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Castaway christmas by margaret j baker5/23/2023 ![]() ![]() It was a fitting time to settle down with the book, as Cut off from Crumpets begins just after Christmas, when the Ridleys are forced to cancel a family holiday to Switzerland and instead decide to visit an old family friend (‘Aunt’ Borage) at her cottage, Moleharbour, in Somerset. I was delighted to receive Cut off from Crumpets, the sequel to Castaway Christmas, from my Mum, and I read it at the start of January. How the children don’t lose courage, but deal with flooding, food shortages and a near death-by-drowning makes for an entertaining as well as warm-hearted read. I thoroughly enjoyed following the adventures of siblings Lincoln, Miranda and Pinks Ridley, who are accidentally separated from their parents and have to fend for themselves in a country cottage hired for Christmas, as treacherous flood waters rise all around them. Baker, an old Puffin paperback children’s book that I’d been meaning to pick up for ages. Over the winter holidays, I read Castaway Christmas by Margaret J. ![]()
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City Water, City Life by Carl Smith5/22/2023 ![]() ![]() aBut "City Water, City Life" is more than a history of urbanization. By examining the place of water in the nineteenth-century consciousness, Smith illuminates how city dwellers perceived themselves during the great age of American urbanization. In "City Water, City Life," celebrated historian Carl Smith explores this concept through an insightful examination of the development of the first successful waterworks systems in Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago between the 1790s and the 1860s. It is also an infrastructure of ideas that are a support for the beliefs, values, and aspirations of the people who created the city. A city is more than a massing of citizens, a layout of buildings and streets, or an arrangement of political, economic, and social institutions. ![]()
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The reluctant fundamentalist pages5/22/2023 ![]() Changez received a scholarship to study in one of the most prestigious universities in the USA -Princeton University, got an upmarket job on Wall Street that supplied him with a high salary and allowed renting an apartment in an elite area, fell in love with a beautiful girl, Erica. On the face of it, the story of the young Pakistani Changez might appear to look like a dream. ![]() The events of September, 11 serve to be the pivot point of the character’s “Americanization” (Cilano 71).įrom the very first lines of the book, one might notice the mixed feeling that the main character has towards America. The man considers himself to be “a lover of America,” however, the reader is sure to understand how contradictory this claim is. The novel describes a story of a young Pakistani that tries to assimilate in the USA accepting its general views and values eagerly. The Reluctant Fundamentalist novel written by 35-year-old Pakistani Mohsin Hamid provides some insights on the nature of the capitalism and attempts of a person to integrate into a new world. ![]()
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Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols5/22/2023 ![]() I really enjoyed how casual high school relationships (or friends with benefits) were portrayed, as it’s definitely something that’s prevalent in today’s society. What started as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated. Having heard so many good things about Jennifer Echols’ other novels, I’m disappointed to say that Biggest Flirts was a rather underwhelming read. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will's new relationship-and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. Getting voted Biggest Flirts with Will is, well, awkward. Tia tells herself it's no big deal.until the yearbook elections are announced. But pushing Will away drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia's seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn't interested in commitment. She can't get enough of his Midwestern accent and laidback swagger.Īs the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She's worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she's ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. Tia and Will's lives get flipped upside down when they're voted Yearbook's Biggest Flirts in this sassy novel from the author of Endless Summer and The One That I Want. ![]()
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Peter and starcatcher book5/22/2023 ![]() Peter and the Secret of Rundoon is a wild desert adventure - with flying camels, magic carpets, and evil shadows - that literally zooms toward an unforgettable and unimaginable climax. Meanwhile, back in Never Land, a tribal war is under way, and while Peter is off fighting to save the world, a young Mollusk princess has no choice but to join forced with sinister pirates to save her island from the vicious Scorpions. But that's just the start of the trouble facing our heroes, who once again find themselves pitted against the evil shadow creature Lord Ombra, in a struggle to save themselves and Molly's father - not to mention the entire planet - from an unthinkable end. ![]() In this action-packed conclusion to the Starcatchers trilogy, Peter and Molly find themselves in the dangerous land of Rundoon, ruled by the evil King Zarboff, who takes great delight in watching his pet snake, Kundalini, consume anyone who displeases him. ![]()
