What could possibly go wrong when a overconfident Scottish librarian finds herself on a mysterious love and life saving mission in tsarist Russia? As it turns everything, and even more. This is a highly entertaining read. Perfect for a holiday in the sun or a river cruise up the Volga.
View Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar
Mr Malik has a secret. In fact, he has several that the narrator reveals only when we need to know them. Generating compassion and even concern for him, each new revelation tells us more about this unassuming, gentle man. Our appreciation of his worth grows through the pages of an entertaining and endearing story. There must be a happy ending - but who for?
View A Guide to the Birds of East Africa
This is an hilarious and exciting adventure. Despite some 'staged' nasty incidents, the overall effect is cheerful.
The miserly Feng Shui Master CF Wong and his soft hearted assistant, Joyce McQuillan, are an endearing team as they save the political relationship between America and China from disaster.
Great descriptions of Shanghai which make you want to visit the city and lots of fun with the English/Chinese language difficulties and culture.
A real feel-good read! Ove is 59, solitary and a bit of a curmudgeon, everything has to be just so and he is very intolerant of life in general. When his beloved wife dies and he loses his job, he decides he has nothing left to live for. However, his new neighbours have other ideas .... Lovely characters and a completely unexpected delight.
View A Man Called Ove
A gentle, amusing insight into the world of a state coroner in a corrupt Communist country. This is much more than your average murder mystery, with aspects of tribal ceremonies, love and true friendship all helping to solve the crime.
View The Coroner's Lunch
An excellent feel good read! Major Pettigrew is a delightful character struggling to tolerate his meddling village neighbours and his overbearing son and their prejudices. When his brother dies, he finds himself increasingly drawn to Mrs Ali, the village shopkeeper and falls in love to the consternation of his friends and family. A book to keep you smiling, as Major Pettigrew, always the gentleman, confounds everyone and wins through!
View Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
A drug dealer is shot in the Cause Houses housing project in New York in 1969, the gunman an elderly drunk and church deacon who taught him baseball. There is violence, poverty and racism here - but it’s also warm and funny. The story reveals that everybody - blacks, whites, Italians, Spanish, church goers and criminals - are united by a shared history and common humanity and they are all described with humour and affection.
View Deacon King Kong
What a delightful, funny, touching book. I loved Mr and Mrs Ali - their bickering, their wisdom, their compassion. This was a magical depiction of that classic battleground - family, property, class - and marriage.
View The Marriage Bureau for Rich People
Spinster Valeria, 68, approves of nothing and nobody until she falls for the village potter but she has a feisty rival in Ibolya, 58, the inn-keeper who flaunts her breasts to increase beer sales! This love triangle is the talk of the village until the arrival of an ambitious chimney sweep further complicates matters. Light, highly entertaining and proof that you are never too old for love.
View Valeria's Last Stand
The growing-old-disgracefully format is a window into Herra's epic life, loves and losses. You guess her impossible abuse of family and friends, vicious black humour and outrageous sexuality are a self-defence against the horrors that C20 history has thrown at her. But you won't pity her: she is going to organise her death in exactly the same high-octane way as she lived. Her awkward attitude just makes you want to know why she is the way she is!
View The Woman at 1,000 DegreesYou won’t find the biggest bestsellers on Whichbook as everyone knows about them already. But you can use your enjoyment of a current bestseller to see titles with a similar mood that you might try next.
