London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games : The Official Commemorative Book

A glorious keepsake of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, full of unforgettable images, powerful quotes and fascinating statistics. It traces the whole incredible story, from early preparation through the creation of the Olympic Park, the Torch Relay and the innovative Cultural Olympiad. It explores both Games in detail, revealing how record-breaking athletes, spectators, volunteers and locals have all made London 2012 their own. Beautifully designed and featuring the Games' most evocative photography and a foreword by Sebastian Coe KBE, London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: The Commemorative Book captures the magical atmosphere of a once in a lifetime event.

The Hydrogen Sonata (Culture 10)

The Scavenger species are circling. It is, truly, the End Days for the Gzilt civilization.

An ancient people, organized on military principles and yet almost perversely peaceful, the Gzilt helped set up the Culture ten thousand years earlier and were very nearly one of its founding societies, deciding not to join only at the last moment. Now they've made the collective decision to follow the well-trodden path of millions of other civilizations; they are going to Sublime, elevating themselves to a new and almost infinitely more rich and complex existence.

Amid preparations, though, the Regimental High Command is destroyed. Lieutenant Commander (reserve) Vyr Cossont appears to have been involved, and she is now wanted - dead, not alive. Aided only by an ancient, reconditioned android and a suspicious Culture avatar, Cossont must complete her last mission given to her by the High Command. She must find the oldest person in the Culture, a man over nine thousand years old, who might have some idea what really happened all that time ago.

It seems that the final days of the Gzilt civilization are likely to prove its most perilous.

1356

Go with God and Fight Like the Devil. A fascinating hero and the pursuit of a sword with mythical power - this is the remarkable new novel by Britain’s master storyteller, which culminates at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356.
The Hundred Years War rages on and the bloodiest battles are yet to be fought. Across France, towns are closing their gates, the crops are burning and the country stands alert to danger. The English army, victorious at the Battle of Crécy and led by the Black Prince, is invading again and the French are hunting them down.
Thomas of Hookton, an English archer known as Le Bâtard, is under orders to seek out the lost sword of St Peter, a weapon said to grant certain victory to whoever possesses her. As the outnumbered English army becomes trapped near the town of Poitiers, Thomas, his men and his sworn enemies meet in an extraordinary confrontation that ignites one of the greatest battles of all time.

Ratburger

The fifth screamingly funny novel from David Walliams, number one bestseller and fastest growing children’s author in the country.

Hot on the heels of bestselling Gangsta Granny comes another hilarious, action-packed and touching novel – the story of a little girl called Zoe. Things are not looking good for Zoe. Her stepmother Sheila is so lazy she gets Zoe to pick her nose for her. The school bully Tina Trotts makes her life a misery – mainly by flobbing on her head. And now the evil Burt from Burt’s Burgers is after her pet rat! And guess what he wants to do with it? The clue is in the title…
From the author that is being called ‘a new Roald Dahl’, Ratburger is not to be missed!

Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena

Looking forward to the big renunion! 

The Mark of Athena is the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series, or in other words; Percy Jackson Series 2. It expands the all-familiar Percy Universe into something far far bigger; we are finally introduced to the prospect of not only the EXISTANCE of Roman gods (the Greek gods' alter egos), but also to the possibility that there may be a Roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood.

The first book in this series, The Lost Hero, introduces us to three new heroes: Jason Grace - Son of Zeus/Jupiter, Leo Valdez - Son of Hephaestus and Piper McLean - Daughter of Aphrodite. They are tasked with rescuing Hera from the clutches of the rising Mother of Earth, Gaia. The only problem is that Jason can not remember anything about himself, or his past, and it just happens that as Jason appeared, Percy disappeared…

The Son of Neptune brings us the return of everyone's favourite demigod, Percy Jackson. As he is being chased by a pair of pscho gorgons, memory-less and invincable, not only does he stumble across Juno/Hera, but also Camp Jupiter. He begins a journey like no other; to bring down something that can only be his worst enemy yet.

The Mark of Athena promises to be not only a thriller like no other, but also an emotional rollercoaster…  

The Bat: A Harry Hole thriller (Harry Hole 1)

The first Harry Hole

I am a huge fan of Jo Nesbo and I have been waiting for a long time for this book to be translated. so long I have already read it in my native language, French. it is very well written and we can recognize Jo's style straight away. lots of suspects, twisted plots in Australia where Harry has been sent to solve the killing of a young Norwegian woman.I strongly recommend this book which won the 1997 Glass Key Award.

