Quick, Simple, and Practical Magic for Every Day of the Year, this cheerful, practical book does what it says on the cover: each page is devoted to a day of the year, with instructions for a spell to improve happiness and contentment. Although some of the spells are tied to a specific date, for instance "Summer Solstice Power Spell" or "Autumn Equinox Spell for Balance", most of them are designed to be used at any time in a wide range of situations. The equipment needed is mostly what can be found in the household cupboard or local shop. A Mother and Child Bonding Spell for 12 May, around the time of Mothering Sunday, requires an orange candle, two quartz stones and a white lily in a pot. The candle is lit, the spellcaster focuses mentally on his or her own parental relationships while holding the quartz stones, and then they are pressed into the soil of the lily pot for permanence. Most love spells tend to relate to other people, but a rather original 14 February entry here is a "Valentine's Spell to Love Yourself", involving a bag of candy hearts and a mirror, where you read out to yourself the message on the heart. The New Year's Day spell for starting afresh requires a purple candle and your favourite incense, to reinforce the message to yourself that you can and will become a new person. For the "Spell to End the Old Year" you need a pen and some fireworks, and you are going to write on the fireworks all the things you want to eliminate from your life, then light them and send the bad stuff shooting off into space. 384pp, softback, drawings.

Two leading Wiccans combine to provide different perspectives on Wicca in this volume of practical aspects of the craft. Shawn Robbins contributes her psychic gifts and her experiences as a practitioner of magic directed towards the healing of the mind and soul, while Charity Bedell is a student of the Feri tradition of witchcraft and has particular interests in trolldom, runes, druidism, kabbalah, shamanism, ceremonial magic and Egyptian magic. To complement this she runs an online store of herbs that she uses spiritually in her practice. The book's chief focus is on the power of holistic healing. An introduction on the differences between traditional and modern witchcraft explains that the inflexibility of traditional spellcasting is now being widely replaced by a more flexible approach. Although some witches work with negative energy, others with positive, the rule of thumb is never to perform magick to change a person's free will, not only because it is wrong in itself but also because spells always bounce back on their creators in some way. Common herbal remedies are listed, for instance the power of mugwort, chamomile or nettle, with a chapter on aromatherapy, crystal alignment and chakra balancing. A final section on a range of potions is accompanied by Wiccan recipes, including Imbolc Cake and Muffins for Beltane. 307pp, drawings.

Expert advice for extreme situations, this book could save your life. You can curl up under a table or you can react in a calm, clear manner and dramatically increase your chances of survival in a variety of extreme situations. This book covers all the basics - fire-lighting, shelter-building, water collection, first aid, surviving cold, wet conditions, surviving in hot conditions, street survival, self-defence, basic defence stances, surviving terrorism, new and cyber threats to survival, navigation on land, search and rescue, attracting attention, international distress signalling, the body's needs, cooking fires and cooking methods, hunting and trapping, what to eat, edible and medicinal plants, surviving a hitchhike, travelling by car, air or sea, escape and evasion and a final word on inevitable death. There are diagrams such as stars in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, and natural north indicators to spot like plants growing towards the Sun. Very clear diagrams and brilliant, succinct advice. 192pp.

Learn how not to exist! How to blow things up, castle entry and how to do it, secret Ninja weapons and how to use them, how to tie people in knots, useful everyday expressions, the Ninja costume - any colour as long as it's not black - how to control the minds of your enemies, invisibility and how to achieve it. You have been chosen to join the ranks of the legendary Ninja who work undercover to defend the land of Japan from its enemies. This secret manual from the Grand Master of the Iga School of Ninjutsu, servant to His Most Illustrious Highness Togugawa Ienari, Eleventh Shogun of Japan, will teach you everything you need to know before you begin your training. Meet famous Ninja and learn of their stunning achievements and the basics of training in martial arts (bujutsu). We love: 'Spiked torches are every Ninja's worst nightmare because they are thrown down by sentries to provide illumination when Ninja are suspected of climbing a wall. Hide in the shadows until they burn themselves out.' Here are traps and guides for the wary, how to navigate inner corridors and doors, hide like a raccoon dog or cover your tracks like a fox. Resemble a rock by crouching into a ball or disguise yourself as a Zen mendicant, especially if you can play the flute! A floating bridge is a really clever device. One Ninja swims across and drives the hooks into the ground on the far bank. Making successful escapes and causing chaos wherever you go, you will have great fun with this historical slightly tongue-in-cheek guide with brilliant often humorous archive Japanese illustrations throughout. Timeline and glossary, and map of Japan. 208pp.

Sub-titled 'What the World War Two Generation can teach us about how we live our lives', the late Her Majesty the Queen once said: 'We will overcome it [and] I hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge, and those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any.' The coronavirus pandemic forced the great British people to dig to the very depths of their resolve. It was during this crisis, the gravest the country faced since WW2, that members of the Greatest Generation - Captain Tom Moore, Dame Vera Lynn, the Queen - proved vital reminders of the self-effacing stoicism required in times of emergency - to summon our Blitz Spirit and to Keep Calm and Carry On. 12 qualities including fellowship, courage, integrity, vitality, liberality, ingenuity, self-discipline, duty and humour, the book draws on personal interviews with over 200 WW2 veterans from SAS officers to London firewomen. In Marlow, Buckinghamshire, some local women opened the 'Cosy Corner Club', one of many such organisations to spring up across Britain. It was for mothers and children who had lost their homes in the London Blitz and acted as a happy meeting ground and gave a hearty welcome to any evacuee of whatever nationality, race or religion, especially to those who were feeling lonely and in need of simple, helpful friendship. In this way the books shows how we can improve our individual character and our collective approach to life. 193pp, paperback.

