Top 5 most requested nonfiction titles for March 2013

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rod Stewart (I will never, as long as I live, understand his popularity and, moreover, why women swoon at the mere mention of his name), Anabel Langbein, Miranda Hart (YEAH! I lurve Miranda and you need to check Laura's review of the television series), the Road Code and Jamie Oliver. Such an unusual mix this month. I judge you not, though, people. I'm eyeing the odd mix that is my own request list and thinking "People who live in glasshouses shouldn't walk around naked." My shortest post ever? Maybe. Why? Because its not about me, it's about the books *steps out of your way and let's you request them* Be well, people.

Top 5 most requested autobiographies for November 2012

"When my journal appears, many statues must come down."
- Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

Greetings from the far north! I'm currently visiting the parental unit in Tai Tokerau where, I'd like to briefly brag, the scenery is as total amazeballs as you might think it would be. Also where, oddly enough, I can't get coverage at mum's place in Waipapakauri, but can get full bars while standing on Ninety Mile Beach. That made me LOL in the loudest way.

Today's list is the simplest ever: our Top 5 most requested autobiographies for November 2012. Happy Christmas Eve, people!

Top 5 most requested nonfiction for November 2012

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."
- Charles W. Eliot

In my mind, this introduction was going to be an absolutely stunner. I was going to wow you all with my wit and way with words. And then I woke up and realised that's so not my style. Instead, I'm going to keep it simple. Today's Top 5 list features an NZ cook, a rugby player, The Rod (as in Stewart AND I see that they managed to fit the word 'knickers' in to the synopsis somehow), rushing woman's syndrome, and a place on the Shore that makes the most amazeballs food I have ever seen. I give you our Top 5 most requested nonfiction for November 2012.

Top 5 books I always leave my own secrets in

"For sale: baby shoes, never used."
- Ernest Hemingway

There's a story behind today's post quote. Apparently, Ernest Hemingway's friends bet him that he couldn't write a story in six words. He did, they paid up, and so the six-word memoir was born. Once upon a time, a few years ago, I read one of Frank Warren's Postsecret books and the Smith magazine Six-word memoir series (which were inspired by Hemingway, hence the quote) and discovered that a few people had left secrets/memoirs of their own inside it. I was fascinated. They were heartfelt, a little sad, a little hopeful, and a whole lotta poignant. I decided to return the favour and do the same. And so I grabbed a pen and some note paper and sat down to write one secret. Some six or seven secrets later (all in different coloured pens and on different coloured bits of paper because that's how I roll), I realised how incredibly freeing it felt to do such a thing. Cathartic, even. As a result, every year I request all of the books listed below and I re-read them. Every single page, probably twice over, and I pore over the artwork and its attached confession. Looking for meaning. Looking to see how it fit/related to the author's secret. And once I've re-read them, I then write out a secret/memoir for each title and slip it into the book. Am I concerned that people may know which secrets are mine? Not particularly. Sometimes, I think secrets - or the nature of them - lose their power to hurt or sting or hold you back or stop you from looking ahead with hope when you set them free. And yes, I'm fully aware of how dorky that sounds, but I don't think that makes it any less true. These books are particularly good when you're feeling in a reflective mood. (Or if you're slightly voyeuristic, and perhaps I'm both). So read them. They really are that good. And maybe, just maybe, you'll feel like you can share your anonymous words, too. I hope so.

Also try:

It all changed in an instant : more six-word memoirs by writers famous & obscure / from Smith magazine ; edited by Rachel Ferschleiser and Larry Smith

5 books by Gok Wan

Gok: If I set this up for you, will you invite me to your wedding?
Melissa: Yes! It's in Rarotonga...
Gok: *confused look* I don't know what that is.
Melissa: It's an island. It has Rarotongan boys.
Gok: I love boys!
- Gok Wan, British fashion consultant, 30 May 2012 (and I know he said this because I was there to hear it)

I have never watched an episode of Gok Wan's show How to look good naked, so when I saw the signs start popping up in Westfield Manukau advertising an in-mall appearance, it didn't mean anything to me. I'd walk past the posters and smile because something about him - he's quite adorkable, really - makes me do that. That's not to say I don't know who he is. I do. I'm not totally clueless. I've just never watched his show. (I'll be honest and admit I don't watch America's next top model OR Project runway, either). Yesterday, on the way to work, and after having walked past yet another poster with his face on it, I decided I'd go and have a look during my lunchbreak, and drag Natalie and Jolene with me. After having seen Gok in action yesterday, I have to say, I'd be more inclined to watch his show now. Not because he takes women and shows them how to dress well and with confidence (a knack I've never mastered and think very little about - some mornings it's hard to remember to put on matching shoes), but because he's funny. Actually, he's hilarious. I spent the entire time screaming with laughter. I think the women who put their hands up to have makeovers done were extremely brave. A colleague asked me later, "What did you learn from watching the show?" THIS! That Gok is riotously funny, cleavage is (very probably always) in, and you should use belts. In that order. Well worth working late to make up for the extended lunchbreak. When I got back to my desk, though, I wondered what books or DVDs we have of Gok's. And so there you go - today's list: 5 books by Gok Wan.

Top 5 most requested titles for October 2011

List by Tosca

"Books had instant replay long before televised sports."
- Bern Williams

A 6"5 inch mountain of a man (who, weirdly, will be 5"7 instead in the recently announced book-into-film version, but more on that later). Civil rights in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Gods and demigods. The memoir of a man who managed to offend most of NZ without even trying. Dragons and destiny. What do they have in common? On a normal, day to day basis probably no crossover whatsoever. Unless you work with books. Behold, our top 5 most requested titles for October 2011!

P.S. I don't envy anyone waiting on our #1 book. That number is phenomenal.

Honourable mention (i.e. next 5 on the list):

Cabin fever by Jeff Kinney - children's fiction, book 6 in the Diary of a wimpy kid series. Currently on order

People's republic by Robert Muchamore - teen fiction, book 13 in the Cherub series

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - teen fiction, book 1 in The Hunger Games series

Thea Stilton, big trouble in the Big Apple by Geronimo Stilton - children's fiction

Diary of a wimpy kid : Rodrick rules by Jeff Kinney - children's fiction, book 2 in the Diary of a wimpy kid series

The conductor by Sarah Quigley - historical fiction, NZ author (I really want to read this one! I just don't want to have to wait *sigh*)