The Key to the Half Worlds

Andrew Chaplin's debut children's novel, The Key to the Half Worlds, is published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

It tells the exciting story of Richard Cranfield, a rather ordinary boy of 13, who suddenly finds himself launched into another, utterly alien, but strangely familiar, world by way of the school bus.

He is fortunate as he has an equally youthful companion with him on this extraordinary journey, his best friend Tom.

They realise that they are in an alternative reality, an Earth where magic is real and where all sorts of amazing and mythological creatures and beings actually live and breathe, side by side, as it were.

Sorcerers practiced their sorcery, and dragons and elves were commonplace and, in effect, ordinary living creatures.

Richard and Tom are amazed at first, but then they realise how dangerous and frightening this alternative version of their world really could be.

They meet a young female elf and assisted by a wizardly elf the boys become embroiled in a desperate plot to stop a wicked sorcerer elf from bringing the two realities together as a part of her campaign to dominate everything and everyone.

Could the boys help be the key to thwarting this evil design to bring about domination?

Would they save both versions of the world?

Would they be able to return home?

This book is published by The Book Guild at £8.99 and will make a superb Chirstmas present for any child who likes a touch of magic in their reading material. It'll also be great fun for parents, grandparents and older siblings, too!

It is available for purchase from our very own book and gift shop which you will find here >>> https://goo.gl/m5aVoo.

Deathling of Dorn

Deathling of Dorn, by John Timmis, is an ideal Christmas gift for the lovers of Fantasy Fiction in your life.

It tells the story of the inhabitants of the Southlands and of Dorn who have known safety, peace and security for many millennia under the benevolent and protective rule of Virdil, their wizard.

But on one great and terrible day, the unthinkable happens! The evil and vicious sorcerer Venain has slain Virdil, their protector!

Now the denizens of the Southlands and of Dorn fall prey to the vile Baeths, hostile and barbaric killers who are lusting after the spoils of the conquests they can so easily make, now the people's champion and protector is no more!

But the people of the lands strive to continue some semblance of normal life and for them concepts of honour and love are still adhered to by them.

They try to fight off the evil despoilers of their lands but great and terrible events are taking place and these events and the ensuing chaos bring about the spawning of a Deathling.

What could this mean? What will the consequences be? Nobody could know, but the results could mean life or death.

What will happen to the lands, to the people? Will they ever know peace and happiness? Or will their lives forever be blighted?

Published by Matador at £8.99 the book is available here at our own bookshop >>> https://goo.gl/m5aVoo.

That's Books and Entertainment: All About Cruising

That's Books and Entertainment: All About Cruising: All About Cruising is a new and highly amusing look at cruiseships and those who cruise around the world on them. It is a mixture of car...

Hidden by the Leaves

Hidden by the Leaves is a new novel by S D L Curry, which draws upon his extensive knowledge of the history of Medieval Japanese society.

It is part of S D L Curry's 'Hidden' trilogy of novels (it is the first book) and is inspired by events that actually took place in Japan.

It tells the story of a Jesuit Priest in Japan, Father Joaquim Martinez.

He is residing in a tiny peasant village which is within the Hizen Province. Unfortunately the Provincial ruler is a man who is not only self-serving but also capable of acts of immense cruelty, Daimyo Matsukura.

He issues Father Jaquim and his two young catechists, Miguel and Tanya, with banishment orders.

However, the trio take the dangerous decision to defy the order of banishment, as they prefer to remain in the village to assist and help the villagers who they now consider to be their family.

The novel relates how they, and the peasant villagers, strive to remain free and safe from the clutches of a variety of enemies including shogun known for their legendary viciousness, the implacable Daimyo Matsukura and the ranks of all-powerful Samurai who are at their disposal.

But what they had not counted on was the absolute faith and tenacity of Father Jaquim and a range of miraculous events including assistance from some very unlikely quarters.

This is an amazingly well-written and well-researched novel and will make a most excellent Chirstmas present for lovers of adventure, history or who just revel in a finely executed novel.

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99 and is available for purchase here >>> https://goo.gl/m5aVoo.

That's Books and Entertainment: Cancer A Journey's End

That's Books and Entertainment: Cancer A Journey's End: In this very moving book Prashant Naik gives an account of his wife's amazing fight with cancer. In the year 2012, Tanvi Naik was gi...

The First English Explorer

Ask most people who the first English explorer was and they would probably come up with a whole range of different names. But they would almost all probably be very wrong indeed.

Because most people will not have heard of the true first documented English explorer. Anthony Jenkinson.

Author Kit Mayers has dedicated a great deal of time and effort into investigating the travels and explorations of Jenkinson.

It is the year of 1557 and the merchants of the capital city of London are eager to discover a profitable overland route that would take trade right through Asia and to the legendary Cathay and all of the rich pickings of the Orient.

They selected Anthony Jenkinson to be their emissary and explorer and he set off on his travels one year before Queen Elizabeth I came to her rightful position on the throne.

Incidentally, he set off on his expedition eastward nearly 30 years before the first English expedition to the west.  

It was a hard and arduous series of journeys for Jenkinson. He survived severe storms, poor health, thefts and even attacks by gangs of roaming bandits.

But with sheer determination and a plucky attitude, he eventually arrived at the city of Bokhara, which is now within modern day Uzbekistan.

Thus he had completed the vast bulk of his journey, two thirds of it, to reach the fabled and semi-legendary Silk Road that would have ultimately taken him to Cambaluc (Beijing) but, alas, he found that the final portion of the route was closed to him because of continuous fighting and wars.

