Books

Between Two Wars is a book that is hard to put down.

Arthur, civil servant and recreational detective, comes to work one fine morning to find their new recruit Frank unexpectedly absent. When he remains missing for the next few days, Arthur, no longer able to withstand the concern and suspense, sets out on a search for the young chap. But in order to find out what has happened to Frank, he must first find out who Frank is. Crafted with the right dose of mystery, suspense and adventure, Mahasara Gunaratne's Between Two Wars is a book that is hard to put down.

Uncle Arthur the lovable amateur detective does it again!

Uncle Arthur the lovable amateur detective does it again! Arthur driving through wild country is caught in a torrential downpour and is forced to take a detour. His host for the night is a man who is straddled with a deep personal dilemma, an imposter, who traps Arthur into an unsuspecting diabolica plot; betrayal of a childhood companion. Who exactly was Malcom, whose strange pronouncement predicting his own demise on a precise date draws Arthur deeper into a web of intrigue and deception? The setting is colonial Ceylon, 1945, just at the conclusion of hostilities. The lovable Arthur stumbles along, in relentless pursuit of the improbably and unravels, the intricate plot strand by strand, the end reached by an amazing coincidence.

Here, ... is Uncle Arthur – quite a king of his own making, who, with dogged determination, binds together the threads of a story that carries all the suspense, adventure and mystery that the author has so devotedly pieced together – The Nation

Prof Mahasara Gunaratne, though a distinguished medicine man, writes in beautiful English and is extremely fond of mystery in a colonial history setup, as evidenced from his writing in two books. Like Sir Coonan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Gunaratne has created a character named Arthur in his series of mystery fiction. I enjoyed his two books which took me back to my enjoyment of such fiction as a teenager – K S Sivakumaran

Shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize in 2005; Long listed for the Dublin Impac Prize in 2010

Do you remember when you first fell in love? Do you remember the unrestrained joys and plummeting sorrows of adolescence? Do you remember the confrontation that each new day brought? Enter Kala's life. This sensitive novel about first love and heart break is a complex bitter sweet coming of age story that looks at the modern urban Sri Lankan youth in a new and fresh way. Shehani Gomes navigates us through the perilous and uncharted waters of the young adult, in her exceptionally perceptive debut novel that takes an honest look at a young woman's challenges and triumphs in life.

'If all this outpouring of her creativity found form in a first novel, one hopes for more writing in print from Shehani' – Lakmali Gunwardana

'The book is honest and alive, and its voice, Gomes's voice, is as confident as any young female writer I have read recently...Learning to Fly is more than brave in its formal experimentation. But its strange and, sometimes, difficult structure is not simply an exercise in avant-garde literary practice, but a form that allows the content, the messiness of the protagonist's struggle, to become themselves amidst death and conflict and discrimination, to mirror the novel's setting's own troubled journey towards selfhood' – Vincent Poturica

'Definitely not your average adolescent love story. Shehani Gomes' debut novel- Learning to Fly, having been nominated for the Gratiaen Award of 2005, takes a look into the darker, less explored aspect of adolescence and first love...Shehani's unique writing style complements the way in which characters have been brought to life...She not only grips the reader but makes the reader think, analyze, re-read and analyze again, making her debut novel a very stimulating read- one which brings us to hope for more from her in the very near future' – Tahnee Hopman

Winner of the Gratiaen Prize in 2010

Mythil thinks he is in for a boring time at Archchi's big old house but then things begin to happen. Who lives in the deep jungle and are they friends or foes? How can he make his parents believe the mysterious things that keep happening to him? And how can a young boy like him outwit a clever and sinister enemy on his own?
Mythil's Secret is a story about a young boy's discover of just how strong the bonds of family and friendship can be. Join him on this spine-tingling adventure as he leans to look within himself for courage he never knew he had.

