Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Monday, 2 November 2015
Then No One Can Have Her (True Crime) by Caitlin Rother
Paperback: "I hope that people could appreciate the sense of wonder and mystery that live in the quiet stillness of their hearts, where they could drop down in and tell the truth. At any moment, any one of us can make a choice but it's a choice that has to be made, that I'm going to stop doing this other thing that I've been doing, and I'm going to choose to tell the truth now...some folks may tell malicious falsehoods to get ahead but even when they try to live right and systematically, they can still betray something deeper in themselves." - Carol Kennedy (1954-2008)
She thought she had married her soulmate but when Carol Kennedy could no longer tolerate her husband's reckless womanizing and out-of-control spending, the peaceful and loving artist, therapist and mother-of-two had to let him go.
On 2 July 2008, just weeks after their divorce, Carol was found in her Arizona ranch home - bludgeoned to death with a golf club. Her ex, Steven DeMocker, was the prime suspect. Yet it took the authorities months to arrest him and years to convict.
On this roller-coaster ride to justice, the evolving criminal investigation into Kennedy's murder continues even after DeMocker is behind bars as he pulls his girlfriend and family into his schemes, resulting in additional charges and a new defense team. Meanwhile, as judges play musical chairs, prosecutors and defense attorneys exchange ethical allegations and evidence of a contaminated DNA changes the whole landscape of the case.
Packed with twists and turns, this powerful real-life account reveals every bizarre detail of this compelling case. Bestselling author and award-winning journalist Caitlin Rother presents an unforgettable story of love turned to obsession, and a family torn apart forever in Then No One Can Have Her (2015).
About the author: Caitlin Rother, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, worked as an investigative reporter at daily newspapers for nineteen years before deciding to write books full-time. Her work has been published in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Daily Beast. She has appeared as a crime expert on E! Entertainment, the Oxygen Network, Investigation Discovery, Greta Van Susteren’s “On the Record,” XM Radio and the American Radio Network. She also teaches narrative non-fiction, journalism, and creative writing at UCSD Extension in San Diego, CA, where she resides.
Saturday, 31 October 2015
Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers (A 44 Shortland Street Novel) by Alexander McCall Smith
Paperback: Alexander McCall Smith's wildly popular 44 Scotland Street series chronicles life in a corner of Edinburgh brimming with wit and humor. Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers (2013) is the ninth book in the gently insightful series.
Newlywed painter and sometime somnambulist Angus Lordie might be sleepwalking his way into trouble with Animal Welfare when he lets his dog Cyril drink a bit too much lager at the local bar. The longsuffering Bertie, on the cusp of his seventh birthday party, has taken to dreaming about his eighteenth, a time when he will be able to avoid the indignity of unwanted girl attendees and the looming threat of a gender-neutral doll from his domineering mother Irene. Matthew and Elspeth struggle to care for their triplets, contending with Danish au pairs and dubious dukes to boot, while the narcissistic Bruce faces his greatest challenge yet in the form of an over-eager waxologist.
Once again in Scotland Street, the triumph of human kindness over adversity gives cause for celebration.
About the author: Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His career has been a varied one: for many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad. Then, after the publication of his highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.
The series include the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Sunday Philosophy Club series starring Isabel Dalhousie, the von Igelfeld series, and the new Corduroy Mansions novels.
Alexander is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007. He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America. Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh. He is married to a doctor and has two daughters. Both he and his wife are members of an amateur orchestra, the Really Terrible Orchestra, in which he plays the contra-bassoon.
Discover the world of Alexander McCall Smith and his other books at AlexanderMcCallSmith.co.uk
Rating: 5/5
Friday, 30 October 2015
Sunshine on Scotland Street (A 44 Scotland Street Novel) by Alexander McCall Smith
Paperback:
Dear friends, some questions occur
At quite the wrong moment; as do those nagging doubts
As to whether we've done everything we needed to do -
Rich territory, I believe, for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
A party like this, composed of friends, may not be the place
For the question that comes to my mind;
I ask it, though because it seems to me
That although nobody likes a moralist,
Especially at a party, this question
Is not just the moralist's preserve:
How, dear friends, are we to lead our lives?
