Canterbury Tales Guesthouse

[Daveo]

The Western Front by Richard Holmes.

 

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For most British people, the First World War was the Western Front, the trench line stretching from the Swiss Frontier to the North Sea.

It was there that the majority of nearly nine million British and Dominion soldiers who enlisted during the war served and where most of the 947,000 who were killed met their deaths.

 

This detailed but accessible account covers everything from how the front was created and the experiences of the British Army in France, to the battle of Verdun and the last hundred days of the war. Holmes' concise and heartfelt narrative is illustrated with photographs, diagrams, maps and quotations that bring this inhuman four years of history to life.

 

In one of the best single volume histories of the First World War available, Holmes skillfully clarifies the complexities of the Western Front and highlights the political, military and human dilemmas of this, the most bitter and bloody of conflicts.

Edited December 24, 2016 by Daveo

[Daveo]

On all books bought & returned to Canterbury Tales Bookshop Pattaya. Google maps Canterbury Tales Cafe Pattaya.

[Daveo]

In Recently;

[Daveo]

Twilight by Peter James.

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Three muffled thuds ring from the partially filled grave of the newly wed girl. Only the verger hears them and he dismisses the noise as his imagination. But over the next few days others also hear faint sounds.

 

 

 

Possession, by Peter James.

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Fabian's mother doesn't believe the police when they inform her that he died in a car crash. She keeps seeing him. Desperately she consults a medium who freezes into petrified silence because it's not her imagination. Fabian really wants to return.

[Daveo]

King Edward VIII by Philip Ziegler.

 

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The authorised life story of the king who gave up his throne for love, by one of our most distinguished biographers.

In this masterly authorized biography, Philip Ziegler reveals the complex personality of Edward VIII, the only British monarch to have voluntarily renounced the throne.

With unique access to the Royal Archives, Ziegler overturns many myths about Edward and tells his side of the story, from his glamorous existence as Prince of Wales to his long decline in semi-exile in France.

At the heart of the book is an unflinchingly honest examination of Edward's all consuming passion for Wallis Simpson, which led to his dramatic abdication.

Elegant and devastating, this is the most convincing portrait of Edward ever published.

 

[Daveo]

Essential Oxford English Dictionary.

 

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The ideal reference pocket companion for the office, Home or when traveling.

 

 

[Daveo]

Bangkok Babylon: The Real Life Exploits of Bangkok's Legendary Expatriates are often Stranger than Fiction

by Jerry Hopkins.

 

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In the colorful tradition of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, Jerry Hopkins recalls his first decade as a Bangkok expatriate by profiling 25 of the city's most unforgettable characters.

Among them are the man thought to be the model for Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, an advertising executive who photographs Thai bargirls for Playboy, an Oscar winning screenwriter who moved there to die, a Catholic priest who has lived and worked in the Bangkok slums for 35 years, a circus dwarf turned computer programmer turned restaurateur, three Vietnam war helicopter pilots who opened a Go Go bar, a pianist at one of the world's best hotels who ended up on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, a detective who tracks runaways who fake their deaths and a documentary filmmaker who lives with elephants.

All of them "escaped" to Thailand to reinvent themselves and live out their fantasies in one of the world's most notorious cities.

Edited December 27, 2016 by Daveo

[Daveo]

Child 44 (The Child 44 Trilogy) by Tom Rob Smith.

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Child 44

In a country ruled by fear, no one is innocent.

 

Stalin's Soviet Union is an official paradise, where citizens live free from crime and fear only one thing: the all powerful state.

Defending this system is idealistic security officer Leo Demidov, a war hero who believes in the iron fist of the law. But when a murderer starts to kill at will and Leo dares to investigate, the State's obedient servant finds himself demoted and exiled. Now, with only his wife at his side, Leo must fight to uncover shocking truths about a killer-and a country where "crime" doesn't exist.

 

The Secret Speech

Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent.

A secret speech composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.
Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. 
The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo's past career. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.
From the streets of Moscow in the throes of political upheaval, to the Siberian gulags, and to the center of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest, THE SECRET SPEECH is a breathtaking, epic novel that confirms Tom Rob Smith as one of the most exciting new authors writing today.

 

[Daveo]

Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma) (Travel Guide) NEW

 

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Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma) is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Admire Shwedagon Paya's sheer size and mystical aura, visit the water-bound temples on Inle Lake, or float over Bagan's temple tops in a hot-air balloon; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Myanmar (Burma) and begin your journey now!

