Read book reviews at LiteraryAgent.co.uk YOU SPIN ME ROUND by Sam O'Reilly Published by Penguin Purchase You Spin Me Round About the Author "Sam O'Reilly lives in Brighton with her husband and two children. A former Cosmopolitan magazine journalist of the year, she is also a runner-up for both the Cosmopolitan short-story prize and the Ian St James Award. Her first novel, The Best Possible Taste, is published by Penguin." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of YOU SPIN ME ROUND COLD WAR by John Lewis Gaddis Published by Penguin CLICK HERE to buy The Cold War Synopsis "In this penetrating and authoritative narrative history of the Cold War, John Lewis Gaddis, the 'dean of Cold War historians', tells a story of fear and of hope. "For this first post-Cold War generation" Gaddis writes "what could anyone ever have had to fear, they wonder, from a statement that turned out to be as weak, as bumbling, and as temporary as the Soviet Union? But they also ask themselves and me: how did we ever make it out of the Cold War alive?" With telling and enthralling insights, Gaddis takes the reader into the minds of the key players, showing with unprecedented clarity the nature of the threats, the insecurities, the mistakes and the bluffs that were persistent characteristics on all sides in the conduct of the Cold War. He describes how Stalin saw American policy as "A-bomb blackmail", how Truman reversed the ancient pattern that when weapons are developed they will be used, and the threat to this when, with Eisenhower, "a kind of nuclear autism had set in". He shows that emotion had as much impact on history as theory and strategy, as terror and hope accompanied a new kind of warcraft, Mutual Assured Destruction." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of this book! INFERNO: THE DEVASTATION OF HAMBURG, 1943 by Keith Lowe Published by Viking Click to buy Inferno Synopsis "In July 1943, British and American bombers launched an attack on the German city of Hamburg that was unlike anything the world had ever seen. For ten days they drenched the city with over 9,000 tons of bombs, with the intention of erasing it entirely from the map. The fires they created were so huge they burned for a month, and were visible for 200 miles. As those who survived emerged from their ruined cellars and air-raid shelters, they were confronted with a unique vision of hell: a sea of flame that stretched to the horizon, the burned-out husks of fire engines that had tried to rescue them, charcoaled corpses and roads that had become flaming rivers of melted tarmac. Using brand new eye-witness accounts, Keith Lowe gives the human side of an inhuman story. The result is an epic account of devastation and survival, and a much needed reminder of the human face of war." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of this book! THE MALICE BOX by Martin Langfield Published by Penguin Books Ltd Click to buy The Malice Box Synopsis "When Robert Reckliss is sent what appears to be a copper puzzle box, he has no idea his life is about to undergo a violent transformation. That night, an acquaintance kills himself in curious circumstances; the following day, an old friend reveals the existence of an arcane weapon so powerful it could wipe the Western world from the face of the planet. The responsibility for hunting down this weapon, this Malice Box, lies with Robert himself. The weapon is primed to explode in seven days. In a desperate race against the clock, Robert must undergo a quest - a series of trials around Manhattan - in order to track down the keys vital to prevent detenoation." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of this book! THREE SONS by Mary Turner Synopsis "Mary Turner's 'Three Sons' vividly tells the story of a Scottish mining family and the hard times of the lead character Mary Fairly. The readers will follow the main events of her life from the birth of her illegitimate son at 16, marriage to the violent Patrick Sweeny, the hardships raising her family, her husbands imprisonment, and her marriage to the policeman who put him there. Told with humour as well as pain,'Three Sons' is a close look at everyday life in a working class mining town,where getting a job, caring for the bairns, and suffering in an abusive marriage is part of ones lot in life. The author provides graphic details of everyday life, from description of food to the managing a household, and the working conditions of the poor. Friends and good neighbours are part of survival in this town, helping each other through tragedies and heartbreak. The characters change during the decades and the author provides many examples of their weaknesses as well as their strengths as they grow older. There are surprising coincidences in the small town,as a long dead brother turns out to be alive, the illegitimate son Frank-fights with a father he did not know he had, and Mary's second son-Allan falls in love with the daughter of the seducer who made his Mother pregnant. The conclusion is a triumph of sorts, as Mary, still bonnie in middle age, sees her children set that will make them happy, and sees her own life turn for the better as she marries Walter, a husband who admires both her integrity and her beauty. This story is full of clearly drawn characters, from Mary's parents-- the sympathetic Charlie and the dominating Lizzie--to her three sons as they grow up,her tough coal-mining husband Patrick, and the unexpected return of her original seducer Ali, who is the father of the daughter her second son wants to marry. The author captures the patterns of the Scottish speech, and the description of the daily life are genuine. 'Three Sons' is a not only the chronicle of a woman's triumph over disgrace, but also a look into the lives and loves of a working class family." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of this book! A TASTE OF THE COUNTRY by Jimmy Doherty Published by Penguin Books Ltd Purchase a Taste of the Country Overview "Jimmy Doherty first came to the public's attention in June 2004 when Jimmy's Farm appeared on BBC2. It was an instant hit as over 3.5 million viewers followed Jimmy and his girlfriend Michaela as they renovated a derelict farm in Suffolk and established it as a successful working farm producing the highest quality products. Now, to accompany the second series, comes a book that dreams are made of. A traditional farmhouse cookbook that manages to capture the elusive rural lifestyle within its pages for all to enjoy - no matter where you live. As a nation we are becoming more aware of the food that we eat and the effect our lifestyle has on our wellbeing, and while we may not all be able to give up the rat-race and buy a farm in the country, A Taste of the Country is intended to be a celebration of country living and an invitation to get more involved with the land around you and the food you put on your plate. Jimmy says: "I really want this book to be a slice of the Good Life for everyone, be it making a crumble, keeping a few chickens or going for a country walk and picking some blackberries on your way." A Taste of the Country contains 80 recipes for traditional farmhouse dishes: from shepherd's pie to strawberry and rhubarb crumble, homemade chutney to ginger biscuits. It also contains a host of other information from how to choose cuts of meat and grow your own salads to how to keep chickens, whittle a walking stick and make jam. Whatever your lifestyle, this book with help you to grab a slice of the good life." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of this book! AFLOAT by Jennifer McCartney Published by Hamish Hamilton Click to buy Afloat Synopsis "It is the summer of 2000 and Bell, a student from Minnesota, is employed at an elite restaurant on Mackinac Island. This unique island resort, with a circumference of just nine miles and no automobiles allowed, quickly becomes the centre of Bell's universe - a northern paradise teeming with expensive yachts, horse-drawn carriages, top-shelf vodka, bicycles, smoked whitefish and inspiring relationships. In a parallel narrative, forty years later, Bell is stranded in her St Paul home clearing away the belongings of a lifetime while she awaits the arrival of a guest from that deceptively idyllic summer. "Afloat" is an exquisitely distilled exploration of material and spiritual values and - equally - a riveting story of loyalty, betrayal and survival." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of this book! BURNING AMBITION by Allen Carr Published by Penguin Books Ltd Click to buy Burning Ambition Synopsis "In this inspiring book, the anti-smoking guru Allen Carr explains how he overcame his one-hundred-a-day habit and quit smoking for good. After many failed attempts and a lot of perseverance, he discovered the Easyway and it changed his life. But Allen Carr didn't stop there: he was convinced that his was the only effective method and opened a successful chain of clinics to allow others to escape the tobacco trap. Allen Carr has helped millions of people to break the habit but his ambitions reached further than this. He had a vision of the future in which smoking was something we used to do, and he was sure that Easyway would play a large part in this achievement long after his time had passed." CLICK HERE to Read the Review of this book!