Bertrand & Wally Tackle The Clove Hitch Virus

Bertrand & Wally Tackle The Clove Hitch Virus is a new story from the inventive pen of Eric Carroll.

It tells the story of a dreadful pandemic that threatens the very existence of the insect kingdom.

The deaths of many millions of insects are reported and Bertrand, who is a beetle, and his friend Wally, who is a woodland wasp meet up with famed earwig scientist, Professor Clapperstein after an exciting journey through Lower Tinklewigglebottom Wood, at the professor's important research establishment.

The professor has made a remarkable discovery at a human landfill site, a discovery that will take them all on a wild journey through both time and space.

They meet up with aliens and medieval knights, but can they find out about the Clove Hitch Virus and discover a cure for it?

It's aimed at younger readers but older readers will also enjoy this book as it is a really fine quirky delight of a read.

It's colourfully illustrated by Bryan P. Ceney.

It's published by The Bookguild at £9.99.

Juliette – A mother's story of hope in the face of adversity

“Juliette is the heart-moving story of a little girl whose short life transcends the time she came to stay.”

A Christian who lost a child to perinatal death has authored a book to help others facing their own tough situation find the courage and hope to embrace life beyond their present hardships.

In Juliette, Aude Lombard recounts her deeply moving story from the moment she and her husband Baptiste received the prognosis that their little girl wouldn't live past birth, not only by sharing its profound painfulness but also the frequent moments of light.

With courage and frankness, she relates the long eight months during whicj Juliette grew inside her and beyond, describing the journey as one “full of joy, peace and revelation” that often felt like gifts from heaven.

Aude says: “To reduce our story to that of parents who lost a baby with Trisomy 13 would mean missing out on the many learnings that came with our journey. I have never felt so close to God as I did through this challenge, right to the end. We learned that life has meaning and a purpose no matter how short.”

The book addresses a range of topics likes finding peace in the face of pain, bonding with your unborn child, when prayer ‘seems’ to go unanswered and rebuilding faith and trust. As such, Juliette will appeal to anyone facing a personal difficulty as well as those who enjoy books about the miraculous resilience of the human spirit.

The book doesn't shy away from the reality of Christian suffering. In its pages, Aude attempts to find “a balance between encouragement through faith and staying anchored in what’s real”.

It was only after her loss and during the grieving process that she turned to that age-old question people often ask when faced with similar tragic experiences: “Where is God in this?”

Aude says: “I wasn’t able to imagine how God would be able to use this. I couldn’t see past my hurt. With time, new perspectives opened, and with them peace and transformation came … gradually, I found the road to confidence.

The central message of Juliette is that God always delivers the right resources to face life’s adversities. We may not always know what we need, but God will provide the “boosts” that help. The book also reminds readers that is it healthy and natural to embrace their emotions by “leaving room to share what [they] are feeling, along with [their] fears and questions”.

Aude says: “This second part of the journey is just as rich in its teaching and is worth being valued. Sometimes, we can run after an instantaneous change, when there’s actually a maturing in the process of living out the challenge we are facing.”

In the book, Aude describes the changes she saw in her character, emotions and perspective. She learned that God is in the present, not in the past or future, and that this is where we will locate the resources of strength, joy, peace and love.

Whether readers are seeking inspiration or encouragement, in Juliette they will discover a heart-moving story full of hope in the face of adversity — because while sadness passes, joy remains.

Juliette – A mother's story of hope in the face of adversity

Aude Lombard

Published Summer 2022

Paperback: £13.99

ISBN: 978-1-3999-1735-3

Kindle: £6.99

Pages: 126

Reginald Belcik and the Mystery of the Diamonds

In Reginald Belcik and the Mystery of the Diamonds we read how Reginald Belcik becomes entangled in the mysterious death of a woman. 

Reginald digs for answers into the young woman's death, but this is complicated by the fact that he is rapidly falling in love with her mother.

Reginald is a widower and a retired engineer who lives a solitary life in a nice apartment complex. All is perfectly normal until he receives a totally unexpected visit from the president of the apartment complex's  residents association when he is suddenly asked to take over the position as the manager of the apartment complex. The vacancy had occurred because, unfortunately, the young lady who previously held the position had been murdered.

Reginald accepted the position as manager, takes possession of the keys. 

It was then that the situation becomes even more complicated, when Reginald discovers a shoebox filled with diamonds.

Reginald decides that he needs to investigate what had happened to the previous manager, but his investigations become complicated by the fact that he is falling in love with her mother.

But there is another murder, this time of a police detective and what involvement does a robot have in all of the mayhem?

It's a thriller novel from The Book Guild and is priced at £9.99.

Mus-Iggle

In the latest book for children by John Benneyworth, Mus-Iggle, we read about music, about learning to sing, to play and also to write music.

When Mus-Iggle was a tot, his dad, who is a jazz musician, wanted Mus-Iggle to learn to play music.

 But unfortunately he could not learn to play music. Of course this made Mus-Iggle very sad.

Mus-Iggle's mother was also a musician, in fact, she is an opera singer. She wanted Mus-Iggle to sing for her, but he could not sing for her. This also made Mus-Iggle even more sad!

However with the arrival of a new music teacher at his school. His new music teacher showed hm how he could "talk" with crochets and quavers and pretty quickly they were able to chat together in harmony. 

Mus-Iggle loved the fun this generated and very soon Mus-Iggle was writing songs and music.

In fact, Mus-Iggle eventually became a successful musical composer. 

The story is well-told and the illustrations bright and colourful.

It's published by Troubador's Children's books at £7.99. 

Learn about all the other Iggles at www.igglebooks.com.

Love in a Time of Pestilence

Love in a Time of Pestilence Is the fifth collection of poems from author and poet Heather Goddin.

It touches on a wide range of subjects, from being trapped at home during lockdown, how the phone became our dearest friend, how we kept in touch with friends and family some of them many, many miles away. How hugs became virtual simulations of the real thing.

Heather writes of flowers and of a caged bird, trapped whilst yearning to be free, of pleasures both small and large, taken when and how we could during the lockdown.

Heather muses on a humanist funeral, and ponders on hair cuts that just couldn't happen due to the lockdown. The village, she realises, will soon know who is or isn't a natural blonde! I hadn't actually thought of that!

Heather touches on many other matters, including rituals of ancient days and of dreams both futile or otherwise, of wishes wished and promises promised.

I like writing poetry. I only wish that I had the facility for writing poetry that Heather Goddin posses!

It's published by Troubador at £8.99.

Igor and the Twisted Tales of Castlemaine

Igor and the Twisted Tales of Castlemaine. You probably know about Igor. Igor was the assistant to Victor Frankenstein's dedicated but troubled assistant who worked with Frankenstein in his laboratory. 

But who was Igor? Where did he come from? What were his origins? And what happened to Igor when he managed to screw up enough courage to leave his abusive master and Frankenstein's Castle?

So pleased you asked Igor wound up in the village of Castlemaine. If you thought Frankenstein's Castle was weird, then wait until you see what happens in Castlemaine! 

The village is set deep within the Carpathian Mountains and appears to be subject to a curse. Or several.

There are ghostly happenings a-plenty and almost all the inhabitants seem to be perverted on one way or another.

Igor meets up with Esmerelda, the stunningly beautiful daughter of the homicidal local innkeeper. Esmerelda is also prone to the occasional outbursts of violence. Only natural, given the circumstances.

Esmerelda and Igor soon find themselves with a more than plentiful amount of trouble and fun. Maybe fun. 

They find themselves tangling with mediums, monsters, maniacs and murderers (that's the Ms covered!) a nun (oh dear! That nun!) and things spiritual and also demonic. Oh, yeah and some Zombies, of course.

Readers follow the duo as they stumble and stride through a variety of amazing adventures together.

It's written by long-term friends and horror movie fanatics Ian J. Walls and Richard L. Markworth.

