This is probably the best of Lynn Doyle's slim books - certainly the funniest. (The other contender would be "Ballygullion" (his first book) - not as funny, but pithier). Unfortunately all of Doyle's books appear to be out of print and hard to find, but well worth the hunt.

I was born and raised in Co. Down, and apparently my mother bought me "Ballygullion" in 1967. The two Doyle books that I still own - and I wish I knew what happened to the others - are this one, published by Blackstaff Press in Belfast in 1979, and "Ballygullion" published by Duckworth, London 1967 (originally published by Maunsel & Roberts, Dublin, 1908).

Lynn Doyle was the pen-name of Leslie A. Montgomery (1873-1961), born in Co. Down, now in Northern Ireland, who in his day job was a bank manager. The Ballygullion series of books are set in a fictional village called, uh, Ballygullion. He wrote "Ballygullion" in 1908, but most of his books were published after the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Doyle himself was never clear as to which side of the border Ballygullion was located. Irish politics/religion don't play much of a role in his books, although he doesn't shy away from any subject in service of a good story or a laugh.

The Ballygullion series are written as a first-person narrative style (the narrator being local storyteller / village character Pat Murphy), with most of the dialog in phonetic dialect. This means it takes a dozen or two pages to get into the swing of reading it. My American wife got the hang of it easily, although there are some words that elude her, (and some that elude me also!). She loves the books as much as I do.

Wee Mr. Anthony was the subject of a couple of the stories in "Ballygullion", and it seems he became popular enough to rate a book of his own. He was a solicitor (laywer, basically) who was utterly inept and blindly over-confident at everything he did - an Irish Barney Fife. He especially enjoyed hunting, and usually employed Pat Murphy as his guide or gillie - no-one else would go near an armed and desperately short-sighted Mr. Anthony.

Buy some of these books if you can find them - they are timeless, beautifully written and hilarious portraits of Irish village life. And, if you are a publisher, buy the rights and re-publish them!

This is a fantastic book! If you liked Paperbag Princess, you will love this book. The story is very well developed and is a positive book. (Especially for young girls!) This is a role reversal story about a princess who decides to create her own man (since she wasn't happy with any of the men she knew) and has to save him after he has been kidnapped by an evil queen! I give this book a definite 5 stars!

This is a fine vintage children's story. Marie Hall Ets was a wonderful, imaginative illustrator as well as a fine writer. This story of a dog, a cat, a mouse, and how they saved their home - and their shoemaker - from his bossy sister is a delight for both children and their parents (and grandparents!). I wish it would be re-printed; but in lieu of that, I recommend that you grab it whenever you run across it second-hand!

I usually do not like to read books, but have to for school. I had picked this book to read for my report and was not disapointed at all. This is one of the only books that I have ever liked. It is a great story about the Black Market in Russia and curuption. The main character is a security guard at a hotel called The Red October and during work one night some bad things happen there and he finds himself in the middle of something that he can't get out of. I suggest it for anyone who liked the movies: Playing God, or American Beauty this book gave me a lot of the same feelings that those movies did.

Although Edith Meiser was the most prolific author of Holmes radio pastiches, the team of Dennis Green and Anthony Boucher was the best. This collection contains two excellent stories from the pens of Green and Boucher. In "Murder in the Cashbah", Holmes and Watson travel to Africa to ferret out a man falsely accused of murder. "The Tankerville Club" is based upon a case which Conan Doyle briefly mentions in one of the "Conanical" stories. Holmes saves a young man's reputation by exposing a cardshark.

This is the most thorough examination of Braxton's music and the various contexts from which it emerges. It is the only book to date that very successfully explores the mystical side of Braxton, and Heffley does so with clarity, integrity, and genuine respect for Braxton. Because of its ambitious nature, this book is probably not the best place to begin when studying Braxton. But its ambitous nature has also created a book that matches the ambition of its subject matter, i.e., Braxton himself. This is essential reading for Braxtonians.

TO THE AUTHOR, THESE ACCOUNTS ARE SO MOVING BUT QUITE INCREDIBLE. ARE THERE ANY INDEPENDENT VERIFICATIONS OF THESE MUSTANG SUICIDE STORIES?

Wonderful bedtime story for parents to read to their preschoolers.
Great way to introduce God and how He is part of everything in our
lives. Wonderful illustrations with great attention to details. Find
the bunny on every page!!

My 3 year-old loved this book. We read it to her just before starting preschool. She sat intently while I read the book to her. It acurately displays the conflicting feelings young children have when going to school. The excitement of playing with other children and doing new things and the fear of leaving mommy or daddy. It helped my daughter adjust to preschool. She still has me read it to her even though she has been in school for a few months.

The true story of a 17 year old boy captured by the Japanese in Indonesia He survived a horrendous death rate and beat the odds against starvation and brutallity.This book is an inspiration to all. Definitely a must read.