A charming, heart-warming story about three nuns who play the lottery to save their failing convent. It's a story of friendship, community, faith and love.

The 1990s are proving tough for the convent. The order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena is down to its three last nuns. The place that Sisters Margaret, Bridget and Cecilia call home is in dire need of repairs and, with no savings and no new recruits, they are facing the prospect of having to sell up and leave behind the friends and neighbours in the parish community that they love.

That is, until ninety-year-old Cecilia decides to play the newly launched National Lottery and a series of small miracles begins to unfold.

Small Miracles takes the reader on a joyful and uplifting journey as these three unforgettable nuns learn more about life, love and friendship than they could ever have imagined.

The new heartwarming Christmas adventure with the Sisters of Saint Philomena, about friendship, family and forgiveness, for fans of AJ Pearce, Katie Fforde and Call the Midwife.

Everyone loves Sister Bridget. The cheerful Mother Superior of St Philomena's convent is friend to many in the town of Fairbridge and the irrepressible caller at the weekly Parish Bingo. There is nothing she can't sort out with a kind word, a cup of tea and a slice of her amazing chocolate cake.

But is everything as rosy as she thinks? As the Christmas tree goes up and festive cheer rises, a visitor arrives at the convent who doesn't like Sister Bridget one bit.

Sister Bridget learns that secrets are bubbling to the surface back home in Ireland - especially for her younger sister Mary. She will need to face up to past deeds, however well-intended. With the help of her friends, and the power of love and forgiveness, maybe she can finally make things right.

With warmth and grace, Sweet Mercies reminds us that none of us is perfect, and everybody deserves another chance at finding peace and happiness.

'Charming, witty and warm, Small Miracles is a gentle gem of a novel, a cheery balm in troubling times.' AJ Pearce, bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird In the summer of 1995, three nuns play the lottery to save their failing convent and set off on an adventure to Italy in search of a miracle. A joyful, heart-warming story of friendship, community, faith and love. The 1990s are proving tough for the convent. The order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena is down to its three last nuns. The place that Sisters Margaret, Bridget and Cecilia call home is in dire need of repairs and, with no savings and no new recruits, they are facing the prospect of having to sell up and leave behind the friends and neighbours in the parish community that they love. That is, until ninety-year-old Cecilia decides to play the newly launched National Lottery and a series of small miracles begins to unfold... Small Miracles takes the reader on a joyful and uplifting journey as these three unforgettable nuns learn more about life, love and friendship than they could ever have imagined. ***Sweet Mercies, the new Christmas adventure with the Sisters of Saint Philomena, is available for pre-order now!***

Spring has sprung, and little Rabbit is excited to play with his friend Bear! There's just one problem: Bear doesn't want to come out of hibernation. There's too much of everything outside! With the help of friends Rabbit, Squirrel and Fox, Bear becomes excited to enter the outside world once again! Everything is more bearable with good friends who let us take our time.

When Jessie's gran gets a white Alsatian puppy, it's the start of a downward spiral of strange and worrying behaviour. But life at home is only half the problem - at school Jessie's class is studying the rise to power of the Nazi party and soon Jessie starts seeing alarming parallels between modern life in her sleepy village and that of 1930s Germany. With one eye on the past and one on her ailing gran, Jessie starts to see a connection - something long-buried, troubling and somehow connected to another girld, and another white dog.

I want a friend,' said Arthur, 'I want a friend right now. I want to make one RIGHT AWAY But I am not sure how.' Join Arthur at nursery school in his determined search for a friend - could he dig a hole to trap one, or catch one in a net? His ideas don't seem to be going to plan, but then Lily appears and he is soon having lots of fun and playtime adventures! Bouncy rhymes and hilarious illustrations make this first experiences tale about friendship an enchanting read!

Even saints need second chances... The new heartwarming Christmas adventure with the Sisters of Saint Philomena, about friendship, family and forgiveness, for fans of AJ Pearce, Katie Fforde and Call the Midwife. Everyone loves Sister Bridget. The cheerful Mother Superior of St Philomena's convent is friend to many in the town of Fairbridge and the irrepressible caller at the weekly Parish Bingo. There is nothing she can't sort out with a kind word, a cup of tea and a slice of her amazing chocolate cake. But is everything as rosy as she thinks? As the Christmas tree goes up and festive cheer rises, a visitor arrives at the convent who doesn't like Sister Bridget one bit. Good intentions don't always go to plan. Sister Bridget learns that secrets are bubbling to the surface back home in Ireland - especially for her younger sister Mary. She will need to face up to past deeds, however well-intended. With the help of her friends, and the power of love and forgiveness, maybe she can finally make things right. With warmth and grace, Sweet Mercies reminds us that none of us is perfect, and everybody deserves another chance at finding peace and happiness. Praise for Anne Booth's previous novel Small Miracles: 'Charming, witty and warm, Small Miracles is a gentle gem of a novel, a cheery balm in troubling times.' AJ Pearce, bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird 'With gentle humour, and surprising twists and turns, this is just the book we need in these difficult times. I didn't want it to end' Katie Fforde 'This book felt like a hug' ***** Reader Review

