I felt compelled to write this story, not just because the eventful lives of myself and members of my family, but mostly because of its historical content. Until this day the West knows very little of what actually happened in the early 1940s and after 1945 to countries and people who, after the war, finished up behind the Iron Curtain. From Fascism to Communism, they had fallen “Out of the frying pan into the fire.” People in those European countries, who had lived through and experienced those events, are now very thin on the ground.
A superior teller of yarns, his stories are beautifully written and the plots, details, along with conclusions, are fascinating. Reading his stories, e.g. The Hounds of Baskerville, The Firm of Girdlestone, or any of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, I find myself in another time, in another world. At times I needed that badly.
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes contains Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's final twelve stories about his great fictional detective. Featuring crypts at midnight, strange bones in a furnace and a blood-sucking vampire, these tales explore the darker side of human nature and involve betrayal, violence and the terrible consequences of infidelity.
Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features an afterword by David Stuart Davies - a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund…
The book describes various injustices in a coal mining community and gives an excellent description of working-class life of the time in the North of England.
The story portrays the different careers or paths of individuals against the odds: a miner's son who tries to defend his people from political pressure, a miner who turns into a businessman, and the mine owner's son in a clash with his overbearing father. Having had similar experiences in my own life, the story had jogged my memory.
The Stars Look Down was A.J. Cronin's fourth novel, published in 1935, and this tale of a North country mining family was a great favourite with his readers.
Robert Fenwick is a miner, and so are his three sons. His wife is proud that all her four men go down the mines. But David, the youngest, is determined that somehow he will educate himself and work to ameliorate the lives of his comrades who ruin their health to dig the nation's coal. It is, perhaps, a typical tale of the era in which it was written - there were many…
The book is about David Copperfield’s life from childhood to adulthood.
The story paints a bleak picture of childhood in Victorian England, and of young Copperfield slowly improving his chances and circumstances, continuing his studies while he is struggling to provide for his aunt. Once again, having had similar experiences in my own life, it had struck a chord.
Now a major film directed by Armando Iannucci, starring Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi and Ben Whishaw
'The greatest achievement of the greatest of all novelists' Leo Tolstoy
In David Copperfield - the novel he described as his 'favourite child' - Dickens drew on his own experiences to create one of his most moving and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure. It is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an unhappy childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of…
Searching for a story, a young German crime reporter stumbles on a case of suicide by a Holocaust survivor.
Having read the dead man’s diary, he starts investigating the allegations it contained. What he comes across shocks him and propels him into the dangerous territory of covert Nazi activities. From then on he finds not only his own, but also his girlfriend’s life being threatened.
Fascism and the Nazis played a great part in my formative years and I had not only witnessed, but actually suffered their ruthlessness.
The suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into revelation after revelation: of a Mafia-like organization called Odessa ...of a real-life fugitive known as the "Butcher of Riga"..of a young German journalist tumed obsessed avenger.......and, ultimately, of brilliant, ruthless plot to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass murderers and to carry out Hitler's chilling "Final Solution."
It is a novel about an elderly man reading a romantic story to a woman in a nursing home.
Actually, the man is reading to his wife, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and does no longer know who he is. He is also seriously ill, battling cancer, suffering from heart disease and kidney failure. He knows he is dying, but his wife, not even recognising him, is unaware of it. Yet he carries on reading the book to entertain her.
A heartbreaking story of true love.
Although in my case it was totally different from Alzheimer’s, I had experienced the never-ending, painful difficulties, with a disturbed loved one.
Celebrating 25 years of The Notebook - the classic novel which became the heart-wrenching film.
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Once again, just as I do every day, I begin to read the notebook aloud...
Noah Calhoun has returned from war and, in an attempt to escape the ghosts of battle, he sets his mind and his body to restoring an old plantation home to its former beauty.
But he is haunted by memories of the beautiful girl he met there years before. A girl who stole his heart at the funfair, whose parents didn't approve, a girl he wrote to every day for…
In the aftermath of the First World War, Julia, a young woman in Budapest, is working hard to contribute to the family’s income. Julia marries Sándor and despite being told by her doctor that she must not have children, she has a son, Tommy. The turbulent years of WWII reduce the family to just mother and son and Julia and Tommy are forced to draw upon their determination, courage, wit, and self-preservation to survive. In the wake of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, crushed by Soviet tanks, Tommy risks his life and escapes from behind the Iron Curtain and from the Communism that has risen from the ashes of Fascism.
From Budapest in the ‘twenties to London in the ‘nineties, this is a family saga of three generations, ravaged by wars and adverse circumstances.
I have felt a spiritual call in my life from as early as I can remember having memories as a young child. Being a life-long Christian has always drawn me to try to see God in everything around me, from people I encounter, to creation itself, to songs, to movies, etc. So, reading books which contain Christian allegory – symbols, meanings, underlying Biblical references – is very exciting for me. I enjoy trying to decipher that symbolism and try to understand the undertones that the book’s author is trying to communicate indirectly. I find that to be a personal challenge as I read, but also I find it very inspiring as well!
None of them knew what was coming, and none of them will ever be the same again...
Detective Jelani is a tough, veteran cop. His younger partner, Detective Madigan, is brash and confident. But they were not prepared to become embroiled in a series of cosmic events they could never have dreamt of. As has been the case since the beginning of time, God and His heavenly host are facing off with Satan and his hellish host.
Caught in the middle is Thumos, a warrior angel, "quickened" by God for one thing: battle. But Thumos has become a disgruntled warrior…
None of them knew what was coming, and none of them will ever be the same again...
Detective Jelani is a tough, veteran cop, who earned his stripes in the rough-and-tumble streets of St. Louis before relocating to Miami. His younger partner, Detective Madigan, is brash and confident. But they were not prepared to become embroiled in a series of cosmic events they could never have dreamt of. In a world where the angels of heaven and the angels of hell bring their ageless battle to Earth, how will these men and their families overcome such insurmountable challenges?
