Monday 21 November 2016
That's Books and Entertainment: A new Detective Inspector Moon novel is out! Blood...
That's Books and Entertainment: A new Detective Inspector Moon novel is out! Blood...: Blood Ties is the latest novel in the Detective Inspector Charlie Moon series. It's two years on from the events in the novel The Si...
The A to Z of Stuff The Indispensable compendium of wisdom
It is compiled and written by prolific author and travel writer David Fletcher.
Like many of us, David became more than a little bit irked and frustrated with the large volume of knolwedge that we are flooded with every single day of every single week.
And what makes it worse is that this knowledge is, for the most part, utterly and completely useless and pointless.
"Life," points out David, "is filled with trivia. More and more, it seems, every waking minute of our lives is accounted for by the inconsequential, the irrelevant, the incidental, the positively wasteful and by a whole host of other stuff that serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to distract us from what is really important."
David Fletcher set out to look for a remedy for this ill, something to act as a counterblast to all of the stuff that we are constantly bombarded with, 24/7, 7 days a week.
Eventually he hit upon the antidote which became his latest book, The A to Z of Stuff!
The book covers many, many different and diverse subjects. Anarchy, education and how dire it is compared to the good old days, the BBC -referred to as the Bloated Bureaucracy Corporation, democracy and how it works, or rather doesn't work, the European Union and how it operate or rather how it fails to operate. Did you know that the European Union has an official with the job title of: "The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy?"
Nor did I, but after reading The A to Z of Stuff, I now know this and, as they say, once the bell is rung, it cannot be unrung.
David coins a monumentally superb name to describe a certain type of EU tax haven, deluxembourg.
He will probably gain few friends in Luxembourg by accurately, though perhaps somewhat harshly, as being "parasitical."
Other subjects such as the United Kingdom, Quaggas (it's on the page after a poem, do check both out) the actual and mysterious continued existence of dinosaurs (see NHS), drones, young people, religion and lots more, receive the keen eye and laser-like probing of the dry with and machine-gun like delivery of David Fletcher.
It's published by Matador at £10.99 and is, as has been pointed out, a must buy Christmas present. No stocking should be without it, this year!
You can purchase it from the comfort of your own armchair or Smartphone when you visit our gift buying emporium, which is filled with enough Christmas food and drink to satiate an army and thousands of books and gifts. You'll find the portal just this way >>> https://goo.gl/WNNZUm.
That's Books and Entertainment: Religion Can Be Fun
That's Books and Entertainment: Religion Can Be Fun: Religion Can Be Fun is a light-hearted and humours approach to how religion can be taught as a subject. Huib van Hoeven, who lives in th...
Love is Small Talk
It's a large format book and it is, says Fred, "inspired by heaven's 'little angels'".
Fred provides his readers with a peep into the magical and make believe world of little kids which, points out Fred, he is providing for the delight of bigger kids.
It's a "must buy" Christmas gift for Christmas 2016.
It's charmingly and very colourfully illustrated with a whole array of very well drawn and oh-so-believable little characters. And they are little characters in more ways than a little!
Meet children by themselves, with dogs, with prams, with dogs in prams, at the seaside, in the park, in the dark, having a lark, having a party in fact just about everything is illustrated within these magical pages.
Why is this book of cartoons so popular? The cartoons are funny, yes, that's true. But there's more to it than that.
This book of cartoons is so popular because it takes the reader back to a time when they were the kids taking part in apparently bizarre conversations.
It is published by The Book Guild at a very reasonable £7.99 and will make an ideal book to flip through during and long after the Christmas period.
The book is available to purchase at our own book and gift shop, along with thousands of other great gift ideas, please do check it out:- https://goo.gl/WNNZUm.
Friday 18 November 2016
Olverum Bath Oil the perfect Christmas gift
Which is where Olverum Bath Oil comes inot its own!
Olverum Bath Oil is a unique and utterly luxurious bath oil that is a carefully and skillfully prepared blend of ten highy exotic and eminently useful essential oils.
They have been carefully chosen and selected to combine together to create Olverum Bath Oil, which is designed to help remove stress and reduce tension in both the mind and also the body, too.
Olverum Bath Oil is designed to help bring balance back into your life and help you go back to your natural, stress-free self.
Even the smell of it as you carefully place it into your hot bath will start to make you feel better, even before you slip inot the hot water after you have added the Olverum Bath Oil!
15ml is enough for three baths, so you can see that it is a powerful and highly concentrated yet entirely natural wonder treatment for your bath.
There is Siberian Fir, Ground Nut oil, Lavandin oil, Eucalyptus oil, Geranium Flower oil and many other oils and special ingredients
It was originally developed in the 1920s by Franz Otto Klein, a highly successful wine maker in Germany's Mosel Valley, when he formed a passion for learning about the therapeutic properties of essential oils.
He and his wife Edith created their own experimental laboratory where they developed their unique product, which has remained unchanged and highly popular to this very day.
The 125ml size costs £26.00 and will be enough for 25 baths, the 250ml size will be £48 and enough for 50 baths. Their main stockists are Liberty, Harvey Nichols and www.houseoffraser.co.uk.
Bored? This super stocking filler will remove all boredom!
