RENTING OUT

On this web page you will find details of books we found very useful for people buying land, building a villa or restoring an old house. They may even be of use to those of you moving straight into a villa, as they'll give you design ideas and tips for the garden.

We have arranged them in a number of sections -  - EXPERIENCES (7), HOUSE  (5), GARDEN (5), ADVICE (2) & LANGUAGE (3).

To buy a book just click on the image and then add it to your shopping cart. If you want to buy more than one of the books, add them all to your shopping cart. If you already have an account with Amazon you can sign in and then buy the books. Happy reading!!!

Please note that the delivery details and prices were correct when we set up this page. They may change from time to time, so make sure you check the latest details on the Amazon.co.uk website. Also please note that all book descriptions and customer reviews are also taken from the Amazon website.

EXPERIENCES

North of Ithaka  by Eleni Gage	Synopsis Eleni Gage, a young journalist living in New York, leaves her Manhattan flat to return to her family's native Greece and rebuild her grandmother's house in the remote but beautiful northern village of Lia. What motivates her and makes her story particularly remarkable is the fact that her grandmother, also called Eleni, was imprisoned in the house during the Greek Civil War before eventually being executed. Part personal quest into her family's history, part exploration of the nature of history itself, this is a moving yet amusing story set in Epiros, one of the least visited regions of Europe. The cast of characters include Eleni's formidable yet miniscule aunts, the thitsas, who fear that she will be eaten by wolves, her Albanian builders and the residents of modern-day Lia who help in the complex process of reconstructing the house where such terrible events took place. As this is the real Greece, populated by real people rather than rustic stereotypes, Eleni's plans do not always work out as intended though ultimately she finds the resolution she desires. NORTH OF ITHAKA will appeal to those who were entranced by CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN.	List Price: £16.99 Our Price: £11.89 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
It's All Greek to Me! A Tale of a Mad Dog and an Englishman, Ruins, Retsina - and Real Greeks by John Mole	Book Description The family dream was of "a little whitewashed house with a blue door and blue shutters on an unspoiled island in a picturesque village next to the beach with a taverna round the corner..." The reality was a road to ruins! After falling in love with an incredible view John Mole found himself owning a tumbledown ruin on a hillside, with no water, no electricity, no roof, no floor, no doors, no windows and twenty years of goat dung. This sunny funny book, filled with hilarious adventures and a cast of colourful characters. With the Athens Olympics - and who can forget the football - Greek is the word! John Mole’s writing has universal appeal: touching, laugh-out-loud funny, evocative, truthful and incredibly compelling. It’s All Greek to Me! is ideal for those with a love of Greece - whether first time package-holidayers, seasoned travellers or those who prefer to visit from the comfort of their own armchairs. It’s All Greek to Me! is the culmination of a decades-long love affair with Greece that at once captures the warmth and laid-back lifestyle of the Mediterranean coast and hilariously recounts the highs and lows of an Englishman’s efforts to make a home there. Here is a timeless rural Greece - catch it before it goes.	List Price: £9.99 Our Price: £6.99 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens  by Sofka Zinovieff	Daily Telegraph ‘A beguiling blend of autobiography and travel swirled into a portrait of a city and a meditation on Greekness’ The Times Literary Supplement ‘It is both a modest and a magnificently well-judged book, which anyone thinking of an Athenian trip ought to read' A must-read for everyone who is fascinated by Greece and wants to have a real feeling of how it looks today. The book is extremely well written, keen, full of humour and definitely addictive. I would have loved to have 100 pages more to go. Funny, fascinating, very moving, honest, brave, resourceful, original, intrepid, incredibly readable, very well informed, generous, warm-hearted, clever, candid, engaged with a Greek world which the author loves, doubts, queries and cherishes. Sofka Zinovieff has brought off an incredibly difficult thing in this book: integrating her own hopes and fears with those of her chosen country, making one story of their different pasts and their shared present, and all with such grace and life.	List Price: £14.99 Our Price: £10.49 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours
My Family and Other Animals by  Gerald Durrell	Amazon.co.uk Review As a self-described "champion of small uglies," Gerald Durrell (1925-1995) devoted his life to writing and the preservation of wildlife, from the Mauritius pink pigeon to the Rodriques fruit bat. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the Greek island of Corfu, but ended up as a delightful account of his family's experiences that were, according to him, "rather like living in one of the more flamboyant and slapstick comic operas". As a 10-year-old boy, Gerry left England for Corfu with "all those items that I thought necessary to relieve the tedium of a long journey: four books on natural history, a butterfly net, a dog, and a jam-jar full of caterpillars all in imminent danger of turning into chrysalids". Durrell's descriptions of his family and its many eccentric hangers-on (he stresses that "all the anecdotes about the island and the islanders are absolutely true") are highly entertaining, as is the procession of toads, scorpions, geckos, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, the puppies Widdle and Puke, and the Magenpies. This is a lovely book. --Christine Buttery Synopsis The author relates his memories of a five-year sojourn with his family on the island of Corfu when he was a boy, describing in detail the procession of wild animals he brought back to the family's villa to study.	List Price: £7.99 Our Price: £6.39 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
The Xenophobe's Guide to the Greeks (Xenophobe's Guide S.)by   Alexandra Fiada	Synopsis This irreverent series highlights the unique character and behaviour of different nations. Amazon customer reviews Being Greek and reading this book really made me laugh! Every word in it is absolutely true and the author presents everything in their true manner. Great book to read if you want to know how Greeks are and react!  I got given this book as a present and having lived in Greece for a while now, I found this book to absolutely invaluable! I laughed so much as it really does sum up the Greeks and their wonderful mentality so perfectly. I have bought this for all my friends and its a wonderful gift for those who know any Greeks!	Our Price: £3.99 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Greek Walls: An Odyssey in Corfu  by John Waller, John Chipperfield (Illustrator)	Corfiot, June 2004 Not one, but 26 years in Corfu ….. Often funny, always informative. Book Description In 1966, John Waller takes a break from a stressful career to visit the island, accompanied by his Danish wife. In the days before charter flights and package tours, Corfu is ‘heaven on earth’ and it quickly enchants the young couple. Taken under the wing of George Manessis, member of an influential local family, they explore an island which has few proper roads and no development, swimming off deserted beaches and eating simple food in a handful of tavernas. Further visits cement their relationship with George and with Corfu, and at the start of the 70s, though a military dictatorship rules Greece, they buy a plot of land above undiscovered Agios Gordis on the west coast. The building of their own modest summer home parallels the construction, encouraged by the Colonels, of large prestigious hotels, among them George’s own venture at San Stephano near Benitses, and both parties discover the sometimes high financial and emotional cost of possessing Greek Walls. The book also chronicles with some regret the development of tourism and the changes it brings to the island.	List Price: £7.99 Our Price: £6.39 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
A House in Corfu  by Emma Tennant	Synopsis A House in Corfu is the story of one of the most beautiful places on earth, still astonishingly unspoilt, on the west coast of Corfu. In the early 1960s, Emma Tennant's parents, on a cruise, spotted a magical bay and decided to build a house there. This book is the story of that house, Rovinia, set in 42 hectares of land above the bay where legend has it Ulysses was shipwrecked and found by Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous. It is also the story of the people who have been at Rovinia since the feast in the grove at the time of putting on the roof - Maria, a miraculous cook and the presiding spirit of the house, and her husband Thodoros - and of the inhabitants of the local village, high on the hill above the bay. Full of colour and contrast, A House in Corfu shows the huge changes in island life since the time of the building of the house, and celebrates, equally, the joy of belonging to a timeless world; the world of vine, olive and sea. Amazon customer review I loved this book. Not only is it well written - I was living in a timeless world amongst the olive groves, as of page one - it also answered an important question for me: Most of us probably dream of finding a wonderful, magical place, of being able to do up a crumbling Tuscan farm house or Venetian villa,or of building a dream home on the sea, as Emma Tennant's family did in the 1960's. But, practicalities aside, would we be happy in a foreign land? Would our friends and families come to see us? Would it really work? The answer is a resounding 'yes', if 'A House in Corfu' is anything to go by. I may not manage it myself, but this book made me feel that it is a dream worth dreaming. It also made me happy. Read it.	List Price: £7.99 Our Price: £6.39 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.

