Cliff

Why Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks Could Get Your Child Reading

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One of the most successful run of children’s books in the 1980s were the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series. Heavily influenced by the Dungeons & Dragons craze at the time, these activity ‘novels’ allowed the reader to shape their own destiny and navigate their way through a story making decisions along the way (and usually fighting monsters!). Perfect for reluctant readers, this hybrid style of book and game was very fashionable and spawned many imitators. Like most crazes though, they gradually … Read more

Annette’s Devon Bookshelf

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Annette Shaw is a freelance journalist with 30 years of experience, and has a regular column in Devon Life, sharing her pick of brilliant books with Devon connections. With her reputation for championing books and authors around the county, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to showcase her reviews here. Breakpoint by T. Orr Munro Set in Devon. Tick. Author lives on site so to speak. Tick. Unsettlingly creepy. Most definitely. And the cover has that air of seaside scenic allure … Read more

Review: The Light Thieves

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  Clever, quirky and hugely imaginative, discover the new eco-adventure series from the bestselling author of A Place Called Perfect. The earth has shifted on its axis, a mysterious dark mark has appeared on the sun and the whole world is in peril. But billionaire tech genius Howard Hansom has a plan and it seems the world is happy to put their trust in him. When Grian’s sister goes missing, he’s convinced she has run off to Hansom’s new city … Read more

Kev’s Shelf Obsession: Anne Enright

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Kev McCready is a writer, born in Liverpool but now living in Devon. Always with his nose in a book and a cuppa brewing. A fanatical reader since the age of five, Kev has a collection of bookmarks as esoteric as his bookshelves… I met Anne Enright at a book signing in Liverpool. She’s all business, polite but friendly. There is also that impish, playful side to her, smiling wryly as she signed my book that my girlfriend at the … Read more

Review: How To Catch A Rainbow

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  Freya loves rainbows. She loves their bright colours and their curvy shape. More than anything, she wishes she has one of her very own. One that she can keep forever. So she decides to become a Rainbow Hunter! Armed with a net and a rucksack full of rainbow hunting kit she sets off to catch a rainbow, but there are no rainbows to be found. Undeterred, Freya decides to make her own, collecting items in every colour of the … Read more

Six Brilliant Picture Books for Ages 3-7

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Our intrepid volunteer Nicola highlights some fun and interesting picture books that will appeal to both young children and their parents! With 10,000 new children’s books published each year, it can feel overwhelming knowing where to start when you want to buy new books for your children or school. Understandably, people often return to old favourites and well-known names. At The Bookery, we are always here to help with this dilemma and this month we have selected six of the … Read more

Review: Trust

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  An impressive, sweeping Great-Depression-era novel which uncovers the truth behind a reclusive millionaire. Secretive Wall Street tycoon Andrew Bevel is the subject of much innuendo and gossip, as well as suspicion. Between the bare facts and the scandal written about him lies a deeper, and more complex truth…which will be revealed by the end of the novel. Trust is ingeniously split into four sections – a sensationalised novel of Bevel’s life, followed by his own Autobiography, followed by an … Read more

Annette’s Devon Bookshelf

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Annette Shaw is a freelance journalist with 30 years of experience, and has a regular column in Devon Life, sharing her pick of brilliant books with Devon connections. With her reputation for championing books and authors around the county, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to showcase her reviews here. Deception by Lesley Pearse Her 30th novel. Now that’s an achievement! As a global bestselling author, there’s never any doubt that Lesley’s books will challenge, engage and feel totally satisfying to … Read more

Review: Shrines Of Gaiety

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  Its 1926 and, while London recovers from WW1, there are cracks in the Coker family empire – a string of glamorous but illicit nightclubs in Soho – built by the wily and resourceful Nellie Coker, a character inspired by the obituary of real-life club maven Kate Meyrick. Shrewd and ruthless, Nellie is ambitious with a flair for business. She wants the best education for her six children, funded by her extremely lucrative trading activities. But the world Nellie exists … Read more

Review: The Legend Of Luther Arkwright

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  After a gap of 21 years, swashbuckling anti-hero Luther Arkwright makes a spectacular return for more warped adventures in the multiverse. Luther Arkwright travels through parallel dimensions of earth that are both familiar and startlingly different, skipping between utopian and dystopian in the blink of an eye. When humanity is threatened with mass destruction from an evolved threat, it is up to him to use strength and guile to overcome staggering odds and save the day. Superstar writer and … Read more