The Butterfly Within

The Butterfly Within is a remarkable tale of triumph and disaster of joy and heartache.

It tells the story of a truly extraordinary woman, Rachel Brown.

Rachel was already a shining beacon of inspiration to everyone. She was a highly dedicated Special Educational Needs PE teacher, inspiring her pupils to do much more than they or their peers and family members might have thought possible.

Then there was the fact that she is also a highly successful and much decorated British Triathlete, having competed in a stunning 13 marathons in a variety of very different locations all over the world.

She also represented the UK at trhe Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Florida back in 2007. She then went on to become a GB Triathlon Age Group Triathlete and became our National Champion.

But that isn't where this book starts. It begins with two momentous events in Rachel's life. On day in 2005 she had a call from God to serve him, perhaps as a vicar. She researched how she could train to become a vicar whilst continuing her work as a teacher.

But then, a few months later, she received a diagnosis that was to change her life, a challenge that was the biggest challenge in her life to date. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

She wondered if she should put her idea of a religious calling on hold whilst she battled the tumour? But quickly she realised she would need to continue with both.

Rachel was convinced from the start that what was afflicting her was a brain tumour. But it took the medicinal profession a year in which three GPs and a visit to A&E blamed her symptoms on stress, on her training, on migraines.

They dismissed her concerns.  Apparently she had none of the "classical symptoms" and "looked too fit to be poorly."

During an appointment with Rachel's GP when Rachel told her doctor -as is her right under the NHS- that she wanted to be seen by a neurologist.

However the GP wanted Rachel to see an "eye man."

Rachel decided to take matters into her own hands and it took a private appointment with a neurologist to diagnose that she did, indeed, have a tumour that was growing behind her right eye.

It was a so-called benign tumour, but it was starting to press on the surrounding tissues. She decided to give it a name and so it was that Tommy became a major and very unwelcome part of Rachel's life.

She knew that her life was going to change for the foreseeable future.

She had a great support team,  there was 'her' Tim, her family and friends.

But there was something more, there was the iron will that made her a great triathlete. Rachel knew that she could use this inner strength to help her fight this new battle with Tommy.

During her journey Rachel found that there were many people who she could rely on for their support, both from her family, her friends and colleagues and her fellow athletes.

The book is not written in chapters, instead it is broken down into Parts, some very short, some a little bit longer.

It tells of the most important race in her entire life, the race to recover from her tumour.

It also tells what happened next and reveals something of her plans for the future.

Have these events changed her? Yes. And, it would seem that Rachel feels these changes are for the better.

She met a wide range of characters throughout her treatment, such as a lonely man who just wanted to play chequers, a female sex pest and some other interesting patients, all who had their own story.

It is a very well-written book and is friendly and humorous.

It is published by the Book Guild at £9.95 and can be purchased through the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, the entry to which you will find just to the right hand side of this book review.

This book is a must have for anyone who has been diagnosed with a tumour, or who had a family member or friend so afflicted.

It will also be very useful for Doctors, nursing and care staff who work with such patients and for hospital and council libraries, too.









    

White Horses, poems by Garfield Taylor

White Horses is a collection of poems by Garfield Taylor.

They are nostalgic and haunting pieces of poetry written by the author and largely taken from his memories of his beloved town of Scarborough and of other towns and locations in and around the coastal areas of the North of England such as Northumberland and Yorkshire.

However there are also fleeting glimpses of other far away places such as Cornwall and Cumbria, Lancashire and even Italy.

The poems are all deeply evocative and draw on a very deep well of the imagination and memory of Garfield Taylor for their inspiration.

There's the White Horses, of course. Then we meet McFee, with his highly effective, yet incredibly dangerous, foray into the world of homemade explosives, the penny that should have been a Pound, the cry of the gulls, the discover or non-discovery of sea holly on the beach, skipping and other fun on Shrove Tuesday (it appears that Shrove Tuesday is a much more fun day in Scarborough and its environs. Just read the poem on page 4 to learn what you might have being missing all these years!)

There's much romance in this collection of poems, the romance of the sea, both wild and tranquil,  the romance of beaches, of the coast, of seaside towns and of people.

There are stories both known and unknown, of the winter winds and the summer breezes, a multitude of ideas both old and new.

This delightful book of poems is published by The Book Guild at £12.99 in hardback. It's available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, to the right hand side of this review.

The Arbitrator

Jim Brown had it all, he was a highly skilled and highly successful administrator, but he has fallen a long way and now, aged 153, he is languishing in prison, dying of a very nasty drug habit.

His crime? Apparently tax fraud. But the reality is that he has was jailed for killing a number of people on the planet Levita, after he met the gorgeous Narissa.

But then, the governor of the prison had called him from his cell. It appeared that he could still be of use to the authorities.

For after a reprieve he is to leave for the planet Pirrus in a distant solar system where he will serve as an arbitrator to try to bring an end to a rebellion and bring matters back under the control of the government.

Should he successfully complete his mission, he would be able to earn enough funds to begin the process of regenerating his body.

However, is all what it appears to be? The situation on Pirris is very finely balanced and things seem to be slipping out of Brown's grasp.

But at about the same time as he thinks that his task has been successfully completed, he meets with Gina, who is the child of one of the rebels. And he discovers through her that there is a plan by outside forces to launch an invasion of Pirrus.

But something is wrong within his own organisation. Is an insider working to make sure that his mission meets with failure? If so, who are they? What are their motives?

Can Brown thwart them and turn the tables on them and on those who are plotting against Pirrus?

The novel is fast paced and filled with characters that are flawed, but still for all that, very human indeed.

Brown is a ruthless and cynical man, yet can even he find redemption and a sense of worth?

But there are secrets that concern Brown that even he knows nothing of.

his is an exciting novel in the fine traditions of the space opera genre, yet interleaved with a great deal of philosophical speculation.

It's published by Matador at the price of £9.99 and will make an ideal gift for the science fiction fan.

You can buy it at the That's books and Entertainment book shop, which is located to the right habd side of this review.

An Annoyance of Neighbours

Neighbours. We have all had neighbours at one time or another in our lives.

And in her latest books, An Annoyance of Neighbours, Dr Angela Lightburn, writes about all you might need or want to know about neighbours.

A couple of years ago Dr Lightburn was a member of a group of residents who were working hard to develop community cohesiveness among the members of their local community.

One of the methods they decided to employ was to create and devise a Neighbourhood Plan to examine the provision of housing developments within the area.

Dr LIghtburn came up with a novel idea to promote the idea of community cohesiveness, she decided to organise a traditional "Beating the Bounds" ceremony, an ancient method of checking the boundaries of the parish, whilst also helping to bring the community together.

Many local families turned out to participate in the ceremony and it worked so well that it has been re-established as an annual community event.

This successful event caused Dr Lightburn to begin thinking about neighbours in general terms. 

Those neighbours that we love and those neighbours that we loath.

These musings eventually led her to start some serious research which, ultimately, developed inot her book, An Annoyance of Neighbours.

She asks questions about the types of neighbours that everyone might have had at one time or another, or who they might be experiencing, now.