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HOUSE

Greek Style (Style Book Series) by   Suzanne Slesin, Stafford Cliff, Daniel Rozensztroch, Gilles de Chabaneix (Photographer)	Synopsis This title seeks not only to capture the authentic character of Greek interior design, but also the liveliness of Greek culture. It explores the dramatic geographical range of Greece from the Northern mainland with its oriental influences to the islands with their white-washed fishing villages. This book was first published 16 years ago and it still tops the best-seller lists in Greece. This is no surprise: no other book on Greek interiors captures the spirit of this country so well. It lets you look inside houses of people all over Greece and from very different social backgrounds. You get the see it all: the kitchen of the grandmother living in a little village, the glitzy villa of a rich Athenian, the residential quarters of a monk living by himself in an island monastery, the colourful rooms of a farmhouse in the mountains, the summer island house of a foreign artist, and the list goes on. Other books about Greek interiors (Living in Greece, At Home in Greece...) come and go, but this is the only one that shows what living in Greece is really about and that continues to inspire Greek architects, interior designers and anyone who simply loves Greece year after year.	List Price: £29.95 Our Price: £20.96 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
At Home in Greece  by Julia Klimi	Synopsis Julia Klimi?s photographs capture the essence of Greekness, showing the regional variations from the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Crete, the Saronic and the Ionian Islands ? as well as the mainland, including Athens and the Peloponnese. Throughout, the distinctively appealing architectural style of Greece can be seen again and again. She has gained unrivalled access to thirty-five private homes, from the one-room cubic Cycladic houses that inspired Le Corbusier to imposing Venetian towers integrated into the surrounding rocks: from the epitome of cool minimalism to a sumptuous lifestyle. The outside spaces, many with views of the sea, are also featured, from verandas merging into swimming pools and shaded marble paths leading to secret gardens to courtyards surrounded by olive trees. The engaging texts reveal the stories of the people who have lovingly restored or commissioned these homes. Some have created contemporary interiors with reinforced concrete, brick, iron and other modern building materials; others have used entirely traditional materials and methods.	List Price: £24.95 Our Price: £17.46 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Living in Greece  by Barbara Stoeltie, Angelika Taschen (Editor), Rene Stoeltie (Illustrator)	Synopsis This text looks at the best of the world's country homes in the mythical land of Greece. Go island hopping with the Stoelties and discover the best of Greece's hidden treats, such as the hilltop summer house of Robert Browning, descendant of the English poet, in Hydra, or the romantic home of Onassis's ex-pilot basile Touloumtzoglou and his wife Tilly. This book features 22 country houses found in Greece.	List Price: £14.99 Our Price: £10.49 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Mediterranean Country Houses	Details coming soon...	US List Price: $45.00 Our Price: £24.26 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 6 to 8 days.
Mediterranean Style  by Catherine Haig	Synopsis Vibrant, informal and, above all, refreshingly simple, Mediterranean style is synonymous with easy living. From Tangiers to Tuscany, an imaginative sense of colour and pattern prevails, allied to a sensitive use of natural materials and local traditions. Floors are natural wood or terracotta tiled; ceilings have exposed beams; and the natural imperfections of brick and plaster walls might be highlighted through the lightest of distemper washes. This is a world suffused with warmth, where the dividing line between indoor and outdoor living is seamless. With colours from Kasbah to Crete so in vogue today, this title reveals the Mediterranean love of strong sun-drenched hues and the subtleties of Mediterranean patterning, found in Moorish mosaic detailing, ceramic tiles, kilim weaves and wrought ironwork. This resource features photography of locations from Umbria to Marrakech combined with 12 specially commissioned projects to provide imaginative ideas for translating this look into the contemporary home.	List Price: £16.99 Our Price: £11.89 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.

