British Books - Page 5

Case Histories: A Novel

Kate Atkinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 151 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

(3.5) "Time was a thief, he stole your life away." 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

As her recent novel has shown (When Will There Be Good News?), Atkinson's talent has developed over the years, a unique style that is more an aggregation of circumstances than fluid narrative. As the title indicates, there are three mysteries that form the crux of this novel: a little girl disappears one summer night when sleeping outdoors with her sister (1970); a young woman is savagely killed her first day on a new job (1994); and a small family, mother, baby and husband are caught in an impetuous rage that ends in a bloodbath one Saturday afternoon (1979). Each of these scenarios is riveting, the image of a little girl clutching her "blue mouse" the night she disappears; Theo, a desperate, morbidly obese father who cannot escape that one day when his daughter died; and Michelle, whose life is irrevocably altered, her husband dead, an axe embedded in his head.

These characters experience their finest moments in tragedy, the events etched in their minds, scenes of loss and death. It is in the mundane details of the years that follow that the stories falter, the dramas overshadowed by the tedium of daily living, surviving by endurance of the ordinary. Jackson Brodie, a private investigator with a police background, is no exception, bored by his current surveillance of a wife suspected of infidelity. Brodie isn't much encouraged by his new cases either: two middle-aged women who have located a clue to their missing sister's fate all thirty years later; Theo's insistent need for closure, his unwavering desire to finally learn who killed Laura and truncated his life to a daily repetition of the crime scene; and an elderly woman who hires Brodie to locate missing cats, but mostly to fill the empty hours of her days.

Without exerting too much energy, Brodie collects relevant facts, bringing his case to awkward resolution, the details neatly dovetailing one into another. Yet the urgency of the tragedies have dimmed in the detritus of passing years, the mundane overwhelming the stirring prose of the early chapters. To be sure, there is a fourth case, sad epilogue to be resolved as well, one that puts Brodie in a more sympathetic perspective. Certainly the author proves that time and tedium diminish us all, the trenchant made less compelling by the weight of years, outrage tempered, but never grief. Grief is a constant, a wound that always aches, even when all the answers are known. Soothed, but never healed, a fact Brodie can appreciate. Luan Gaines/2008.

Editorial Review:

Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night.

Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack.

Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.

Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .

Shopaholic & Baby

Sophie Kinsella

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 189 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The last shopaholic book I'll ever buy! 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I've been a big Kinsella fan ever since I read her Undomestic Goddess book, followed by the Shopaholic series (yes, I read every single one of them!) I HAD looked forward to this one...and what a disappointment it was! Kinsella had a lot of material to work with...there's dearth of material to write about having a baby! But instead, Kinsella made Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) so STUPID! This is the first Kinsella book I bought that I cannot finish. This book was absolutely AWFUL! (Did anyone read her draft before publishing it?) I may never read any of Kinsella's books again.

Editorial Review:

With over eight million copies of her beloved books in print, Sophie Kinsella is a true phenomenon. Now Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is back, in a hilarious new Shopaholic novel!

Becky’s life is blooming! She’s working at London’s newest big store, The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a Shoe Room)...and she’s pregnant! She couldn’t be more overjoyed—especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery…to the latest, coolest pram…to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be Luke’s glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky’s perfect world starts to crumble. She’s shopping for two…but are there three in her marriage?

The Lady Elizabeth (Large Print Press)

Alison Weir

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Following the tremendous success of her first novel, Innocent Traitor, which recounted the riveting tale of the doomed Lady Jane Grey, acclaimed historian and New York Times bestselling author Alison Weir turns her masterly storytelling skills to the early life of young Elizabeth Tudor, who would grow up to become England s most intriguing and powerful queen.

Even at age two, Elizabeth is keenly aware that people in the court of her father, King Henry VIII, have stopped referring to her as Lady Princess and now call her the Lady Elizabeth. Before she is three, she learns of the tragic fate that has befallen her mother, the enigmatic and seductive Anne Boleyn, and that she herself has been declared illegitimate, an injustice that will haunt her.

