Surviving Smoking Mirrors: My Reflection

Surviving Smoking Mirrors: My Reflection is a candid chronicle of Alliey’s tumultuous relationship with Josh, tracing its journey from the beginning to its bitter end, and the myriad challenges she faced along the way. Following the collapse of their marriage, Alliey finds herself entangled in a complex property settlement while enduring ongoing gaslighting and abuse from Josh. Concurrently, Josh plunges into a hedonistic lifestyle.

Amidst these trials, Alliey’s son, Camden, begins to show worrying injuries following visits with Josh, adding to her mounting concerns. As Alliey grapples with supporting Camden, her own battle with anorexia spirals dangerously out of control, threatening to cost her everything. This story is a raw and unflinching exploration of the struggles faced in the aftermath of a tumultuous relationship, highlighting the resilience and determination needed to persevere through adversity.

Surviving the Asylum

In this raw and poignant memoir, Michael recounts his harrowing journey through the psychiatric system and his struggle to find purpose after losing custody of his beloved autistic grandson.

After a suicide attempt lands him in a geriatric psychiatric ward for the third time in recent years, Michael finds himself cut off from the outside world and the grandson he raised for three decades. Facing abuse and isolation, he contemplates ending it all.

But a lifeline appears in the form of his vocal coach and support worker, who encourage him to channel his pain into art. As Michael discovers new passions in singing, painting, and poetry, he forges an unexpected friendship with a fellow patient that reignites his will to live.

This powerful story of resilience and reinvention shows how creativity and human connection can offer hope even in the darkest of times. Michael’s journey reminds us that it’s never too late to find a new voice and a reason to keep singing.

The Kingdom Is Yours

‘I’ve still got the diaries somewhere, scruffy from stuffing them in my handbag and covered with something just short of scribble. Five or six diaries. What was happening was earth-changing. I felt compelled to record it as faithfully as I could…’

Linda Appleby

During the 1990s, Linda Appleby, a brilliant university academic, kept a journal that combined a sharp sense of what was happening in – and in some ways, to – the world with an unintentional timeline of her own mental breakdown, which culminated in a stay at Cambridge’s Fulbourn Hospital in the early 2000s. Current events from the period – the long war in the former Yugoslavia, the hostages in Lebanon, the Good Friday Agreement, the rise of Tony Blair – are intertwined with Linda’s professional, domestic and romantic concerns. The result is an honest and unapologetic record of a keen mind gradually broken by a combination of external and internal pressures.

Through it all, Linda’s care for her children, her strong religious faith – which, though Christian, extends to a more than passing interest in both Muslim and Hindu beliefs – and academic grounding in philosophy somehow saved her from total disaster, and the book ends with a few entries in the mid-2000s, when Linda, having left Fulbourn, had been able to make a new life for herself in Cambridge. A few of the poems she was writing at the time are included in the book.

Military Wife

Military Wife is a powerful, honest and true autobiography of an incredibly strong, independent and family-orientated woman.

The catalogue of emotions of love, loss and endurance of adulthood embrace relatable situations, some familiar and some alien.

Her brutal honesty and humour captures you in the web of family values whilst fighting her own war in her internal family.

A fantastic read from an original perspective, Elise Spencer-Hughes has opened up the door to what life is really like on the other side of the battleground. Be embraced by a mother, sister, friend and an ex-army wife that fought for her own self-worth.

My Journey to Becoming a Black Male Social Worker

This book is a frank and detailed telling of experiences of racism, lack of support and the challenges experienced on the quest to become a social worker. Debonico Aleski Brandy-Williams holds nothing back and is unapologetic in highlighting the positives and negatives of his journey this far. He feels that as a black male social worker, his story is one that should be told.

He has a passion and a drive to help young people, especially young black boys/men, achieve their full potential and considers himself an advocate of finding new, innovative, and unconventional ways to engage and communicate with young people. Aleski is also interested in how young people use trust as a sacred commodity and to this extent, he has developed and is doing further research on a concept he has conceived called the ‘Paradigms of Youth Trust’.

Aleski decided to write this book to highlight the challenges and obstacles faced by black social workers as they start and continue their chosen career path. He has used his personal experiences, along with some of his previous research from his postgraduate dissertation which was entitled The Black Male Effect: Challenges & Experiences of Young Black Male Social Workers in Children and Young People Services.

Aleski hopes that this book is enjoyed by all who read it, and that it will help to continue the conversations and changes that needs to happen within the social work sector. He also wants to encourage more young black men to become social workers and make a difference in the lives of children, young people, and their families.

My Wife’s Canary

Miles Maskell has lived a varied and adventurous life, and has travelled widely as amply demonstrated in his anecdotes. He has been a City of London wine merchant, owned two restaurants and a champagne bar, and eventually created a company letting top-of-the-range properties in southern France on behalf of their owners.

He has climbed mountains, shot wild boar in Poland, piloted a 4-seater aircraft of which he was a part-owner, parachuted in New Zealand, and ridden the Cresta Run in St Moritz. He is also a sculptor.

