Windsor Books

With an unabridged audio book that you just might spend your week with stuck in traffic on the freeway, it's not just the wonderful story you choose. Wolfram Kandinsky nails his characters in this great espionage thriller. Best is his portrayal of Leiser, the Polish defector and former agent who is sent back into a hostile East Germany. From the begining we "know" it isn't going to work; but Leiser is a pro... if anyone can, he can! Almost all LeCarre's stories are gems, but after you hear this one I'm sure you'll agree it's the best since The Spy Who Came in From the Cold! I don't just think it is the story; it's the reader who makes the story really come to life, and who makes this Books on Tape edition a stand out!

I received this from my grandmother's collection. When I read
the first tale, The Two Caves, I knew I had to finish the rest. Hope they reissue these! Also includes: "The Silver Horse","Three Men," Lost-One Angel","Saint Nicolas","John", and "Giovanni"
From back cover: "Fate and silver-maned horse guide four orphans to a new home; An angel lost in London brings joy to two old and lonely hearts (our favorite); a disciple of Jesus in an angony of pain and remorse learns the meaning of resurrection; a rapscallion band of itinerant actors play the spirit of Christmas and find it in their tattered souls...

Kathleen "Kat" Kendon has been asked by Todd Bishop to spend the weekend at his New Zealand palatial ancestral home. Todd tells Kat about his mother, the matriarch of the Bishop clan, and about his stuffy brother and his even stuffier fiancèe. However when they arrive, Todd tells Kat that he's told his family they are engaged, because he knows they will be outraged. He's also let his family believe Kat is a stripper when she's actually a serious actress. The reason Todd has done this, he tells Kat, is because he wants to marry a quiet, shy girl from a normal family and he believes that after they get a dose of Kat, his family will be more than glad to welcome Todd's real fiancèe into the family.

Older brother Daniel sees right away that something is wrong with this supposed engagement, but he can't quite figure out what it is. Kat is attracted to Daniel. She fights it, but she can't help herself and she wonders what will happen when Daniel finds out about the charade. And then she learns that Daniel isn't quiet so stuff after all.

Ms. Napier has written a romance that is sure to please any and all Harlequin readers. There is lots going on in this one and readers are sure to get a few laughs and even some thrills at Kat's exploits in the Bishop mansion, not to mention a sure fire does of romance.

This is a book about the devastation that the act of "date rape" can bring to everyone involved, from the perspective of the older sister of the man accused. The author doesn't minimize or explain away the act, but does show that there were definately shades of gray in the incident, and that it can be as devastating for the man involved and his family as it is for the woman. The book covers much more that this one act, however, it is a coming of age story about the heroine, the sister of the accused, who was more a mother than sister to her much loved but difficult younger brother. It details her struggle to better herself, to form relationships, and learn to both help and "let go" of her younger brother. It has a true sense of place, and I felt like I learned much about Ireland. The people were unforgettable, and I had trouble both putting the book down and forgetting the story...thinking about it for many months afterwords, and at times forgetting it was only a book about imaginary people.

Subtitle: Three Decades of Champions

From the front flap: Top international tennis reporter and author, Rex Ballamy, draws together here affectionate - and not so affectionate - remembrances of players past and present who, through their achievements, personalities and playing styles have captured the public's imagination.
From Natase's breathtaking audacity and McEnroe's blend of brilliance and belligerence to the cool, poised professionalism of Borg and Evert, Bellamy vividly evokes the magic and drama of modern tennis and the players around the world we know and love - or love to hate. He conveys the pure pleasure of watching stylists like Panatta and Goolagong; his admiration for the feats of Connors, King and Navratilova; and his affection for a host of great players whose fluctuating fortunes we have eagerly followed, from Laver and Rosewall to Chang and Sanchez.

Beginning with a brief biographical sketch, each of the thirty portraits offers a shrewd and stimulating assessment of its subject's career, character and technique. Great matches are recalled in all their agonizing excitement, key games and points relived. At the same time, Rex Ballamy captures the individual flavour of different periods over the last thirty years, with fascinating sidelights on famous players who could not be given seperate essays - Pietrangeli, Roche, Bueno, Durr and others.

Rex Bellamy has known personally each of the champions he writes about, and his portraits, are enlivened by many revealing anecdotes. Illustrated with action photographs, Love Thirty is a book that will delight all tennis enthusiasts, both as an armchair reference companion and as a vivid, entertaining celebration of the greatest names in the modern game.