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GARDEN

Courtyard Gardens: Imaginative Ideas for Outdoor Living   Toby Musgrave	Book Description Gardens enclosed by boundaries and open to the sky have existed throughout history as tranquil retreats, offering respite from the stresses of the outside world. Courtyard Gardens shows how to create beautiful, secluded spaces for outdoor living in the twenty-first century. The book features eighteen three-dimensional, full-colour plans inspired by courtyards past and present from a wide range of countries and cultures. The Classical courtyard has an area sheltered from sun and rain for enjoying life in true Roman style. Islamic influences inspire a calm and shady retreat, where the gentle sound of water revitalizes the soul, whereas the 'tame jungle' of a tropical paradise reinvigorates the mind and spirit. Naturally inspired rocks suggest the grace and simplicity of the Japanese aesthetic, while bold colours and strong lines take exciting courtyard design into the future. Chapters on materials and styles for walls and floors, furniture, features, ornament and effects are lavishly illustrated with glorious photographs. The book is completed with a directory of courtyard plants - the best climbers and wall plants, accent plants, ground cover, and plants for seasonal interest. Whether starting with a new plot or transforming an existing garden, Courtyard Gardens offers a wealth of ideas and practical solutions for creating small, private havens dedicated to relaxation, entertaining and cooking, as well as gardening. Dr Toby Musgrave is a garden designer, horticulturist and garden historian, with a passion for applying lessons from the past to today's 'gardens for living'. His television work includes designs for Better Gardens and presenting Lost Gardens with Monty Don. Dr Musgrave's previous books include The Plant Hunters. Synopsis Packed with imaginative ideas for creating small, secluded gardens for outdoor living, this text offers a wealth of design solutions, whether you are starting with a new plot or transforming an existing garden into a private haven.	List Price: £20.00 Our Price: £14.00 |   Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Mediterranean Plants and Gardens  by Le Vicomte de Noailles, Roy Lancaster	Synopsis The Mediterranean region allows truly exotic plants and fruits to be grown outdoors. This guide is an illustration of their beauty and extent. It includes a description of the gardens of the Cote d'Azur, with illustrations to show the splendour of their year-round colour. Roy Lancaster gives practical advice to those involved in planting and caring for gardens, and the A-Z section provides a guide to the varied varieties, many of which may be unfamiliar to the British gardener. A series of symbols provide a cross-check to hardiness in what can be a wide range of climatic conditions, and the index provides a guide to common names.	List Price: £8.95 Our Price: £7.16 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
All About Citrus and Subtropical Fruits   Bond (Editor)	A good summary on a variety of citrus and subtropical fruit. Most interesting varieties are indicated. There are informations about cold tolerance, fertilizing, propagating your plants, a lot of pictures. It is also a very inexpensive book, a great value.	US List Price: $9.95 UK Equivalent: £5.36 Our Price: £4.82 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Garden Plants for Mediterranean Climates  by Graham Payne	Synopsis No image of the Mediterranean is complete without flowering climbers covering the walls, brilliant oleanders lining the roads and colourful shrubs in gardens. However, such plants can be enjoyed far beyond the Mediterranean, in both small and large gardens with similar climates, or in cooler regions in conservatories. Topics covered include an introduction to the Mediterranean climate and points to consider when planning a garden. Advice on watering and soil care, an A-Z of over 1000 plants and a cross-reference of English common names with botanical plant names is included. In addition, the hallmarks of a Mediterranean garden section includes palms, pots, climbing plants and pergolas.	List Price: £29.95 Our Price: £20.96 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Mediterranean Gardening: A Waterwise Approach   Heidi Gildemeister	This book is an inspiration for people who garden in areas with a Mediterranean climate. The book has several sections describing how to achieve a glorious and lush garden using a water-wise approach. A large section is devoted to plants that can be grown in a Mediterannean climate. The author is obviously a dedicated gardener with a vast knowledge. The English text can be a little confusing at times as it is not the authors native tounge. A worthy investment.	List Price: £20.00 Our Price: £14.00 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 9 to 12 days.

