Hoping for the Best

Hoping for the Best is an amazing debut book from Sarah Berryman -non-fiction, bless her!- about what it is really like to become the mother of twins, plus one.

The subtitle is "Three months in the life of a twin plus one mummy."

Sarah Berryman is my kind of writer. Anyone who quotes Maya Angelou as a major influence on her life really does deserve to have their voice heard!

Early on in her book Sarah uses a quote from Maya Angelou that, pretty much, sets the tone for the rest of the book: Ms Angelou wrote that she was: "hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between." This quote is taken from "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", read by Sarah when she was 16 years of age.

Sarah reveals that she has “real children”. On page 1 we learn "They did not sleep through from day one. They did not master baby-led weaning. They have all had the norovirus, chicken pox and two of the three have had nits. They have bitten and been bitten. One has a hearing aid, one wears splints at night to stop him walking on tip toes and one has a speech delay. They play a little, bicker a lot, and are friends and enemies in equal measure."

Partly written in diary format the book is an amazing combination of diary, guidebook, prayer book (of a sort) and a ready antidote to all of the books written by super mummies who have perfect babies and live in Hampstead or some other such leafy location!

In a way one might describe it as if someone had written a modern day version of Sun Tzu's  The Art of War, but called it The Art of Parenting, instead. When you read the sections that deal with the continuing battles with what one might describe as "authority figures" you will, I feel, understand why I formed the opinion that the book is, at least in part, a cunningly disguised guerilla warfare for parents handbook!

In part it's a serious book that deals with some very serious issues, but the 1 million candlepower humour and wit of Sarah Berryman keeps on shining through. As part 1 starts with: "Hoping for the Best" "Try to be a rainbow to someone's cloud" I think you will see what I mean.

The book is a substantial read at 412 pages and is published by Matador at £11.99 and you can order it at our vewry own gift and book shop which you'll find over here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

It is the perfect Christmas gift for any mother, father or grandparent.

I certainly hope this is not the only book that Sarah Berryman will be writing. I feel that she could have a glittering career as an author.

Specsavers for Christmas?

I noticed recently that Specsavers have started selling gift vouchers.

This set me thinking. Wouldn't this be an ideal gift for the person who was shortsighted, farsighted or who had some other vision problem that could be corrected by spectacles or contact lenses?

All you have to do to learn more is to go to https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/full-store-list to find out where your nearest local branch is located.

Or you can order them now -any amount from £1 to £250- at
https://giftvouchers.specsavers.co.uk/giftvouchers.co.uk/index.html.

The gift vouchers are valid for 2 year.

And if you have a housebound relation or friend who needs to see an optician, they might be able to use the gift voucher you give them this Christmas to pay toward the cost of the Specsavers' Home Visit Scheme, where Specsavers' qualified opticians actually make home visits. Specsavers are one of the few -if only- High Street opticians that offers a home visit service.

You can learn more about this scheme by visiting https://www.specsavers.co.uk/home-eye-tests/eligibility.

To learn more about the Specsaver branches in other parts of the world visit www.specsavers.com.

Gift voucher offers will vary from country-to-country, so please check for availability and validity where you live.

Check your Christmas foods to ensure they will be within date for Christmas

That's Christmas is reminding all of our readers to check the use by dates on all of their Christmas foods.

This is because some poor souls have been caught out by ridiculously short dates on their Christmas foods.

For example we have seen examples of mince pies and Christmas cakes and some other special festive foodstuffs with use by or best before dates up to two weeks before Christmas!

This is quite obviously ridiculous as it could mean that a family will find out that over Christmas that the foods they wanted to eat were either not as fresh as they should be, totally stale or even no longer fit to eat.

So they could end up with a very limited spread over Christmas, with all the shops closed, meaning that they would be unable to obtain replacement supplies.

What That's Christmas is suggesting is that if you have any shop bought Chirstmas foods, treats or confectionaries that you check the use by date or the best before date on them all as soon as you can.

If there are any that have a best before or a use by date that is earlier that the Christmas period, then you should eat them before the date/s concerned and look to go to the shops this week to replace what you need to replace.

Please do forward this item to your friends and family members to make sure that everyone you know can check their Christmas food supplies well before Christmas.

Death in Winter

Death in Winter is a new crime novel from veteran crime writer Ian McFayden who is certainly going to please his fans and new readers alike with his sixth Inspector Carmichael novel!

It's just four days until Christmas Day and there's a good covering of snow on the ground, and the villages and small towns of rural Lancashire are abundant in Christmastime good cheer and bonhomie.

Inspector Steve Carmichael is really looking forward to a rarity for a detective of his standing and experience in the force, a long and very indulgent break over the Christmas period in his own home, surrounded by his own family.

But there's the little -or not so little- incident which involved a woman who mysteriously disappeared after boarding a train home.

This has the unfortunate effect of totally ruining his plans for a traditional Christmas.

But this still leaves Inspector Carmichael and his equally dedicated team of police officers with a real conundrum to solve. What on earth has happened to Hayley Bell?

