A New Home and Other Stories

What could happen when you leave behind the life you have known and travel to a faraway country? Would you go to a place where everything feels different, and no one speaks like you do? Have you ever thought about what that must be like? Join Lina and her family on their adventures to a new home. This historical memoir will take you on a road of fulfilling dreams and the troubles along the way.

A Nice Quiet Life

This is the story of my grandfather’s life in the Merchant Navy, originally written by him during his retirement. He was a Marine Engineer from 1908 to 1945. This book describes a lifetime of adventure, hardship, and joy on all the different ships that he sailed, from grand liners to rusty hulks. He survived the two world wars, the depression of the 1930s, and at one time he even took his family to sea with him.

He sailed on the Oceanic, the Olympic, the Britannic, and almost sailed on the Titanic. During the First World War he spent some time as a volunteer tugboat engineer at the Gallipoli Landings and later saved a ship from sinking from a torpedo strike. During the Second World War he survived two shipwrecks from torpedo strikes and avoided another sinking, thanks to the Enigma code breakers. He met a whole variety of people throughout the world during his career and often gave humorous talks in many ports that he visited around the world.

This book also gives some details on the ships he sailed and a small window into the events, and the world at those times.

A Passion to Run

After ten years of six-days-a-week training, she has gained three bronze medals in individual events and three relay medals at World Masters level, yet the competitive fire still burns brightly. She continues to train and now, as a sprint coach, she shares her passion for running to enable others to improve technically and live out their dreams. Speed is always the focus, whether her athletes are training for rugby, football, basketball, netball, hockey, track, tennis or mogul skiing.

A Singular Triumph – Jesus Crucified and Risen

In an age when the foundational truths of Christianity are being questioned, this book explains, with warmth and clarity, the eternal work of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also discusses humanity’s vital need of it, and its relevance to the present generation.

Borne out of a lifetime’s study and ministry, Tony Rees makes complex theology compelling and accessible. Persuasive and gripping, this incredible work of redemption is unravelled through the pages of the Old and New Testaments, bringing fresh insights and challenges to the fore. It also provides a great source for anyone wanting to engage with the core doctrines of the Christian faith.

Whether you are a theology student or lay person, this book will bring you to a fuller appreciation of the work of the cross – its promise of total forgiveness, belonging, acceptance and identity, alongside the radical call to commitment. And equally, on the resurrection, with its promise of power to live a new life now, alongside the eternal hope of life beyond the grave in a world redeemed into the fullness of God Himself.

The truths around the story of God’s redemption of mankind are the greatest we could ever embrace. This book will inspire you with their message of hope in the death and resurrection of Christ, and give you fresh confidence to trust it today.

A Slice of Life from a Vicar's Wife

Jean Jarvis was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, a market town in the East Midlands and part of the Portland estate within the Dukeries.

Her working life has been spent in schools in Worksop and Sheffield. She lived through the time when Britain was recovering from World War II. It was the time of Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets.

She met and married the curate and became his wife and mother of two children.

During this time, she met John Betjeman, a friend of her husband. She acquired his fun name, “The Smasher”.

Her love of art and music continued throughout her life, and she became a church organist. Her love of painting is a set of fourteen stations of the cross, which was on show for a short time in Derby Cathedral.

This is the story of a long and happening life, told in slices.

A Story of Hope and Happiness

This is a story of triumph over adversity – an absorbing, thought-provoking, sometimes amusing but often heart-rending account of British businesswoman Rosemary Bidwell’s struggles to set up and run an orphanage in Sierra Leone, West Africa, for orphaned street children – youngsters whose parents had been savagely killed in a truly awful civil war.

Read how, against seemingly insurmountable odds, Rosemary founded the Cotton Tree Children’s Trust charity in 2006 and set about raising thousands of pounds through donations, sponsorship, talks and myriad fund-raising events to give 20 African children a second chance in life.

Through her charity, Rosemary provided her charges not only with a roof over their heads, regular meals, clothing and general welfare and educational support, but love and affection.

Read, too, how Rosemary had to overcome all manner of obstacles on the way to achieving her goal: everything from corruption, bribery, fraud and interrogation by police for 11 hours without diplomatic representation to being falsely accused of child trafficking and suffering a suspected heart attack and having to be airlifted home.

Despite the trials and tribulations, Rosemary has overcome the many and varied setbacks she encountered over a period of 18 years. Today, thanks to her dedication, perseverance and Christian beliefs, the Cotton Tree children can now face the future with confidence and know that they have been given an opportunity to prosper in life that, sadly, has been denied to so many other Sierra Leone children.

