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Gas Meter Knees
“It wasn’t until I was 13 that I realised pressing 50 pence pieces into Plasticine sheets and filling the impressions with water, freezing overnight and quickly using the ice coins in the electric meter slots wasn’t normal behaviour.” From raiding the bins of London fashion labels, to being asked to bury dead bodies in a flyover, being beaten unconscious twice in one day, to regularly driving my inebriated maths teacher back to school for a fee, finding my boss dead in a mysterious suicide and dragging a teetering motorcyclist to safety on a busy A3 flyover to avoid certain death, the weekly war with the bailiffs doggedly trying to repossess my TV, and finally an attempt to emulate Evel Knievel by jumping a pickup truck in Wimbledon Stadium. I learned the hard way that nobody was going to save me except myself – all this before the age of 16. A real-life rags-to-relative-affluence story which takes us from humble SW17 origins to the bustling streets of Singapore and Tokyo. The story is as diverse and delightfully absurd as it gets. If I hadn’t lived every moment, I wouldn’t believe it either.
£8.99 -
Good Luck for You, Good Dreams for Me!
No good story ever started with: “I checked into my five-star hotel and ordered a pina colada.” Mine starts with: “So, I’m dancing around the witch doctor’s coffin in a small village on the Thai/Myanmar border.”
Grab your passport and come with me on a crazy adventure to Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal and many more countries.
You will experience the joy, heartbreak, triumph, exhaustion, calamity, love and exhilaration of volunteering in underdeveloped countries. The feeling of accomplishment is priceless.
You will climb volcanoes, teach incredible kids, bathe elephants, dance in conga lines, fly kites, crash on motorbikes, drink too much, visit medicine men, feed hungry kids, survive earthquakes, visit stunning temples, help families in poverty and see the most beautiful sunsets on the planet!
I have been robbed, crashed from paragliding, been hacked innumerable times, lost my backpack, had all my clothes stolen, had endless illnesses and much more. If that is the price of helping out the underprivileged kids, then I’m all in! If I can inspire people to “go, volunteer, make a difference”, then we all win!
£9.99 -
Granddad's Babies
In Granddad’s Babies, readers embark on a heartfelt journey through the life of Peter, a devoted husband, father, and doting grandfather. With unwavering love and boundless joy, Peter cherishes every moment spent with his growing family, especially his beloved grandsons. This touching book takes us on a nostalgic ride, delving into cherished memories that span across the years, each one filled with laughter, love, and the indomitable spirit of family bonds. As we navigate through the pages, we witness Peter’s unwavering presence and support for his children as they navigate the trials and triumphs of life. However, the narrative takes a poignant turn as it leads us to the year 2019, where the inevitable departure of this remarkable man leaves a void that echoes through the hearts of all who knew and loved him.
Granddad’s Babies serves as a poignant tribute, celebrating the enduring legacy of Peter and the profound impact he had on his family’s lives, reminding us of the immeasurable power of love and the timeless connections that transcend even the boundaries of mortality.
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Grass Roots
Would you expect a suburban Melbourne solicitor to settle brothel brawls, to locate dead bodies and to search for buried bullion? The author relates all of these adventures and more as he explores engaging stories of humanity, gleaned from decades of legal practice. From courtroom characters to family feuding, the author highlights the true, yet untold stories that show a surprising side of legal practice, told with simplicity and colour. As William Shakespeare said, “An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.” Whilst the author draws on client experiences from the humorous to the harrowing, the stories are respectfully related reflections upon client battles at the grass roots.
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Heartbreak Hotel Diary
Through the course of our lives nearly all of us experience the heartbreak that accompanies a failed relationship - all the more poignant when the relationship was a long-standing one. Theo Kemp’s Heartbreak Hotel Diary is a candid exposé of the myriad emotions that run riot during this time, but it is also an uplifting celebration of life itself and the sort of spirit that overcomes adversity. Although written from the male perspective, it is never gender specific, because heartbreak is universal and affects us all in one way or another. Tackling the difficult subjects of love, relationships and mental health, Heartbreak Hotel Diary is a deeply personal account and a powerful and thought-provoking read.
£10.99 -
How Cricket Saved My Life
An honest, often sad but humorous account of life inside a body that no longer does as it is told!
Ian Martin was a sports-loving youngster. When he realised he was more enthusiastic than talented enough to make a career out of playing sport he left home and joined the Royal Navy. This book tells the story of his experiences at sea onboard HMS Ark Royal, his service during the first Gulf War on HMS London and his subsequent medical discharge after being diagnosed with a neuro-muscular condition. Ian talks about the impact of the diagnosis, his deterioration and mental health battles and how cricket helped him transition into a wheelchair and to him finding himself, and a new career.
