Reading - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie



Adult/High School-This beautifully presented novella tracks the lives of two teens, childhood friends who have been sent to a small Chinese village for "re-education" during Mao's Cultural Revolution. Sons of doctors and dentists, their days are now spent muscling buckets of excrement up the mountainside and mining coal. But the boys-Luo and the unnamed narrator-receive a bit of a reprieve when the villagers discover their talents as storytellers; they are sent on monthly treks to town, tasked with watching a movie and relating it in detail on their return. It is here that they encounter the little seamstress of the title, whom Luo falls for instantly. When, through a series of comic and clever tricks and favors, the boys acquire a suitcase full of forbidden Western literature, Luo decides to "re-educate" the ignorant girl whom he hopes will become his intellectual match. That a bit of Balzac can have an aphrodisiac effect is a happy bonus. Ultimately, the book is a simple, lovely telling of a classic boy-meets-girl scenario with a folktale's smart, surprising bite at the finish.

Reading - My Favourite Wife

My Favourite Wife by Tony Parsons



Into the booming, gold rust city of Shanghai fly Bill and Becca Holden with their small daughter Holly - a young family seeking their fortune far from their north London home.

When tragedy forces Becca to return to London with Holly, the friendship between a lonely family man, working night and day, and a neglected second wife grows into something more - something that threatens to destroy all their lives. And when Becca and Holly come back, it is time for all of them to learn something about the meaning of love and the bonds of family.

Reading - All Night Long

All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz




Some people have bad memories of their childhood hometowns; Irene Stenson has nightmares. As a teenager, Irene came home late one summer night after being out with her friend Pamela Webb, and discovered that both of her parents had been killed. Irene refused to believe that her father murdered her mother and then committed suicide, and soon afterward left Dunsley. Seventeen years later, Irene, now a journalist, is still haunted by the events of that fateful night, but a cryptic note from Pamela induces her to return home. But before Irene has a chance to meet with her, Pamela dies. When the police rule Pamela's death a suicide, Irene knows intuitively that there is more to the story. With the initially unwanted but soon very much welcomed help of sexy Luke Danner, an ex-marine and the owner of the lodge where Irene is staying, Irene begins her own unofficial investigation into Pamela's death only to discover that someone in Dunsley is keeping secrets that could prove to be deadly.

Nickel D-ring

Now is available at my ETSY ship

Lobster Swivel Clasp

This lobster swivel clasp can be used for bag, wristlet, lanyard and key chain ......

They are now supplying in my ETSY shop in silver plated and antique brass colour.