Sidney Sheldon's Chasing Tomorrow by Tilly Bagshawe

"Sidney Sheldon's Chasing Tomorrow" is the sequel to "If Tomorrow Comes". Although it is not necessary to have read the first book before this one, as the bare bones of the back story are filled in along the way, it probably is best as then you have all the detail, and know the characters from before.

This book brings back characters from the original "If Tommorrow Comes", the main two being Jeff Stevens and Tracy Whitney, "the second-most-talented and the most-talented con artists in the world." They marry and go straight, leaving behind their past lives. But that leaves a void in their lives. Jeff fills his by getting a job as curator of antiquities at the British Museum. Tracy meanwhile has the sole obsession of "trying, and failing, to have a baby", but not having the void filled leads to cracks in the marriage and then to a split, helped by an enemy who secretly couldn't stand them being together. The split ends up with Tracy disappearing into thin air.

But by the end of the book their common enemy is revealed and Jeff and Tracy are able to come together once more.

There are plenty of clever cons along the way, expertly written as Bagshawe makes you believe they are doomed to failure before the heroes successfully complete them. The story is good. This is an enjoyable read.

Publication date: 9 Oct 2014

Available on Amazon UK: Sidney Sheldon's Chasing Tomorrow

Hannah the Happy Ever After Fairy by Daisy Meadows

I read this with my 7-year-old daughter who loved it. Anyone who has read any of the rainbow fairy books before will know why. They are designed perfectly for her age group. Each story features best friends Kirsty and Rachel having to help a fairy friend from Fairyland in their perpetual battle with Jack Frost and the goblins. This one is no different.

This story is about Hannah the happy ever after fairy and Jack Frost has stolen her magical Quill Pen which "has the power to write fairy tales for the human world, but not only that - the magic pen can also change them." And Jack Frost is changing them. "He's rewriting all the endings of the fairy tales to make them miserable!" It falls upon Kirsty and Rachel to help Hannah sort it out of course.

Also along the way there are a number of clear and simple pictures to bring the text alive, and the story is written in big text too ideal for early readers.

This was originally a World Book Day book so is a showcase, and as such it is probably a bit better than some of the others in the collection which follow predictable patterns, although a little shorter.

Overall a typical rainbow fairy story that little girls will love.

Publication date: 16 Feb 2006

Purchase at Amazon UK: Hannah the Happy Ever After Fairy

Asterix Omnibus 3 by Goscinny and Uderzo

This book combines the seventh to ninth Asterix adventures into one volume. 

The seventh Asterix adventure is Asterix and the Big Fight, which is possibly one of the best. 

There is one village in Gaul that holds out against Roman rule. The Romans hatch a plan. "There's one custom that might come in very useful... it's called THE BIG FIGHT!" The big fight happens when the chief of one village wants to take over another village. He challenges the chief of that village to a big fight, like a boxing match, and the winner takes charge of the other's village. The Romans line up "collaborator and as colossal as the Colosseum" Cassius Ceramix of the village Linoleum for the job.

But because of the magic potion, brewed by druid Getafix, chief Vitalstatistix is invincible, so Cassius Ceramix refuses. The Romans then take out the druid, inadvertently as he gets knocked out by a menhir and loses his memory. Therefore the big fight goes ahead. Of course it is down to Asterix to get things right again and there is a lot of fun and jokes along the way

Then it is Asterix in Britain. At the book's beginning Caesar invades Britain. "All Britain was occupied... All? No... one village still holds out against the invaders." Sound familiar? Anyway they can't hold out for much longer so Anticlimax, a second cousin, once removed of Asterix, goes in search of the famous magic potion. A barrel is made and Asterix and Obelix escort Anticlimax and the barrel back across Britain with the Romans hot on their trail.

Maybe there is too much stereotyping of certain things in here, tea for example, but all-in-all another great Asterix story.

Then lastly is Asterix and the Normans. 

Justforkix is the nephew of the village chief Vitalstatistix and is sent to the village from his native Lutetia (Paris) because he is soft and needs toughening up. Obelix suggests thumping him but Asterix disagrees. Meanwhile the Norman chief is concerned that his Normans don't know the meaning of fear so goes off to Gaul in search of it. Unfortunately the village they end up at is Asterix's village and they also don't know the meaning of fear. It's just as well Justforkix is there, "an expert on fear".

Along the way there is a lot of fun and jokes, from start ("Why, there's Postaldistrix the postman!") to finish. There is a kidnapping in the book too, which features in a lot of Asterix stories, but still a great Asterix story.

Trouble now is you'll want to read the others. 

Purchase on Amazon: Asterix Omnibus 3

Asterix and the Normans by Goscinny and Uderzo

This is the ninth Asterix adventure and this time Asterix meets the Normans.

Justforkix is the nephew of the village chief Vitalstatistix and is sent to the village from his native Lutetia (Paris) because he is soft and needs toughening up. Obelix suggests thumping him but Asterix disagrees. Meanwhile the Norman chief is concerned that his Normans don't know the meaning of fear so goes off to Gaul in search of it. Unfortunately the village they end up at is Asterix's village and they also don't know the meaning of fear. It's just as well Justforkix is there, "an expert on fear".

Along the way there is a lot of fun and jokes, from start ("Why, there's Postaldistrix the postman!") to finish. There is a kidnapping in the book too, which features in a lot of Asterix stories, but all-in-all another great Asterix story.

Original publication: 1966

Purchase here: Asterix and the Normans

Buckle and Squash and the Monstrous Moat-Dragon by Sarah Courtauld

This book has a sense of fun and a sense of adventure within its pages.

The story follows the adventures of two sisters, Lavender and Eliza, who have two different destinies. Eliza was "going to battle dragons and giants. She was going to vanquish monsters and travel to distant mountains." Her sister Lavender's destiny was "almost certainly going to feature a handsome prince."

It is because of Lavender's wish for a Prince that she gets in trouble being kidnapped for ransom in a castle surrounded by a moat where the Monstrous Moat-Dragon mentioned in the title of the book lives. It is up to Eliza, the more sensible sister as she doesn't have her head in the clouds, to save her.

The humour in the book is the same type of silly, surreal humour as made popular in the Mr Gum books. The drawings that accompany the text are pretty unique being quick pencil drawings and as such they carry a particular type of charm.

My 7-year-old really enjoyed the book. The first day we started reading it she went off and read the rest on her own, which shows her interest.

Publication date: 03 Jul 2014

Award: Sainsbury's Childrens Book Awards, fiction for age 5-9 years

Amazon UK link: Buckle and Squash and the Monstrous Moat-Dragon