If you ever thought "That's odd! Whatever did happen to Igor after all the fun and frolics with that Count?" buy this book (from Troubador, £9.99) and you'll learn more than you ever thought possible.

The method of reducing funeral costs is particularly enlightening. Or something.

The Madness of the Faithful

The Madness of the Faithful is a new novel from R H Williams.

All over the world a mysterious incident renders everyone to lose their consciousness for a brief moment in time.

But when everyone returns to awareness every aspect of whatever faith they had previously adhered to was stripped from them.

Those who had previously believed in God were left feeling bereft and numbed.

The cause of the event was unknown, but some people believe that the only possible cause of this cataclysmic event must have been a single, powerful outside agency.

However, some people are resentful of those who still seem to have some religious symbols in their life and wish harm on them, including violence.

We are introduced to Paul who is a middle-aged widower who is a recovering alcoholic. He had leaned very heavily on his religious beliefs to help him deal with the tragic loss of his wife.

However, after the incident that cost everyone their faith Paul begins to see his wife again and she leads him to a coastal village in Wales that holds particular significance to him and his wife, as it's a place that held great significance for them based on a visit during their honeymoon.

Paul becomes an important part of village life and together Paul and the other inhabitants work together to help each other deal with their altered world.

However, those who support the External Force are a danger and Paul needs to help protect what his now his new family from them before it is too late?

It's a beautifully moving book that explores many important themes and raises some important questions. Including what would we do under such circumstances?

It's published by Troubador at £10.99.

New Brighton

New Brighton is a new science fiction novel from the pen of Helen Trevorrow.

It's evening and Robyn Lockhart, resident of Brighton, which is a coastal city in East Sussex and some 47 miles south of London, is meeting up with her boyfriend Vincent. They are getting ready for a night on the town, but a storm is threatening. 

Robyn works as a waitress, she lives with her mother and her sister, Alice. In fact, Robyn often looks after her sister.

Whilst they are in the nightclub the storm breaks with a ferocity not seen in living memory. 

During the storm a large and rusting ship is washed up onto the beach. Early the next day the ship has already been removed from the beach and taken to a dock area where it is guarded. But why? Why would the authorities be interested in restricting access to an old, rusting hulk of a ship?

With the connivance of a friend of Vincent they manage to access the ship and Robyn finds something that seems, on the fact of it, to be utterly impossible. Almost magical, in fact. She pockets it before they have to flee the ship.

However, afterwards Robyn learns that her mother has had to travel to the hospital in London with Alice because Alice's illness has struck again.

Vincent decides to travel with Robyn to London. They learn that the trains to London are all cancelled due to the storm. No problem! They'd get the coach. but the coaches are all cancelled, too. 

On the spur of the moment Vincent decides that he would steal a motor scooter for them and they would ride to London. When they discover that the road to London has also been cancelled, that it ceases to exist not many miles out of Brighton they realise that all they know and remember about their lives including remembered trips to London probably never really happened.

The land between Brighton and where London should be is filled with row after row of polytunnels in which plants are growing.

If there is no London where have her sister and her mother gone? And why does Robyn keep meeting people who she thinks she should know, but doesn't?

After Vincent is savaged and seriously wounded by a polar bear which Robyn is able to kill, with Vincent's shotgun, she finds herself in hospital and meets her sister.

Suddenly Robyn is back in reality. Or is she? She has split up from Vincent (apparently) and Robyn begins to realise that things are just not right. And what's wrong with feeding the penguins of Brighton with the odd muffin or two? 

She keeps on being able to look back into the past and begins to learn that things just don't look right and that she and her new (old?) friends must work together to combat a dreadful, evil enterprise. And what is the role of her mother in this? And what did happen to her father? 

But now Robyn has to fight for her new cause, for Vincent, her sister and the baby girl that Robyn is now carrying.

The book is published at £8.99 in paperback and £14.99 by Red Dog Press https://www.reddogpress.co.uk.

You can buy it direct from Red Dog Press, Amazon and other retailers.

This is the best science fiction novel I have read in many years. I think British Science Fiction has an important new voice in Helen Trevorrow.

How good is it? I would wake up in the middle of the night and instead of going back to sleep I thought "I'll just turn the light on and read a couple more chapters."

Survivors of Origin

In the new novel from Paul Swaffield, Survivors of Origin, we meet Fred and Mary Quicklock. Times for Fred and Mary are, alongside many of their contemporaries, suffering from hard times in 17th century England.

However, their dire situation shows some signs of improvement when the son of Edward Buckingham, a wealthy ship owner, is brought into their lives.

Meanwhile the evil slave trade is making the participants of that dreadful enterprise very wealthy indeed. And others are eager to muscle their way into this vile but lucrative industry.

For some reason their son Ezra is drawn to a life on the seas. 

Due to a bad decision he swiftly finds himself in a world of greed, danger and violence. However, he also found companionship and love.

Captain Isaac Dunsmoore is in command of a brand new and sleek ship called the Rebecca-Ann. It's first voyage was a trans-Atlantic voyage from England to Belem, a port in Brazil, on the Amazon Delta mouth.

Rothwell Spurt is a ruthless pirate who is fleeing from the British Admiralty. He wants the Rebecca-Ann, as does the corrupt rulers of Belem, Garcia Paz. It looks possible that the maiden voyage of the Rebecca-Ann could be its last.

But Captain Dunsmoore has a new recruit to his crew, Ezra Quicklock and he and the first mate Horace Clunk, Taylor Potts seek out the help of the indigenous peoples of the area, the Tupi tribe and the enslaved Africans. 

Can the crew and their allies defeat Spurt and Paz and save the Rebecca-Ann from the clutches of Spurt and Paz? 

And can they restore peace, harmony and order in the port of Belem?

This is a swashbuckling novel which deserves a place on the bookshelf of every fan of this type of salty seagoing novel.

It's published by The  Bookguild at £8.99.

Burning Secret

Burning Secret is an exciting novel by R J Lloyd that is based on the extraordinary true life story of one of his ancestors.

R J Lloyd was working hard to trace his family tree. he had managed to trace it back to the 16th century. But he was unable to find any trace of his great-great-grandfather Enoch Thomas Price. It seemed that he had vanished without trace.

So, what had happed to him? After many years of false starts and dead ends a cousin called him with some exciting news. His cousin had found evidence of what had happened to Enoch Thomas Price all those years ago. 

A Californian called Susan Sperry had recently taken her retirement and finally had the time to search through a box of documents that her mother had given her three decades previously.

Susan Sperry found references to her great grandfather, Harry Mason, a wealthy hotelier from Florida who had died in 1919. What possible link could there be between poverty-stricken Enoch Thomas Price and wealthy hotelier Harry Mason? It transpired that they were the same person!

The story that writer R J Lloyd uncovered was one of poverty, violence, betrayal and triumph. And he has used his skills as an author to fill in the blanks.

It's 1844 and Enoch Price was born into grinding poverty. However, Price was an ambitious young man and he travelled to London to seek his fortune as a bareknuckle fighter. However, bareknuckle fighting was a murky world operating at the edges and often beyond of lawful society and soon Price finds himself in the clutches of an unscrupulous illegal moneylender well-known for his use of violence. 

He is, by now, a married man with three daughters and he is facing ruin and imprisonment. He decides to flee England for Jacksonville, Florida. The decision to abandon his wife and three little girls reportedly haunted him for the rest of his life.

By the time he arrived in Florida, Enoch Price is no more, replaced by Harry Mason.

By a series of adventurers in his new country, Harry Mason plays a vital role in the development of the growing city of Jacksonville, all through a variety of schemes and risk-filled enterprises. 

However, he is wracked with guilt over the callous way he abandoned his wife and three daughters and he makes contact with his wife, pleading with her to join him in Florida. However, she feels she cannot trust him and declines his offer.