Noisy neighbours, nosy neighbours, irritating neighbours, boring neighbours.

If you have ever had a neighbour like the above, then you will find this book illuminating and interesting.

Although Doctor Lightburn has a degree in Psychology and a PhD in Applied Psychology her book is not a dreary academic tome, it is a highly entertaining and extremely well-written book. Might that be as a result in the Diploma in Insurance that she picked up on the way? Possibly, but she asks us not to think about that, so we won't!

The book contains a great deal of highly valuable information on how to live near to and how to cope with difficult neighbours, but it is also highly humorous and bitingly satirical.

For example, did you know what type of fruit would tell you if your neighbours are sexually libertine swingers? Or the trick to employ in the middle of the night to wrongfoot nosy neighbours?

How to cope with the angry note writing nutters, sorry, neighbours, what to expect when your neighbour exposes themselves as a DIY fiend, what to do if you have hippies for neighbours, and the crazy cat lady neighbour. Dr Lightburn opines: "Once upon a time a little girl was given two kittens and that was the Crazy Cat Lady's starter kit!"

All types of neighbours are carefully and helpfully graded by a colour coded flag warning system, plus a very helpful and amusing list of nicknames for the neighbours we love to hate.

Incidentally we suffered from some neighbours who we find in that list. Are they the same people? Who knows? Perhaps they are!

If you work in a counselling setting and ever have to deal with people bothered by nutty or naughty neighbours, if you work in a Council or Housing Association office and have to deal with complaints about bad neighbours or if you, or someone you know, lives near a Neighbour From Hell, this book is a must have. 

It's published by Matador at the remarkably keen price of £7.99 and it might just about save your sanity.

You can purchase it at the That's Books Shop, which you will find to the right of this review. 

Without a paddle

Without a paddle is a new and very entertaining book by seasoned world traveller David Moffatt.

David Moffatt had no intention whatsoever of leaving the comforts and familiarities of his native Tyneside where he had grown up during the post-war years.

But his university tutor set him something of a challenge. Would he like to travel with him to the other side of the world to Mato Grosso, in Brasil?

His love life was a bit troubled, his beloved football team seemed doomed to relegation. So a year living in the Brazilian jungle seemed very appealing.

But the events that happened during the next twelve months were to change David's life forever.

David found himself thrust into an entirely different world. A world of real and genuine dangers and challenges, of no running water, no electricity, no 'phones and no radio.

But it did give David some truly awesome stories!

There was Taituba, the guide who David had to disarm when things started to get nasty.

But then David was bitten by the bug, well by the bug of travelling and several other bugs along the way!

There was the incident in which he saved an elderly entomologist who David had to save from the very wasps he was there to study, a dangerously incompetent camp cook, threats of kidnap, an unfortunate incident in the bathroom of a Cairo hotel, getting lost (caused by the right-hand swing factor) and trying to work out the exchange rate for eggs versus coffee and sugar.

We also follow David to The Gambia in Africa, Egypt and many other points around the globe.

It's a fascinating read illustrated with a number of photographs.

The book is published by Matador at £10.99 and is an ideal read for the armchair traveller.

You can buy the book at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to be found to the right hand side of this book review.

Macboo and the Monster of Scab Hill

Macboo and the Monster of Scab Hill is a new novel by Jean McIntosh.

This is the latest fantasy story by Jean McIntosh that is aimed at children.

It takes an entertaining look at the troublesome and difficult journey that children take when they progress through their school days.

Who is MacBoo? MacBoo is a student. But he is no ordinary student! MacBoo is a student at the Lonely Dell Ghost Academy!

But unfortunately for MacBoo, things go more than a little awry and when he fails his tests, the headmaster decides to pack him off to Scab Hill. Where MacBoo will have to practice his ghosting skills!

He has just one week in which he must practice his skills. Then he must return to the Lonely Dell Ghost Academy where he must re-sit his exams. However, should he fail again, well, let'#s just say that he really doesn't want to contemplate his future should he fail again!

But there's a monster at Scab Hill! A monster with murderous intentions!

At the castle of Scab Hill, MacBoo meets up with three rather bothersome creatures. however, all is not quite what it appears to be and the four decide to combine their skills and resources to beat the monster!

Can MacBoo and his new friends beat the monster? Will he succeed or not?

The book is published by Matador at £6.99 and can be bought at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which can be found to the right hand side of this book review.

The Rocky Road of Naughty Neurons Our Journey with Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease

Sylvia Bryden-Stocks's book, The Rocky Road of Naughty Neurons Our Journey with Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease, is a very important book.

Because it offers a vital insight into the shattering and highly emotional journey into the world of Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease.

Sylvia and Brian were husband and wife and they were enjoying a fantastic relationship that was filled with mutual love, respect and fun.

And then Sylvia found herself trapped in a new and horrible world, a world in which she had to quickly learn how to deal with Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease, when Brian was diagnosed with the condition.

The story that Sylvia has written takes the reader through a long journey, from their life pre-diagnosis to the trauma of the diagnosis itself and then through the new life that was thrust upon them as the condition progressed right through to the current day when Brian is in receipt of full-time care.

Sylvia was able to draw upon a wealth of knowledge of holistic healing and coaching which she was able to bring to bear to help not only Brian but also herself through the more trying moments.

The book is a very moving analysis of what happened, but it is also a highly useful guidebook for other people who are going through this very difficult process. I only wish that it had been available when a couple I used to know very well went through the same trauma of the husband being diagnosed as having Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease.

This book belongs in every library and in the resource section of every doctor's surgery and every hospital and carehome in the UK and anyone who is facing this diagnosis in themselves, a family member or a friennd also needs to have a copy.

It is published by The Book Guild and costs £9.99. It's available to purchase at this link https://goo.gl/WnXwQT.

The Squirrel that Dreamt of Madness

The Squirrel that Dreamt of Madness a debut novel by Craig Stone is a partly factual and partly fictional story.

It tells Craig's story. How he dreamt of writing a book whilst he worked at his job in the financial hub of the City.

So he decided to throw in his job and began writing his novel. But without a steady income he was unable to afford the rent on his flat, thus rendering himself as homeless.

What could he do then? Go and live in a park and write the story of how he had to live in the park.

He reasoned that if he was destined to be a writer than this book, if he finished it, could be the key to bigger and better things. And a return to society from Park Life.

The park he chose to live in was Gladstone Park which is in North London.

He sat under a tree and began to write about what it was like to live beneath a tree in a park in North London.

He decided that the book he would write would be so unusual, so very unique that it would catapult him out of the park once it was published and that it would put his life back on course again.

However, the narrative of the book might be a little bit uncertain and not completely truthful as Craig admits that the reader might be hard pressed to differentiate between the factual segments of the book and the fictional segments, which he created, whilst in the park, to entertain himself.

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 and is available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to be found to the right of this review.

You can catch up with Craig Stone at www.thoughtscratchings.com.

Kill or be Killed

Kill or be Killed is a new novel by Barry Johnson.

Jake Robinson is a former Captain in the Royal Military Police, he is Sandhurst-trained, and has a degree in Psychology.

He is described as a leader yet is also, perhaps paradoxically, something of a loner, too.

He was working with a special unit within MI5, yet he has taken the decision to resign from the unit.

In search of a job he finds a position looking after the interests of Jan Lotus, who is a skilled actress at home on both the stage and the big screen, she can also dance and sing.

She needs a bodyguard and Robinson is the man selected for that role.

However after he begins working for her, there is an assassination attempt on Jan Lotus that, unfortunately, succeeds.

With his charge dead, he realises that he must turn the tables on the killers and take them out, before they kill him and take on other targets.

What is the connection between battling drug suppliers?

Is he correct in his gut feeling that the murder contract on Jan Lotus was actually the work of a woman?

But if that was so, who was it? What was their motive?

Can he find this mysterious woman and deal with her?

Can he escape the machinations of the drug dealers and escape with his life?

This exciting novel is published by The Book Guild at £9.99 and will make a good book to take on your holidays.

It is the fifth Jake Robinson novel.

You can buy it from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, to the right hand side of this review.

Dream Catcher

Dream Catcher is a psychological thriller written by Matthew J. Hancock.

It tells the story of Michael Clocksworth, a man who has all the answers. He, literally, knows everything.

His professional life is well sorted. If he comes face-to-face with a mathematical problem or a question of a scientific nature, it seems that the answers come to him in a flash.

But his personal life is something entirely different, it leaves him totally stumped.

But then there is poor Nicholas Reverie. He is troubled by some particularly horrifying nightmares.

But then his nightmares begin to come true.

Nicholas is desperately seeking help to explain what is happening to him and to bring it to an end, if possible.

He realises that Michael could have the sollution to his problems.

 But will Nicholas be able to find Michael before it is too late?

And should he find him, would Michael actually be able to do anything for him?

This is a genuinely psychological thriller of a novel.

What would it be like to know everything? Would that knowledge do you any good?

Could it change things? Or not?

It's a relativity short book at well under 100 pages and is published by The Book Guild at £7.99.

It's on sale at the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop (you'll find it to the right of this review.) and if you buy one book this year, please do know that Dream Catcher should be it.

Love in Lindfield

Love in Lindfield is a romantic novel by David Smith.

It centres on Lindfield, which was the home of Charles Kempe.

It relates the tale of Harry. Harry is working for the BBC, researching for locations for a BBC drama that will be set and filmed in rural Sussex.

Whilst in Sussex Harry falls for a savvy and independent local artist called Ellie.

Ellie is undertaking the task of cataloguing what had been the home of the famed Victorian stained glass artist, Charles Eamer Kempe.

This cataloguing was being undertaken under the orders of the current owner of the house, Serena Ross, who is described as being: "unscrupulous and domineering."

Ellie and Harry become involved, unwittingly, in a love triangle that has the potential for a tragic outcome. This love triangle seems to mirror the troubled romantic life of Kempe, himself.

They are unaware that the events that develop are the result of a passion that is both ghoulish and violent, growing from a terrible and insatiable greed.

During his research Harry keeps discovering hitherto unknown facts about the various loves of Kempe.

But Harry's interactions with the Ross family are troublesome, as they are somewhat dysfunctional, to say the least.

This well-written novel contains not only romance, but also mystery, heartbreak and homicide, so there is something for everyone.

It is published by Matador and is available in paperback at £8.99 and hardback at £15.99.

It is available via the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this review.

Jake Owen / American Country Love Song / 360 Video

The Trial of Maria Montrecourt

The Trial of Maria Montrecourt is a debut novel by Kay Patrick a thespian (RADA-trained) who has acted on Doctor Who (alongside William Hartnell) and was then an equally influential television director, including 20 years with Coronation Street.

It is 1899, and a young French girl, 18-year-old Maria Montrecourt, arrives in the Northern English town of Harrogate.

She is orphaned, yet is supported by a shadowy and mysterious benefactor.

Whilst Maria is struggling to find her footing in a strange and somewhat alien environment, she finds herself drawn into the early dawning of the battle for the rights of women.

But eventually the son of her benefactor hunts Maria out. And, gradually, over time a hideous and terrible secret begins to emerge.

Events that occurred many years before suddenly re-emerge from the past and these events have the power to alter the life that Maria thought she was living forever.

Soon Maria finds herself accused of monstrous sins and crimes and she finds herself alone, in a dark and dank cell, a guttering candle her only source of light, as she is on trial for her life, accused of a notorious and heinous murder.

Who is the mysterious benefactor? Why are they her benefactor? Why must they remain in the shadows?

Did Maria commit murder? Or was the whole case a ghastly mistake? Or was it something else?

This novel is not merely set in the latter part of the 19th century, it actually takes the reader back to that time, so evocative is the writing.

An ideal summertime read and extremely well priced at only £8.99.

It's published by Matador and is published in support of Alzheimer's Research UK, so every copy you buy (either from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop or elsewhere) you are helping to support Alzheimer's Research UK.)

Diet of Doubt

Diet of Doubt is a love story set amongst the rarified atmosphere of French high cuisine, written by debut author Margaret Christopher.

Lisa Saunders is a freshly qualified catering student. She has a somewhat stormy and unpredictable interview with an internationally renowned master chef, Marcel Peronnaud.

She is shocked but thrilled when he decides to appoint her as the newest trainee at his own restaurant in Paris.

She has to be careful, however, as she is fully aware of his reputation of being a lady's man, with his latest "affaire de cœur" often making the headlines in the tabloid press.

Could she, should she, be the first attractive young woman who enters his life who spurns his amorous advances?

However, all is not quite what it seems. Is Marcel really the Lothario of the haute cuisine demimonde? Or could there a great deal more to this man than his public image?

Whilst travelling through France with Lisa as he records his new cookery programme, she sees a different, much more sensitive side to Marcel.

During the ensuing months Lisa's resolve crumbles and she begins to fall in love with Marcel.

But then evidence comes to light that he may, after all, be nothing more than a player.

Is their romance doomed? Or can a miracle save this culinary "affaire de cœur"?

This is an ideal romantic novel for the holiday reading list so pack it with your sunglasses and your sunscreen!

It's published by Matador in paperback at a very reasonable £8.99 and is, as ever, available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you'll find, over there >>>>>> to the right of this review.

Harold's Story The tale of an RAF Armourer in WWII

Harold's Story The tale of an RAF Armourer in WWII is the true story of Harold Marsh.

Harold's cousin, Daphne Davison discovered a collection of old audio recordings on a series of tapes.

The recordings were made by Harold so that his grandchildren would know of his part in the fight against the Nazi and their Axis allies.

Like many service veterans, Harold had not welcomed the opportunity to speak of what trials and tribulations he went through. But unlike most other veterans, Harold actually took the time and trouble to make an audio record of his experiences.

Daphne has merely transcribed the words of her cousin Harold. So the book is entirely his work.

It is also well, illustrated with photographs from the family album.

The story begins with Harold's early life in Seasalter on the north east coast of Kent, how Harold appeared in a carnival dressed as a penny collecting box and his sister dressed up as a butterfly.

