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Talking BooksLight Reads 4 – These books are a selection of shorter reads and books that do not require as much concentration to follow the story. Including country life and romance.The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or email helpline@.uk.You can search our online catalogue and add titles directly to your wish list by visiting . You can log onto your account in the My Library section with your customer number and pin number. These can be obtained from Helpline. For any further help in selecting books please contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 5333 or email libraryinfo@.uk Adult fictionBeaton, M C. Death of a gossip. 1985. Crime fiction. TB 18637.Hamish Macbeth book 1. When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joins the local fishing class she wastes no time in ruffling the feathers of those around her. Among the victims of her sharp tongue is constable Hamish Macbeth. Then her strangled body is fished out of the river. Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla, Hamish must steer a course through the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find a murderer. Read by Stephanie Beattie. 4 hours 37 minutes. TB 18637.Binchy, Maeve. This year it will be different. 2008. Short stories. TB 19482.Binchy evokes power shifts in families, unwelcome discoveries, conspiracies, affairs, forgiveness, sorrow and the rebirth of optimism with her usual warmth and sympathy. Read by Caroline Lennon. 7 hours 23 minutes. TB 19482.Binchy, Maeve. Victoria line: Central line. Short stories. 1993. TB 20819.Millions of people travel on London's tube every day, yet we usually only give our fellow passengers a cursory glance. Maeve Binchy infuses the nameless people with stories to provide a cross-section of London life.Read by Charlotte Strevens. 10 hours 44 minutes. TB 20819.Boyd, Hilary. Thursdays in the park. 2012. General fiction. TB 20209.Jeanie has been a loving wife for over thirty years, but every Thursday, Jeanie takes her granddaughter to the park, and there she meets Ray, who performs the same weekly duty for his grandson. Ray seems to be everything George isn't - a listener, easy to talk to, open-minded and sexy. Read by Louise Jameson. 8 hours 50 minutes. TB 20209.Brown, Alexandra. Cupcakes at Carrington's. 2013. Chick lit. TB 20353.Georgie Hart had it all. As a top shopper in London, she was living the dream. Now she runs the bag concession at Carrington’s department store in the seaside town of Mulberry Bay, but how will she cope with Maxine, or the dishy James for that matter. Read by Anne-Marie Piazza. 9 hours 59 minutes. TB 20353.Crews, Caitlin. His for a price. 2014. Mills and Boon romance. TB21513.Greek tycoon Nicodemus Stathis has never been able to forget beautiful heiress Mattie Whitaker. Ten years of delicious tension later, Mattie’s once powerful family dynasty lies in ruins and only Nic can offer a solution - if Mattie marries him. Even so Mattie refuses but Nic's starts a slow, deliberate seduction.Read by Regina Reagan. 5 hours 48 minutes. TB21513.Fforde, Katie. The perfect match. 2014. Romance. TB 21462.Three years ago Bella Castle left her home town nursing a broken heart over Dominic Thane, the man she fell in love with but couldn't have. Now she's made a new life for herself in the country, working as an estate agent. Bella loves her job and she loves her boyfriend Nevil - although recently he's been preoccupied. Read by Jilly Bond. 8 hours 56 minutes. TB 21462.Henry, Veronica. A night on the Orient Express. 2013. Romance. TB 20730.A journey on the Orient Express can be more than the trip of a lifetime. For one group of passengers there awaits revelations, confessions and assignations, all unfolding against the most romantic and infamous setting in the world.Read by Olivia Mace. 10 hours 41 minutes. TB 20730.Houston, Eve. Secrets in Prior's Ford. General fiction. 2008. TB17478.Priors Ford book 1. There is consternation among the villagers of pretty Scottish borders town, Priors Ford, when a firm is interested in re-opening an old sandstone quarry. It'll be disruptive, noisy and dusty, despite bringing in some new jobs. Publican Glen organises a protest group. Read by Kim Hicks. 9 hours 33 minutes. TB17478.Ironside, Virginia. No! I don't need reading glasses. 2013. General fiction. TB 20285.Marie may be 'getting on a bit' but it's certainly not getting her down. She has got her darling grandson, is working less hours and has Archie to share her bed. Life's good. But nothing stays the same for long. A roller-coaster of a year beckons - a year that contains love and death, laughter and tears. Read by Anna Harwich. 10 hours 46 minutes. TB 20285.Miss Read. Village school. 1955. Country life fiction. TB1748.Fairacre book 1. The first of the Fairacre Chronicles: stories of life in an English village which has changed little over the centuries.Read by June Tobin. 7 hours 15 minutes. TB1748.Moggach, Deborah. Heartbreak Hotel. 2013. General fiction. TB 20671.Russell 'Buffy' Buffery erstwhile thespian and thrice-married B and B owner has hit on an idea: run residential courses for divorcees to learn how to do what your partner did before. Join Buffy and his raggle-taggle group of singletons and divorcees as they seek solace and late-flowering love. Read by Penelope Freeman. 10 hours 6 minutes. TB 20671.Pilcher, Rosamunde. Sleeping tiger. 1990. Romance. TB 19962.Searching for a father she has never known, Selina Bruce leaves her fiancé in London and flies to a tiny island off Spain. Here she meets the mysterious George Dyer who holds the key not only to her past, but also her heart. Read by Lucy Scott. 5 hours 22 minutes. TB 19962.Rhodes, Pam. Fisher of men. 2013. Religious fiction. TB 20578. The Dunbridge chronicles; book 1. The Revd Neil Fisher arrives in St Stephen's Dunbridge to take up his first curacy under the formidable Revd Margaret Prowse. Shy, gauche, earnest, kind and determined, he learns the ropes as he meets the many colourful characters who form the congregation. Read by Kate Hambly. 6 hours 55 minutes. TB 20578.Sayers, Dorothy L. Whose body? 2010. Classic crime. TB22086.Lord Peter Wimsey; book 1. Wimsey's mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, rings her son with news of 'such a quaint thing'. She has heard through a friend that Mr Thipps, a respectable Battersea architect, found a dead man in his bath – wearing nothing but a gold prince-nez. Lord Wimsey makes his way straight over to Mr Thipps, and a good look at the body raises a number of interesting questionsRead by Roger D Watson. 6 hours 15 minutes. TB22086.Shaw, Rebecca. The new rector. Country life fiction. 1996. TB15490.Turnham Malpas book 1. The new rector of Turnham Malpas is young and very handsome. As he encounters his flock, he discovers there is more to village life than he anticipated. The local publicans are having trouble with their wayward daughter, whilst the village store is trying to bring a touch of Harrods to the area. Read by Jilly Bond. 7 hours 44 minutes. TB15490.Steel, Danielle. One day at a time. 2010. Romance. TB 20130.Coco is the black sheep of the Hollywood family. Her sister Jane is a top producer living with life partner, Liz; their mother is a best-selling author, having an affair with a much younger man. When Coco agrees to house-sit for Jane she encounters a houseguest - a British actor trying to escape his psycho ex-girlfriend. Read by Laurel Lefkow. 9 hours 29 minutes. TB 20130.Tessaro, Kathleen. The debutante. 2011. Romance. TB 19254.Cate, an exile from New York, is sent to help value the contents of a once-grand house on the south-west coast of England. Cataloguing its contents, she uncovers details of two of the most famous debutantes of their generation. Read by Laurel Lefkow. 9 hours 41 minutes. TB 19254.Willett, Marcia. The summer house. 2011. Family story. TB 20682.In the small inlaid wooden box, Matt's mother had kept all his childhood memories. Amongst them are many photos of Matt as a child, growing up. But something about the photos has always puzzled Matt. Was that really him?Read by June Barrie. 8 hours 21minutes. TB 20682.Wodehouse, P G. Summer moonshine. 1956. Humourous fiction. TB 17631. Poor Sir Buckstone Abbott! Not only does he own Walsingford Hall one of the least attractive stately homes in the country, but he has to take in paying guests. So when it seems a rich (if not very nice) continental princess might buy it, he's overjoyed. His daughter Jane comes up trumps in the company of the playwright Joe - but not before engagements are broken and fortunes lost and made. Read by Jonathan Cecil. 7 hours 47 minutes. TB 17631.Adult Non-fictionAnimals and natureAllen-King, Jill. Jill's leading ladies: the story of Jill's six guide dogs. 2012. TB 19698.Following close on the heels of Jill Allen-King's autobiography, 'Just Jill', this is a tribute to her trusted four-legged friends, who have given her companionship, instilled her with confidence, and guided her safely in both her personal life and in her important voluntary work throughout the UK. Read by Annie Aldington. 