Emerald Star (Hetty Feather)

The third and final story featuring the hugely popular Hetty Feather, from mega-bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson.

Hetty Feather has seen her fair share of adventure, excitement - and tragedy. Following the death of her beloved mama, Hetty is alone in the world once more. She sets off on her greatest challenge yet - the search for her father.

But Hetty fears she'll never truly belong anywhere. Even when she is reunited with her childhood sweetheart, Jem, Hetty still longs for adventure - especially when an enchanting figure from her past makes an unexpected reappearance. Could a more exciting future lie ahead for Hetty? Could she cast aside the foundling name she has always hated, and become the brave, bold, bright EMERALD STAR?

The Casual Vacancy

The first adult novel by J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007, which have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, are distributed in more than 200 territories, translated into 74 languages, and have been turned into eight blockbuster films. She has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry’s schoolbooks within the novels. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through The Ages were published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. In December 2008, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published in aid of the Children’s High Level Group, and quickly became the fastest selling book of the year.

As well as an OBE for services to children’s literature, J.K. Rowling is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees including the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, France’s Légion d’Honneur, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and she has been a Commencement Speaker at Harvard University USA. She supports a wide number of charitable causes through her charitable trust Volant, and is the founder of Lumos, a charity working to transform the lives of disadvantaged children 

Sweet Tooth

Set in the 1970s, this is a very enjoyable spy and love story. It is wonderfully written, as you might expect of Ian McEwan, and the pages fly by, leading to an unexpected and rather wonderful ending. The UK of the 1970s is recreated superbly with lots of detail and colour.

The book focuses on the life of Serena Frome, the daughter of a bishop, who studies mathematics at Cambridge to please her family, but whose first love is literature. Later, a romance with an older man leads to her recruitment into the intelligence services, and the opportunity to be involved in the literary world through the involvement of British Intelligence in the culture wars of the Cold War. She falls in love again and this love affair, and its consequences, provides the main story of the book, whilst deception and the difficulty of knowing what is real, is the running theme

There are some great little short stories woven into this book too - although important to the main story, they are also excellent little tales in their own right. This is for the most part an uplifting novel, full of great writing, with something of the feel of John le Carre at his best.

I loved this, and If you have read and enjoyed Ian McEwan's earlier books you will almost certainly love this too.

Highly recommended

Jerusalem

This is an ambitious and brave book, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi and one which delivers. The complexity of Jerusalem, the city, in terms of politics, history, culture and food is sensitively described. Both authors regard Jerusalem as home, "because it defines us, whether we like it or not". I love their faith in the possibility of food and more particularly hummus, bringing Jerusalemites together, "if nothing else will" The backdrop of the city is the very beautiful context of this book. However, a cookery book has to be ultimately about the food and "Jerusalem" provides a lavish feast of new ideas, tastes and food combinations. Thanks to The Guardian, I have already begun to cook from this book. Mejadra, a simple combination of lentils, rice, spices and fried onions is stunning. Lamb Shawarma is deeply and gorgeously spiced.Chicken with caramelised onion and cardamom rice is perfect and simple comfort food. I am planning my next month of menus around this book. First up will be Burnt aubergine with garlic, lemon and pomegranate seeds. When I have time for some serious weekend cooking, I will make the Chocolate Krantz cake, a yeasted cake which looks soft, chocolatey and worth the effort. This is a beautiful book with sublime photography. Check out the photo of the Jerusalem skyline at dusk or the overwhelming colours of the roadside grocery vendor. The photos of pan fried sea bream with harissa and rose and the small plates of hummus studded with pine nuts and herbs are genuinely mouth watering. I feel instinctively that this book will inspire and change my cooking. A completely essential book.

No Easy Day

No Easy Day: The Only First-hand Account of the Navy Seal Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden

A must read for anybody curious what really happened
I have never reviewed a book on here, but I felt the need to provide one for this book (even though I didn't buy it here).

The book deals largely with the events that led up to the death of Bin Laden last year. The author does an excellent job of providing just enough information about his career and the brutal training and missions that these guys go on to ease the reader into the story. There was nothing in the story regarding details about operational procedures of the SEALs that could not be found publicly elsewhere. The story does tend to jump about a bit however through different events that seemingly have little in common except to help understand how these men think and operate.