Harold joined the Seas Scouts and the ordinary Scouts and attended summer camps and generally enjoyed themselves as young boys do.

He relates the amusing tale of how his grandfather, when using a new electric torch instead of his usual candle, attempted to extinguish the torch by blowing it out!

When Harold was about sixteen and a half he had a fancy to join the Royal Navy.However, his father dissuaded him from joining the Navy and suggested that he join the RAF, instead, which is what Harold did, a year or so before the beginning of World War 2.

However, he was too young to join under the Boy's Service scheme, so was advised to wait until he was seventeen and a quarter to join the RAF. Which he duly did.

The letter from the Air Ministry telling him to attend for a series of initiation tests at the Air Ministry in London.

He, and a large number of other young men, met in a large hall and took a number of different tests including a maths test and a medical test.

After the tests they were marched off to a Tube station and thence on to West Drayton in Middlesex where they began their training as RAF recruits.

The next morning they had a very good breakfast and ice cream at lunchtime and Harold began to think he might have made the right choice of military career!

After filling in forms, swearing allegiance to the King and getting a service number (648355) Harold was in the RAF. Complete with his own housewife! (You need to read the book to learn how and why this happened.)

After his initial training he was posted to Shrewsbury, Shropshire, where he was stationed when war was declared on 3rd September 1939.

Eventually he was posted to Pembrey in South Wales were his training as an armourer would commence.

Harold saw service in a variety of locations within the UK and abroad such as Singapore, from which he and his mates were evacuated in the nick of time, eventually arriving on a crowded ship in Columbo, Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.

They made their way to India where they saw service with American-made Mohawk planes which would sometimes shoot through their own propellers if the timing was set incorrectly.

Mention is also made of the problematic dhobi rash the cure for which was worse than the ailment!

The book then moves on to the post war years and is a moving and loving tribute to an extraordinary man and his loving family.

It is published by the Book Guild in hardback at £12.99 and is a very easy to read book.

It's available via the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you'll find just over the the right of this site.

Pendragon Rebel With a Cause

Pendragon Rebel With a Cause is a romantic tale.

It tells the story of a Welsh chieftain who sets out to prove that love can conquer all.

It's a multi-layered book, with interweavings of the spirit of Pendragon, the ancient Welsh chieftain, with the life of a very modern young Welshman by the name of Dewi.

Dewi declines to be browbeaten by his Welsh nationalist friends who, because they know they are right, think this gives them carte blanche to bully Dewi.

But Dewi decides to show them and the world that love can conquer all.

He meets people who are influential in his life. There's the unexpected encounter with a cousin of his from America, then the extremely unexpected encounter with Helen. Extremely unexpected because he had been lead to believe that Helen was dead. But the truth was that Helen was very much still in the land of the living.

There's the swirling emotions of hatred and of love, and also of life and death that permeate this moving romantic novel.

Will a miracle happen for Dewi? If it does, would he recognise it for what it was? And would it make any significant difference, in any case?

The book takes the reader through modern day and ancient Wales, combining and mixing the two in a way that will resonate with everyone with even a tiny speck of Welsh blood within them.

It costs £9.99 and is published by the Book Guild. It is available via the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop, just to the right of this review.

First Choose Your Congo

First Choose Your Congo is the ninth travel novel by author David Fletcher.

There are two Congos, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo.

Planning a visit to the Congo? Then perhaps you had better take the advice of experienced traveller and author, David Fletcher and remember to First Choose Your Congo!

First Choose Your Congo is the latest in the Brian's World series of novels.

Adjudged by some as provocative and irreverent, they are also highly amusing, as is the latest book.

Brain and his long suffering wife take the advice of David Fletcher and they take the necessary steps to choose their Congo. They opt, sensibly, one might hope, for the safer of the two Congos, the Republic of Congo.

Brian decides to secure a place on an expedition right into the heart of the rainforest of the Congo. Where, thankfully, there are no rebels and dangerous gangs of armed thugs to contend with. Just a blissful paradise of an unspoilt environment, filled with natural wonders to be experienced by the fortunate traveller.

It is a fascinating read, a book, illustrated with a selection of beautiful colour photographs, which takes the reader into a seldomly visited part of the heart of Africa.

From the trials of the tsetse flies and the Brazza monkey, the males of which have a bright blue scrotum and the facial features of an Ayatollah to the Gorilla sanctuaries, this book is certainly a useful primer for the person thinking of visiting the Congo (the right part of the Congo, naturally!) or the confirmed armchair traveller.

It is published by Matador Travel in paperback at £12.99.

It is available for purchase at the That's Books and Entertainment shop, which you will find over to the right of this review.

Small Lives, Big World

Small Lives, Big World is a collection of short stories by R. M. Green.

The inspiration for the stories comes from the absolutely extraordinary amount of world travels that he has undertaken.

Over 90 countries, in total, have brought together the inspirations for these vastly different short stories.

Or are they all that vastly different? For Green has noticed that all the people he met, no matter what their many different and varied lives they lead, there is one common thread that binds them together, that of a firm belief in hope.

The stories, he reassures his readers, are all based on people he has met and on events that he, himself, witnessed on his many different and varied journeys around the globe, from Australia to Zambia. And some from closer to home, too.

There are ten stories in total, they reveal miniature universes of pain, frustration, of angst, fear, of love and joy, and of hope.

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 in paperback and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right hand side of this review.

Summer Skool

Summer Skool is an interesting book about being a teacher. Because it is written by a real teacher, Edmund Irons.

Edmund Irons spent 20 years working as a PR consultant, an industrial editor and a copywriter. He also wrote a number of books, news and feature articles.

Eventually he decided that he had had quite enough of the demanding clients and their often impossibly tight deadlines, so he decided that he would retrain as a teacher, instead.

After all, wouldn't that be a much quieter, calmer lifestyle? A nice, steady income, all those long holidays and never home later than 5pm!

And then, reality hit home and Edmund found himself in a highly stressful job, that was very time consuming and one in which newly qualified teachers could often finds themselves putting in 12 hour days.  And assailed by problem pupils and problem educational policies, too!

During his first year as a newly qualified teacher Edmund found work as a supply teacher, working throughout a total of in excess of a dozen different schools.

He realised that many pupils at the different schools he worked in all used the same tactics during lessons to disrupt the learning process.

"But how and where could they be learning these tactics?" he thought, idly.

Eventually such musings caused him to wonder if someone, somewhere, was offering pupils lessons in the art of disrupting the learning process?

These thoughts eventually coalesced into the book Summer Skool which is about a group of boys who take special classes to learn tactics to disrupt lessons and bring chaos to the classrooms.

And they then test out their newly obtained skills on the put upon Mr Godfrey.

Although the book is humorous, Edmund does point out that it has a serious side to it, as he hopes that if read by teachers -both old and new hands at the education game- it might help them develop a better understanding of what is happening in their classrooms.

We watch as pupils learn the "no pen" trick, the use of relevant conversation to delay a teacher, what break time is really for, the masterful employment of misdirection, the use of blinds to interfere with the lesson and so on.

It's published by Matador Education, so if you are a teacher, or you know a teacher, or if you have children or you were a child at one stage in your life, this book -at £8.99 in paperback- is worth every penny!

It's available from the that's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

Legerdemain

Legerdemain is a new novel by Anne Wodehouse, the distant cousin to P. G. Wodehouse.

It's a romantic novel set in the rural Midlands back in the early 1970s.

A typically urban couple decide that they want to live the good life. For this, surely, will be the answer to the many problems of their lives?

When they arrive in their rural idyl, to live in a derelict farmhouse, they realised that perhaps things are not going to be as idyllic as they had hoped or thought?

As the wheels fall off their metaphorical hay cart, they meet some of the rather flamboyant local residents and realise that running away from your problems is never a good solution as they can all run very quickly after you.

It is a story of relationships that flounder and eventually fall to bits, of new relationships that suddenly pop up and become something more than they might have been, and all set against a backdrop of people weird, wonderful and, when you come down to it, just all very, very human folks, with all the faults and foibles that usually entails.

There's James, who drinks far too much and has a different lie and excuse as to why he drinks to excess to match every drink he takes.

There's his wife, Sarah who is sickened and utterly defeated by what her husband has become and their two children, too.

James will remain in the city in a flat, whilst Sarah and the children will live in a self-sufficient smallholding in the country.

There are marriages, deaths and the hope of unexpected new beginnings both in the city and out of the city.

Legerdemain is published by the Book Guild at £9,99, in paperback.

Legerdemain is ideal to be packed for your summer holidays and you can buy it at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right hand side of this review.

The Voice and the Echo

In The Voice and the Echo BJ Bulckley brings their readers a gritty story of the last 40 years of social and political unrest.

It follow the lives of five neophyte journalists as they stumble from the heady days of the 1960s when everyone was going to change the world, right through to the less-than-inspired Noughties, with the cynical "do whatever it takes" attitude epitomised by the excesses of the tabloid press of the day.

The journalists the reader is asked to follow are Marcus Roache, Clive Parkhouse, Clara Tomlinson, Dave Shearman and Mike Boddington.

They meet together when they are tasked with producing the university's newspaper, The student Voice.

We are with Marcus and Clive, through the ensuing 40 years of major news stories and world events, strikes, political unrest, corruption of police officers and the "institutional racism" of the police during those years. And of the problems and excesses within the tabloid press.

And what happens to the very believable characters within it.

It is published by Matador at £9.99.

Charlie Green and the Pirate's Treasure

Charlie Green and the Pirate's Treasure is the first novel for West Sussex-based writer Martyn Blunden.

He was inspired to write this book by watching his young daughter's pretend play games.

The hero of Charlie Green and the Pirate's Treasure is Charlie Green himself.

He is a feisty and brave boy of 11 years of age, he lives with his mum, his little sister and his older brother.

The family moves to a new house which is next to an abandoned airfield.

An abandoned airfield, next to the house? What a brilliant place for children to play on! After all, it was only used for grazing sheep and there were some footpaths crossing it, so what could possibly be wrong?

But... why were the local villagers so agitated about the airfield and its rusting hangers and crumbling concrete control tower? Why were they so insistent that the children should never be allowed to play there?

And why was there a face at the attic window of their new house? A window to a room nobody had access to?

Of course, the boys decide to search through the hangers, even though they are aware of the villager's warnings and the entreaties of their own mother.

They find that the workshop area of the hanger is filled with valuable tools and they also find that there is a special and very secret airplane with amazing powers.

The previous owner of the property, a man called Oliver, had vanished under mysterious circumstances many years previously.

But Oliver had been searching for a treasure map of Captain William Kidd, the Scottish sailor and Captain who was hung,  some say unjustly, as a pirate.

Oliver is actually trapped, back in time, on board a 17th century sailing ship.

But what did Harry the local postman know about Oliver and his mysterious little trips?

Could the children reach back through the years? If they could, would it be possible for them to save Oliver?

This is an exciting adventure yarn for all children and adults.It is published by Matador at £8.99 in paperback and needs to be on your Christmas filler list!

It's available via the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop, along with thousands of other books, CDs, DVDs, etc.

Next of Kin

Next of Kin is a fictional book that is rooted in the factual observations of its author, Bernadette Maclean.

The story is set in a typical village in rural Ireland and it commences with a funeral of one of the most valued members of the life of the village, which is called Prim.

The village has just witnessed the funeral of an influential and very wealthy village inhabitant, Luke Mulryan.

Luke had made his fortune -and it was rumoured to be a considerable fortune, at that- in running a highly successful racehorse business.

Luke had made promises to a number of the inhabitants of Prim. But, as the book carefully reveals, some relatives of Luke had designs on his fortune. And as they are without scruples so were none too careful about how they might be able to lay their dirty hands on the money!

However, even the most well thought through plans can come awry when there is added to the mix the greed of the plotters, the lusts of the flesh, gambling and even a little bit of marital infidelity.

And then a sprained wrist -not even the wrist of a main protagonist!- brought about the precipitous and dreadful downfall of the plotters.

This book is a rare triumph. It is the first book by Bernadette Laclean and is set within the type of rural village that she was raised in in County Longford, Ireland.

It is written with joy, clarity and with great sympathy, even, perhaps for some of the characters who might not deserve any sympathy!

It is published by the Book Guild in paperback at £12.99 it is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

I can heartily recommend this book.

Starganzia

Starganzia is a thrilling science fiction novel for children. Apparently it is based upon a car racing game invented by author Jay K Price to keep her son and his friends amused and the works of Dr Immanuel Velikovsky.

The novel tells the story of Marco, Suzy and Jo, and their arrival at Schloss Montrosa, which is a castle that is chock full of magic, microchips and mystery.

They are to stay there for the summer holidays as the guests of their uncle, Professor Egbert  Able, who is a secret scientist.

Soon they find themselves in an adventure that they never could have imagined!

They find a riddle in the castle library, a riddle that leads them on to a quest, a quest to save the very fabric of the universe itself!

They meet a crazy variety of mysterious creatures and denizens of different worlds whilst they are on their quest.

But disaster looms in the form of Spondoolix, the evil and very greedy king of Spondoola.

Will the three children get home?

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 in paperback and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right of this review.

Taking a Chance

Taking a Chance is a new novel written by Lesley M. Francis. It is, in fact, her debut novel.

It tells the story of the relationship between Imogen and her mother, Ada.

When Imogen was 50, Ada was dying.

As people do, Imogen begins to reminisce about the history of their relationship.

Imogen has a quirky way of coping with problems, which the reader will learn about.

However, whilst Imogen (who is one of those poor souls describable as being: "Too nice for their own good") is lovingly and patiently nursing Ada through this, her final ailment, Ada makes a confession to Imogen.

This revelation is an utter bombshell with the capability to not only totally destroy the once living relationship between mother and daughter it also has the power to smash the entire family to pieces.

Ada had employed charm throughout her life to get what she wanted. It must have come as a very rude awakening to realise that there are people, such as the staff at HMP Holloway Prison who... but that's getting a little ahead of ourselves.

