Marrying ​Off Mother and ​Other Stories

Gerald Durrell - Madarak, ​vadak, rokonok
– ​Hát én ezt nem bírom tovább – hörögte Larry. – Ez túltesz minden eddigin. Madarak meg kutyák meg sünök nyüzsögnek szerte a házban, és most még egy medve a tetejébe. Mit képzel ez a kölyök egyáltalán, mi ez a ház? Egy francos római aréna? Durrellék kalandjai folytatódnak! A Családom és egyéb állatfajták című kötettel induló Korfu-trilógia második részében a Durrell család – a pattanások sújtotta, csélcsap Margo, a fegyvermániás Leslie, a mizantróp írópalánta Lawrence, az állatbolond Gerry, valamint sokat tűrt édesanyjuk, Louisa – korfui életéből ismerhetünk meg újabb kacagtató történeteket. A kis Gerry olajfaligetekben és hófehér tengerpartokon bolyongva kutatja szenvedélyesen a természet titkait, és lelkesen hordja haza az újabb és újabb állatokat – testvérei és édesanyja nem épp töretlen örömére.

Gerald Durrell - A ​piknik és egyéb kalamajkák
Gerry, ​Larry, Leslie, Margo és persze a mama újra készen állnak, hogy próbára tegyék a rekeszizmainkat. A Családom és egyéb állatfajták című kötet Durrell családja ezúttal a kies angol vidéken tesz kirándulást Esmeraldával, a tiketi-tiketi-ping hangokat hallató Rolls-Royce-szal, majd egy görög hajó fedélzetének női mosdójában mennek egymás idegeire. De feltűnik a kötetben A halak jellemé-ben megismert, egyéni szóhasználatáról felismerhető, kelekótya barátnő, Ursula is, aki ezúttal Gerry velencei pihenésének vet véget, s teszi komédia helyszínévé a Canal Grandét. Ahogy az is kész bohózat, amikor Mr. Durrell szexuális tanácsadóvá lényegül át, felbolydítva egy szálloda személyzetének képzeletét és mindennapjait. Máskor meg az ő gyomrát kavarja fel egy francia vidéki fogadós krimibe illő története az éppen felszolgált és megkóstolt előételről. S mindezek tetejébe - és továbbra is Edgar Allan Poe nyomdokain haladva - a bizarr bűneset után szerzőnk a horror műfajában is kipróbálja magát. Nem is akárhogyan! Ahogy a kalamajkákba bonyolódás terén is kimagaslóan teljesít, úgy ennek a rémtörténetnek a megírásában is hátborzongatóan tehetségesnek bizonyul. Egy szó, mint száz, ha létezne irodalmi Michelin-kalauz, Durrell ezzel a könyvével bizonyára kiérdemelné a három csillagot!

Gerald Durrell - Bill Bowler - My ​Family and Other Animals (Oxford Dominoes)
Text ​adaptation by Bill Bowler The weather in England that summer had been so awful that Gerald's mother sold the family house and took her children to live on the Mediterranean island of Corfu. Between lessons, the ten-year-old Gerald was free to walk round the sunny island and discover the wonderful people and animals living there. This is the story of Gerald's adventures with the fascinating animals of Corfu, and, of course, with his surprising family and their friends.

Gerald Durrell - The ​Corfu Trilogy
The ​Corfu Trilogy consists of the popular classic My Family and Other Animals and its delightful sequels, Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods . All three books are set on the enchanted island of Corfu in the 1930s, and tell the story of the eccentric English family who moved there. For Gerald, the budding zoologist, Corfu was a natural paradise, teeming with strange birds and beasts that he could collect, watch and care for. But life was not without its problems - his family often objected to his animal-collecting activities, especially when the beasts wound up in the villa or - even worse - the fridge. With hilarious yet endearing portraits of his family and their many unusual hangers-on, The Corfu Trilogy also captures the beginnings of the author's lifelong love of animals. Recounted with immense humour and charm, this wonderful account of Corfu's natural history reveals a rare, magical childhood.