Rambukwella has got into the imaginative mind of a pre-teenage boy and has given a wonderful story for children with a lot of local flavour. The book is certainly a page turner for the adventurous young – Elmo Jayawardene

Mythil's Secret is proof that there can be such a genre as Sri Lankan Fantasy Fiction. It's the sort of book you can read to your kids at night and find yourself equally arrested as they are whilst the story unfolds – Leisure Times

Mythil's Secret is that rare thing in children's fiction—a work that discusses both adult and children's issues equally well...Yet what takes Mythil's Secret beyond much children's literature, and where it really succeeds, is in its willingness to address the strengths, weaknesses and responsibilities of grown-ups, too, especially in relation to kids – CHA, An Asian Literary Journal.

Packs of flashcards showing the letters of the Sinhala and Tamil alphabets, beautifully illustrated with watercolour paintings by Lynda Gill.

The Sinhala set consists of 40 cards, the Tamil set 35. The front of each card shows one Sinhala/Tamil letter, together with an illustration of a related word; the back shows the letter again, together with the example word, written three times: in Sinhala/Tamil script, in phonetic transcription, and in English. In each case, the target letter is highlighted in red in Sinhala/Tamil script, and so is the corresponding letter/syllable in the phonetic transcription. Thus each card enables the learner not only to learn a Sinhala/Tamil letter (and see how it is used in the context of a word), but also to learn a new word, what it means, how to pronounce it, and how to write it in Sinhala/Tamil script.

Further information, together with sample cards, can be found on the website www.mirisgala.net

Packs of flashcards showing the letters of the Sinhala and Tamil alphabets, beautifully illustrated with watercolour paintings by Lynda Gill.

The Sinhala set consists of 40 cards, the Tamil set 35. The front of each card shows one Sinhala/Tamil letter, together with an illustration of a related word; the back shows the letter again, together with the example word, written three times: in Sinhala/Tamil script, in phonetic transcription, and in English. In each case, the target letter is highlighted in red in Sinhala/Tamil script, and so is the corresponding letter/syllable in the phonetic transcription. Thus each card enables the learner not only to learn a Sinhala/Tamil letter (and see how it is used in the context of a word), but also to learn a new word, what it means, how to pronounce it, and how to write it in Sinhala/Tamil script.

Further information, together with sample cards, can be found on the website www.mirisgala.net

 Approved by the Ministry of Education

Louis M and Kiran are crazy about cricket!

One weekend, practice brings an unexpected invitation to join a cricket match with the big boys. Louis is determined to make a good impression but will he drop a catch? Will Kiran be better than him? And will Louis ruin his chances in cricket forever? NOT IF HE CAN HELP IT!

A practical and concise guide to discover and explore nearly 80 fascinating sites.

For each site an English, Tamil and Sinhala name to help when asking for directions. A drawing, a brief description, directions tor each it, a GPS position for a precise location and a map to help you get there.

A practical and concise guide to discover and explore nearly sixty-six fascinating sites.

For each site we have given an English, Sinhala and Tamil name to help when asking for directions, a drawing, a brief description, directions to reach it, a GPS position for a precise location, and a map to help you to get there.

A practical and consice guide to discover and explore nearly seventy fascinating sites.

For each site we have given an English, Sinhala and Tamil name to help when asking for directions, a drawing, a brief description, directions to reach it, a GPS position for a precise location, and a map to help you to get there.

To Dambulla, Habarana, Kekirawa, Galewela

This book is for those who consider serendipitous encounters fascinating rather than nerve racking! For those to whom travelling is about history and archaeology, people and encounters, art and sculpture, birds, trees and water, sweating it out and day dreaming...

"Grab this guide, follow a black & white board and discover a Sri Lanka you never imagined." – Sam Perera, Perera Hussein Publishing House

"The strong connection to the island, its people and its heritage runs like a red thread throughout this guide, truly a book by Sri Lankans on Sri Lanka." – Anu Weerasuriya, Studio Times Ltd.

BAFTA award-winning film maker Asitha Ameresekere brings his extraordinary talents to the page with his startling, thought provoking and tender offering of stories.