A Stroke of Luck

The book I present to you has the working title of A Stroke of Luck or a Beginner's Guide to Being Hospitalised as a More-Mature Person and What You Can Reasonably Expect. I believe that it represents a piece of innovative non-fiction, in that it is written with a positive, yet realistic, message about being a 'hospital virgin' at a more mature age. The project has been developed through my own experience of hospitalisation recently, for treatment on a stroke. The concept is conceived via passages of digressions, examples of humour coupled with sharp intakes of inter-active discussions based on the everyday activities of a hospital ward that the reader may not be aware of, let alone expect. It is in this respect that the book is unique: whilst acknowledging that such institutions are full of medics and other professionals by definition, there is also a whole spectrum of 'bit-part' players and 'events' too, which can have either a detrimental or positive impact on the patient's recovery. Their role is examined through character development and astute observation of what actually occurs during a 'confinement': Victor Meldrew can and does 'believe it' he has too! The story itself is chronological: from pre-admission, admission, the period of the stay when time becomes meaningless and thoughts begin to wander to level of absurdity never truly thought possible, to discharge (which in itself seems a 'nasty' word to use along with 'release', terms which come in for a wry comment or two!) and after-care. Primarily, this book is written with the 'over fifties' market in mind specifically, but I would envisage it being an informative read to anyone who is new to the 'hospital game' or is simply filled with trepidation at the possibility of it.

A Suitcase Full of Boomerangs

A Suitcase Full of Boomerangs is essentially a romp around the Republic of Ireland. Tiny boomerangs are bequeathed to colourful characters encountered throughout the three-week round trip.

Narrated in the first person, the protagonist and two of her sisters manage to have a ball as they traverse the width and breadth of Ireland in a big black jeep filled with suitcases full of boomerangs. This book of travel laughs, mishaps and adventures is a light-hearted, feel-good read, intended to whisk the armchair traveller far away to another time and place – the magic that will always be Ireland.

A Suitcase Full of Koalas

A Suitcase Full of Koalas is a modern, edgy travel book set to test your wits and memory for detail. Gallivanting around London and somewhere distinctly south of the great capital in a sleepy seaside village, the author finds herself handing out tiny furry koalas to the English, to the Polish, to the Italians, in fact to anyone who cares to accept the little fellas as a gift from Australia. In her moochings over a month, she manages to meet a myriad of characters from all walks of life who practically jump off the pavements, à la Mary Poppins and Bert, and into the book.

This is a book about life and living – about the human condition and quest for feathering one’s own nest. As John Donne observed, ‘No man is an island’, but sometimes we yearn to embrace solitude and sit with ourselves and a good book. A Suitcase Full of Koalas will inevitably tickle your fancy and have you laughing on every other page. But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

A Suitcase Full of Olive Branches

Would it really be out of the question for the coach to make a slight diversion? We heard that this tour was headed for the Northern Lights. That’s why we took it, but now we can’t seem to find those Northern Lights anywhere on the itinerary. Any idea why that would be the case? Now you are curious about this book, right? Let me enlighten you. This is a book about Italy and her beautiful northern lakes.

While travelling on a tour coach on a round trip from Milan, tiny olive branches are handed out to perfect strangers in an effort to let the Italians know that their country is not considered number one in the world in terms of World Heritage and Culture for nothing.

A Taste of Home: An Indian Bengali Cookbook

This is a recipe book with a difference! This cookbook is a collaborative project between the author and her children so it has a special, personal touch. The author and her family are from Calcutta, West Bengal and the range of mouth-watering recipes in this book are unique because they are only found in Indian Bengali Hindu home cooking. These recipes cannot be found in any ordinary Indian restaurant anywhere in the world and once you and your friends try them, you’ll know why these recipes are different and will want to come back for more!

A Taste of Lebanon

‘In this book, I bring to life the stories behind the recipes, exploring the culture behind the ingredients and the poetry of their stories through a playful translation of language. It is a fusion of words and food; a cultural education.
‘Each recipe in this collection is inextricably linked to a memory or story from my colourful past; from watching a Lebanese neighbour cooking tomato paste on woodfire to exchanging recipes with my friends at college. My food expands the repertoire of Lebanese cooking by importing from the multicultural melting pot of contemporary London.
‘This is a celebration of seasonal fresh produce, family connections and friendships, and takes you back to basics. Something as simple as “Baked Potato with Kibbeh Spice” is a celebration of ingredients, flavour, and rural village life. This is food to nourish, to share, to enjoy, and to show the healing power that good food has on our lives.’
Mervat Chahine