Aya and Papaya Learn to Imagine

Aya and Papaya Learn to Imagine is anther in this wonderful series of books for children.

Aya awakens to the sound of raindrops pitter pattering gently on her bedroom window. When she draws her curtains back, she sees that the day looks kind of grey.

She and her best friend Papaya splash about outside in the puddles, having a lot of splashy fun. But eventually Aya starts to feel tired. She feels sad, because everything is very wet and she has nothing that she can do.

However, along comes her clever big brother, Faz. He helps Aya learn to use her imagination and to think of new ways that she can have fun.

Its a wonderful illustrated story that will be ideal Christmas gift for children and mums and dads, too!

It's created by MQ and is published by Matador at £8.99.

The Sun Shines Through

The Sun Shines Through is an amazing book from Sharon King.

It's a gripping memoir of Sharon's true account of love, loss, cancer and cannabis oil.

It covers the years between 2012 and this year, 2019, and tells the true story of a married couple who were both diagnosed with cancer in the same year, 2013 and their attempts to take control of the situation and cure themselves.

The book is made up from written diary entries, posts on social media accounts and from personal memories.

It's an engaging account of what they both went through, written with power, clarity and humour.

He had lung cancer whilst she had breast cancer and they decided to employ cannabis oil in their treatments of their diseases.

It's a book that will make you smile and also cry. It will make you angry, too. Why didn't the health professionals realise that Jasper had lung cancer that turned out to be Stage 4 and incurable until he only had four months to live?

How are self employed people such as entertainers like Jasper and Sharon supposed to live if they are seriously ill, yet not actually diagnosed with the serious illness that is affecting them?

Sharon acknowledges that whilst cannabis oil is not a panacea it certainly does deserve to be considered as a potential medicinal treatment.

If you are interested in cannabis oil, how people can survive cancer and the loss of a loved one, this book is a must purchase. And every doctor and nurse in the country should be gifted a copy of this book to help them work with cancer patients and their families and friends.

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

Star Matters II

In Star Matters II by David John West we read what happens when a special code is sent out that informs the military authorities that the Prime Minister of Britain has been contacted by Gayan star people.

However, as might be expected, the US President desires to be in control of the entire situation, but all might not be quite as simple as it appears.

Because, whilst the Gayans appear to be nice, peaceable and reasonable people, the Gayans have enemies who are far from being nice, peaceable and reasonable people.

The enemies of the Gayan would like to annex our planet to become a part of their Spargar Empire.

They send a highly feared warrior to deal with the Gayans who made contact with the British Prime Minister and to either talk them round to his viewpoint, or deal with them by force.

Before First Contact can become a reality, Gayan and Spargar forces prepare to deal with planet Earth.

What will win out? A relationship based on enlightenment and mutual benefit? Or one of the Earth being beaten into becoming a race of slaves under the Spargar Empire?

How will Humanity deal with this existential threat to its very future?

This modern day space opera is  published by Matador at £9.99 and will make a nifty choice of Christmas present for the SciFi fan in your life.

Peter Pixie Visits the Rescue Centre

In Peter Pixie Visits the Rescue Centre younger readers (and their mummies and daddies) will learn all about Peter Pixie.

Peter Pixie lives in a toadstool which is right in the centre of a dark and big forest. Peter (along with all of the other Pixie children) has to attend Pixie school.

Travelling to the school isn't too bad as he rides on an acorn train with his best friend Jonathan, to the big oak tree school slap bang in the very heart of the forest.

When readers meet Peter it is a very special day for him because his class is to visit the Rescue Centre.

Whilst they are being shown around, a terrible calamity occurs! There is a real live emergency. A human is spotted and the human is hunting for mushrooms! The class of Pixie children are able to see a real rescue take place.

Will the members of the Pixie village manage to flee to freedom in time? What will happen to the human?

It's a fantastic story written and illustrated by author an artist Michael J. Woodward.

This book is published posthumously as Mr Woodward died prior to its publication.

It's published by Matador at £7.99 and will make a most excellent Christmas present for the little Pixies in your life!

Time Transfer

Time Transfer is a book by Mark Roland Langdale which is aimed at younger readers.

It's a magical story about football. But what if football had somehow lost its magic?

It follows the vicissitudes of two football clubs, Manchester United (which readers will have heard of) and another football club, Accrington Stanley (which most readers will probably not have heard of.)

When did the magic first appear in the FA Cup competition?  Was it there from the very beginning? Or when the first game was played at the Empire Stadium, which was to become more famous under its later name, Wembley Stadium?

But Mark Roland Langdale poses a more worrying question. When did the magic pour out of the FA Cup?

And can the Football Association ever bring the magic back?

It's a quirky, lively and very informative and readable book. It's highly likely that the book will appeal to older family members, too.

It's published by Matador at £9.99 and if your looking for a Christmas present for a football fan? This book will fit the bill.

Free From the World

In Free From the World author John Johnson takes his readers back into the 1960s, a time of great social change, including within the massive psychiatric hospitals that dominated mental health treatment at that time.

A new psychiatrist has come to Black Roding hospital, her name is Ruth and she is determined that she will bring progressive mental health attitudes to the hospital.

However, the staff at this large London area asylum are not keen on allowing her ideas to be progressed with.

They attempt to block her and thwart her efforts at every turn. She is forced to turn to some of the patients within the hospital for their assistance.

One of these patients is a man of middle age, Richard Simms. He is difficult to put into any one category. His treatment hasn't been helped by the fact that there seems to be no records of his life before he entered the hospital.

Rather than welcome Ruth's attention Simms seems, instead, to shun, her, echoing the hostile attitude toward her of the rest of the staff at the hospital.

Ruth decides to investigate his story and as she digs deeper, she discovers a series of dark events that can't be covered again, once they are uncovered.

Who can she trust? Who should she fear?

What if a patient does want to be released? What if they have good reasons for wanting to stay, to seek asylum there?

What if Ruth is walking into a dangerous situation without realising the perils she is unleashing?

This is a powerful and very impressive thriller and John Johnson is a name to watch out for in the future.

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 and will make an excellent Christmas present.

Ten for the Devil

Ten for the Devil is a novel from Trevor K. Bell. It tells the story of ten people who have been brought together by an offer that they could not refuse.

They have gathered together on one of the more remote Hebridian islands, to participate in what they have been told is a psychological experiment on fear. All under the guidance and control of Dr Crogil. Someone who is, apparently, unknown to the ten test subjects.

But they become trapped on the island by an increasingly violent storm. And they quickly learn that the true intentions of Dr Crogil might not be quite as innocent as they were lead to believe. In fact, they learn that Dr Crogil's intentions might be far more deadly that they could ever have imagined or feared.

Because, one-by-one, the lives of the ten terrified test subjects are being brutally snuffed out as they are murdered and it becomes clear that there is a plot to murder every last one of them. With each death a single line of the tradition rhyme about magpies that is displayed about the fireplace in the house is removed.

Unsurprisingly, the survivors mentally break down. They begin to accept that they have no options but to accept their fates.

The tensions amongst the diminishing survivors begins to mount. Who who is responsible for the murders of their compatriots? Could they possibly discover Dr Crogil before the entire rhyme is expunged from the wall?

And if they find him, what will happen then?

Will any of them survive?

This is a deeply riveting and psychological thriller and will make an excellent Christmas present for the murder mystery fan in your life.

It is published by The Book Guild at £8.99.