Learn about games, pastimes and sports that are modern inventions or which the origins of which are shrouded in the mists of our ancient history.
Learn about hobbies from A to Zed. Astronomy, amateur radio, beekeeping, bellringing, gem cutting at home, geology and many more.
There are sports a-plenty, from the modern sport of tchoukball to the ancient sport of jousting, they are all here in this most excellent book.
Fancy caving? Or some ancient British pub games? Morris Dancing, postcard collecting, fencing, Falconry, water dowsing, Bandy (it's on page 9!) Equestrian vaulting, Fives?
You'll find all these and many more, with clear but brief instructions of how to get involved in them.
What about some extreme sports? From Zorbing to Ultimate Frisbee, this book will give hours of pleasure and will make a super Christmas present for people form 8 to 88 or even older!
It is published in paperback by The Book Guild at the nifty price of £7.99.
You can purchase it at our very own retail establishment -along with thousands of other books, gifts and DVDs, etc- which you will find here https://goo.gl/GMfXdS.
Wednesday 16 November 2016
Ben and the Spider Lake
She returns to the Spider Kingdom for this her third book.
It is the summer holidays again and Ben, together with his dog Scoot and his family plus his best friend Jess travel to a small cottage close by the Dark Mountains.
He learns that the lane at the back of the cottage is to be dug up. This is a disaster for it would result in homelessness or even injury for the families of spiders who live under the lane.
Ben must locate Lox, who is the guardian of the Spider Gate.
With Jess, Ben tries to work out a way to help move the spider kingdom subjects to a safer location.
But they only have one month before to workmen arrive!
Where can they be moved to? How can they be moved?
Will there be any help forthcoming? Or does Ben's gran know more than she is letting on?
The book is ideal as a Christmas present for any children between 3 to 6 for parents, grandparents or other relatives to read with them.
This book is published in hardback by The Book Guild at £9.95 and it is available for purchase at our own shop https://goo.gl/KD9so0 along with thousands of other books and gifts of all types.
Sunday 13 November 2016
Mischief
It tells the story of the younger generation of the Lange family, who readers met in her previous novel, Malice, published last year in 2015.
Grace Langhe is maturing and growing up,. Her mother is worried that Grace seems to be channelling for her grandmother Madge, a somewhat domineering and forceful personality in the family.
Thomas comes onto the scene and Grace falls for him and she enters into a relationship that some might describe as troubled or even risky.
Yet Thomas is not quite what Grace had presumed him to be and the relationship comes to a dramatic conclusion that leaves Grace feeling justifiably traumatised.
Grace feels that, somehow, Grandmother Madge is looking out for her and trying to steer her in the right direction.
Grace leaves to work away from home with her best friend Lucy.
Through Lucy she meets a young man called Seth, though the circumstances of their meeting are a little strange, to say the least. She decides to keep her relationship with Seth a secret from her parents. After all, things had had very badly wrong with Thomas and she was so hurt by her experience that she doesn't feel able to confide in her parents that she is in another relationship.
After a time she reassess her life and decides to take up the opportunity to train to become a journalist.
Quite by chance she catches up with an old friend from her school days who she has seen in years, Jade. Jade is extremely proud of her handsome boyfriend. Thomas!
Grace reveals the less-than-savoury truth about the dark unpleasant true side to Thomas' personality and eventually they join forces to formulate a plot to get revenge on Thomas.
The revenge serves a dual purpose, because it also means that Grace is pushed into the limelight and her career in journalism grows and prospers.
But all the while, Seth is there, being her rock.
She and Seth wed and start their life together. But strange things are happening. What if Madge did not merely approve of her marriage to Seth, but actively arrange for it to take place?
But what, exactly, was really taking place? And what was the link to the long dead crusader with the tomb in the church?
This is an intriguingly mystical book and to reveal more of the plot would spoil this extraordinary story.
It is published in paperback by Matador and will make a very welcome stocking filler for lovers of fiction with historical and modern flashes.
It costs £9.99 and is available for purchase here: https://goo.gl/vwb28W
Friday 11 November 2016
Gifts to buy? Then get them Faith In Nature!
For they are all made from natural ingredients. And organically sourced, where this is appropriate.
And they carry their very genuine care and concern for the natural environment throughout their offering, as they insist on using plastic bottles that are made from recycled materials wheber this is possible.
The range of beauty products is award winning, so you know you will be buying your Christmas gift recipients only the best that is available.
Take for example their Pineapple and Lime Shampoo, with added organic mango extract.
It is specially formulated and blended to be perfect for people who have hair types from normal to oily.
I have very oily hair which often defeats lesser shampoos. But not Faith in Nature Pineapple and Lime Shampoo! Not only does it smell great, I could actually feel it doing my scalp good as I massaged it in.
And there's also the complementary Faith in Nature Pineapple and Lime Conditioner, also with organic mango extract, formulated for normal to oily hairy.
It also has a great scent to it and it help condition even the most oily of hair types!
And they also have a range of absolutely perfect handmade soaps, including the wonderful Coconut soap that is carefully blended with organic coconut.
There's a wonderful range of beauty and skincare products, plus an amazing range of gift sets, ideal for Christmas presents.
To purchase please visit http://www.discount-supplements.co.uk/faith.