Mason weds again, though bigamously, and he fights to keep his true identity a secret. However, his public life is one of significance and success and he achieves political prominence, becoming a member of the Florida State House of Representatives in 1903.

His business enterprises he boosts via a range of practices, not all of them honest and there is talk of him becoming the Governor of Florida. However, what good is it if a man gains success in his business life if his personal life is filled with bitter self-recrimination? 

He planned to return home to England and face the music but the intervention of the Great War and the subsequent virulent Spanish Flu put paid to his plans.

It's a well-written, poignant story of how one decision can change the outcomes of the lives of many.

It's published by Troubador at £10.99.

From Wolf to Supermutt

From Wolf to Supermutt and everything in Between is a book by canine behaviourist Erika K Goshi.

Erika adopted a dog called Mila and, perhaps naively, believed that because Mila was a mature dog and not a puppy that she wouldn't really have to do very much with regards to training Milla. Oh, how wrong she was!

She quickly learned that Mila had a passion for chewing expensive Persian rugs. And decided to annex the living room for use as her personal canine toilet area.

When someone asked her to do anything, sit, come, stay, etc, Mila wouldn't comply. Instead she would greet each command by hurling herself onto her back in a submissive pose and decline all requests to even consider moving.

Loud noises, such as thunderstorms and firework displays would send her into a total panic and she would run around manically. 

And even the merest sight of another dog caused a very extreme reaction.

Erika had to learn about canine behaviour in order to try to work out how she could help her rescue dog. In fact she got s deeply interested in the field of canine behaviour that she eventually qualified as a canine behaviourist herself.

In her comprehensive and information packed book readers will learn about how to deal with pee and poo, how to deal with smelly dogs, the chewing of carpets, house soiling, how to cope with demodex mites and your canine companion.

There's canine obedience, training and the like. Play and even the unwillingness to play, how to choose the right breed for you, the right types of food to buy, special diets that might be required, healthcare for canines and so much more are crammed into this 482 page book.

It's an excellent book and is well worth buying, especially if you or someone you know has a rescue dog. It is published by Matador at £13.99.

However, a puzzling omission is that there are no illustrations at all, no line drawings or photographs. 

Jubilee Book Sale

Books are for sale from 70p in a special Jubilee Sale.

To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, online book retailer www.Books2Door.com is having a ‘regally brilliant’ sale with books from as little as 70p.

With books for all ages, this specially hand-picked collection features non-fiction and fictional books including titles about Her Majesty.

Book customers can also get your hands on some bargain books from only 70p across a wide range of interests and topics.

The Jubilee Bank Holiday Sale runs online at www.books2door.com from Monday 2nd June at 6.00am through to Sunday 5th June at 11.59pm.

The Calloway Sisters

The Calloway Sisters is a vibrant new work from published novelist and history buff K. A. Lalani.

Set during the affluent post-Edwardian period in the Australian city of Melbourne, the Calloway sisters are enjoying everything that life can offer them.

However, all is not as it seems an the past secrets, errors and indiscretions of the family member of their parents' generation have a harmful impact on their otherwise blissful lives.

But the world they know is soon to be damaged by the advent of a devastating war in Europe that soon sucks in countries of the far-flung British Empire as Britain itself becomes drawn into a conflict between nations on Continental Europe and further afield.

Agnes and Sarah become volunteer nurses and find themselves facing challenges that they and other medical staff were totally unprepared for.

Back at home in Melbourne those who remained find themselves compelled to face up to problems and sins of their own.

The story begins in 1913, the year before the Great War commenced and it grabs the reader by the hand and drags them quickly into a story of gossip, of blighted love and of deliberate, calculated humiliation.

But then the Great War came and with it destruction and death.

K. A. Lalani brings to life the period of the post-Edwardian era and the dreadful conflict that saw much sacrifice and bravery from many who were involved, but especially the Anzac troops and the nurses who accompanied them, the Anzac Girls.  

It's published by The Book Guild at £9.99. 

The Little Pen

In her latest book published author Wendy Williams brings her readers a new hero. In The Little Pen Wendy introduces us to a little pen.

He has had enough of residing at the bottom of a handbag. He wants to get out of the handbag and to see something of the world. 

But he is more than a little bit nervous. A bit too afraid to go on an adventure. But eventually the opportunity to escape his humdrum life arrives. And he bravely grasps hold of it.

What will happen next for the little pen? Will this be the beginning of a new, exciting life for him? 

What happens to him? Will he see the world? What will he write?

The story is very well written and sharply and colourfully illustrated by Elena Kochetova.

As a writer myself I guessed that Wendy's book might be based on a pen of her own and Wendy confirms that this is the case, it's based on her favourite pen which has travelled the world with her.

It's aimed at children between the ages of three to five and their parents and grandparents, too.

It's published by Matador at £6.99.

Still Standing, the Flip Side of Denial, Depressional and forgiveness

Still Standing the Flip Side of Denial, Depressional and forgiveness is an autobiographical book by Mwangala Lethbridge. Zambian Mwangala had it all. She was an architect, a mother and had political aspirations.  

But a cruel and severe motorcycle accident put paid to all that in a blink of an eye. Family members gathered around her hospital bed in Lusaka and prayed to God to deliver her and sent out heartfelt pleas on social media channels being friends and other people she knew to donate blood in a desperate appeal to help her survive the night.

However, within five years Mwangala had earned an MBA from Manchester University, successfully completed the Virgin Money London Marathon and had instituted a programme to offer educational empowerment of girls in her home area of Zambia, through the auspices of the Mwangala Mwenda Foundation.

In her book Mwangala tells her story which commences with a tragic accident but then reaches a heart-warming conclusion which shows how, with the help and assistance of family members, friends and on some occasions, total strangers and medical professionals, specialists and the Lord, that a person can succeed against all odds.

It's an extremely well-written and very powerful book that will uplift and inspire the reader. Mwangala takes her reader from the depths of despair to the heights of accomplishment and self-realisation. 

It's published by Troubador in hardback at £12.99.

The Snake That Bites Its Tail

In The Snake That Bites Its Tail Robin Farnham is a retired magazine publisher who awakes in hospital after his suicide attempt fails. However, upon awakening he is made aware that he is a murder suspect.

Jane Foster is sixteen and after many years of sexual abuse at the hands of her adoptive father she launches a vicious attack on him after which she flees to London and freedom from his abusive behaviour.

Over the next fifty years readers meet up with Robin and Jane's lives are intertwined, but it isn't until the Millennium year, 2000, that they actually meet up.

During their lives at several points they are both treated by Dr Peter Lakmaker, who was their psychiatrist.

Robin has led a stressful life and he has been involved in three murders and wants to know why this has happened to him.

As for Jane, well into her adult life she is still traumatised by her adoptive father's terrible sexual abuse and yearns for a loving, close family relationship.

However, her search is confused by an ouroboros bracelet that depicts a snake eating its own tail, which Robin wears and which seems to have strange, prophetic powers.

However, a highly poisonous Indian snake called a Krait makes an appearance and it seeks vengeance. But why? And who against?

It's an interesting and somewhat enigmatic novel.

It's published by Troubador at £10.99 and is written by Bob Farrand. 

The Fatal Oath

The Fatal Oath is the third standalone novel in the Oath thriller series. It explores issues relating to prejudice and inequality within education.

The story is set in the year 1957 in a very elite public school, Blackleigh, in Yorkshire. However, all is not well at the school. It's a hotbed of emotional problems and seething, hidden antagonisms and hatreds.

The teachers were not in charge, the people who were really in charge were the prefects, who ruled the school with an iron fist within an iron glove. Meting out violence to any junior pupils who they took against.

Jonathan Simon is 16, in his third year. He is conscious that his Jewishness is held against him and he is mocked and derided for the birthmark on his face.