3 hours 28 minutes. TB 19698.Bowen, James. A street cat named Bob. 2012. TB 19905.The moving, uplifting true story of an unlikely friendship between a man on the streets and the ginger cat who adopts him and helps him heal his life.Read by Nick Gylaw. 6 hours. TB 19905.Hick, Gillian. Vet among the pigeons. 2010. TB 21142. With a mixed base animal practice in Wicklow, Gillian also travels regularly to inner city Dublin to work in the Bluecross animal welfare clinic. From six foot snakes to snuffling hedgehogs, Gillian encounters it all, along with the help of her ever-expanding young family.Read by Grainne Gillis. 6 hours 19 minutes. TB 21142.O'Connor, Denis. Paw tracks at Owl Cottage. 2012. TB 21434.When Denis O'Connor and his wife Catherine return to Owl Cottage, only to find it in a dilapidated state, they decide to restore his former home. But the memory of Denis's beloved cat, Toby Jug, still lingers on. On impulse, he buys four Maine Coon kittens and names them Pablo, Carlos, Luis and Max.Read by Gordon Griffin. 6 hours 52 minutes.Autobiography and biographyBalding, Clare. My animals and other family. 2012. TB 20438.Clare Balding's father was a champion trainer and so she grew up with more than 100 thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies, as well as an ever-present pack of boxers and lurchers. She describes how she learned some of life's toughest lessons through the animals. Read by Clare Balding. 9 hours 6 minutes. TB 20438.Collins, Joan. The world according to Joan. 2011. TB 19861.Joan shares her life experiences with humour and wisdom. From manners to men via fashion and family, to ageing and marriage, she takes on subjects close to every woman's heart. Read by Joanna Mackie. 6 hours 51 minutes. TB 19861.Frisby, Terence. Kisses on a postcard: a tale of wartime childhood. 2010. TB 19200.A compelling and uplifting memoir of two young evacuees growing up in the countryside during the Second World War. Read by Terence Frisby. 5 hours 33 minutes. TB 19200.Hoey, Brian. Not in front of the corgis: secrets of life behind the royal curtains. 2012. TB21809.The Windsors are England’s most famous family, but what are they really like when they re out of the public gaze? Nobody knows a Royal quite like a Royal servant, intimately acquainted as they are with every quirk, foible and eccentricity. A unique and fascinating collection of all the secrets you ever wanted to know about the Royal Family.Read by Geoffrey Drew. 5 hours 53 minutes.Humble, Kate. Humble by nature: life, lambs and a dog called Badger. 2013. TB 21152.In 2010, Television presenter Kate Humble persuaded the Wye Valley council to let her and her husband take on a nearby farm as a working farm rather than be broken up into lots. Even though they hadn't the first clue of how to run a farm. Read by Kate Humble. 8 hours 9 minutes. TB 21152.Leonard, Rosemary. Doctor, doctor: incredible true tales from a GP's surgery. 2013. TB 20379.In 'Doctor, Doctor', Dr Rosemary writes with warmth, humour and honesty as she recalls the stories of 20 of her most memorable patients from her 25 years working as a GP in south London. Read by Charlotte Strevens. 7 hours 37 minutes. TB 20379.Moffat, Jackie. The funny farm: the laughter and tears of one woman's farm in Cumbria. 2004. Read by Lucy Tregear. 7 hours 3 minutes. TB 19621.In 1982, Jackie Moffat and her family moved from London and went North, to Cumbria. In this work she writes about her rural life, her wacky take on it and the trials, tribulations and pleasures of running a farm. Read by Lucy Tregear. 7 hours 3 minutes. TB 19621.Phinn, Gervase. Out of the woods but not over the hill. 2011. TB 19339.Looking back over more than sixty years of family life, teaching, inspecting schools, writing and public speaking, Gervase never fails to unearth humour, character, warmth and wisdom from the most diverse of experiences. Brimming with nostalgia, gently mocking life's absurdities, never shy of an opinion, this is Gervase Phinn at his wittiest, twinkly-eyed best. Read by Gervase Phinn. 8 hours 55 minutes. TB 19339.Prentis, Evelyn. A nurse and mother: my life as a post-war nurse. 2012. TB21764.At the end of the Second World War, as husbands came back to Civvy Street, their wives had the luxury of staying at home with the children. For a short while at least. Soon Evelyn realised she had to find work to make ends meet, and to her astonishment she was offered part-time hours at her old hospital.Read by Anna Harwich. 7 hours 46 minutes. TB21764.Rothschild, Hannah. The Baroness: the search for Nica, the rebellious Rothschild. 