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This novel is available for £2.99 with the Times newspaper this week, it is a Gripping, Suspenseful crime novel Featuring a thirteen year-old lad named Johnny Merrimon who had the perfect life: happy parents and a twin sister that meant the world to him. Until she goes missing, stolen off the side of a lonely street with only one witness to the crime.

His family are shattered by the event and his sister is presumed dead. So Johnny risks everything to find out the truth, which leads him to the dark side of his hometown in a last, desperate search for her. And he finds a city with an underbelly far blacker than anyone could’ve imagined

So he seeks the help of a Detective named Clyde Hunt, who has devoted an entire year to Alyssa’s case, and it shows: he is haunted and sleepless, he’s lost his wife and put his shield at risk. But he can’t put the case behind him – he won’t – and when another girl goes missing, the failures of the past year harden into iron determination. Refusing to lose another child, Hunt knows he has to break the rules to find out the truth & solve the case; and maybe, the missing girl will also lead him to Alyssa…

This week the Times is offering A Reliable Wife by Rober Goolrick for half-price with the paper. The Novel is a gothic tale of smoldering desire and is a real bodice ripper at times, which takes place in 1907 during a Wisconsin winter, and features a 58-year-old widower named Ralph Truitt, who is the wealthiest man in town, but inside he’s burning with the unsated desire of 20 solitary years. So he requisitions a Mail-Order Bride named Catherine through a classified ad, for practical not romantic reasons, however Ralph isn’t entirely what he seems.

When his bride Catherine finally does arrive, looking prim and dour, she isn’t what she appears to be, either – She threw her extravagant party dresses out the train window a few miles from town, and she has hidden jewels in the hem of her black wool dress. She’s not even the woman in the photo she sent Ralph during their summer of tentative correspondence. And she’s carrying a bottle of arsenic and a long and complicated scheme….

I am looking forward to reading We Are all Made of Glue, it sounds really entertaining. So I also thought I would eventually get two more Marina Lewycka novels, in due course, and see if I enjoy those too. Novels I’ve got my eye on are

Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka
This is a tender and hilarious novel about a crew of migrant workers from three continents who are forced to flee their English strawberry field for a journey across England in pursuit of their various dreams of a better future. They hail variously from Eastern Europe, China, and Africa and have come here to harvest Strawberries for delivery to British supermarkets, and end up living in two small trailer homes, a men’s trailer and a woman’s trailer. They are all seeking a better life (and in their different ways they are also, of course, looking for love) and they’ve come to England, some legally, some illegally, to find it.

Supervising (some would say exploiting) them is Farmer Leaping, a red-faced Englishman who treats everyone equally except for the Polish woman named Yola, the boss of the crew, who favours him with her charms in exchange “for something a little extra on the side” Unfortunately Farmer Leaping’s wife finds out about this little “arrangement” and does what any woman would do in this situation: She runs him down in her red sports car.

By the time the police arrive the migrant workers have piled into one of the trailer homes and hightailed it, thus setting off one of the most enchanting, merry, and moving journeys across England. Along the way, the workers’ ideals are shattered by the ignominious, brutal, and sometimes dangerous realities of life, some give up and go back home, and some even find love

A Short history of tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Hilarious novel about two Ukrainian sisters, Nadezhda and Vera, who are raised in England by their refugee parents, and have as little to do with each other as possible, until a bosomy young synthetic blonde from the Ukraine named Valentina, enters their ageing father’s life, intent on seeing that he leaves this world with as little money as possible, unless Nadazhda and Vera can stop her.

Unfortunately separating their addled and annoyingly lecherous dad from his new love is no easy task because Valentina is a ruthless pro, who causes chaos & soon turns the family house upside down. Meanwhile their Father, who is oblivious to everything that is going on, carries on with the great work of his dotage, a grand history of the tractor.

The latest entertaining novel by Marina Lewycka “We Are All Made of Glue” is available with The Times Newspaper this week & having read loads of positive reviews, I thought I would get it – I could do with something funny to cheer me up.

It is the story of a very unlikely friendship between a woman named Georgie, whose husband has walked out; and whose sixteen-year-old son is busy surfing born-again websites, and Mrs Shapiro, an eccentric old Jewish emigre neighbour with an eye for a bargain and a fondness for matchmaking, Although they mistrust each other at first, a firm friendship is formed over the reduced-price shelf at the supermarket.

