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Tank to Tower
Tank to Tower is the story of a young woman’s transition from childhood to womanhood, through the many facets of life. It takes the reader on that journey with the writer from the heat of the Arabian desert, the dust and flies of Western Australian farmland to lush New Zealand bush and beyond. For instance how does a young bride, fresh from the city, cope with the starkly different challenges of rural life, or from having very limited culinary skills to catering for a number of healthy appetites with several hearty meals every day?
This is the record of an interesting and everchanging life full of fascinating places and of interesting but unremarkable people living full but very normal lives.
It is a story of challenge and resilience, lack and abundance, sadness and joy, and all the other ingredients that go into building a tale of ordinary people with ordinary lives that will resonate with many, perhaps encourage a few and hopefully entertain them all.
£9.99 -
Teaching In Chongqing
Today, China is so important. We need to understand why this empire (it is not a country) acts as it does. What are its intentions? This book is not a political analysis, but simply a record of one westerner’s experiences teaching English in Chongqing. Nevertheless, being part of the daily life of ordinary people has given rise to valuable insights. Chongqing is a major city with some 17 million people: it is not a backwater and was China’s wartime capital. But it is important for another reason. The popular mayor when the author began his time there was Bo Xilai, a rival to Xi Jinping; his subsequent removal and imprisonment says a lot.
The author’s daily experiences were fascinating, a real privilege to visit such interesting places and to meet so many wonderful people. These should be shared, which is what this book does.
£27.99 -
Teenagers and How to Succeed
It doesn’t matter whether your own teenage years are a distant memory or only yesterday, you will love this book. If you have your very own living, barely functioning teenager at home, you’ll laugh until you cry. Or just cry. If you have younger children on the cusp of their teenage years, you’ll definitely be crying, as you’ll know that all the things you are reading will be happening very shortly and there is nothing you can do about it (within the bounds of the law, anyway). And if you are a teenager yourself, it’s likely you’ll laugh yourself silly because you probably think it’s about someone else.
Either way, you’ll be immersed. It’s a frank and honest account of the incidents and accidents the author’s own children got up to, with some of his own memories of teenage years. His youngest son features very heavily in the stories, as he was a constant feature whilst the book was being written, especially as he left a perfectly good job to join the circus.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wish you never grew up and certainly wonder why you ever had children.
£9.99 -
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man
For most of my life, I have been infected by wanderlust. When I see an airplane flying overhead or a ship on the horizon, I can’t help but ask myself, “I wonder where they are going?”
Life, as it has evolved, has led me on a journey that is beyond my imagination. I participated in one of the most polarizing events in U.S. history, the Vietnam war. I also was a participant in, quite possibly, the most important event in U.S. labor history, the 1981 air traffic controllers’ strike.
The second of those events led me to an amazing adventure. I lived outside of the United States for nine years. I have crossed the Pacific Ocean 11 times. I have crossed the Indian Ocean seven times. I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean more times than I can count. I have been on six of the seven continents and visited more than 90 countries. Along the way, a brilliant and beautiful young woman decided to become my partner and accompany me on that journey.
This is the story of that adventure.
£9.99 -
The Kid From Port Douglas
You are transported into this huge-hearted girl’s world and gasp at the earthy honesty of a child condemned to a life of hard-working business-owning parents as she goes on to unfold the similarities in her own eventual career and life path. Some of the stories will break the hardest of hearts or produce the heartiest belly laughter. The author has an easy literary style whilst also embracing some controversially high-brow topics, in contrast, emerging as infamous winners of reality TV. Military parade life, travel petty officers and parade grounds, Switzerland, Kensington High Street, Port Douglas, Hotels, Mareeba and Wales. Also some incredible stories of family war heroes; of Changi Prison and the Red Baron. And of Taffy Lloyd, the last man on the beach in Dunkirk. Every page has its own charm, you will consider it a well-chosen book, so curious reader, enjoy.
£8.99 -
There was Once a Street in Bethnal Green
Derek Houghton was born and bred in London’s East End, Bethnal Green, when horses and carts were just as predominant on its streets as motorised vehicles. It was at a time when National Health was not even a dream, or any kind of benefit existed, the only benefit available was by taking the “Means Test” (Dole Money) that most East Enders were too proud to take. Poverty was never any stranger to their doors, unemployment was rife, and the pawnshops did a roaring trade. People then could walk the streets in safety, the streets were the children’s playgrounds, where they played unhindered. As hard as times were, neighbours showed great compassion in helping each other. Each street was like a village, where everybody knew everyone else. World War II was to bring about an even stronger bond with each other. Above all, it was the love of a street – “Our Street.”
£12.99 -
Thirteen Months of Sunshine
Ethiopians have not completely put that historical famine – of ‘Live Aid’ times – behind them and they struggle to understand or to keep up with the Western world, including their ever-advancing technology. Education there is seen as a key to success but balancing developments alongside embedded tribal and superstitious beliefs is not easy. At least now schools have moved from drawing in the dust under a shady tree, into purpose-built structures – with or without resources.