Of the Decalogue I learned as a boy
Few commandments remain;
Fidelity, we're told, is neither here nor there
(Especially when you're having a good time)
It is quite de trop in fashionable circles -
A meretricious view, I know;
While coveting the goods of others
Is positively encouraged by those slick
Practitioners of the advertiser's art
Who want us to have those things
We do not need but which they are so keen
For us to buy; the Buddhists are right:
You'll never satisfy a material appetite.
Honouring one's father and mother
Is hard when Dad is a donor, perhaps,
Or otherwise somewhere else, and
Mother has her career to consider.
But although the rules are vague
And widely disregard now
Some precepts remain: live with love -
That is a rule we all can understand;
Forgive those who need forgiveness,
Which I think is everybody, more or less;
Be kind - that, perhaps, is first and foremost
In any postmodern, newfangled
Code we devise for ourselves;
Yes, be kind, love one another,
And most of all tend with gentleness
The small patch of terra firma
That is allocated to each of us,
In our case, Scotland.
Wish that for Scotland there may burn,
As in all other places too,
A flame of Agape, that disinterested love,
Translated by Jamie Saxt as charity,
That illuminates our world,
That is our beacon, and in the darkness
Is our singular comfort, our sole night-light.
As the sun rises over the Georgian townhouses of Scotland Street, its most delightfully eccentric residents have burning questions on their minds.
Will Big Lou find true love at last?
How will Bertie's healthy snacks go down at his school fair?
And has Bruce Anderson really won the lottery?
With his trademark charm and deftness, Alexander McCall Smith combined understanding, kindness and, most of all, friendship in Sunshine on Scotland (2012), the eighth instalment in the gently insightful 44 Scotland Street novel series set in Edinburgh.
About the author: Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His career has been a varied one: for many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad. Then, after the publication of his highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.
The series include the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Sunday Philosophy Club series starring Isabel Dalhousie, the von Igelfeld series, and the new Corduroy Mansions novels.
Alexander is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007. He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America. Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh. He is married to a doctor and has two daughters. Both he and his wife are members of an amateur orchestra, the Really Terrible Orchestra, in which he plays the contra-bassoon.
Discover the world of Alexander McCall Smith and his other books at AlexanderMcCallSmith.co.uk
Rating: 5/5
Thursday, 29 October 2015
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
The Woman Who Walked In Sunshine (The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series) by Alexander McCall Smith
Hardback: In this latest and sixteenth instalment (2015) of the beloved and best-selling series, Mma Ramotswe must contend with her greatest challenge yet - a vacation!
Business is slow at the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, so slow in fact that for the first time in her estimable career Precious Ramotswe has reluctantly agreed to take a holiday. Her busy life gives her little time for relaxation apart from the drinking of tea, of course.
The promise of a week of uninterrupted peace is short-lived, however, when she meets a young boy named Samuel, a troublemaker who is himself in some trouble.
Once she learns more about Samuel's sad story, Mma Ramotswe feels compelled to step in and help him find his way out of a bad situation. Despite this unexpected diversion, Mma Ramotswe still finds herself concerned about how the agency is faring in her absence. Her worries grow when she hears that Mma Makutsi is handling a new and rather complicated case.
"I am going to bring my holiday to an end," she announced to Mr J L B Matekoni that evening. "I have had enough."
A well-respected Botswanan politician is up for a major public honour, and his reputation is now being called into question by his rivals. The man's daughter has contacted the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency to investigate these troubling claims, but, as in so many cases, all is not as it seems. This leads Mma Ramotswe to join forces with a new assistant detective (and part-time science teacher), Mr Polopetsi.
Wherever the truth lay, there is an unresolved issue here - a mystery, so to speak - that needs to be resolved. It is a fundamental article of faith in the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency that one does one's best for the client. If Mma Makutsi is not going to do that - for whatever reason - then it is incumbent upon Mma Ramotswe to take responsibility for the matter, holiday or no holiday.
And then of course there is the agency's arch-enemy, Violet Sephotho, scheming to set up a rival secretarial college.
In the end, the investigation will affect everyone at the agency. Lessons must be learned, whether we are willing or not, and in the end, Mma Ramotswe finds that a little trust goes a long way, especially when it comes to having confidence in our dearest friends and colleagues. Lessons will also serve as a reminder that ordinary human failings should be treated with a large helping of charity and compassion.
