Bye-bye Blurb it! Hello Facebook!

You may have noticed the lack of recent posts on blurb it, ummm… recently.

Gold Coast Libraries is no longer updating blurb it, but you can still keep up with what we’re doing on our Facebook page. Like us, and stay up to date with everything bookish on the Gold Coast.
For upcoming events check out the Calendar of Events.
If you want more book reviews and recommendations, head over to our online book club – book coasters.

And, of course, if you want something a little less virtual, drop in to one of the Gold Coast Libraries for a book, magazine, DVD, CD, graphic novel… or just for a chat. We’d love to see you!

MY call – lookin’ sharp

It’s not raining! So as a special New Year’s Eve treat on the (currently,) very sunny Gold Coast we have some straight lines of horizontal stripes – the lovely librarians in Local Studies have found this photo from 1937 of the Tweed Heads – Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club, in the archives of Picture Gold Coast.

Can you come up with a funny caption for it?

They’ve suggested: And you don’t like your board shorts?

Give us your ideas for a funny caption by leaving a comment below.

Where is that confounded bridge?

This month’s theme is

BRIDGE….

Bridge = a link between two points, part of an instrument, a weird card game whose rules I’ve never grasped. If you’ve got a digital image of a photo, drawing or other artwork, and it’s your own work, and it fits our theme AND you want it splashed up here on blurb it…..email it to us!

Planning ahead? Next month’s theme will be CELEBRATE.

MY call – room at the back

There’s room for everyone…. apparently.

Our Local Studies librarians have found this image from the 1920s of a chap called Clarrie Francis, taking residents to Tallebudgera Creek for a picnic in his bus, in the archives of Picture Gold Coast.

Can you come up with a funny caption for it?

Here are the Local Studies suggestions for a caption to get you started:

“Do you think this bus may be a little overcrowded?”

or

“Will we fit through the McDonalds’ drive-through?”

Give us your ideas for a funny caption by leaving a comment below.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

I have been so excited to see this has been coming up – and now we only have a few hours to wait until the new Harry Potter Movie is on the big screens.  Are you as excited as I am? 

With the movie being released and the second part of the movie opening next year… we are heading towards the end of an era.  The Harry Potter era. 

So my question for today is (and in honour of the movie it is a two-part question!):

1. Will you see the last two movies on the big screen?…. and

2. Do you actually prefer the books rather than the movies (where your imagination can run wild)?

QUIRKY flowers

Spring has sprung, so this month blurb it has been thinking about flowers.
Things like….

Stolen flowers! Did you hear about the Van Gogh painting that went missing from a Cairo museum? Although reportedly recovered a few hours later, this was incorrect and the painting, valued at A$56 million, is still missing. This painting was also stolen 30 years ago and subsequently recovered. Or was it? A copy sold a year after the alleged recovery for A$45 million, so maybe this year’s thieves have stolen the real fake.


Gardeners in the UK are being encouraged to pander to the floral preferences of bumblebees. The BBC reported that bumblebees, which make significant contributions to the British economy through their tireless pollination work, would much prefer striped or red flowers and that gardeners should plant accordingly. Research on whether bumblebees would also like tiny hammocks for relaxation and more baroque music in gardens is continuing. 🙂




Bloodflower is the hugely praised first novel from Christine Hinwood. Young Cam returns to his home from war alone, all his fellow soldiers slain. What has he seen and endured that has left him so damaged? Is he true, or a traitor? His life and the lives of those around him are woven together in this gorgeous story of adventure, history and romance.

Showers and flowers

This month’s theme is

FLOWERS….

We’ve had so much rain, everything green and growing should be bursting into bloom. So, if you’ve got a digital image of a photo, drawing or other artwork, and it’s your own work, and it fits our theme AND you want it splashed up here on blurb it…..email it to us!

Planning ahead? Next month’s theme will be BRIDGE.

AL – the interview!

Well I thought it was time to ask one of our administration management staff these questions.  You gotta let them in on the fun as well! 

Great to see AL joining in for these interview questions. So without further ado…

Favourite jellybean flavour? Pink

Favourite book as a child? Bird’s best nest

Favourite dance move? The step side to side and the bob up and down

Favourite book as an adult? Mmmm tricky – I think it’s still Bird’s Best Nest

Favourite area to browse in the library? Picture book collection

List your top 3 hobbies. Camping, reading aloud (with voices) and cooking

Favourite food for the movies? Popcorn of course – what else would you eat at the movies.

Favourite character in a book or movie? Smeagol or affectionately known at Gollum

Favourite ice-cream flavour (or mix-in)? chocolate

Favourite subject at school? Drama

Favourite fizzy drink? Don’t touch the stuff

Favourite tv series? I can’t commit to a series.

Favourite Aussie landmark/vacation place? Neurum Creek Bush Retreat – this week anyway

Favourite band/group? I tend to enjoy solo artists more than groups

Favourite sports star? Matt Rodgers

What do you like to do on your holidays? Camp

What is your favourite Easter memory? Finding my baby girl sucking on a candy egg that she’s broken into

Who is your hero or role model? My kids – they inspire me to be a better person.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

Image courtesy of CityTalk

One movie that you may have had a chance to see over the holidays is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.  It is the new animated movie that is directed by Zack Snyder and production took place in Australia with the same people that did the movie Happy Feet.

I have not had a chance to see this movie yet but would like to as I love owls and I think the animation and special effects would be great to see. The movie is based on the series of books Guardians of Ga’Hoole by Kathryn Lasky.  The books are available in the library :

1.  The Capture

2.  The Journey

3.  The Rescue

4.  The Siege

5.  The Shattering

6.  The Burning

7.  The Hatchling

8.   The Outcast

9.   The First Collier

10. The Coming of Hoole

11. To Be a King

12. The Golden Tree

13. The River of Wind

14. Exile

15. The War of the Ember

The movie is based on the first three books in the series. 

Has anyone seen this movie yet? What did you think?

Slasher style

Rip it up !

Grab an old t-shirt and get slashing at one of the library’s Slash Tee sessions. Find out how the creative use of scissors can give you a whole new slasher style.

It’s happening on these Thursdays from 4pm-5pm:
Robina Branch Library 28 October
Helensvale Branch Library 18 November

Phone the library to book a place –
Robina on 55811600
Helensvale on 55911625.