My daughter (14) enjoyed all 4 of these books. They were a good story but thought that she would have enjoyed  the first and second book more when she was a little younger (perhaps for 12 years and up). The books do get better as they go along.

Not recommended for those that do not like magic/socerery etc. She also writes about the changes in Allana’s body as she gets older.

Pierce has written another set of books the first one is  Protector of the Small: 1: First Test. This set is about of another girl and her quest to become a knight but  the law has been changed as a result of Allana being knighted so she does not have to masquerade as a boy.

Here is a link for the books at the Auckland Libraries (just select your region along the top to request the books).

This is the audio version for listening on your ipod or in the car. If you find it hard to find the time to read then audio books are great, it makes time in the car so much more productive and enjoyable.

If not the best one volume introduction to economics it certainly is the most enduring. Not just for Mums and Dads. Get your teenagers to listen to this as well. It is well written with everyday examples making it easy to understand. This book is not written like a textbook, ( thank goodness for that!).

You will find  some discussion of the book on Mises (they are reprinting the book). You can read the whole book online. You can hear a sample to see if you are happy with the reader here

Judith Martin who writes under the pen name  Miss Manners writes a fabulous column in the Washington Post. Her books written to the “Gentle Reader” are  so helpful, humorous and very practical.

For example on unwanted visitors

“What if nobody invited them? They just announced they were coming, or they actually showed up on the doorstep.

Then someone let down their guard, probably out of the goodness of not wanting to seem rude. There is a polite way to bar entry. One offers profuse apologies and regrets (Oh, what  a shame you’ll be here then- ordinarily, we’d love to have you here, but that’s a bad time for us”) but no specific excuses that can be countered with such blithe reassurances as ” Oh, don’t worry about that- we’ll just entertain ourselves”.

I wish I had know that years ago; that there is nothing rude about refusing entry. One instant in particular comes to mind, I had 3 children under 3, the youngest only a few weeks old and waking at least once in the middle of the night, dear husband was out. All the children were  just settled and I was very much looking forward to an early night and at 8:30pm someone knocked on the door and wanted to talk. I felt obliged to invite her in. Since I have got older I just decided that the children came first and needed a rested mother and so I would now have turned the person away but it is nice now to know how to do that with good manners.

Don’t worry, Miss Manners does encourage us to practice hospitality and gives wonderful guidelines to make it an enjoyable event for all.

I am looking forward to reading  her guide on raising children.

Auckland Library carries two of her books.