Then when Mrs Shapiro is admitted to hospital Georgie is surprisingly named as her next of kin. But sorting out Mrs Shapiro’s semi-derelict mansion in Highbury, is no easy job, what with seven cats, all with agendas of their own, a handyman who turns out to be not what he seems and two assistants who seem to be doing more breaking than fixing. Matters are complicated further when two slimy estate agents (one with a charming penchant for bondage) start competing to trick Mrs Shapiro into selling her rickety old house, and a social worker tries to commit her to a nursing home…

Tim Rob Smith’s latest novel is available for £2.99 with the Times Newspaper this week. Set three years after the events in his last novel CHILD 44, The Secret Speech again features Leo Demidov, who now heads a secret homicide department with his friend, Timur Nesterov. Although he and his wife Raisa live in a smart apartment with their adopted daughters Elena and Zoya, , Zoya cannot forgive Leo for his part in the death of her parents and her hatred is poisoning the family.

When the new premier, Kruschev, orders the publication of a speech that he made criticising the actions of the government under Stalin, it triggers a series of murders – the victims are all people who participated in Stalin’s repression of the innocent. The deaths force Leo to confront his first arrest as an MGB agent, where he infiltrated and betrayed an Orthodox priest, Lazar. Soon Leo’s past will put him and his family in danger as a figure from Leo’s past seeks revenge, sending him on a dangerous mission to save his family….

To coincide with the release of the sixth Harry Potter film “The Half-Blood Prince” on DVD a newspaper recently gave away a free DVD called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Instead of getting the freebee DVD I managed to get The Half Blood Prince, which was offered at a special introductory price when it first came out, and being a huge fan, I thought it would be a great opportunity to watch all six DVDs in one go (What a fantastic few days it was too

Harry Potter & the Philosophers Stone
A young lad named Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) discovers that he is a wizard and enrols at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, where he meets Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson). The three of them are thrust into an adventure when they discover a sinister plot by the evil wizard Voldemort to steal the Philosophers Stone and make himself immortal

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets
Harry starts his second year, in great danger and gets dire warnings not to return to Hogwarts or else, he then learns that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened in sinister circumstances, and when Hermione is found petrified & Ron’s young sister Ginny goes missing, this prompts Harry to take action.

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Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry returns to Hogwarts for his third year, and learns that a vicious criminal named Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from the wizards prison of Azkaban and is coming to Hogwarts, intent on clobbering Harry. However he eventually finds out the truth about Sirius & learns about the dubious circumstances of his imprisonment.

To coincide with the release of the sixth Harry Potter film “The Half-Blood Prince” on DVD a newspaper recently gave away a free DVD called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Instead of getting the freebee DVD I managed to get The Half Blood Prince at a special introductory price when it first came out, and being a huge fan, I thought it would be a great opportunity to watch all six DVDs in one go (What a fantastic few days it was too

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
Harry, Hermione & Ron’s family go to watch the exciting final of the Quidditch World Cup, unfortunately this is rudely interrupted by an attack by the villainous Voldemort (Ralph Feinnes) and his followers The Death Eaters. Then on return to Hogwarts he learns that the School is also playing host to the prestigious Tri-wizard Tournament, and someone has put Harry’s name forward as a competitor despite him being way too young, so he is forced to risk life and limb taking part.

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
Harry & friends return for their Fifth year, with reports that the dark Lord Voldemort has got his eye on Hogwarts, however despite this threat The Ministry of Magic tries to keep a lid on things & their new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher Delores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) also seems curiously reluctant to acknowledge the danger, so Harry & friends decide to club together in secret and practice their skills just in case Voldemort and the Death Eaters do show up.

Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince
As Harry begins his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, he finds that dark forces are taking over and it is no longer the safe haven it once was. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) wants to prepare him in case he meets Voldemort, (Ralph Feinnes) so he recruits his old friend Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), who may hold crucial information. Meanwhile Harry finds a mysterious book belonging to the mysterious Half Blood Prince and begins to unearth dark secrets about Lord Voldemort’s shadowy past

This wonderfully absorbing and incredibly moving novel was recently offered with a daily newspaper for £2.99.

It concerns two friends named Emma & Dexter who meet on the night of their graduation and before they go their separate ways, they agree to stay in touch with one another. They then meet once a year for the next twenty years to catch up with each others news and see how each others lives are turning out.

A newspaper recently offered Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith for half-price. So seeing as I’m still having to spend plenty of time in bed resting, I decided it would be a great opportunity to get it and read it along with all the other Alexander McCall Smith novels I have got, which are:

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency – By Alexander McCall Smith
Precious Remotswe is Botswana’s finest and only Female Detective, and runs The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. Her methods may not be conventional, but she’s got warmth, wit and canny intuition on her side, not to mention Mr JLB Metekoni, the charming owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors.

All is not well on Zebra Drive, Mma Remotswe has got plenty of work, ranging from thefts to Suspicious Deaths at the Mochudi Hospital, but Mma Makutsi’s forthcoming marriage threatens to destabilise their happy working relationship.

Sensing this, her husband, JLB Metekoni decides to help out a bit and prove himself worthy. So he has a go at a little detective work himself, unfortunately though this doesn’t quite go according to plan