To find out why Ada ended up in Holloway Prison and the secret that she nearly took to the grave, but, perhaps rather foolishly, didn't, you will have to read Taking a Chance!

It's an exceptionally well-written and well-realised novel, published by Matador at £9.99, available from the that;s Books and Entertainment bookshop.

The Politician's Daughter

The Politician's Daughter is another Petra Minx mystery written by Marion Leigh.

Oddly enough this is the first mystery novel about RCMP sergeant Petra Minx, but the distribution of the novel has been taken over by Matador for the publisher Rudling House.

Matador published the second Petra Minx novel Dead Man's Legacy, last year.

But to the matter in hand.

The daughter of a prominent Canadian politico took a job for the summer onboard the Titania, described as a megayacht.

Unfortunately, she went missing and so it was that Petra Minx, RCMP Marine Unit Sergeant, is ordered to cut short her holiday and to begin an investigation into the disappearance.  

Due to the fact that secrecy is of the essence, Petra Minx decides that she will handle the case as an undercover investigation.

She obtains a position on the boat as a hostess. The Titania was the last place Emily, the missing girl, was seen alive.

But onboard are several surprises for Sergeant Minx, including the fact that her dear friend Carlo is working as a barman on the Titania, on behalf of Interpol.

Nobody on the Titania denies that Emily was there. But it would have been nice if all of the different stories for the reason why Emily left the Titania could have matched!

So, what exactly happened to Emily? Is she alive or dead? And exactly why is Carlo on board?

What does he know? What can he and Petra find out?

This is another exciting novel about a character who has the potential to become as famous as Poirot.

The book is published by Rudling House at £8.99 and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find just to the right of this review.

Even Stranger

Even Stranger is a new novel in the "Strange" series of novels by Marilyn Messik.

It was the time when the Swinging Sixties were turning into the stolid seventies.

Stella's life is not quite what she had hoped it would be.

Stella is just an ordinary girl. Well, except for the fact that she possess (or is possessed by?) some rather remarkable psychic abilities.

She wants a normal life. She craves a normal life, but unfortunately abnormal things will just keep on happening with to her or near to her.

But exactly who can she trust? What was wanted of her? Could she help? Were they endangering her life? Did the even care?

Could her life ever, really, be normal?

This book is published by Matador at £7.99 and is available from the that's Books and Entertainment book shop.

Invisible Pleasures

Invisible Pleasures is the début work of architect turned author R. Pollard.

Although he was trained to be an architect, it has always been the burning desire of R. Pollard to write a book and this is that book, written under the main literary influences upon the author, Dostoevsky, Naipaul and Proust.

The book is a mixture of a paean  to unrequited love and a travelogue to a variety of far flung locations around the world before the march of "progress" rendered them less than they once where.

The book explores the first tremors of his imagination  as a young child, it then touches on his memories of the Second world War, then it cavorts through the wild and exuberant life of London in the vibrant and exciting swinging sixties.

It then shifts focus to the other side of the world where he finds gainful employment as an architect in both Borneo and Malaya.

But as well as being an amusing and agreeable travelogue memoir and as the French might put it an "la mémoire de l'amour" it also raises some deep and, perhaps pertinent, questions such as "What are we?" and "Where are we coming from or going?" (This is looked at from the divine or the humanistic perspectives.)

The book is well-written. Extremely well-written. We read, well, almost live, really to horrific and confused life of Great Grandmother Dix, (who was "all of a much sweat!" of how he meets a variety of characters falls in love with some, falls out of love with some and lives life as fully as he could.

There are also little discursive trips down memory lane -what it is like for a toddler to fill its nappy- and a brief but edifying discussion on the deeper philosophical undercurrents of Robocop.

And there are a panoply of bon mots that season this delightful book.  

It is the author's first. Hopefully it will not be his last.

It is published by Matador at £12.99 and can be bought at the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop, which you'll find to the right of this review.

Trackbed Tales

Trackbed Tales is a new collection of  short stories by author N. M. Scott.

The stories are all set in and around the very British world of preserved steam railway lines.

But it is not just the locomotives, the vintage railway carriages, the antique signal boxes and the mid-Victorian station buildings, the old, echoing engine sheds and the mile after mile of preserved railway tacks and boxes and boxes of railway paraphernalia that are preserved.

For along with the ephemera there are the spectral presences that cling to the physical.

There are places where the dead do not rest in peace, but in pieces, there are creatures that know far, far too much, there are curiously marked human skulls found in hat boxes, and a variety of links with the past. Links that would far better be forgotten.

In hardback at £9.99 this Book Guild publication (available at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop) is ideal for lovers of ghost stories and for those who are fans of preserved railway lines.

Libby at the Botanic Gardens

Libby at the Botanic Gardens is a charming book by Basabi Banerjee.

It tells, for children and the adults in their life, the story of Libby the Labrador.

Libby was born in Australia but moved to Singapore to be with her new family.

Libby lived with her Mum, her Dad and Tipper and Ricky.

And they enjoyed living in Singapore, known as "the city within a garden" so she had lots of lovely walks.

One day a magic palm tree gives Libby a very precious, special gift. This leads to some wonderful walks and a exiting adventure in the Botanic Gardens.

In just one morning Libby learns to dance, foils a cruel bully and befriends some very special heritage trees.

Of course, Libby then wants to relate all of these wonderful tales to her new friend, the palm tree.

This book is illustrated by the skilful hand of Jeffrey Seow, an artist and illustrator with 30 years of experience.

The book is hard back and large format and costs £7.99.

It is published by The Book Guild and is available via the That's Books an d Entertainment bookshop. You'll find it to the right of this review.

A Sister's Crusade

A Sister's Crusade is a historical novel set in the times of the Crusades.

Written by novelist Ann Turner (author of Heartsease) tA Siater's Crusade tells the story of two sisters, Aubrette and Rowena. However, they grow to maturity unaware that they are related, that they are, in fact, sisters.

Rowena meets the man who is destined to become her future husband, Simon Fitzroy, who is one of the illegitimate offspring of King Henry II.

However, that day was to be a fateful day for other reasons, as it was also on that day that Aubrette discovers that they are related. That they are, actually, daughters of the local lord.

Aubrette stays with her sister, even serving as her maid after Rowena becomes married.

There is an incident that is most tragic and, Aubrette becomes the secret lover of Simon, her sister's husband.

Her sister is kept in the dark about the affair, until Aubrette becomes pregnant by her lover.

After the child is born, the baby boy is taken away from Aubrette and is given to Rowena for her to raise as her own child.

Aubrette, who thought that Simon was truly in love with her, was married, however unwillingly, to Hugh, who is a companion to Duke Richard who is a loyal and faithful friend of Simon.

However, when the King dies, Richard I succeeds him to the throne and he journeys with Simon to the Holy Land for a Crusade.

Aubrette and Rowena accompany them on the long, perilous journey as attendants to Queen Berengaria, Richard's wife, who has not been given the attention that is due to the wife of the King.

There are a whole series of calamitous and traumatic events that beset them and Simon marries Aubrette in Cyprus, before they return to England.