The unofficial "official" rules of the school forbids snitching. The staff have no power, including, perhaps especially, the new temporary headmaster, Mr Wood, who is ineffectual and very, very weak.

So who does wield the power at Blackleigh? The senior pupils who are the prefects and who are not backward in coming forward with violence against any pupil they deem to deserve it for any reason or no reason.

Into this educational maelstrom comes Bobby Stuart who is an American transfer student. He has his own anxieties about being accepted so it's perhaps not unnatural that they gravitate toward each other and become friends.

However, trouble comes in the form of three very vicious and ruthless House Seniors, Gabriel, Hausman and Murray. They have gathered around them a coterie of sycophantic, dedicated followers.

But the Seniors are not without problems within their own ranks. Rivalries, internal differences and when one of them gets a gun things start to get very, very complicated and very, very dangerous indeed.

An exceptionally well-written book crafted by a master storyteller it brings to life a time when public schools were capable of being quite nasty places indeed.

It's published by the Bookguild at £8.99.

The Gift of Time

In The Gift of Time author Julie Walker explores the world of the COVID pandemic.

During the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, like many people, Julie Walker suffered severe anxiety, both in her own right and also for the other people who were forced to stay at home with her.

However, unlike most people traumatised by the lockdowns and restrictions, Julie Walker is a novelist and she decided to mine her recent negative experiences for golden nuggets for a novel.

She has written a novel about six strangers who all experienced life during the time of COVID in six different, individual, ways and all who experienced  very divergent results.

Readers will learn about Elisabeth. Elisabeth has autism. She has never found that her autism held her back in her life. Except, of course, when something disturbs the equilibrium of her day-to-day life.

Alejandra has altered and changed, but she is not aware of this. There's something about her husband that she has ignored throughout their married life. The unpleasant fact that she must now come to terms with is that her husband is actually a narcissist. But now she has acknowledged this, it's not something she can ignore. Once seen, she can't unsee it.

Mary Ann lives an isolated sort of a life. Almost as if she in in a cage of some sort. She lives this lifestyle as a combination of both circumstances and, to an extent, choice. with the new way of living foisted upon her, what will she do now? Is it time for her to reassess her life?

Giuseppe yearns to be able to flee to his homeland. But he can't do this. For he has his own mother to think about and there are his own health issues to take into consideration. But are these real concerns or a shield against him having to make a decision?

Clayton is fully aware that he is coming close to the end of his life and he is painfully aware that he must take the last opportunity to fix things in his family that he believes need fixing whilst he has enough time left. But does he?

As for Annchi the wide world beyond was something she was unaware of, pretty much. But she'd learn about it and more besides.

They all were craving the gift of time to learn, to grow, to repair, to regroup. But the gift of time came with a price. For their "gift" of time came about as a result of the COVID lockdown.

How could they cope? How could they deal with the lockdown? Ignore it and hope for the best? Learn how to cope with COVID and their lives beyond?

It's a very captivating novel and Julie uses her skills as a storyteller to create some characters that you will love and some that you will not particularly like!

It is published by Matador at £10.99.

Roll Over Rhymes

Roll Over Rhymes is a new book that is ideal for children and their parents and other older family members to read together and share the fantastic, vibrant and colourful illustrations.

It's co-authored by Suzanne Sasse and June Laurie.

It's a rhyming book aimed at children and it is intended to help them learn about acceptance and empowerment.

It is a collection of ten newly created fairytales that are told in rhyme. The stories include new takes on some familiar characters, unexpected plot twists, humour and the stories are given fresh, new modern day settings.

But each story still includes some lovely magic!

There are genies, Cinders, Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, a queen, a boy called Pete, Witches, a Wolf who learns a very important lesson and a Princess who has different ideas about how her life should progress.

It is published by Troubador at £7.00.

Lotus-Eating Days

Lotus-Eating Days is a memoir written by Caroline Repton.

It tells the true story of two very different people who came from vastly dissimilar backgrounds who, however, met and married.

Geoffrey Christopher Tyrwhitt Repton was the eldest child of a middle-class English family.

Whilst Theresa Repton (nee Pang Kim Lui) was the 13th child of a family of Chinese immigrants living in the British colony of Singapore.

In her fascinating and extremely well researched book she tells their stories. How, although they grew up on different sides of the world and had very different backgrounds, the common bond they found was that they had both survived the Second World War in the Asian warzone.

Christopher had been a prisoner of war forced to work on the Burma-Siam railway, whilst Theresa was a young woman working in Japanese-occupied Singapore.

Caroline Repton brings to life a whole variety of characters from witty former prisoners of war, loving siblings, cousins who were in the armed forces, idiosyncratic spinster aunts, ex-girlfriends, chipper colonials.

The story is told in their own words by means of a wide range of letters and diary entries from the 1930s to 1959. And Theresa's tape-recorded memories put to tape in 2000.

As well as being very well written the book is profusely illustrated with a delightful array of intimate family photographs and wartime postcards.

It's published by The Book Guild at £16.99 in hardback.

Common Sense

It's 2029 and there has been a major upheaval in the world of British Politics. The Common Sense Party, which campaigned on eliminating crime has swept the board in British Politics, claiming an astounding 400 seats with Labour and the Conservatives limping in with 99 seats each.

Broadcaster David McDougall is the joint leader of the new party and is a shoo-in to be Prime Minister. 

Except there has been a sort of a palace coup within the new party and the new Prime Minister is Bob Goodwin, rather than David McDougall.

In his debut novel, Common Sense, Colin Wreford examines what might happen in the not-too-distant future.

At first the new party has the full backing and support of the public as it works hard to put into practice its new policies.

However, things soon start to look a little less promising as corporal punishment and the death penalty are brought back and gay marriages are declared illegal.

The story open with an interview between TV presenter Sara Molan and new Prime Minister Bob Goodwin. 

Soon their professional and personal lives become interlinked and his lust for Sara starts to cloud his judgement.

Inevitably protests about the new and draconian laws develop but the public and the establishment is shocked at the severe punishments that are meted out to the protesters and the actions of Prime Minister Goodwin range between a little bit odd to utterly weird.

Former co-leader of the party David McDougall forms an opposition to what he sees as the excesses of Goodwin. Can Goodwin defeat McDougall? Can Goodwin corrupt and manipulate Sara, a former colleague of McDougall, to keep the McDougall, the public, the media and opposition politicians under control as he battles to remain in power for his full five year term of office as he continues to try to mould the UK into whatever it is he wants to to become?

As he continues his machinations the situation in the country rapidly heats up and disorder and violence rapidly breaks out.

Who will win? Who will survive the worsening political maelstrom? 

Wow. What a wild and thrilling ride, with a twist in the tail.

I do hope to read more novels by Colin Wreford, he's a good new voice in the world of thriller fiction.

It's published by Matador at £9.99. 

Jay Blades Joins Forces with Literacy Charity to Inspire Adults to Learn to Read

I am a fan of the hit BBC TV programme The Repair Shop. And Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades will be participating in a new BBC documentary which will follow his journey as he faces up to the challenge of learning to read as an adult with charity Read Easy UK.

As Jay Blades is such an erudite presenter and is a highly skilled furniture restorer, it's a surprise to discover that Jay came to reading very late in life.

In fact Jay concealed his lack of reading skills until he was in his 30s, after he struggled to learn to read as a child. 

It's an unfortunate truth that Jay isn't alone. Because a staggering quarter of all children in England leave primary school like Jay, unable to read  as well as they should.

Almost seven million adults in the UK have very poor literacy skills. And many of them are too embarrassed to come forward to ask for help.

An inability to read properly has an adverse impact on all aspects of daily life. For example, reading signs, checking bills, reading urgent letters, registering to vote, voting itself or even being able to grasp health information. It also makes it hard to support their own children’s learning.

