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Review
'Sarah Waters's masterly novel is a perverse hymn to decay, to the corrosive power of class resentment as well as the damage wrought by war . . . (Waters has) a perfect understanding of her period . . . She deploys the vigour and cunning one finds in Margaret Atwood's fiction, the same narrative ease and expansiveness, and the same knack of twisting the tension tighter and tighter within an individual scene . . . THE LITTLE STRANGER operates in the queasy borderlands between the supernatural and the psychopathological, and it is territory in which Waters moves with an air of supreme ease . . . It is gripping, confident, unnerving and supremely entertaining . . . Its allusions, its implications softly gather and fold themselves into the spce in the mind that the book has made for itself, falling into place with a soft hiss, a rustle like phantom silks' --Hilary Mantel, Guardian


Review
`A gripping story, with beguiling characters . . . As well as being a supernatural tale, it is a meditation on the nature of the British and class, and how things are rarely what they seem. Chilling' Kate Mosse, The Times, Summer Read

Written with the same heartwarming sentiment that made the memoirs Marley and Me and Chosen by a Horse runaway bestsellers, biologist and barn owl expert O'Brien chronicles her rescue of an adorable, abandoned baby barn owl - and their astonishing and unprecedented nineteen-year life together.

Wesley the Owl is a love story that begins when a young, compassionate biologist adopts a baby bird--and unknowingly embarks on a relationship that will last almost two decades.

Told with both wit and wonder, this memoir relates the touching, frustrating, and funny events of Wesley's "growing up." After being rescued from a fall that ensures he will never be able to survive in the wild, Wesley finds a new home with biologist Stacey O'Brien. With affection and a scientist's eye, O'Brien narrates Wesley's growth from a helpless ball of fuzz to a playful and clumsy adolescent--and finally to a macho adult owl who admires himself in the mirror, eats up to six mice a day, and objects to any other male (animal or human) invading "his" territory. Along the way, Wesley's caretaker makes important discoveries about barn owl behavior, intelligence, communication skills, and emotions. Ultimately, the biologist who saved the life of a helpless baby bird is herself rescued by the insistent love and protective strength of this wild animal. O'Brien's anecdotes are enhanced by wonderful photos of their life together.

By turns playful and informative, Wesley the Owl is a surprising story of a complex non-human being capable of reason, communication, love, and loyalty--it is sure to be cherished by animal lovers everywhere.

STACEY O'BRIEN is a biologist, wildlife rescuer, and animal rehabilitation expert specializing in owl research. She lives in California.

For the first time the nation's most popular presenter, Terry Wogan, shares his life story beginning with his childhood in Ireland to his rising fame all over the UK.

It's an intimate and eye-opening look back over both his personal and professional lifetime and it's clear to see why he is one of Britain's most loved presenters - he hasn't let success go to his head for starters.

Wogan's light-hearted story is delivered with self-depreciating humour, which will be greatly missed in his retirement from Wake Up To Wogan.

Although this is a laugh-out-loud read, it is written with enough poignancy that you might want to keep a box of tissues to hand, just in case.

sparhawk wrote:I have just finished reading "On The Plot with 'Dirty Nails'" by Joe Hashman, which is an absolutely fabulous book about wildlife friendly allotmenting/gardening unfortunatly tis a tad on the pricy side at £12.99 (but I managed to get mine from fleabay for about £5 :bounce:

I have just started reading a new book in the Green Guides series "Compost" by Rachelle Strauss, (steady CW ) I haven't picked up the plot yet but I have a suspicion its a bit dirty... £8.99 new published in 2009 bought from charity shop for 99p

And my "bedtime" reading is "Shackleton's Forgotten Men the untold tale of an Antarctic Tragedy" by Lennard Bickel, about what happened to Shackleton's other party whilst he was completing his amazing feat of survival & endurance...
Oh yes that was £2 from a charity shop too...

sparhawk wrote:

compostwoman wrote:am now totally behind with everything...