Now back at home, Aubrette believes she has settled into a life of comfortable domesticity. Life, it seems, is perfect.

Or is it? Can a threat from an enemy from a totally unexpected quarter spell ruin for her happiness?

This book is destined to become a classic of its genre.

It costs £9.99 and is published by Matador and is available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, the portal to which is to the right side of this review.

A Stitch in Time

A Stitch in Time is the début novel from new author Ian Murray-Watson.

It relates the story of how a group of research scientists hidden away in a remote part of rural Wales are involved in a project which, unbeknown to them, has the capacity to destroy time itself, thus destroying the entire universe as it is known to us. And the rest of its inhabitants, also.

Unfortunately the Gods are, due to their somewhat restrictive terms of reference, unable to offer any interference to stop the cataclysmic events that the scientists are about to unleash  upon the universe.

However, what the Gods can do is they can send a special envoy to the dream world, Astralia, to seek help.

The inhabitants of Astralia, the Astralians, make the offer to send agents to the world. Unfortunately when these agents arrive it is usual that they have no clue about why they were dispatched to the world.

However, back in reality, or what is passing for reality at the moment, the leader of the scientific team, Tom, meets up with Lucy, who is the woman of his dreams.

And, true to the ways of the world, they fall in love. Or do they? And do they really, really have any idea of who they are, in reality?

Reality as we understand it starts to disintegrate. So can they, or anyone for that matter, really step in to save the universe? Yes or no? Or is the answer more complicated than that?

The novel is challenging, intriguing and exceptionally well written and is a worthy début novel.

It is published by Matador at £10.99 in paperback and is available through the That's News and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this review.

Rebel Without a Clue

Rebel Without a Clue is a memoir by Janet Green.

Janet was a social worker and a senior one, at that.

However, the pathway that Janet took to this position in her life, both professional and personal was just a little unusual and just a tad interesting, though that's probably an understatement, to be honest.

The memoir begins in the 1950s.

On the first page we find that Janet was more than a little bit stoned as she began her first gig as a stripper in a less-than-salubrious pub in Hackney.

She points out that at age 27 she should, probably, have been married to a Jewish accountant, had a couple of children, perhaps with another on the way. And maybe living in Croydon.

But, instead, there she was a dope smoking, stripping lesbian.

Her first gig was a little nervous as one would expect, but it went over quite well. As far as she could tell.

But how did she end up there?

Her family life was troubled, she was sexually abused at 14 and entered into a range of jobs from stripping to nude modelling, nursing, shop worker, secretary, student and finally a social worker.

She lived in a hippy commune, went from relationship to relationship, was a mother best described as "mad" and now, after her retirement, she decided to write her memoirs.

As an apparently respectable spinster (Janet's description) her friends were surprised at her decision to write her memoirs. After all, they thought, what had she got to write about?

Well, now they know!

Janet was a person of the swinging sixties, free love, sexual experimentation, hash smoking, the pain of discovering that her sister had been subjected to sexual abuse by their father during her childhood.

And how she finally managed to get it all together to become no less of a rebel but far more clued than she had been.

This is a very interesting book that probably tells something of  the stories of many people who lived through the swinging sixties. But thankfully Janet had the courage and the ability to tell her story.

It is published by Matador in paperback at £9.99.

It is available from the Thats Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you'll find to the right of this review.

The Mole Man Part 2

The Mole Man Part 2 is a continuation of The Mole Man books by author Gerry Rose.

The village of Umbridge in Berkshire is a lovely, happy, pretty village.

They are celebrating winning the Best Village in Bloom competition and the mayor of Umbridge, the Honourable Lancelot Stevenson OBE, should be a very happy and pleased man.

But he isn't. And with very good reason. For some time previously a village boy vanished, never to be seen again.

But then, something incredible happens. Another boy disappears, but he is found again.

And what is happening beneath the land just outside the boundary of the village?

Are the stories of strange, giant creatures living in a subterranean lair just a myth? Or is there some truth behind these tales?

The mayor is desperate to solve the case and fellow villagers Benjamin Crew and his smart friend Paula Gladstone are also eager to discover the truth of what happened and what might be happening.

But what, exactly, are Billy and Dave up to in the village woods at night? What are they doing? What might they find lurking there? Or what might find them?

And what was the significance of the next full moon? And who or what was it significant for?

This book is written for children aged 9 to 11 and it is published in paperback by The Book Guild at £9.99.

That is to say if they can prize this eminently readable book from the hands of the adults in their lives!

The Mole Man Part 2 and the Mole Man Part 1 are both available from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

Rolo

Rolo is a book by drama teacher and new author Lawrence Prestidge.

It tells the story of a little boy called Max.

Max lives with is auntie, his uncle and his cousin, all members of the Whitfield family.

Sadly, the Whitfield trio are not the loving family that Max knows he wants and deserves.

Eventually, tired of being bossed around by them, he decides to run away to hide himself in the forest.

But! Max could not have known that the forest was the home to a large creature. A very large creature indeed.

Because the forest is the home to a nine foot tall Walpertinger!

Although the Walpetinger (who is called Rolo) looks extremely ferocious and frightening, he is really a very gentle natured soul and soon the two become firm friends.

But the two have not counted on the Whitfields! Despite their natural fear of the forest and all its inhabitants, the hatch a plot to enter the forest and recapture poor Max and return him to a miserable life of deprivation and slavery!

They devise a cruel and devious plot to force Max to return to a life of horror as their slave, but first they must outwit Rolo who is determined to save his new friend from the clutches of the evil Whitfields!

It's a fantastic tale with some wonderful illustrations by G. William, it's ideal  for children and adults to read together or alone. It is published by Matador at £7.99 in paperback.

It's available from the Thats Books and Entertainment bookshop, you'll find the entrance to the bookshop just to the right side of this review.

The Horch and the Rotterdam ingots

In The Horch and the Rotterdam Ingots, former detective and armed guard at a prime ministerial residence in East Sussex, author R. W. Strachan tells the compelling and exciting tale of four Wehrmacht officers who are given the task of removing in excess of 4,000 gold ingots from the vaults of a bank in Rotterdam.

The temptation they face is far too much And, well, who will miss the 40 ingots that they decide to liberate from the hoard?

They decided to stash these ingots in a secret safety deposit box in a bank in neutral Switzerland for their use after the hostilities were over.

However, this operation to free the golden 40 is taking place during the trying conditions of the Second World War and the final ten gold ingots never make it to their destination.

Their fate is to be stashed away, in secret, within the hollow chassis of a German officer's staff car, a Horsch.

70 years after these events a young English oil executive by the name of Calum Breffit finds himself working for a Texas-based oil firm in ther office in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan.

Whilst on a trip to the town of Kharkov in the Ukraine, Calum's car fails and he finds it necessary to seek the shelter of a farm in a remote rural area.

Within the buildings of the farm complex he discovers the abandoned Horch, covered in tarpaulins. The staff car still bore its official swastika pennants and bore enough traces of its sinister past to make it obvious what its original purpose had been.