Featured in The Guardian as one of the best picture books, and in The Sunday Times as children's book of the week. There was once a beautiful flower and a little girl who loved it. She talked to it every morning on her way to school. The owner of the flower shouted at her. The next day, the flower did not open. The angry man didn't understand. He tried watering it. He tried giving it shade and he tried talking to it. He told it how wonderful he was, how important his job was and how lonely he felt. But it still refused to open. So, he asked the little girl. "Why don't you tell it how wonderful it is and how much you love it?" she said. As he did so, his own heart filled with love. And the flower bloomed.

The validation and radiation sterilization process for biomaterials and medical devices requires careful planning to ensure regulatory compliance followed by precise accuracy in execution and documentation. This in-depth guide details all steps from prevalidation planning to final report and ongoing monitoring and control. Sterilization Validation & Routine Operation Handbook: Radiation provides a framework for the validation and routine operation of an irradiation sterilization process. The guidance presented complies with ANSI/AAMI/ISO 11137: 1994, Sterilization of health care product-Requirements for validation and routine control-Radiation sterilization and the newly published AAMI substantiation of 25 kGy using VDmax procedure. The author discusses methods to aid in comprehending the requirements in these standards. She also provides practical procedures for the validation and routine monitoring and control of specific gamma and electron beam radiation sterilization processes.

The Christmas story and what follows: the fleeing of Jesus, Mary and Joseph from Herod's soldiers to Egypt. This is a book with timeless crossover appeal and a message that couldn't be more relevant.

The validation and radiation sterilization process for biomaterials and medical devices requires careful planning to ensure regulatory compliance followed by precise accuracy in execution and documentation. This in-depth guide details all steps from prevalidation planning to final report and ongoing monitoring and control. Sterilization Validation & Routine Operation Handbook: Radiation provides a framework for the validation and routine operation of an irradiation sterilization process. The guidance presented complies with ANSI/AAMI/ISO 11137: 1994, Sterilization of health care product-Requirements for validation and routine control-Radiation sterilization and the newly published AAMI substantiation of 25 kGy using VDmax procedure. The author discusses methods to aid in comprehending the requirements in these standards. She also provides practical procedures for the validation and routine monitoring and control of specific gamma and electron beam radiation sterilization processes. Background chapters provide needed information on radiation sterilization technologies, sterilization microbiology, validation approaches and working with a radiation sterilization contractor. Much of the information in this new book is presented in convenient tables and charts, with diagrams and other schematics that simply illustrate appropriate validation methodologies. Sterilization Validation & Routine Operation Handbook: Radiation brings together in one resource information scattered throughout many documents and will be useful to all those involved in the sterilization of medical materials, drugs and devices.

Includes an invaluable chart listing all published and in-process ISO and CEN documents with interpretive guidance Discusses the validation of various processes, including radiation, moist heat, ETO, and parametric release Addresses plasma, UV, E-beam, Pure Pulse, and other technologies Explores packaging considerations This book presents vital information on international sterilization standards and guidance on practical application of these standards in the manufacturing process. It covers validation, industrial sterilization methods, emerging sterilization techniques, laboratory testing, manufacturing of sterile devices, and device reuse. Excerpted from The Validator, edited by Anne F. Booth, more than fifty experts share their knowledge of current technologies in easy-to-understand articles that establish methods to ensure compliance. Contents include reviews of ISO sterilization standards, industrial sterilization methods and technologies, and support testing methodologies.

This book examines the evolution of fiscal capacity in the context of colonial state formation and the changing world order between 1850 and 1960. Until the early nineteenth century, European colonial control over Asia and Africa was largely confined to coastal and island settlements, which functioned as little more than trading posts. The officials running these settlements had neither the resources nor the need to develop new fiscal instruments. With the expansion of imperialism, the costs of maintaining colonies rose. Home governments, reluctant to place the financial burden of imperial expansion on metropolitan taxpayers, pressed colonial governments to become fiscally self-supporting. A team of leading historians provides a comparative overview of how colonial states set up their administrative systems and how these regimes involved local people and elites. They shed new light on the political economy of colonial state formation and the institutional legacies they left behind at independence.

