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Transitions in My Life (Large Print Edition)
How does one move forward to a big and open world with many possibilities? Mary was always determined to broaden her horizons from her life in a tiny village in Guam. Mary is entrusted with a religious upbringing, and this is how she made connections to her world. You will see how the glimpses of a village girl made an abrupt and meaningful change to womanhood which gifted her a new perspective in life. Her simplicity of life took her to many milestones beyond this village.Mary’s professional aspirations empowered her to be more than a teacher role model. Mary embraced a childhood trauma from the school she attended. She relates this experience engagingly and memorably. She named it a project to herself. This task instilled her love for Second Language Teaching, making her a winner. These footsteps she walked allowed her to create adventure, to seek knowledge, to acknowledge receptivity to change and to find love.
£15.99 -
American Coastguards, UNST & The B.P. Oily Blacks (1978)
A few stories encountered mainly in the 21st century as a result of working on construction sites. Humour, still having to deal with the good, the bad, and the nasty! 2018 saw the demise of one of the biggest players: Carillion. How many companies went into receivership like my old company? How many others in the 21st century? Was the philosophy Carillion followed replicated by the Post Office?
In 2023, in his autumn statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt highlighted receiving payment times by the big companies. I can remember those immortal words: ‘spell redundant’, ‘P45, boss’. The American eagles were just laid off! Subcontractors are worth more dead than alive.
£10.99 -
My Wartime vs. Pandemic
Everyone now knows what life is like during a Pandemic but if you have ever wondered whether living through it is better or worse than living in a World War, this little book is for you.
In this contest of war versus pandemic, personal recollections illustrate what life was like in the years immediately preceding the Second World War and the changes that occurred after the outbreak of hostilities.
It was not a game of two halves. There was a lengthy interval of seventy-five years between the end of one event and the start of the other. In both cases there were some own goals, a lot of off-sides and numerous penalties, but the referee leaves it to the reader to decide which side won, if any.
£11.99 -
Where's My Leg?
When Flor Morgan mounts her Harley Davidson on what seems like an ordinary Wednesday, she is unaware that this will be her last ride for a decade.
Flor’s journey is one for which she could never have been prepared.
How does one move beyond a head-on motorway collision between a Skoda Fabia and a Harley Davidson?
Who survives, and why?
Flor is a survivor, a fighter. She battles not only to heal her physical wounds but also to overcome the mental and emotional scars that the path to recovery inflicts. Flor knew her recovery would be challenging, but she didn’t anticipate that the very systems meant to aid her would nearly be more lethal than the collision itself.
Initially written to pave her way to healing, Flor now shares her story with the hope of helping others. She recounts her experiences as she has lived them: by finding the good and the humour in the everyday. After all, you can’t lose the plot if you’re laughing, right?
£32.99 -
Confidentially It’s Insurance
While real-life dramas often surpass fiction in intrigue, the day-to-day operations in many professions remain largely unnoticed due to their perceived mundanity. Insurance is typically viewed as one such field. However, it’s not without its exceptions. Among the conventional ranks, a handful of field specialists find themselves in thrilling, high-stakes situations across the globe, navigating the complex world of financial coverage and advice.
This book offers a biographical account of one such individual. With nearly four decades of experience, their career spans three of the Western world’s leading and most innovative financial institutions. Their journey is marked by challenges such as navigating hostilities in global hotspots, dealing with civil unrest, overcoming travel barriers imposed by border controls and local laws, all while operating under the constraints of the Official Secrets Act. This narrative sheds light on the unexpected adventures and critical roles played behind the scenes in the world of finance.
£19.99 -
Heavy Rainbows
An extraordinarily true-life account of a left-handed forklift truck driver who, after a catastrophic life changing accident, became a right-handed professional artist. Heavy Rainbows conveys an honest, no frills autobiographical account of how a single unforeseen event completely changed the direction of Mark’s entire life, and the subsequent adventures that followed involving devastating lows and euphoric highs that are unique, engaging, and inspirational.
Firsthand experiences and events that influenced Mark’s development as a person are told chronologically, culminating in a collection of artworks that convey powerful emotionally charged contemporary issues such as global warming, mental health, and animal welfare. Each chapter incorporates humour and satire, that contrast with episodes of dark, life changing experiences, offering the reader a thought-provoking unpretentious slice of reality, underpinned by art, to convey an in-depth personal story involving triumph over adversity.
£18.99 -
Comrade Sao
‘Thursday 17 April 1975 is the day that I will never forget until the day I die. That was the day the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh and overthrew the government of General Lon Nol and his Republican Party…’
Thus begins Firos Iseu’s gripping memoir of his experiences during the Khmer Rouge’s brutal regime in Cambodia between April 1975 and January 1979. At the tender age of 12, Iseu – whose ‘revolutionary name’, Comrade Sao, provides the book with its title – faced the horrors of the regime’s first wave of killings, which at a stroke deprived him of his parents and elder siblings. Bearing a diverse heritage of Indian, Laotian, and Vietnamese roots, he was branded a ‘17 April’ or ‘new’ person, marking him as an outsider and second-class citizen.
