The latest edition of The Thursday Book Club was broadcast on 16th May2024 at 2pm on Phonic FM. Joining host Jonathan Posner was Cathie Hartigan and Keith Rossiter. Click the names to find out more about them, and use the audio bar below to listen to the full show.
Send your review of Fifty Minutes to jo******@jo******************.com by 20th June
NEWS
In the News section, we announced lots of books by local authors:
Carla Jenkins’ debut novel, Fifty Minutes, will be published by Hachette as one of their key titles in May 2024, with her second novel due for publication the year after.
Here’s the description:
Therapy was meant to solve her problems, not make them worse…
Smart twenty-year-old Dani is desperate to overcome her eating disorder, leave her dead-end job and return to her hard-won place at university. Using her limited earnings, she decides to start seeing a psychotherapist.
Richard Goode is educated, sophisticated and worldly – everything Dani aspires to be. As he intuitively unpicks her self-loathing, Dani assumes the fantasies she’s developing about him live only in her head. That is, until things take a shocking turn…
Descending into a maelstrom of twisted desire, manipulation and mistrust, the power struggle between Dani and Richard escalates until she’s forced to make a decision that might finally give her the freedom she deserves.
Billed as a ‘thrilling, page-turning debut novel perfect for Summer’, Fifty Minutes is out today!
South Hams – East Prawle to Bantham – A Swim, Walk & History Guide by Simon Tozer came out on April 19th. This is Simon’s personal guide to the South Hams Coastline between East Prawle and Bantham. The guide gives you more information on the area; the history, the legends, the swims, the walks and even a poem for each.
Swim – Where are the best places to swim? What are the currents like? How busy does it get? Is the water likely to be polluted?
Walk – how do I get there? Is there a good walk I can enjoy and what are the details?
History – Read about ancient hillforts, smugglers, shipwrecks, WWII outposts and how the area became popular with tourists.
More information about Simon and his books is at devonauthor.co.uk.
Talking of walking in the South west, It’s no Danube: Walking the Tamara Coast to Coast Way by Cheryl Dummer has just been published. It recounts the tales and trials of a seven day through-hike of the eighty seven mile Tamara Coast to Coast Way, as the river Tamar weaves in and out of Devon and Cornwall. With humour, poignancy, and honesty, the author follows both the meanders of the Tamar, from its estuary to its source … and the wanderings of her own mind.
Murder on the French Riviera by Helena Dixon comes out on 28th This is book 16 of the Miss Underhay Mysteries – so if you’re a fan of a cozy murder mystery beneath the palm trees, this is definitely one to check out.
Late spring, 1936. As Kitty Underhay steps onto the sun-drenched station platform in Nice, on orders from Whitehall to track down a missing man, she hopes there will still be time to lie by the pool, preferably with a cocktail in hand. But when she and her husband Matt take a brief evening stroll, instead of finding a perfect croissant, they stumble across a body…
Jo’s Hidden Secret by Emma-Louise James came out on April 26th. This is a true life story about Jo, who as a seven year-old, was racing after her older sister when she fell and cracked her head on a railway sleeper. From that moment on, her world and the world of all those around her changed. The fall had caused her to develop epilepsy.
Jo tells us her story – how she coped as a child and how it has affected her as an adult. Jo’s Hidden Secret is essential reading for anyone who wants to go deeper in trying to understand what it is like for someone with such a multiplicity of problems. Emma-Louise has written this not only as a way to cope herself, but to bring hope to other people going through similar traumas. Helping others and winning their appreciation is her best medicine. She has found a way though the darkness and she wants others to find it too.
Author Karen Barrett has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help publish her illustrated children’s book, The Adventurous Panda Bear Visits Asia. This is a children’s soft-learning board book about a brave and curious panda bear who visits Asia to learn about tigers, rhinos, orangutans, slow lorises, red pandas, and snub-nosed monkeys. The Adventurous Panda Bear was created as a symbol of curiosity, courage, and kindness, to encourage; a love of learning, trying new things, and a future in which we live in harmony with nature. It was inspired by Karen’s many cosy nights watching David Attenborough documentaries with her children. Her dream is that this book and its future collection will inspire, educate, and empower the next generation of David Attenboroughs!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/karen-barrett/the-adventurous-panda-bear-visits-asia
The Girl With The Imagination Of Wizards by Gary Miles came out last month. Aimed at 14-18 year-olds, this is a story about the imagination, where dream has become entangled with reality.
The Old Tin Can by Bryan J Mason comes out on May 30th. It is the first in a new black comedy crime series based in Belfast during the Troubles. The cover says, ‘Not all murders are political. Some are personal.’ You can pre-order on Amazon.
Festival News
Ilminster Literary Festival – May 30 to June 6;
Clevedon LitFest – June 5 to 9;
Falmouth Fringe Book Festival – Oct 18 to 20;
Bridport Literary Festival – Nov 3 to 9.
