Sorak Returns

Sorak Returns is a science fiction novel with a difference, for it is also a romantic tale that details the story of Sorak and Nasa, after they escaped from the city of their birth, removing their son, Lenar, with them.

Their life, however, has become increasingly troubled, and they find that they are struggling to survive.

They need to move on to establish a place of refuge for themselves and their son.

However, life in their former city has changed in ways that they could not have conceived, after a series of brutal regimes it has now controlled by two warring fiefdoms.

Their search for a new home for their family is interrupted when they meet up with a group of rebel soldiers. A woman with the group attracts the attention of Lenar.

What they learn from the rebels makes them reevaluate their future plans and they decide to return to the very city that they escaped from all those years ago.

What will happen when they return to the city? Can they help to bring about a peaceful resolution to decades of internal warfare and fighting?

This book is published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

Video book reviews. A new feature

There's a new feature about to be rolled out on That's Books.

There will be audio visual material to accompany book reviews on the site.

Lifestyle Change With April

Lifestyle Change With April is an inspirational book from fitness guru and businesswoman April Laugh.

Do you want to live a healthier lifestyle? Need to drop a bit of weight? Or are you just looking to eat a bit better? Looking for ways to stay motivated?

Then this book is the right book for you!

It's not a book filled with theories, it is a down-to-earth, practical guide to healthy eating.

You'll learn how to stop binge eating, cut down on your cravings and eat more for sustained weight reduction.

April's also includes a free meal diary to help you spot every calorie and to make every meal count toward your ultimate goals.

There's also a highly effective seven day detox plan and the book is backed up with truly inspirational stories form some of April's very own clients.

It's copiously illustrated with photographs and colourful, inspirational graphics.

The book shows you that you aren't alone in your struggle to gain control over your weight and offers practical support to help you get where you want to be.

It's published by Matador at £14.99.

Ozzy & Izzy The Ospreys

Ozzy & Izzy The Ospreys is a wonderful book that is handsomely illustrated and, as one might suspect from the title, tells the compelling story of two Ospreys, Ozzy & Izzy.

Written by Paul Philip Gaunt and illustrated by Matija Sandric, it tells the story of how Ozzy migrates between Senegal on Africa's west coast and Rutland in the English Midlands.

It was in Rutland that Ozzy met Izzy.

It's the wonderful story of their 6,000 mile courtship, where they delight visitors to Rutland Water with their displays of aerial prowess and fishing abilities as they work hard to keep their growing family fed as they prepare their children for their return ship to far off Senegal.

It's an incredibly moving and very well told story and is aimed at children and young adults aged between 7 to 13, though I can see many older people and parents equally enjoying this charming book.

It's published by The Book Guild at £6.99.

The Perils of a Literary Life

The Perils of a Literary Life is a novel from the pen of Jennifer Weeks.

What happens when your grip on reality begins to falter?

It's a romantic tale set amongst the Yorkshire Dales, yet it also moves into thriller territory, too.

Alice is tired with being kept under the influence of her twin sister, who is just a shade too possessive for Alive's liking.

So Alice moves to the Dales where she can live a perfect life in a beautiful little cottage while she works as a teacher.

She meets William, the nephew of her ageing neighbour. William is an actor and a bit of a dish, so Alice quickly falls for his charming ways.

Alice soon realises that she is totally in love with William. They are, she thinks, perfect for each other. They are, in fact, soul mates.

However, she finds something out about William. She hears a furious row between William and his uncle, her elderly neighbour, concerning the heavy debts that William has amassed due to his gambling addiction.

Not long after the uncle falls to his death on the crags not far from the cottage. She is immediately suspicious of William. Did his uncle fall, or did William push him to his death?

And when William's aunt Annie becomes ill, Alice is convinced that William has poisoned her to shut her up about his uncle's murder. Alice begins to fear that his next victim will be her, Alice!

But exactly how far from reality might Alice have strayed? Can she believe anything, any more? Can she believe herself?

This is a thought provoking novel which raises some very interesting points about the perils of a literary life.

It is published by Matador at £8.99.

The Woman With The Red Hair

The Woman With The Red Hair is a debut novel from Clive Tuckett.

Harry Frobisher, along with many other young men, had suffered badly during the Great War. He was traumatised and left sightless.

He returns to his family's ancestral home on Bodmin Moor. He feels that he needs to seek reconciliation with William, his brother, after the murder of their parents.

But there has been a second murder on the moors. And not only that, but there have been reported sightings of the apparition of a woman with red hair out on the moors.

Some locals are convinced that is Morag Donaldson, formerly the secretary of Lord and Lady Frobisher, Harry's parents.

After being found guilty of the murders, Morag had been committed to an insane asylum.

The local police find themselves baffled by the case and so it falls to Inspector Edwards of Scotland Yard to come from London to take over the investigation.

His immediate conclusion? That the case was far more complex than the local police had assumed and that the whole investigation needed to be reopened in order for him to establish who had committed the murder and what their motive might have been.

This is an evocative and emotionally charged piece of detective fiction. The irst of many such novels from Clive, it is to be hoped.

It is published by The Book Guild at £9.99.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor is a novel by Mo McDonald.

Way back in the 1980s, Jack Kelly was famous as both as a successful novelist and a celebrity broadcaster.

He had the lifestyle to match, an army of fans and the ability to do, pretty much, whatever he wanted, when he wanted. Life was good.

Now, moving forward to today, his secretary gives him an urgent call. She is warning Jack that a story on social media concerning Jack has gone viral.

It brings to light details of a relationship he had with a woman called Marian Davies, 30 years previously.

Why this? Why now? Especially at a time when Jack is ready for a very important career move, he doesn't want or need even a hint of scandal.

He takes the time to examine his life of the last three decades, looking back to a time that was pre-social media, the last time he had seen Marian, during the time when a celebrity could fairly easy control the narrative of their public persona.

But the question remained: Where had Marian been all these years? And why had she reappeared?

And would there be a price for Jack to pay all these years later?

It's a debut novel and hopefully the first of many novels from Mo.

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99.