Tuesday, 29 March 2022

Love In The Time Of Bertie (44 Scotland Street Series) by Alexander McCall Smith


Hardback: The latest instalment in the delightful 44 Scotland Street series finds all our favourite residents up to their usual hilarious hijinks.

In the microcosm of 44 Scotland Street, all of life’s richness is found in the glorious goings-on of its residents. There is Domenica, whose anthropological training has honed her observations of her neighbours; Matthew, whose growing triplets are more than a handful; Bruce, whose challenge as ever is thinking of anything but himself; and Big Lou, who may just have found her shot at romance. 

And of course, there is young Bertie Pollock, whose starry-eyed explorations of Edinburgh’s New Town are a touching reminder that life itself is an adventure and there is joy to be found wherever you choose to look.

Love in the Time of Bertie (2021) is the latest and fifteenth instalment in the excellent 44 Scotland Street series set in Edinburgh, Scotland.

About the author: Alexander McCall Smith, often referred to as ‘Sandy’, is one of the world’s most prolific and best-loved authors. His various series of books have been translated into forty-six languages and become bestsellers throughout the world. These include the highly successful The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the popular 44 Scotland Street novels, the Isabel Dalhousie novels, the von Igelfeld series and the new Detective Varg novels. He also writes stand-alone novels, children's fiction and libretti for short operas.

Alexander has received numerous awards for his writing and holds thirteen honorary doctorates from universities in Europe and North America.  He is Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In 2007, he received a CBE for services to literature and in 2011 was honoured by the President of Botswana for services through literature to the country.  In 2015, he received the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and in 2017, The National Arts Club (of America) Medal of Honour for Achievement in Literature. In 2020, he received the honorary fellowship of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival. In 2021, he received the coveted Edinburgh Awards, chosen by the people and cross-party politicians of Edinburgh. 

Rating: 5/5

Monday, 28 March 2022

At Your Highest Moment, Be Careful


Crooked Vows by John Watt


Paperback: Thomas, a 23-year-old student priest, emerges alone from the wilderness four days after surviving a plane crash. 

But a missing woman's footprints are found with his, near the crash site. 

What part did Thomas play in her disappearance? 

And why does he claim he cannot remember?

Sent to a psychiatrist by Church authorities to recover his memories, Thomas' life and world unravel in ways he could never have foreseen, shaking the very foundations of his faith, his loyalty to the Catholic Church and the vocation he had chosen.

Grappling with impossible expectations and burdened with guilt, the flawed characters show the consequences of oppressive rules colliding with impulses that cannot be tamed. 

This compelling and timely novel, Crooked Vows (2016), explores the underpinnings of a deeply conservative Australian Catholic community in the 1950s whose outward piety hides a shameful underbelly that dares not be exposed. It resonates strongly with the present time and the deluge of revelations about sexual abuse of children, committed and protected within supposedly respectable institutions. 

About the author: John Watt is a retired academic, a former Catholic seminarian, and a first time novelist from Busselton, Western Australia. 

Rating: 5/5

Saturday, 26 March 2022

Mary Potter, Founder Of The Little Company of Mary: Her Life And Vision - And Beyond by Sr Elizabeth Gilroy LCM


Paperback: Mary Potter, was born in 1847 and grew up in a single-parent family. She endured a life of suffering from ill health and misunderstanding from those who opposed her, yet her vision lives on in the work of her congregation, helping many in the last and most difficult moments of their life. 

The Little Company of Mary is an international religious congregation whose main ministry is to pray for and assist the sick and dying throughout the world.

Mary Potter (2019) is a revised and updated edition of the book of the same title published by The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, London, in 2010. 

About the author: Sister Elizabeth Gilroy, author of this biography, is a member of the Australian Little Company of Mary (LCM). She has ministered in Health Care, Spiritual Direction, Counselling and Formation for LCM. After completing her Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry at Boston College, USA, she was appointed to England to assist in Little Company of Mary Heritage Pilgrimages. Sister Elizabeth has since returned to Australia and lives in Sydney where she is actively involved in LCM ministries.