Proud Highway by Hunter S Thompson is an anthology of his writing.
We also have The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, quite a few by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Richard Brautigan, and a copy of Bone in the Throat by Anthony Bourdain, the book he wrote as a novel in order to avoid being killed by the mob.

What's New at Arty Bees Manners Street

Fiction excitement started early this week with a glimpse into the future with lots of David Brin - master of the "quite odd future" - SunDiver, Brightness Reef, Startide Rising, Heaven's Reach, Infinity's Shore & Uplift War.

Elizabeth Moon is a brilliant author (and we're not just saying that because she used to be a marine sergeant who could make us do a LOT of sit-ups if we dis' ed her) who is responsible for increasing the appeal of "Military-SF".
We have in Vatta's War series : Trading in Danger, Moving Target, Engaging, Command Decision&, Victory Condition. Also the Serrano Legacy :Hunting Party, Sporting Chance, Winning Colours, Once a Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, Against the Odds.

Some other interesting fiction this week includes:

• When Will There Be Good News -The New Jackson Brodie Novel by Kate Atkinson
• The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie (Swanky modern lit which comes with a bunch of 'riddle cards')
• Angela's Grotto: A Novel about Internet Sex by Russell Hoban
• The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin
• The Independence of Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

More Self Improvement books for those who really need it, even if they don't think so themselves - That's right it's office Secret Santa time and we have some subtle titles to annoy those workmates who have given you a years worth of irritation.

• The One Minute Organizer - Plain and Simple - 500 Tips to Getting your Life in Order by Donna Smallin,
• The DareDevil's Manual - How to Parachute off a Building, Walk on Hot Coals, Eat a Live Scorpion, Swallow a Sword and Dozens of Other Things by Ben Ikenson
• Is it Too Late to Run Away and Join the Circus -  Downsized? Fed Up? Don't Worry There's Still Time to Start Over - A Guide to Your Second Life by Marti Smyth, Ph.D. (Updated edition)
• What Got You Here Won't Get You There - How Successful People become Even More Successful! by Marshall Goldsmith
• and the ultimate book to inspire workmates - or at least make sure they won't talk to you for months - The Autobiography of Suzanne Paul, But Wait There's More.
• And for some other inspiration check out our handy Arty Bees Books Easy Inspirational Christmas Present Flowchart for finding presents for people you don't actually like that much.
  It has poetry by Leonard Nimoy, Paul Holmes, absurd hobbies and much, much more.
  

We've got some lovely Art books in including World Art: The Essential Illustrated History - Forward by Dr. Mike O'Mahony, The Artist's Way - A Course in Discovering and Recovering your Creative Self - Julie Cameron, Wright by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer (about Frank Lloyd Wright) and some How to Paint books by Richard Taylor ( I don't think it's our Richard Taylor - either the Weta genius or the early New Zealand Missionary)

• Fundamentals of Drawing and Painting       
• Water Colours Interiors        
• Water Colours Landscapes       
• Water Colours Still Life

While still on an Arts focus we've had some assorted Music Titles in this week on all sorts of topics like A History of Western Music, (4th Edition) by Donald Jay Grout & Claude V. Palisca and The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of ROCK edited by Michael Heatley and with a forward by Scotty Moore ("Elvis's guitarist") (It's got Eminem on the cover! What's he got to do with rock? Let's find out... well, it doesn't really explain, but the writing sure is frothy. That's so rawk!)

We have a very pretty hardback copy of High in the Clouds by Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh, which is a stunningly illustrated Children's book by Sir Paul (wow that was a perfect segway - I didn't even have top make a pun...) and some other beautiful goodies in the hugh stack of new titles waiting to be shelved in the kids section include Ticket to the Sky Dance by our own Joy Cowley, The Snow Pony and The Quicksand Pony by Alison Lester. (That is one unlucky pony... )

If Writing sounds like your cup of tea then we have The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Your Romance Published by Julie Beard (One would think that a complete idiot would struggle to get anything published, but who knows - maybe romance is just different?), The Rough Guide to Blogging - Navigate the Blogosphere by Jonathan Yang and Maps for Books and Theses by A G Hodgkiss.

Random Non Fiction to get you moving intellectually and physically this week includes:

• The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
• Gardens in the Wind: How to Create Beautiful Gardens in Exposed Places by Jacob De Ruiter a noted Wellingtonian landscaper.
• A Guide to Knots - Knots, Binding, Loops, Bends, Shortening & Hitches by Geoffrey Butterworth
• The Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire by Arundhati Roy (Mainly speeches and essays concerned with the US attack on Iraq)
• Xena Warrior Princess: The Official Guide to the Xenaverse by Robert Weisbrot
• Endometriosis: A Key to Healing Through Nutrition by Dian Shepperson Mills & Michael Vernon
• Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr
• Criminal - I Grew Up in a World of Drugs and Violence. I Didn't Stand a Chance. This is My Story by Caspar Walsh
• Chariots for Fire: A Pictorial History of the New Zealand Fire Engine by Brian Denton
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Scholoser (UK edition)
• Wildlands - Adventures in Some the Most Extraordinary Places on Earth by James Frankham (New Zealand author) with photographs by Michael Poliza

Each week, we bring you the most tragic & fantastic piece of cover art that's crossed our desk.
Terrorific! That may be a bit over the top but who can argue with a cover like that!

Well, talented family members have been at the old book writing lark again and this time it's Vidyamala Burch, Pippas sister and another of Bobs lovely daughters.

Living Well with Pain & Illness - The Mindful Way the Free Yourself From Suffering
Vidyamala Burch

$45.00
Piatkus Books, United Kingdom, 2008. NEW Paperback 255 pages with many illustrations.

Vidyamala Burch has suffered with chronic pain for over 30 years due to congenital weakness, a car accident and unsuccessful surgery. She is now a wheelchair user. In this positive and reassuring new book, she identifies that it is our resistance to pain which causes it to be so distressing and miserable. We don't want it to be happening to us, and we wish we weren't experiencing it.

Living Well with Pain & Illness is a practical guide to living with and managing chronic pain through the principle of mindfulness. By developing a calm awareness of your body and your pain, you can learn to let go of the frustration and suffering that you associate the pain with, and the pain will reduce. Vidyamala Burch uses easy-to follow breathing techniques and powerful mindfulness meditations which teach you how to live in the present moment. Living Well with Pain & Illness includes helpful illustrations, offers effective ways of managing chronic pain and is a must-read for all sufferers.

About the Author
Vidyamala Burch is the co-founder of the well-respected Breathworks organisation (http://www.breathworks-mindfulness.co.uk) She has taught meditation for 12 years as a member of the Western Buddhist Order.

Recently arrived new books. To purchase, click here, type in the tag number and your contact details.

To see the complete list of available new science fiction, click here.
To see the complete list of available new detective books, click here.
To see the complete list of available Rare and Antiquarian books at both shops, click here.

New Arts Books recently added to Courtenay Place

Other New Books recently added to Courtenay Place

New New Zealand Titles recently added to Courtenay Place

Rare and Antiquarian Books recently added to Courtenay Place

Arty Bees Books. 2 Locations.
17 Courtenay Place, Wellington.
Telephone 04 385 1819
The Oaks, Manners Street, Wellington.
Telephone 04 384 5339
www.artybees.co.nz