Shakespeare has a writing block and Medusa just doesn't like her hairstyle – of course! BAFTA award-winning film maker Asitha Ameresekere brings his extraordinary talents to the page with his startling, thought provoking and tender offering of stories. Incredibly charming and beautifully written with a balance of pathos and humour, Ameresekere shows us that a chance encounter, a hidden revelation, or even an engel could reconfigure the world. Ameresekere reveals the idisocyincrasies and odd logic that rule our lives, making this stunning debut the work of a writer with a spectacularly original and compelling voice.

'Ameresekere's consummate awareness of what makes a good story, his quirky sense of humour, and his ability to supply many points of view in the telling-including that of a dog-disclose a complex literary sensibility that belies his neophyte status as a writer' – Professor S W Perera

'Ameresekere is incomparable to any other Sri Lankan author to be published in recent years. His stories are bound to appeal to local as well as international readers not only because they are set in a wide array of places, but because Ameresekere chooses his narrative style to harmonize with the place and culture he is representing, a trait seldom seen in other contemporary writers. For Sri Lankan fiction fans and short story lovers alike, Wedding Gifts and Other Presents will not fail to entertain, amuse and surprise with its unique entourage of characters humorous twists of fate' – Chalani Ranwala

Stories of hope and courage

The book is a collection of stories that reflects the lives of disabled individuals across the globe. Each story is narrated by a courageous individual who refused to be defined and shaped by a label or a medical diagnosis. These individuals choose life and living instead of doom and gloom. They are not international superstars but are stars nevertheless because they valiantly defied limitations imposed on them despite the odds that were stacked against them. The stories are a gift of hope and inspiration to the countless number of individuals with disabilities.

You too can overcome!

The stories also carry a loving message to parents, care-givers, teachers, health professionals, neighbors, family and friends.

Look beyond the disability and recognize the person who is struggling to emerge!

Twenty-four poems that transcend the tragedy of the tsunami that devastated the coast of Sri Lanka in 2004. With sensitivity and tenderness they address the questions that preoccupy the universal human condition.

Ms Cooray's work, both in the French in which she composed it and in translation (explanation) is arresting and thought provoking; a singular meditation on an equally singular moment in time. She has chosen to mix classical references most interestingly and even startlingly, with modern metaphors, her heavily alliterative style redolent of the whirling intensity of the tsunami to which the work is a response – Jill McDonald

Minimalist, imagistic and often violent

Aparna Halpe's poetry captures the nuance of personal journeys through loss, dislocation and exile, foregrounding the collective history of a nation and a people fractured by the lived experience of racial, cultural and class based conflict Precarious traces the journey from the comforting confines of home, to the chilling, ironic spaces of an adopted city - Toronto. Fittingly, the poems broker an uneasy truce between real and imagined belonging, returning full circle to the point of genesis.

'Beautiful meditations on nature, myth, history, violence and longing. Aparna Halpé combines linguistic precision with poetic sensuality, to deliver a collection that will leave you 'looking for mermaids' while 'learning how to drown'.' - Shehan Karunatilaka

'What lingers after reading Aparna's poems is not just a memory of a dissected land or 'strangled ice' surrounded by words & music, but half light rain frozen between precariousness and unknown pain.' - Cheran

Gunawardena has a poetic voice that is always a quiet and thoughtful one

A recording of brief and witty, carefully crafted impressions of life as she lived it. Here is a collection of poems that reveal a country loved and known.

'The limpid simplicity of her language reveals nuanced complexities of response and judgement that actively engage the reader's mind and emotions when the writer presents the interplay of cultures or personalities, or of the past, recent past and the present. She depicts herself as an unobtrusive observer "I love to watch through glass". She is also so acute and honest that her poems can evoke disturbing echoes' – Lakshmi de Silva

'The pull of her Motherland is clearly seen, yet without cloying sentimentality or paeans of praise to its scenic beauty' – Anne Abeysekera