(We would like to thank Discount Supplements for their help with arranging the review samples for our review team.)
Tuesday 8 November 2016
The Heroes of Elwhen
It is guaranteed to transport young readers to a fantastical and wonderful land, the land of Elwhen.
Joh and Sally-Annie are both city kids, born and bred. However, they like to speond the long, summer months on the farm that is owned by their Uncle Ned.
No matter what rural adventures have befallen them previously, it's likely that nothing could prepare them for the great adventure that was about to befall them, when they would depart on a magical journey to a wondrous world.
They and their cousin Gerald have time for one final trip to the very summit of the mysterious Barrow Hill.
But before they can make for home they are drawn into an amazing world the likes of which they couldn't ever have imagined, a land called Elwhen.
They are soon captured by Belladonna, a witch who they encounter soon after they arrive in Elwhen, so the three children find themselves involved in a struggle that could conceivably destroy Elwhen.
They want to return home, but learn that that dream would be an unattainable one, when they are tricked and cajoled into hunting down an amulet with magical powers. The Jewel of the Isle.
But what if the jewel is already within the purview of the witch? What would she do? Could she take the jewel and use it to her nefarious ends?
They are threatened by the witch and her army of trolls. All seems lost, but they are not without hope, resources or help. They meet with a wizard, Mr Thurlan, who offers them his assistance and the use of a very important waygaerth "for a moment of need."
This will make a wonderful Christmas gift for children who love fantasy novels.
It's just £6.99 and is available for purchase here https://goo.gl/6HLMeo.
Blackmail
Stokes uses his training as a lawyer and his experiences in the courtroom as both an advocate and a judge to create this thriller.
A group of professional criminals plan and execute a daring robbery.
However, the gang of professional crooks bungle the operation and as a result a security guard is shot and left seriously wounded.
Michael Doyle, the leader of the gang is not too concerned by this rather unfortunate turn of events.
After all, hasn't he been able to concoct an apparently cast iron alibi that means that he could not have been anywhere near the scene of the crime?
However, his clever alibi is put at risk by the discovery of DNA evidence that link a gang member with the injured security guard.
CCTV images link Doyle and his gang member to the scene of the crime and both are subjected to arrest.
Smart lawyers seem to have the DNA evidence excluded on a technicality. However, Doyle's girlfriend is a smart cookie -as they say- and with her knowledge of the law, she believes that these machinations do not have a viable chance of succeeding.
However, someone decides to take matters into their own hands and the wife and child of a judge are kidnapped.
If the judge issues a ruling that is to the liking of the kidnappers, then his wife a son will be released. If not....
But what will the judge do?
Who is responsible for the kidnapping? Is it Doyle's girlfriend? Or perhaps there is someone from the past life of the judge who has an axe to grind and a point to make?
Will his family be save? Or are they already dead?
If the judge rules in favour of the defence, will his family be released unharmed? Or not?
And who is the mole behind the major robbery?
This is a stunningly good debut novel. I hope that it will be the first of many thrillers from the pen of Michael Stokes. (More are planned, so please keep an eye out for them.)
It is published by Matador at £9.99 and is a good, substantial read of well over 500 pages.
If you have a lover of legal thrillers to buy a Christmas present for, this will be an excellent and well-received gift.
You can buy it from us at this link https://goo.gl/6HLMeo
The Boathouse
It's the story of how a young couple, Ben and Louise, fall in love one summer in North London.
The story of how they meet, fall in love and how their romance blossoms and grows during one idyllic summer is set against a backdrop of poetry, of rock and roll and even a modicum of drugs and sex.
But as the love story moves form North London -Primrose Hill, to be more precise- and the English Lake District, their relationship is hit by a terrible double tragedy that shatters their romance and changes lives for ever.
For a debut novel this is a stunning work and it is to be hoped that this is the first of many novels from Dane Anthony Howard.
The book is published in paperback by The Book Guild at a very reasonable £6.99 and is available from us at our retail site at this address https://goo.gl/6HLMeo.
It will make an excellent Christmas gift for those who do not always expect a happy ending to the novels they read.
Brockmans Gin it belongs in your Christmas drinks cabinet
Brockmans Gin is vastly different to the gins you might already have tried. In fact, I will issue you the That's Christmas challenge. Please buy a bottle of Brockmans Gin and give it a try. I think you will be pleasingly surprised at the flavours in Brockmans Gin.
The scent is pleasing, with nice floral notes.
But then comes the taste! My word, what a revelation it is to the artistry behind the creation of a good gin!
This is my own personal opinion: At first there is a definite subtle hint of Palma Violets.
But next there's a definite little hint of roses and thirdly there's a visit to a hedgerow in full floral bloom at the height of summer.
Although, obviously, you can make cocktails with Brockmans Gin, you might feel more than a little guilty about spoiling the natural taste of this fine gin.
For the purposes of research we did prepare some cocktails with some Brockmans Gin.
We found it worked extremely well with Fevertree Indian Tonic Water, with Fentiman's Rose Lemonade and with some Opies cherries in Kirche. Plus, of course, a good deal of the Kirche!
If you intend to make some Brockmans cocktails for the Christmas and New Year period, please take our advice and buy more than one bottle, or run the risk of running out!