2013. TB 20328.A Rothschild by birth and a baroness by marriage, Pannonica, known as Nica, seemed to have it all - children, a handsome husband and a trust fund. But in the early 1950s she heard a piece by the jazz legend Thelonious Monk and abandoned her marriage to go and find him. Read by Hannah Rothschild, 9 hours 16 minutes. TB 20328.Sheffield, Jack. Teacher, teacher! 2007. TB 18290. A funny, heart-warming and semi-autobiographical story in the tradition of James Herriot about a year in the life of a Yorkshire primary school in the late 1970s. Read by Bob Rollett. 9 hours 2 minutes. TB 18290.Weaver, Pam. Bath times and nursery rhymes. 2013.TB 20765.In 1961, 16-year-old Pam Weaver began her training as a nursery nurse. She recounts the highs and lows of her career in both state nurseries and as a Hyde Park private nanny with engaging and uplifting honesty. Read by Melissa Berry. 9 hours 52 minutes. TB 20765.Country lifeFleming, Kathleen. Thirty-five acres, a spade and a fork. 2013. TB 21334.Kathleen Fleming, a Londoner by birth, married an Irish orphan, Sean brought up by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity in Stillorgan, Dublin. When he was fourteen, Sean was taken under the wing of the monk in charge of the dairy at St Joseph's monastery in Tipperary and the seeds were sown for Sean's dream to have his own farm. The Flemings struggled to start farming in the fifties with no capital to realise this dream. Read by Maggie Mash. 3 hours 51 minutes. TB 21334.HistoryCarnarvon, Fiona Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey: the lost legacy of Highclere Castle. 2011. TB 19863.Lady Fiona Carnarvon, chatelaine of Highclere Castle, the setting for the hit TV show 'Downton Abbey', discovers a fascinating history of the place and the people who lived there. Read by Kate Hambly. 7 hours 41 minutes. TB 19863.Feeney, Paul. A 1950s childhood: from tin baths to bread and dripping. 2009. TB 20711.From waking up to ice on the inside of the windows, washing in a tin bath by the fire and spoonfuls of cod-liver oil, home life was very different to today. This delightful compendium of memories will appeal to all who grew up in this post-war decade, whether in town or country, wealth or poverty.Read by Richard Derrington. 5 hours 42 minutes. TB 20711.PoetryPoetry for the winter season. 2006. TB 19551.This is a collection that covers a range of classics by Shakespeare, Keats, Clare, Blake and others, as well as modern poems by such as Roger McGough. Read by various narrators. 2 hours 18 minutes. TB 19551. Ayres, Pam. With these hands: a collection of work. 1997. TB13619.Read by Diana Bishop, Joan Walker and Anthony Ofoegbu. 2 hours 35 minutes. TB13619.Dennis, Felix. Tales from the woods. 2010. TB 18179.Here are 50 evocative poems, celebrating trees and their part in our landscape, written by the biggest private planter of broadleaf trees in Britain. Imbued with a deep love of the countryside, a warm, lyrical touch, and an often wry commentary to each poem. Read by Felix Dennis. 1 hour 33 minutes. TB 18179.ReligionMother Teresa. In the heart of the world: thoughts, stories, and prayers. 2010. TB 19763.'In the Heart of the World' is a powerful portrait of one of the most beloved women of all time, told in her own words through a fascinating blend of daily life experiences, prayers, and spiritual wisdom. Read by Helen Bourne. 1 hour 24 minutes. TB 19763.Mr Punch Radio DramatisationsAll read by multiple narratorsAll About Eve. 1998. 48 minutes. TB 12099. A Hollywood Playhouse production. Starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter. The self effacing and ambitious actress Eve Harrington cleverly manipulates her way into the life of ageing Broadway star Margo Channing (Bette Davis) in this venomous depiction of show business life that has become one of Hollywood's all time masterpieces. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12099.Brief Encounter. 1999. 29 minutes. TB 12102. A Hollywood Playhouse recording. Starring Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson and Ronald Coleman. Brief Encounter is the classic romantic masterpiece telling the desperate story of an illicit love affair between the housewife Laura Jesson and the charming doctor, Alec Harvey and their regular meetings in a cafe every Thursday afternoon. TB 12102.Casablanca. 1999. 26 minutes. TB 12016. A Hollywood Playhouse recording. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Peter Lorre. Casablanca, perhaps the most watched film of all Hollywood movies tells the story of Rick Blaine and his former lover Ilse Lund and features the classic song "As time goes by". This Oscar winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12016.Mrs Miniver. 2002. 50 minutes. TB 12675.Starring Greer Garson. 