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ADVICE ON BUYING IN GREECE

Buying a Property: Greece ("Sunday Times" Buying a Property S.)  by Mark Dubin	Synopsis Advises on the best places to buy in Greece and gives the lowdown on visas, job-hunting and education. It covers the details of finding a property: choosing types of accommodation, renovating and security and offers specialist advice on mortgages, taxes, surveys and conveyancing. It also helps with the challenges of settling-in: understanding the society, the law and the language	List Price: £12.99 Our Price: £9.09 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks. Please note that titles occasionally go out of print or publishers run out of stock.
Living in Greece: How to Feel at Home, Make Friends, and Enjoy Everyday Life  by Lyn Waldie	Coming shortly...	US List Price: $9.95 UK Equivalent: £5.36 Our Price: £4.82 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.

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LEARNING GREEK

Greek Language and People Course Book  by David A. Hardy	Book Description There is also a Cassette Pack to accompany this Course Book. Synopsis Greek Language and People is an integrated course in basic Greek for beginners. In this 281-page course book you'll be introduced to the Greek alphabet, learn to real Greek with ease and be able to communicate at a basic level in Greek. This book also gives you the chance to find out about the way of life in Greece today and the customs of the Greek. The 20 units focus on distinct and useful themes for the holiday maker and business person such as ordering food and drink, finding your way around and talking about yourself and your family	List Price: £16.99 Our Price: £11.89 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Linguaphone PDQ Greek (book and 4 CDs)  by M. Buckby	Synopsis Designed with busy people in mind, PDQ is an effective way to learn essential and practical Greek. Native speakers take the listener to Greece to learn the essential Greek he or she needs to get by. Topics covered include: meeting people for the first time; asking a question; ordering food and drink; starting a conversation; getting to know someone; talking about your family and friends; finding your way around and asking directions; talking about your home and where you live; hiring a car; and sightseeing. The recordings are bilingual so the learner can study simply by listening to the lessons. The book offers helpful backup and extra practice. From the Publisher PDQ - the first step towards fluency Linguaphone aims to provide a solution for every language requirement, The PDQ range of language courses is designed specifically to bridge the gap between our full language courses and the requirements of the traveller or holiday maker. PDQ is the perfect course for the person who wishes to take the first steps towards speaking a new language or would like to learn all the language needed for travelling and holidays abroad. Contents Audio Recordings PDQ covers a wide range of every day situations and uses native speakers to deliver an active vocabulary of over 500 words. Lessons are bilingual, which means that it is possible to complete a PDQ course by simply listening to the recordings. Lessons on CD allow the student to instantly access different parts of the PDQ course. Course Book PDQ contains a full-colour 64 page programme guide. Packed full of pictures and illustrations it helps give a feel of the country and set the scene for language learning. In addition the course book reinforces the language learnt in the audio recordings as well as teaching reading and writing skills, which will be extremely useful when abroad.	Our Price: £29.95 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Teach Yourself Greek Complete Course (Book and CD Pack) by Aristarhos Matsukas	Book Description 'Teach Yourself Greek' is an up-to-date course in modern Greek. If you want to make quick progress beyond the basics for your next holiday or business trip to Greece, or if you need to brush up your existing knowledge, then this is the course for you. --This text refers to the Paperback edition. About the Author Aristarhos Matsukas studied Teaching English as a Foreign Language anfd Applied Linguistics in the US and has over the last 18 years has taught Greek in New York, Athens and Berlin. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.	US List Price: $24.95 UK Equivalent: £13.06 Our Price: £11.75 Click on Image to BUY Availability: usually dispatched within 24 hours.

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Bouloukos, Loggos, Paxos, Greece 49082
tel: 0030 26620 31207
UK: 01635 863030
email: info@paxospropertyagency.co.uk