Often hidden on the back roads and byways of the Granite State, country stores are an essential and beloved part of the state's character. Developed from trading posts as travelers settled throughout the state, they are recognizable for their vast array of merchandise and a fragrant blend of tobacco, spices and coffee. The country store became the center of the community, where residents could play checkers, mail letters, attend town meetings and...

Dr. Garrett Gibson, England's only female physician, and Ethan Ransom, a former Scotland Yard detective with mysterious loyalties, share a one-night stand before becoming embroiled in a dangerous mission that is complicated by their growing feelings for one another.

This final segment of the Diary depicts the ceremony known as the "ox of ilbaa," from which Miisia emerges, acknowledged as a man.

The Prophet's Village examines the problem of maintaining enough cattle to supply milk and meat versus selling off cattle to raise money for maize, antibiotics and pesticides; cash is also needed to pay for legal fees for Rerenko, the Laibon's son.

Young men are ritually prohibited from eating grain. Several of them steal one of the Laibon's goats and then must make reparations.

London: The Biograph is the pinnacle of Peter Ackroyd's brilliant obsession with the eponymous city. In this unusual and engaging work, Ackroyd brings the listener through time into the city whose institutions and idiosyncrasies have permeated much of his works of fiction and nonfiction. Peter Ackroyd sees London as a living, breathing organism, with its own laws of growth and change. Reveling in the city's riches as well as its raucousness, the...

On a reluctant visit home, an icy reception from her Scottish family sends Meg Campbell fleeing for the train station, determined to spend the holidays alone, but after pouring her heart out to a fellow traveler, she finds the courage to return home.

Describes the traditions and customs that are part of the celebration of Christmas in Finland as well as presenting crafts, recipes, and songs.

Describes the celebration of Christmas in Scotland, both in the past and in the present, and includes crafts, carols, and recipes.

Li-Xia, the daughter of a young concubine to an old silk farmer in rural China, escapes her destiny of becoming a concubine by outwitting her father's orders to bind her feet and running away with an English sea captain, and takes her first steps towards fulfilling her mother's dream of becoming a scholar.