In the programme Jay meets other people who are on the same journey with Read Easy. Viewers will meet Jacky Smith who began learning to read in her 60s. Why? The main driving force was her desire to read with her 7-year-old granddaughter and to help her sister who has become partially sighted.

Jay also meets Jeff George, who at age 32, said: "The most important thing for me is to be able to read stories to my son who has just started school. That’s my goal. I’d also like to be able to understand more at work, and have other options career-wise for the future. Reading will open those doors for me. If I have a chance of something better I’m going to take it”.

Read Easy UK has 50 affiliated groups around the UK with over 1,100 volunteers providing free one-to-one reading coaching for adults who are unable to read. Readers meet volunteer coaches twice weekly to follow ‘Turning Pages’ an adult reading programme originally developed to help prisoners to learn to read..

Says Ginny Williams-Ellis, CEO of Read Easy UK, “Research shows 2.4m adults in England can’t read at all, or can barely read. Not being able to read as an adult is excruciatingly embarrassing for most adults."

She went on to say: "It generally follows years of humiliation at school, when failure to learn to read in the early years will have brought about a lack of ability to take part in the rest of the curriculum as they got older.

“For the vast majority this wasn't their choice, or their fault. It was nothing to do with their intelligence. There are many different reasons why a child might not learn to read in their first years at school. 

"For some, undiagnosed or unsupported dyslexia, or unidentified sight or hearing problems, may have stopped them from learning. Others lacked learning support from parents or carers, or problems at home may make it difficult to concentrate at school.

“Phonics wasn't taught in most schools for many years from the 1960s and consequently many children did not learn the crucial decoding skills needed to make sense of text. It is arguable this had an impact on literacy levels in the UK generally, but it was a particular problem for those who already faced other challenges. So, however difficult it may be, nobody should feel embarrassed to admit that they didn’t get the skills they needed when they were children.

“I would urge any adult who is unable to read properly to have the courage to come forward, like Jay, and ask for help. It really is never too late to learn.”

To find out more about learning to read as an adult with Read Easy visit www.readeasy.org.uk

Had my mother not stepped in and taught me to read and write I believe that my literacy levels would be much lower than they are. My teacher, who, it transpired, didn't even have a teaching qualification(!) couldn't cope with my dyslexia. 

Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 will broadcast on Wednesday 26th January at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

Incidentally there are a whole tranche of adults in their 50s and 60s who were initially taught to read and write with the Initial Teaching Alphabet, which proved to be an utter disaster as the plan was for children to have to forget the ITA that they had learned and then to re-learn to read and write using standard English. Many grew up to have severe literacy problems which still negatively impacts on their lives as adults to this day.

You can learn more about the Initial Teaching Alphabet debacle here:-

https://theliteracyblog.com/2015/05/14/i-t-a-a-great-idea-but-a-dismal-failure/

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/ita-initial-teaching-alphabet-anyone-else-a-victim.94314/

https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1371807-McNee-Coleman-Great-Reading-Disaster-was-look-say-introduced-to-damage-childrens-reading

Logistics: A Christmas Story

Logistics: A Christmas Story is a new novel from published author Chris Coppel.

Holly Hillman was abandoned at the age of two and a half. She was then raised in an austere fashion. She was kept well away from anything whimsical or fanciful.

Not for Holly were things that other children of her age took for granted. Elves, fairies and Father Christmas meant nothing to her. Because she was taught that such things had no existence. 

Harmless fancies that helped children cope with the harsh realities of life were kept from her.

By the time Holly was in her forties, she was the Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 400 company. She had reached the top of the company by dint of her own hard work. And also by keeping distractions and social attachments out of her life.

But, despite living a life that others would find unattractive and limiting, Holly was perfectly happy in the life that she had selected for herself. In fact, as far as Holly was concerned, her life was perfect and she wouldn't have it any other way.

However, her company was due to merge with a powerful Asian conglomerate and, as part of the due diligence process that always surrounds such mergers, she was required to have a health check, which also required a DNA sample to be taken. But what exactly was the Ling Chow Group up to? 

However, never in her wildest dreams could Holly have been ready for the results of her DNA test. For the DNA test revealed the shocking truth of her amazing and unique ancestry. 

Holly must face a stunning truth about herself that must change not only how she views herself but also life in general and alter her concept of what reality is.

She finds herself in a world of talking reindeers, elves in business suits and of mysterious NDAs and the chance to meet her real father. 

It's a fantastic and fantastical story that is very well told and which contains a great many allegorical truths about life, childhood, business practices, politics and much more besides.

It's published by Troubador on January 28th at £9.99.

Peaky Blinders The Real Story

In his book Peaky Blinders The Real Story historian Professor Carl Chinn MBE tells the real story of The infamous Peaky Blinders gang that were active in Birmingham.

Far from the romanticised version portrayed in the popular television series, the members of the gang were not very nice people. And Professor Chinn should know. On of his ancestors was a member of the notorious gang.

And Professor Chinn should know. His great-grandfather, Edward Derrick, was a member of the gang.

He married Carl's great-grandmother, Ada Weldon. Her married life was extremely unhappy, because Derrick was and abusive, drunken bully who would often smash the house up when he was drunk. On a number of occasions his wife and child would need to seek refuge in the communal brewhouse (the washhouse)  or in the house of Lil's Granny Carey.

She was known as Old Mother Carey and she was a much loved inhabitant of Studley Street. Why wouldn't Derrick pursue his wife and child into Old Mother Carey's house? Like many thuggish bullies Derrick was a coward at heart and was fearful of her several powerful sons.

After putting up with years of his abusive and violent behaviour she took the unusual, for that time, step of divorcing him, using the "Poor Person" under the Supreme Court rules.

Ada died in 1925 aged 39 of stomach cancer, whilst Derrick lived until 1964, in the Midlands town of Nuneaton.

Carl states in his book that he has nothing but contempt for his Peaky Blinders ancestor, who he described as "wife-beater, thief, wastrel and violent ruffian., he was typical of the Peaky Blinders."

He further points out that, unlike the glamorised Peaky Blinders depicted in the television series, they were not dressed in fashionable clothing, they did not "have a certain charm" nor did they "have a certain sense of honour" and the working class of Birmingham had no respect for them and, in fact, they were "mightily relieved" when the Birmingham Police ended their reign of terror, under the direction of the then Chief Constable Charles Haughton Rafter.

Carl then goes on the point out that after the real Paky Blinders were put down, some of the members created the violent and formidable Birmingham Gang which was headed by the real Billy Kimber. 

In 1921 the gang fought a violent, bloody battle against an alliance of London gangs, led by the real life Darby Sabini. The real Alfie Solomon was also involved. They were fighting for control of protection rackets and pickpocketing groups on the racecourses of southern England. 

Interestingly Carl points out that there were no fights in Birmingham, the fights took place in southern England.

He points out that some of the Peaky Blinders gang fought in the First World War and those that returned to their home city were more law-abiding.

Carl tells the pre-history of the Peaky Blinders, of the street gangs that preceded them, the Sloggers of the 1870s, whose name derived from the 1820s bare-knuckled fights and was a term describing a person who could deliver a powerful blow.

He also reveals the story that the Peaky Blinders name was bestowed upon them because it was rumoured that they had disposable razor blades sewn in the peaks of their caps and that in a fight, they would remove their cap and slash their opponent in the face, thus trying to blind them.

The book is a detailed and highly readable account of the real story of this infamous street gang and is very well illustrated with a number of archive photographs.

There are also interviews with people who actually witnessed the events and the book has a comprehensive endnotes section.  

Incidentally, Carl Chinn's family were involved in illegal bookmaking and later legal bookmaking and I should point out that my cousin on my father's side, Ted Rogers, was also a bookmaking contemporary of the Chinn family in Birmingham. It's a small world!

The book is published by John Blake Books at £8.99 in paperback. 

