All you need to know about books at www.booksmonthly.co.uk                                                     Issue 4 July 2008

CARINA COOPER: AFTER WORK COOK ~ After Work Cook offers great food -- fast. Packed with vibrant, fresh, and most definitely quick meals, this is the perfect recipe for busy, modern life. After Work Cook is a fantastic collection of speedy recipes from food writer Carina Cooper. Understanding exactly the need for easy but tasty food in the hectic world of today, Carina offers varied and delicious meals which are thankfully hassle-free. Time-poor cooks are sure to find food for any occasion, whether they want to entertain friends with the least fuss possible, or are shattered and need to get a meal on the table as quickly as possible at the end of the day. All recipes include cooking and prep times. Chapters include: / Ultra-fast / Feeling virtuous / Veggie / Indulge / Friends Coming Round / It's the Weekend After Work Cook finally offers inspiring answers to the dreaded daily question, 'What shall we eat tonight?"

COOL IRISH NAMES FOR BABIES ~ A must-have guide for parents-to-be everywhere. Whether you're Irish, of Irish heritage or you simply love Celtic-inspired names, this book is packed full of the most popular, unusual and creative names around. By the best-selling authors of Cool Names for Babies and Brilliant Book of Baby Names, this collection takes you beyond the straightforward listings of other books and gives opinion on what's hot and what's not in the world of Irish baby names. The information given really helps parents to make the right choices and includes loads of original features -- pronunciation guides; which names are going up and which down in popularity; which are unisex, which are good as middle but not first names; and which should really be avoided at all costs. Packed full of creative lists such as Names that are Classic But Not Boring, Place Names, Names from Literature, Spiritual Names and Names of Irish Heroes and Heroines this is every new parent's one-stop guide to selecting the coolest Irish name for their baby.

THERE'S A HIPPO IN MY CISTERN ~ The hilarious true-life tale of one man's journey from self-confessed planet-killing lad to eco-friendly, green-crusader Dad set against the backdrop of Cool Britannia, Blair's Britain and the rise of the green movement. Back in the nineties, Loaded journalist, Pete May was your normal twenty-something male: a football mad, beer guzzling, Dr Who watching lad's lad, quite happy surrounding himself with countless pizza boxes, beer cans and other environmentally unfriendly consumer items. Recycling to Pete was a debate about whether he should turn his socks inside out and reuse them. Then one day, out of nowhere, along came eco bunny Nicola -- a greener than green environmental activist. Could two people so different really fall for each other? Would Pete ever change his ways and sign up to the green lifestyle of composting loos, freezing cold houses, multiple jumper wearing, chicken rearing, recycling, cycling, energy saving and general self-sufficiency? This is the charming and funny true-life tale of one man's struggle to grapple with the good life, go green and get the girl.

COLLINS FOLD-OUT ATLAS OF BRITAIN ~ A revolutionary new road atlas of Britain with large pages folded into a more portable sized product. The atlas has detailed road maps, a selection of urban maps of major cities and a wide range of town centre plans. A brand new style of atlas for 2009 - it's bigger on the inside than the outside - a bit like Dr Who's Tardis. The atlas is divided into clear, easy to use colour coded sections to help you find the scale best suited to your requirements. The neat, easy to handle, portable format is ideal for use in the car and easy to store on the bookshelf. Despite the compact size of the atlas each mapping page folds out to reveal a large area of mapping at a scale of 3.2 miles to 1 inch. The handy spiral binding means that the atlas lies flat and can be folded back on itself for ease of use. The atlas includes: / Route planning section including maps for long distance route planning, motorway services information and a handy distance calculator chart. / Easy to use, clear road maps at a scale of 3.2 miles to 1 inch (1:200,000) for England, Wales and Southern Scotland and 5 miles (1:316,800) in Northern Scotland. 20 urban area approach maps at 1 mile to 1 inch which clearly show the best routes through and into the busiest built-up-areas. o 64 street maps focussed on town centres showing places of interest, car park locations and one-way streets. o Fully updated fixed speed camera sites with the roads covered by average-speed cameras clearly highlighted. o Locations of alternative fuel sites (LPG, Biodiesel, Bioethanol, Natural Gas and Electricty recharging points) as supplied by the Energy Saving Trust. o Map showing the risk rating of Britain's major roads, courtesy of the Road Safety Foundation. o World Heritage Sites located with contact details and brief descriptions. o Over 30 categories of places of interest including castles, theme parks, sports venues, universities, mountain bike trails and surfing beaches. o The top 1000 most visited places of interest are indexed with full postcodes to aid integration with satnav systems. An ideal purchase for those who want a handy compact sized atlas without compromising on the map detail.

NIGEL REES: A MAN ABOUT A DOG ~ 'Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne.'(Quentin Crisp). In his latest book, Nigel Rees, one of Britain's foremost commentators on English, has collected and explained 2467 examples of verbal perfume. Fascinating, lively and endless fun, 'A Man About A Dog' is a must for anyone captivated by language and our ability to abuse it. Examples include: / 'Discussing Ugandan affairs' / 'Ambulance chaser' / 'Hygienically challenged' Nigel Rees is one of the best-known language writers and presenters in the UK. His 'Quote...Unquote' radio programme has been running for nearly thirty years.