What comes next is a succession of stepmothers, bringing with them glimpses of love, fleeting security, tempestuous conflict, and tragedy. The death of her father puts the teenage Elizabeth in greater peril, leaving her at the mercy of ambitious and unscrupulous men. Like her mother two decades earlier she is imprisoned in the Tower of London and fears she will also meet her mother s grisly end. Power-driven politics, private scandal and public gossip, a disputed succession, and the grievous example of her sister, Bloody Queen Mary, all cement Elizabeth s resolve in matters of statecraft and love, and set the stage for her transformation into the iconic Virgin Queen.

Alison Weir uses her deft talents as historian and novelist to exquisitely and suspensefully play out the conflicts between family, politics, religion, and conscience that came to define an age. Sweeping in scope, The Lady Elizabeth is a fascinating portrayal of a woman far ahead of her time an orphaned girl haunted by the shadow of the axe, an independent spirit who must use her cunning and wits for her very survival, and a future queen whose dangerous and dramatic path to the throne shapes her future greatness.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1277 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Lost Innocence 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It was a very well written novel. Although I believe the beginning started really slow and did not grab my attention right a way, but as I kept going the book became more and more interesting. Golding sure knows how to make a huge plot flow and was able to create a huge conflict for the story. The conflict in the end teaches some very valuable life lessons for the reader and the characters.
Golding expressed each character extremely well. Each character was unique. The only characters that were very similar were the twins, but they were like one character rather than two characters. The four main characters Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack all add to the story. Ralph is the elected leader and he believes very much in keeping order and government. Ralph also wishes to be rescued and builds a signal fire. (Which becomes a source of many future disputes) Jack is Ralph's opposite because he just wishes to hunt, have fun, and is tremendously power hungry. Piggy is the kid who everyone picks on, the misfit, but he very logical and applies sense to the tough situation they are in. Simon rarely does anything wrong. He is always there to help Ralph, but is sort of a loner compared to the rest of the schoolboys.
In the beginning, a group of schoolboys are stranded on an uncharted island and are forced to fend for themselves. At first they try to run a form of government. Which is considerably hard when no adults are there to enforce the rules and as result chaos breaks out. When the boys were thrust into this sort of situation it caused them to grow and mature very rapid. None of them will leave the island the same boy they came to the island as. It shows the dark side of reality and forces us to except the truth is that even the most innocent will fall to evil one day. (Simon) As the boys were taken off the island at the end they all left behind one thing, their innocence.
After reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding I say that it was a great book. I highly recommend it and if you are contemplating putting it down DO NOT it only gets better as it goes on!

Editorial Review:

In this adventure story about a group of schoolboys stranded on a deserted island, William Golding explores the dark side of humanity and the savagery that surfaces when social structure is broken down, and rules, ideals, and values are lost. New critical essays on "Lord of the Flies" are supplemented by a chronology of the author's life, a bibliography, and notes about the essay contributors.

Favorite Jane Austen Novels: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion (Dover Thrift Editions)

Jane Austen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Everything was as promised 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The book set I ordered came as promised within 2 weeks and was in good condition, thank you!

Quality 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am really satisfied with the quality of the books and with the way they were delivered. I am an Amazon customer since 2005 and I will keep buying excellent products!

excellent! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I recieved my book on time and in perfect conditions just like it was said and also at a great price!! I bought Favorite Jane Austen Novels, which are 3 books and all for about $11.00!!

Functional Fiction 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Like many readers, I own the ubiquitous "hardcover with six novels plus" volume of Austen's works. While perfect for college and bookshelf vanity, it requires wrists of steel to read. This collection, however, is a hidden gem: inexpensive paperbacks that can be reread and carried with ease (beach, train, incredibly boring meetings, etc.). The quality of construction and typeface are significantly better than the price would suggest. First-time readers will be pleased with the three selected novels and they will likely be inspired to find Emma, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey on their own.

