5/27/2023 0 Comments Threadneedle book sequel![]() ![]() The Select Committee Report (November 8, 2011) – Accountability of the Bank of England – noted that even with reforms to the committee structure within the decision-making bodies of the Bank: In this blog post – Bank of England Groupthink exposed (January 8, 2015) – I discussed the response by the Bank of England to a report from the UK Treasury Select Committee (House of Commons) demanding the Bank act in a more transparent manner. And then, to restore equanimity, we have a music tribute to Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry who died in Jamaica this week. Groupthink seems to plague this institution. ![]() Today, I am bemoaning the creation of the Bank of Goldman Sachs, formerly known as the Bank of England. ![]() As I provided a detailed analysis of the National Accounts release yesterday, today, I am writing less via the blog and am shifting the Wednesday music feature to Thursday. ![]()
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5/27/2023 0 Comments Stephenie meyer's the seeker![]() ![]() Its previous owner Melanie still resides. ![]() Wanderer’s host, she finds, is not yet empty. The souls or parasites as the humans call them, have taken over Earth by inserting those of their kind into human bodies, which they call hosts. The Host is the story of human host, Melanie Stryder into which an experienced soul, Wanderer is inserted. But somehow, Meyer managed to surprise me just a little bit. I went into this book with few expectations, because I knew it was going to be an easy, breezy read sans the literary quality. Of course, the larger picture brings older characters into the limelight, but attention is on the few school-going kids.Īnd just like the Twilight series, there comes The Host. It is about vampires, but those who are in their teens, one of whom falls in love with a teenage human girl. Stephenie Meyer isn’t anything of a force to reckon with in literary circles. ![]() And the books weren’t as bad as the movies. But I will say this over and over again, like any booklover: The books were better. And yes, the Twilight movies were adapted from Meyer’s books. The first thing that goes through any bookworm’s mind when they think “Stephenie Meyer” is “Oh, she’s that vampire wali author, no?” Yes, she is. ![]() 5/27/2023 0 Comments Heart of europe peter wilson![]() Obviously, the French, Austrians, Poles, Italians, Danes and all the others involved at one time would dispute this view. A few may have heard the cliché that “it was neither holy, Roman nor an empire” but it is difficult to understand what it really was except perhaps as a precursor to modern Germany. The Holy Roman Empire is not exactly a hot topic and most people probably have no idea of what it was. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. ![]() Click ‘Customise Cookies’ to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. ![]() Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. If you agree, we’ll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements. ![]() We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice. ![]() 5/26/2023 0 Comments I see you clare mackintosh plot![]() ![]() When Max and Pip are unable to agree, Dr Khalili informs them that the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service will allocate a guardian for Dylan and appoint a barrister. The first part of the book alternates between Max, Pip and Dylan’s doctor as we journey with them through the terrain of Dylan’s illness, how their life has changed and then the realisation that a decision needs to bemade about Dylan’s treatment. ![]() Pip wants her son to be spared of further pain. They each want a different future for their son. Max is desperate to keep Dylan alive. For the first time, Max and Pip can’t agree. ![]() The heartbroken parents are advised to accept palliative care for Dylan. ![]() Medical advice is that Dylan’s condition is terminal, and if prolonged his quality of life will be diminished. But then their son is diagnosed with a brain tumour and the doctors put the question of his survival into their hands. Max and Pip are the strongest couple you know. It’s heartbreaking territory, but absolutely worth it. After the End is a devastating, beautifully written novel about an impossible choice. ![]() 5/26/2023 0 Comments One last stop august![]() ![]() August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. Publisher’s Summary: For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. ![]() Content Warnings: racism, homophobia, absent parents. ![]() ![]() ![]() Mary Beard attended an all-female direct grant school. Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury. Mary Beard, an only child, was born on 1 January 1955 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as "Britain's best-known classicist". She is the Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, and author of the blog "A Don's Life", which appears on The Times as a regular column. ![]() ![]() Winifred Mary Beard (born 1 January 1955) is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and is a fellow of Newnham College. ![]() ![]() Readers looking for an outstanding work of psychological suspense with a knockout ending will find LITTLE SECRETS right up their alley. Following a grieving mother on a desperate mission for revenge, LITTLE SECRETS delivers a fresh take on the domestic thriller, one that will captivate readers of Sandie Jones, B.A. ![]() ![]() What follows is a twisty, heartbreaking story of grief, loss, and the ties that bind a family together-and the secrets that might tear them apart. LITTLE SECRETS is a story that begins with any parent’s worst nightmare: the disappearance of a child, kidnapped from under his mother’s nose on a busy day at a market. LITTLE SECRETS, Hillier’s outstanding new suspense novel, isn’t just a suspense novel-it’s also a heartfelt story that delves deep into the lives of its characters, thoughtfully crafting these fictional women and men so they begin to feel more real than not. ![]() I’m not much of a crier-especially not when I’m reading crime fiction-so imagine my surprise when, as I turned the last few pages of Jennifer Hillier’s newest release, I found myself (no exaggeration!) wiping tears off my cheeks. ![]() The Verdict: a heartfelt, page-turning suspense novel ![]() 5/26/2023 0 Comments The Way of Kings by Louise Searl![]() ![]() ![]() The beats shook Szeth like a quartet of thumping hearts, pumping waves of invisible blood through the room. ![]() Most out here in the East thought Szeth's kind were docile and harmless. He was just a servant, and Shin were easy to ignore. Few at the treaty-signing celebration noticed him. He sat on a bench at the back, a still servant in white robes. Szeth did not sway to the drums, drink the sapphire wine, or stand to dance. They looked as if they were dead, at least until their friends carried them out of the feast hall to waiting beds. Some fell to the ground red-faced, the revelry too much for them, their stomachs proving to be inferior wineskins. He sat in a large stone room, baked by enormous firepits that cast a garish light upon the revelers, causing beads of sweat to form on their skin as they danced, and drank, and yelled, and sang, and clapped. But he did as his masters required and did not ask for an explanation. The white clothing was a Parshendi tradition, foreign to him. Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king. Subject was a darkeyed pregnant woman of middle years. Collected on the first day of the week Palah of the month Shash of the year 1171, thirty-one seconds before death. It is but a thousand days, and the Everstorm comes." "The love of men is a frigid thing, a mountain stream only three steps from the ice. ![]() 5/26/2023 0 Comments Rebecca kuang babel![]() ![]() Often as an author, I only occasionally get to meet the public who buy and read my books. Woodstock festival hotel Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme Festival on-site and online bookseller Supporters of the festival green room Festival London hotel partner Supporter of Italian programme Event generously supported by Republic of Panama Event generously supported by the Spanish Embassy Festival ideas partner Festival cultural partner Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award International radio partner Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom Title partner Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture CEO of Project People Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture Trinity College St Cross College Lincoln College Worcester College Exeter College: college home of the festival Partner of Jewish programme Doubleday Books which change you, your mind, your world Prestige publishing partner Wines of the Douro Valley Oxford University Images Accountants to the festival Alumni Office Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Local radio partner Regional media partner Olive oil from Sicily K T Bruce Photography Siren Communications - corporate consultants Wines of Provence ![]() 5/26/2023 0 Comments 10 ducks eric carle![]() A ducky tale indeed, as sublimely simple and endearing as the playthings it portrays. While mother and babies "Quack" goodnight to the moon, the new addition chimes in with a chipper "Squeak!" (a sound chip allows readers to hear it for themselves). Full-page collage images give way to full-spread compositions as the 10th rubber duck meets with the most satisfying fate (it encounters a real ![]() Carle's jaunty renderings of these creatures and use of crisp verbs make this a lively journey: a dolphin jumps over the first duck, a pelican chatters at the fifth, a whale sings to the ninth. ![]() As the ducks drift in different directions, the counting and ecological aspects of the tale emerge one by one the toys encounter a critter from various ocean habitats. When a wave washes one box into the sea, its contents fall out ("10 ducks overboard!" the ship's captain theatrically announces). The style of the artwork is consistent with his other books, my favorite being The Very Hungry Caterpillar. After little yellow rubber ducks pop out of "the rubber duck machine," their beaks and eyes receive dabs of paint, and the toys are packed 10 to a box and loaded onto a cargo ship. Inspired by a true event, Carle takes the adventures of 10 rubber ducks and creates a wonderfully illustrated children's story. ) characteristically jewel-toned collage art with a breezy text whose intermittent repetition lends it a song-like cadence. ![]() ![]() Inspired by a 2003 newspaper story about a shipment of yellow rubber ducks that fell overboard from a container ship, this winsome story pairs Carle's ( Mister Seahorse ![]() |