Calum decides that he is going to rebuild this car and, as he starts to work on the car he begins to uncover the troubled backstory of of the vehicle, discovering links with the defeat of the German armies at Stalingrad and he discovers that the past has a way of linking to the present day, often in ways that involve one's own present in a way that was very unexpected.

This is an intriguing and charming tale and is published by The Book Guild at £8.99 in paperback.

It's on sale via the Thats Books and Entertainment online bookshop, the portal of which is to be found on the righthand side of this review.

The Mind-Forged Sword

The Mind-Forged Sword is an intriguing book (in hardback) by Richard Hughes.

It teachers readers how they should be able to derive principles from a wide range of different situations.

How we can then use study and reflection to refine them so that we may then be able to apply them to future situations.

Richard also uses his writings to mine from the book The Book of five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi and expands upon the core concepts within that seminal work.

He also uses as a source of inspiration the ancient and extremely worthy classic, The Art of War, by Sun Tsu.

Richard Hughes is a marital arts expert himself and is also a well-practised swordsman in his own right.

He teaches martial arts classes at Loughborough University, with the capability to teach multiple martial arts disciplines.

His deep studies on the theories behind martial arts have enabled him to develop a wide scope of knowledge which enabled him to develop and refine a system that develops the individual by the employment of the style, rather than fit the style ot the individual practitioner.

Richard enables and to some extent empowers the reader to work out which methods can lead to their individual success and then work on them.

The book is ideal for those who want to study martial arts and to develop not only their skills but also their own self.

At £13.99 (published by The Book Guild) this is a book for the bookshelf of every martial arts student or practitioner.

It will make an ideal present for them, it is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just find the link to the right hand side of this review.

The Plane Now Standing at Platform 3

The Plane Now Standing at Platform 3 is a book by E. James Chapman.

It tells the hilarious story of how things went when he decided to take his family on holiday.

How hard, one might have thought, could it be to take a family from Spain to Canada by air, have a good time in Canada and then fly back to Spain?

This book by E. James Chapman will explain exactly how hard it can be, exactly how hard it was.

They meet up with a family that were so vile and so badly behaved that they would probably be barred from Hell, they then find a riot in the baggage hall, suffer from food poisoning and find themselves on a plane with some passengers driven to -quite understandable, really, given the rather trying circumstances- hysteria when the pilot announces that he "has lost the runway and can't find it" and several passengers began to hammer on the cockpit door, begging the pilot to "please!" take them down.

Well, that's fine, then? I mean, how could things really get any worse than that?

Oh, continue to read the hilariously harrowing (or harrowingly hilarious, take your pick) tale of the rest of the holiday, because, it seems that the flight out was really just a warm up act for the real horrors of this holiday!

There are airport staff who seem completely unfamiliar with how to operate their own computer systems, a pilot who seems unable to work out how much fuel he will require, and Canadian police officers who seem to be utterly bewildered by the concept of a country called Spain, with people living in it with British accents.

And who were utterly bemused by the concept that to the people of Spain their country is not Spain, but Espana. And also bewildered by the fact that they had had an encounter earlier that day with an Indian woman who had a British passport.

The Chapmans were also almost arrested by the officers for having friendly children (travel advice that you do not get on TripAdvisor is: "Do not be over-friendly in Canada as it confuses the inhabitants and makes them think you are up to something nefarious, like kidnapping your own children. For example.")

Eventually they were allowed to leave Canada (much to the annoyance of Eugene, find out about him in the book, OK?) and that should be that, right? All back to normal?

Well, no. Next came Jim getting stuck to a vacuum wielding airplane toilet seat. Just before his bowels... perhaps you'd best read the rest of this bit in the book...

There next came a fight with baggage handling systems and an unfortunate encounter on the London to Malaga return flight with a woman who was so large that she did not realise she was pregnant, not even when her waters broke. So the pilot made an emergency landing in France. Where the large pregnant woman was met with collapsable stretchers. Which almost certainly weren't supposed to be collapsible. And which probably assisted the woman in giving birth on the floor of the aircraft.

To learn more about the rest of the disasters, you'll need to buy the book published by Matador (in the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop to the right hand side of this review) for £8.99.

Nobody is Better Than Me

Nobody is Better Than Me is a passionate and compelling book written by Kate Vialva.

The concepts within this book are rooted very firmly in Kate's faith in God and Jesus.

Kate is a trained counsellor and has worked within the NHS as a staff nurse and has gained experiences and knowledge which have helped shape her into the person that she is today.

It is written with the intention of giving the reader a better understanding of what they can do should they find themselves facing major adversities and problems within their own lives, or perhaps when they find a friend or family member who is facing a dilemma, based on Christian principles.

Kate's message is a simple one, awaken the spirit within us so that we may reflect and recognise who we really are.

In the introduction she reveals the basis for her apparently sudden revelation that she should write what would become her book, Nobody is Better Than Me.

One point that she does make in the introduction is iterated and reiterated several times throughout the book is that: "As long as we become our brother's keeper, we can overcome the many storms  of life."

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop, which you you will find to the right hand side of this review.

Sea Journal

Sea Journal, written by Lisa Woollett, is one of the best researched, best written, most readable books that I have encountered in many years.

It is a wonderful book that covers a year long wandering along the coastal areas of Britain.

Lisa covers a wide range of topics and subjects. From natural history to evolution, to geology, latest scientific thinking and ancient myths and racial memories of cataclysmic floods that radically altered the shape of the British Isles, meaning that vaste swathes of land were lost to what is now the North Sea and the Irish Sea.

We learn about an adult and a barefooted four year old child who were walking through a forested area in Wales in what is now Cardigan Bay. We know this event happened because they left their footprints, now visible again, after they were created at some time between 4,000 to 6,000 years ago.

We read about skates and rays, of lost forests once again rediscovered thousands of years later, of great storms of the past that helped alter the very shape of our lands.

Then there's the tale of the Great Lego Spill of 1997. Whe3n five million Lego pieces were lost overboard in a great storm.

There's images of seaweeds of various types washed up after storms, branched sponges and of sea monsters heard and monsters seen. And, of course, identified as not being especially monstrous at all.

Lisa also meets wavewatchers who like nothing more than to visit the beaches and watch out for bigger and better waves, a potentially risky sort of a pastime, others who are beachcombers like Lisa, people who search out and seek out items that have been washed ashore.

(EDITOR: When I was a child I lost my spade on a beach in Wimereux, a coastal town in Northern France. We returned the next year. And, to my delight, I found what I considered in my childish enthusiasm to be moy spade. It had been battered by the waves and smoothed by the sands of the beach so was not exactly the same,m but in my heart I knew it was my wooden and metal spade. But I left it as I knew, even at that young age, that it was no longer truly mine, that it belonged on the beach of Wimereux.)

That incident left in me a sense of wonder about all things coastal. A wonder that this book has rekindled.

It is published by Zart Books (www.zartbooks.co.uk) in association with the Eden Project and costs £14.99. It's a book for everyone, but will make a welcome addition to any council library service and to any school, college or university library.

You can buy the book at the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review. Or to make a direct purchase of the title please visit https://goo.gl/MBWfyo.