Weird & Wonderful Library Books

A poem that folds out like a concertina, a graphic novel that comes in a large box, a sports book with a cover made of fake grass, a knitting book for nerds - these are just some of the weird and wonderful items on the shelves of our libraries.

The Council's Acting Library Manager, John Stears, asked the cataloguers in our libraries to find some of the more quirky or unique books.

If you're stuck for something to read over the holidays, you could check out titles such as:

- Elephants on Acid, and Other Bizarre Experiments

- Never Kiss a Man in a Canoe

- Shapely Ankle Preferr'd: a History of the Lonely Hearts Ad.

Dr Gary Small opens his files to reveal true stories from his 30 years in psychiatry, in The Naked Lady who Stood on her Head: a Psychiatrist's Stories of his Most Bizarre Cases.

Sports fans need look no further than Memorable Moments in One Day Cricket or The Sports Book - which covers off the sports, the rules, the tactics, the technologies - in fact, just about everything.

"We have quite a lot of really bizarre knitting books," says John. "And this is just a small selection!"

Crafty types can find out how to Knit your Royal Wedding, Knit Your Own Dog (or cat) or compete in the Knitlympics. Knits for Nerds, by Joan of Dark aka Toni Carr, provides patterns for 30 projects in science fiction, comic books and fantasy.

And with the Christmas Day ham safely behind us, why not whip up something new from The Sopranos Family Cookbook or The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, or let the kids loose in the kitchen to bake terrifying treats selected from Zombie Cupcakes: From the Grave to the Table with 16 Cupcake Corpses.

For those who are really keen, American cartoonist Chris Ware's Building Stories, published last year, is a graphic novel in a box. It consists of 14 beautifully produced items including a hardcover book, a newspaper, printed sheets and cards that tell the story of the residents in a Chicago apartment building.

The concertina poem 'Nox' by Anne Carson also comes packaged in its own box.

Visit the website to look up any of these titles and more - you never know what you might discover:

Wellington City Libraries website