Book review blog site, with some entertainment material from time-to-time.
Tuesday 31 December 2019
That's Christmas: Happy New Year to all our readers
That's Christmas: Happy New Year to all our readers: Happy New Year to our readers and to everyone who has helped us to help keep That's Christmas bringing news and stories to the world....
Sunday 15 December 2019
Hippocrocohog
Poppy and Lilly love to visit their grandparents. And their grandparents love to take Poppy and Lilly to visit their best loved lake.
They love to look at the lake, to see the beautiful surroundings and the wildlife and to feed all the birds who live there.
But the lake is home to a secret. A secret that is so important that Maria, who is Queen of the Swans, must guard against it.
There's an island at the very middle of the lake. And on that island lives the Hippocrocohog. It's nasty tempered, it has hard skin and is the owner of 100 slave rats!
His aim is to entrap anyone he can grab hold of! Can Mariah,Queen of the Swans, Grey the Squirrel and the grandparents of Poppy and Lilly keep them safe?
But is the Hippocrocohog all bad? And what happens after granddad and grandmother confront him?
This is a fantastical story told in wonderful rhyming couplets illustrated with some very colourful and splendid drawings provided bu Alice Samways.
It's published by Matador at £8.99 and will make a super Christmas gift which young children and adults will all enjoy reading together.
Step Into Darkness
However, by chance he encounters a situation that means that he might be able to redeem his life, to once again find meaning and purpose.
With the assistance of a group of people he finds himself embarking on a journey into Africa, the Africa that, to this day, remains largely unexplored and unknown to all but a few intrepid people.
Will Dan be able to leave his own darkness behind and to find new light and new life?
His mettle will be tested, his resolve, stamina and endurance put to the test.
But Dan had one last trick that meant his life would, after all, have much more meaning than it used to.
There's enough twists and turns in this novel to satisfy even the most dedicated thriller fan and you'll be thanked when you give this book as a Christmas present to the thriller fan in your life.
It's published by Matador at £9.99.
The Mulholland Files
Edward is luxuriating in his partial retirement enjoying himself, greatly.
However, the arrival of a mystery photograph on the doormat of his home drags him back into a world that he had hoped he had been able to put behind him.
His relationship with Abby, his new relationship, is put under strain, especially when it transpires that not only is his life in danger, that the life of Abby is at risk, also.
Things are not what they might appear. The waters become even more muddied, and Edward finds that his options are limited.
Who is involved in this case? Who is hiding behind the scenes? Who can he trust and rely on? The woman who contacted him. Who is she? What does she really want? What does she really know?
His life is in danger and his reality is put under stress. Who is following him? Why are they following him?
Can he work out exactly what is happening, find out who is behind it or will he and Abby lose their lives before he can recognise the source of the danger and neutralise it? And what are The Mulholland Files?
This is a very good debut novel. The first of many books from Sandy Jones? I certainly hope so.
It's published by Matador at £9.99 and should be making an appearance in many Christmas stockings this year.
All Six Legs
Written by dog behaviourist expert Denise McLeod this book is a worthy follow up volume to her debut book A Dog Behaviourist's Diary.
The book is a very valuable collection of "real world" stories featuring canines of all types, puppies, older dogs and canine education, all spiced very nicely with some humour, too.
Denise includes case studies written as stories. It contains the same information as other more technical documents, but in a way that is more entertaining, eminently readable and easily absorbed by all types of dog owners.
It's not only educational but also diverse, too. Each chapter is written in a storybook fashion, each chapter contains a key learning point for all dog owners. It's about dogs, obviously, but Denise has also worked hard to include the humans who live and work with their dogs.
It deals with a wide range of issues and emotions from joy to horror, or terror. There are stories of hope, joy and humour, too.
Some of the stories deal with genuine life-or-death situations and all dog owners will benefit from Denise's 'Turn and Face' technique.
The book will be an ideal Christmas present for all dog owners and also for professional dog trainers and breeders, too.
If you know all there is to know about dogs, buy this book because I can guarantee that you will learn stuff that you either didn't know or had simply forgotten.
At only £12.99 you cannot afford to be without this book.
Seventy Thousand Camels
Angelica was born in Rome in 1965. Unfortunately her home life was unpleasant, her childhood was harsh and lonely. She was not only abused by her mother she was also abused by so-called family friends. She was able to use her time spent at school as a refuge from the horrors of her home life.
Her mother was, sadly, a classic narcissist and, at the age of 16 Angelica realised that she could take no more of her abuse and ran away from the new home the family had in Australia.
Angelica lived for a time on the streets and in a youth refuge. She found love. But she realised later that her loving encounter was not real love after all and that she lost a good deal more than she had gained.
She then married Rhys, but this marriage proved to be troubled and more than a little stormy. She realises now (hindsight is a wonderful thing) that the marriage lasted far too long. But it did produce three children, including a boy who "lives with autism."
Divorced and still more than a little bit lost (but now with three children) Angelica decided that she would seek for love using the medium of Internet dating sites. These often proved to be less than fulfilling, chipping away at even more of her psyche.
However, a career move brought some peace and purpose into her life when she started working as a Juvenile Justice Officer working with and supporting young detainees who were aged 10 to 21.
After this she decided to move over to working with adult offenders, moving from one Australian state to another in the process.
Once there is met and fell for "Brew" who was a fellow correction officer. His love was genuine and true, and her gave her his full support, but her life continued on a spiral of depression and suicidal thinking.
Eventually, Angelica was able to recover and she has taken the opportunity to take stock of her life and share with her readers what she has learned so far.
It is a moving account of what happens to children born to parents who are, in reality, too damaged to be able to care for themselves, let alone look after children.
But it's also a fantastically motivational memoir that shows how, with love and support, even those who have been damaged can find peace, love and happiness and a real, genuine family.
You'll find sniffles, tears and some laughter in this book.
It will be a fine Christmas gift for the person you know who can benefit from the emotional support they'll find in this book. It should also be given to medical professionals who work with the children of abusive or uncaring parents as it will help them see the damages that can be done to such children. And it may give them some vital clues as to how they can be better prepared to help such children.
It's published by Matador at £19.99.
Appetites
The book's sub-title is stories of love, sex and death and they are an eclectic collection of stories covering a wide range of emotions, moods and concepts.
There are stories of people who are watching, people who are being watched, of people who are lonely, people who are seeking love, of apparently philosophical debates, which mean much more than might at first appear.
There are stories about love, of unrequited love, of love lost (or not) and stories of sacrifice, and yearning.
The stories all have a certain feel to them, the characters seem to be people we either know or who we might know. We see them very vividly.
Is this because as well as being an author Maggie Ling has spent her working life as a successful cartoonist and illustrator? Perhaps so. When you read these stories you will see what I mean.
The book is published by Matador at £9.99 and will make a very acceptable Christmas gift for the short story fan in your life.
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