Memoirs Books

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Book SynopsisDuring my first visit to the cinema the empathy I felt from Gary Cooper was life-changing, and a secret dream was born in the darkened auditorium. Later, my forays to the East revealed an original take on humanity which fell into two categories: those who remembered and those who didn't. The former by teaching the latter could transmit this memory, and communicate this spark of creation directly into the being of the other.The Ocean Fell into the Drop is a different kind of showbusiness memoir, one that traces Terence Stamp's twin obsessions, acting and mysticism, and the relationship the two have to each other for him, through the trajectory of his life. On the way he discusses his directors, Fellini, Loach, Pasolini; actors, Olivier, Brando and Redgrave; and spiritual masters, Krishnamurti and Hazarat Inayat Khan, as well as his family, life in the East End, Sufism and style.Trade Review'A perfect read, a near-perfect life.' --GQ magazine

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Book SynopsisAnne Scott has never housed her books in order of theme or author yet she knows where each of them is and the kind of life it has led. Some have been gifts but most have been chosen in bookshops unique in their style and possibilities. They have been observers of discovery, decisions, and marvels with her, following the line of her time and place. Some are everyday shops with a shelf of books in a corner, some are beginning again after long lives as churches, printing presses, medieval houses, a petrol-station. There are a few the author is too late to see: early print-houses and booksellers here too in this book, searched for and described, side by side with all the bookshops open now and busy with readers. Not one is like another. In one way, the book is a sequence about writing. But first it is a map of books and a life.Trade Review'It is a work of research, one built to last. Its 20,000 words are beautifully constructed, and not one seems out of place.'-Alan Pattullo, The Scotsman; 'An indispensable guide to bookshops lost and living and an at times moving tribute to impact of the bookshop on the open-minded and inquiring individual.'-Northwords Now

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Book SynopsisIn over 40 years as a senior captain for Greenpeace International, Peter Willcox has been in the vanguard of the international environmentalist movement. He has led crews into battle against whale killers, nuclear testing sites, and deep sea drillers. He has confronted naval warships, faced a bombing attack on the iconic Rainbow Warrior, and endured imprisonment for peacefully protesting Russian oil drilling in Antarctica. This is his story.Trade Review‘Peter Willcox is a hero of our times. He has been at the frontline of non-violent direct action for four decades, and put his body on the line to defend our planet. Our fragile environment needs more people like him.’‘It’s no accident that the world is taking action to save the whales and rainforests, tackle climate change and toxic pollution; it’s because people such as Peter Willcox are making it happen. A great read. ’‘There is warmth and excitement in Peter Willcox's thrilling account of his adventures as Greenpeace Captain. His book brought back memories not only of voyages shared, but also of Peter as a brave exemplar.’

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Book SynopsisApproaching his middle forties, Gavin Boyter wondered what his life was all about. A Scot living in London, single and with no kids, he was living for the job and the dwindling hope of a career in film. He had been a club runner all his life, pretty good but not at the front all that often. He was what he called an ordinary runner and he came to wonder just what an ordinary runner might be capable of. How about John O'Groats to Land's End, the longest linear run in Britain, and how about making a film of it? And how about writing a book? As usual, Gavin was neither the first nor the quickest but Downhill from Here is his real triumph, written in such an engaging and witty voice the reader accompanies him every step of the way.Trade Review‘We live on the best island in the world and what better way to explore it than on foot. Downhill from Here is an epic adventure on our epic island. Makes me want to run it all over again.’ * author of Cycling the Earth *‘An entertaining read on the de-stressing benefits of running a JOGLE, navigation mishaps and all.’ * author of It's A Hill, Get Over It *‘Real triumph, written with wit and personal depth.’ * Sunday Mail *

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Book SynopsisSo recently my bro Elliot's been learning to read, and it gave me the idea that I should write up our story... also, that way, he can relive everything I've put him through.This is my book!It's a journey filled with laughter (mine), tears (Elliot's) and even romance (hello, Georgina!), and goes from a childhood in sunny Bridgend to ten million followers across the world. There's also exclusive pranks, spitball targets (of Elliot's face, obviously), comic strips, guides to creating your own videos and much more.Now, if you're sitting comfortably, follow me into my wonderful world and Elliot's journey... Sorry Bro!

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Book SynopsisJeff Bauman woke up on 16th April 2013, in the Boston Medical Center, groggy from a series of lifesaving surgeries and missing his legs. Just 30 hours prior, Jeff was surrounded by revelry at the finish line of the Boston Marathon cheering on his girlfriend, Erin, when the first bomb went off at his feet. When Jeff awoke, rather than take stock of his completely altered life, he ripped out his breathing tube and tried to speak. He couldn't. So he wrote seven words, 'Saw the guy. Looked right at me,' setting off one of the biggest manhunts in the country's history and beginning his own brave road to recovery. His remarkable story is a testament to what it means to be Boston Strong.Trade ReviewBauman's moving story illustrates what he believes: 'We are better than cowards with bombs...We are stronger." * People Magazine *A moving demonstration of how strength of mind and character helped one man stand tall despite the loss of his legs * Kirkus *Stronger is not merely a triumph-over-adversity story, but a love story... the book exudes a sense of transparency and honesty. * Boston Globe *Bauman gives a riveting, detailed account of the explosion and its immediate aftermath... as well as a heartfelt, honest, and occasionally hilarious description of his challenging recovery. * Penthouse *[An] inspiring and poignant memoir about learning to live with grace and new purpose after the attack. * Boston Herald *