If you're wondering why you should buy Austen, well, Austen created the "modern" novel. In the western canon, there's a huge difference in what came before, Austen, and the writers who followed. While props go to Hemingway for stripping down language a century later, Austen shed the literary scene of the "impossibly-perfect heroine," replacing that figment with real women (though not quite so real as the servants that made their lives possible). While still in some ways conduits for morality tales, Austen's women are psychologically complex, decades before Freud: they think, they reason, they stand up for themselves and they have flaws, heaven forbid. No more of the either/or choice of virgin-or-whore. Austen likes her female characters and they are admirable. Not for nothing does Austen defend women in Persuasion by saying that, while all "histories are against them," those works were written by men. Austen liked her male characters as well, but recognized that when affairs of the(straight) heart were transferred to paper, the aggrieved parties with pens and the means to write and be published had all been men.

Editorial Review:

Three of the author’s most popular works—widely admired for their satiric wit, subtlety and perfection of style—brilliantly recreate the provincial world of the early 19th-century English countryside, focusing, respectively, on husband-hunting mothers and daughters, the humbling of proud lovers, and the return of a once-rejected lover. Total of

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation

Lewis Carroll

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent format for a great story to interest your kids 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book as the first pop-up book for my three-year old son and two-year old daughter. I knew it could be a risk, due to the fragile nature of pop-up books, however this one is truly a treat for my children, my wife, myself and everyone else who has seen it!

I'd recommend the book (for self-reading) to older children who know how the fragile the pop-ups can be, but if you read to your kids I recommend this to anyone. It's a classic story which inspires a child's imagination and has an excellent graphical presentation of the story which really captures my children's attention while they're read to.

I only gave this book four of five stars due to the small portions through-out most of the book which actually has the written text. These are also created with mini-pop-ups, but are not incorporated into the whole width and length of the book. Instead the main text of the book is grouped into small 3-4 inch wide pages with small text. Not something you want if you read to your children at bedtime with minimal lighting.

However, don't let this prevent you from buying the book! It is worth the price and has some of the most fantastic pop-ups I've ever seen!

Editorial Review:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is Robert Sabuda's most amazing creation ever, featuring stunning pop-ups illustrated in John Tenniel's classic style. The text is faithful to Lewis Carroll's original story, and special effects like a Victorian peep show, multifaceted foil, and tactile elements make this a pop-up to read and admire again and again.

Shopaholic & Sister

Sophie Kinsella

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 207 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What’s a round-the-world honeymoon if you can’t buy the odd souvenir to ship back home? Like the twenty silk dressing gowns Becky found in Hong Kong…the hand-carved dining table (and ten chairs) from Sri Lanka…the, um, huge wooden giraffes from Malawi (that her husband Luke expressly forbade her to buy)… Only now Becky and Luke have returned home to London and Luke is furious. Two truckloads of those souvenirs have cluttered up their loft, and the bills for them are outrageous. Luke insists Becky go on a budget. And worse: her beloved best friend Suze has found a new best friend while Becky was away. Becky’s feeling rather blue—when her parents deliver some incredible news. She has a long-lost sister! Becky is thrilled! She’s convinced her sister will be a true soulmate. They’ll go shopping together, have manicures together.…Until she meets Jessica for the first time and gets the shock of her life. Surely Becky Bloomwood’s sister can’t…hate shopping?

Sophie Kinsella is a former financial journalist and the author of the bestselling novels Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Can You Keep a Secret?, and The Undomestic Goddess. She lives in England, where she is at work on her next book.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fiction... or fact? 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am a big fan of science fiction. This book might be classified as such, as it was written to be set in the future when George Orwell published it in 1949. But as time passes, this book is showing itself to not be so much of a story as it is a warning. There are already so many phrases from the book that we use, like Big Brother or Newspeak. And the way some governments are now does not bode well. This is a classic novel that more people should read as a warning, so that we can avoid this kind of dystopia.

