How Not To Be A Loser


Beth Moran - 2020
    She’s lost her confidence, her mojo and her way. But one thing she has never lost is her total love for her thirteen-year-old son Joey, and for his sake she knows it’s time for a change. But first she has to be brave enough to leave the house…What she needs are friends and an adventure. And when she joins a running group of women who call themselves The Larks, she finds both. Not to mention their inspiring (and rather handsome) coach, Nathan.Once upon a time Amy was a winner - at life, at sport and in love. Now, with every ounce of strength she has left, she is determined to reclaim the life she had, for herself and for Joey. And who knows, she might just be a winner again – at life, sport, and love, if she looks in the right places… Uplifting, funny and unforgettable, Beth Moran returns with a joyous tale of friendship, love and facing your fears.   Praise for Beth Moran‘Life-affirming, joyful and tender.’ Zoe Folbigg'Every day is a perfect day to read this.’ Shari Low'A British author to watch.' Publisher's Weekly'A wonderfully warm-hearted story full of love and laughter.' Victoria Connelly

One Young Fool in Dorset


Victoria Twead - 2015
    Her childhood memories are vividly portrayed, leaving the reader chuckling and enjoying a warm sense of comfortable nostalgia. Photographs and recipes complement page after page of tales that burst with the rich vitality we have come to expect from Victoria Twead.

Christmas to Come


Carol Rivers - 2007
    It’s December 1940 and the London Blitz has provided them with one essential; scraps of food they scavenge on the debris of bombed buildings. There’s no love and little for them to eat in the derelict dockside slum they once called home. This is a danger area and to Bella almost worse than the Luftwaffe’s nightly raids. Their mother is a drunkard and earns her meagre living on the streets, turning a blind eye to the abuse her boyfriend dolls out to her two unwanted and neglected children. It’s left to Bella to protect Terry, who has endured so many beatings he is mentally scarred. Bella has learned at a young age that life doesn’t play fair. Her hero is Micky Bryant, a good-looking, streetwise teenager, and the one person she truly trusts. And it’s to Micky that Bella turns in her desperation. But is Micky the kind benefactor Bella believes him to be and will her decision have serious consequences in the years ahead?

That Childhood Country


Deirdre Purcell - 1992
    A young man and woman 's passionate beginnings are ruined by a terrible secret that their parents buried for nearly two decades.

The Whole Day Through


Patrick Gale - 2009
    Then she runs into Ben, the great love of her student days and, as she only now dares admit, the emotional yardstick by which she has judged every man since.Are Laura and Ben brave enough to take this second chance at the lasting happiness fate has offered them? Or will they be defeated by the insidious need, instilled in childhood, to do the right thing?Patrick Gale’s thirteenth novel is a brief, even terse, love story, in which a man and a woman are reunited after a twenty-year interval and have a short taste of delight. It is also a novel about obligation. Both Laura and Ben have turned their lives upside-down in order to care for relatives, she for her cranky, brilliant mother, and he, for his gay younger brother who has Mosaic Down’s Syndrome.But the implication is that, while the caring is genuine, it is also ever so slightly an excuse for failures elsewhere in their lives…The novel takes its structure from a high summer day in Laura’s life in her mother’s house, from a rude awakening to a late-night nightcap in the garden after her mother has gone to bed. This progression through her day is interleaved with a parallel journey through Ben’s, as he copes with the complications of young Bobby’s late-flowering sexuality and the myriad half-truths told him by patients attending his venereology clinic. Only as the day progresses and the weather experienced by the characters sharply differs do we begin to wonder if all is what it seems.

Pop Girl


Tallia Storm - 2015
    Teenage singer/songwriter, model and writer Tallia is taking the world by STORM!

George, Don't Do That ...


Joyce Grenfell - 1977
    This edition contains all the material in the original volumes of George, Don't Do That and Stately as a Galleon, including the bloodthirsty 'Ethel' and the unforgettable nursery school monologues.

Thinks . . .


David Lodge - 2001
    Thinks . . . , his witty new novel about secret infidelities and the nature of consciousness, unfolds in the alternating voices of Ralph Messenger, director of the Centre for Cognitive Science at the University of Gloucester, and Helen Reed, a novelist and writer in residence at the university. Mutually attracted, the two end up in a moral standoff that is shattered by events that dramatically confirm the truth of Ralph's dictum: we can never know for certain what another person is thinking.

Various Pets Alive and Dead


Marina Lewycka - 2012
    Set half in Doncaster, half in London, this is a very funny riff on modern values, featuring hamsters, cockroaches, poodles, a chicken and multiplying rabbits, told by Marina Lewycka in her unique and brilliant combination of irony, farce and wit.

