Recommended Reads
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Solace in Stamps
My memoir traces the many traumatic events I’ve dealt with, in socially changing times, from the mid-1950s onwards. I’ve fought the government’s solicitors because of inequality, survived a rare type of cancer and sepsis, and battled depression too. I’ve written about the emotions I’ve felt over several relationships; a cheating fiancé, a marriage on the rebound and an affair with a married lover. With little education, I tell of my quest to become a surveyor in later life. I’ve recently had to come to terms with the tragic deaths of both parents. Often when times were difficult, especially as a child, I found huge comfort in my stamp collection. Yet there are many lighter moments too!
I am fortunate to possess transcripts that describe my grandfather’s years as a dispatch rider during the Great War. He witnessed horrific sights at the battlefields on the Somme and experienced grief and heartache when a younger brother died in 1914, his older brother died at Ypres in 1915 and his mother died in 1917.
There are also intriguing links within my story to my 2nd great-grandfather who was the illegitimate son of a wealthy landowner and an agricultural labourer’s daughter. Born in 1854, he trained as a tailor and travelled to where the Industrial Revolution had taken hold and mills were springing up in the Midlands and Far North.
In addition, I have an amazing connection to my 14th great-grandfather who fought for King Henry VIII and who was knighted as a result.£9.99 -
Sometimes we feel... Sad
At times, we all feel sad. Reading this book helps children understand negative emotions, the physical sensations that accompany them and healthy ways to feel better.
£9.99 -
Speaking Volumes
How did a fishmonger’s son from Tyneside, growing up in the 1950s with a Geordie accent, become the person who recorded over 900 audiobooks and received an MBE from the Queen in the Birthday Honours of 2017?
This ‘charming’, ‘entertaining’ and ‘heart-warming’ memoir answers that question.
Reviews:
AudioFile magazine
“…not simply a reader but an artist of the spoken word…”
“…Gordon Griffin, an entire acting company in one person…”
“Witty and moving memoir of how a working-class boy becomes THE voice of the spoken word.
Honest and vivid account plus excellent advice for those of us who work with words.” Miriam Margolyes£9.99 -
Starnberg Series: Book 2 – You Don’t Own Me
Juliette Simon is married, more or less unhappily, and is the most popular folk/pop singer in the German speaking world. She is Marie and Arabella Cooper-Nyman’s new neighbour, and lives in her purpose-built villa on Lake Starnberg in Bavaria.
She meets and falls in love with one of her backing singers, Jodie Sanchez. Their story is one full of trials and tribulations. Juliette must confront the homophobia rampant in the folk music world. Jodie must decide: her solo career in the USA, or Juliette?
£9.99 -
Starnberg Series: Book 3 – Give Me Time
In Starnberg Series: Book 3 - Give Me Time, the story unfolds around Leonie Brandt, a nineteen-year-old aspiring artist and theatre designer, daughter of the Cooper-Nyman’s housekeeper. Her life takes an intriguing turn when she meets the accomplished young director, Pia Hartmann. Despite an undeniable attraction, Pia hesitates, finding Leonie too youthful for romance.
As Leonie starts her career, their paths cross intermittently, sparking a tumultuous mix of longing and frustration. Leonie’s journey into romantic relationships between women begins under the mentorship of an older companion, leading her into a passionate affair with the enchanting opera singer, Thea Doukas. Meanwhile, Pia, trapped in a lackluster relationship, yearns for the bond she once shared with Leonie.
As Leonie matures and becomes entrenched in the world of theatre and opera, both women navigate the complexities of their desires and careers. Pia finds herself struggling to break free from her unsatisfactory relationship in hopes of rekindling what she and Leonie once had. With emotions running high and ambitions at stake, the question remains: Have they missed their moment, or is a shared future still within reach?
This third installment of The Starnberg Series delves deep into the emotional whirlpool of sex, love, and ambition, capturing the essence of youthful aspiration and the trials of the heart.
£10.99 -
Steelsbridge Angels
Steelsbridge Angels is a gritty, compassionate and community-led story of Gary Minton and his burning ambition to play football as a goalkeeper for his hometown club. This leads him to the ultimate glory in the summer of 1966!
Gary strives hard to become a success! Out of poverty, he influences family and friends and all who he encounters in his life.
This is a comical, tragic, uplifting and inspirational novel all about Gary Minton and his Steelsbridge Angels.
£7.99 -
Steeple City
Steeple City is set in Cork City, Ireland and is a humorous story of how selfishness and loneliness can consume a family whose mother dies giving birth. We get to see life through the eyes of the main character Fin, a funny, lying, stealing fourteen-year-old bastard who despises his older gay brother and womanising father. The only rock in his life is his granny “The Mad Mullah”. The more hardship Fin inflicts or is inflicted upon him the more relatable he becomes. His toxic humour helps him and the reader navigate a year in his life. Fin’s immediate and extended family experience a year of love, laughter and death where an array of characters enter Steeple City with their own unique self-destructive story.
£8.99 -
Survival: A Story of Friendship
It is a true story based on 13 years of research: the story of friendship between a Jewish boy, Freddy and his Christian friend, Helmut (who are separated by the political turmoil of the aftermath of the First World War in Germany), who obliged Freddy and Freddy’s family to seek refuge in France. It is also the story of friendship between Freddy and George, Freddy’s classmate whom Freddy meets in school in Paris. Moreover, it is also the story of Sigmund, whose patriotic blindness impacted his and his family’s life; the story of Nellie, who left Germany for Colombia before Nellie’s parents sought refuge in France and whose mission would be to reunite the family in a peaceful and friendly country.
Furthermore, the novel also emphasises the emotional costs of the First World War and its indirect result on the onset of the Second World War.
£15.99 -
Survival: A Story of Friendship – Part 2
Survival: A Story of Friendship – Part 2 is about the voyage Freddy and his mother, Helene, take to escape Europe and the ravages of World War II. After promising Sigmund on his deathbed that they would reunite the family in a peaceful and friendly country, they make their way via ship to Colombia, the country Nellie had made her home just as the Nazi movement in Germany was gaining momentum. After their safe arrival, Freddy is forced to look for work in order to support his mother and himself while adjusting to new surroundings at the same time. After some fortuitous, work-related encounters, Freddy decides to not only run his own lingerie business but produce the raw materials he needs himself.
This is the story of how someone who was unable to complete school or go to university, due to strictly unfortunate circumstances, had the vision and skills to found a company that would provide jobs and well-being. Thus giving back to the country that granted him what the German Nazi government had taken away from him: his nationality.
£10.99 -
Swimming through the reeds
This brilliant self-help book is designed to assist each one of us to conquer our own particular problems, and ‘Smile... Just one smile can make a difference' as Victoria explains.
Throughout this book, a feeling of peace, hope and an uplifting momentum grows with each page and imbues the reader until its genuine calming and morale-lifting impetus is thoroughly absorbed and the healing commences.
Happiness and confidence starts with a wonderful chain reaction in our individual dealings with our own problems and creating a kindness and caring for others that can travel right around the world.
So read this and find your own new and wonderful dreams and achieve amazing things!£7.99 -
Take a Seat
This book encompasses the fascinating 40 year journey in life of someone who just wasn’t your average practicing GP, but someone whose passion and drive were to use his skills and medical ability to bring quality of life to every patient that crossed his path.
He thrives on challenges in every situation and circumstance. Wherever there was a medical need, however big or small, he would jump to take it on! Whatever the complex medical condition was, in whatever culture or country he was operating in, whether in a war zone, an aircraft carrier, an Aboriginal township in Australia, or a community GP practice in Essex, he thrived and wanted to make a difference!
Many of the episodes in this book have been the catalyst of the diverse and interesting career, which have kept many a dinner party enthralled, amused, admired and envied.
Every memoir depicts the enthusiasm and need of the author to achieve the overall ambition … ‘to bring a quality of life’ to all humans that needed his medical help in the best possible way… and to give the reassurance and empathy to make them ‘feel they matter’ and ‘quality of life is essential and priceless’ whatever the circumstance prevails!
£8.99 -
Take Them or I Will Kill Them
Diane then said to her aunt and uncle, “Benny told us we are staying with you for a holiday.” Bet looked at Benny, who signalled for the girls to come to him. Looking at the two small girls, he swallowed hard.
When he had their attention, he said grimly, “No girls, I have brought you here to live with Auntie Bet and Uncle Bertie, because if I had not taken you away, then they would have killed you.”
Diane frowned, “They? Who are they?”
Benny replied, “Your mum and dad.”
Benny explained that when he came to collect them, their mother said, “Take them, or I will kill them. I’ve had enough; I don’t want them in my sight.” Diane gasped and grabbed Jo’s hand.
This is the true story about two small girls who suffered neglect and appalling abuse at the hands of the people who should have been caring for them; their parents.
£8.99
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