Non-Fiction Reviews

Synopsis: If you want happiness, success, vitality, health, wealth and fortune fast and effortlessly, this book is for you. Instructions for Happiness and Success* is a mind manual for living a great life. It is a guide to bringing desires into reality using laws of the universe that never fail. This book is a power-packed manual for all those who want to improve their lives. It is a blend of ancient wisdom and new science, backed up with the latest mind research. It has reliable techniques, based on universal laws, with a 100% success rate when used correctly.

Celebrities, entrepreneurs and those at the top of leading businesses are already learning this method to boost their success, health and happiness. It is a simple, fast and foolproof reality creation system.

Designed as a completely interactive personal workbook, Instructions for Happiness and Success* is divided into three sections: How Reality Creation Works - explaining the combination of ancient wisdom and modern science that makes this method so effective; How to Manifest your Own Reality - a set of clear and simple instructions for reprogramming your mind for positive manifestations; Creative Tool Box - a tool kit of techniques for creating abundance and wealth in any part of your life.

With its unique mix of wisdom, science, practical exercises and stunning design, backed up with ground-breaking audio downloads, Instructions for Happiness and Success* opens up vast new possibilities in this increasingly popular field.

To view the book's website, please go to: http://happinessandsuccess.org/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Instructions-Happiness-Success-step---step/dp/1849490112

Hot Brands Cool Places Verdict
It’s very early in 2012 but Instructions for Happiness and Success* has all the makings of a Book of the Year! It is a step by step manual for creating the life you choose, and that is one of the reasons why it is such a fabulous book, the way it is created, the design, the art work, even the colour - a bright sunshine yellow on the cover coupled with zingy bright colours inside invites you to pick it up and get involved. Full of easy to follow and well researched techniques this book is perfect to kick start 2012. If you are looking for a powerful and interactive way of doing things differently make this book your first investment. We loved it! Highly Recommended!

Synopsis: Venice has to be the world's most heartstoppingly beautiful and haunting city. For visitors and inhabitants over the centuries it has always been a place rich in history, romance, mystery and intrigue. For writers, artists, filmmakers and others it has been a powerful source of inspiration for their work city-pick Venice brings together over sixty of the very best writers on Venice, whose novels, memoirs, journalism, blogs, diaries and letters wonderfully evoke the past and present of La Serenissima as never before.

From arriving in Venice by sea with Jan Morris and crossing the ominous Bridge of Sighs with Casanova … to getting under the skin of the Biennale with Geoff Dyer and learning about Venice the hard way with Bidisha … from taking a sultry summer gondola ride with Thomas Mann and climbing up to San Marco's horses with Sally Vickers' Miss Garnett … to hearing all about the city from Venetian residents Tiziano Scarpa and novelist and palazzo owner Michelle Lovric, and much, much more … Together with a fascinating introduction to the wealth and range of Venetian writing by Jeff Cotton, creator of the Fictional Cities website.

city-lit Paris
Synopsis: city-lit Paris is the perfect city break guide to la vie parisienne. From Joanne Harris, Julian Barnes, Kate Mosse and Irène Némirovsky to Stephen Clarke, Gertrude Stein, Proust and Claude Izner, over seventy extraordinary writers provide the perfect Paris companion.Introduced by Stephen Clarke, bestselling author of A Year in the Merde.

Both are available from all bookshops or direct from www.oxygenbooks.co.uk p&p free.

Hot Brands Cool Places Verdict
Earlier this year we reviewed city-pick New York and we really liked the approach, so we thought we would include two more in the series.
Each book captures the spirit of the city through writers who have visited, or found inspiration in the city.

