Charlie's World of Glittering Powers by Tracy Rawles

Charlie's World of Glittering Powers by Tracy Rawles is a fantastic must have stocking filler of a book that is going to go down a real treat with young children of eight and over, their parents and their grandparents, too!

It tells the story of Charlie was is a cigale, a type of flying insect. /charlie is a rare type of cigale, he is also known as a Snuffle-Buzzer.

But Charlie is no ordinary cigale, he is a cigale with a fairly serious problem. How would you like to be a cigale, like Charlie, who had a serious allergy disorder?

Charlie likes to know things, he is very inquisitive, very talkative and has daydreams of travel that will be filled with various adventures.

Sevi is a young girl from Cornwall. Whilst on holiday with her parents in Provence in France, she explores the local forest and discovers that the forest may be much more than she3 could ever have thought possible.

Eventually one single, solitary golden sparkle brings about a series of mystical happenings that propel Charlie and Sevi on the path toward a remarkable adventure that is more stunning and more thrilling than either of them could ever have thought possible!

There are powers to be discovered, mysteries to be solved and joys to be had for both Sevi and Charlie in this charming and exciting book. It's published by Matador at an eminently reasonable £7.99, and it is available via the Amazon-powered That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which you will find to the righthand side of this site.

Dark Nights: Whitewater by Norman A. Viles

Dark Nights: Whitewater by Norman A. Viles is described as a detailed memoir about the sport of sea fishing.

The memoir by Norman A. Viles is filled with the excitement, suspense, thrills, spills, danger and pure joy of sea fishing, but it is added to by the Yorkshire humour of the author that illuminates the book like a lighthouse of glee on a rocky promontory on the Yorkshire coast, jutting out into the icy waters of the North Sea.

Norman is a gifted raconteur and a skilled storyteller and his joy for the life of a sea fisherman shines through this engaging book.

There are tales of fishing from sunny beaches, of fishing from rocky cliffs on a dark, cold winter night, of fishing from boats (including one bought and lovingly and carefully rebuilt by Norman and others.

Learn of sea angling competitions of catches lost and of catches made, of trips around the bay, of trips made to bays in foreign seas, including a number of memorable trips to the waters off the coast of Ireland.

I am not an angler by any stretch of the imagination, but by the power of the story telling abilities of Norman A. Viles, I could almost feel the weight of the rod as the fishes took the bait, almost feel the wind and taste the tang of the salty sea air. Will I take up sea fishing? Probably not. But having read this book, it's almost as if I did...

If you have any kind of angler in your life, it will be the "must have" book for their Christmas stocking this year.

And if you are that angler in your life,  at only £9.99, this book will make the ideal self-given early Christmas present. Or give family members some very heavy hints about this book. Such as emailing them the url to this article!

You can buy this book through the That's Books and Entertainment Amazon-powered bookshop which you will find to the righthand side of this website.

Living in a Complex World a Simple Guide by Dr Joachim Winkler

Living in a complex World a Simple Guide by Dr Joachim Winkler is a vitally important book for those of us living in today's information rich world. Which is every one of us, pretty much.

The book contains fifty ideas that are designed to help those of us who are perhaps struggling to pick our way through a wor4ld that is drowning in information and data, yet who are starved of time to do anything about it.

The book goes through a number of topics, how the world works, what is really important in our lives and of the lives of other people. We should, argues Dr Winkler, all be encouraged to give thoughts to these topics.

The book is devised to be as short as possible and easy to understand, and it is crafted in such a way as to be a handy reference work for those who might benefit from a resource to act as a rapid reminder of some basic truths that we might already know, but which we could have forgotten in the hurly burly of everyday, modern life.

The book uses honest, straightforward language and terminology and it covers a wide range of subjects such as wealth and poverty, values, freedom, excessive demands,  the taking of risks, and not only our rights but, even more importantly, some might argue, our responsibilities, too.

It also covers time, cause and effect, the truth and the difficulties of saying 'no.'

It is 94 years of distilled wisdom published by Pen Plot and Pixel at the remarkable price of £9.99. Thats just over 10 pence a year and in that context you really cannot afford to miss the opportunity to buy this absorbing and very helpful book.

It will make a fantastic Christmas present and will be available from the That's Book and Entertainment bookshop (powered by Amazon) which is on the right hand side of this page.

Formidable

Formidable is a new book by published author Steve R. Dunn.

It is the third in a trilogy of naval history books.

It is a well-researched book that shows how, because some senior officers in the Royal Navy were using rules of engagements that had, in the main, stayed the same for 100 years, the Royal Navy suffered some jaw-droppingly ridiculous losses of ships and men during World War 1.

Rule of engagement that were suitable for the days of Lord Nelson and fighting set piece battles under full sail were worse than useless when one faced a modern enemy using modern equipment including submarines.

Dunn points out that, because a Vice Admiral thought it "unmanly" for his ships to seek shelter during storms that the ships under his disastrous command were forced to remain at sea, as he ignored the ever-present threat of attack by U-boats because to his sclerotic thought processes, the use of U-Boats to attack enemy ships from beneath the surface of the water would be utterly unthinkable due to the fact that it would be ungentlemanly behaviour.

Because of his tactical blunders Formidable, captained by Noel Loxley (accompanied by Bruce, his  terrier) went down with a completely inexcusable loss of nearly 600 men and boys.

Captain Loxley decided to remain on board Formidable as it sank, accompanied by his faithful companion, Bruce.

Dunn not only explains what happened but also explores why it happened and also makes a careful examination of the stories of some of the individuals involved in this utterly senseless loss of so many lives. And of the hardships that was the fate of their hapless wives and children during a transitional period which Dunn has dubbed the "Vicwardian" era.