It should cost about £28 a bottle.
To find your nearest stockist visit http://brockmansgin.com/find-brockmans-form
For more general information please visit http://brockmansgin.com.
And please do mention That's Christmas when you contact them.
Wednesday 2 November 2016
Amazing Pages has a perfect stunner of a gift for your child!
Well, Amazing Pages can help you, right there!
Because they can offer you an unprecedented chance to put your child at the heart of their reading journey.
At a stunningly modest price of from £16.99, Amazing Pages children’s books weave real life experiences, names and a photograph of the child together with high quality art work to create a truly unique Christmas gift.
Unlike other personalised books that are available, each of the three Amazing Pages titles offer different personalising options like the names of your child’s friends, school, favourite food, hobbies and a time when they felt shy.
To complete the package, the photograph of the child can be enhanced to blend with the art work, or if no photo is available, the website enables users to personalise the central character further to include skin tone, hair style and colour, using the Character Customiser application.
The handmade books are aimed at boys and girls up to the age of seven and are made to order using high quality, digital, full colour printing with “perfect bound” soft covers.
The ethos of this family run business is simple but clear; they offer beautiful, one of a kind, personalised books that excite children about the joys of reading.
For younger children, yet to learn to read, seeing their own photograph upon the page, ensures they can identify that this very special story is all about them.
Founder, James Cooper started the company after creating books for his two young daughters. Remembering a primitive, personalised book from his own childhood, he recognised the same “magical feeling of reading a book and realising it’s all about you!”
“I looked around at what was on offer and was disappointed. I wanted to create an alternative to the cheesy, commercial personalised books and offer grandparents, parents and children the opportunity to share in something that was truly special to them.”
The family business will soon be launching personalised A3 colour wall prints (framed or un-framed) in the same imaginative and personalised style as their three books.
Watch this space; Amazing Pages offers all it takes to be the next big thing in personalised children’s gifts, but don’t just take it from us, our customer’s reviews speak volumes:
“My four year old adores these beautiful books with their retro illustrations and clever, personalised stories. He wants them read again and again.” – Susanna, London.
“The book is brilliant! Harry was amazed at how all his favourite things were in it, and he couldn't wait to show his best friend that he was mentioned in it too.” – Simon, Manchester.
“The quality of these books is fantastic...I’ve had other customised books given to me in the past and they seemed a lot more “cookie cutter” style with a lot less attention to detail.” – Suzanne, London.
To order your special book please visit https://www.amazingpages.co.uk/.
That's Books and Entertainment: Visions of the Righteousness of God
That's Books and Entertainment: Visions of the Righteousness of God: Visions of the Righteousness of God is a new book on theology from Dr Danson Enogiomwan Ubebe. It starts with the concept of who created...
Voice Behind the Mask
From the first page I was gripped by the terse yet compelling writing style of Doctor Lahoud.
And yet this is not a work of fiction, it is a factual book that details the extraordinary professional life of Dr Lahoud as he worked as an NHS anaesthetist.
However he also worked overseas as the personal physician to the Saudi Arabian Royal Family when he was employed for several years At the King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital in Jeddah.
He also spent time in Harvard University, Massachusetts, where he was an instructor in anaesthesia.
Some the stories are sad, some horrific and some amusing, but all are extremely well related by the author who has a keen eye for the absurd and with and the ability to relate these recollections to his readers!
How he saved a patient from bleeding on the operating table when two other doctors had, apparently, not been taught about the law of gravity, how he was able to demand, and get, a heater for the decrepit house that a hospital had provided him, his young wife and baby son.
Read how he thought he had accidentally detached an elderly patient's head, how he managed to successfully perform the role of a plastic surgeon, because one was just not available, how he had to deal with an unorthodox and xenophobic Scotish anaesthetist who had an incredibly short fuse and some bizarre methods of working.
George also touches on his own health problems in a straightforward and no nonsense fashion.
This book is a must buy Christmas present and at only £8.99 it will make an excellent gift for admirers of well-written memoirs and books about medical matters.
It is published by Matador and is available from our gift store at https://goo.gl/KUU3gK.
That's Books and Entertainment: A Healing of Gardens
That's Books and Entertainment: A Healing of Gardens: A Healing of Gardens is a debut novel from the pen of L R Gray. It's the first part of a two part series and it concentrates on the ...
Choconchoc, another way to say: "Merry Christmas!" to that special someone!
Visit their website, www.choconchoc.co.uk and be reay for a bewildering but deeply fantastic choice of chocolate and chocolate items.
The chocolates are guaranteed to have been handmade in Great Britain, so there's none of that disappointment when you think you are buying a special chocolate Christmas gift that has been made in Great Britain only to find that it is now made in a far cheaper country in some far-flung part of the European Empire. (EDITOR: Even though the production costs would then be perhaps one third of the previous UK production facility, the price to the consumer remains just as high. Funny, that!)
But with Choconchoc when it says Made in Great Britain, that's what it means!
Some of the gifts not only taste good, they will also raise a smile, too.
For example, you can buy a presentation box of sprouts. But don't worry! Even though they are exquisitely made, perfect representations of this plucky, yet somewhat bitter, brassica, they are created out of delicious white chocolate. A box of 8 costs £8.99.