Describing Venice: ’Merchants sailing from the Adriatic, through the sea-gate of the Lido, would see rising into view before them a vast glittering expanse of domes, cupolas and towers, jewel-greens, purples and golds, with outlines that shimmered and shifted against the vapour that rose up from the Lagoon. Their astonishment would grow on drawing into the quay of San Marco and finding it not a mirage but real.’ Kay MacCauley, The Man Who Was Loved. (2006)

Describing Paris:‘Most people don’t realize that Paris is more beautiful going into the colder months than at any other time. Under a dignified sky of Dior grey, you can see the ‘bones’ of the city, including its noble architecture, through the brittle branches of the tress. Somehow, the city seems finer, grander, more spectacular. The shimmering cognac shade of the Seine under the morning sun (which changes through the day to a luminous petrol blue, and finally, to a silver the colour of evening slippers at twilight),the grand grey of the famous cobblestone avenues and the fine oyster-shell grey of the buildings combine to give the city an almost gentlemanly feel’ Janelle McCulloch, La Vie Parisienne.

Together with city-pick New York these are a wonderful, imaginative creative take on leading cities, that will be a perfect companion to anyone thinking of visiting, or to bring back memories for anyone who has previously visited. If you are looking for a different gift for someone, or inspiration for your own trip in 2012, these are an absolute joy and delight!. Highly Recommended!

Synopsis: Covering over 50 of the most beautiful and historic spa destinations across 27 countries in Europe, this stunningly illustrated guide provides all the information you need on natural spa and wellness destinations – taking in day spas, getaway spas and medical spas.

Unlike many spa guides, The Spa Lover’s Guide to Europe focuses on destinations with natural spas, where wellness treatments have been a part of the heritage and culture for many years, and whose popularity continues to increase thanks to demand from travellers and consumers. With over 285 million active wellness consumers in the world’s top 30 industrialized nations alone, spas are responding to a growing demand for preventative programmes that improve overall quality of life: over 81 per cent of spa-goers want more than pampering.

Classic destinations such as Vichy, Baden-Baden, Budapest and Bath are featured, along with some perhaps surprising destinations – including Vienna, Athens and the Costa del Sol. As well as spa treatments, the guide offers a range of suggestions for things to do in the local area for each historic destination, including essential booking and price information.

The Spa Lover’s Guide to Europe is a beautifully illustrated, essential travel guide for those who want to experience the very best natural spa and wellness holidays.

Award-winning travel writer Sarah Woods has written over 150 articles on spas for newspapers and magazines all over the world, including the Sunday Times, Independent, Traveller magazine, Women’s Health and Med Life. As a wellness aficionado she has visited 275 spas in the last 18 months. She is also the author of 101 Adventure Weekends in Europe and 101 Romantic Weekends in Europe, both published by New Holland.

http://www.newhollandpublishers.com/details.asp?pid=9781847738189&t=The-Spa-Lover%27s-Guide-to-Europe

Hot Brands Cool Places Verdict

This collection focuses on natural spas and wellness destinations across Europe. There are over 50 locations in 27 countries, giving a wide range of choices. The photography is beautiful, and the guide includes details on the destinations including when to go, as well as full details about the facilities. If you are looking for a different holiday in 2012, this book is a great place to start.

Synopsis:This bumper bundle of Christmas cooking and craft projects will become a trusted favourite each year as the festive season comes around. With a countdown-to-Christmas planning schedule and plenty of advice on streamlining the preparations for the big day, this book is the practical guide every celebration-loving household needs. Celebrate Christmas includes a rich and robust selection of traditional recipes as well as some contemporary interpretations in a lighter vein. And, with its stylish craft projects and edible gift ideas, it's the perfect combination of information and inspiration. For abundance, exuberance and everything else that makes Christmas special, look no further.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celebrate-Christmas-Murdoch-Books/

Hot Brands Cool Places Verdict
Celebrate Christmas has a countdown to Christmas that will help you prepare and create festive food. Covering, Drinks and Nibbles, Starters, Mains, Sides, Desserts, Baking. There are many options for creating a Christmas lunch, from turkey, to Beef Wellington, to goose and fish and vegetarian options. There are also recipes for different types of Christmas cake. We would see this more as a cookery collection, the craft sections are more limited, but it is a useful guide to preparing for the big day.