Book Of The Month:
Walking With Witches
Lynn Huggins-Cooper, Tyne Bridge Publishing, £5.99

Lynn Huggins-Cooper is a local author (living in Durham) who has published several books for children, and when she read a newspaper article about the bones of witches being uncovered in St Andrew’s Church in Newcastle, she thought that it would make a captivating story for children. She was entirely correct on that point for this is a rollicking read and children around the 9-13 age group will lap it up. It concerns two teenage girls, Eleanor and Izzy, who come across a mysterious ancient crystal that links them up with the spirit of another Ellenor (two ‘l’s), a young women who was hanged for witchcraft in Newcastle. As is the wont with these crystals however, it also awakens an evil shape shifter who is hell-bent on nabbing Ellenor’s power. A gripping tale, younger readers will be hooked from the off and as an extra point of interest, many locations in the book are real spots in and around Newcastle (Eldon Square, Seven Stories, the Lit and Phil Library, The Sage Gateshead and the Castle Keep). GM

Marsden Bay
James Kirkup, Red Squirrel Press, £6.99

James Kirkup is a poet and translator who was born In South Shields in 1918, and now lives in Andorra. He has published several dozen poetry collections and this latest collection is full of jarring vitality and teems with life (and death). In ‘A Last Wish’ he states: “I often wanted to/ cut somebody’s head of/ so as to hear the sound/ of blood streaming/ from the jugular” while in ‘Beijing Flu’, “I lie night after night/ listening for the next spasm-/ how musical the strings of phlegm/ the keyboards of cataarh!” We also get poignant little vignettes. ‘In Memory of Yamaguchi Takeyoshi’ concerns a librarian (now deceased); ‘For A Friend Who Died Of AIDS’ is self explanatory; and the brilliant final poem, ‘Final Scores’ is about the poet’s father, who he never really got to know and whose memory is constantly evoked by the weekly radio readings of football scores. (The filling in of football coupons was one of the only things that they ever did together). This is a superbly readable collection hanging meat on the bones of the passing of time. DP

Dress Like A Star: For Every Woman Who Wants To Look Her Best
Annebelle van Tongeren, Aurum Press, £9.99

Forget plastic surgery, lipo, botox or any other ‘look great now’ quick fixes; for the secret to looking good is quite simply dressing to flatter by identifying your shape, accentuating your killer feature and recognising your worst enemy areas and how to disguise them. Super Aussie stylist to the stars, Annebelle van Tongeren turns fashion agony aunt as she lifts the lid on how to look fabulous simply by accentuating what god gave you in this insightful inspirational read that is a book you will keep dipping into for life. Nothing makes a woman feel more glamorous, than the knowledge they look hot to trot and as the credit crunch continues to bite, knowing what will make you look and feel like a sexy siren means precious pounds will be well spent. Annebelle applies this practical common sense golden rule to celebrities, high-flying power women and us mere mortals alike: just because trends fit you it does not mean you can wear them. Put down that fur gilet that makes you look like a huntsman and pick us this practical excellent guide. It’s a purchase you will never regret. JP

Parallel Paths
Margaret Swindell, MS Publications, £6.99

The cover of this novel is taken from a series of prints by the author entitled: “Cloned in the Twenties and Thirties”. It depicts a domestic scene with one of the key images being that of two twins. The author herself was a twin and through this series of lithographs, and now this fine novel, she has drawn on her upbringing to explore various themes. In the first part of the novel we’re introduced to Cath and Cora, two twins growing up in a Yorkshire woollen town, who are placed into a foster home when just six months old (due to their mother having a breakdown), but eventually return to grow up with a keen interest in art. This leads on to both of them attending art school during the war years before more family strife intrudes upon their lives once again. This is not a particularly long novel (170 pages or so), but the author manages to give us little snapshots of the lives of the twins as they grow up in particularly difficult circumstances and how things turn out for them. Death, illness, love and a desire of artist endeavour run throughout the book and you may be interested to know that a large part of it is set in Newcastle and Hexham. GM

Panto
Slim Palmer, Alberts Press, £7.99

This novel kicks off with several pages of script from the panto Aladdin and we’re soon in the land of slapstick and groan-inducing gags. However, the thrust of the tale isn’t about what occurs onstage, but instead focuses on what is happening with the backstage shenanigans which are far more dramatic, especially in this case, what with all the ghosts and the threat of there being something evil on the roof… The protagonist is Rob Crowther who was once a doyen of the backstage area, but is now more content to while away his hours in Gran Canaria downing cans of Dorada and smoking Alvaro Elegantes. He takes a phone call while on holiday there with the promise of some work back in a Newcastle theatre and on return he’s soon cast into an arena of intrigue. Slim Palmer is a local author and has worked extensively in the theatre himself and this fact is very evident in this page-turner of a novel in which you really get a feel for what goes on behind the scenes. Not a long book, this is the perfect novel to be devoured in one sitting with maybe a cup of hot chocolate for company. GM

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