Let's Kill all the Lawyers

In Let's Kill all the Lawyers Author, GP and ethicist Tim Howard introduces us to the story of how, despite the fact that Doctor Nick Malenkov has done his very best for his patient, "the bastard" as he describes him, has issued him with a High Court Writ over his medical treatment of him.

Obviously, Nick will need legal representation and he appoints a solicitor, Antonia Grey, to fight his corner.

Antonia is a very capable solicitor but she is not free of baggage: Her marriage is tottering along and she is beset with personal problems. 

Add to the mix Brooks, a very capable Barrister, who will face the High Court on the behalf of the defence and the defence team is complete./

But as the case gets to the High court Nick learns that the law and justice may not always be the same thing. That sometimes it is better, at least in court, to be clever rather than right.

And will a mistake that Antonia made scupper the chances of Nick to receive justice? Or were there other machinations that the defence could not be aware of?

The case is lost, but due to the fact that the judge was demonstrably biased and the fact that a vital piece of evidence is discovered, Nick's legal team is able to lodge an appeal.

Would the appeal court bring justice for the Doctor? And if it did... what might happen next?

It's a very well written and pacey novel.

It is published by Brown Dog Books at £9.99.

Seadogs and Criminals Book 1

Seadogs ands Criminals Book 1 is a novel by Alex Fisher.

The novel is set in Victorian England and the reader meets Joseph Winter who is a master criminal. In the teeming streets of London he is, with some irony, known by the sobriquet of Trace. Why? Because he never leaves a trace behind him.

But eventually things go very badly wrong for Trace, his reputation is smashed to pieces and his dreams of success smashed to nothing when a tip about a fabled treasure map fails to materialise. 

What can he do next? He decides to form a group of strangers who will be invited to join him in the hunt for the treasure in question. 

They take to the high seas and soon find themselves travelling to the ends of the Earth in a journey to unearth the vital clues as to the final resting place of the fabled treasure.

But eventually Trace begins to harbour doubts. Is this hunt worthwhile? What is he doing? Who can he trust?

It's a swashbuckling historical novel which will be a good read for people who like a tang of sea air in their fiction.

Published by Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd at £11.11 from Amazon or as an e-book for £2.84. 

A New Dark Age A Reckoning

A New Dark Age A Reckoning is a new novel from Ross Patrick.

It's set in the future. But not a distant, far away future, but a future that could be just around the next corner.

Society had began its long, slow collapse, crumbling around the people. 

Scarcity became more and more common and when most people could not afford to buy consumer goods, they began to riot. 

The ruling class was perturbed by the rioters and accused them of being antidemocratic.

Militarised armed police were sent out to deal with the riots.

However, with rising levels of unemployment tax revenues inevitably began to fall and larger corporations began to take over the direct funding of the police and the police became the armed wing of the corporations. This brought about battles between different business interests, all set about a background of a society in turmoil with falling standards of living and the very State tottering toward disaster.

Out in the provinces readers meet Esme Sedgebrook. Her future is mapped out for her. An arranged marriage, childbearing and a nice, safe domestic life. 

But what if this is not the life she opts for? What if Esme decides to flee her safe, comfortable life and join up with the uprising?

It's an interesting, dystopian novel.

Published by Brown Dog Books at £9.99 and is available from good book retailers and online.

The Crystal Palace Chronicles Star of Nimrod

The Crystal Palace Chronicles Star of Nimrod is a novel from Graham Whitlock.

From the very first page, readers will be hooked. Everyone knows that the Crystal Palace burnt to the ground on November 30, 1936. But who knew why it burnt down? The Alone Child, with his hidden box of used matches. The Alone Child knows.

85 years later, young Joe is bored and a bit lonely. His best friend has moved away, Joe loves his little sister, but she's annoying and Joe is a bit miffed that he is lumbered with the job of looking after her, whilst his Dad spends every hour that he can attempting to keep their struggling restaurant, Paradise, open.

Joe finds a broken compass in some bushes on the site where the Crystal Palace once stood. Without warning Joe finds himself plunged back through time to the year of 1888.

He meets a fellow teenager, H. G. Wells who gives him assistance along with Samuel Coleridge Taylor, the famed Iris Blondin, the daredevil daughter of the legendary tightrope walker, Charles Blondin, plus Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and the Queen of the Gypsies.

Joe learns of a plot by a team of highly skilled and equally highly dangerous diamond thieves to steal a very famous diamond and with his new found friends he must work to thwart the gang and to learn of some mysterious and dark secrets of the Crystal Palace. He discovers that those secrets are, somehow, linked with the fate of his own family.

But what will happen to young Joe? Will he remain trapped in time with his new found friends? Or will he be able to find a way of returning to his own time and to his own family? Or would he be able to work out how he could retain both?

This is a very readable novel which has pace and a little bit of elan as it tells the story of Joe and his adventures.

It's published by Grass Roots Productions and is available at Waterstones, Amazon and other book retailers.

Although aimed at children of ages 11 to 13, older readers and adults will find much to captivate their minds.

It costs £8.99 and will make a superb Christmas present.

And the good news? It's the first part of a trilogy, so there's more to look forward to!

Graham has his own website at www.grahamwhitlock.com.

Sentenced

Sentenced is a memoir written by two apparently vastly different people; Victoria Oak, a London housewife with four children and Andrew Hawke, a British man  imprisoned in a notorious jail in Thailand. The ironically named Bangkok Hilton. Or, to use its correct name, the Bang Kwang gaol.

Victoria was travelling with her friends Alex and Alice, backpacking around the world. After five months of travelling they reached Bangkok. A 19-year-old British man called Michael hade tried to smuggle 3,000 pills out of Bangkok. Of course, he'd been caught and had been given a life sentence. Because his parents didn't have the financial resources to fly out to Thailand to visit him, they'd asked two British girls to visit him.

However, due to a mix-up they weren't able to meet him and they had asked Victoria and her friends to visit him in their stead. 

Victoria, Alex and Alice decided the next morning to make an impromptu visit to Michael, but as they'd arrived on the wrong day they were unable to see him as it was the visiting day of a different block. But without knowing the name of a particular prisoner, they wouldn't be allowed in.

Victoria decided to 'phone the British Consulate for advice and the extremely helpful receptionist there quickly gave them the names of three British prisoners who were being held there. 

So, they decided to visit one of the British prisoners who was being held there. The prisoner Victoria spoke with for that hour, the hour that proved to be very fateful for both of them, soon passed.

When Victoria returned home they began to correspond with each other in long, detailed letters. And this was the start of a lifelong relationship.

Victoria studied drama and English at Birmingham University and she married, became a housewife and had four children.

Victoria and her husband shared several passions, the chief ones being travelling and sports.

Victoria was able to complete the pilgrimage to Santiago in May 2012 and placed 2,000 prayer stones along the Camino asking for her friend Andy to be released from his incarceration.  

She had realised that her marriage had faltered and, in her mind, died, so when she returned she asked for a divorce. But this wasn't to be an easy, simple divorce, because it became a wearying five-year fight through the courts.

During this dreadful time Andy was released from jail and came to stay with Victoria at her home for almost two years. And during this time they collaborated together to write Sentenced. 

After her divorce Victoria took time out to do some more exploring, in South America, New Zealand and Australia.

Victoria then spent four years editing the manuscript, preparing it for publication. Just before the world was virtually shut down by COVID, she contracted pneumonia and Lyme's disease which left her weak and hardly able to function, this debilitation gave her the impetuous to get Sentenced ready folr publication within a year. Which she did.

It's a remarkable book well-written telling the life stories of two remarkable people and other people in their lives. It is also illustrated with a collection of photographs.

It's published by Grosvenor House Publishing at £10 in paperback, plus as an e-book. 

It's available from good book retailers and Amazon and will make an excellent Christmas gift.