Now down to the nitty gritty. Without ruining the events as he describes them (despite these revelations being plastered across many media outlets), they do indeed differ somewhat from the official account given by the American Government. How significant these differences are, I will leave for you to decide. The chapters that deal with this are extremely tense, thrilling stuff. I couldn't put the book down once these chapters started kicking in, and the book ends on this thrilling climax leaving the reader wanting more. Always a good way to end a book.

The profits from the book will go to veterans charities that support former Navy SEALs so it is definitely worth the buy. The author states that he does not want to profit from telling the story, simply that he wants the truth to finally reveal itself. This is quite believable, and for that reason alone should hopefully convince you that the events unfolded as he has described. He hasn't appeared to have gained anything from telling his story, and may in fact get himself slapped with a lawsuit from the Pentagon and some unwanted media coverage at this rate.

Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Freed

Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, the Fifty Shades trilogy will obsess you, possess you and stay with you for ever.

When Ana Steele first encountered the driven, damaged entrepreneur Christian Grey, it sparked a sensual affair that changed both their lives irrevocably.

Ana always knew that loving her Fifty Shades would not be easy, and being together poses challenges neither of them had anticipated. Ana must learn to share Grey's opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own integrity or independence; and Grey must overcome his compulsion to control and lay to rest the horrors that still haunt him.

Now, finally together, they have love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of infinite possibilities.

But just when it seems that they really do have it all, tragedy and fate combine to make Ana's worst nightmares come true ...

Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Darker

Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, the Fifty Shades trilogy will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you for ever ...

Daunted by the dark secrets of the tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Ana Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a US publishing house.

But desire for Grey still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, she cannot resist. Soon she is learning more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades than she ever thought possible.

But while Grey wrestles with his inner demons, Ana must make the most important decision of her life. And it's a decision she can only make on her own ...

Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey

Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, Fifty Shades of Grey is a novel that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you for ever.

When literature student Anastasia Steele interviews successful entrepreneur Christian Grey, she finds him very attractive and deeply intimidating. Convinced that their meeting went badly, she tries to put him out of her mind - until he turns up at the store where she works part-time, and invites her out.

Unworldly and innocent, Ana is shocked to find she wants this man. And, when he warns her to keep her distance, it only makes her want him more.

But Grey is tormented by inner demons, and consumed by the need to control. As they embark on a passionate love affair, Ana discovers more about her own desires, as well as the dark secrets Grey keeps hidden away from public view .

Bared to You

Bared to You (Crossfire, Book 1)

I don't normally like to compare books in my reviews because I prefer to look at them on their own merit but because this was recommended for fans of Fifty Shades of Grey I'm going to make a comparison this time. I'm one of those people who ended up completely addicted to FSoG, I had a lot of problems with the writing style - the constant repetitions, the bad grammar and the poor editing to name a few - but I could not put it down and devoured the entire trilogy in record time.

I needed something to fill the FSoG shaped hole in my life and Bared to You was highly recommended. It is another book that was originally self published by the author and has now been picked up by a major publishing house after it became a big hit on Amazon and there is no doubt in my mind that it will appeal to FSoG fans. In my opinion Bared to You is a million times better that FSoG in a lot of ways - Sylvia Day's writing is so much better, there are no conversations with the inner goddess that made me want to scream, I liked Eva a lot more than Ana and the sex scenes are much hotter. So you'd rightfully be thinking that I'd recommend the story to FSoG fans.

However, I can't say I found it quite as addictive as FSoG. Yes, I devoured Bared to You. Yes, I stayed up until 5am in the morning because I couldn't but it down. Yes, I am definitely going to be reading the next two books in the series. Yes, I did fall for Gideon but I don't love him quite as much as I love Christian. Perhaps that will change as I get to know him better throughout the next two books but we'll have to wait and see. I still can't stop thinking about FSoG even though it has been nearly two months since I finished reading it and I don't know what I would have done with myself if the next two books hadn't been available for me to devour immediately afterwards. While I'm excited that I only have to wait until October for Deeper in You that wait isn't going to kill me. I have to say that I love both books as much as each other but in different ways, neither FSoG or Bared to You is perfect but they are both compelling and not to be missed.