It’s a tale of rejection, dreams, discovery, determination, resilience and, ultimately, success via the floors of many hotel bathrooms and scrapes with airport security.
£16.99 -
Human Desire Towards Determination
The world is not what it seems! The adventures in a person’s life can be of all types. However, the underlying meaning in life will always be the same.
This book is based on the travels of a woman through the adventures of life, where the only constant support came from beyond. Being lifted by angels helped her in her determination to survive and strive in life, and certainly modified her dreams for the future after discovering the world beyond the normal life.
£7.99 -
Hysterical Memories
Here is the story of a man’s life that has been riddled and ruffled with emotionally unstable personality disorder, a known mental illness. Despite spending a considerable part of his life at various rehabilitation facilities, Eugene’s life was largely marred with crazy-bound incidences. He was a convicted drug dealer with a history of violence. His case was so bad that he even attacked his dad with a claw hammer. He was everything you could think of when it came to drugs and crime. However, from the lowest depths of a mentally unstable man, Eugene rose to become one of UK’s finest chefs of all time.
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I Became Speechless and Immobile
I Became Speechless and Immobile tells the powerful and inspiring story of Mary, a woman whose life is forever changed by a sudden stroke. A seasoned traveller with a zest for life, Mary sets off on a holiday to her ancestral home, filled with excitement and anticipation. But when she arrives, her world is turned upside down as she collapses without warning, leaving her incapacitated and fighting for survival.
Through her journey of recovery, Mary shares her struggles and triumphs as she learns to navigate the physical, emotional, and mental challenges that come with living with a stroke. With her moving account of determination and resilience, Mary’s story is a must-read for anyone affected by this devastating condition. Not just a tale of overcoming adversity, this book also serves as a reminder to act immediately if you feel detached from your surroundings and a guide for those who want to learn survival tips. Be prepared for a powerful and emotional journey as you follow Mary’s story of hope and triumph over one of life’s most difficult challenges.
£8.99 -
I Believe in Angels
Elaine Lloyd was born in Manchester, into a loving family with three siblings; Ken, Debbie, and Christine, and a poodle, Skippy. She had a happy childhood except for natural, occasional rows with her siblings.
Elaine is a happy, pleasant person with a sunny outlook on life with a tendency to play the “dizzy blond”, but she never wanted to change. Her parents provided a happy environment in which their children could feel, and were, safe.
Oddly, Elaine first saw her husband-to-be, Neil, at Conway, when she was only ten years old and she told her Mum then that she would marry him one day … and she did!
So, having made such a prediction, you will not be surprised to discover that from an early age she revealed other amazing attributes. She could see, hear and speak to those in the spirit world... and it didn't frighten her, she felt at peace and blessed. It seemed to Elaine, that these events were normal. At that point in her life, she had not realised that her “gifts” were not present in all people. She could hear the angels, talk to them, see and feel their presence.
She and her husband were immensely happy, with the occasional blip that occurs in all relationships. They both worked hard and were able to provide their family with a happy home and lots of love, However, one dark day, Neil was suddenly taken ill and was rushed to hospital coughing up blood. All four of this happy family suffered a dreadful time, that changed their lives for ever.£11.99 -
I Do Not Want a Fish Finger Sandwich
Being shown the private convenience of the Queen of England in The House of Commons was not the career highlight that Viv had expected. A dazzling profession as a Prima Ballerina had been her plan but having two legs of the same length and width would appear to be a pretty strong prerequisite for a successful livelihood in that arena, not to mention a couple of ballet lessons at least.
What did happen along the way were a random selection of activities which were not anticipated either:
- Inter-store “It’s a Knockout” on Cable TV
- Jumping the queue at the Austria/Slovakian Border Control
- Attempted mugging in Bratislava
- A West Highland White disgrace on National TV
- Acquiring a temporary Iranian Bodyguard
- Drinking schnapps in an isolated house in Eskilstuna
LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE MAKING PLANS
£9.99 -
If You Can't Take a Joke
The gates of RAF Swinderby were the entrance to an alien world in the eyes of a young man with no previous military experience, and arrival there came as a shock to the senses; a shock which the instructors did their level best to maximise, by giving every instruction and making every observation in an ear-splitting shriek that could melt earwax. From dawn until dusk there was no respite as a host of alien concepts were hammered into us from a variety of different sources, nor from dusk until midnight when we would be cleaning every nook and cranny of our barrack block until everything gleamed, although it never seemed to be shiny enough for the corporal or the sergeant.
Gradually though, the unfamiliar became familiar as those alien concepts sank in and stopped being alien, as we learned and toughened up, becoming the best we thought we could be, and then exceeded that and started to become as good as the instructors thought we could be; until we really learned how to take a joke.
£8.99