 

Inside Lonely Planet's Myanmar (Burma) Travel Guide:

 

Colour maps and images throughout

Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including customs, religion, history, art, literature, cinema, music, architecture, politics, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine

Over 60 maps

Covers Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Kayin State, Thazi, Kalaw, Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, Shwebo, Mrauk U, Myitkyina, Central Myanmar, Northern Myanmar, Eastern Myanmar, Southern Myanmar, Western Myanmar and more

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma), our most comprehensive guide to Myanmar (Burma), is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled.

 

Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring guide.

 

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

 

[Daveo]

Welcome to the Bangkok Slaughterhouse: The Battle for Human Dignity in Bangkok's Bleakest Slums

by Joe Maier & Jerry Hopkins.

 

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For twenty-five years, Father Joe Maier, a Catholic priest, has lived & worked in Bangkok's bleakest slums, establishing over thirty schools, five shelters for street kids, and several projects for women and children with AIDS.

Working with and against authority, earning enmity and praise in equal measure, in this book, he tells the heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of the poorest of Thailand's poor, each a gem guaranteed to bring anger, tears, and joy.

 

[Daveo]

The Seventh Well by Fred Wander by Fred Wander.

 

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He grew up on the street, a high school dropout.

In 1938 he left his mother and sister behind in Vienna and fled on foot to France, where later he was put on a train to Auschwitz. Transported from camp to camp, Fred Wander was haunted for twenty-five years by the crystalline, episodic stories that chronicle the plight of his fellow inmates.

Only after the tragic death of his little daughter did these voices pour forth.

The result was this novel, published in East Germany in 1970. Finally it appears in English in this masterful translation, it's haunting cadences evoking Levi and Celan, its backstory as heartrending as Suite Française.

Wander demonstrates that the survival of a single man is a collaborative enterprise.

The Seventh Well, named after the well of truth, recalls Dante's Inferno with its mesmerizing descent into evil. Its existence is a miracle.

 

[Daveo]

Even Thai Girls Cry by J.F. Gump.

 

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Tippawan Bongkot is a young Thai woman on the run.

Life as she knew it, ended the night she caught her fiancé with his lover.

Her world collapsed the day she lost her job, desperate to find work, Tippawan escapes to the resort city of Pattaya hoping that things will change and her bad luck will end.

When she meets the farang, a foreigner named Mike, her world does change, but in ways she could have never imagined.

Her search for happiness is a haunting adventure not easily forgotten, walk with Tippawan as she journeys through one year of her incredible life.

Discover the love, hate, and intrigue beneath the tranquil surface of everyday Thailand.

 

[Daveo]

THE STREET 2 by Lachlan McCulloch,

 

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"As a student, Lachlan McCulloch made a good cop.

His teachers couldn't wait to show him the door . . . then he discovered The Street.

He became one of the most acclaimed undercover police operatives in Australia.

In 'The Street 2', McCulloch continues his insider's account of the dark side of life."

 

[Daveo]

I Am Ozzy, by Ozzy Osbourne.

 

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John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is the lead vocalist of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, a multi-platinum, award winning successful solo artist and the star of the reality show, The Osbournes.

Considered by many to be the "Godfather of Heavy Metal," Ozzy has enjoyed a career that has now spanned four decades.

 

[Daveo]

Vanished by Carlton Smith.

 

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BRUCE AND JANA KOKLICH SEEMED TO HAVE IT ALL-

On a summer night in August 2001, Jana Carpenter Koklich, daughter of former California State Senator Paul Carpenter, came home from an Eric Clapton concert, went inside her house and was never seen again.

But even before her blood-laden SUV was found abandoned, in a high crime areas ramshackle garage, suspicion had fallen on her husband, Bruce.

 

A LUCRATIVE CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE BUSINESS, A LUXURIOUS HOME, A SOLID MARRIAGE, AND A FUTURE THAT SEEMED LIMITLESS...

Bruce's learning for a big financial score, his risky business deals, and evidence that he was later trying to press his own teenage niece into a sordid affair, all signalled a dire warning.

So, too, did his million dollar insurance policy on Jana's life.