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Book SynopsisIn a society obsessed with living longer and looking younger, what does middle age mean today? Spurred by her own brutal propulsion into menopause, Marina Benjamin’s clear-eyed account of our middle years takes inspiration from literature and philosophy to weigh the challenges and opportunities of mid-life. It offers an inspired and expanded vision of how to be middle-aged happily and harmoniously, without sentiment or delusion.Trade Review‘Lucid and sophisticated … A restrained but wonderful guide to the convulsive changes of 50 and over … This is a book that yields valuable insights on almost every page.’ -- Melissa Benn * The Guardian *‘A 21st-century meditation on middle age … The Middlepause is erudite, with a lengthy list of notes and ideas for further reading, but it is also personal — part memoir, part unflinching travelogue through the unsettling physical and mental challenges of the menopause … Honest and uplifting.’ * FT *‘Beautifully composed and intensely sympathetic, The Middlepause: On Turning Fifty is wry, personal and intimate, while still being something of a road map for others.’ -- Viv Groskop * The Sunday Telegraph *‘Women do a lot of things to mark turning fifty. Go to a resort! Have a bang-up party! Far, far better: read The Middlepause.’ * Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman *‘Emotionally honest.’ -- Tom Gatti * New Statesman *‘We are not supposed to beguile, we the middle-aged women. But with The Middlepause, Marina Benjamin does that: she beguiles and entrances with a lyrical, thoughtful, erudite, and always lucid exploration of the middle years of her life, and what they mean to her, and what middle-aged women mean to society.’ -- Rose George, author of The Big Necessity‘Beautifully written and so thoughtful, The Middlepause made me think about fleeting time and what is important to me. I couldn’t put it down.’ -- Amy Jenkins, author of Honeymoon and creator of This Life‘Renunciation, shape-shifting, ennui, sorrow: this tender and thoughtful book calls for an ‘invisible revolution’ in our attitudes to women’s ageing. In a deeply personal meditation Benjamin places body knowledge and luck alongside grieving and family history; intimate reflection with literary exemplar; communion with ghosts sadly close to the painful real. The Middlepause is a wise, lucid and beautiful plea for more candid discussion of the time-wrought transformations of the female body.’ -- Gail Jones, author of A Guide to Berlin‘Intimate, open-hearted, clever and kind, this book is a companion which, by naming the shadow fears, finds the truer gold.’ -- Jay Griffiths, author of Kith‘A candid and beautifully written “wrinkles and all” meditation on the middle years with all their dilemmas and challenges … [Marina Benjamin] seeks a new vision of how to be middle-aged happily and harmoniously without sentiment or delusion.’ -- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *‘A candid look at what it means to be 50 today … Warm, wise and beautifully written.’ * Good Housekeeping *‘This is a measured and beautifully written critique of menopause and middle age that pre-, mid-, and postmenopausal women will find eminently relatable, and that those who love and care for them will likewise appreciate.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Benjamin takes us into her inner world — it’s instructive, and very moving.’ -- William Leith * Evening Standard *‘Full of insight.’ -- Eleanor Mills * Sunday Independent *‘In The Middlepause Benjamin deftly and brilliantly examines the losses and unexpected gains she experienced in menopause. Menopause is a mind and body shift as monumental and universal as puberty, yet far less often discussed, especially in public, which is what makes Benjamin’s work here so urgently necessary.’ -- Kate Tuttle * The Los Angeles Times *‘Benjamin takes the process of self–help thoughtfully. For starters, to recognise change, rather than deny it, is to begin to deal with it.’ -- Iain Finlayson * Saga Magazine *‘This gentle but honest book should be standard reading for friends and loved–ones of women trying to make sense of this transitional stage in life.’ -- Sue Wright * The Malcontent *‘The Middlepause isn't some deluding self–help book that insists middle–age is a time of great growth for us all. It’s an accurate and thoughtful assessment of the credit and debit sheet, and it remains emotionally genuine throughout … This is a thoughtful, compassionate and wise book.’ * Shiny New Books *