The Fly and the Tree

In his new mystery novel The fly and the Tree, author and consultant neurologist Dr James I. Morrow brings lovers of mystery novels a great new read. 

So if you are looking for a suitable Christmas present for the mystery novel lover in your life (or maybe you are looking for a sneaky little self gift for yourself?) this is the ideal book for their (or your!) Christmas stocking!

We are introduced to a young and dedicated medical biochemist, Baz ("Don't call me Barbara!") Clifford. 

Baz makes a vital discovery during the course of her research work. But there's something wrong, or at least there's something that doesn't seem to add up.

Because the discovery that Baz has made casts doubt on the received wisdom that a young woman had died in what was nothing more than a terrible and tragic accident. 

However, the husband of the young woman and even the police themselves are not interested in what Baz has to say on the matter. They are all apparently convinced that her death was an accident.

But Baz has a very strong conviction that Cathy Marsden had, in reality, been the victim of a murder. 

However, there is one person who does believe in the theory that Baz is putting forward. A 16-year-old boy. What is his interest in the matter? He is convinced that Cathy Marsden was his own long-lost mother.

But who would have had the motive and the means to murder Cathy? And will Baz stir up problems when she continues her unofficial investigation? 

This is a very exciting, pacey read and it's a must read book!

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99

That's Christmas: AlphaBetty Doodles & Her World of A to Z

That's Christmas: AlphaBetty Doodles & Her World of A to Z: Your little ones will really love  AlphaBetty Doodles & Her World of A to Z . And you will love it too, because it's a fantastically...

That's Christmas: Making Christmas Crackers in 1910

That's Christmas: Making Christmas Crackers in 1910: Making Christmas Crackers (1910) | BFI National Archive   I found this video on YouTube and I have shared it here for your viewing pleasure....

If I Die Today

Readers of the The Flowers of the Grass series of novels by N L Collier set during the First World War, which began in 2016 will welcome the last novel in the series, If I Die Today.

Time has moved on and readers next meet up with Max Schelling, who is now a veteran of the First World War.

He is a deeply disturbed man, suffering greatly from flashbacks to his time in the trenches of the war, plus dreadful nightmares, which are a result of the dreadful fighting that he was involved in at Verdun back in 1916.

He is married to Frieda and has two young sons, Peter and Ernst. He realises that his wartime experiences are having having a deleterious impact on his family and he is thinking dark thoughts that perhaps their lives would be better, somehow, if he were dead.

Frieda is concerned about her husband and she made the suggestion that perhaps it would be helpful if he returned to Verdun to see if he could come to terms with what happened to him there.

He is not happy with the idea and he rejects it out of hand. But with his condition still as bad as ever, if not worse, he desperately comes to the conclusion that he must make that trip after all?

Because Max is employed at the Imperial Archives, assisting in the writing of the official history of the battle at Verdun, he is able to get his bosses to agree with the idea of Max making at official trip to Verdun.

When he reaches Verdun he walks over the ground, looking at the war-ravaged landscape, which was still marred with shell-holes and the detritus of the battle.

As he looks at the battlefield he realises that he left part of himself there as he thinks of his comrades who never made it out alive, as he did.

Could Max return to his job at the archives? Could he return to his family? If he did, what next?

This is a very moving novel. It's published by Matador at £9.99. It will make an excellent stocking filler for those interested in the history of World War 1. 

More Taste & Less Waste

More Taste & Less Waste is a new cookery book form the Dairy Diary publishing company.

It offers readers the opportunity to prepare and serve utterly delicious meals, whilst at the same time cutting down on food waste.

As well as page after page of utterly mouth-watering dishes, it gives the modern home owners detailed advice on how to better and more economically shop for food ingredients. Also, readers will learn how to store food ingredients and how to prepare them.

The recipes will offer cooks the opportunity to find out about meals with perfect portions, servings for two and also servings for three or more in some instances.

There's also a section on meals that you can prepare and then freeze for consumption at a subsequent time.

Each recipe also comes with a very handy QR Code which you can scan to provide you (or someone else) with a very handy ingredients list for when the shops must be visited or an online shopping order put together.

Recipes include a Speedy Beef Stew, a Pea & Prosciutto Gnocchi, a Vegetarian Toad in the Hole, Stuffed Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Bacon, Five-Spiced Lentil Soup to name only a few.

There is also a fantastic range of desert recipes, including Candy Rice Pudding, Marmalade Pancakes (wow!) Golden Ginger Cakes, Marshmallow Mango & Lime Pies and Ice box Caramel, Peanut & Banana Pies.

Each recipe tells you how much it serves, how long it takes to prepare and the cooking time. All recipes have been triple tested and tasted(!) so you can be sure of perfect results, when you follow the recipes. 

It is a perfect Christmas gift for the cookery buff in your life.

You can purchase it in cookshops, good bookshops and also direct at https://www.dairydiary.co.uk/product/more-taste-less-waste-cookbook/ where it costs £12.49, including postage and packing.

  

Pushing Cotton

Pushing Cotton by Darran Nash is sub-titled A Modern Fairy Tale.

A man, a complete stranger, approaches Nelson Hitchcock and implores that Nelson comes to his assistance whilst Nelson is on a school trip to a museum.

The reward? That Nelson can receive anything his heart should desire. 

What's the one thing that Nelson's heart desires? The return of his father, who vanished in mysterious circumstances three years before.

But for ever action there is a reaction and there's always a price to pay. And what heavy prices is demanded? By the end of the next Halloween, the stranger will be dead. This gives Nelson a very short time in which he must keep to the bargain he struck with the stranger.

But that's where the story becomes interesting. Because exactly 100 years previously a local police sergeant called Caleb Fitzgerald was taking part in a desperate, but utterly vain, search to find his own son, one of four children who were snatched in the night in 1903. 

The only clue? A mysterious calling card left at each scene.

Whilst a family party is underway the journal of Sergeant Fitzgerald is discovered. Nelson is certain that he has left clues to help him unmask the presumed killer of the missing children.

Despite his motives for good, Nelson unwittingly is to set about the animation of a terrible blood feud that is 100 years old. 

It's a supernatural vendetta where past and present life will collide together with catastrophic and cataclysmic events.

It's a somewhat dark book with elements of the paranormal and psychological thriller. It will make a very good Christmas present.

It is published by The Book Guild and costs £8.99

Poetic Justice: The Inheritance

In Poetic Justice: The Inheritance by Fran Raya, readers continue to enjoy learning about the life of Randal Forbes.

Forbes has extraordinary powers that make him a very scary person indeed. He believes his extraordinary telepathic powers are "the gift." Yet others, victims of his powers, would be more likely to describe it as a curse rather than a gift.

Randal Forbes's special child has been born. The child, a result of a one time assignation with his artist Maxine Hale, is something of a bitter pill for him to swallow down.

Maxine Hale is married to Saul Curtis so she is able, at present, to pass the child off as the progeny of Curtis.  

But Maxine is all too aware of who the child's real father is. She finds the gaze of her eyes to be frightening. She is also disturbed by what she perceives as her unusual behaviour.

Forbes is protected by his constant companion and lover, Clive Hargreaves.

Fortunately or unfortunately for them, Randal's children and their mother, Alison, are completely in the dark to his true, evil nature.

But now he has the desire and need to develop the power that is growing within Roxanne, his daughter.

However, even with his special, dark powers the life of Forbes is not without risk. Because what if he were to face a challenge from someone with powers equal to his own or even stronger? Could Carlton Flint be that man? 

But there's another stunning twist in this narrative. Will I reveal it? No. To learn what it is you'll need to buy the book, it's published by The Book Guild, at £8.99.

It will make a perfect Christmas present for the lover of paranormal thrillers in your life.

