That's Christmas: Peggy

That's Christmas: Peggy: Peggy is the story of a little girl called Susan. She loves ponies. But she doesn't have one of her own because her father cannot af...

That's Christmas: The Haunted Painting on the Wall

That's Christmas: The Haunted Painting on the Wall: The Haunted Painting on the Wall is a new spooky novel for children from the imagination of author Devika A. Rosamund. Tracy and Sebasti...

Rethinking Psychotherapy

Rethinking Psychotherapy is a new and very thought-provoking critique of the current mental health system and how psychotherapy is practiced.

Paul Hingston originally trained as a lawyer who began working in the financial sector.

He became used to working within a business environment that promoted and celebrated a culture in which a clear focus was maintained on the problem at hand. That also gave great value to the concept of the well-reasoned argument.

After Paul decided to embark on a radical re-think of his career path and to train as a psychotherapist, he was shocked and horrified to discover that there was no such culture within the field of psychotherapy, at all.

Over the last 15 years Paul has been employed as a private practice therapist who has also worked as a front line manager of mental health service providers.

The experiences that he has gained, plus his previous nine years during which he trained at some of the UK's top mental health institutions have combined together to enable him to offer a critique of modern psychotherapy that is worrying, challenging and yet, ultimately, inspiring.

He calls into question some dearly and long-held beliefs. He challenges the efficacy of using a diagnostic approach to the problem of everyday unhappiness.

He also questions the wisdom of, in effect, choosing to label as symptoms of mental illness what are, he asserts, merely perfectly normal and natural reactions to the challenges of life.

Paul believes that modern psychotherapy has it all wrong. Therapists should not, he concludes, provide treatment or encourage introspection. Instead, he avers, they should help clients to learn how to cope with and come to terms with unusual and/or distressing circumstances that they find themselves in by referencing them to a wider social and personal context.

The book will be of great value to all people who work in the field of mental health. It is published by Matador at £9.99 and is available for purchase here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

That's Christmas: The Film Director's Wife

That's Christmas: The Film Director's Wife: We all love a good autobiography, especially if it can shed light on the lives of the rich and famous from the perspective of someone who ...

Calling Time

Calling Time is a new and extremely important novel by Judith Hereford.

Judith Hereford witnessed terrible cruelty being meted out to elderly people when she was in his first job as a young woman.

So she feels compelled to bring this issue to the attention of others.

(EDITOR: Recent reports of the jailing of two young women for acts of gross cruelty to elderly women at a carehome mean that, sadly, this book is of special relevance and should be read bearing that in mind.)

The novel draws on her own experiences and touches on a wide variety of highly emotive and equally important concepts regarding the provision of care for the elderly.

It follows the lives of two entirely different people, starting in the New Zealand of the 1950s.

There's Kristine and Angela.

Angela is concerned about the quality of life afforded to the elderly. So he decides to take matters into her own hands and kills four of the patients under her care to "put them out of their misery."

But it all goes wrong when a fifth victim causes questions to be asked into the matter.

As a result, Angela is frightened and decides to resign from her position.

However, Kristine is a model carer who would not dream of murdering those vulnerable elderly people who have been placed in her charge.

But after moving to the UK, Kristine finds that looking after her own mother-in-law is much more difficult than she could have imagined.

Eventually she realises that she cannot cope and takes the decision to have her mother-in-law placed within a nursing home.

The novel makes clever use of a variety of voices -care staff, residents, the matron, etc. to tell the story of how things can, and sadly, do, go so badly wrong with the residential care for the elderly.

This novel is published by Matador at £8.99 and is a very creditable debut novel. It is to be hoped that This is only the first of many novels from Judith Hereford.

It is available for purchase from our bookshop which you will find here >>> https://goo.gl/apr0hq.

The Cruelty of Free Will

In his book The Cruelty of Free Will, author Richard Oerton has written a sequel to his previous work, The Nonsense of Free Will.

He does not believe in the concept of free will and he argues his case against the concept of free will in a trenchant and erudite fashion.

He believes that free will is a cruel concept, that it brings about much confusion and causes untold amounts of destruction, incomprehension and outright cruelty.

He points out that the concept of free will is a dangerous one in that it rules out biological determination and cal cause people to blame others for matters that are not a product of free will at all, but of biological and environmental "luck."

This is an interesting book which students of biology, theology and atheism might like to read in order for them to better understand the human condition. And to learn more about their own viewpoints. 

It costs £8.49 and is published by Matador Books and is available to purchase at our very own book shop which you will find here>>>> https://goo.gl/apr0hq.

Madeira in a Nutshell

Madeira in a Nutshell is described as the essential guide to Madeira.

Written and compiled by travel expert Anita Montonen, Madeira in a Nutshell tells you all you need to know about the green and luscious archipelago of Madeira.

There are are stunning selection of bright and colourful images, and you'll never be short of places to go and things to do as there are details of in excess of 200 wonderful attractions that you can visit.

Plus there are over 70 festivals and events that you can enjoy attending.

And if you really delight in really getting into the swing of things when you are on holiday, there is a special section that contains a list of some 300 useful words and phrases in Portuguese, to help you really get to know the local population that little bit more.

But that's not all! There's also an amazing food vocabulary plus listings of local speciality foods and drinks for you to try out.

Learn about the wine that Madeira is famed for, visit the wineries and the special wine museums (there's more than just one!)  and enjoy learning about local plants, flowers and trees, especially those housed in over 30 stunning and spectacular parks and speciality gardens.

For those of you who want to get out and about for some great sporting action, you'll learn of 40 sports and activities that are available for your enjoyment on Madeira. Plus there's another section of activities that are specifically aimed at children and teenagers.

Learn about the local geography, the culture, the history and the arts that go together to make Madeira a very unique place for a vacation.

And learn the best places to hunt down great souvenirs in a host of traditional shopping area, some modern shopping centres and speciality shopping streets.

There are also some useful colour maps, too.

There's even a section at the back for you to include your own notes!

This is an ideal Christmas gift for the armchair traveller or for the person who is going to holiday in Madeira.

The book is published by AM-Marketing at £20.00. It is available at the That's Books and Entertainment book and gift shop which you will find here>>> https://goo.gl/WNNZUm.