This novel is quite a departure from Beckwith's other books. Ruth and her three young children awake one night to find that their town is being bombed. As they scramble to escape, they find out that a rebel group is fighting to take over their island. They encounter desperate refugees, police roadblocks, helpful strangers and tragedy as they make their way to safety in the countryside. 
A flim version of the book was released in 2010 and alternatively called Tomas and the Rainbows. Mairi McDonald has been unable to have children of her own and so decides to adopt an orphan. She had been raised in an orphanage herself and so empathized with young Thomas who her husband views as a weakling who stutters and wears glasses. 
A small village in the north of England shuts itself off from the outside world as the plague arrives in 1666. Those who survive, a third of the population, are forever changed. Anna Frith's wits,resourcefulness and compassion are tested over and over again, but she is a true survivor and a memorable heroine.
A book of two halves, in the first of which von Igelfeld meets a wealthy widow, Frau Benz and dreams of marriage and living in her Schloss. In the second half, an annual student retreat to the Alps has startling consequences for the good professor.
In the first story, On Being Light Blue von Igelfeld's birthday wish leads him to a four month stint at Cambridge University where he is nonplussed by the eccentric English academics and their constant infighting. In the second story, The Villa of Reduced Circumstances, von Igelfeld unwittingly becomes embroiled in a military coup in Colombia after being invited there to receive an academic award.
Professor von Igelfeld visits Rome to conduct research in the Vatican Library with startling consequences. He later accepts and invitation to give lectures to cruise ship passengers and finds that his popularity with the passengers, who are mostly divorced and widowed German ladies, overwhelming.
In this first book of the series, we are introduced to Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld and his colleagues at the Institute of Romance Philology in Regensburg, Germany. McCall Smith's quirky characters are memorable and engaging. This satire of academics and the ivory towers they inhabit had me laughing aloud on the subway.
Using goal setting, self praise and self correction called "recovery", the method outlined in this book teaches self-awareness and motivation. Our students who are "helicopter parented" lack risk-analysis and confidence and this approach can help students with both issues. The framework is simple and doable and I have already set my first goal.
This delightful collection of "Crick Crack" stories from the Caribbean, is beautifully illustrated by Gioia Fiammenghi. Facing drought and starvation in their land, a group of animals make the trek to a lush part of the jungle. Each night they take turns sharing "just-so" stories.
Probably the best known poem from this collection is "The Owl and the Pussycat." The others seem rather dated, not surprising as they were first published in the 1870s. I wondered if there were deeper meanings, or socio-political messages behind them, but after doing some web research, I think they are simply meant to entertain.
Miss Read, village school teacher, copes with her matchmaking friend Amy, school cleaner Mrs Pringle walking off the job, a film company doing a documentary about a local poet and many other challenges. Who knew living in a small village could be so hectic and stressful?
Contributing Authors: Rod Anderton, Pat Viggiani, Erling Holm, Mike Correa, Wil Wegman, Meg St. John, Chris Robinson, Colin Lake, Kelly Snow, Charles Weiss. A very informative, well illustrated and layed-out booklet that is part of the City of Toronto Biodiversity Series. I received a copy, signed by wildlife painter Charles Weiss at the opening of an art exhibit hosted by SONSI (Southern Ontario Nature and Science Illustrators). I would like to read others in the series and acquire them for classroom use. 
This novel is divided into four "books":1 Mrs Baines - relates the childhood and adolescence of sisters Constance and Sophia Baines; 2 Constance - the elder sister marries the respectable Mr Povey and takes over the family business; 3 Sophia - the younger sister elopes to Paris with a rakish salesman and becomes a hotel proprietor; and 4 What Life Is - the denouement in which the sisters reunite and the story lines are brought to conclusion.
Laid out like an encyclopedia, this book gives detailed information about the major gods, goddesses and places of Norse Mythology. The illustrations, which add greatly to the reader's understanding, come from a variety of sources and periods.
Read by Benjamin Soames. From the Creation of the Universe to Ragnarok - the preordained doom of the Gods - this volume's 12 stories are wonderfully read and accompanied by the music of Mahler, Grieg and Smetana. A great listening experience.
A well researched and well written history of sugar that explains how the taste for sweets literally changed the world. From slavery in the West Indies to indentured labour in Mauritiaus to deforestation and environmental degradation in Brazil and Florida sugar plantations have left their scars.