Over 400 ingenious ways to get and keep your home organised in just ten minutes - less time than it will take to find your misplaced keys! Without spending a lot of time or money, these proven and effective tips cover the kitchen, family rooms, home offices, basements, garages and attics to keep the chaos at bay. Travel tips include rolling your clothes to save space in your suitcase, keep a first aid kit in your bag, letting your bank know you are travelling and organising with these tips. List all around the house, entertaining with house guests and parties and perhaps best of all, decluttering before moving house or downsizing, plus how to recycle your birthday and Christmas cards and turn them into gift tags. Lovely clear layout and design, 208pp, illus.

With step-by-step techniques, how to diagrams, professional hints and tips and makeover projects, this is an indispensable guide to home improvement with creative ideas to decorate and personalise the home to achieve beautiful results with the minimum amount of time, effort and expense. Every home needs repairing, updating or repair work to keep it looking fresh, stylish and in good condition and whether you have a new home in need of additional features and fittings or an older property requiring a major overhaul or simply want to refresh an outmoded decorating scheme, this is a big chunky glossy reference book providing all the guidance, expertise and inspiration and information required. There is advice on colour, texture and pattern, recognising available space effectively, choosing lighting to enhance every room, and chapters on painting, wallpaper hanging, tiling, laying floor coverings, features and fittings, soft furnishings, maintenance and repairs. More than 250 instant decorating ideas and 2,000 photographs and illustrations in colour help you look after lined curtains and drapes, roman blinds, lay vinyl, lino or cork floor tiles, paint and varnish floors, add a cornice, panel a room, fit fixed shelving, doors or drawers, fit an extractor fan or extra air bricks for controllable ventilation, and in furnishings create a stool out of wood, an Astroturf chair, a space age chair, a Polynesian throne, a bent-wire chandelier, an Inca bird print, a star cupboard, a Moses backet. With advice on preparing and planning your work, choosing appropriate materials, paints and equipment for the job in hand. A quality large softback, 512 glossy pages packed with hundreds of colour photos.

Connect, control and secure your home network set up the easy way in this superb introduction to Alexa, Google, Siri and many other miraculous devices of today's smart home. Learn how to choose between them, set them up for all your gadgets to operate smoothly together, get the most out of the features they offer and what to do when things go wrong. Learn how to make your devices read the news out aloud, light the way to the bathroom the moment you wake up, play your favourite piece of music, share your lists and passwords with friends and family securely and how to stop hackers. The real home hub today can offer a plethora of wireless technology and in effect home helps whether to get the best out of your television or simply shout at Alexa to watch Star Trek Discovery. There are naming tips when setting up sensible sensitive lights, smart switches and plugs and moving on from voice activated kitchen radios and speakers, Internet technology has started looking to fridges, ovens and hobs. Add additional thermostats and create a zonal temperature control, using smart radiator valves. Robot recycling is coming soon with smart bins, kettles and coffee makers. Then there is of course monitoring and security with cameras recording and notifying you automatically. In terms of health there are not only baby monitors made to look like bunny rabbits which can also be useful as just an intercom between you and your partner in the garden shed or reading at the bottom of the garden, but also to help keep an eye on your health, body fat, or blood pressure with no more mercury temperature controls. Then there are floor cleaners, pet care, and the WeMo Smart Plug which does not even need a hub and can work directly with your phone or assistant like Alexa and can be told when to turn on the coffee pot and set to 'on' before you go to bed. 160pp in large softback with big clear diagrams and colour photos throughout its careful step-by-step design.

It is true that if you put in the effort early, you will be rewarded by a well behaved, attentive, affectionate, intelligent and stimulated dog in later years. Starting from the moment you set eyes on your new puppy, here is sound advice for everyday situations. The book brings a new slant to a well explored subject and proposes significant shifts in understanding why a puppy behaves as he does and what makes him tick. Dogs are born without behavioural issues - it is what happens in the early weeks of life, and the way in which the new owner nurtures, guides and educates him, that will enable the puppy to become a well balanced adult - or not. The authors help you in your initial choice of puppy and show you how to interpret natural canine communication and play, how to use these signals to educate and guide your puppy in a positive way and as his confidence gains you, the parent, will help him become a trustworthy and trusting friend for life. It covers adding a new puppy to your existing pack, introducing him to an older dog, rescue centres, the home breeder and beware the puppy farm, questions to ask, insurance and the vet, dinner time, the first few nights, dealing with new experiences and household appliances, collars and leads, age-appropriate play, vaccines and neutering, and playing with other dogs. A great deal of the book is devoted to preventing common dog problems of stress, obsessive behaviours, house training, recall, separation anxiety, over tiredness, fear of adults, children, noise, other dogs, barking growling and grumbling and other attention-seeking behaviours, head shy issues, car sickness, jumping up, mugging guests, possessiveness with food, toys or furniture, food fussiness and more. Much of this advice could be transferred to problems with an older pet dog. 164pp, paperback.

One of Harley Street's top Consultant ENT Surgeons, Dr Mike Dilkes reveals his five minute exercise, a tried and tested method developed over many years which will cure your snore and - boost your mood, improve your performance at work and in concentration, save you money, make you look and feel younger, reduce your risk of developing sleep apnoea (a common disorder associated with impotence, loss of concentration, poor memory, diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and heart attacks). Snoring is no joke and a lack of restful sleep can seriously damage your health and relationship, so join the army of people taking small steps each and every day to stop snoring the easy way! One of the workouts is designed to focus on the tongue, the soft palate, and the lower throat and essentially it is yoga for the mouth involving stretching and positional training with emphasis on fast repetition rather than slow, high effort as this would cause bulk rather than tone. Slim paperback, 78pp.