Recommended Reads
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Cats
Being a Lancastrian, I enjoyed Stanley Holloway’s Albert and the Lion as a child and so resolved to attempt monologues of my own, choosing the main character, Albert Ramsbottom in tribute to that earlier story. My first tale, A Visit to the Zoo is now being followed by Cats in which Albert retains all his ability to get in and out of trouble. His sense of mischief is not always appreciated by his companion, Lucky the bulldog.
As a boy, I too owned a bulldog, although naturally, I allowed my mum to perform the more mundane tasks relating to the animal’s welfare such as feeding and cleaning up any little mishaps. I have witnessed my eldest daughter, Sarah, perform the same services to dogs with ownership being claimed by her own sons, who despite their careless attitudes towards their pet’s daily needs, have been rewarded with that same unquestioning loyalty and affection.
I do hope you enjoy the book and that it makes you smile when reading it to your young audience or indeed to yourself.
£8.99 -
Champions of Circumstance
Let me ask you this question: what does an exiled king, a thief with morals, a young sorcerer off on his own, a high elven wizard with secrets, an unlucky sell-sword, a somewhat clueless child, a man with gambling issues and a sewer needing cleaning have in common?
The answer is: not a whole lot.
But when the king is a three-meter-tall polar bear man, the thief one of the capital’s most wanted, the sorcerer unlucky, the wizard too prideful, the sell-sword cursed with the body of a snailman, the child eons old and made from rock, the gambler a blessed priest and the sewers filled with monsters, then things start getting interesting.
Now five hundred years after the defeat of Molthos the Enslaver, demon emperor and thousand years tyrant of the Almira continent, civilisation has flourished, and the annual Purge Festival is just around the corner in the human capital, Kivar.
Follow a group of less-than-compatible people as their chanced meeting and later enforced companionship get them caught in a deadly popularity contest in which they are forced to participate under the threat of prison. Follow our…not heroes…but champions brought together by circumstance as they battle slavers, oozes, giant insects, blood mages, living plants, nightmarish terrors and more.
Follow along in this book the opening act of an epic tale, depicting the story of those who go from strangers to comrades, to friends and to champions.
£12.99 -
Charles and Charlie
Charles Stoker, in 1910, is a brilliant young engineer and inventor with a wonderful career before him. Given a unique opportunity by the powerful Collick family to test his inventions and serve his country, he enlists in the Royal Flying Corps. In 1918, Major Stoker returns home to his wife and child, bones and dreams shattered by his experience and refusing any contact with his former life and colleagues.
Only after he is shockingly killed, eight years later, does the distraught Milly Stoker begin to discover the truth about her husband’s war.
In 1928, still numbed by the loss of his father, their innocent son Charlie goes to college, where he is easily led into a student’s life and a student’s sins. When suddenly faced with an agonising crisis, however, like his father he tackles the problem head on… with devastating consequences.
Charles and Charlie is Book One of the Stoker Trilogy.
The Tallyman, Book Two of the set, will be released in 2021.
£9.99 -
Charles The Great - Charlemagne
Charlemagne was perhaps one of the most remarkable of the Kings of France. Born on 7 April 742, his astonishing rise to power has long fascinated historians. The founder of the Carolingian dynasty, he united much of Western Europe under his banner.
After he was crowned King of the Franks, he constantly travelled across his lands from Spain to Italy, defending his Realm, but also encouraging education, the building of beautiful public architecture, artwork, and the adoption of Christianity. There was contact with diverse rulers, from the Byzantine empire, the Saracens of Spain, Danish Kings and Kings of Wessex.
He had to deal with treachery from within his own family, and dealt with numerous other factions in his reign, subduing the Lombards, Saxons and Avars, sometimes with magnanimity, and other times with severity. He lived to see five Popes of the Roman Catholic Church, and was finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800.
He, more than anyone else, made the European 'Dark Ages' light.
£7.99 -
Charlie Ant 2: The Wizard Ant
Charlie Ant is desperate. His best friend, Sam, has just fallen into a tray of curry and chips! He needs to find a way to rescue Sam before he drowns…but what can he do?
Sam is shocked when Charlie returns to help as he looks completely different!
There is no choice but to ask The Wizard Ant for help…but he is really scary!
£10.99 -
Charlie Ant 3: Scrambled Eggs and Chicken
Charlie and Sam are given a very important job to do by the Queen Ant and she must always be obeyed. They must figure out a way to complete the task without having to work too hard.
When the job is completed, Charlie and Sam feel very hungry and go in search of food, this is where the trouble really begins and they find themselves in an extremely dangerous situation!
To make matters even worse, the wizard ant is then sent to find them, and he is really angry about having his time wasted by two banana head ants...
£9.99 -
Charlie Ant 4: Ant Prison
In Charlie Ant 4: Ant Prison, join Charlie and Sam on their thrilling adventure as they embark on 'honey day' in the colony. As they join the worker ants in collecting honey for the Queen Ant, they soon realize it's not as easy as it seems. Navigating through the buzz of bees and the challenge of getting the honey down from the tree is just the beginning. When the irresistible scent of honey becomes too much to bear, Charlie and Sam give in to temptation and take just a little taste. But one taste leads to another and soon they find themselves in a sticky situation, as they must face the consequences of their actions and learn a valuable lesson. Follow their journey in this action-packed and thought-provoking tale of temptation, responsibility, and redemption.
£9.99 -
Charlie Ant: The Cake
Charlie and his best friend, Sam, are adventurous and love being outside the colony. This is eventually where the troubles begin! They love the queen ant and try their best to do everything she asks of them. They also do their best to avoid the "wizard ant". Their worst fear is to be made to walk on six legs like the rest of the colony.
£10.99 -
Charlotte Tetterton
Unloved, yet strong and spirited, nine year old Charlotte Tetterton survives the cruelty and oppression of the King’s family with kindness and love for her animal friends… her only friends, whom she speaks to every day. She tries to make a clever plan to get a letter to her mummy, who is living in a faraway country, in hopes that her mummy would come quickly to rescue her and her older sister Moyra.Moyra has no idea what Charlotte is suffering on a daily basis at the King’s house. Charlotte is hesitant to tell Moyra for fear that she would cause her to sacrifice her educational goals because of her and make Moyra very unhappy.When Charlotte’s plans fail, she runs in desperation to the friendly village Postmaster who has always been kind to her. Charlotte reveals all to the Postmaster of what has been going on at the King’s house that causes her great distress on a daily basis. When the friendly postmaster visits Mrs. King, Charlotte is terrified. She is sure that he has broken his promise to help her and has come to tell Mrs. King all that Charlotte has revealed. Charlotte is quite sure that this can only result in terrible discipline for speaking badly about the King’s family to such a respected man in the village. Charlotte dreams of a handsome Prince coming to rescue her as in the story of Cinderella…
£6.99 -
Chasing Clouds
Elodie Taylor has a lot to be thankful for. She has great friends, a hardworking boyfriend, and a job she enjoys… but sometimes she wonders whether that’s enough. She’s always had a thirst for adventure that, no matter how hard she tries, just won’t go away.
With the help of her two best friends, and a chance encounter with a handsome stranger, Elodie embarks on a journey that could change her life and satiate her longing for escape.
But all is not smooth sailing in Elodie’s shiny new world, and a betrayal means that she soon finds herself tangled in a dark web of deceit and desire, a web that could see her relationships pushed to breaking point.
Elodie is torn and must make some difficult decisions – decisions that could have high costs, and not only for her.
Annabelle Knight is best known for her appearances on This Morning and Big Brother’s Bit on the Side, presenting segments on sex and relationships.
Annabelle’s bestselling first novel The Endless Autumn (published by Austin Macauley) was listed as one of Cosmopolitan’s top raunchy reads.
£10.99 -
Child of a Bygone Era
This book is written with charm and humour by a child who grew up between two worlds – an idyllic childhood in Hong Kong in the 1950s which was shattered by his return to England at the age of seven to a new life as a boarder at a Catholic preparatory school.
From the age of seven to seventeen, he travels between these worlds and comments on all the changes that occur in this dynamic decade. He sees Hong Kong develop from an entrepot to a booming manufacturing powerhouse with the effect this has on the Cantonese and their relationship with Europeans and compares this life to the smog-bound, tired English way of life only just beginning to recover from the devastation of the Second World War.
It is a joy to read and is a fascinating record of two worlds by a child of a bygone age.
£8.99 -
Chloe's Dragons
Two young siblings visit an enchanted dinosaur park, where the beasts come alive. The dinosaurs exist to help mankind in times of danger. They act only under the guidance of special child helpers.
The team performs a heroic rescue when a fire occurs at a children’s hospital.
Some time later, the park is demolished. The children feel compelled to revisit the site. As they do, an offshore disaster looms following an explosion at a gas rig.
The children summon the magic power governing the park. Their call is answered, as an old friend and family of dragons appear to assist them.
Once more, courage and determination is needed.
Can the new team perform this dangerous rescue mission?
£7.99
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