Booking a holiday can sometimes feel like a job in itself with the amount of research it requires - but now you could bag some cash for your efforts! That's because TopCashback is currently offering £26.25 cashback for its members when they book a holiday with Jet2holidays. The deal is valid on any package holiday bookings made online with Jet2holidays , on any of its destinations. That means you could bag the offer if you're booking holidays to the likes of Spain, the Canary Islands, Portugal, France, Italy and plenty more. It's worth noting that the offer is only available for package holidays with Jet2, not for flight-only bookings made on Jet2.com . Not a member? You can sign up for free and then click through to the Jet2holidays website and begin your holiday search. It's also great timing as the travel firm is currently offering discounts of up to £100 per holiday - so whether you're tied to the school holiday dates or looking to get away outside of the peak … [Read more...] about How you could get £26 when you book your next holiday
Books
Book review: The Doll Factory, by Elizabeth Macneal
0 Have your say The Doll Factory scarcely needs a review. It is already a success and, according to its publishers, is “the most coveted debut of 2019, an intoxicating story of art, obsession and possession.” Elizabeth Macneal is a graduate of the creative writing course at the University of East Anglia where she was the Malcolm Bradbury Scholar, and The Doll Factory has won her the Caledonia Novel Award and has been sold to “28 territories so far,” while TV rights “have already been snapped up.” I’m not surprised. Who could resist a story of “art, obsession and possession” beginning in London in 1850 as the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park is being prepared, and offering an agreeable mixture of glamour and squalor, inviting – and receiving – the adjective “Dickensian”? The cast-list is headed by a (slightly) disabled girl, who works alongside her pock-marked sister in the doll factory of … [Read more...] about Book review: The Doll Factory, by Elizabeth Macneal
Books Podcast: Ursula Buchan on her grandfather, John Buchan
Sam Leith 15 May 2019 11:23 AM 15 May 2019 11:23 AM Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Email Whatsapp In this week’s books podcast, I’m joined by Ursula Buchan – the author of a hugely involving new life of her late grandfather John Buchan. The book is called Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps (you can read Allan Massie’s enthusiastic Spectator review of it here), and it does as the title promises. Buchan (or ‘JB’ to his family) is known, if he’s known now at all, as the author of the pre-war thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps, later filmed by Hitchcock. Yet here was a man of staggering range and energy – diplomat, historian, politician, propagandist, poet, barrister, publisher, and (most important of all) one-time assistant editor of The Spectator. He was a proud Scot who lived most of his life out of Scotland, and whose travels took him from Boer South Africa to the Governor-General’s mansion in Canada. Here’s … [Read more...] about Books Podcast: Ursula Buchan on her grandfather, John Buchan
Thousands of books on sale at annual fair
Thousands of books are to go on sale this weekend at an annual book fair. The Linskill Centre in North Shields is holding its ninth fair from Friday to Sunday.Hardbacks will be on sale for £1, 50p for paperbacks and children’s books 25p, with all the books being donated by residents.The fair, which raises funds for the Linskill Trust, will be open from 9am to 5pm on Friday and Saturday, and 9am to 3pm on Sunday.As part of the fair there will be a Treasures Section, children’s storyteller on Saturday, a sensory free hour from 10am to 11am on Sunday, a pop-up Cafe 32, plus ‘golden tickets’ have been hidden in some books.Simeon Ripley, chief executive of Linskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust, said: “The Book Fair serves many purposes for the trust in terms of encouraging people to recycle books, providing reading materials at affordable prices for the community, and raising funds to continue and expand the community services on offer at … [Read more...] about Thousands of books on sale at annual fair
OneSavings, Charter Court post bigger loan books ahead of merger
(Reuters) - OneSavings Bank Plc reported a bigger loan book for the first three months of the year on Wednesday, but said it is seeing slightly lower margins. The bank, set to create one of Britain’s biggest specialist lenders in a merger with Charter Court Financial Services Group Plc, said its loan book rose 5% for the quarter ended March 31, ahead of the lender’s expectations. Net loans and advances grew by 448 million pounds to 9.4 billion pounds, boosted by commercial and residential lending. “It is still early in the year, and given the continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit, there is no change in our outlook for 2019,” OneSavings Chief Executive Officer Andy Golding said. Separately, Charter Court reported a 17.9% rise in its loan book to 6.5 billion pounds for the quarter. Charter Court’s common equity tier 1 ratio - a gauge of a bank’s financial strength - was 16.3%. Charter Court and OneSavings announced their intention to merge … [Read more...] about OneSavings, Charter Court post bigger loan books ahead of merger