One of the things I liked most about Bared to You was the fact that Eva and Gideon are both as messed up as each other. They both have terrible issues from their pasts that have deeply effected the way they behave in the present. This seems much more realistic to me and I like the fact that they are both going to have to deal with their past and make changes to their attitudes if they want to have a chance at a successful relationship. This isn't a case of one person having to "fix" the other, it's a case of two deeply hurt individuals who might have a chance at healing each others pain and working towards a happy future together.

As much as I loved the email exchanges between Ana and Christian in FSoG I loved the banter between Eva and Christian even more. I love the way she is adult enough to stand up to him face to face or over the phone. She is no simpering virgin but rather someone who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. Gideon is very possessive and should come with a stalker warning, especially at the beginning of the story, but Eva won't put up with any of his crap and in her own way she behaves just as badly at times with her own jealousy problems. Gideon is rich, powerful and successful, sexy as sin as well as dark and dangerous - I don't know many women who wouldn't find themselves attracted to him. The chemistry between him and Eva is intense and the pages literally sizzle when they are in a room together. Their journey may not be an easy one but you feel like they have something worth fighting for.

If you're looking for a scorching hot contemporary erotic story with a gritty romance between two damaged people then I'd highly recommend Bared to You. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next instalment and in the meantime I'm definitely planning on checking out some of Sylvia Day's other books. 

Fifty Shades Trilogy

Fifty Shades Trilogy Boxed Set

I picked up Fifty Shades of Grey on the spur of the moment having heard some interesting reviews and was hooked immediately. I got Fifty Shades Darker before finishing the first book as I couldn't bear the thought of having to wait to find out what happened next. When I finished Fifty Shades Freed a week after I picked up the first book in the trilogy I felt a huge sense of loss. Without a doubt this is one of the best reads around - so much so, I've recommended it to almost everyone I know! I'm now looking for something to replace the void left by Ana Steele and Christian Grey so if anyone has any suggestions ...

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Song of Ice and Fire, 7 Volumes

For all Game of Thrones or Song of Ice and Fire fans this is the set to get. First of all great service from Amazon, it came a day earlier then expected, which was fantastic. The story, itself, is brilliant; there are a tone of great characters that develop superbly in a gigantic, fantasy medieval world called Westeros, ( a very authentic map of Westeros is actually included in this set if you buy it in papaerback and it's easily nice enough to be framed if you're a massive fan) the story lines are very exciting and there is always a good fear for the characters as Martin doesn't mind killing them.

However if you are new to the series I'd recommend you pick up the first in the series, A Game of Thrones, or watch some of the TV show before buying this to see if the series is definitely to your taste. A lot of people complained that there is too much sex, swearing, detail and that their favorite characters were killed off. If you don't like any of that in the your fiction then I wouldn't suggest the series to you. If, however, you love that sort of stuff in your fiction, like me, then I urge you to go read A Game of Thrones right now or try and catch the TV show.

The books themselves are a lot better quality then the previous paperbacks. Before I bought this set I already owned all of the books but they were very used, small fat things with tiny print and the hardback of the fifth title was very, very heavy and after a while a nuisance to hold, if you have kindle those issues are not a problem but a lot of people have been annoyed with the kindle edition so I wouldn't recommend that unless the kindle edition is significantly cheaper. These paperbacks are taller, slimmer and the print is easier on the eye then older editions.

Also the fact that the newest book in the saga, A Dance with Dragons, is split into two parts; Dreams and Dust and After the Feast is an advantage for the majority of Ice and Fire fans that didn't like A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons as much as the first three. The latest two books in the series were not as well liked because Martin put half the characters in the fourth book and the other half in the fifth book and they both carried on directly after the third book in the series. The advantage about the fifth book being split is that you can read book 4 and 5 part 1 together so you won't go to long without half the characters and come Part 2 After the Feast all the characters are back together in the same book again.

Lastly some readers were irritated at the the box, mines okay, but it's just okay, nothing special. Many faults were that some boxes had split and a few customers experienced difficulty putting the books back into the box, honestly I wouldn't worry about it too much because Martin plans to release at least two more books in this series so the box isn't vital. On the whole, though, this set is outstanding, I would definitely recommend this box set to you if you're a fan of the books and/or the TV show unless you can get them cheaper separately and aren't worried about the map. Thank you for reading my review, hope it was helpful.