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Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure (BBC Radio Collection)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Joyce Grenfell

March 16, 1989
She was such a genius. This tape shows why she cannot be impersonated. This is timeless humour that had me crying with laughter as I recognised so may of the situations she put me in and then confronted me with someone from my life in a diffrent guise. Great

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My Family and Other Animals

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Gerald Durrell

October 02, 2000
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Virago Collection)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Maya Angelou

1992-01
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Audio Editions)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Alfred Lansing

February 29, 2000
Endurance is, to say the least, one of the most harrowing stories that I have ever read, not least because it's true. Pointless me using adjectives here to describe this book as they have all, I'm sure, been used before. If you get the book, you'll find it all there, fascination, awe inspiring, triumph, emotion, gripping, suspense, compelling... A powerful and fascinating tale of the bravery and determination of Shackleton and his men to survive agianst all the odds and live to tell the tale.

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Dear Me

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Peter Ustinov

September 10, 2001
What a fascinating character!

One of those books that I was reluctant to finish as the last page drew nearer.

Prior to reading this book I only knew Peter Ustinov as the delightful character Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie films. But I learned that he had a very long career in the theatre and that his talents seemed to include almost all areas in it.

His background alone makes for interesting reading. He is the child of Russian immigrants who settled in England but his (very talented) ancestors came from far and wide and included countries such as Ethiopia and Israel.

Parts of the book is written in the style of a soul searching dialogue between Peter Ustinov and himself, hence the title. He makes ... Read More:

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Head Over Heels in the Dales

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Gervase Phinn

April 01, 2002
I came across this book by chance. Having grown up & been educated in the Yorkshire Dales, I am attracted to stories about this region. However it isn't necessary to have lived there to appreciate this book. It's not necessary either to have read the first two novels, I hadn't and it didn’t spoil anything, although having read this one I'd like to read the others now. Nor is it necessary to have an interest in schooling or education in general : it’s makes for a funny and touching read and I’m sure it would appeal to all ages/all readers. Phinn writes about his real life experiences as a school inspector in the Yorkshire Dales with candour and warmth and the reader can picture him trying to suppress a smile as he faces the children ... Read More:

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Moab Is My Washpot: Unabridged [8 tapes]: Unabridged

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Stephen Fry

November 05, 2007
Stephen Fry`s autobiography is astonishingly frank, very funny and tremendously touching by turns - his life of crime is treated with a frankness which seeks no sympathy and the torments of adolescense leave no stone unturned. Throughout we feel that Stephen is talking to us as the sort of erudite yet unselfconscious companion one would love to spend time with of an evening in a firelit country pub. I hope it won`t be too much longer before the sequel comes out!

Mick Drake author of the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute

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A Short Walk from Harrods (Penguin Audiobooks)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Dirk Bogarde

March 21, 1994
Sir Dirk Bogarde was as good a writer as he was an actor (later period anyway). This book is no exception: it is beautifully, sensitively written, conveying all the pain, heartache and everyday irritation of growing old, having close friends die . . . But in this volume of his autobiography, as in the other four, Bogarde is fundamentally dishonest about himself and about his relationships, in particular with Anthony Forwood, his lover for 30 years. After Sir Dirk's death, his family admitted that they had known for decades that he was homosexual, but Bogarde could never face the prospect of it being known publicly. So, in his books there is much obfuscation and disembling, always "my manager", never anything more. It provokes in me a reaction of both disappointment ... Read More:

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Cleared for Take-off (Penguin Audiobooks)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Dirk Bogarde

September 29, 1999
Sir Dirk Bogarde was as good a writer as he was an actor (later period anyway). This book is no exception: it is beautifully, sensitively written, conveying all the pain, heartache and everyday irritation of growing old, having close friends die . . . But in this volume of his autobiography, as in the other four, Bogarde is fundamentally dishonest about himself and about his relationships, in particular with Anthony Forwood, his lover for 30 years. After Sir Dirk's death, his family admitted that they had known for decades that he was homosexual, but Bogarde could never face the prospect of it being known publicly. So, in his books there is much obfuscation and disembling, always "my manager", never anything more. It provokes in me a reaction of both disappointment ... Read More:

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The Downing Street Years

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Margaret Thatcher

August 21, 1995
This book is one of the most interesting political autobiographies I have read (and I've read many of them). I must confess that interest was intensified due to the fact that I worked in the House of Commons during her tenure in office, and indeed worked during the 1987 General Election for two Conservative Members of Parliament (David Amess of Basildon and David Evennett of Erith & Crayford--yes, I know, you've likely never heard of either of them).

This is actually the first volume of Margaret Thatcher's books to be published; the prequel is 'The Path to Power' and there is a follow-up, 'The Collected Speeches', but for those interested, 'The Downing Street Years' is the book to have.

It begins with the 1979 General Election, and carries forward ... Read More: