-
Just One Word, Just One Smile: Life and Love After an Aneurysm
Just One Word, Just One Smile – A Memoir
An empty-nester couple, Sue and Tony, are travelling independently through South America when Sue endures a brain aneurysm. No one chooses Bolivia – the poorest country in South America – for brain surgery, but Sue has no choice. Weeks pass in South American hospitals, waiting on surgeries that threaten the very life that they try to save. Eventually, Sue is well enough to be transported back to Australia and spend further weeks in hospitals. When Sue is able to return to her home, Tony’s new role as the carer of a person with a dementia-like condition is glimpsed.
“A good mix of heartfelt emotion and facts about stroke and associated recovery. It’s also a beautiful tribute to Sue that left me reaching for the tissues.”
£3.50 -
Just Go to the Airport
This is the story of the stuff of dreams and how they can actually happen in the best way possible. A story of two people living three completely different lifestyles over a four-year Odyssey.
After a fork in the road presented itself, John and Helen left Sydney Australia for a hemisphere change to live on the Greek Island of Samos. At the time of leaving, they were both at the top of their professions in the IT Industry.
Life, love, and all manner of emotions came forth to capture the start of their destiny on Samos, where they lived for nine months. From this Greek Island they moved to London and John worked in the IT Industry with Helen working as a PA, a job for which she was overqualified.
Great success in the UK then led to a second fork in the road and they decided to buy a large sailing yacht and leave England to sail and live in Europe, having the Mediterranean Sea in mind and to return to the Greek Island of Samos, which they considered their spiritual home in Europe.
To do this they needed to complete a three-month course in sailing and navigation with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA). After this they left England to sail and live in Europe and the last of the three lifestyles.
It is a story of people, countries and their peoples, adventure, the romance of the sea and life and above all… emotions! To adopt these lifestyles, they needed an abundance of confidence, intelligence, and courage. These qualities they had.
A similar tale to the TV Series “The Durrells” on a Greek Island. Then onto the TV Series “Emily in Paris” for their city success. The last of course being the return of Odysseus, the Greek hero, who sailed home and returned to the Greek Island of Ithaca after an absence of some years where similarly John and Helen returned, under sail, to the Greek Island of Samos.
£3.50 -
Just Around the Next Corner
Route finding along the bottom of a deep gorge, or facing a huge breaking wave, the challenge is to succeed. The adventure, whether it be on a steep 2m wide stream in the Scottish Highlands or the mighty Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, brings with it great rewards, but occasionally close calls. Mike shares an impressive travelogue of paddling adventures, brought to life with reflections and photographs. He introduces us to a light-hearted consideration of scrimblies and deeper notions relating to the motivation and reasoning that has inspired him to seek out new challenges, through paddling white water. We discover how teamwork, planning and expertise can merge into those few rare euphoric moments of pure content. You will be inspired to go and look around the next corner for your next adventure.
£3.50 -
Just An Ordinary Life
In her memoir, Pat shares the lessons she learned and the adventures she had throughout her ordinary yet extraordinary life. From proving that Life is What You Make It to the importance of not living to please others, Pat’s story encourages readers to embrace their own lives and make the most of every opportunity. Along the way, she reminds us that it’s better to look back and say “I’m glad I tried that” rather than “I wish I’d done that.” Follow Pat’s journey and be inspired to live a fulfilling and meaningful life.
£3.50 -
Jumper
A Message from My Brain (to the Auckland Medical School)
This is the brain of a male-female transgender person. I expect it to conform to that of a normal male, but probably not in every respect. For instance, my reading has suggested that the ‘bed nucleus of the stria terminalis’ may be more consistent with that found in the female brain, hence the peculiar phenomenon that has afflicted me all my life. Also note that I received total gender reassignment surgery in November 1991 at age 52. At that point, I’d already been on female hormones for some ten years, and I don’t know what ‘feminising’ effects have occurred in the brain as a result.
I believe that the establishing of a sense of gender identity consistent with the physical is prime in a child’s socialisation. I can’t speak for other TGs, but my awareness (around age 4) of the disjunction between my clear physical identity as a male (capable of fathering two children in adulthood) and a mental conviction that I should’ve been born female caused me significant misery throughout my life. My transition at 52 at least brought a kind of release from the fantasising, agonising, and guilt. Whatever, I can’t regret the only life I’ll ever have. There has been much pleasure and some achievement despite the rigours of a life with mind and body at war. Certainly, no prenatal intervention, or anything else, was possible in 1939, but it would be comforting to know that my brain, at some point, might contribute to research in the area. However, I believe that little or no research is undertaken in New Zealand into transgender-related brain structure anomalies currently, and I’m happy to accept that the medical school will use my brain as is appropriate to its purposes. Sincerely, I’m happy to contribute whatever to the host of men and women who have lived with gender dysphoria and ultimately found… and those who perhaps never did.
£3.50 -
Juggling Cats
This is a true story about a family whose lives were upturned on a fateful Spring day. The story of how their lives changed, and how they coped with the stress of having a family member murdered in cold blood. How was this allowed to happen? How are families allowed to be left with next to no resolution and hounded by press and government officials, then unceremoniously dumped and then ignored following life changing incidents. Will they ever find out any answers? 2014 was a year they would never forget, a year that would change the direction of their lives forever.
£3.50 -
Joe Bloggs Becomes A Christian
“This is a fascinating little book which I am glad to commend. The author is an intelligent and able man. It is an autobiographical account of Michael’s life and tells of his time as a police officer in London facing a number of traumatic experiences, including attacks on his life. These, in turn, lead to a period of illness which brought him back to Devon where he became a devoted Christian.
But the story does not end there; it continues with a description of how Michael returned to London in order to ‘bury the ghosts from his past’; of how he was helped to overcome all his past difficulties … and much more.
I imagine that some of those who read this book will identify with one or other of Michael’s experiences and find help in seeing how he came through them. I particularly enjoyed reading about the ‘93 pence Bible’. This is just one of the adventures recounted here which formed part of Michael’s unusual and exciting spiritual pilgrimage. This is a book which you will find enjoyable and encouraging. It is a book to buy and a book to give.”
Revd. Cyril Tennant
St. Philip and St. James Church, Ilfracombe, Devon
£3.50 -
Jesus In My Corner
Jesus in My Corner, written by Andy Flute, chronicles his struggle to overcome a myriad of life-long challenges with violence and alcohol. For over 30 years, violence and alcohol were Andy's daily bread until, one day, by the power of prayer, he managed to achieve what no amount of alcohol or prison incarceration could ever achieve. When he was at the point of death, intoxicated with alcohol following a ten-day binging session, I went to see my old mate and prayed for him with Pastor Steve.
Andy was fighting the demon of alcohol and he was on the ropes, down for the count. Andy, a former captain of the English boxing team and British Middleweight title challenger alongside sparring partner Chris Eubank and other world class fighters, knew what brutal fighting was all about. This fight was different, one he couldn't win on his own strength. Andy felt the intense grip and destructive downward spiral alcohol had on his life. Battered and bleeding, with no more strength, he cried out to Jesus.
In a truly miraculous turnaround, Andy found Jesus in his corner and almost instantaneously gave up alcohol. During the bleakest of moments, he experienced a spiritual awakening. Slowly, he found his way through darkest era of his life. He came to believe a power greater than himself in Jesus.
Now with Jesus in his corner, Andy is an active member of Sedgley Community Church. The Bible employs the analogy of wrestling in reference to our warfare with Satan and his hosts. Andy had a fight that only Jesus could referee, this gigantic battle played out until he was baptised in water.
Andy Flute's willingness to share the most intimate aspects of his life was born out of a deep desire to help others addicted to alcohol and violence.
Despite these daunting events, Andy now works hard to live a normal life and raise a family of his own. He regularly attends prison workshops and shares his testimony in local schools. The Lord has made an amazing transformation in his life, He could do the same for you!His good friend, John Cramphorn
£3.50 -
Jam Tomorrow
Jam Tomorrow is a light, and sometimes irreverent, account of starting and growing a business. In his ‘tell it like it is' style, author Wayne Palmer shares with us his experience of the challenges, pitfalls and triumphs through a 20-year journey in development, manufacturing and design. Wayne’s company, Thinking Space, started in a dining room and is now a major player in its sector, exporting internationally.
For anyone thinking about starting or growing a business or just curious to know what it’s like, this book provides a straightforward insight into Wayne’s first hand experiences.
Busting some myths and sharing some gems, this book is not about business theory – it’s about business reality.
£3.50 -
Jack the Ripper
I fired my second editor in 2016 after 10 years, and I asked: “Why are you changing my book and putting in voices he supposedly is hearing in his head like a schizophrenic?” Louise responded, “Well he would have to have been crazy to carve up those women in that way.” I resonated “If he was a schizophrenic, then I’m a schizophrenic, you’ve been brainwashed by social media, he was a killer!”
Then I hired my third editor/proofreader, Harold Winberg, who translated technical instruction manuals into six languages. I knew he would pay close attention to details and not change, or distort the message. To understand one’s psyche, as a trained psychologist I know, you have to start at the true beginning. You can’t just jump into London 1888 during the Jack the Ripper murders and begin chapter 1 there because it’s thrilling, at first glance he would appear a deranged psychopath, at the least.
John or Jack was already a skilled horse slaughterer at age 17, he could slit the throat and sever the vocal cords of horses with a sharp knife – a silent killer.
Oh, a knife, The Ripper, why is a knife so much scarier than a gun? Because it’s personal and intimate.
£3.50 -
It's Hard to Be Good
Times were hard in the 1940s and early '50s: kids went hungry and food was rationed; some families had to beg, steal or borrow to survive. But Charlie found his own way out. On a routine basis, together with his childhood gang, they became kid grafters (bang into crime). They did what they had to do, providing food to put on their family's table amongst other things.
In 1953, aged 13, Charlie and his gang were always bunking off school. He went on to make further progress with his life. With his baby face and dressed as an office boy in a blazer, shirt, and tie, he was darting in and out of buildings in the city centre of Liverpool, buildings which provided rich pickings as he raided their cash drawers and safes.
Charlie meets his mentor: an older woman, who was a professional in the business. She teaches him how to rob high-class jewellers of their expensive diamond rings: a well planned-out scene which is typical of the classic, highly rewarding cases of jewellery robberies of the time.
Here's what Charlie has to say about his younger self: 'In 1954 and at the age of fourteen, I was earning more money than a professional adult. I was the richest poor teenager in Liverpool.'
£3.50 -
It Will Happen
How many times have you heard the words, “It will happen?”
For Laura and her husband, Scoop, the phrase that once brought comfort, hope and reassurance began to lose all positive meaning.
When they first started trying for a baby, they had no idea what they would be in for. After the heartbreak of each loss, when the world around her frustratingly seemed to carry on like normal, Laura struggled to cope with her inability to do something others seemed to find so easy. In this candid memoir, she shares her isolating experiences and talks openly and honestly about how she and her husband navigated the harsh realities of their rollercoaster journey to parenthood.
It Will Happen covers:
- trying to conceive and the strain on relationships
- miscarriage, ectopic and molar pregnancies
- jealousy and resentment
- treatments and testing
- the anxiety of pregnancy and motherhood after loss
- communicating with people in these situations
Written from the heart of someone with first-hand experiences, It Will Happen gives you tools and information to feel empowered and supported through the difficult times when trying to conceive. Who ever really knows what WILL happen? What’s important is that it CAN happen.
£3.50