P. G. Wodehouse - The ​Inimitable Jeeves
A ​Jeeves and Wooster collection A classic collection of linked stories featuring some of the funniest episodes in the life of Bertie Wooster, gentleman, and Jeeves, his gentleman’s gentleman – in which Bertie's terrifying Aunt Agatha stalks the pages, seeking whom she may devour, while Bertie’s friend Bingo Little falls in love with seven different girls in succession (he marries the last, the bestselling romantic novelist Rosie M. Banks). And Bertie, with Jeeves’s help, just evades the clutches of the terrifying Honoria Glossop... At its heart is one of Wodehouse’s most delicious stories, ‘The Great Sermon Handicap.’

Laurie Viera Rigler - Rude ​Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
Laurie ​Viera Riglers debut novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, was a hit with fans and critics, and a BookSense and Los Angeles Times bestseller. Its open-to-interpretation ending left readers begging for moreand Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict delivers. While Confessions took twenty-first-century free spirit Courtney Stone into the social confines of Jane Austens era, Rude Awakenings tells the parallel story of Jane Mansfield, a gentlemans daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in Courtneys overly wired and morally confused L.A. life. For Jane, the modern world is not wholly disagreeable. Her apartment may be smaller than a dressing closet, but it is fitted up with lights that burn without candles, machines that wash bodies and clothes, and a glossy rectangle in which tiny people perform scenes from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Granted, if she wants to travel she may have to drive a formidable metal carriage, but she may do so without a chaperone. And oh, what places she goes! Public assemblies that pulsate with pounding music. Unbound hair and unrestricted clothing. The freedom to say what she wants when she wantseven to men without a proper introduction. Jane relishes the privacy, independence, even the power to earn her own money. But how is she to fathom her employers incomprehensible dictates about syncing a BlackBerry and rolling a call? How can she navigate a world in which entire publications are devoted to brides but flirting and kissing and even the sexual act itself raise no matrimonial expectations? Even more bewildering are the memories that are not her own. And the friend named Wes, who is as attractive and confusing to Jane as the man who broke her heart back home. Its enough to make her wonder if she would be better off in her own time, where at least the rules are clearthat is, if returning is even an option.

P. G. Wodehouse - The ​Code of the Woosters
A ​Jeeves and Wooster novel When Bertie Wooster goes to Totleigh Towers to pour oil on the troubled waters of a lovers' breach between Madeline Bassett and Gussie Fink-Nottle, he isn't expecting to see Aunt Dahlia there -- nor to be instructed by her to steal some silver. But purloining the antique cow creamer from under the baleful nose of Sir Watkyn Bassett is the least of Bertie's tasks. He has to restore true love to both Madeline and Gussie and to the Revd Stinker Pinker and Stiffy Byng -- and confound the insane ambitions of would-be Dictator Roderick Spode and his Black Shorts. It's a situation that only Jeeves can unravel...

P. G. Wodehouse - Jeeves ​in the Offing
This ​is a Jeeves and Wooster novel. Jeeves is on holiday in Herne Bay, and while he's away the world caves in on Bertie Wooster. For a start, he's astonished to read in "The Times" of his engagement to the mercurial Bobbie Wickham. Then at Brinkley Court, his Aunt Dahlia's establishment, he finds his awful former head master in attendance ready to award the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School. And finally the Brinkley butler turns out for reasons of his own to be Bertie's nemesis in disguise, the brain surgeon Sir Roderick Glossop. With all occasions informing against him, Bertie has to hightail it to Herne Bay to liberate Jeeves from his shrimping net. And after that, the fun really starts.

P. G. Wodehouse - Ring ​for Jeeves
The ​only Jeeves story in which Bertie Wooster makes no appearance, involves Jeeves on secondment as butler and general factotum to William Belfry, ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced Roaster). Despite his impressive title, Bill Belfry is broke, which may explain why he and Jeeves have been working as Silver Ring bookies, disguised in false moustaches and loud check suits. All goes well until the terrifying Captain Brabazon-Biggar, big-game hunter, two-fisted he-man and saloon-bar bore, lays successful bets on two outsiders, leaving the would-be bookies three thousand pounds down and on the run from their creditor. Ring For Jeeves is the story of their misadventures as they attempt to evade the incandescent Captain, combined with Bill's attempt to sell his crumbling mansion to rich American widow, Rosalinda Spottsworth - who just happens to be Brabazon-Biggar's former flame...

