My books.

My books.

Now we all know what kind of year it's been for all of us because we've all experienced its toughness, its difficulties, its challenges and, above all its demands on both our emotions and all of our resources. The global pandemic has quite literally taken every piece of mental and sometimes physical energy out of us all but we keep bouncing back and we will remain defiant.

So here's the deal. This is my chance to tell you once again about my books, my modest contribution to the fiercely competitive world of publishing and literature. Of course this is brazen self-promotion off the scale but you may like to take time out to feast your eyes on some of my cherished pieces of literary work. They may not be your cup of tea because your instinct is to turn to the more high profile likes of Lee Child, James Patterson, Dan Brown or David Baldacci for your further reading pleasure and delectation and of course that is your right but perhaps you'd like to read something different.

I wrote No Joe Bloggs six years ago now but it remains one of my favourite books of the four I've written so far. No Joe Bloggs is available at Amazon, Waterstones online, Foyles online and Barnes and Noble online. It follows my life journey, the triumphs and disasters, the good times and the setbacks, the traumas and the celebrations, the ups and downs, the twists and turns and the moment when it all came right for me. Of course there were tears, trials and tribulations, the victories and the inevitable defeats but we all experience those.

No Joe Bloggs is my funny, feelgood, moving, nostalgic and extremely lyrical account of where it all started for me, a story about my grandparents, parents and vividly descriptive homages to London, the West End, East End and the world. I'm a grandson of a Holocaust survivor and I make a reference to that horrifically traumatic period for my grandparents and mum with a poignant page or two about what might have happened.

I also tell you about my favourite music, bands and singers from the late 1960s and 1970s, amusing pen portraits of football teams from the 1970s such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton, Ipswich Town, Wolves, Leeds United, Chelsea and Spurs, favourite TV programmes from the 1970s, loads of pop culture from the both the 1960s and 70s. There's also an affectionate tribute to my late and wonderful dad and a totally fictitious but I think funny story about his visit to Las Vegas where he fulfills his life long ambition to mix with his Hollywood heroes Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett. Towards the end I once again to refer to my childhood home in Ilford, Essex with all the characters and places that made and continues to be special for me.

So if nostalgia is something you're looking for in a book and wistful recollections of the past are the themes you crave to read about in a book then No Joe Bloggs is definitely the book for you. It is my affectionate gratitude for everything that is beautiful and the prose will make you laugh and smile in equal measure.

Then there's Joe's Jolly Japes also on sale at the above online bookselling platforms. Joe's Jolly Japes is different in as much as this is my personal take on social commentary, an acknowledgement of all those great British cultural institutions such as the Chelsea Flower Show, the Henley Regatta, Polo on the playing fields of England and the England football team's ups and downs, triumphs and disasters in recent years, the players and managers. I talk about my favourite sporting personalities from the 1970s, the heroes and villains, the ones who made us laugh and smile.

Finally there's my first children's book Ollie and His Friends, now available at Lulu.com. Ollie and His Friends is all about a group of musical instruments who go out for the day with their family to a local village fete where they get up to all kinds of mischief and fun.

So there you are everybody, a brief summary of my books. Taken as a whole I have to tell you that I'm enormously proud of these books because they all come from my heart and maybe that's the place where all books should derive. They say we've all got a book in us but that I leave you to decide. Meanwhile if you fancy sitting down for some quiet moments of reflection and prose, put the kettle on and cast your eyes over No Joe Bloggs, Joe's Jolly Japes or Ollie and His Friends. You won't regret it.