Jenny is a shy angel who doesn't like lots of noise and rushing about. When the other angels ask her to go with them to see the newborn baby king, she decides to stay behind. In the quiet night she learns about love and nature, and that being shy doesn't matter because silent moments are special too.

'Charming, witty and warm, Small Miracles is a gentle gem of a novel, a cheery balm in troubling times,' AJ Pearce, bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird Small Miracles takes the reader on an uplifting journey as three unforgettable nuns learn more about life, love and friendship than they could ever have imagined. The perfect read for Christmas. The 1990s are proving tough for the convent. The order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena is down to its three last nuns. The place that Sisters Margaret, Bridget and Cecilia call home is in dire need of repairs and, with no savings and no new recruits, they are facing the prospect of having to sell up and leave behind the friends and neighbours in the parish community that they love. That is, until ninety-year-old Cecilia decides to play the newly launched National Lottery and a series of small miracles begins to unfold... Three nuns play the lottery to save their failing convent, resulting in a story of friendship, community, faith and love, for fans of Call the Midwife. READERS LOVE SMALL MIRACLES: 'A charming, quirky and comforting read.' ***** 'It was such a relief in stressful times to read a book where all the characters were lovely and it was a pure joy to curl up with this.' ***** 'Truly heart-warming and highly recommended' *****

I want a friend,' said Arthur, 'I want a friend right now. I want to make one RIGHT AWAY But I am not sure how.' Join Arthur at nursery school in his determined search for a friend - could he dig a hole to trap one, or catch one in a net? His ideas don't seem to be going to plan, but then Lily appears and he is soon having lots of fun and playtime adventures! Bouncy rhymes and hilarious illustrations make this first experiences tale about friendship an enchanting read!

From bestselling and award-winning illustrator, Ros Beardshaw, this heartwarming picture book about kindness and friendship proves that being a true fairy isn't all about being pretty in pink By Waterstones Prize shortlisted author, Anne Booth, and illustrated by Ros Beardshaw, winner of the 2019 Sainsbury's Children's Book of the Year Award. Poor Betty! She's always getting into messy muddles. She can't paint a rainbow or scatter dewdrops and her pirouettes are, well, pretty precarious. You see, with so many animals to rescue and friends to help, there's just no time for Betty to practise all the things a fairy should. But when it comes to the Fairy Ball, Betty's friends return her gifts of kindness and it becomes clear who is actually the fairiest fairy of them all. With a delightful, rhythmical rhyming text and an adorable cast of animals and fairy toddlers, this is a perfect bedtime story for any little fairy. Every Nosy Crow paperback picture book comes with a free 'Stories Aloud' audio recording - just scan the QR code and listen along!

A lyrical, heart-warming message of love from someone far away When Big Bear and Little Bear have to say goodbye, Big Bear tells Little Bear about all the ways she'll send a hug from afar: I can change my hug into bird song early in the morning, or into the sea so I can wave at you when you are on the beach. Join Little Bear on his adventure to discover all the many different ways to feel a hug from a loved one, even when apart. A soothing and uplifting story for every child who is missing someone.

Living Standards in Southeast Asia: Changes over the Long Twentieth Century, 1900-2015 examines changes in living standards across the ten countries of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) from the early years of the 20th century to the early 21st century. It covers both the last decades of the colonial period, the transition to independence and the decades from 1960 to the 2010s. The study uses a range of monetary and non-monetary indicators to assess how living standards have changed over time. It examines the outcomes in the context of debates about economic growth, inequality and poverty alleviation which began in the 1960s and 1970s, and continue to the present.

Indonesia is often viewed as a country with substantial natural resources which has achieved solid economic growth since the 1960s, but which still faces serious economic challenges. In 2010, its per capita GDP was only nineteen per cent of that of the Netherlands, and twenty-two per cent of that of Japan. In recent decades, per capita GDP has fallen behind that of neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, and behind China. In this accessible but thorough new study, Anne Booth explains the long-term factors which have influenced Indonesian economic performance, taking into account the Dutch colonial legacy and the reaction to it after the transfer of power in 1949. The first part of the book offers a chronological study of economic development from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, while the second part explores topics including the persistence of economic nationalism and the ongoing tensions between Indonesia's diverse regions.