Recommended Reads
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Kain bu Maisie
Take a moment to stop, gaze, and appreciate the beauty of Wiradjuri Country, where three rivers wind through vast, burnt-red plains dotted with ochre. This is Wiradjuri Ngurambang, our land, and has been for thousands of years. It’s home to Gugaa, the fierce protector of Wiradjuri Country, and Maliyan, guardian of the skies. This sacred place, where the eagle soars above, ensures that all is well and in order on Wiradjuri land.As I look around, I see yellow-bellied Murray Cod swimming in the waters, kangaroos bounding across the plains, and birds everywhere – kookaburras, cockatoos, and magpies. My heart feels close to home. Walking up the red dirt path, I push through the rickety gate and step onto the vast open veranda. Inside, the bare dirt floors are sprinkled with my tiny footprints, leading me to Canowindra Ngurambangga.Here, I am home – home to my great aunties, Auntie Alice and Auntie Mary, our formidable Tup and Dung. These lively matriarchal sisters, strong and determined yet soft and kind, are always glad to see me. Now, it feels as if I am truly home again.
£8.99 -
Hopes, Dreams and Fears
Derek’s poems are varied and tackle a wide array of themes. His ability to combine poetry with both real and fictional stories evokes a range of emotions – provocative, nostalgic, funny, and sad. Each poem offers something unique, waiting to be discovered as you read. He hopes readers will see themselves in his poetry, which is why he titled his first book Hopes, Dreams, and Fears.
The emotional rollercoaster Derek takes you on with his unique blend of poetry will make you want to read this book from cover-to-cover multiple times. He will truly have you in laughter or tears as you find yourself immersed in his poetic writings. Enjoy this magical journey created by Derek for everyone.
£6.99 -
Discovery
Discover a world where everyday moments bloom into profound reflections in Heather Riches’ evocative collection of poetry, Discovery. Through a tapestry of rich imagery and tender emotions, her poems explore themes of memory, nature, and human connection, capturing both the beauty and the poignancy of life.From the heartfelt simplicity of family ties to the timeless rhythms of the natural world, this collection invites readers to pause and embrace the wonder in the ordinary. Whether you are seeking solace, inspiration, or quiet contemplation, Discovery offers a comforting and insightful journey through the intricacies of the heart and soul.This anthology is the second of a trilogy which moves the narrative on from the first work entitled Voyager. The journey has moved on to the next stage where everyday events become more reflective and, in some cases, greyer due to uncertainty in a newer world. The final offering in the series, Settlement, will see events coming to a more peaceful conclusion.
£6.99 -
To Keep Us All Safe
A deadly Chimapox pandemic has forced the country into lockdown, enforced by zealous vigilante volunteers. Jim exiled back to England to stay with his uncle and aunt after years in Vietnam, after finding employment with the Vestral corporation and finding his own lodgings must now contend with his interfering landlady, Marjorie, who curbs his companionship with housemate Alfie. With the strict lockdown in place, Jim struggles to meet lover Lily, member of a coven of witches.
Seen by Marjorie as a ruse to break lockdown, Jim has a permit as carer for his uncle and aunt and for their allotment, which Jim finds ransacked, the produce robbed, exposing them to food shortages arising from pandemic panic buying.
Jim, evading lockdown and security guards, slips into St Christopher’s Knoll, an exclusive gated community for the super-rich including the sumptuous home of Sir Albyn Denbald, head of the Vestral corporation, observing him in a secret tryst.
Disillusioned by censorship in mainstream social media, Jim allies himself with the Truth Seekers, anti-vax conspiracy theorists characterising Denbald as an arch-villain deploying mass vaccination for world domination.
Believing Lily to be held by Denbald, Jim enlists the Truth Seekers to kidnap Denbald. Exploiting Denbald’s secret tryst, Jim dissuades him from pressing charges.
£10.99 -
The Abandoned Shoe
Have you ever travelled in a car and noticed the abandoned shoes lying on the side of the road and wondered where they came from?This little rhyme takes an amusing look at this phenomenon and questions who would throw just one shoe away and why.
£8.99 -
The Bramante Code and the ‘Hexagon’ Secret Society
In a couple of remote Italian locations, a copy of Leonardo’s secret Codex gets hidden for centuries, until it comes into the possession (around the early 40s) of a certain Government.
Bramante, in his Tempietto, hosted the meetings of the hexagon secret society. He was not in friendly terms with Michelangelo. Other enlightened architects, such as Palladio and Borromini, also initiated to the Society’s secrets thanks to the mysterious symbols left by the clever architect sculpted on the Tempietto, that they both managed to decode, were more fearful about the future – and therefore diligently visited the Tempietto’s cripta and adhered to the Society’s protocol… it all had to do with the hexagon on Saturn’s pole, that also Galileo had seen on Saturn’s pole in his days, but had kept it a secret not wanting to end up burnt at the stake like Giordano Bruno.
Of course, in those days humans didn’t realise one could travel faster than light, be in more places than one at once, allowing them to time-travel. San Pietro in Montorio’s Tempietto was thought to be the place where the Hexagon “Headquarters” could be reached...
£6.99 -
Baby Swallow
There is a Turkish island called Bozcaada in the Aegean Sea. Our story of a baby swallow takes place there. Her name is Eke. She has left the nest earlier than planned and got stuck in a narrow backstreet on the island. She is unable to fly. Her parents are with her and trying to persuade her to fly. Her brother is looking for her everywhere on the island. While they were thinking that the island was a heaven for them, they found themselves all of a sudden in big trouble.
We will see what’s happening to Eke throughout the book. Will she be able to fly to join her family? How about the island cats? Did they hear that there was a little bird in their reach? What are her parents doing to help her? How is she feeling?
£11.99 -
The Rendezvous
In the intricate dance of love, ambition, and betrayal, The Rendezvous follows Edward, a driven architect balancing the demands of his career and his tumultuous relationship with Jennifer. As their romance falters, Jennifer embarks on a journey of self-discovery, finding solace and passion in unexpected places. Meanwhile, Edward’s life intertwines with Katie, a spirited American makeup artist, sparking a whirlwind of emotions and revelations that challenge them both.
£5.99 -
Be Our Voice
Art is not something you do, but rather the lens through which you choose to look at life around you. Everything can become art. Everything is art. It is a creation, a ‘something’ which transpired from nothing. The nature which surrounds us and the people with whom we share our planet have all co-created our collective experience which we call life. We are all artists of our own creation. Whether or not we are any good is irrelevant. The beauty of art is subjective and cannot be classified on a scale of good and bad. What matters is the magical thing which occurs when we allow ourselves to surrender to our creative flow, and disconnect from the crippling perception of perfectionism. Just let it go. Allow yourself to play. Allow your mind to wander and explore. Become aware of the beauty of life in your daily tasks, because it exists everywhere and in everything. Remember, you are the greatest artist of your own creation, a vessel to experience and create. You are a continuation of the never-ending process of life.
£8.99 -
The Broken Balalaika
Louisa Bennett, a ship’s photographer, meets the handsome Ukrainian electrician and balalaika player, Gennadi Potenko, at a Russian crew party aboard the M.S. Ukraina in 1981. These are Cold War times, and any close contact between Eastern and Western crew members is strictly forbidden.After an evening of music and vodka, Louisa wakes the next morning with a massive hangover and no memory of how she returned to her cabin. But a pink rose by her bed gives her a clue. Ignoring the advice of her colleague Dermot to adhere to Soviet regulations, Louisa embarks on a series of tempting encounters ashore with Gennadi, leading to an illicit, secret love affair.Inevitably, they are discovered and brutally separated, with severe consequences. Louisa fears Gennadi will face further punishment upon his return to the Soviet Union. With the help of Dermot and his fiancée, Katya, she decides to fly to Odessa and search for Gennadi. Perhaps she can save him – and uncover the truth about his secret past.
£9.99 -
Cuddles the Magic Puppy
Cuddles the Magic Puppy is one of five puppies who share a basket in a nice house where they live with their Mum and Dad.
But Cuddles is a very special little dog. When he wags his tail very hard, coloured sparks fly out and anything he wishes for comes true! This story tells of one such time when his magic tail came in very useful!
£9.99 -
Oh Carole
This is a non-fiction love story with a tragic end, played out in the 1960s and 70s in Worcestershire, on the Hampshire-Surrey border, in the old county of Huntingdonshire and in Wiltshire.
On the way, the author sheds light on the Worcester of their courtship in the early 1960s with its pubs, coffee bars, new innovative Chinese and Indian restaurants, funfairs, a jazz club, concerts at the Gaumont Cinema and the Victor Sylvester Dance Studio free sessions on Friday nights, as well as the Cambridge of the mid-1970s and its noted resident Syd Barrett.
The author is not immune to getting sidetracked into waxing lyrical about his other main interests: music and cars.
Carole, with her quirky, childlike personality and lilting West Country banter, could turn any situation into a joyous, enchanting memory, and the author has tried to reflect this in her story. She had her own unique way of dealing with life’s challenges, like marriage, cooking, childbirth, motherhood, her husband’s “career moves” from one end of the country to the other, driving lessons, learning to swim, DIY, and being a parish councillor.
In meeting her final daunting challenge, she showed great fortitude, courage and consideration for others.
£9.99
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