War
'Save yourselves, I'll carry on'. These were the last known words of Herbert Columbine, shouted at his two companions on the afternoon of 22nd March 1918. At 9am that morning, in Hervilly Woods, France, 9 Squadron Machine Gun Corps had come under intense attack from a heavy force of German infantry. Private Columbine took command of an isolated gun, with no wire in front and began firing.
2013. 2v.
Children and young adult fiction Suggested reading age 0-4 Bartram, Simon. Man on the moon: (a day in the life of Bob).
The everyday story of an ordinary man? Well, sort of. Bob is the man on the moon, and he has a very special job, looking after the moon, cleaning it up, showing visitors around and selling souvenirs.
2004. 1v.
Suggested reading age 15+
Marr, Melissa. Carnival of souls.
In a city of daimons, strict class lines control every aspect of life. At the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls where, once in a generation, anyone can fight for their chance to join the elite. Kaleb is of the lowest caste; Aya is ruling caste - but female. They both face bleak futures and, for each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.
2012. 3v.
This series is suitable for reluctant readers of 8-13 years with a
reading age of approximately 8 years. Barrington Stoke specialise in books for reluctant, struggling and dyslexic readers.
Ardagh, Philip. The red dragons of Gressingham.
The Green Men of Gressingham are back - but they're bored - what will they do for adventure now they're no longer outlaws? Luckily Lord Dashwood has the answer - a quest to find a dragon!
2012. 1v.
Breslin, Theresa and Evergreen, Nelson. The traveller.
On a stormy winter's night an old man sits over his wine cup and tells a tale: of the Lord Aleslan and his evil deeds; of the good wife who could not influence him for the better and died, leaving a son; and of her brother, who stole the child to save it from Aleslan's evil. And now the son returns.
2013. 1v.
Breslin, Theresa and Grant, Shona. Alligator.
Jono didn't mean to buy an alligator - it just sort of happened. Now his mum is going to kill him - if the alligator doesn't get there first!
2012. 1v.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin and Peluso, Martina. Stars of mine.
A King marries a poor girl after being told she can perform amazing feats with a spinning wheel. But what will happen to her when he realises he's been tricked?
2013. 1v.
Gates, Susan and Gibson, Dylan. Big trouble
Anna, a city girl, comes to stay in Levi's village. She hates village life and is desperate to go. When some baboons threaten the village Anna is shocked at how the villagers treat them. She rescues a baby baboon and plans to keep it as a pet.
2012. 1v.
Rushton, Rosie and Donnelly, Karen. Looking for Billie.
Billie has never met her real mum. But now she thinks she's seen her on a train! Can she track her down? How far will Billie go to find her mother?
2010. 1v.
Talking Books
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Adult fiction
Alliott, Catherine. My husband next door. Romance. TB 20863.
Ella married the handsome, celebrated artist Sebastian Montclair at just 19. Now, separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in an outhouse across the lawn from Ella's ramshackle farmhouse. When Sebastian decides to move on, Ella realises that she can no longer hide from what really destroyed her marriage and the secret she continues to keep.
2013. Read by Karina Fernandez. 15 hours 44 minutes. TB 20863.
Aston, Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy's dream: a novel. Romance. TB 20987.
Darcys; book 6. When Phoebe, a young niece of Mr. Darcy, is shattered by an unhappy romance, she retreats to Pemberley. As preparations for a ball at Pemberley gain momentum, mischief and love triangles abound.
2009. Read by Lucy Scott. 8 hours 7 minutes. TB 20987.
Booth, Stephen. Blind to the bones. Crime fiction. TB 21014.
Ben Cooper and Diane Fry series; book 4. Withens is a small village in the Peak District. Dark and dour, it's troubled by theft and vandalism, mostly generated by local family-from-hell, the Oxleys. A young man's body has been found on the desolate moors nearby and the man is an Oxley.
2004. Read by Leighton Pugh. 17 hours 40 minutes. TB 21014.
Bretherick, Diana. City of devils. Crime fiction. TB 20882.
1887. James Murray, a Scottish scientist fascinated by the developing research into the study of criminal behaviour, travels to Turin to be apprenticed to Cesare Lombroso, the world-renowned criminologist. But just hours after his introduction to his new mentor, a mutilated body is discovered along with a note that appears to implicate Lombroso.
2013. Read by Jonathan Oliver. 15 hours 16 minutes. TB 20882.
Child, Lee. Persuader. Thriller. TB 20356.
Jack Reacher series; book 7. 'Never forgive, never forget' is Jack Reacher's standard operating procedure. Quinn was the worst guy he had ever met. So Reacher was glad to know he was dead. Until the day he saw him again in Boston, alive and well.
2012. Read by Dick Hill. 13 hours 50 minutes. TB 20356.
Cleeves, Ann. Blue lightning. Crime fiction. TB 20499.
Shetland Island Quartet; book 4. Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to the Fair Isles to introduce his fiancée, Fran, to his parents. When a woman's body is discovered at the renowned Fair Isles bird observatory, Jimmy must investigate the old-fashioned way.
2010. Read by Gordon Griffin. 10 hours 33 minutes. TB 20499.
Cole, Martina. The life. Thriller. TB 20657.
Gangsters Peter and Daniel Bailey rule London's East End. Lena Bailey is determined to shield her youngest child Tania from the life but when a terrible tragedy occurs, Tania's eyes are opened to their world in a way that forces her to make an irrevocable choice that will determine her future. Contains strong language and violence.
2013. Read by Annie Aldington. 12 hours 20 minutes. TB 20657.
Finnigan, Judy. Eloise. General fiction. TB 20346.
Yesterday I almost saw her. A butterfly trembled on a nearby buddleia and suddenly I smelled her perfume. She wasn't there, of course. How could she be when I had seen her lying in her coffin just two weeks ago.
2012. Read by Anna Bentinck. 9 hours 22 minutes. TB 20346.
Francis, Felix. Refusal. Thriller. TB 21025.
Sir Richard Stewart, chairman of the horse racing authority, wants Sid Halley to look into some suspicious race results, but Sid has give up the investigating business. The following day, Sir Richard is found dead and Sid receives a threatening call from a man who insists that Halley investigate the alleged race-fixing. It is only when his six-year-old daughter goes missing that Sid realises that he may pay the ultimate price for his refusal.
2013. Read by Andrew Cullum. 9 hours 38 minutes. TB 21025.
French, Tana. Faithful place. Crime fiction. TB 20757.
The course of Frank Mackey's life was set by one defining moment when he was 19. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous and failed to run away with him as they had planned. Frank never heard from her again. Twenty years on, Frank's still in Dublin, working as an undercover cop. But what happened to Rosie?
2011. Read by Gerry O'Brien. 15 hours 8 minutes. TB 20757.
Gaiman, Neil. The ocean at the end of the lane. Fantasy. TB 21031.
It began for our narrator 40 years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up dark creatures from beyond the world. His only defence is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.
2013. Read by James Parsons. 5 hours 19 minutes. TB 21031.
Gardam, Jane. Last friends. General fiction. TB 20988.
Filth; book 3. Filth's great rival in work and - though it was never spoken of - love, Terence Veneering is brought into the spotlight. The son of a Russian acrobat marooned in northeast England and a devoted local girl, he escapes the war to emerge in the Far East as a man of panache, success and fame. But, always he is treated with suspicion: where did this blonde, louche, brilliant Slav come from?
2013. Read by Steve Hodson. 7 hours 13 minutes. TB 20988.
Goddard, Robert. The ways of the world. Thriller. TB 20906.
1919. The eyes of the world are on Paris, where statesmen, diplomats and politicians have gathered to discuss the aftermath of the Great War. So when Sir Henry Maxted falls from the roof of his mistress's apartment building in unexplained circumstances, the first instinct of the British diplomatic community is to suppress all suspicious aspects of the event.
2013. Read by Christopher Oxford. 13 hours 50 minutes. TB 20906.
Green, Mark. The travel auction. General fiction. TB 20993.
It should have been their trip of a lifetime. But with just days to go, Jonathan Cork is dumped by his girlfriend. Unable to change the name on the spare ticket and fast running out of time, Jonathan advertises on eBay for a travel companion with the same name as his ex. What follows is a funny, page-turning, rollercoaster ride around South America.
2013. Read by Simon Bubb and Kirsty Cox. 9 hours 41 minutes. TB 20993.
Harding, Georgina. Painter of silence. General fiction. TB 20506.
An intimate and devastating portrait of Romania during and after the Second World War, through the prism of a moving and original friendship.
2012. Read by Sian Thomas. 7 hours 47 minutes. TB 20506.
Hardy, Kate. Her real family Christmas. Mills and Boon romance. TB 21062.
Spending time with single dad and obstetric surgeon Daniel Conner and his cute daughter Mia, opens Dr Stephanie Scott’s eyes to the possibility that her longed for wish “a family of her very own” might just come true this Christmas.
2013. Read by Helen Dickens. 5 hours 39 minutes. TB 21062.
Hart, Josephine. Damage. General fiction. TB 20596.
A successful doctor and politician arrives at middle age and the high point of his career, having pursued a dutiful and passionless life. Then he becomes obsessed by his son's lover, the strange and secretive Anna.
2012. Read by Jeremy Irons. 5 hours 6 minutes. TB 20596.
Hassel, Sven. Liquidate Paris. War story. TB 21032.
From the war-torn steppes of Russia, from the slopes of Monte Cassino, the stunned, bloody remnants of Hitler's armies were gathered to fight the last battle of the German Reich - the battle of the Western Front. And as the Allies advanced upon Paris, the war erupted into its most ruthless, most savage and cruel phase.
2004. Read by Leighton Pugh. 10 hours 56 minutes. TB 21032.
Hill, Susan. A question of identity. Crime fiction. TB 20991.
Simon Serrailler; book 7. One snowy night, an old lady is murdered - dragged from her bed and strangled with a length of flex. DCS Simon Serrailler and his team are aware of bizarre circumstances surrounding her death - but they keep some of these details secret. All they know is that the killer will strike again.
2013. Read by Leighton Pugh. 10 hours 45 minutes. TB 20991.
Hodder, Mark. A red sun also rises. Science fiction. TB 21088.
Aiden Fleischer, a bookish priest, finds himself transported to an alien world. With him is Miss Clarissa Stark, a crippled hunchback of exceptional ability. On the planet Ptallaya, under two bright yellow suns, they encounter the Yatsill, a race of enthusiastic mimics who shape their society after impressions picked up from Clarissa's mind. Creating a faux London, the alien creatures enrol Clarissa in their Council of Magicians and Aiden in the City Guard. But why does the peaceful city require guards?
2014. Read by David Learner. 11 hours 24 minutes. TB 21088.
Hosseini, Khaled. And the mountains echoed. General fiction. TB 20608.
In 1952 a father and his two young children are travelling across Afghanistan towards work. Abdullah and his little sister Pari adore each other. Neither of them can know that this journey will be the beginning of heartbreak that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
2013. Read by Koullis Kyriacou and Christy Meyer. 13 hours 30 minutes. TB 20608.
Iggulden, Conn. The blood of gods. Historical fiction. TB 20977.
Emperor series; book 5. Rome's great hero Julius Caesar has been brutally murdered by his most trusted allies. Caesar's adopted son Octavian, a man whose name will echo through history as Augustus Caesar, unites with his great rival Mark Antony, to seek retribution from the traitors and avenge his father's death.
2013. Read by Stephen Thorne. 14 hours 27 minutes. TB 20977.
Ishiguro, Kazuo. When we were orphans. General fiction. TB 19986.
In 1930s England, Christopher Banks has become one of the country's most celebrated detectives. His cases are the talk of London society. Yet one mystery has always haunted him, the disappearance of his parents in Old Shanghai, when he was a boy.
2001. Read by Michael Maloney. 10 hours 8 minutes. TB 19986.
Jacobs, Anna. Heart of the town. Family story. TB 20748.
Preston sisters series; book 4. When Dora Preston impulsively stops some young louts from torturing a puppy a good-looking stranger rescues her. Although attracted to him, Dora's first desire is to find success on the music hall stage.
2007. Read by Anne Dover. 12 hours 28 minutes. TB 20718.
James, Peter. Dead man's grip. Crime fiction. TB 21034.
DS Roy Grace series; book 7. Carly Chase is traumatised after being involved in a fatal traffic accident which killed a teenage student from Brighton University. Then she receives news that the drivers of the other two vehicles involved have been found tortured and murdered.
2011. Read by Mark Elstob. 12 hours 37 minutes. TB 21034.
Joyce, Rachel. Perfect. General fiction. TB 20975.
In 1972, two seconds were added to time. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the Earth. Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right?
2013. Read by Lucy Tregear. 10 hours 6 minutes. TB 20975.
Kelly, Erin. The poison tree. Thriller. TB 20509.
It is the summer of 1997 and Karen is a strait-laced student. When she meets the impossibly glamorous Biba, a bohemian orphan who lives in a crumbling old mansion in Highgate with her enigmatic brother Rex, she is soon drawn into their world.
2011. Read by Alison Reid. 11 hours 49 minutes. TB 20509.
Kemp, Ross. Moving target. Thriller. TB 20513.
Nick Kane always stands by his friends. So when an old comrade is leaned on by gangsters, Nick's only too happy to help. But Nick quickly finds himself cast headlong into a spiral of violence that will take him all the way to Mexico.
2012. Read by James Parsons. 7 hours 56 minutes. TB 20513.
Kristian, Giles. The bleeding land. Historical fiction. TB 20979.