Erin Morgenstern - The ​Night Circus
The ​circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Alexander McCall Smith - Friends, ​Lovers, Chocolate
In ​this second novel in the Sunday Philosophy Club, Isabel Dalhousie’s niece, Cat (she of the unsuitable boyfriends) is invited to a wedding in Italy. This means that Isabel is left in charge of Cat’s delicatessen – a task to which the redoutable moral philosopher proves more than equal. She is intrigued by the customers, of course, given her irrepressible tendency to take an interest in the business of others, and one man in particular attracts her attention. He is recovering from heart surgery – a heart transplant in fact – and when Isabel gets to know him a bit better he reveals an extraordinary aspect of being the recipient of another’s heart. Isabel is drawn into an investigation of the facts behind the transplant, with disturbing results. Her enquiries take time, but not so much time as to prevent romantic entanglements, both for Isabel and her housekeeper, Grace. And as for chocolate – that proves to have some very interesting philosophical ramifications – at least in the mind of Isabel Dalhousie. Chocolate is a moral problem, it transpires – invoking questions of temptation and, of course, human weakness. We are all weak when it comes to chocolate, Isabel decides – should we just accept the fact and get on with it?

Charlotte Brontë - Jane ​Eyre (Oxford Bookworms)
Egyszerűsített ​olvasmány angol nyelven. Hasznos segítség a nyelvtanulásban. A kötet 6. nehézségi fokozatú, az olvasásához kb. 2500 szavas szókincs szükséges. Jane Eyre is alone in the world. Disliked by her aunt's family, she is sent away to school. Here she learns that a young girl, with neither money nor family to support her, can expect little from the world. She survives, but she wants more from life than simply to survive: she wants respect, and love. When she goes to work for Mr Rochester, she hopes she has found both at once. But the sound of strange laughter, late at night, behind a locked door, warns her that her troubles are only beginning.

P. G. Wodehouse - Jeeves ​and Friends (Oxford Bookworms)
What ​on earth would Bertie Wooster do without Jeeves, his valet? Jeeves is calm, tactful, resourceful, and has the answer to every problem. Bertie, a pleasant young man but a bit short of brains, turns to Jeeves every time he gets into trouble. And Bertie is always in trouble. These six stories include the most famous of P. G. Wodehouse's memorable characters. There are three stories about Bertie and Jeeves, and three about Lord Emsworth, who, like Bertie, is often in trouble, battling with his fierce sister Lady Constance, and his even fiercer Scottish gardener, the red-bearderd Angus McAllister... (Word count 22,670)

Mary Hooper - Édességek ​kicsiny boltja
Az ​utcákon tyúkok, malacok, kutyák, macskák szaladgálnak, árusok kínálják portékáikat, trágyadombok, eldobált hulladék, sikátorok, nyüzsgő sokaság, hintók, díszes ruhákat viselő hölgyek és urak, sár, temetést játszó gyerekek, gazemberek karóra tűzött fejei, ezt látja Hannah, aki nővéréhez érkezik a fővárosba, 1665 nyarán. Nővérének, Sarahnak kis édességboltja van, ahol elkél a segítség, azonban mire Hannah odaér, felüti fejét a rettegett betegség. Mary Hooper könyvének feszültségét ez a kettősség adja: miközben a főszereplő kamaszlány szemével figyeljük a zsibongó várost, s átéljük Hannah fiatalságának minden izgatottságát, lelkesültségét, amit az új hely, egy másfajta életmód kínál számára, aközben ott settenkedik a félelmetes ragály, és lépésről lépésre közeledik feléjük. A testvérek eleinte bizakodók, remélik, hogy a pestis távol marad az ő körzetüktől. Lefoglalja őket az édességek készítése, árusítása, apró kis gondjaik, Hannaht pedig a város fölfedezése és egy bontakozó szerelem. Azonban egyre gyakrabban hallják a lélekharang zúgását, és egyre közelebb oson hozzájuk a halál, míg egy nap már az ő utcájukat is eléri. A vesztegzár alá vont városból elmenekülni csak a nagyon gazdagok számára leheteséges, csak ők képesek megvenni a távozásukhoz szükséges méregdrága egészséglevelet. A történet végén Hannah és Sarah már-már krimibe illő módon mégis kijut Londonból, és mi bízunk benne, hogy nem vitték magukkal a gyilkos kórt.

