Translate

Sunday 6 November 2011

Surfing, the Essential Guide

Surfing, the Essential Guide is a new book out in paperback from Need 2 Know Books. It is written by an expert surfer, Kathryn Dawes.

It's not a book aimed at the Californian surfers -as most books seem to be- it is aimed at people in the United Kingdom who have aspirations to become surfing experts, themselves!

There's nothing wrong with books aimed at the surfers of California or Australia or Hawaii, it's just that because surfing is a little different in the British Isles, a book aimed primarily at the United Kingdom market makes a good deal of sense.

Kathryn is not only an expert surfer, she is something of an educator, too. She tells you what you need to know about surfing, the best equipment to buy, depending on your budget, the best clothing, where the best surfing sites are in the British Isles, where you should surf and also places where a neophyte should avoid unitl they have a bit more surfing experience under their belt.

Kathryn addresses her readership as equals. As equals who might need to learn, but as equals, nevertheless. She does not talk down to her readers, which is not always the case with some surfing experts.

Kathryn tells you how and why waves work, safety, your first steps, the basic and easier manoeuvres and moves you will want to try, what equipment is available what you could or should not try at first, surfing in the United Kingdom, Europe and further afield for when you are a little more experienced. She also gives you tips on surf fitness and health and on surf culture, so you will be spared any embarrassing errors!

At only £9.99 this book is a must have Christmas present for every new surfer and perhaps for some more experienced surfers, too! ISBN 978-1-86144-106-5.

Friday 4 November 2011

Embezzled Love

That's Books Loved this video promo so much that we decided to run it on That's Books!

Thursday 3 November 2011

Primary School A Parent's Guide by Kim Thomas

Up until the 1981 act gave parents some choice over where they sent their children to school, a child was basically sent where there was a space at the nearest school.

With greater choice, however, comes greater responsibility. What should your child be learning at any given point in their career as a primary school pupil?

Exactly how should the admissions process work? Is it working properly in your area?

Is your child getting the education that it needs and that it deserves?

Who are you school's governors? Are they doing what they should be doing?

Are the buildings suitable?

What on earth is KS1 2 or whatever?

All of the above questions and many more are answered in clear, concise terms by educational expert Kim Thomas. And Kim is the kind of expert it is best to take notice of. Not only does she have a PhD in the sociology of education she is a parent of a child in a primary school and served as a parent governor at the school.

The book also contains a list of further reading material and a list of very valuable web resources. If you have a child who is going to go to primary school or who is already attending a primary school, then you will find this book of inestimable value.

You can also visit Kim's website at www.kimthomas.com.

It is published by Need 2 Know Books at £9.99, ISBN 978-1-86144-088-4.

Monday 31 October 2011

Star Wars™ Millennium Falcon laid bare in new Haynes Manual

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... Han Solo and Chewbacca could have done with a Haynes Manual for the Millennium Falcon.

Following the skyrocketing success of Haynes’ USS Enterprise Manual last year, the iconic Star Wars™ ship finally gets the Haynes treatment.

Using brand-new, full-colour artwork, cutaways and exploded diagrams together with plenty of photographs, the Haynes Star Wars: Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual provides the most thorough technical description available of the starship that helped to change the course of history.

The book is written by Ryder Windham, a hugely respected authority on Star Wars, having more than 50 books on the subject, and highly regarded by both Lucasfilm and Star Wars fans.

It includes full, technical descriptions of how the Millennium Falcon was illegally altered by its smuggler owner-operators to deliver increased shield power and speed, and carry military-grade weapons.

In true Haynes how-to style, the reader is taken through how to fly the Falcon as well as the technology behind hyperspace travel, special manoeuvres, combat techniques and using the hyperdrive. The controls in the iconic cockpit, which juts out on one side of the starship, are rendered in beautiful colour artwork to describe in detail the Millennium Falcon’s operating systems.

Weapons systems are outlined offering intelligence that would have proved invaluable to the Imperial Navy.  The crew quarters are revealed in detail, complete with recess bunks, medical kits, and even Chewbacca’s hologame table. 

Double-page character profiles for each crewmember offer reminders of the men – and Wookiee – at the helm, along with shots from the original trilogy of Star Wars films.

As if this wasn’t detail enough, the Manual begins with a history of other spacecraft from the Corellian Engineering Corporation that brought us the Millennium Falcon, along with a rundown of the many configurations and options offered by the manufacturer.
 
