LITMIR.BIZ

Olly Murs may have finished in second place on television's The X Factor in 2009, but the heartthrob singer has since become one of British pop's winners. The cheeky chappie with the tight trousers and the porkpie hat has sold out concert tours, released bestselling albums and enjoyed a string of hits including 'Please Don't Let Me Go' and 'Heart Skips a Beat'. A regular in the charts and in the gossip columns, Olly is regarded by many as a possible successor to icons like Robbie Williams and Will Young. But not content with his triumphs as a singer, he has also become a TV fixture. After becoming the co-host of The Xtra Factor, he graduated to his own series, Olly: Life on Murs, in 2012. Olly Murs: The Biography follows his journey from suburbia to stardom and beyond. It explores how a seemingly ordinary and grounded Essex boy was determined to follow his dream – and was strong and shrewd enough to survive the heady world of entertainment. Along the way, we see how his promising first career as a semi-pro footballer was halted and we discover how he deals with the pros and cons of a celebrity lifestyle. This is a must-read for any music fan.

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Doctor Who is the world's longest-running science fiction television series, and has had children hiding behind sofa's since it was first broadcast in 1963. Eleven actors have played the famous Time Lord, starting with William Hartnell, and it has been a career landmark for all of them. Indeed, no other role in television history is as iconic, demanding, or as anticipated by its legions of fans as that of the famous time traveller with two hearts. Find out: * Who was a bouncer for The Rolling Stones before taking control of the Tardis. * Who was nearly blown up in the Second World War aboard HMS Hood. * Who had a fondness for woolly hats and had a grandson who would become Harry Potter's nemesis. * Who played a transvestite barmaid before becoming a Doctor Who heart-throb. Go back in time and read the human story behind a TV legend.

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'Psycho' is a word rarely bandied about in football today. There is no place on the pitch for player contact, let alone the sort of hard, robust tackling that could earn a player such a nickname. But 25 years ago, things were different. Only when players really overstepped the mark were their names added to the referee's little black book. And Pat Van Den Hauwe had a reputation as one of the hardest players in the game. In a career encompassing some 401 Football League appearances for Birmingham City, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Millwall, he notched up two league titles and a European Cup Winner's Cup medal – but he also made his mark as one of the toughest and most feared defenders in the game. But Pat wasn't just a tough player on the pitch. The way he lived his life meant that he needed to be tough off the pitch as well. A 'hard nut' reputation invites people into your life who want to see how far they can push you – and Pat Van Den Hauwe attracted such people by the bus-load.

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Strong, reliable and known for his ability to work in pinpoint crosses from the left, Kenny was a firm fixture in the cup-winning Arsenal and England defences for most of the 1980s. He won a record-breaking 86 international caps and featured in many of the most exciting England matches of the era. Among many insights from old team-mates and respected managers, Kenny reveals the truth about Maradona's controversial 'Hand of God' goal. Throughout it all, Kenny's positive attitude never came into question. He was never booked, let alone sent off. But off the pitch, the addictive side of his personality threatened to destroy not only his career but his rock-solid family life too. Fans were kept in the dark by protective manager George Graham, but it was the two women in Kenny's life who saved him – his devoted mother and the wife he'd met during his school days. Kenny has found the strength to fight back from the brink and defeat the demons of drink and gambling. For the first time, he reveals the story of a man at the peak of professional achievement, yet dangerously close to losing it all. Kenny Sansom considers himself a lucky man. But he also knows he's pushed that luck, and is fortunate to have survived. As a footballer he soared to great heights – but as an individual he also sank to life-threatening lows. The fans in the Highbury terraces may have sung his name but no-one ever really knew the whole truth about the football icon.

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Kirsty MacColl led a dazzling life – tender, creative, heroic and full of love. This book, by her mother Jean MacColl, charts with moving insight Kirsty's early years and celebrates her brilliant career at the front rank of the music business in the 1980s and 1990s with such hits as the Pogues collaboration 'Fairytale of New York'. It mourns her tragic and untimely death – killed by a speedboat in Mexican waters in December 2000. It also tells, with heartfelt truth, the shocking story of the elaborate cover-up and gross miscarriage of justice that followed and appeals for justice to be done in her name.