Interviews with her husband  -is he really as eccentric as he appears?- and with her friends (or her "so-called" friends)  seem to be less than helpful, as they start to dig through the facts and sift through what evidence they can find.

So... what really happened to Hayley Bell? Inspector Carmichael begins to form the impression that all is not quite what it seems in this case. And he is never wrong and never misses his mark.

Though readers will be kept guessing right through to the end of this intricately plotted crime novel.

If you have a crime novel fan you need to buy a Christmas present for, then you seriously do need to buy them this novel!

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

You can purchase it via our very own online bookshop (it's powered by Amazon) and you will find the bookshop here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

James and the Amazing Gift

James and the Amazing gift is a wonderful book that will make a stupendously great Christmas gift for young boys and girls.

It is debut children's picture book by author and polymath Nicola J. Rowley.

It tells  the story of a little boy called James. And James has an amazing gift. He doesn't just like ot smile, he absolutely loves to smile!

From the moment he was born, people realised that James was a very special little boy. For he loved to smile all the time. And he was happy all of the time.

And he had an even more special gift. He could make other people smile, too!

And as he grew older, he used his amazing gift to help other people to feel happier and to smile, too.

Actually as I am writing this book review, I am smiling, too, so James' amazing gift does work!

Please do buy this beautifully illustrated children's book.

It is published by Matador and costs £7.99.

You can buy it here at our very own gift and bookshop >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

You can also purchase it here http://amzn.to/2gW9olM.

Please do note that every copy of this book that is bought and put into a Christmas stocking this Christmas will result in money being donated to a very important charity, called Contact The Elderly, it is a UK-based charity that aims to stop loneliness amongst older people.

Beyond All Doubt

Beyond All Doubt is a new crime thriller novel from the pen of Evesham author Paige Elizabeth Turner.

Intrigued by the recent advances in the uses of DNA in the solving of crimes and several cases where a previous conviction has been overturned by the re-analysis of DNA samples with the use of new and advanced techniques, Paige Elizabeth Turner has been inspired to write her debut crime thriller set within this very arena.

The body of Juanita Morale's is discovered in the River avon in the small English market town of Evesham. This was after she took a late afternoon river cruise on the boat of river cruise operator Barry Simmons who is suspected of having murdered her.

There's a lot of gossip about her death and Trevor, her fiance, decides to launch his own investigation to try to get to the bottom of what actually happened to Juanita.

But is Trevor really all that he seems?  Is he as pure as he wants the other residents of Evesham to think? Perhaps he isn't.

Other bodies start to appear and when a journalist working on the local paper the Evesham Record who was investigating Juanita's murder is, herself, found murdered in her car, people began to question if there is a link between the killings.

DI Marchant and DS Olivia Watts are investigating the murders and despite the extreme misgivings of DS Watt, DI Marchant arrests Barry Simmons and charges him with murder.

During the subsequent trial CPS lawyer Godfrey Postlewaite presents a compelling case, yet defence barrister Belinda Pace gives as good as she gets.

But which one of them is right? Who is the murderer of Juanita Morales? And is her murder really related to the other deaths?

This is a remarkable debut novel published by Mastador and it will make a super Christmas present for the crime thriller fan in your clan. And at £8.99, it's a real snip.

You can purchase it here at our very own book and gift shop >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

  

The Great Wizard Wars

The Great Wizard Wars is a fantastic new novel for children of 7 to 11 years of age and their mums, dads, grandparents and older siblings who might like to read them with their children.

It's an exciting story about the battle between good and not so good (well, bad, really!) wizards.

Many, many years previously, there had been a terrible wizarding war, which had caused untold misery until eventually, common sense had prevailed and a binding truce had been signed.

Now, modern witches and wizards are going about their professional, yet extraordinary,  lives in a peaceful and peaceable manner, keeping themselves hidden from the rest of humanity.  

However, the ancient truce has been smashed in two and a Dark Army of witches and wizards with evil and mayhem on their minds has arisen and it is their avowed aim to destroy the descendants of their foes, the good witches and wizards of long, long ago.

Well, that was the plan. The reality is a good deal more comical than you might presume. For the evil witches and wizards are backward and despicable and they launch their attacks on the modern, peaceable witches and wizards with magical weapons that or just so out of date, it's unbelievable!

They also have control over some remarkable scary mystical creatures who they can employ to do their evil bidding! But not really! For the mystical creatures all have mystical minds of their own and which are completely out of the control of the bad witches and wizards!

The bad witches and wizards also cannot decide who should be their leaders, so they begin fighting amongst themselves in a truly mind-blowing way!

Four heroic young witches and wizards find themselves in dangerous situations as they fight off the evil hoards, yet a curious twist of fate forces them to participate in a very unforeseen showdown.

It's a wild and very interesting read -I think you'll like Gnashers the giant talking snake- and it will be a welcome addition to the Christmas stockings of many a young boy and girl this Chirstmas.

It's published by Matador at £6.99 and is available for purchase at our very own gift and bookshop which you will find here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.