The Magpie Effect

The Magpie Effect is  new guide to help you navigate the twisted and convoluted world of social media.

In his book, experienced life coach  Damien Massias has put together a new guide for us.

He reveals that in his book he aims to help us understand not only social media but our own behaviours when we fall down the rabbit holes of the various brands of social media.

He points out the various pitfalls and erects warning and direction signs to help us make it through the bewildering maze that is modern social media. Such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.

He covers such vital topics as low self-esteem and low self-confidence, how communication skills can be damaged, the dangers of social media reducing everything to a pointless competition, social media and mental health and how social media can reduce people to zombies.

If you are concerned about social media, perhaps you work in the industry? (as does your reviewer) then this book is one for you.

It's published by Matador at £14.99.

Wellness is Easier Than You Think

Wellness is Easier Than You Think is a new book from mindfulness teacher and coach Susie Bailey.

Are you looking to change your lifestyle? Perhaps you have health issues that are impacting on your mind or body that you wish to alleviate?

A trip to the Doctor (if you can get an appointment, that is) is all well and good, but if you can obtain a prescription for a pill or a potion, this might only help you by deadening the symptoms somewhat. They might not deal with the root cause of your ailment.

In this highly readable book Susie Bailey will help you look at the underlying factors that might be at the base of your health issues.

Susie Bailey employs an evidence-based technique that is backed by nutritional and scientific facts.

The book is, basically, a nine step programme to help you deal with your issues.

There are chapters on the importance of looking after the health of your gut, making certain you get good sleep, how you should employ sound nutritional practises, the importance of exercise and how to maintain your relationships with others.

The inspiration for writing this book was Susie's own mother whose health took at turn for the worse in 2014. Not only did the techniques Susie taught her mother help her get rid of anxiety, acid reflux, IBS, tiredness, depression and fibromyalgia, Susie also noticed that, by employing the techniques in her own life, her asthma stopped occurring and she ceased getting frequent colds.

It's a well-written book and is colourful and illustrated and if you want to employ mindfulness in your life, this book is a perfect way to start on that route.

It's published b y Matador at £9.99 and will make an excellent book not only for you but also people in your life who might need a bit of a boost.

You're the froth on My Soy Cappuccino

You're the froth on My Soy Cappuccino is a collection of new poems from Don Behrend.

It's an amusing and less-than-serious examination of modern life.

From courtship 21st century style, to high and not so high technology, selfies, the use or otherwise of social media, and more besides, nothing (well, almost nothing) escapes the careful eye and the pen of Don Behrend.

From the shock of what airport security guards can learn about you, to modern love songs, Jules Verne on the A380, a matter of sartorial confusion at the opera festival, memes and memetics, to Allergy in a Country Churchyard, all subjects are covered in this extremely witty and well-written collection of poems.

It's published  by Matador at £8.99 and if you only buy one book of poems, make this the one. You'll love it.

Finally Woken

What happens if a person wakes up in a hospital bed with all memories of his adult life destroyed by a severe head injury that has caused him to develop retrograde amnesia?

And what would happen if they learn that they are under arrest for the murder of a wife and children that they can't even remember?

Such is the situation that Max Hope finds himself in, in this debut novel from Dean Moynihan.

However, the police are struggling. They can't establish a motive for the murders, the investigation is, at best, somewhat dubious and the defence lawyer is not especially good.

Whilst convalescing from his head injury with the assistance of a psychologist Max tries to regain as many of his memories as he can. And also to learn if and why he committed the murders of his family.

With each session of counselling he learns more of his past, but he finds out that perhaps this knowledge might not be what he was expecting or actually wanting. 

Was he really what he appeared to the outside world, a successful family man? Or was there more to it than that? 

Were the successes more apparent than real? Were the truths of his life more lies than truths? More paranoid than rational?

What happens to Max when he remembers everything? What happens when you really and truly are Finally Woken?

This is a very vivid and haunting debut novel.

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

 

The Bone-Setters

The Bone-Setters is a very well researched and extremely well written book on the subject of algebra, which is copiously referenced throughout.

Written by J. F. Riley it is a detailed and fascinating examination of what algebra is, how it originated and how it developed into the branch of mathematics that it is today.

From its origin within  the Indian sub-continent to the Middle East and then to France in the 17th century the story is a fascinating tale of mathematics and religious intolerance and fear of something that was both new and, in the minds of some, potentially dangerous. 

J. F. Riley wrote: "I write the Bone-Setters to resurrect the importance and acknowledgement of Hindu arithmetic, algebra and trigonometry as the origins of modern day maths and to emphasise the debt we ow India for their numbering-system that now underpins the world. Also to reinforce that it was the Muslim sphere that not only developed algebra but also preserved the fountain of the world's knowledge which they left intact in all their great libraries, waiting for the West to re-discover."

It's published by Matador at £16.99 in hardback and is an ideal publication for anyone who is a mathematician who wishes to learn some of the history of algebra.

Forced Landing

Forced Landing the Last Flight of a Viscount is a remarkably well-written account of a true incident that could have ended in disaster, but didn't.

It was meant to be a routine flight, that of a Vicker's Viscount from Santander to Exeter Airport, in Devon.

It was a reliable plane that was coming to the end of its commercial life but that life came to an abrupt and somewhat premature end in a field somewhat short of the runway at Exeter.

As the plane flew toward its destination one by one its four engines died, caused by starvation for aviation fuel. The pilots knew that G-ARBY was not going to make it to the airport so they had to make a "mayday" call to Air Traffic Control.

This is a riveting story of what happened after that mayday call was made. How crew and passengers reacted to a forced landing in a field and how members of the public raced from their homes in order to help the passengers of the doomed plane and of the emergency services who put into play plans that they hope they never have to employ in real life.

Retired Royal Marine Captain Jim Rider has written a real corker of a story. Well researched and well written (with numerous photographs it tells a story of aviation history that deserves to be remembered. It's also copiously referenced, too.

This is a must buy gift for fans of aviation history and flight and it is published by The Book Guild at a very reasonable £8.99.

I think this book will be in the carry on luggage of many holidaymakers this summer. And deservedly so.
 

Shine

Shine is a book for children that celebrates difference and diversity.

It's profusely illustrated with excellent coloured cartoons and it tells the story of Kai who is looking forward to going back to school after the long summer break.

But something is desperately wrong. Kai is mocked and derided by other pupils because they perceive him as being "different" to them.

Not unnaturally, Kai's confidence takes a knock but with the help of his mother and father Kai re-learns the ability to have pride in his own worth and his own unique abilities.

He realises that everyone is different, but this doesn't mean they have no value or worth and that, as his mother points out, the moon and the stars are all different, but that they all shine beautifully in the night sky.

This is a wonderful book by Sarah Asuquo, a London English teacher whose family originated in Nigeria.

It's a book that really needs to be in every primary school in the world and in every household, too.

It's published by Matador at £7.99 and is out very soon.