The series include the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Sunday Philosophy Club series starring Isabel Dalhousie, the von Igelfeld series, and the new Corduroy Mansions novels.
Alexander is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007. He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America. Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh. He is married to a doctor and has two daughters. Both he and his wife are members of an amateur orchestra, the Really Terrible Orchestra, in which he plays the contra-bassoon.
Discover the world of Alexander McCall Smith and his other books at AlexanderMcCallSmith.co.uk
Rating: 5/5
Thursday, 15 October 2015
Bertie Plays The Blues (A 44 Scotland Street Novel) by Alexander McCall Smith
Hardback: Domestic bliss seems in short supply at 44 Scotland Street. Matthew and Elspeth have increased their household by three, but the joys of multiple parenthood are rather lost on Matthew who is finding it hard enough to tell his new brood apart even without sleep deprivation.
At least he has the sense to take on former inamorata Pat to help at the Something Special gallery amidst a plan involving flowers and submarines. But could he be about to find himself out in the cold with Big Lou? The ever lovelorn café owner is hoping to find herself all shook up thanks to internet dating and an Elvis impersonator. However, it appears Arbroath rather than Graceland could hold the key to her future happiness.
Artist Angus Lordie and anthropologist Domenica are trying to plan their wedding, but it seems to be heading off the rails. The reappearance of an old flame doesn't help and Domenica's stress levels are set to increase when her friend Antonia - recovered from an attack of Stendhal Syndrome - decides to become a nun.
And what of 44 Scotland Street's first family, the Pollocks? Dad, Stuart, is harbouring a secret about a secret society and Bertie is feeling kind of blue. Having had enough of his neurotic hot-housing mother, he puts himself up for adoption on eBay. Will he go to the highest bidder or will he have to take matters into his own hands?
Bertie Plays the Blues (2011) is the seventh book in the deliciously engaging 44 Scotland Street novel series.
About the author: Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His career has been a varied one: for many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad. Then, after the publication of his highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.
The series include the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Sunday Philosophy Club series starring Isabel Dalhousie, the von Igelfeld series, and the new Corduroy Mansions novels.
Alexander is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007. He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America. Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh. He is married to a doctor and has two daughters. Both he and his wife are members of an amateur orchestra, the Really Terrible Orchestra, in which he plays the contra-bassoon.
Rating: 5/5
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
The Importance Of Being Seven (A 44 Scotland Street Novel) by Alexander McCall Smith
Paperback:
Dear friends, there is no timetable
For happiness; it moves, I think, according
To rules of its own. When I was a boy
I thought I'd be happy tomorrow,
As a young man I thought it would be
Next week; last month I thought
It would be never. Today, I know
It is now. Each of us, I suppose,
Has at least one person who thinks
That our manifest faults are worth ignoring;
I have found mine, and am content.
When we are far from home
We think of home; I, who am happy today,
Think of those in Scotland for whom
Such happiness might seem elusive;
May such powers as listen to what is said
By people like me, in olive groves like this,
Grant to those who want friendship a friend,
Attend to the needs of those who have little,
Hold the hand of those who are lonely,
Allow Scotland, our place, our country,
To sing in the language of her choosing
That song she has always wanted to sing,
Which is of brotherhood, which is of love.
The Importance of Being Seven (2010) is the sixth volume in the ("joyous and charming portrait of city life and human foibles") 44 Scotland Street series.
Despite inhabiting a great city renowned for its impeccable restraint, the extended family of 44 Scotland Street is trembling on the brink of reckless self-indulgence. Matthew and Elspeth receive startling - and expensive - news on a visit to the Infirmary, Angus and Domenica are contemplating an Italian ménage a trois, and even Big Lou is overheard discussing cosmetic surgery.
But when Bertie Pollock - six years old and impatient to be seven - mislays his meddling mother Irene one afternoon, a valuable lesson is learned: that wish-fulfilment is a dangerous business.
About the author: Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His career has been a varied one: for many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad. Then, after the publication of his highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.
The series include the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Sunday Philosophy Club series starring Isabel Dalhousie, the von Igelfeld series, and the new Corduroy Mansions novels.
Alexander is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007. He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America. Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh. He is married to a doctor and has two daughters. Both he and his wife are members of an amateur orchestra, the Really Terrible Orchestra, in which he plays the contra-bassoon.
Rating: 5/5
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