Here it comes! Christmas in all its Splendour….. Shopping, Buying, Preparing, Pantos, Glitter and Sparkle – the list goes on and on…take a break and look at what’s on offer this year – you may find just the present needed for friends and family. Don’t forget yourself in all the rush – we have found all the best bargains in books right now – some have a festive flavour and some are wintry tales; they’ll all catch your interest, especially The Girl with all the Gifts….
NON FICTION
When Fraser met Billy, Louise Booth
Fraser’s mother Louise has watched her son move from being a child prone to anxiety, tantrums and sudden emotional meltdowns to now a much calmer, less moody four-year-old whose future looks a lot brighter.
In their home on the Balmoral Estate, Billy acts as Fraser’s guardian – never leaving his side at mealtimes and bedtimes or whenever he’s feeling low. Their profound bond has immeasurably improved their lives and the family’s. And brought them lots of hilarious and touching moments along the way.
Like A Street Cat Named Bob, this story will touch the hearts of all those who read it.
Hands Free Mama, Rachel Macy Stafford
In Hands Free Mama, popular blogger and writer, Rachel Macy Stafford, provides a step-by-step guide to transforming a distracted parenting life into one of meaningful connection and fulfillment by learning to grasp and appreciate the moments that really matter.
From Birth to Five Years, Mary Sheridan, Ayay Sharma, Helen Cockerill
From Birth to Five Years, based on the pioneering work of Mary Sheridan, is widely regarded as the go-to reference for health, education and social care professionals, or anyone concerned with the developmental progress of pre-school children.
In this new fourth edition, the text has been developed to further align it with current child development philosophies and practices, and to support the wider group of professionals that are now required to take steps for promoting children’s development as part of their assessment and management plans. This book aims to improve the clinical management of children with developmental disorders, through providing the full range of developmental attainments, methods of observation, and advice about when to seek help.
Longevity Now, David Wolfe
Lose weight, boost your immunity, cleanse your blood and organs, and live longer and happier with this comprehensive five-part approach created by leading nutrition and raw food authority David Wolfe. In Longevity Now, Wolfe exposes the number-one cause of all degenerative illness and ageing: calcification. Caused by an excess of calcium and the presence of nanobacteria, calcification can be found in some degree in virtually every adult and even some children. It leads to a plethora of illnesses and manifests as achy joints, hardened arteries, cellulite, cysts, kidney stones, gallstones, dental plaque, cataracts, and bone spurs, among many other health problems. By breaking down calcification and removing parasites, heavy metals, and other “unwanted guests” from your system, you can reverse the ageing process and eliminate the prospect of degenerative disease from your future.
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, Tom Venuto
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is the new bible of fat loss. No matter where you are now it will help you get your dream body. How? By using the secrets of the leanest people in the world.
Fitness and body-building expert Tom Venuto has created a programme based on the four elements of his fat burning equation: nutrition, mental training, resistance training and cardio training. He explains why each forms a key part of your body transformation and then shows you how to fit them all together to maximize fat loss and build the muscle you want. Simple, yet effective, if you stick to the plan you will be amazed with the results.
First published as a bestselling e-book, this all new-updated edition is fully revised and updated with over 25% brand new, cutting-edge material. Also includes a never-before-shared 28-day plan to make it even easier for you to get the body you want.
BIOGRAPHY
Bruno Mars, Alice Hudson
Bruno Mars: an unofficial biography. Straddling a plethora of genres, Bruno Mars’ music contains a huge mix of styles and influences, ranging from pop and rock to reggae, R&B, soul and hip hop; his debut single, ‘Just the Way You Are’, is one of the best-selling singles of all time; he is an award-winning artist, versatile singer-songwriter and record producer – having penned lyrics and sung co-vocals for many others prior to producing his own material – this boy can do everything. Read his amazing story in gorgeous pictures and inspirational text.
Cries Unheard, Gitty Seremy
Gitta Sereny pieces together the fractured life of Mary Bell, convicted of manslaughter when she was only eleven years old.
One Pair of Feet: The Entertaining Memoirs of a Young Nurse during World War II, Monica Dickens, Marina Lewycka
As the effects of the war raging in Europe begin to be felt at home in London, Monica Dickens decides to do her bit and to pursue a new career, and so enrols as a student nurse at a hospital in rural Hertfordshire. By nature clever and spirited, she struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and Sisters, and is alternately infuriated and charmed by her patients. That’s not to mention the mountains of menial work that are a trainee’s lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men, and her secret writing project to keep her going.
Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to be a Pop Star, Tracey Thorn
I was only sixteen when I bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, I formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls and played gigs, and signed to an indie label, and started releasing records.
Then, for eighteen years, between 1982 and 2000, I was one half of the group Everything But the Girl. In that time, we released nine albums and sold nine million records. We went on countless tours, had hit singles and flop singles, were reviewed and interviewed to within an inch of our lives. I’ve been in the charts, out of them, back in. I’ve seen myself described as an indie darling, a middle-of-the-road nobody and a disco diva. I haven’t always fitted in, you see, and that’s made me face up to the realities of a pop career – there are thrills and wonders to be experienced, yes, but also moments of doubt, mistakes, violent lifestyle changes from luxury to squalor and back again, sometimes within minutes.
Who’s Who 2014, Amazon Books
Who’s Who 2014 is the 166th edition of the world’s longest established and most comprehensive general reference book, brought right up to date for the year ahead. The first autobiographical reference book in the world and, after 166 years, still the most accurate and reliable resource for information supplied and checked by the entrants themselves.
To the Bone, Heston Blumenthal, Andrew Friedman, Paul Liebrandt
Despite the glamour attached to the profession today, a successful life in the kitchen is determined more by sacrifice than stardom, demanding a dedication bordering on obsession, all in pursuit of The Food. In this meditation on the culinary life that blends elements of memoir and cookbook, Paul Liebrandt shares the story of his own struggle to become a chef and define his personal style.
To the Bone is Liebrandt’s exploration of his culinary roots and creative development.
FICTION
The Girl with all the Gifts, M R Carey
Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her ‘our little genius’.
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.
Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favourite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.
The Abominable, Dan Simmons
June 1924. On the brutal North East Ridge of Mount Everest, famous adventurers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine vanish into the snow-whipped night. Daredevil explorer Richard Deacon devises a plan to follow in the men’s footsteps, accompanied only by two friends. Off piste and with no support team, the three men strike for Everest’s peak and the most vicious climate on earth. As the winds rise and the temperature and oxygen levels drop, Deacon and his companions hear howls in the distance. Some dark creature is tracking them up the mountain, sending them scrabbling blindly into Everest’s dangerous heights to escape it. Soon they will discover what happened to Mallory’s crew – but can they escape the same hideous fate? A gripping thriller by a master of the genre, The Abominable blends historical fact with spine-tingling drama – this is one of the most chilling and unforgettable novels you will ever read.
Snowflakes and Silver Linings, Cara Colter
The last person Casey expected to see at her best friend’s Christmas Eve wedding was Turner – the first man to break her heart. The Special Forces commando is now hard, dark, but still dangerously delectable. This Christmas Casey has another chance…if only she’s prepared to believe it. Snowed in With the Billionaire. On Christmas Eve, caught in a blizzard, Georgia Beckett is forced to find shelter at the home of her first love, Sebastian Corder. Nine years ago they went their separate ways, is Georgia now ready to open the door to the past? As the snow gets heavier, there’s only one way to find out!
The Advent Killer, Antonia Hawkins
Christmas is coming. One body at a time.
Three weeks before Christmas: Sunday, one a.m. A woman is drowned in her bathtub.
One week later: Sunday, one a.m. A woman is beaten savagely to death, every bone in her body broken.
Another week brings another victim.
As panic spreads across London, DCI Antonia Hawkins, leading her first murder investigation, must stop a cold, careful killer whose twisted motives can only be guessed at, before the next body is found. On Sunday.
When the clock strikes one . . .
The Winter Folly, Lulu Taylor
In this house there are many secrets… It is 1965 and young Alexandra Crewe obediently marries the man her father has selected for her. But very soon both she and her husband Laurence realize that their marriage is a disaster. When real love finds Alexandra, plucking her out of her unhappy existence, she is powerless to resist. Her home becomes Fort Stirling, a beautiful Dorset castle, but Alexandra fears that there will be a price to pay for this wonderful new life. When tragedy strikes, it seems that her punishment has come, and there is only one way she can atone for her sins . . .
Innocence, Dean Koontz
Heart-stopping supernatural thriller from the master of suspense. Addison Goodheart is not like other people…
Addison Goodheart lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from a society which will destroy him if he is ever seen.
Books are his refuge and his escape: he embraces the riches they have to offer. By night he leaves his hidden chambers and, through a network of storm drains and service tunnels, makes his way into the central library.
And that is where he meets Gwyneth, who, like Addison, also hides her true appearance and struggles to trust anyone.
But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives. Something more than chance − and nothing less than destiny − has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.
Christmas at Carringtons, Alexandra Brown
A deliciously indulgent read and the follow up to Cupcakes at Carrington’s. Set in Carrington’s Department Store this is perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan.
Georgie Hart loves Christmas time at Carrington’s Department store. Running the luxury handbag department, Georgie adores helping customers in the hunt for the perfect gift for the perfect someone. And this year is no exception – now she has the hunky Tom, Mr Carrington himself, to spend the special day with.
But when Tom springs a surprise, Georgie’s plans are thrown into chaos. Carrington’s is getting a fresh lease of life in a hot new reality TV show, featuring formidable retail guru, Kelly Cooper.
As the first show airs, Georgie is shown in a far from flattering light. Worse is to come when Kelly’s vile daughter appears to get her claws into Tom. Georgie fears this will be the worst Christmas ever, but Santa still has a little surprise for her stocking this year – she’ll just have to wait until Christmas to find out…
Starry Night, Debbie Macomber
Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge first: Carrie must score the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author.
Living in Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a bestselling book about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone, and no one even knows exactly where he lives. With her career at stake, Carrie sacrifices her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she expected. And soon Carrie is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart.
Silent Night, Jack Sheffield
1984 – and it’s an important time for the children of Ragley-on-the Forest school… Their school choir is to sing a carol in a church in York, and is actually going to be on television! Helping to keep his excited children, not to mention their parents, under control during these momentous events taxes jack and his staff to the limit.And at the same time, Jack has his own problems to deal with…
I Heart Christmas, Lindsey Kelk
Angela’s planning her very own fairytale of New York…
• Enormous Christmas tree
• Eggnog
• Eccentric British traditions
• Gorgeous man
But Santa’s throwing her a few curveballs – new job (as if it’s not mental enough already), new baby-craze from her best friend Jenny, and Alex determined they should grow up and settle down. Once friends start turning up uninvited on her doorstep (and leading her astray), can Angela really have a merry little Christmas? So much for happy holidays – something’s got to give…
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