HAZEL SOAN'S AFRICAN WATERCOLOURS ~ Popular TV artist and teacher Hazel Soan is well known for her stunning watercolours of Africa. This superbly illustrated guide is both a safari through her beloved southern Africa and an instructional journey through a range of subjects, showing different ways to see and paint them. Aimed at the more practised painter, Hazel Soan's African Watercolours is an ideal book for the reader looking to add adventure to their painting. Focusing on the popular medium of watercolour, Hazel travels through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, getting to know her destinations by painting them. As the journey unfolds, she presents a series of exciting painting projects.The contents include: Introduction: A Tale of Two Journeys / Dramatic Seascapes: The Cape Peninsula Creating the third dimension / The Desert in Flower: Namaqualand Vibrant colour / Red Dunes, Cool Mists: The Namib Desert The strength of simplicity / Desolate Coastline: The Skeleton Coast Conveying an atmosphere / Heat and Dust: Etosha The suggestion of movement / Rivers of Life: The Chobe River Deep darks and reflections / The Lake of Drowned Trees: Lake Kariba Exploring shape and line / Kingdom of the Cats: The Kalahari Desert Responding to the subject / The Riches of Emptiness: The Karoo Tapestries of texture / Heartbeat of Africa: The People of the South Breathing life into paintings Both a stunning collection of watercolours and an invaluable source of expert instruction, Hazel Soan's African Watercolours will inspire readers, wherever they paint.

NEED TO KNOW ISLAM ~ Understand the religion behind the headlines. Do you want to understand the world's fastest-growing religion? Are you interested in knowing who Muhammad was and why he had such as lasting influence? This book, which features colour photographs throughout, is the essential overview for everyone who wants to understand what Islam is and what it means today. It includes: / The life of Muhammad / Understanding the Qur'an / Islam in history / What Muslims believe and do / Challenges facing Muslims today The only up-to-date illustrated guide to Islam, this book will be of interest to general readers and those studying Islam as part of Religious Studies GCSE and A-level.

DRAGON'S DEN: FROM PITCH TO PROFIT ~ 4 million people watch the Dragons on TV, now they can read their book. Britain's best loved business brains -- Duncan Bannatyne, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis and Richard Farleigh along with economics expert and presenter Evan Davies -- divulge the secrets of their success in this essential read. Joining them is James Caan, a new addition to the team in Series 5 which aired in September 2007. James is a multi-millionaire businessman and entrepreneur specialising in human resources consultancy and outsourcing. Here, for the first time, you can read his story and learn from his experiences. Plus you will find out exactly what James was looking forward to seeing in the Den. Success, From Pitch to Profit is packed with advice for you, whether you want to perfect your pitching skills, develop an idea or make more money. By looking back at the previous series of Dragons' Den, the Dragons will teach you how to develop an idea to its maximum potential, making you and your business reach new heights of success. They will look at what's become of the contestants who entered the Dragons' Den. Some went away empty handed but have since become very successful.Others won the backing of the Dragons but failed to make their dream come through. The Dragons will use these case studies to show you what should have been done, what should have happened next and how you too could win their backing and become a business success. This paperback edition includes all new case studies from Series Five. This is much more than a TV series companion. It is a solid business read with never-before-heard advice and personal experiences from the Dragons own business ventures. Between them, they have a wealth of knowledge and business acumen which they will exclusively divulge for the first time. At last, we'll find out how they became millionaires, their secret business tactics, what drives them and what they would do if they entered the Dragons' Den. This is a unique, accessible and fascinating business read straight from the Dragons' Den.

MICHAEL E GERBER: AWAKENING THE ENTREPRENEUR WITHIN ~ How to go from dreaming about having your own business to actually doing it, from the international bestselling author of THE E-MYTH REVISITED Every startup in the world -- before it was a startup -- began as a dream in the mind of a visionary who had the audacity to take their mind somewhere it had never been before. But books on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship never fully address this single most important part of the entire process: how to dream, and how to take that dream and turn it into reality. Now Michael Gerber, renowned as the man behind E-MYTH, the man who taught generations of entrepreneurs to take their existing businesses to the next level, shows how ordinary people can create extraordinary companies -- without any experience to guide them.For anyone who's ever dreamed of moving beyond their workaday job to create their own vision -- or tried to do so and struggled -- this book will show them how they too can awaken their inner entrepreneur by focusing on the four dimensions of the entrpreneurial personality: --The Dreamer --The Thinker --The Performer --The Leader In AWAKENING THE ENTREPRENEUR WITHIN, Gerber shows us how a successful entrepreneur must embrace each of these four facets to succeed.

Books Monthly (formerly Gateway Monthly) is published by Paul Edmund Norman on the first day of each month. You can contact me via e-mail at: editor@booksmonthly.co.uk. If you'd like to get a story published in Books Monthly just e-mail it to me and I'll consider it - no payment though, I'm afraid!