The Fairy Tellers

The Fairy Tellers by Nicholas Jubber is a book that is specially significant to me. Because after many years I returned to University (University of Wolverhampton for those readers who are curious) and as part of my BA (Hons) in Creative and Professional Writing as part of my coursework I helped first year students with work they were doing on fairy-tales.

With that out of the way, please let me continue with the review of the book.

Far too many people are over eager to merely dismiss fairy tales as being only suited for children and whilst that is true, to a certain extent with some bowdlerised versions, the truth about fairy-tales is that they are often actually records of historical events. 

A careful reading of them (in context) can reveal something of how a civilisation was formed.

Nick Jubber (who you might have come across in his role as an award-winning travel writer) explores the backgrounds to the fairy-tales, their secret histories, the people who related them, the cultures in which they were formed and the landscapes that gave birth to them.

Readers will almost certainly heard of Hans Christian Anderson or the Grimm Brothers (or Brothers Grimm, if you prefer) in relation to fairy-tales. But Jubber calls attention to other tellers of fairy-tales who are long forgotten. I have to admit that I was unaware of the Wild Sisters of Cassel, or of the  Syrian storyteller Youhenna Diab. 

In fact, had not Dortchen Wild told her stories to Wilhelm Grimm, it's almost certain that these stories would probably be unknown today. A very sobering thought.

Jubber traces the origins of fairy-tales to Italy, the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Forrest and even as far as the Siberian tundra and up into Lapland.

This will be a wonderful gift to anyone with an interest in fairy-tales from the academic to the person who recalls being told these stories as a child.

It is published by John Murray on Thursday 20th January.

I'm Going to Find You

 

In 1976 there was the longest heatwave in decades. And in I'm Going to Find You J D Pullan brings her readers the story of the disappearance of Cerys Morgan a very attractive young student. She was camping with friends and vanished without trace from a crowded Cornish beach.

Her disappearance brought about the biggest police operation of its kind at the time. But despite the assistance of hundreds of local volunteers to help in the intensive searches, not even a trace of her was ever discovered, despite the story being in the news headlines for several weeks.

But in 2010, 34 years later Emily Harrison suddenly remembers something that she had observed back in the blistering hot summer of 1976 as a young child. 

But now, as an adult, Emily realises the dreadful significance of what she had witnessed all those years ago.

She immediately goes to the police to tell them what she witnessed as a child, giving them all the details she can recall.

But will she be believed? After all, her own parents put no stock in what she told them back in 1976, so why would anyone believe her now, all these years later?

But Emily is not the kind of person who can easily let something like this go, so she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth of what happened to Cerys. after all, don't her elderly parents deserve to find out the truth at long last?

But who is sending her some rather sinister and nasty threats? Why don't they want the truth to come out? And why is her own, apparently happy life, spiralling out of control? Can Emily discover the truth before it becomes too late?

This will make a nifty Christmas present for the mystery lover in your life.

It's published by Matador at £8.99. 

Cut the Crap and Feel Amazing

Cut the Crap and Feel Amazing is an important new book from Ailsa Frank who is a highly regarded hypnotherapist, motivational coach and self-help writer and author.

Feel as if you don't know where you are, where you should be? Or perhaps you think you know where you should be, but haven't a clue how to go from where you are to where you should be?

Have goals, dreams and aspirations but can't get motivated to reach them?

If so, then through her book Ailsa will, be able to help you get to where you deserve to be.

Everyone has negative habits, things they do (often without realising it) that hamper them in getting to live their best possible life.

In her book Ailsa helps you identify things in your life that you do, but shouldn't be doing. Or stuff that you should be doing but haven't yet got around to doing? Or perhaps they are key techniques that you hadn't even thought of?

Learn how to make small changes to your life and the way in which you think, because these small changes will help bring about the larger changes that you want to bring about.

It's published by Hay House at £10.99 and will make a fantastic Christmas present.

Dangerous Skies

Dangerous Skies is a well-plotted novel that is set against the backdrop of the dangerous skies of World War Two London.

Not all children were evacuated to the countryside or distant Canada or Australia. Many of them remained at home, sharing the dangers of the Blitz with their families, friends and neighbours. 

Brian James' novel follows the adventures of Alan and his mates Tommy and Alan's sometime bully Wilkie bunk odd school, explore the streets of their part of London, playing in bombsites and burnt out or abandoned houses.

Whilst they are merely having fun others out on the streets have far more serious and nefarious matters on their minds and they become enmeshed into the dark world of a gang of dedicated looters.

As the police close in on the gang Alan and his schoolmates are sucked into a deadly battle for survival by an evil killer and the police.

Can they escape the clutches of the gang? Return to the relative safety of their family bomb shelters as the bombs rain down on the civilian populace of London?

This is a gripping story and aimed at children who are at Keystage 2. Always provided they can rescue it from their parents and grandparents, that is!

It's published by the Claret Press and very well illustrated by Oscar Clarke.

It costs £8.99 in paperback at https://payhip.com/b/KEgl.

It is an ideal book for bulk purchase for schools and libraries and will make a fantastic Christmas stocking filler. 

Rufus Needs a Haircut

Rufus Needs a Haircut is a book for all lovers of shaggy dog stories from the pen of David Selby.

David has taken many shaggy dog stories and, assisted by the lock down period, has taken the time and effort to bring them to a new generation of book lovers and dog lovers.

There's the eponymous Rufus, who did, indeed, need a haircut. And what of of Britain's great heroes of yesteryear, Sir Walter Raleigh? You might be aware of his part in bringing potatoes and tobacco to the British Isles. 

But what of his search (ordered by no less a personage that Good Queen Bess) for the fabled and long lost bacon tree? Could the best ship in the Royal Navy crewed by the navy's 250 best sailors, captained by Sir Walter himself, seek out this mythical plant and bring it back home to his Queen?

Those of you old enough to know the end of this story, well, don't spoil the end of it, for the others, will you?

There's stories about prawns, the tale of the Bloody Red Night on the Bloody Red Horse. For this story at least, David Selby advises that the reader should provide their own sound effects. 

Read of a lone shark, odd doings at a library, auditions, and much, much more. And you'll be sure to admire the lovely line drawings of Katie Colquitt. 

Some of these will make you smile, smirk, guffaw or even groan. It'll be a great Chirstmas stocking filler for the lover of humorous writings in your family or circle of friends. 

 It's published by David Selby and is available from Amazon at £7.99 in paperback or £2.99 as an eBook. 

Vicious Cycle

Vicious Cycle is a very interesting book from cyclist and author Jim Rees.

It began its life as a book about a cycle race but over time it evolved and developed into a highly readable and very relatable book about the story of a life, or of life.

As well as being an outstanding athlete Jim is a highly respected executive coach and an accomplished author. When you buy this book you will see what I mean by that remark.

In his book Jim shows his readers to identify what a vicious circle is and how to avoid them.

It's a powerful and very important book that serves as something between a guidebook and a life script that readers can use to help them navigate their way through life. A sort if cycle path through the vicissitudes of life, if you will.

The following quote from Jim's book is a key part of why his book is a sure fire way of getting you were you should be: "Discovering who we are will force us to accept that we can do more than we think we can, we are only scratching the surface of our potential."

Jim has a heartfelt belief that literally every human being on the planet is "built for greatness" and that they can, potentially, be helped, encouraged and motivated to achieve this greatness.

Part memoir (learn of Jim's own struggles and his involvement in Ultra-Racing, plus how he has helped people achieve success and empowerment in his role as a life coach.

From fellow cyclists to senior executives, from athletes to health practitioners, Jim's helped many people from all walks of life. And he doesn't always charge.

The book is in hardback and is nicely illustrated with colour images.

It is published by The EI Guru Publishing at  £28.45, including £3.50 postage and packing.

https://www.theeiguru.com/bag.php

This book will make an excellent Christmas gift for the cycling enthusiast and life coaching aficionado in your life. Or a great self-gift, too.