Written as a lighthearted and easy-to-read series of anecdotes, this is his autobiography and recounts some of the more entertaining experiences of his life to date, as well as a number of amusing incidents encountered by his relations and closest friends.

He was born in London where he continues to live, having been at school in Cape Town and then at Cambridge University.

Re-Hab Is For Quitters

This is a collection of events, happenings and scrapes that have taken place over the years of my travelling, making music and by living life to the full. It’s an example of what
can happen to you if you just head out there and go for it. It’s not all good times, there have been plenty of heartbreaks and great losses, and I’ve tried not to shy away from the pain and grief that it brings, but more often than not it has been the greatest fun imaginable and I hope it will encourage a few of you to get out there, be fearless and live your lives, carrying with you a big smile and a heart full of love…
Fitch xxx

Reels and Deals - Angling for Business

John Sellens, electronics and mechanical engineer, international businessman, and avid fisherman!

John’s career at Thorn EMI Electronics started in design and trials with UK Military and Defence at home and to over 100 territories globally. He became Manager of International Sales & Marketing Asia and Pacific region, later managing Thorn EMI Electronics’ corporate activities in Riyadh, residing in Saudi Arabia for several years. After senior positions in the defence industry, John’s career moved into fire and security systems becoming managing director of UTC Fire Safety Middle East based in Dubai, responsible for group business in the Middle East, Central Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, Russia and the CIS. He led a successful and motivated international team – some dedicated fishermen amongst them.

Sobriety Delivered EVERYTHING Alcohol Promised

In this life-changing book by Justine Whitchurch, you’ll discover that you too can escape the clutches of alcoholism. This book holds a message for those caught in the battle, that their divine purpose is waiting for them on the other side…you are stronger than you think.

“Sometimes all you need is for someone else to believe in you, before you can believe in yourself.” – Justine Whitchurch.

“…Much of my drinking was hidden from them, or so I thought. I knew I was being watched like a hawk, so I was sneaking it in whenever and wherever I could. I would venture to the local bottle shop and buy miniature bottles of vodka so I could stash it in secret places. It felt like the perfect crime. The only problem was I had to dispose of the bottles somehow, and that was proving tricky. In times of quiet desperation, I resorted to taking swigs of alcohol-based mouthwash to subside my urges; something I can never erase from my memory.

But the worst was yet to come. It was a weekday, and I had just woken up feeling like a slowly decomposing corpse. My skin felt like it was crawling with bugs, my heart was racing, and panic was overwhelming my body. Looking into the mirror, I realized my face was still black from a fall a few days earlier. But like most other times, I had a vague memory of what happened.

I was on round-the-clock surveillance by my family and the thought of getting through the attempted detox was unbearable. Discreetly, I raided my dad’s alcohol cabinet and over a 30-minute period, downed 500mls of straight spirits. The next thing I can remember was waking up in an ambulance on the way to hospital and trying to answer the paramedic’s questions about how much I had drunk…”

Tainted Beauty

Yvy grew up believing in who she was, but what she didn’t know was how to live her truth. Trapped in a body that presented as male, Yvy had no choice but to take on life’s obstacles whilst attempting to desperately find the answer to living her truth.

And so her journey begins. Yvy embarked towards uncharted territory, knowing that she would inevitably reach her truth and live as an authentic creation. But what she wasn’t prepared for was the lessons she would learn along the way. Lessons that would shape her gender identity and give her the confidence to be unapologetic when it comes to being who she was born to be.

Tainted Beauty is a heartfelt, sexy and hilarious no-holds-barred look into the life of a woman who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.

To Ride a Red Engine

This book tells you what it is like to do just that. The author, who served for twenty-seven years at busy inner-London fire stations, gives a fascinating account of his life as a London Fireman. From attending the biggest fire in post-war London to achieving the Chief Officer’s Commendation for bravery, this book takes you through the highs of saving lives to the lows of multiple child deaths. Skillfully blending drama with farce, it will have you chuckling out loud.

Described in American reviews as, ‘the best first-person account of firefighting ever!’

Warning: Not recommended for long train or aeroplane journeys, where continuous chuckling out loud might be considered anti-social behaviour.

Touch Down

Touchdown of Apollo 11 had many unknowns for the first lunar landing. Dodging the craters and boulders on the moon to land on a firm surface without totally running out of fuel for the return to Earth was a breathtaking experience. The author recounts his press briefing to the world's journalists prior to the 1969 launch at Cape Kennedy, followed by how he became an aerospace engineer. Building a suit to protect the astronauts from the unknowns encountered in the extremes of space and on the lunar surface was an ongoing challenge. Details such as the effects of cosmic rays, thermal extremes and micro-meteoroids on the human body were addressed as they were discovered over the eight-year period following JFK's challenge. Key engineering changes to meet the new requirements for the space suit that had to be tested and implemented before each mission are described. Applications of the new technologies, materials and processes developed in the space programs adapted to industrial and consumer products are also delineated.