Author Kit Mayers is a retired Doctor of Medicine and has travelled extensively, sailing and visiting a bewildering amount of countries all over the world.    

For his research he undertook the arduous task of, as far as possible, recreating and following the same route of Jenkinson nearly 460 years ago.

The book draws on the reports of Jenkinson but Kit Mayer has also made his own observations based on his travels along Jenkinson's route, which makes for a compelling and exciting read.

It is well illustrated and is the perfect Christmas gift for people who like travel books, love history or are just curious to learn.

It is published by Matador at £14.99 and is available to purchase at our very own online book and Chirstmas gift emporium  which you can find here >>> https://goo.gl/m5aVoo.

That's Books and Entertainment: Living With the Leopard

That's Books and Entertainment: Living With the Leopard: Living With the Leopard is the latest novel from author Maggie Allder. It is the follow on novel to Courting Rendition. It relates the...

Greenwich Meantime Brewery. A must have for Christmas

The beers of the Greenwich Meantime Brewery are simply "must haves" for your Christmas and New Year festivities.

There is something for every type of beer drinker and even the person who tells you: "Well, I don't normally drink beer, but I am more than willing to try some, now. What would you suggest?"

Myself, as a beer drinker of several years standing, would advise that you let them sample tastes of the entire range of the very different yet equally well brewed beers from the Greenwich Meantime Brewery range.

Though they may well prefer the Greenwich Meantime Pale Ale, often a good starting point with its lighter yet full bodied flavour with the distinct hoppy hit that one gets with this ale.

However, having said that, they may well take a shine to the London Porter (this is a very good re-creation of the type of London Porter beer that the hardworking Porters of old London Town would drink, as they needed something with taste, body and a goodly level of alcohol after a long day's hard graft) plus the Chocolate Porter.

Many so-called chocolate porter style beers do not, actually, have any chocolate in them at all.

But the Greenwich Meantime Brewery is very different. For during the maturation process they add real chocolate to the beer. Can you tell the difference? Yes, you can. So if your ideal drink would be beer with some chocolate, put the chocolate bar down and just give all of your concentration to drinking your Greenwich Meantime Chocolate Porter!

Beers in the range include: London Lager, Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, London Porter, Chocolate Porter, Yakima Red and Wheat Beer.

There are also some special limited edition beers that are available on draught only through selected outlets and there are a series of special pilot brews, details of which you can find at their website https://www.meantimebrewing.com.

You can buy direct or through a variety of supermarkets and specialist retailers throughout the country and through a number of better bars, clubs and pubs.

By the way, here's a word to the wise. Always buy more than you think you should, because once that person who doesn't normally drink beer finds out how much they love the beers from the Greenwich Meantime Brewery, you could find yourself running out of beer! And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

Have Duerr's Marmalade for Christmas

There's nothing like freshly brewed coffee or tea and hot buttered toast with liberal amounts of Duerr's Marmalade for breakfast over the Christmas holidays.

But there's so much more to Duerr's than that!

When you make your mince pies, why not try replacing a third of the mincemeat mixture with whichever type of Duerr's Marmalade tickles your fancy?

Or why not make several batches of homemade mince pies with the different types of Duerr's Marmalade in each different batch?

They are certain to be a sure-fire winner with your family and guests over the Christmas season!

Or why not be even more experimental? Why not try making a batch of mince pies without any of the traditional mincemeat mixture at all? Why not make some Duerr's Marmalade pies, too?

How's that for a different festive treat for everyone? Because not everyone likes mince pies, surprising though this might be!

You will find that Duerr's Marmalades are so versatile that you can add some to home baked Christmas cakes, or, and this will really make for a different, yet utterly delicious Christmas pudding, as well as putting in a good few glugs of Scotch Whisky into your Christmas pudding mixture, why not add a good few dollops of Duerr's Marmalade?

Talk about a winning combination! The best of Scotland and the best of Manchester in a Christmas pudding recipe that would be hard to beat for moisture, texture and taste!

For a whole host of recipes -some festive, some not- please visit https://duerrs.co.uk/recipes/.

And to learn more about this fantastic family business, please visit https://duerrs.co.uk/.

You can also buy Duerr's at your local Tesco branch or as part of your online order.

The Inventing Tubes

The Inventing Tubes is a new book by Bryony Supper who, after surviving a career as a children's TV star, has reinvented herself as a skilled author of books for young children.

She has created an amazing collection of  characters aimed at children aged 4 to 7 years of age, the Pasta Kidz and Petz Adventures.

The Kid -all pasta themed!- are all drawn by talent illustrator Julien Bray.

Children will meet Sarah Spaghetti, Rikki Ravioli and Camilla Cannelloni.

They'll also be introduced to their amazing petz, there's Mumbo the Macaroni Dog, Spud the Spaghetti Horse and Val, the Vermicelli Snake!

The characters get themselves into all kinds of weird adventures and often have to rely on unusual magical objects to help them. But! These magical objects often seem to have a life of their own!

Although the books will be aimed at being great fun for their readers, there are also some serious messages that underlie them. They show how kidz have their own unique, different personalities and how they help each other.

The first book, The Inventing Tubes, is to be the first of 40 books in the series and it tells the story of how Sarah and Marc Macaroni try their hand at inventing some fun objects. However, all they succeed at doing is creating a very grumpy PastaBall?

This is a wonderful story which is an ideal present for all boys and girls of ages 4 to 7 and their parents and grandparents, too!

It is published by Matador at £4.99 and it should be on your list of "must have "stocking fillers, which you'll be able to buy from our own gift and book shop, here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.