Other stunning items include a Christmas Celebration Cake (made of a kilo of chocolate!) for £30, chocolate doughnuts, chocolate elf boots, Chocolate Mince Pies and Prosecco (even the bottle is made of chocolate!) and so much more, including special chocolate hampers.
Want cheese and crackers after your meal? As you might expect, even though it looks like real cheese, it's actually cleverly made from chocolate!
Choconchoc brings the fun and frivolity back to the festive season!
Lord's Cricketing gifts, ideal for the cricket lover in your life
If you have been buying gifts for family members for more Christmases than you might care to remember it can be difficult to find something unique and different every year.
And as for your colleague at work, what about them?
How do you find the ideal gift for either or both of them?
It's actually not as hard as you might think. If they are followers of the great English game of Cricket, then your problem is as good as solved, for Lord's, which is justifiably known as "The Home of Cricket", has a fanastic range of cricket and cricketing memorabilia and gifts for sale.
You can buy them at Lord's itself, at the main shop, which is for dedicated merchandise, clothing, gifts and souvenirs.
There's something for everyone as a memento of their visit to the Home of Cricket.
But there's also The Lord’s Cricket Store in central London, London’s only dedicated cricket equipment retailer offering a huge range of brands for all levels and all ages.
You can also buy gifts online at https://shop.lords.org/.
You can buy replica teamwear, a stunning range of Lord's dedicated clothing, special Lord's souvenir gifts, books on cricket, cricket equipment, special Lord's Experiences and also some rather nifty dedicated Middlesex Cricket Club memorabilia, too!
In fact, there's even stuff that non-cricket followers will be proud to own, too!
There's everything from a zipable individual Lord's bottle cooler (£5.00) right through to some of the most exquisite sets of perfectly designed and made Lord's cufflinks (£15.00) that come in a truly stunning magnetised triangular presentation box.
Other items include portable phone chargers, umbrellas, plus an amazing range of homeware including a glass paperweight (containing genuine Lord's turf!) plus mugs and even a very special teatowel that explains the many and varied rules of the game of cricket!
Gillette Fusion Proshield razor, an ideal Christmas gift
There are a variety of reasons as to why this might be. They like the whole process of washing their face, applying the shaving foam or the shaving oil and then applying the wet razor to their skin.
Or perhaps they feel that a wet bladed shave is better than a dry, electric shave?
Whatever their reasoning, you can be sure that the Gillette Fusion Proshield razor will be an ideal Christmas gift for them.
How so? There is lubrication twice, both before and after the blades, and because Gillette know that not every face is exactly the same, they have designed a stunningly effective flex ball to make certain that the Gillette Fusion Proshield razor follows every one of the unique contours of the shaver's face.
And it has cooling technology during the shave to help the shaver get exactly the kind of sophisticated, cool shave that they will e thrilled to receive.
And not only that, there's a special precision trimmer on the back to make certain that the edging is perfect.
They are available from chemists and supermarkets all over the country and cost £15.00 from Ocado and £12.00 from Morrisons.
Add some other Gillette shaving after aftershave products and you will have a Christmas gift that you can be proud to give the shaver in your life!
Saturday 29 October 2016
Merchant Seafaring Through Word War 1 1914-1918
Peter Lyon is an acknowledged expert on maritime matters and the Merchant Marine. He is a Master Mariner and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Nautical Institute, beginning his maritime career with the Blue Funnel Line of the city of Liverpool.
After spending time at sea he worked ashore with the Port of London Authority, the UK National Ports Council, serving as their Nautical Adviser.
He then went into the word of consultancy, co-founding and serving as managing partner of a highly specialist international maritime research and consultancy, based in London.
Thus he is eminently qualified to write his very impressive and highly informative book.
It commences matters by discussing the unfair lowly status of the merchant marine and the seafarers who compromised it at the beginning of the 20th century.
He examines, in considerable depth, the relationships that then existed between the seafarers themselves, the owners of the ships, the British Admiralty and the other organs of government im as much as they touched upon maritime matters.
During World War 1 there was a horrendous loss of lives of many seafarers on both British ships, Allied ships and neutral merchant ships at the hands of the U-Boats of the Imperial German Navy.
Peter Lyon then takes time to explore how this impacted upon Britain and the strain that was put on the British participation in the war.
His wide-ranging research took in a number of resources and archives including official reports, ships' logs, individual accounts of seafarers, consular reports, press cuttings and the like.
He provides an absolutely compelling account of this area of history, which has sadly been neglected by many war historians of that period.
The book although extremely well researched is not by any means a dry academic work. It brings to life the terrible depredations of sailors and passengers during what was then called The Great War, latterly known as World War 1.
The book is published by The Book Guild at £9.99 and makes a first rate Christmas gift for those with an interest in the period of history of that war.
There is a comment on the book from Lord John Prescott the former Deputy Prime Minister who served as a merchant seafarer himself.
"Amma Tell Me" a fantastic Christmas gift for your children
It is written by Bhakti Mathur and stunningly illustrated in vivid, vibrant colours by Maulshree Somani.
It's part of a series of books that charmingly introduces children to the major festivals that play an important part in the Hindu religion.