Editorial Review:

Thought Police. Big Brother. Orwellian. These words have entered our vocabulary because of George Orwell's classic dystopian novel, 1984. The story of one man's nightmare odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world ruled by warring states and a power structure that controls not only information but also individual thought and memory, 1984 is a prophetic, haunting tale.

More relevant than ever before, 1984 exposes the worst crimes imaginable-the destruction of truth, freedom, and individuality.
With a new forward by Thomas Pynchon.

In Pale Battalions

Robert Goddard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Brits suffer thrugh WWI again 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

British heroes suffering the horrors of the first WW have become quite a popular theme in recent mysteries. Supposedly dead heroes who in fact opted out of the suffering have also become common. Still, Goddard adds a sexy, imperious femme fatale to spice things up and the plot takes off from there. Not bad.

Editorial Review:

Six months after her husband's sudden death, Leonora Galloway sets off for a holiday in Paris with her daughter Penelope.  At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin...

Their journey starts with an unscheduled stop at the imposing Thiepval Memorial to the dead of the Battle of the Somme near Amiens.  Amongst those commemorated is Leonora's father.  The date of his death is recorded and 30th  April, 1916.  But Leonora wasn't born until 14th March 1917.

Penelope at once supposes a simple wartime illegitimacy as the clue to her mother's unhappy childhood and the family's sundered connections with her aristocratic heritage, about which she has always known so little.

But nothing could have prepared her, or the reader, for the extraordinary story that is about to unfold.


From the Paperback edition.

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition

Ernest Hemingway

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

BEST COLLECTION YET BY FAR. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

We go through literary phases in our society with some author being "in" while others are "out," and sometimes these phases swing from one side to the other, much as our government does. At present we seem to be going through a period where Hemingway is "out," and to appear "in," we have all sorts of people biting at his heels, making light of his work, branding it politically incorrect, grousing about this and snipping at that; referring to him as a chauvinistic pig, questioning his musicality, challenging his originality...and the list goes on and on and on. I started reading this author's work years before his tragic death and continue to read his works. This is a personal choice, as I am rather fond of his short stories. I am not overly fond of his novels, ergo; I don't read them over and over again; this, again, is a personal choice. I have several friends who love the work of James Joyce. I cannot stand Joyce's writing and therefore I do not read his work. That does not make the taste of my friends bad, or wrong, nor does it make the work of Joyce anything but great, it just shows that we each have our own favorite flavor of goodies. Had I listened to this current fussing about Hemingway's writing, and not bothered to read him myself, I would have missed out on a reading experience that has given me much pleasure over the years. Now that being said...

This collection, The Finca Vigia Edition, is by far the best and most comprehensive gathering of the short stories by Ernest Hemingway I have come across. I have a copy of The First Forty-nine here, and it is certainly good, but this particular collection I am reviewing here is far, far better. The book is broken down into various sections. The first is The First Forty-nine, the second is Short Stories Published in Books or Magazines Subsequent to "The First Forty-nine,' and third we have Previously Unpublished Fiction. We sort of get to grow up with the author through his writing.

If you enjoy reading the works of Hemingway, then this is certainly the edition you should purchase. If you have never read Hemingway's short stories, then this is certainly the edition you should purchase. If you cannot stand the writing of Hemingway, then this is an edition you probably should not purchase. If you are one of those that have never read his work, but have jumped on the "lets kick Hem around a bit" band wagon; then shame on you! Read him before you kick him.

As I pointed out, I enjoy this author's short stories much more than I enjoy his novels. I also must admit to probably being for fascinated with Hemingway the man, than the writings of the man, in many ways, if indeed it is possible to separate the two. There are many, many biographies in print now, and more coming out as each year passes. Some of these works are good, others are bad and some are down write hilarious as it seems some folks will write anything to get published. This last statement has nothing to do with this volume being reviewed; I just felt like throwing it in.

Finally, I have seen at least three of these anti Hemingway phases in my life time and seen as many pro Hemingway spells as well. I suppose I will see more...if I live long enough.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Editorial Review:

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway will stand as the definitive collection by the man whose craft and vision remains an enduring influence on generations of readers and writers.