Approach by Stealth

It’s 1942 and a fleet of German mini-submarines are loose in the Mediterranean wreaking havoc on Allied shipping, sinking urgently required supplies destined for Malta and Alexandria and the new invasion beachhead in Algeria, thus jeopardising the squeezing of Rommel out of North Africa.

Awaiting an ETA regarding a large American convoy, they are re-arming and refuelling at their base in Vichy France near the Spanish border.

Can the British commandos en route in motor gunboats reach the port in time to destroy the vessels or will they fall foul from information supplied by a suspected spy at the War Office in London and die like so many Special Operations Executives, agents and resistance fighters in various recent missions?

Perhaps the best chance of success lies with S.O.E.’s secretly arranged mission involving their French agent Pierre Duvalle, seconded to a special boat section of the Royal Marines and transferred by submarine to within striking distance with five experienced and lethally efficient men of that elite force. Three two-man folboat canoes would see them to their target.

But what does the informer in London know? Will Duvalle, who has a very sad and personal reason to see him exposed, find a chink in the spy’s armour?

April the Engineer

Have you ever been told that you can’t? Has someone told you that being a girl means you must only do certain jobs? Well, April is here to show you that with dedication, determination and hard work you can be whatever you want to be!

Follow April as she goes about her day, fixing things along the way. Will she achieve her dream? Will your motto be the same as her’s?

“I am a girl, that’s true,” said she,

“But watch, one day an engineer I’ll be!”

Araminta Malarkey: Lion Tamer Extraordinaire

This is a girl who wears pink silk pyjamas and drinks from a bone china cup. She has every single designer to boot and a butler to wake her up. Do not be mistaken, dear reader, that this is a tale of a well-behaved girl, who keeps every toe in line. In fact, quite the opposite you will find, during the tale I had in mind. You see when we encounter a spirit of fire, especially in this day and age, we must all be willing to put judgement aside and prepare to be amazed.

Araminta Malarkey should have been happy with her life, a beautiful house, beautiful things, and adoring parents. Alas, she wants more, to be exact she wishes above all else to become a lion. This story follows Araminta as she behaves very badly, runs away from home, and joins the circus in a bid to become what she has always dreamt of.

Aristotle the Axolotl

Aristotle is an axolotl who lives in a bowl in Sweetie’s bathroom.

He wishes he could climb out of his bowl; he wishes he had a friend and he wishes he had teeth.

Find out what happens when some of these wishes come true!

Ark and Fliss

Felicity and Armand met in France in their teenage years. They bonded in friendship and fell in love after their first few years as students. Ark, as he was known, came from a complicated family background but had the courage to make his own decisions to change his university studies. They began their married life in London but soon moved to Surrey where Ark could follow his career in Art. Fliss enjoyed teaching French. They had to face some real sadness but they worked at making a life together and travelled to both Germany and Romania making lifelong relationships, before settling in Surrey to work through their spiritual life and their loving contacts with their extended family.

Armenians of Iraq

Armenians are one of the ethnic components of the Iraqi social spectrum. Nothing was known about Armenians of Iraq except as Christians or as migrants from Armenia originally. It is well known that the Armenians of Iraq are generally keen to preserve their Armenian ethnic and cultural entity and are usually peaceful and far from being involved in political conflicts and polarization. However, some people might imagine them living in the shadows or margins of Iraqi life, especially since there is a near-total absence of studies on Iraqi Armenians in the different fields of humanities and social sciences.

This gives us an impression of their conservatism and closeness, but this dissipates as soon as the researcher goes to investigate them.

This leaves us with a number of questions about the existence of Armenian people in Iraq. What is their relationship with the mother country, Armenia? What are the demographic characteristics of their population in Arabic countries? What are the social and cultural characteristics of their lifestyle in Iraq, including marriage customs? What were their roles in the development of Iraqi public life if they existed in Iraq? Do they have a conflict of social identity? All these queries are our current research concerns through which to introduce Iraqi Armenians to the reader and interested parties.                                    

Arnold & The Tennis Ball Emergency

One morning, the ever-vivacious Arnold wakes up to an unsettling silence. Home alone, he discovers that his treasured toy is missing. Despite combing every corner, nook, and cranny, it’s nowhere to be found. It’s not just any dilemma; it’s a full-blown tennis ball emergency! Dive into Arnold’s playful adventure as he embarks on a spirited quest to reclaim his beloved plaything. Will he find it? Join the chase and find out!

Art the Alien

Have you ever wondered how strange Earth would seem to a visitor from another planet?

How would everyday objects appear?

Perhaps the toys in your bedroom would be confusing, or even frightening.

Art the Alien is a tiny traveller from outer space.

Join him on his adventures as he explores the Earth’s surface for the very first time.

Art, Design, Craft, Beauty and All Those Things…

Responding to many recent calls for redress and restitution, Richardson summarises the historical and current situation and attributes its problematics to the fact that theorists and historians have taken the concept art as a generic that includes both design and craft – which are actually and validly distinguishable from art by application of the concept function/al ­– or else ignored the two entirely. Considering the concept function/al, he maintains, calls into question the view that the three may be sub-classes of the one class: whereas in a work of art, typically there is a resolution of the tension between form and content, in works of design and craft the resolution is between form and function. How this recognition can clarify the issue informs the entire book.

The book’s other major thesis is the realisation that aesthetic values are inherently human and that, therefore, they apply not only to art but to life in general. Far from being frivolous or a mere ‘emotion’, the aesthetic is a sense of equivalent psychic status to sight and hearing ­and, like them, is employed at almost every moment of our daily lives – which fact grounds art, design and craft deeply in human life. This is reflected in the universal use of the human form (including the exhibition of sexual characteristics) in art.

The eternal conflict between making art and making a living from making art is examined and contrasted to the rarely-recognised, but positive, role of design in planning and industry.

Richardson also critiques common theories of representation and composition, including ‘creativity’, Albertian perspective and scientific and geometric theories of beauty and composition; also the relevance of the camera and the computer in the field.

As Beautiful as a Dove

When Butterfly sees how beautifully Dove and Peregrine Falcon can fly, she longs to fly just like them, but this will prove to be a very hard task. Will Butterfly ever find true beauty in the way she flies? Read on to find out in this wonderfully illustrated book for children.

As I Rhymember It!

This little volume of poems and short stories is an absolute gem. It is the first time these writers have cooperated on a work published in the UK; they are already both published in Europe.

The mix of verse and stories makes it easy for the reader to pause and reflect, when required. The theme is “relationships” remembered and “Rhymembered” with plenty of poetic licence. Relationships in all their forms, noble, spiritual, sensual, and sexual. The wanting, the chasing, the capture, the high-octane climaxes, and all that follows. Sadly, sometimes abject failure and painful defeat.

All human emotion is here, raw, and unexpurgated. The twist is the way the authors decide to treat their subject. Doom and gloom play no part in this work. It’s light, wry, and lively throughout. As I Rhymember It! uses wit to smooth and sooth the many emotional extremes.

But this is no bedroom expose. The “action” takes place in a variety of settings as diverse as, a golf club AGM, a travelling Victorian circus big top, a suburban restaurant, and a European shopping Mall.

For an ever-changing backdrop, to the ever-changing world of human relationships, look no further than, As I Rhymember It! by Finbar Hanaghan, from the original ideas of Barry Thomas Harris.

Assorted Musings

If you enjoy a varied reading covering a variety of topics, some contemporary and some older, then this could well appeal to you. It is far removed from traditional romantic poetry. Nevertheless, it provides thought provoking material. There is something for everyone in this eclectic potpourri of reflective musings. Enjoy it at your leisure!