Laurie Viera Rigler - Confessions ​of a Jane Austen Addict
In ​this Jane Austeninspired comedy, love story, and exploration of identity and destiny, a modern LA girl wakes up as an Englishwoman in Austens time. After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy? Not only is Courtney stuck in another womans life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her love of Jane Austen has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condomless seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who fills Courtneys borrowed brain with confusing memories that are clearly not her own. Try as she might to control her mind and find a way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other womanand being this other woman is not without its advantages: Especially in a looking-glass Austen world. Especially with a suitor who may not turn out to be a familiar species of philanderer after all.

Philip Pullman - Northern ​Lights
There ​are worlds beyond our own - the Compass will show the way... The first novel in Philip Pullman's epic His Dark Materials trilogy is now the stunning motion picture The Golden Compass made by New Line Cinema and Scholastic Media. When Lyra is given the strange and secret alethiometer, she begins an extraordinary journey that will take her to the frozen land of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. The destiny that awaits her will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own world...

P. G. Wodehouse - Jeeves ​and the Feudal Spirit
This ​is a "Jeeves and Wooster" novel. The beefy 'Stilton' Cheesewright has drawn Bertie Wooster as red-hot favourite in the Drones club annual darts tournament - which is lucky for Bertie because otherwise Stilton would have beaten him to a pulp and buttered the lawn with him. Stilton does not like men who he thinks are trifling with his fiancee's affections. Meanwhile Bertie has committed a more heinous offence by growing a moustache, and Jeeves strongly disapproves - which is unfortunate, because Jeeves' feudal spirit is desperately needed. Bertie's Aunt Dahlia is trying to sell her magazine "Milady's Boudoir" to the Trotter Empire and still keep her amazing chef Anatole out of Lady Trotter's clutches. And Bertie simply has to try to keep his moustache and survive to the end of the novel.

P. G. Wodehouse - Very ​Good, Jeeves
This ​book is a Jeeves and Wooster collection. It is an outstanding collection of Jeeves stories, every one a winner, in which Jeeves endeavours to give satisfaction: By saving a grumpy cabinet minister from being marooned and attacked by a swan - in the process saving Bertie Wooster from his impending doom. By rescuing Bingo Little and Tuppy Glossop from the soup (twice each). By arranging rather too many performances of the song 'Sonny Boy' to a not very appreciative audience. And by a variety of other sparkling stratagems that should reduce you to helpless laughter.

Anna Godbersen - Envy
After ​two months of speculation, Elizabeth Holland returns home to a city eager to claim her once more. She's the toast of the town, but she simply cannot rouse herself to take part in the festivities celebrating Manhattan's favorite newlyweds, Henry Schoonmaker and Penelope Hayes. Henry and Penelope are the envy of every socialite's eye, but could there be trouble in paradise? There's nothing more splendid than a scandal on the island of Manhattan, and New York's most practiced smiles hide enough secrets to make scandal a daily delight.

Jill Mansell - To ​The Moon And Back
The ​gorgeously indulgent, funny and touching new novel from the bestselling author When Ellie Kendall tragically loses her husband she feels her life is over. But eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She doesn’t need a new man when she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company... Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. If only she’d pay him the same attention she lavishes on his dog. Moving to North London, Ellie meets neighbour Roo who has a secret of her own. Can the girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion, but a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill...