Showing results by author "Alexander McCall Smith" in All Categories

Beloved and bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith lends his delightful touch to EMMA, the next book in The Austen Project.Prepare to meet a young woman who thinks she knows everything.Fresh from university, Emma Woodhouse triumphantly arrives home in Norfolk ready to embark on adult life with a splash.

Isabel's niece Cat is still worshipped by the young musician, Jamie, but Cat has a new and unsuitable love-interest. Meanwhile Isabel's Texan cousins have arrived in Edinburgh and are provoking a quite separate set of dilemmas. In between these events and complications, Edinburgh life continues, calmly sailed through by Isabel, her housekeeper, Grace, and, of course, that cautious resident of Isabel's garden, brother Fox. His alone is the uncomplicated existence.

It is said that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but an old photograph can inspire many more. In this beguiling book, Alexander McCall Smith casts his eye over five chanced-upon photographs from the era of black-and-white photography and imagines the stories behind them. Who were those people, what were their stories, why were they smiling, what made them sad? What emerges are surprising and poignant tales of love and friendship in a variety of settings.

Precious has been lucky enough to go and visit her Aunt Bee at a safari camp. At the camp there is great excitement as a film crew are there filming a movie with a tame lion called Teddy. Teddy the lion goes missing, however, and of course Precious soon finds herself helping the adults in trying to find him again.

Conradin Muller was an unusual spy. He was recruited in Hamburg in June 1943, much against his will, and sent on his first, and only, mission in late September that year. He failed to send a single report back to Germany, and when the War came to an end in May 1945, he fell to his knees and wept with relief.

When Akimbo is offered the chance to help tag baby crocodiles, he is very excited. John the Crocodile Man wants to keep an eye on the latest batch of crocodiles, and Akimbo is keen to learn more about the dangerous creatures. Then John is attacked by an angry croc, and Akimbo has to use all his courage to save him!

Max and Maddy are on the trail of a criminal who'll stop at nothing to sabotage Mr Helium's trans-American hot air balloon race. The prize is a gold balloon worth one million and one dollars, and all the money raised by the race is to go towards the Home for Children Whose Parents Have Disappeared in Balloons - so there's a lot at stake! Will the detectives be able to blow the dastardly villain's plot sky high?

In the words of Alexander McCall Smith: "You feel the rocking of the train, you hear the sound of its wheels on the rails; you are in the world rather than suspended somewhere above it. And sometimes there are conversations to be had, which is what the overarching story in this collection is all about. It is a simple device: people brought together entertain one another with tales of what happened to them on trains. It takes place on a journey I frequently make myself and know well, the journey between Edinburgh and London. It is best read on a train, preferably that one."

When their circus moves into a new town they soon make friends with a young boy named Tom. But Tom can't enjoy the circus because his granny has disappeared, and he's worried he'll never see her again. With the help of their astonishing circus skills can the Shortbread circus stars crack the clues and find Tom's granny?

There’s a hungry lion stealing cattle, and Akimbo’s father has to catch it! But when he sets out to deal with the marauding lion, things do not turn out as planned, as instead he traps a cub! The cub won’t survive for long without its mother. Can Akimbo help save it?

When Max finds an old car that has his last name - Champion - on the bonnet, he learns that his grandfather used to make some of the best cars around...and race them! That was until his ideas book and his favourite car, Arabella, were stolen by greedy rival Mr Grabber. Can Max find a way to get back what Grandfather Gus lost? And will Arabella ever be seen again?

Akimbo lives with his family on a game reserve in Kenya. When Akimbo sees what poachers do to the elephants on his game reserve, he is determined to stop them. There’s only one way to do it, and that’s to become an elephant hunter himself! But it’s going to take strength and courage and will involve facing danger. Can he stop the poachers and save the elephants?

One of McCall Smith's particular talents is his ability to portray archetypes without resorting to stereotype or cliche. We immediately recognise the Edinburgh chartered surveyor, stalwart of the Conservative Association, who dreams of membership of Scotland's most exclusive golf club. We have the pushy Stockbridge mother, and her prodigiously talented 5-year-old son, who is making good progress with the saxophone and with his Italian.

Noah can't believe it when he finds out his uncle owns a zoo! But the zoo is closing down, and there are animals who need homes. Before he knows it, Noah and his family are setting sail on a round-the-world trip returning the zoo animals to the places they were born. But when they try to return one very cheeky monkey, they're in for a whole boat-load of trouble!

The inhabitants of the Popcorn Islands lead a peaceful and comfortable existence - that is until pirates attack Captain Foster's ship on its way to America and steal half the popcorn harvest. So Lucy, Hermione and Sam offer to accompany the captain and his dog, Biscuit, on the next trip to keep a lookout for danger. But danger is exactly what they run into! Now the pirates aren't just after more popcorn...they want new recruits, too!

Alexander McCall Smith is a storyteller par excellence and the master of the serial novel form. Not content with the runaway success of the 44 Scotland Street novels he has established a second series, Corduroy Mansions, of which The Dog Who Came in from the Cold is the second volume. McCall Smith treats his characters as old friends, dropping in for a chat with them and to see what they’re up to.

Mma Ramotswe reads the foreword she has written to these tales, then goes on to narrate them all herself, passing them on to us verbally as did her father's aunt to her. From animal fables to mysterious forces residing in the landscape, this collection demonstrates the wealth and variety of African folk tales and the particular magic of Africa's spiritual roots.

Charles Dickens was a literary giant, second only to Shakespeare in the ranks of England's greatest writers. This extensive biographical collection looks at the man, his novels and his legacy to provide an all-round portrait of the much-loved author.

Thank you for the music....It's 1939, and the war in Europe casts a long, all-encompassing shadow. In a sleepy town in Suffolk, the generous and determined widow, La, forms an amateur orchestra to entertain the locals and soothe her own broken heart. She recruits Felix, a refugee from Poland, to play the flute, and a touching friendship emerges. When the war is over and the orchestra disbands, La is left pondering her next move. What role can she play in her community now the war is over?

In this course, we will discuss the moral aspects of human reproduction. We will discuss various influences on reproduction as well as the scientific advances in reproductive technology. At the end of this course we will not have arrived at answers to the various questions raised, but instead will have provided a base for us to consider the issues at hand and a desire to pursue more study in the important aspects of creating humans.