Comrade Sao stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, showcasing the author’s remarkable courage and resourcefulness in the face of terrifying adversity. This harrowing, unflinching and above all honest narrative sheds a necessary light on one of the darkest chapters of humanity of the past 50 years.£12.99 -
Me
Ron Pearson was born in Bramley, Leeds on August 12, 1924. He began writing this book on August 12, 2021, his 97th birthday. After a childhood beset by illness, he left school at 14, and took a job packing parcels in a multiple tailoring factory, not for him. He moved on to packing parcels general muggins at an advertising agency at 50 pence a week, which he loved. His career in advertising was interrupted by a four-and-a-half-year spell in the army on ‘Special Operations’. Returning to civvy street, his career culminated in being appointed Managing Director and then Chairman of one of Yorkshire’s most respected advertising agencies. He was a local actor for almost 50 years including the renowned Bradford Alhambra and Playhouse.
There are some sad moments outnumbered by many hilarious ones. Ron’s beloved wife, Pat, died in 2017 after 66 years of happy marriage.
The list of ‘celebrities’ he has met is impressive, including Princess Margaret, Prince Charles, Hollywood’s Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, Sir Ralph Richardson, George Best, Jackie Charlton, Harry Worth, Alan Bennett etc.
£18.99 -
The House Is Burning
It’s the 1950s and mounting political unrest consumes Rwanda. With fading monarchy, intensifying colonial rule and whispers of rebellion, countless native families find age-old traditions under attack.
For Abel A. Nkunda’s family, the shifting climate grows increasingly hostile. As powers vie for control around them, they face a painful choice: take flight to save all they cherish or stay to watch it burn.
Venturing into remote wilds in search of refuge, grandparents lead young Abel towards an uncertain future. With each step into the unknown, doubts arise. Can a foreign haven truly preserve their sacred cattle herding heritage from extinction?
Follow the Nkundas’ quest across a changing landscape where long-held customs blink at the brink. Will new mountains shelter this household from escalating threats? Or will the life they knew go up in smoke? Immerse yourself in one family’s struggle to find safe harbour for endangered livelihoods and identity before the house left behind is reduced to ashes.
£12.99 -
The House Is Burning
It’s the 1950s and mounting political unrest consumes Rwanda. With fading monarchy, intensifying colonial rule and whispers of rebellion, countless native families find age-old traditions under attack.
For Abel A. Nkunda’s family, the shifting climate grows increasingly hostile. As powers vie for control around them, they face a painful choice: take flight to save all they cherish or stay to watch it burn.
Venturing into remote wilds in search of refuge, grandparents lead young Abel towards an uncertain future. With each step into the unknown, doubts arise. Can a foreign haven truly preserve their sacred cattle herding heritage from extinction?
Follow the Nkundas’ quest across a changing landscape where long-held customs blink at the brink. Will new mountains shelter this household from escalating threats? Or will the life they knew go up in smoke? Immerse yourself in one family’s struggle to find safe harbour for endangered livelihoods and identity before the house left behind is reduced to ashes.
£12.99 -
Byron and the Kindness of Strangers
In 1938, at the tender age of eighteen months, Byron Stratford Davis, the author of this memoir, first set foot on British soil. Remarkably, from that moment, his memories crystallized with exceptional clarity, etching themselves permanently in his mind.
His mother, with a German lover back in Hamburg, may or may not have come to England as a German spy. The decision of her true intent is left to the reader’s judgment. Raised in Scotland, his mother was far from the endearing or conventional figure one might wish for. By the age of eighteen months, Byron had already developed a deep mistrust of her, and by two, he had resolved to distance himself from her entirely. Hard to believe? That’s for you to judge! This tale unfolds in a modern Dickensian fashion, revealing its truths along the way.
More than just a World War II story, this narrative is unique in its exploration of friendship and the profound impact of the City of Brighton. It’s not only a recounting of survival and self-discovery but also a love story and a heartfelt tribute to the city and its remarkable inhabitants who played a pivotal role in shaping and rescuing him.
£13.99 -
The Tale of a Tale
The Tale of a Tale is a companion to The Tale of a Hip (published 2018). It expands on the theme of taking up ballroom dancing seriously in middle age, and the problem of misaligned bones, a limiting factor in many aspects of Pamela’s life, leading ultimately to hip replacement. Despite difficulties, she and John go on to take professional exams in both ballroom and Latin American dancing, and teach for more than twenty years, offering the joy, companionship, and relief from worldly cares they have experienced themselves to a large number of people.
A second strand of the book follows major current events, notably Brexit and COVID-19, and shows an old person’s take on social change, and the march of technology. Controversial issues related to equality and diversity are explored from a then-and-now perspective, with humour, and respect.
£11.99