Nathaniel King has two very important decions to make. Should he go back to the states and be a slave to society? Or should he stay in the untamed Rocky Mountains and live as he darn well pleases? And if that isn't enough, he also has to decied wheather or not to grant a dieing Shoshone warrior's request for him to court his doughter. And while trying to decied what he should do, he has to fight of a bloodthirsty Blackfoot war party. This book mixes romance, and the epic struggle for survival all into one great book. I recemend this book to anyone.

Actually, I wrote the book! The last I heard Windsor Press has gone out of business and there were 10 copies left at that time. I believe copies are still available at the Middle Georgia Historical Society on High Street in Macon, GA, and maybe at The Golden Bough, a specialty bookstore in Macon, GA. K. Simm

The phrase "by distance enchanted, glorious, and romantical" used by the author (difficult to speak of since she has published as both M. J. Farrell and more famously as Molly Keane) captures the essence of this book. This novel is a lyrical account of a happy childhood, its tragic ending in the Irish war, and the recapturing of some of childhood's pleasures in young adulthood. It reminds me a little of Virginia Woolf's _To The Lighthouse_ in its ability to capture a moment in time and make it real and poignant. Like _To The Lighthouse_, _Mad Puppetstown_ is essentially elegiac, a tribute to a past time that is made more beautiful by its honesty in seeing the flaws that co-occur with life's joys. Another of Farrell's phrases in the book, "this web of littleness that was life day by day," captures the force that conflicts in the book with moments that are "enchanted, glorious, and romantical." Farrell's book is about the struggle to be happy, to rise above not only the pettiness of life, but also the tragic problems of Ireland. _Mad Puppetstown_ has a fairytale-like feeling, and some would argue its treatment of Irish politics and history is also romanticized and simplified. Readers of Farrell's _The Rising Tide_ might be startled by the contrast in the two books: _Mad Puppetstown_ is a hopeful novel in which the good can find happiness while _The Rising Tide_ depicts a more realistic, morally mixed, and much darker world: there is no "good" character or classic poetic justice.

She was blond, beautiful, and had the longest legs he'd ever seen, but was Dr Joy Barlow really good for what ailed the architect Declan Harris? He'd been working night and day since his partner had died in an accident, and now this psychologist was pleding with him to change his life, trade his aspirins and antacids for an easier pace! Joy melted into the heat of Declan's brash, knock-em-dead smile, but did she dare accept his invitation to dinner...and anything else he had in mind? She'd never felt this cherished before, but even his searing kisses couldn't silence her doubts. She wanted his passion, his strength,and his kissable lips on hers, but she needed his respect just as much-and Declan seemed unwillng...or unable...to give her all his love. But once they'd embraced by the light of the blue moon, could they put their ghosts to rest and join their hearts forever?

Maigret Goes Home (published in 1932, first published in English in 1940) is among the best stories by Simenon that I have encountered. It takes place in 1928, early in Maigret's career, and involves a unique visit to Maigret's childhood home, the village of Saint-Fiacre. Maigret Goes Home is a compelling story, one in which the mystery puzzle, the characters themselves, their psychology, and the intriguing locale all share front stage.

Maigret is investigating an anonymous note warning that a death will occur during the first Mass on All Soul's Day at Saint-Fiacre. With Maigret in attendance, Countess de Saint-Fiacre dies during the mass from heart failure. Maigret is convinced of foul play, but evidence is lacking.

The aristocratic family of de Saint-Fiacre has suffered financial and moral decline since the death of Count some years ago. As Maigret's investigation proceeds, his disappointment with his childhood home grows. Nonetheless, Maigret's remains influenced by vestiges of his childhood admiration for the imposing Count de Saint-Fiacre, now dead for many years. The suspects are many, and the ending is less predictable than some Maigret stories.

My copy of Maigret Goes Home is a good quality, standard size paperback published by Harvest Books in 1990. Translated by Robert Baldick. The inside cover lists about forty Maigret titles available from Harvest Books. For those new to Georges Simenon, he wrote 75 novels and 28 short stories involving the highly popular Maigret from 1931 to 1972.

Note: Simenon did not adhere to a strict chronological sequence. That is, later stories often returned to a younger Maigret. Furthermore, many Maigret stories were not translated to English until many years after their release in France. Consequently, the English publication date is not a reliable indication to the time period of a particular Maigret story.