Although it is aimed, primarily, at Hindu children and their parents it will be widely welcomes by all parents, grandparents and children who like to learn about the world that surrounds them.
The reason why Bhakti began writing the books is interesting. She wanted to buy some books on Hindu festivals for her young children but faced a major struggle in sourcing any. So like a good mum, she decided to start writing her own books.
The books in the series are aimed at children from ages 3 to 9, and are perfect for families and for educators needing material for pupils or students.
This book tells the story of Klaka, his many, many friends, his brother Kiki and his golden-coloured dog, Frodo.
Every night their Amma tucks Klaka, Kiki and Frodo into bed and she reads them a story.
This time Amma tells them about Holi, the Hindu festival of colours.
The book is published by Anjana Publishing at £9.50 each.
(Happy Diwali to all our readers.)
The book is available from our online shop, which you will find here here https://goo.gl/01Utnw.
Schiek Cross Training and Fitness Gloves, the ideal gift
They are sturdy and very strongly made and will give years of good, hard work for their proud wearer.
They have special "Easy Off" fins, which are patent protected. There is high comfortable gel padding and they are totally washable, too.
They offer a handy "non-bleeding promise and have a funky and cool mesh back.
There's a reinforced thumb (EDITOR: More on that, later!) plus the thumb and index finger are both made out of highly useful terry cloth.
Schiek promise that their special Keystone Thumb feature offers the wearer a much better fit around the thumb area.
About this reinforced thumb area. My wife suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and she has had special devices designed and sourced by her specialist.
My wife, out of curiosity, decided to try on the Schiek Model 510 gloves and was immediately absolutely stunned by what happened to her hand.
The pain in her thumb and her wrist vanished within seconds and she said: "Wow! These gloves are giving me much greater support than that special support the hospital provided me with! And that's supposed to be made to my exact measurements!"
(EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: Obviously neither myself, That's Christmas or Schiek is making any promises as to the efficacy of this product in regards to alleviating the symptoms of conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, but my wife knows her condition well enough to identify the positive result that had occurred! Schiek do offer a range of medical products, so do, please, check them out.)
The gloves are also made out of a unique synthetic leather material called Amara. It's light, it's breathable and although it has the look of leather and its durability, it's also machine washable and is guaranteed not to stretch upon washing.
And even if you are out and about -the gloves are ideal for weight training, general fitness training and cycling- and you and your gloves get a little wet, then there's no reason to worry, as the unique rubberised Amara pad offers a unique level of grip even in the wet.
The gloves come in a variety of sizes from XS to XXL, so there should be a size for everyone.
To learn more please visit www.schiek.com.
USA price is $26.00.
To buy a range of Schiek gloves and other great, but unusual gifts from Schiek, you can visit our shop at this link here https://goo.gl/01Utnw.
Tuesday 25 October 2016
That's Books and Entertainment: Tony Collins: Football Master Spy
That's Books and Entertainment: Tony Collins: Football Master Spy: Tony Collins: Football Master Spy tells the fascinating and enlightening story of Tony Collins who was dubbed as football's "mast...
That's Books and Entertainment: Libya, A Love Lived, A Life Betrayed
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That's Books and Entertainment: Low Life Lawyer
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That's Books and Entertainment: The Loony Bin Blues
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That's Books and Entertainment: Latest release from Penguin Books: The Obsidian Th...
That's Books and Entertainment: Latest release from Penguin Books: The Obsidian Th...: Top selling writer J. D. Oswald's fantasy series is reputedly one of the best ever in the history of fantasy writing. But now with h...
Festive joy from Elizabeth Shaw
It must be pretty amazing, right?
Because that's how I think of the people who work for companies like Elizabeth Shaw, manufactures of high quality chocolate confectioneries.
Their products are a very important part of Christmas and there can't be many families that do not have some Elizabeth Shaw chocolates that they are giving or receiving each and every Christmas.
There are the Dark Mint Creams, so delicious! Which is what one would expect, seeing that the dark chocolate contains 54% cocoa solids, plus the fact that the wickedly smooth soft mint cream is infused with some specially chosen genuine mint oil. (Available through independent retailers, Should cost £3.49 for 150g)
And there is also the special Merry Christmas Mini Gift packs. A fantastic stocking filler or the ideal treat for the entire family and visitors over the Christmas and New Year Period.
Each has its own gift tag and a cute little festive ribbon.
They box has a combination of delicate mini flutes and wonderful chocolate bites. And the toppings are all guaranteed 100% natural.
Flavours available are Dark Mint Flutes and Dark Mint Bites, Milk Amaretto Flutes and Milk Almond Bites and Dark Orange Flutes with Milk Orange Bites. (Available at a suggested price of £2.59 for 75g from independent retailers)
Bur there's much more, besides! There is the After Dinner Range, with redesigned packaging and two new flavours, the After Dinner Crsip range is the perfect gift for your host, or even the perfect self-gift for you!
There are now for fantastic flavours, Dark Orange Mint Crisp, Milk Chocolate Crisp, Milk Chocolate Orange Crisps and Milk Chocolate with Salted Caramel Crisp. (Available from supermarkets and independent traders these should cost you £3.99.