England, 1642, and the rift between King and Parliament has widened. Armies muster, ready to fight for their religious and political ideals. Nothing is so destructive as civil war, and for the Rivers family, the raising of the Royal Standard heralds a conflict that threatens to tear them apart. Contains strong language and violence.
2013. Read by Philip Bretherton. 14 hours 3 minutes. TB 20979.
La Plante, Lynda. Silent victims. Crime fiction. TB 20978.
Prime suspect series; book 3. As Vera Reynolds, drag queen, sways onstage, a 16-year-old rent boy lies in the older man's apartment, engulfed in flames. Jane Tennison has moved up the ranks. Now, on her first day as the head of the Vice Squad, this high-profile case threatens to destroy everything she has worked for.
2013. Read by Sherry Baines. 11 hours 22 minutes. TB 20978.
MacDonald, Sara. Come away with me. General fiction. TB 21038.
Jenny and Ruth were best friends at school until Ruth abruptly moved away from their Cornish village and they lost all contact. Fourteen years later, a chance meeting on a train sparks their old friendship back into life. But one glimpse of Ruth's son Adam sends Jenny into a spiral of love, grief and obsession. Adam is the image of Jenny's husband, Tom, killed suddenly and tragically six months earlier.
2007. Read by Alexandra Turchyn. 14 hours 3 minutes. TB 21038.
Mankell, Henning.. The troubled man. Crime fiction. TB 20752.
Kurt Wallander series; book 10. Every morning Hakan von Enke takes a walk in the forest near his apartment in Stockholm. However, one winters day he fails to come home. It seems that the retired naval officer has vanished without trace.
2011. Read by Sean Barratt. 15 hours 8 minutes. TB 20752.
Martin, George R R. A storm of swords. Fantasy. TB 20753.
A song of ice and fire; book 3. Winter approaches Westeros like an angry beast. The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud. In the northern wastes, a horde of hungry, savage people steeped in the dark magic of the wilderness is poised to invade the Kingdom of the North where Robb Stark wears his new-forged crown.
2012. Read by Roy Dotrice. 47 hours 10 minutes. TB 20753.
Mayhew, Margaret. The pathfinder. War story. TB 21001.
Berlin 1948: In the British sector was Squadron Leader Michael Harrison, a war hero who had helped to bomb Berlin into fragments. In the Russian sector was young Lili Leicht, German, trying to prevent her family from dying of malnutrition. But Michael and Lili slowly fall in love.
2013. Read by Gavin Crymble. 11 hours 4 minutes. TB 21001.
Moore, Margaret. Highland heiress. Mills and Boon romance. TB 21069.
No sooner does wealthy heiress Lady Moira MacMurdaugh breathe a sigh of relief for avoiding a disastrous marriage to a gambling womaniser than she is served with a lawsuit. Solicitor Gordon McHeath has no choice but to go up against the woman whose kiss he's never forgotten - until sinister forces threaten and Gordon must cast the law book aside!
2013. Read by Trish Mullin. 8 hours 10 minutes. TB 21069.
Mortimer, Carole. His reputation precedes him. Mills and Boon romance. TB 21084.
Markos Lyonedesis one of the most talked-about men in New York - and interior designer Eva Grey has heard all the stories. When Markos hires Eva to decorate his penthouse it's too lucrative an opportunity to turn down and one that shatters Eva's resolve to stay firmly out of Markos' bedroom!
2012. Read by Sally Burnett. 6 hours 10 minutes. TB 21084.
O'Flynn, Catherine. Mr Lynch's holiday. General fiction. TB 20936.
Eamonn Lynch stares at the letter announcing the imminent arrival of his father, Dermot and soon he'll discover that Eamonn lives in an unfinished building site and Laura's left him.
2013. Read by Brian Fenton. 7 hours 35 minutes. TB 20936.
Pearse, Lesley. Trust me. General fiction. TB 20933.
All her life, people have told little Dulcie Taylor they'll look after her. And every time, she and her sister May have been hurt - by their parents, their teacher, and the convent. Then the two girls are offered the chance of a fresh start in Australia.
2010. Read by Brigid Lohrey. 27 hours 59 minutes. TB 20933.
Phinn, Gervase. The little village school. Country life fiction. TB 20674.
Elisabeth Devine is something of a mystery. Why should a highly successful head teacher of an inner-city primary school move to a small rural school in the Yorkshire Dales to face so many challenges?
2012. Read by Gervase Phinn. 11 hours 51 minutes. TB 20674.
Pope, Dudley. Governor Ramage RN. Sea story. TB 21043.