 

UNTIL IT ALL

From the start Bruce maintained his innocence. But the circumstances of Jana's disappearance would result in two stunning trials that would eventually reveal deadly Secrets of greed, sex and murder.

And even after the verdict, the Secrets would continue..

 

[Daveo]

Addicted by Tony Adams.

 

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Adams writes what it's like playing with the best players in the game, from Gazza to Dennis Bergkamp and working with some of the most successful managers, including George Graham, Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle and Arsene Wenger.

But above all, his story is that of a winner, a man who has brought the intense determination he has shown on the field to his recovery from illnesses off it.

 

[Daveo]

Frank Lucas, Original Gangster.

 

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I love gangsters.

Not your Bloods and Cripps, your Killer Bees and Mongrel Mob's…your classic, stereotyped gangster.

 

From Prohibition which brought us Capone and mobsters sporting comically dangerous aliases such as Jimmy Blue Eyes, Joe Bananas and Vinnie the Butcher the mobster has been portrayed as a loveable rogue merely providing a much needed service to the public, complete with violent killings and Italian accents.

 

Move on from this era and we hit the sixties and seventies where a lot of the ‘rules’ of being a gangster remained, but the landscaped changed, and the key currency on the street moved from booze to heroin, and the master of this domain was a 6 foot tall New York negro from the south named Frank Lucas.

 

Lucas didn’t need a fancy name, and for the greater part of his million-dollar a day earnings he didn’t need it.

He was well known to everyone on the street, was friends with big names such as Sammy Davis and Joe Louis, but until a weak moment during the Ali / Frazier fight in NYC, he was completely unknown to enforcement officers in the FBI, DEA and such.

 

This book is a fascinating look into one America’s most prolific drug importers.

From his youth and the Ku Klux Klan, to stealing off the streets, and working for the then undisputed king of the Big Apple, Lucas lays his life on the table for all while setting the record straight, dispelling many rumors and misrepresented facts (e.g. importing heroin within the bodies of Vietnam servicemen being returned Stateside) to his involvement in bringing down corrupt cops.

 

The book is violent at times, subtle and humorous as well.

But at no time are you left wondering what this guy wanted to achieve, and achieve he did.

How he wasn’t killed is anyone’s guess, and that in itself is a testament to the guy.

 

As a fan of the movie genre I am looking forward to watching ‘American Gangster’ with Denzel Washington, and as this clip shows, fiction, and Hollywood as well, has a way of pulling the wool over your eyes as the book does not recount this incident (and wasn’t his MO as a rule)…but no doubt a must see if taken with a grain of salt. The book spells it out better.

 

[Daveo]

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

 

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This brilliant novel with universal resonance tells the story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist who plays undaunted in their midst.

 

One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills twenty two people as the cellist watches from a window in his flat.

He vows to sit in the hollow where the mortar fell and play Albinoni’s Adagio once a day for each of the twenty-two victims.

The Adagio had been re-created from a fragment after the only extant score was firebombed in the Dresden Music Library, but the fact that it had been rebuilt by a different composer into something new and worthwhile gives the cellist hope.

 

Meanwhile, Kenan steels himself for his weekly walk through the dangerous streets to collect water for his family on the other side of town, and Dragan, a man Kenan doesn’t know, tries to make his way towards the source of the free meal he knows is waiting.

Both men are almost paralyzed with fear, uncertain when the next shot will land on the bridges or streets they must cross, unwilling to talk to their old friends of what life was once like before divisions were unleashed on their city.

Then there is “Arrow,” the pseudonymous name of a gifted female sniper, who is asked to protect the cellist from a hidden shooter who is out to kill him as he plays his memorial to the victims.

 

In this beautiful and unforgettable novel, Steven Galloway has taken an extraordinary, imaginative leap to create a story that speaks powerfully to the dignity and generosity of the human spirit under extraordinary duress.

 

[Daveo]

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[Daveo]

Women by Charles Bukowski.

 

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The Charles Bukowski novel Women is considered by many to be one of his best.

The women Charles Bukowski writes about are the familiar prototype in the rest of his work, at least for the most part.

Many of them can keep up with Bukowski in the drinking department and can certainly hold their own in the argument department.

It’s an inside look in what it was like to date the man, for better and worse.

Bukowski alter ego Henry Chinaski is experiencing the first taste of literary fame, as he’s begun to get his work published and, rather begrudgingly, begins giving public poetry readings.