It was into this environment Valerie was placed when, following the dramatic changes in her circumstances, she made her momentous decision to put her comfortable English life on hold and to replace it with a year in that developing country. At 58, not only did she use her life skills and teaching experience in the northern town of Mekelle, but she lived through a potentially dangerous political time. Valerie used in-country transport to visit some amazing places which included her medal-winning run in Addis Ababa! Partly to record every little detail but also to maintain some sort of sanity, she kept a detailed diary throughout that roller coaster year. This book gives the reader a combination of an entertaining personal read of diaried key events, alongside her own Ethiopian life with its water conservation, frugal diet, wind, dust and much more. Valerie records an honest and sometimes harrowing insight into the little-known everyday existence of Ethiopians.
£8.99 -
White Is Black
A patient’s journey in intensive care always starts like a tennis ball landing on top of the net, at the tipping point. Not only for the one in the bed.
Doctor Apfelstein, a specialist in the field, recounts his rise and fall; from flamboyance to custody; from the sleaziest north-east suburb of Paris where he may have killed some of his guests, to the jungle of Harley Street, and finally the flatlands of Norfolk.
He portrays the darkest recesses of his trade, the fleeting nature of life and love, and the blessings of all sorts of music: the soothing drug he needs.
When his own tennis ball lands on top of the net that separates oblivion from memories, at the tipping point, he has chosen his side. Memories. His way.
Translated from French by Brigid Purcell, PhD in European Literature, assisted by Philippe Grunstein, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), Associate Professor of Medicine, for specific vocabulary of Respiratory Medicine and Intensive care.
£9.99 -
You Know You Love It
This is the true story of one aspiring band’s out-of-control, flat spin and predictable nosedive into rock ‘n’ roll obscurity. It’s a torrid, tragic yet hilarious tale that will surely strike a chord with many a band out there. Because these guys weren’t going to go down quietly, they would go kicking and screaming with a defiant, united swagger, and a firmly-raised middle finger directed at the tide of indifference, musical and cultural, of the prejudices of their times.
Share their journey as all their hopes, dreams and ambitions crash and burn, then apparently sink without trace, buried for all eternity... until now. For just like a fully preserved fossil, uncovered after nigh on a quarter of a century, their real story can at last now be retold in all its salacious detail. The filth and the fury, the divisions and the dirt, exposed and relayed just as ye gods of rock would have decreed. It’s a very personal, honest, warts an’ all account drawn from the diary entries of the band’s frontman and lead vocalist, Matt Fielder.
Through all the ups and downs, tears, beers and occasional cheers of life in an outmoded, but still gigging heavy rock band in the 1990s. From its humble beginnings to its ill-fated ‘Storm over London’ tour and inevitable demise, It’s raw, it’s raucous, it’s rock ‘n’ fucking roll… and you know you are going to love It!
£9.99 -
Not Without Her Children
Leaving family, friends, and all her belongings behind, single mother Mandy, flees from the Netherlands with her two young children. Secretly emigrating to Australia, she escapes her vicious perpetrator to start a new life in a country she had never set foot in before. Mandy’s story spans the globe. In her childhood, she grew up in Africa and her ex-husband, Janus, originally from India, married Mandy to start a new life in Europe. After ten years of marriage, when Mandy finally announced the divorce, she faced Janus’ faked suicide, attempted kidnapping of their children to India and domestic violence. Mandy shielded her children from the ‘ice aged’ child protection system in the Netherlands, which blindly stood up for Janus’ rights with no regard for the suffering this created. To fight for a new life in Australia with her children, Mandy digs deep inside herself. She faces abuse of international law, fighting every step of the way—for her children. They are her everything. A disaster is inevitable, yet, there is hope…
£11.99 -
The Misconceptions of Miss Harrod
Beatrice Harrod is one of several daughters of the Harrods family and is living a very comfortable life at the end of the Victorian era.However, she is not yet married and is getting to an age where this is a little worrying.She has been stuck in the Devon countryside for some years and is now in rural Sussex with her family.Her head is turned by a dashing young man in uniform and all her troubles follow this.This true story takes her from London to Paris and Vienna and later to Calcutta.She leaves chaos in her wake and causes sadness and intrigue for her family.It results in her three sons being on opposing sides during the Second World War.
£11.99 -
Self-Portrait of a Painter, a Triptych Memoirs
In Self-Portrait of a Painter, a Triptych Memoirs, journey through the fascinating life of a remarkable woman, born to an Irish mother and Jewish father in the vibrant, working-class neighbourhood of The Rocks in Sydney. From her roots in a Socialist household committed to social justice, she defies convention to become a celebrated portrait artist. This compelling biography traces her life’s arc, from her formative years to her education at Art School, from marriage and motherhood to the realization of her artistic ambitions.
She paints the faces of diverse subjects – some at odds with her own ideals – yet each becomes a fascinating character study etched onto canvas. As she finds love a second time, her world expands further through international travels, taking her to the esteemed art galleries of Europe.
Immerse yourself in a story rich in art, social activism, and personal growth, a tribute to a woman who never wavers in her values while capturing the essence of others. Self-Portrait of a Painter, a Triptych Memoirs is not just an interesting read; it is an exploration of a life passionately lived.
£20.99