Ramage series; book 4. Lieutenant Lord Ramage, expert seafarer and adventurer, undertakes to escort a convoy across the Caribbean. This seemingly routine task leads him into a series of dramatic and terrifying encounters.
2000. Read by Bob Rollett. 13 hours 35 minutes. TB 21043.
Quinn, Julia. An offer from a gentleman. Romance. TB 21041.
Bridgerton series; book 3. Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. So she never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball - or that "Prince Charming" would be waiting there for her!
2006. Read by Karen Cass. 11 hours 29 minutes. TB 21041.
Rankin, Ian. The falls. Crime fiction. TB 20803.
Inspector Rebus series; book 12. A student has gone missing in Edinburgh, the daughter of influential bankers. Inspector Rebus feels that this is more than another missing case. When a doll is found in a six-inch coffin in her village, along with an internet role-playing game, his fears prove well founded.
2001. Read by Jonathan Hackett. 20 hours 21 minutes. TB 20803.
Ryan, Chris. Rat catcher. Thriller. TB 21047.
Alpha Force; book 2. Alpha Force is an elite team of five highly-skilled individuals brought together to battle injustice. The team join a covert SAS operation in South America, fighting to catch an evil drugs baron. To gain information, they infiltrate a tight-knit community of street kids then head into the isolated mountains where a terrifying and twisted hunt is to test their individual skills to the max.
2002. Read by Ian Prosser. 6 hours 17 minutes. TB 21047.
Seymour, Gerald. The corporal's wife. Thriller. TB 20946.
A small British team are sent into Iran to smuggle out a feisty, independent young woman named Farideh. If they are caught, they will all be executed by the fundamentalist government - the Brits because they are effectively spies and Farideh because her husband is regarded as a traitor and she has a dangerous mind of her own.
2013. Read by Matt Addis, 15 hours 44 minutes. TB 20946.
Slaughter, Karin. Kisscut. Thriller. TB 20678.
In a small, southern U.S. town a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly gun battle. When the smoke clears the police chief and the medical examiner are blocked at every turn of their investigation by the families and children who close ranks.
2006. Read by Kelly Culpin. 11 hours 11 minutes. TB 20678.
Taylor, Andrew. The scent of death. Crime fiction. TB 20957.
Manhattan, 1778. A city of profiteers, loyalists and double agents. New York is home to a tide of refugees seeking justice from the British crown. Edward Savill is sent from London to investigate the claims of dispossessed loyalists. No sooner does he land than he becomes embroiled in a murder.
2013. Read by Peter Wickham. 14 hours 47 minutes. TB 20957.
Trollope, Joanna. A passionate man. General fiction. TB 20983.
The Logans were an enchanting and admirable couple. Archie had snatched Liza from her own engagement party to someone else, wooed her, swept her off Scotland, and finally married her. Now bedded firmly into country life, they await the arrival of Archie's father, the brilliant Sir Andrew Logan.
2008. Read by Madeleine Brolly. 8 hours 59 minutes. TB 20983.
Trumbo, Dalton. Johnny got his gun. War story. TB 20954.
Joe, a young American soldier in the Great War, lies helpless in hospital, so horrifically injured that he cannot communicate with the outside world. He wanders back and forth through memories, struggling to retain his sanity and find a foothold in the world all but lost to him.
1982. Read by Jeff Harding. 7 hours 9 minutes. TB 20954.
Walters, Minette. Disordered minds. Thriller. TB 20005.
In 1970, Harold Stamp, a retarded, reclusive 20-year-old was convicted of brutally murdering his grandmother. Jonathan Hughes, an anthropologist specialising in social stereotyping, is determined to re-examine the case.
2004. Read by James Wilby. 13 hours 6 minutes. TB 20005.
Weldon, Fay. Long live the king. Historical fiction. TB 20648.
Love and inheritance series; book 2. 1902. The Earl and Countess of Dilberne, their fortune restored by their son's marriage to a Chicago heiress, are caught up in Edward VII's coronation preparations. Meanwhile their 16-year-old niece, Adela, has joined a troupe of spiritualists.
2013. Read by Rula Lenska, 9 hours 41 minutes. TB 20648.
Winspear, Jacqueline. Birds of a feather. Crime fiction. TB 20687.
Maisie Dobbs; book 2. Called in to investigate the disappearance of a rich man's 18-year-old daughter, Maisie Dobbs senses tensions in the man's household, and discovers there are many reasons why the young woman might have left home.
2005. Read by Kim Hicks. 10 hours 23 minutes. TB 20687.
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