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London, 1966, was a time when anything seemed possible, especially for a young, free-spirited girl in search of adventure. With pop music, fashion and youth culture at its height London was the most 'swinging' city on earth and the outlook was optimistic. In the follow-up to her bestselling memoir Bombsites and Lollipops, Jacky Hyams takes a look back to the years that changed Britain forever. A time of miniskirts, sexual-freedom, and spies from behind the Iron Curtain. But the excitement of the Swinging Sixties was to only last a decade and by 1970 things had turned bleaker. With wry humor and honesty, Jacky tells how the revolutionary fervor became the cash-strapped Seventies and how her search for love and success bridged the two.

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Maureen Harvey lives in Kings Norton, Birmingham with her husband Ray. They have a daughter, Michelle, and three grandchildren Danielle, Paige, and Jordan. Since their son Lee was murdered by Tracie Andrews in December 1996, they have campaigned tirelessly to ensure that those convicted of murder serve their full prison tariff. Maureen's book is based on the diary she began writing after Lee's death and is a frank account of the emotional journey she and her family have taken during the last decade. It is a unique testimony which she hopes will serve not only as a tribute to Lee but as an inspiration to bereaved parents everywhere.

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They may be young, but they are ruthless, violent and rule the streets of London with an iron fist. They are the Young Gangsters. Terrifying and cold-blooded,some people said that they were only kids and would grow out of it. Little did they know the power of friendship and what they would do for it…The Young Gangsters is a high-octane, action-packed adventure tracing the lives of a group of friends to whom loyalty and respect is tantamount, and who will stop at nothing to get their own way. With their trademark long black coats and distinctive young faces, each gangster has their own story to tell and their own way of doing things, which can only lead to trouble and violence. Take 'Mack the Knife', never afraid to use his trademark weapon. Take also 'Knuckles', only sixteen, who can fight with the power of any grown man. This novel will take you into the heart of London, into the minds of young men who know no fear and will ultimately leave you breathless.

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When beautiful, glamorous Shilpa Shetty entered the Celebrity Big Brother house, little did she know that her presence there would spark an unprecedented media frenzy. As the show unfolded, divisions grew between certain contestants and the hostilities that followed led the public to accuse programme bosses of allowing racist bullying against Shilpa to occur unchecked. A debate that crossed international borders raged on outside the house while, inside, Shilpa handled the events with her characteristic poise and maturity.Shilpa is so famous in her home country that she is mobbed wherever she goes. Having made her name first as a model and then as an actress, she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to 'clear out misconceptions about Indian people'. What has taken place has led to her becoming one of the most popular contestants ever- there is not a person in the land who does not know who Shilpa is! This affectionate and revealing book uncovers Shilpa's early life and traces her path to success. It is a must-read for any fan and, of course, for the millions of people who have been following the Big Brother furore.

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Sara Davies spent her whole childhood living in fear. She has known terror that no child should ever know. Having endured and witnessed violence and molestation by her abusive father from as far back as she can remember, when she was only five years old he completely robbed her of her childhood when he raped her for the first time. For Sara, this was just the beginning of years of torment and terror. She grew up thinking that this was what life was supposed to be like, that things were meant to be this way. For years, Sara suffered both the beatings and the sexual abuse in silence, unable to confide in her mother and too scared to inform anyone outside the family. FInally, after years of enduring her pain, she told her mother about the terrible things she had been forced to endure. Despite her father being arrested and imprisoned, it would take much more than punishment for Sara to free herself from the demons that haunted her. Trying to find the love and support lacking in her family, Sara sought comfort from strangers and there followed a series of abortive and often abusive relationships. Her determination to be her own person and find independence came when she left home to work for a modelling agency. This came to a sudden and shocking end when she suspected that the employers in whom she had placed her trust had drugged and abused her. Desperate to break the cycle of abuse and determined to liberate herself from the past the past that has haunted her, Sara has found her own kind of peace – having confronted her father about wha he put her through, she has laid her ghosts to rest and is now a happy mother and suvvessful writer. This heart-rending, emotional and educational book will not fail to reach the heart of the reader.

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