'Mrs Miniver' tells the story of a middle-class British housewife and her family as they experience the first few months of World War II. Her son courts the upper crust daughter of Lady Beldon, her husband rescues soldiers from Dunkirk and Mrs Miniver herself not only captures a German parachutist but also has a rose named after her entered into a local competition. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12675.National Velvet. 1997. 51 minutes. TB 12125. A Hollywood Playhouse production. Starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney. Velvet Brown, the English farm girl with a passion for horses, wins the spirited steed Pie in the local town lottery. With the help of young Mi Taylor they train the horse and win the Grand National. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12125.Rebecca. 1998. 52 minutes. TB 12026. A Hollywood Playhouse recording. Starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Whilst holidaying in Monte Carlo, Maxim de Winter falls in love with a shy lady's companion. They get married and return to his beloved Manderley in Cornwall, where his new wife now meets the mysterious Mrs Danvers and finds that Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, is not forgotten. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12026.Sunset Boulevard. 1997. 48 minutes. TB 12110. A Hollywood Playhouse recording. Starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Norma Desmond, the flamboyant silent movie star makes a pitiful attempt to stage a comeback to the silver screen through her friendship with the luckless Hollywood scriptwriter, Joe Gillis, in this classic portrait of Hollywood life. This 'Oscar' winning film has been specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12110.The African Queen. 1997. 48 minutes. TB 12116. A Hollywood Playhouse production. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Greer Garson. Set in 1915 on the treacherous river of war torn Africa. Charlie Allnut the gin drinking river trader reluctantly agrees to help the prim missionary Rose Sayer, to travel down river and destroy a German gun boat. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12116.The Maltese Falcon. 1999. 30 minutes. TB 12027. A Hollywood Playhouse recording. The Maltese Falcon stars Humphrey Bogart as the private detective Sam Spade who is entrusted with the safe-keeping of the much-coveted black falcon statuette, in this classic tale of greed and illusion. These 'Oscar' winning films were specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12027.The Phantom of the Opera. 2002. 50 minutes. TB 12668.Starring Basil Rathbone and Nelson Eddy. Claudin loses his job and with his face disfigured with acid hides away from public gaze. Soon mysterious crimes begin to plague the Paris Opera house, but no one can find the legendary 'Phantom' that is thought to lurk amongst the maze of catacombs. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12668.The Scarlet Pimpernel. 1999. 43 minutes. TB 12105. A Hollywood Playhouse production. Starring Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland. First broadcast in 1938, the Scarlet Pimpernel stars Leslie Howard in one of his most famous film roles as the foppish English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney, who assumes a secret identity to free members of the French aristocracy from the guillotine, with Olivia de Havilland as Sir Percy's estranged wife Lady Marguerite. This 'Oscar' winning film, was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12105.To Have And Have Not. 2002. 50 minutes. TB 12663.Starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Set in the Second World War, on the island of Martinique, Harry Morgan runs a charter boat available for hire - but business is bad and he gets involved with the Nazis and reluctantly agrees to help the French Resistance whilst wooing the beautiful singer 'Slim'. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12663.Wizard of Oz. 2002. 54 minutes. TB 12679.Starring Judy Garland. Dorothy and her much loved dog Toto are carried away by a tornado from their home in Kansas to the magical land of Oz. As she journeys along the yellow brick road to meet the great wizard, she is accompanied by a Scarecrow who needs a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart and cowardly lion who hopes to find some courage. This 'Oscar' winning film was specially adapted for the radio and performed in front of a live studio audience by many of the original film stars. TB 12679. ................
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