The Haynes Star Wars: Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual is destined to become essential reading for all Star Wars fans.

 FACTFILE:
Ryder Windham is the author of over 50 Star Wars books and is highly regarded by Lucasfilm and Star Wars fans. Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas are the acknowledged experts when it comes to illustrating the Millennium Falcon.
Sales Information:
The Millennium Falcon Owners’ Workshop Manual is available from all good bookshops and direct from Haynes at www.haynes.co.uk or call 01963 442030, priced £14.99

Sunday 30 October 2011

Be That Writer: Poetry

Be That Writer: Poetry: Poetry, if it is anything, must come from the heart. It can rhyme, or be blank verse. Long, in multiple verses, or with only one verse or ...

Wednesday 19 October 2011

A Prayer for the Wild at Heart

A Prayer for the Wild at Heart is an absolutely delightful book that will make an ideal present for the person who loves cats.

It is a collection of photographs of cats and kitties. Some cute, some who although looking as if they are a street cat who would not mind going for a few rounds in the ring of life look as if they, too, would enjoy the odd tickle behind the ear, before perhaps biffing you one for your gross impertinence!

The page facing the cat photographs are filled with an extract from the works of a poet or an author (Wordsworth, Wilde, Kipling, Hesse, Calvino, Hood, etc) politicians (Carter, Jefferson, etc) and Philosophers and thinkers like Ruskin, Howard, Locke,Verne, Lao Tzu) and humorists (Twain, Billings, Chaplin, etc) .

It is a modestly sized hardback book that is well presented and well finished. The perfect sticking filler.

It costs £6.99 and is published by Bound Originals and SPANA, the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad which, since 1923, has been raising funds to provide free veterinary care, welfare work and training around the world.

The book is edited by Lucy Duckworth and the ISBN is 978-1-906181-08-6.

EDITOR:, If you buy direct from SPANA, you only pay £5.50 and the money raised by the sales go to help SPANA http://spana.org

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Hip new self-transformational book from life coach Gabrielle Bernstein – she has wowed the US and is the new role model in how to feel good

‘So long, Carrie Bradshaw- there's a new role model for go-getting thirty somethings. Gabrielle Bernstein is doling out inner peace and self-love for the postmodern spiritual set.’ ELLE Magazine

‘This woman will make you smile. Forget what you thought you knew about 'self help'. Life coach Gabrielle Bernstein has wowed the US - and now she's hit the UK to unleash a happy new you... a role model in how to feel good.’ Glamour Magazine

‘Zen bombshell Gabrielle Bernstein has been pegged the Dalai Lama for the Gossip Girl set.’ Huffington Post

How does a New York City publicist and party girl turn into a guru for the next generation? In her new book, SPIRIT JUNKIE: A Radical Road to Discovering Self-Love and Miracles (October 2011), Gabrielle Bernstein shares the story of how she transformed her life, offering her spiritual journey as a guidebook for overcoming fear, changing perceptions, and creating a life you’re psyched to wake up for.

Though still young (now thirty-one) and still rocking her Louboutins, Bernstein has traded self-doubt and addiction for a new kind of high. In 2005 she became a student of A Course in Miracles, and since then she has been guided to translate and teach those spiritual principles to the next generation.

In the US Gabrielle has established herself as a mentor and spiritual big sister to young women nationwide, who these days are more interested in green juice, yoga, and meditation than nightclubs and the latest fashion trends. Her position as a leader in the new spiritual movement has been further cemented via her worldwide lecture circuit, weekly blogs (on GabbyB.TV), life coaching work with thousands, and her online presence as the founder of HerFuture.com, a social networking site dedicated to helping women find mentors.

In this hip self-transformational book, Bernstein shows how to make happiness a way of life and shares the life-changing lessons that she has lived and learned in the hope that other young women will be guided to do the same. SPIRIT JUNKIE shows readers how to tap into their own spirit in their search for happiness. This is not a book on how to get happiness; rather it’s a guide to releasing the blocks to the happiness that already lives inside.

SPIRIT JUNKIE : A Radical Road to Discovering Self-Love and Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein. Published by Hay House, 3rd October 2011, £10.99 pb, also available as an e-book

Download the book jacket image
Download an image of Gabrielle
Link to the Spirit Junkie video trailer

Also by Gabrielle Bernstein:
Medidating: Meditations for Fearless Romance (November). An hour-long guided meditation CD to help you release romantic illusions, overcome fears and insecurities, activate your attracting power and manifest love into your life.