Recent reviewed titles

Pleasures and sorrows of work
The title is very misleading - This book seemed to be a disjointed collection of tales, that didn't bear much relationship to what was written on the cover. Mainly disappointing and not up to Alain's usual standard.

Village teacher
'The unofficial school log book'. A brilliant insight to the life of a village school in the early 80's. Well written with a lively cast of village characters.

Diary of a wimpy kid
BEST EVER

Girl with the dragon tattoo
Brilliant!

Quella mattina di luglio
Un bel libro, piu' che un poliziesco e' un libro sulla societa' e l'atmosfera poiltica poco prima della caduta del fascismo e la fuga di Mussolini. La storia tratta dell'investigazione di un commissario di sul delitto di una giovane prostituta il cui cadavere viene distrutto dal bombardamento su Roma. La descrizione della vita dei gerarchi e' molto interessante. Forse manca la suspance necessaria per farne un vero poliziesco.

Lake of dead languages
Reminiscent of Donna Tartt's Secret History. I liked it.

Queen Elizabeth: the Queen Mother: the official
This book managed somehow to be extremely dull.

Brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao
I read this for my book group and disliked it immensely. I could not believe the author was a professional in his thirties. The style was irritating, the footnotes were about to take over the book and as for the street slang - incomprehensible

Jacky Daydream
I have read some of this book so far and it's really good so far! I love it as I love all Jacqueline Wilson books, but this one really stands out as it is about herself and her life. Some of her books are, well, love stories and they are just as good as her other books and I really recommend anyone who hasn't read Jacqueline Wilson books to read them! :)

Stormbreaker
This is a classic and breathtaking tale of a young teenager who's life is forever changed when his mysterious uncle dies. It apparently so happens that his uncle was working for MI6. He is sent on a misssion to......... No you must read it!!! Must!!! u hear me!!!!!! Must!!!!

Thatcher and thatcherism
This was a very interesting book which is a good introduction to the 'Thatcherite policies' of the 80's it was very accessible and was interesting as it dealt with the transitional period within the u.k economy very weel indeed. Though it must be noted that the conclusions were very negative and it dismisses magaret thatchers policies as being of almost cataclysmic failure rather then sucess. So the book has failed to deal with the period in a resonably non-partisan way. Nontheless though the book was well-researched and written and was informative of key elements in Magaret Thatchers policies linking the effects that the policies had directley.

End of decline: Blair and Brown in power
It was a very interesting book which gave insight into the power struggle between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair and also gave a good indication of policy issues to which brown was directley responsible. The only issue was in places the book was a littel bit difficult to follow and not as clear as it could have been. Overall however it was interesting book which focussed purely on policy issues rather then simply looking at private companies and their role within th financial crissis so overall a very interesting book

Etching: Modern methods of intaglio printmaking
black and white pictures. Although rather out of date an excellent book about the traditional methodology of print making, any practicing print maker would find this book of use

Artist at work in her studio
lovely colour pictures, but not a very wide selection of paintings, and rather thin disjointed text

Artist at work in her studio
mostly black and white pictures. A very good overall view of E Blackadder introducing the reader to her more abstract still lifes and reasoning behind her work

Plants and beekeeping: Plants, wild & cultivated
An encyclopaedia of UK plants which yield nectar and pollen for the honeybee. Published in 1945 the book contains references to plants which are now very rare due to the use of herbicides by farmers. We now don't get fields of Charlock or Sainfoin anymore - mores the pity!! An excellent reference book. One I will buy for my own use.

Pollen loads of the honeybee: A guide to their i
A comprehensive colour chart of the pollen sources for honeybees in the UK. Includes a series of drawings of pollen grains. A very useful reference book for all beekeepers. A book I will be buying for my own collection.

Archaeology of beekeeping
Charts the archaeological history of honeybees. Provides fossil evidence from Africa, Asia and Europe showing the spread of honeybees throughout the region. A technical reference publication.

Bee-keeping in Britain
A follow-up to his "Honey Farming" book. This book is supposed to be aimed at the beginner but there are some technical chapters which might confuse the beginner. I found this book repeats a chunk of the information already covered in "Honey Farming"

Honey farming
Manley was a commercial beekeeper based in the Wallingford area. This book covers his experiences in setting up his business between the 2 world wars. He was the first beekeeper in the UK to make a living from beekeeping. The book contains lots of information about why he made the choices of bee hive and beekeeping equipment. His choices were made from practical experience, rejecting ideas/equipment that didn't work and modifying equipment to suit his setup. He invented the Manley frame for supers. Beekeeping was very much in its infancy in the early 1900's and there were many "experimental" designs which were very complicated to operate. A very easy read for someone who has had a few years experience of beekeeping. Not for the beginner