It is a highly moving and very well researched book which will appeal to history buffs and to people who are interested in the First World War and will make an ideal Christmas present.

It is published by www.bookguild.co.uk at £12.99.

Opposable Truths

Opposable Truths is a new book by highly skilled and experienced journalist and TV presenter, Martin Young.

You'll remember Martin Young from Nationwide, Newsnight to Panorama and Rough Justice.

It is his autobiography and dips into his near half-century spent working in television, during which time he was involved in every major news and current affairs programme broadcast by the BBC.

It also has a great deal to say about the fights he became involved in with the political and legal establishments caused by his seminal series "Rough Justice" which brought about the release of five people all who had been falsely accused and wrongly convicted of serious crimes they had not committed.

Martin Young will also be remembered by viewers for his work as a foreign correspondent where he covered such troubled hotspots as Iran during the Iranian Revolution, Gaza and the West Bank.

He also, bravely, reported on the Mafia in both the USA and Sicily. Where he was very nearly murdered.

He writes as eloquently as a skilled journalist could be expected to and his style is witty and also, sparse and pacey. This is what modern journalists do, we have to write and rewrite our stories so 500 words can be reduced to 250 words so we can get more content told in fewer words.

We read of his experiences covering the Iranian Revolution, his time with the Rough Justice programme (which eventually earned him a Special Award for Journalism from the Royal Television Society) how he suddenly fell from grace and needed to earn some money quickly when the BBC (unfairly) suspended him without pay.

Work which brought him into contact with the Ford Motor Company (rewrite a manual, that'll be £600, please!) and with the world of the Soho voiceover industry, where actors are on a perpetual treadmill from one voice over studio to another and make a reasonable living by using the one skill that can't be taken from them, their voice.

In fact, not only did he make up the £9,000 he lost in salary from  the BBC, in the three month period of his suspension he actually made a very satisfying £27,000, made up of voice overs, media training of MPs and the like.

He also reveals what is was like on Nationwide, how he got his start in Independent TV before moving over to Nationwide at the BBC and various other incidents throughout his career, including nearly being murdered in Sicily.

It is an interesting book, my only minor criticism of this book is that it is not in any way sequential and does tend to flit backwards and forwards through time and from subject to subject.

It costs £15.99 and is published by Matador.

A Ticket to Oblivion: A Railway Detective novel by Edward Marston

A Ticket to Oblivion: A Railway Detective novel by Edward Marston is a novel featuring the Railway Detective Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant Detective Sergeant Victor Leaming are called upon by Superintendent  Tallis to take control of an urgent investigation in the county of Worcestershire.

For the daughter of a man selected to become the next Secretary of State for India has disappeared from a non-stop train from Worcester to Oxford.

It is 1858 and Imogen Burnhope is betrothed to an up-and-coming MP,  Clive Tunnadine, when she and her faithful maid, Rhoda vanish from a train taking them to visit relatives in Oxford.

But when the train arrives, they are missing. Her father, Sir Marcus Burnhope calls in some favours and gets Scotland Yard's top detective team put on the case.

As the case progresses, some dark secrets start to emerge. Is Clive Tunnadine MP all he appears to be? And why is Rhoda's hat discovered in a railway tunnel?

It is alleged by Clive Tunnadine that members of Imogen's own family are involved in the disappearance. But what proof does he have?

Colbeck realises that he is involved in a race against time to find out what happened to the two women, where they are and who they are with.

And what, exactly, is the involvement of a private detective Alban Kee (dismissed from Scotland Yard for corruptly receiving bribes from Criminals) in the case? He is withholding information, Colbeck is certain, but why? What has motivated him to do this?

Before the case is solved there are several murders,  a brutal attack on an innocent woman and  is more than one murder and Imogen and Rhoda find themselves in the clutches of some very dangerous and desperate individuals.

But can Colbeck and Leaming save them from a fate worse than death?

This is a very gripping novel written by a master storyteller.

It is published by Alison and Busby at £7.99 and will make a superb Christmas present for the lover of detective fiction.

Who Will Be Your Judge

Who Will Be Your Judge is a new novel by Edie Watney Judd.

Who Will Be Your Judge tells the powerful and tragic stories of two brothers.

It begins in the midst of World War Two and continues down through time to 1960s gangland London.

It is a historical mystery thriller that traces the lives of Billy and Richard, of how they were evacuated from London during the Blitz.

What should have been shelter from the Nazi bombs in the care of the House of Nazareth saw them under the "care" of some vicious nuns.

Desperate to leave their violent and tyrannical 'prison'  they make their way back to their London home.

But the war delivers them a cruel blow when it takes the lives of both of their parents.

They are again taken into the care of Barnardo's until fate deals them another savage blow and they are split apart again, this time by adoption.

Richard is taken into a family that rigorously enforces strict Victorian-style rules, Billy goes to live with a couple who live in the heart of the East End of London. They are poor and, until they adopted Billy, without children.

Billy has a constant dream, to become a professional boxer, yet this, too, is taken away from him when he develops epilepsy, which bars him from the sport that he loved.

He becomes bitter and slides into a life of crime, beginning to become involved in smash and grab raids as a way to escape the poverty that has dogged him all his life.

After working his way up through the ranks, Billy eventually becomes the owner of a club in the West End.

Richard, who became a priest, attempts to reason with his brother to attempt to get him to leave his life of crime.

But suddenly a letter is found. A letter that contains an old secret that has the power to change everything not only for Billy but for Richard, too.

The book is published on 28 September 28 by Matador at £14.99 and will make a super present.

It is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop on the righthand side of the site.