While he does not like to give readings, it pays the bills, keeping him from having to return to the factories whence he came.

It also affords him a new found opportunity to meet lit groupies.

Chinaski’s experiences with these women drive the plot of Women. Most notably it outlines his relationship with his longtime on again off again girlfriend Linda King (called Lydia Vance in the book), as well as Bukowski’s relationship with Linda Lee Beighle (called Sara in the novel), whom he’d later marry.

Linda Bukowski and Charles Bukowski remained married until his death in 1994.

Women is Bukowski’s third novel, published in 1978.

It was preceded by Post Office and Factotum, and was followed by Ham On Rye, Hollywood and Pulp.

 

 

[Daveo]

Some of My Best Friends are Blues by Ronnie Scott.

 

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Ronnie Scott tells here of his life as a musician and bandleader and as the founder, with his partner Peter King, of the great jazz club which bears his name.

Ronnie said of running their world famous venue, 'It's made a happy man very old.'

The book provides a humorous and shrewd behind the scenes account of the headaches and hysteria of running a club in the heart of London's Soho and coping with the capricious temperaments of some of the world's most celebrated artists.

Some of My Best Friends Are Blues includes contributions by Benny Green and Spike Milligan, with cartoons by Mel Calman.

This edition features a foreword by the late Pete King.

Ronnie Scott died in 1996 but the Club survives as a testament to their vision and determination.

 

[Daveo]

Making of an Englishman by Eric Whelpton.

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[Daveo]

Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present

by Peter Hessler.

 

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From the acclaimed author of River Town comes a rare portrait, both intimate and epic, of twenty first century China as it opens its doors to the outside world.

 

A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth.

That sense of time the contrast between past and present, and the rhythms that emerge in a vast, ever-evolving country is brilliantly illuminated by Peter Hessler in Oracle Bones, a book that explores the human side of China's transformation.

 

Hessler tells the story of modern day China and its growing links to the Western world as seen through the lives of a handful of ordinary people.

In addition to the author, an American writer living in Beijing, the narrative follows Polat, a member of a forgotten ethnic minority, who moves to the United States in search of freedom; William Jefferson Foster, who grew up in an illiterate family and becomes a teacher; Emily, a migrant factory worker in a city without a past and Chen Mengjia, a scholar of oracle bone inscriptions, the earliest known writing in East Asia and a man whose tragic story has been lost since the Cultural Revolution.

All are migrants, migrants, or wanderers who find themselves far from home, their lives dramatically changed by historical forces they are struggling to understand.

 

Peter Hessler excavates the past and puts a remarkable human face on the history he uncovers.

In a narrative that gracefully moves between the ancient and the present, the East and the West, Hessler captures the soul of a country that is undergoing a momentous change before our eyes.

 

[Daveo]

Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization. by Jeff Rubin.

 

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An internationally renowned energy expert has written a book essential for every American a galvanizing account of how the rising price and diminishing availability of oil are going to radically change our lives.

Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller is a powerful and provocative book that explores what the new global economy will look like and what it will mean for all of us.

 

In a compelling and accessible style, Jeff Rubin reveals that despite the recent recessionary dip, oil prices will skyrocket again once the economy recovers.

The fact is, worldwide oil reserves are disappearing for good. Consequently, the amount of food and other goods we get from abroad will be curtailed; long-distance driving will become a luxury and international travel rare.

Globalization as we know it will reverse.

The near future will be a time that, in its physical limits, may resemble the distant past.

 

But Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller is a hopeful work about how we can benefit personally, politically, and economically from this new reality.

American industries such as steel and agriculture, for instance, will be revitalized.

As well, Rubin prescribes priorities for President Obama and other leaders, from imposing carbon tariffs that will increase competition and productivity, to investing in mass transit instead of car clogged highways, to forging “green” alliances between labor and management that will be good for both business and the air we breathe.

 

Most passionately, Rubin recommends ways every citizen can secure this better life for himself, actions that will end our enslavement to chain store taste and strengthen our communities and timeless human values.

 

[Daveo]

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

 

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The perennially bestselling, extraordinary, one of a kind, “nothing short of spectacular” memoir from one of the world’s most gifted storytellers soon to be a major motion picture starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts.

 

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant.

When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly.

But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive.

Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family.

 

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves.

They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York.

Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

 

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.