The Hardest Test (Scott Quinnell)

The Hardest Test

Scott Quinnell

Blurb: Scott Quinnell is one of the best-known names in rugby. He played both rugby league and union, for Wales and for the British Lions. He was captain of the Welsh team seven times and won 52 caps.

But amidst all this success, Scott had a painful secret. He struggled to read. In The Hardest Test, he describes his struggle against learning difficulties throughout his childhood and his journey towards becoming one of the best rugby players in Britain. When he retired from rugby in 2005 he continued his battle with dyslexia in order to change both his and his children's lives.

ISBN: 9781906125950 (Paperback)

Year: 2008

Publisher: Accent Press

Pages: 86 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Amazon

2. Wikipedia page for the author

3. BBC page on the author

4. Quick Reads page

5. Follow the author on Twitter

Here Comes Noddy (Enid Blyton)

Here Comes Noddy

Enid Blyton

Blurb: Noddy is doing very well as a taxi driver in Toyland. What will happen when tricky Sly asks Noddy for a ride at midnight?

ISBN: 9781743008881 (Hardback)

Year: 2012

Publisher: Five Mile Press

Pages: 24 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Dymocks

2. Wikipedia page for the author

3. Buy from the Book Depository

4. Goodreads page

5. Kids Book Nook

Crossfire (James Moloney)

Crossfire

James Moloney

Blurb: When the Deputy Principal opens Luke Aldridge's school locker, he finds a .22 calibre rifle. Fourteen-year-old Luke is in big trouble at school and at home. When he joins his dad on a forbidden hunting trip he thinks all his dreams have come true, but have they? The guns, the killing, even his father, aren't quite as Luke imagined.

Back home, Luke finds an unexpected understanding with his mother. Then his parents' verbal warfare explodes into confrontation, and a shot is fired...

ISBN: 0702223840 (Paperback)

Year: 1992

Publisher: University of Queensland Press

Pages: 151 (Fiction)

Links

1. Author's Official site

2. Publisher's page

3. Wikipedia page for the author

4. Buy from Amazon

5. Page on the author

Walt Disney's Pinocchio (Gina Ingoglia)

Walt Disney's Pinocchio

Gina Ingoglia

Blurb: From the very start, what the wooden puppet Pinocchio wants most of all is to be a real boy. To do that, he must prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish. but it won't be easy with so many temptations around every corner. Won't life as an actor be more fun than school? Isn't Pleasure Island, a place where boys do nothing but play and eat all day and night, the place for him? So many choices...

The enchanting world of Walt Disney's beloved animated film Pinocchio is captured here, with a memorable cast that includes the kindly Geppetto, wise Jiminy Cricket, and Monstro the whale.

ISBN: 1562820338 (Paperback)

Year: 1992

Publisher: Disney Press

Pages: 64 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Amazon

2. Wikipedia page for the film

3. IMDB page for the film

4. Official Disney site on the history of the film

5. Wiki on Pinocchio

Disney's The Lion King (Gina Ingoglia)

Disney's The Lion King

Gina Ingoglia

Blurb: Simba's a young cub with a bright future. He's destined to take his father's place as the next lion king - a fact that doesn't please his uncle, Scar. With the help of the hyenas, Scar has a plan that will rid the Pride Lands of King Mufasa and Simba forever, leaving him in charge. But will the evil Scar succeed?

All the suspense and drama of Disney's animated film The Lion King are featured in this novelisation, complete with eight pages of full-color stills from the movie.

ISBN: 1562826336 (Paperback)

Year: 1994

Publisher: Disney Press

Pages: 64 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Amazon

2. Buy from Barnes and Noble

3. Wikipedia page for the film

4. IMDB page for the film

5. Site for the Broadway adaption

The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

Blurb: First published in 1848, the Communist Manifesto is, perhaps, the most influential pamphlet ever written.

Many of its arguments ring true:

-Capitalism impacts on the entire world

-Class has a decisive role in history and society 

-Working people have a world to win

ISBN: 9780850364781 (Paperback)

Year: 1848

Publisher: Merlin Pres

Pages: 32 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Amazon

2. Wikipedia page for Engels

3. Read the Manifesto online for free

4. Marxist Online Archive 

5. Study notes on the work

The World's Most Evil Psychopaths - Horrifying True-Life Cases (John Marlowe)

The World's Most Evil Psychopaths - Horrifying True-Life Cases

John Marlowe

Blurb: Carl Panzram was gang-raped at the age of 14 and by way of revenge forcibly sodomised more than a thousand boys and men as well as committing over 20 murders.

Ed Kemper shot his grandmother once in the head and twice in the back and went on to murder his grandfather, his mother, her friend and six female hitch-hikers.

Jerry Brudos strangled Jan Whitney in his house and left her body dangling from the ceiling for several days.

Pietro Pacciani got 13 years in prison for killing a travelling salesman who had slept with his fiancee. Not only did Pacciani stab the man 19 times, but he also raped the corpse. 

The World's Most Evil Psychopaths provides a concise, yet detailed look at some of the most dangerous individuals who have ever lived. Starting with examples of the earliest recorded psychopaths, author John Marlowe presents a carefully chosen cross-section of history's most infamous criminals, whose fascinating life stories are viewed with an unflinching gaze, making for a chilling, but engrossing read.

ISBN: 9781841937533 (Paperback)

Year: 2009

Publisher: Ice Water Press

Pages: 208 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Google books page

2. Buy from Amazon

3. Goodreads page

4. Buy from the Book Depository

5. Other books by the author

Evil Serial Killers - In The Minds of Monsters (Charlotte Greig)

Evil Serial Killers - In The Minds of Monsters

Charlotte Greig

Blurb: Our fascination with serial killers is at once disturbing and understandable: disturbing because according to society's mores we should condemn the killers' crimes and avoid all thought of their horrific actions, but understandable because we are so fascinated by their motives - what leads them to behave in such perverted ways and what makes them become killers who strike again and again?

Charlotte Greig has chosen and written in details about fifty of the world's most infamous serial killers, ranging from Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy. Documenting each of the fifty, it is easy to see similar themes emerging: David Berkowitz or Anatoly Onoprienko who grew up to be loners and subsequently wrought revenge on society which they felt had rejected them; the killers who kill purely for the sexual thrills, like Albert Fish or John Christie; and occult practitioners like the Chicago Rippers and Richard Ramirez who were inspired by macabre rituals to take their dark fantasies into even darker realities.

Whatever the personal stories that emerge from this line-up of twisted individuals, Evil Serial Killers is a compelling testament, and warning, of the potential of human behaviour for true horror and pure evil.

ISBN: 9781841934600 (Paperback)

Year: 2009

Publisher: Ice Water Press

Pages: 208 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Goodreads page

2. Buy from Amazon

3. Buy from Angus and Robertson

4. Wikipedia page on Hannibal Lecter

5. Buy from Amazon UK