Also, look out for more from the range next time you go out shopping, including the Famous Name Whisky Collection!
Elizabeth Shaw products are available online at this address https://goo.gl/iUQ2OO.
With Aspire drinks everyone can have a good Christmas
But over Christmas even the more sensible of us can fall off the sugar wagon, so to speak.
What can we do to help make sure we and our Christmas and New Year guests do not fall the sugar wagon?
To help them and ourselves you should get some low sugar drinks. Amongst the plethora of low or even no sugar drinks you will now find the wonderful Aspire Health Drink.
The drinks come in handy 250ml fully recyclable pure aluminium cans.
You'll be pleased to know that despite being packed with fruity flvour, each can contains zero fat, zero sugar and zero calories, too.
There are some nifty flavours: Apple and Acai, Mango and Lemonade and Cranberry.
Each Aspire Health drink also contains multivitamins and herbal ingredients such as green tea extract and the like.
They taste excellent, being refreshingly fruity, yet not too sweet.
You can buy them from health stores like Holland and Barrett and you can also buy them online at https://goo.gl/8lzchF.
A fantastic stocking filler from Sugru, the Rebel Tech Kit!
The very clever people at Sugru have introduced the perfect stocking filler for this Christmas, the
Rebel Tech Kit.
At an amazingly reasonable £10, the Rebel Tech Kit is specially designed as a "lifehack" gift, it's aimed at people who love their techie stuff and who want to get the most out of it.
It's aimed at people who love ensuring they can get the best out of their techie kit.;
Want to improve the sound output from your loudspeakers?
Fix some fraying cables?
Secure your tablet computer?
In fact the Sugru Rebel Tech Kit comes complete with a booklet that contains an amazing 14 of the most popular techie projects that can be undertaken with just one product, the utterly amazing Sugru mouldable glue!
The Sugru Rebel Tech Kit comes complete with four mini packs of the remarkable glue and a smart little storage tin.
And the recipient of the Sugru Rebel Tech Kit will never be left alone and puzzled over what to do next, because the kit comes compete with an amazing step-by-step guide to help make certain that every project will reach a successful conclusion.
It's a great gift for parents, grandparents, children, siblings, best mates and for those normally trick secret Santa's at the workplace.
Where can you buy the kits and other Sugru products? A whole host of retailers all over the UK like B&Q, Maplin, Robert Dyas and Halfords, or online at https://goo.gl/nvXqqz.
And now, meet Jane, the inventor of Sugru glue who will explain the whole story to you:-
At an amazingly reasonable £10, the Rebel Tech Kit is specially designed as a "lifehack" gift, it's aimed at people who love their techie stuff and who want to get the most out of it.
It's aimed at people who love ensuring they can get the best out of their techie kit.;
Want to improve the sound output from your loudspeakers?
Fix some fraying cables?
Secure your tablet computer?
In fact the Sugru Rebel Tech Kit comes complete with a booklet that contains an amazing 14 of the most popular techie projects that can be undertaken with just one product, the utterly amazing Sugru mouldable glue!
The Sugru Rebel Tech Kit comes complete with four mini packs of the remarkable glue and a smart little storage tin.
And the recipient of the Sugru Rebel Tech Kit will never be left alone and puzzled over what to do next, because the kit comes compete with an amazing step-by-step guide to help make certain that every project will reach a successful conclusion.
It's a great gift for parents, grandparents, children, siblings, best mates and for those normally trick secret Santa's at the workplace.
Where can you buy the kits and other Sugru products? A whole host of retailers all over the UK like B&Q, Maplin, Robert Dyas and Halfords, or online at https://goo.gl/nvXqqz.
And now, meet Jane, the inventor of Sugru glue who will explain the whole story to you:-
Monday 24 October 2016
That's Books and Entertainment: Titanic Rose Walsh McLean's Story
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Sunday 23 October 2016
That's Books and Entertainment: Rendezvous With Death
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That's Books and Entertainment: Find a Better Life
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That's Books and Entertainment: Little Professor and his Robot Factory
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That's Books and Entertainment: Thinking Lies Learning how to Believe in Yourself
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That's Books and Entertainment: Shine on, Marquee Moon
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That's Books and Entertainment: If You Can't Take a Joke
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That's Books and Entertainment: Happiness Diary
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Wednesday 19 October 2016
Braun MultiGroomer The ideal Christmas present
What does it do? What doesn't it do? It does everything you could possibly want it to do.
You can use it to shave, you can use it to style and you can use it to trim, too.
It really is a three in one tool, but it does all of those jobs equally well. It's as good as a device dedicated to each of those tasks, or, in some particular cases, even better.
It comes with three purpose designed and expertly crafted trimming attachments.
And gone are the days of having to wait overnight before you can use your trimming device! One hour of charging its powerful Ni-MH batteries will give you guaranteed 100% constant power for 30 minutes of shaving, styling or trimming. Or you can even give it a 5 minutes quick charge.
And it's good to go with you on your travels as it has fully automatic voltage detection software that allows it to be charged anywhere in the world. It even comes with a funky little charging stand.
And it's light enough to travel with you on your next trip abroad.
There's a nifty extra wide shaving head with a flexible SmartFoil which gives you a smooth, clean shave with the minimum amount of strokes.