London Irish


Zane Radcliffe - 2002
    One of them has to get out. For good...It is the summer of 1999. Bic (half-Irish, half-Scots) is eking out a living selling crêpes to the hordes descending on Greenwich market. With one severed ear, two bizarre deaths and the arrest of his dog for civil disobedience, Bic's year hasn't exactly been going to plan.But when raven-haired Roisin takes the stall opposite his, things seem to be looking up - if Bic can just get past her over-protective brothers. That is, until Bic wakes up the-morning-after-the-night-before, in his clothes, in Edinburgh, to find he's the UK's Most Wanted Man - on the run and with fourteen murders to his name... 'Very fresh, very funny' COLIN BATEMAN'A huge and exciting plot...I loved the twist at the end' Goodreads'Great story and full of humour' Goodreads

Port Starbird


Garrett Dennis - 2014
    After settling in Avon, North Carolina and purchasing the house of his realistic, fiscally responsible retirement beach dreams, Ketch is ready to live out the rest of his days quietly. However, his life takes a stressful turn when his home and habits are threatened by Bob Ingram, the dirtiest real estate mogul in Avon. In an effort to avoid Ingram's threats of eminent domain and save his home, Ketch becomes the secret detective that his parents had always hoped he would be. With his faithful canine sidekick by his side and the good-looking Kari in his bed, Ketch begins a journey that will bring secrets to the surface and make him into a different man with a different view of the world. - Red City Review In this quirky low-key murder mystery/adventure, Storm Ketchum, a damaged emigre to the coastal town of Avon on North Carolina's Outer Banks, likes to mind his own business and isn't any kind of detective - until he's forced to become one by extraordinary circumstances. On the verge of losing his modest waterfront home to an unscrupulous developer, Ketch stumbles onto the scene of a crime that might expose the perpetrator of an unsolved murder and enable him to save not only his own home, but also the similarly threatened bohemian boatyard community he's inexorably drawn into. And in case Plan A fails, he's hard at work on a Plan B that's both laudable and pitiable - if he can't stop them from seizing his property and ruining what's left of his historic town, he's hell-bent on turning the event into a unique political statement that won't soon be forgotten. Together with his loyal dog, a salty charter boat captain, the sketchy denizens of the boatyard, and an alluring scuba diving instructor who may or may not have a hidden agenda, Ketch struggles to make sense of his new reality, while trying to save some of the things that really matter along the way.From RED CITY REVIEW:Dennis' novel could not be more of an enjoyable read unless you were receiving a massage while reading it. The storyline is engaging and Dennis' characters are so well written that you almost want to invite them to your next barbeque. Port Starbird should find a home on every shelf and become a yearly reading ritual. FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:"When a wealthy developer suspected of murder comes offering money for the land, Ketch is the last to hold out. Ketch's knowledge of the island is professorial, something that will appeal to readers who adore a strong sense of place. The accented dialogue creates the right southern atmosphere... A good effort."

The Black Shrike


Alistair MacLean - 1961
    Eight jobs. Eight specialists in modern technology required. Eight scientists to fill them. Applicants to be married, with no children, and prepared to travel. Highly persuasive salaries. One criminal mastermind. Eight positions filled. Eight scientists - and their wives - disappear. Completely. One secret agent to stop him.Advertisment no.9. Sydney, Australia. Fuel specialist required. Looks like a job for John Bentall-

The Secret Between Us


Barbara Delinsky - 2008
    Not even the truth.Deborah Monroe and her daughter, Grace, are driving home from a party when their car hits a man running in the dark. Grace was at the wheel, but Deborah sends her home before the police arrive, determined to shoulder the blame for the accident. Her decision then turns into a deception that takes on a life of its own and threatens the special bond between mother and daughter. The Secret Between Us is an unforgettable story about making bad choices for the right reasons and the terrible consequences of a lie gone wrong. Once again, Barbara Delinksy has delivered a riveting study of family and a superbly crafted novel, perfectly targeted to reading groups and fans of provocative fiction.

Very British Problems: Making Life Awkward for Ourselves, One Rainy Day at a Time


Rob Temple - 2013
    Symptoms include:*Acute embarrassment at the mere notion of making a fuss;*Extreme awkwardness when faced with any social greeting beyond a brisk handshake;*An unhealthy preoccupation with meteorology.Doctors have also reported several cases of unnecessary apologising, an obsessive interest in correct queuing etiquette and dramatic sighing in the presence of loud teenagers on public transport. If you have experienced any of these symptoms, you may be suffering from VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS. VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS are highly contagious. There is no known cure.Rob Temple's hilarious new book reveals all the ways in which we are a nation of socially awkward but well-meaning oddballs, struggling to make it through every day without apologising to an inanimate object. Take comfort in misfortunes of others. You are not alone.

A Friend of the Family


Lisa Jewell - 2003
    Tony’s dealing with divorce and a weight problem.  Novelist Sean is up against a serious case of writer’s block and a shock announcement from his “perfect” new girlfriend. Their parents have a new lodger, Gervase—why is Bernie, their mother, so keen to give this unsavory waif a home?  And what is the real reason for kid brother Ned’s surprise return from his travels in Australia?A Friend of the Family is a hilarious, dead-on-target story from the bestselling author of Thirtynothing and Ralph’s Party.