When it was first published in 1928, this best known D. H. Lawerence novel was banned as obscene. Its explicit scenes and language and the breaking of social taboos were controversial when it was eventually published in full in 1960. Sir Clifford Chatterley returns from World War One a broken man, paralysed from the waist down. He has returned to his country seat, Wragby and a different world. Lady Constance Chatterley has an affair with their gamekeeper Oliver Mellors who has also been changed by his time abroad in the army.
Callaway retells stories from the lives of the famous, infamous and average folk with humour and Christian insight. In these difficult economic times this book first published in 1998, has been re-released with new stories of encouragement and hope to help people find true richness in their relationships and their lives.
Teenage Matilda lives in Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea during a civil war in the 1990s. New Zealander, and sole white on the island, Mr Watts assumes the role of teacher and reads Great Expectations to Matilda and her classmates. Getting lost in Dicken's London and Pip's life experiences helps the youngsters to cope with the violence and depredation going on around them.
Another collection of amusing anecdotes and stories shared at céilidhs. "Miss Peckwitt" remembers various animals she's looked after from gulls to hedgehogs to lambs.
Precious Ramotswe and her secretary/assistant Grace Makutsi solve cases that involve their friends with the help of their mentor Clovis Anderson, the author of "The Principles of Private Detection". Garage mechanic Fanwell, Mma Potokwane matron of the orphan farm and Mma Makutsi and her new husband Phuti Radiphuti, all find themselves victims of dishonest people who seek only personal gain. One by one, the cases get solved and hard working, honest people prevail.
A series of vignettes in the highland crofting life:"Miss Peckwitt" raises a calf and reluctantly takes him to market; whelk picking; more tales of the supernatural and local customs
I ordered this thinking it was the book we're reading in my church book group. Turns out it's a very nice companion volume with great photos, quotes and top ten lists. Some great ideas like not wearing a watch on Sundays. I think I'll try that this week.
The Spuddy is a grey-black mongrel who is befriended by a mute boy named Andy. After his mother walked out, Andy is left in the care of his Aunt and Uncle, in a Hebridean fishing village, by his father is away with the Navy. The exciting climax results in a surprising ending.
A charming story that features all of my favourite Thrush Green characters including the curmudgeonly Albert Piggot who retires as church sexton and the redoubtable Ella Bembridge who is suffering from macular degeneration and then falls and breaks her wrist.
Another enjoyable read filled with eccentric and lovable characters. Beckwith has, by now, thoroughly adapted to her new life in the Hebrides and finds it difficult to contemplate going back to town life in England. She's working, eating and dressing like a local and using their idioms too.
Philosopher Isabel Dalhousie is asked to help facilitate the return of a stolen masterpiece to its rightful owners. McCall Smith implies that in many real cases, thieves return works of art for ransom payments. They know that they can't sell the paintings on the open market and claim reward money from owners or insurance companies. I'm still puzzling over which suspect was the true culprit in this novel.
"Miss Peckwitt" has got into the Hebredean habit of bringing a piece of rope when she goes out - in case. It comes in handy more than once in this book of amusing anecdotes and observations about working a croft, local customs, belief in the supernatural and superstitions in the fictional Scottish island of Bruach.
This coffee table book is filled with wonderful photographs of the titled Welsh village built by architect Clough Williams-Ellis. Chapters are devoted to the history, gardens, buildings and pottery of Portmeirion.
Liza, at the age of sixteen, runs away to live in a caravan with her boyfriend after her mother has been arrested for murder. Liza has been witness or has knowledge of three. During her upbringing in the gatehouse of "Shrove" a secluded mansion, Liza was home schooled by her mother who sought refuge from a troubled history. Although not street smart, Liza can read and speak French and Latin and is a voracious reader of classic fiction.
Written as a follow up to "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold", this cold-war espionage novel has become a classic in its own right. I wonder how good the film versions were?
I'm not sure whether to classify this novel as Science Fiction, Horror are a bit of both. An epidemic of sudden blindness, where the victim sees only a milky white fog, brings out the worst in humanity. It's interesting how none of the main characters are given names and are referred to as " the girl with the dark glasses" or " the boy with the squint". A disturbing and yet compelling tale.