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The paris library book5/22/2023 ![]() Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. ![]() ![]() When the Nazis march into the city, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet seems to have the perfect life with her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. ![]() An instant New York Times, Washington Post, and USA TODAY bestseller-based on the true story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris during World War II- The Paris Library is a moving and unforgettable “ ode to the importance of libraries, books, and the human connections we find within both” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author). ![]()
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Sweeney Todd by James Malcolm Rymer5/22/2023 ![]() The String of Pearls - the original tale of Sweeney Todd, a classic of British horror - was first published as a weekly serial in 1846-7 by Edward Lloyd, the King of the Penny Dreadfuls. The exploits of Sweeney Todd, 'The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', have been recounted many times in plays, films and musicals, but the origins of the character largely were forgotten for many years. One of the earliest detective stories, it became an important source for Bram Stoker's Dracu. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
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![]() ![]() "I'm just going to take ten minutes to rest my feet before the next rush." ![]() She sank down into a chair by the worktable. Rachel knew her friend was probably right. "Next year we should offer discounts for advance orders." They had taken some, but those represented a small percentage of the sales already processed that day. "And is that why they also wait until the absolute last minute to buy flowers for their wives or girlfriends?" "Because they're men," Holly said simply. ![]() "Can you tell me," Rachel asked, when she went to the back during a rare quiet moment in the shop, "why so many men seem surprised to realize it's Valentine's Day when it falls on February 14 every single year?" Not that she'd ever admit as much to any of the customers who had formed an almost-steady stream of traffic through the door of Buds & Blooms since about 11:00 a.m., but she had expressed the sentiment-more than a few times already today-to her best friend and business partner, Holly Kendrick. ![]()
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Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn5/22/2023 ![]() ![]() "I know he's too young, but he's all we have left," says Fergal, and thus the boy takes his first command, on the bloody ground of Clontarf. Now, with all the fire and brilliance for which her writing is known, Morgan Llywelyn takes us there, to the battlefield where Brian died, and to Brian's fifteen-year-old son, Donough, whose mother is the voluptuous and treacherous Gormlaith, with her lust for life and power undiminished by age: Donough, the son who is determined to make the High Kingship of Brian Boru's Ireland his own. The Ireland of 1014 was a dream Brian Boru had dreamed and brought into being. He overthrew traditions, reformed society, and became the Irish Charlemagne. "Lion of Ireland" was the breathtaking chronicle of Brian Boru, the Great King who led the bickering chiefs of Ireland to unity under his reign. ![]()
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The pants project by cat clarke5/21/2023 ![]() But to Liv, this isn’t just a mission to change the policy-it’s a mission to change his life. Operation: Pants Project begins! The only way for Liv to get what he wants is to go after it himself. Skirt wasn’t really the issue, not for me. ![]() The problem wasn’t the last word in that sentence. I bet I read those words a hundred times during summer vacation. “Girls must wear a black, pleated, knee-length skirt.” Whoever wrote the uniform policy decided (whyyy?) that girls had to wear skirts, while boys were allowed to wear pants. Liv knows he was always meant to be a boy, but with his new school’s terrible dress code, he can’t even wear pants. Only not quite as cool because I probably won’t get to save the world one day.” “My name is Liv (Not Olivia)… I’m not technically a girl. I may seem like a girl, but on the inside, I’m a boy. ![]() Inspire empathy and compassion (and a few laughs!) in young readers with this stunning middle-grade novel. Summary: A touching, humorous story of strong-willed eleven-year-old Liv, who is determined to challenge his school’s terrible dress code and change his life. ![]() |