There's a superb Adustable Click&Lock comb which comes with four length settings (covering 1.2mm to 6mm) and you can Trim & Style with the special twistable trimmer.
You can use it dry or wet, so you can even take it into the shower with you!
It costs £69.99 and you can buy it this link at a substantial discount https://goo.gl/La8uC4.
Tuesday 18 October 2016
Lambrini Truly Peach Flavour
We chilled the bottle and we poured two glasses of Lambrini Truly Peach wine and we we both quickly whisked away from the cold British Autumn evening to a Mediterranean peach grove as we slowly sipped and savoured our glasses of wine.Now, my wife and I are quite partial to a glass of Lambrini, but this peach Lambrini does, to use an old expression, take drinking Lambrini to a whole new level.
What's it good for? It's basically very good for just about anything, really!
It's a fantastic drink in front of a blazing fire on Christmas Eve, with or without some mince pies, it goes very well with cheese and pickled onions and the like, and it will serve as a low alcohol but interesting accompaniment for your actual Christmas Day feast.
And it will go nicely with your Boxing Day cold turkey sandwiches, too.
In short, this is an especially drinkable wine and will also be enjoyed by people who protest: "Oh, I don't like wine, me! I'm not much of a one for wine!" (EDITOR: Which, if I am honest, probably includes me in that number.)
To learn more you can visit http://www.lambrini.co.uk/the-range/truly-peach/
It will be available form Tesco and The Drinks Supermarket at about £3.00 a 75cl bottle. But do take our advice, don't buy just one bottle as it won't be nearly enough!
http://www.tesco.com
http://www.drinksupermarket.com/fruit-ginger-wine
Chase Gin and Chase Vodka, the spirit of Herefordshire
The English county of Herefordshire, in the West of England, is famed for its apple orchards and its cider production.
However, thanks to the Williams Chase distillery which is based at Rosemaund in Herefordshire, the county is now becoming famous for Chase Vodka and Chase Gin.
The gin is distilled from apples grown on the family's own orchards and distilled on the farm itself.
The gin is described as being elegant and crisp and I cannot find fault in that description.
One can taste the range of botanicals in the gin, with juniper berries predominating, but the use of apples to produce the base spirit rather than grain gives this gin a lift about other, for want of a better word, usual gins.
There is a note of fresh apples in this gin and it plays well with other cocktail ingredients.
Chase Vodka is also made from an ingredient indigenous to English farms, the not-so-humble Potato.
This, too, makes a pleasing change from the more traditional grain spirit based vodkas and the taste is pleasing to the tongue and it, too, works well as the base for a range of vodka-based cocktails.
To learn more about these products please visit http://chasedistillery.co.uk/. and http://williamschase.co.uk/.
You will also find a wide range of other drinks distilled at the farm.
You can purchase Chase drink products at this link https://goo.gl/iw9nNO.
Monday 17 October 2016
Make it an Opies Christmas, again, this year
I wonder if the Opie family knew that 136 years later their descendants would still be providing the highest class comestibles to a clientele that still clamour for their high quality range of very special foodstuffs?
Amongst other items, Opies are justifiably famed for their special Christmas "signature lines."
And what might these be?
Pickled Walnuts. for many British families Christmas just would not be the same without a jar of Opies Pickled Walnuts to add that special doubled Zed effect to their cold meats including leftover turkey or goose, or as the perfect accompaniment for your cheeseboard. (What, might you ask is the double Zed effect? That's what I call Zin and Zip!)
And as a food lover, you'll be interested to note that if you want British produced pickled walnuts, that Opies is the only firm that prepares Pickled Walnuts in the UK.
And for those of you who either pride yourself on your cocktail making skills, or who intends to have your first bash at making cocktails this Christmas, then you will require Opies Cocktail Accompaniments to make the perfect cocktails:
Cocktail Cherries, Sliced Lemons and Gherkins, too. (Gherkins in cocktails? Apparently they really can enliven a vodka and lime cocktail. So give it a go or Google "Gherkins in cocktails" for some more cocktail recipes.)
And if you are a fan of fruits in alcohol (and who isn't?) then you are in for a treat with the Opies Fruits in Alcohol range:
Ginger in Famous Grouse (that's totally new for 2016), Christmas Fruits in Courvoisier, Opies Peaches in Courvoisier, Black Cherries in Kirsch, Figs in Courvoisier and Apricots in Grand Marnier.
And for those of you who want to mke sure you have Opies in your kitchen to assist you in your festive food preparation then Opies can provide you with
Stem Ginger in Syrup and Black Cherries with Kirsch.
Barry Norman Picked Onions
And due to a set of random circumstances that makes life interesting, someone tasted a pickled onion made by Barry Norman (yes, Barry Norman the famed film critic) and Opies -the leading pickling family got together with Barry- and the result? You can now enjoy the very same pickled onions loved by generation after generation of Barry's family since the mid-19th century!
Products available from major multiple supermarkets and online. www.opiesfoods.com
Wednesday 12 October 2016
That's Books and Entertainment: Peginoor Land of the Lost
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Sunday 9 October 2016
That's Books and Entertainment: Snatched
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That's Books and Entertainment: Eugene
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