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Book SynopsisAn intense, lyrical, witty, and humane exploration of a state we too often consider only superficially. At once philosophical and poetical, Insomnia ranges widely over history and culture, literature and art, exploring a threshold experience that is intimately involved with trespass and contamination: the illicit importing of day into night. Trade Review'Every insomniac knows how sleeplessness warps and deforms reality. Marina Benjamin anatomises its endless nights and red-eyed mornings, finding a sublime language for this strange state of lack. Her writing is often reminiscent of Anne Carson: beautiful, jagged and precise.' -- Olivia Laing, author of The Lonely City‘A sublime view of the treasures and torments to be found in wakefulness. Entertaining and existential, the brightest star in this erudite, nocturnal reverie in search of lost sleep, is the beauty of the writing itself.’ -- Deborah Levy, author of Hot Milk‘Marina Benjamin is the Scheherazade of sleeplessness, spinning tale upon tale, insight upon insight, in frayed and astonishing and finally ecstatic loops.’ -- Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill‘Benjamin writes beautifully. This is a graceful rumination on the ‘wicked kind of trespass’ that is insomnia, a work cogent and allusive as a lucid dream, a palimpsest of insights to dip into, day or night.’ -- Anna Funder author of Stasiland and All That I Am‘Insomnia reads with the surreal and suspended cadence of those lonely hours in the night that only the sleep-less experience. It is, therefore, a kind and intimate companion to our meandering, agitated, non-knowing, spiritually naked thoughts at such hours. Keep it by your bedside lamp!’ -- Sarah Wilson, author of First, We Make the Beast Beautiful‘Will nurture you at any wakeful hour.' -- Joanne Limburg‘A few years ago, I signed up for a sleep therapy group that was strikingly similar to the one Benjamin goes through for her own insomnia in her aptly named book Insomnia. What was most unsettling about this group was our sleep therapist's insistence that our individual struggles with sleep were neither as exceptional nor as debilitating as we insisted they were. With seemingly no way out of our sleepless nights, we had chosen to burnish them and, as Benjamin quotes from a shrink, we fell “in love with our neuroses”. What Benjamin accomplishes with her book is to capture the contradiction of not wanting to be alone and wanting to be the only one that so many insomniacs experience. Writing not just about her own experience, but of fellow insomniacs throughout history, she seems to argue that insomnia gifts as much as it robs, and that insomniacs are, in the end, as protective of their sleeplessness as the snippets of rest they manage to steal. Having finished her book, I am happier to belong to this particular clan. To lie awake in solidarity.’ -- Lillian Li, author of Number One Chinese Restaurant‘Benjamin’s impassioned and elegant memoir is not just an intimate account of a disorder for which there is still no straightforward cure, but a defiant celebration of its paradoxical potential … This provocative, at times anguished book has by the end completely overthrown our expectations by repositioning insomnia as a form of resistance, linked to the author’s own freedom to create.’ -- Elizabeth Lowry * The Guardian *‘Anyone who has suffered through the wide-eyed hell of a sleepless night will find something painfully recognisable in Marina Benjamin’s searingly honest memoir about her years battling for rest … Insomnia has a dreamlike quality, structured as a series of fragmented and sometimes unrelated thoughts and memories … [There are] moments of stunning poetry, suddenly interrupted by passages of fevered introspection … At its heart this is a book about desire, and the constant dynamic tussle between hunger and satiation. What does it mean to exist on the threshold of darkness and light?’ -- Lucy Hunter Johnston * Evening Standard *‘A genre of memoir currently in vogue involves entwining the author’s personal story with the cultural history of a given phenomenon, so that each may illuminate the other. Mellow introspection and anecdotal whimsy are spliced with tidbits of cultural criticism … Benjamin’s is a refreshingly grounded and sanguine voice.’ -- Houman Barekat * The Spectator *‘A beautiful book to keep you awake.’ -- Philip Hoare‘Clever, wise and witty — and ever so slightly cosmic too. This is for us who know what it is to be forlorn at 3am ...’ * Shahidha Bari *‘A wonderful, sometimes painful compendium of thoughts about sleeplessness and its meanings. I recognised its nocturnal terrain.’ -- Gerard Woodward‘This is a really wonderful book — good for night owls too, even if you are not an insomniac. And just for those who are interested in the imagination and creativity.’ -- Diana Henry‘Marina Benjamin’s slim meditation on sleeplessness makes for interesting bedtime reading … Art, philosophy and science jostle together, the fragments flowing in and out of each other. Things that seem unrelated on the surface become entwined with one another.’ * Oh Comely *‘As well as a very personal account, it is also a very idiosyncratic cultural history of sleeplessness, a poetic meditation on what we lose and what we gain from these unwilled encounters with brute night. The fragmented structure fits well with the subject, and Benjamin is excellent at describing the jagged loops and whirrs of a mind failing to find rest.’ -- Ella Walker * The Herald *‘A beautiful, lyrical and intelligent memoir that examines those hours in which we lie awake in the dark … this is an elevating and illuminating read about that experience. So next time you can’t sleep, reach for this book.’ -- Marta Bausells, ‘Book Club’ * Elle *‘[Insomnia is] a memoir in roving fragments that mirror the workings of a sleepless mind.’ -- Lilly Dancyger * Vulture *‘It’s a book about insomnia’s existential and somatic qualities … Insomnia is a striking reminder of how strange we remain to ourselves. We spend a third of our lives in sleep, but our relationship with that condition is, as Benjamin describes it, “perverse” and “fundamentally embattled”. Read this at night at your own peril.’ * The Saturday Paper *‘Reading Marina Benjamin’s memoir, Insomnia, has made me feel less alone in all that sleeplessness. She has made me feel seen … Insomnia is a lyrical, thoughtful meditation on sleeplessness. It’s about Odysseus and Penelope, Oedipus and Athena, Nabokov and Gilgamesh, and Rumi and Robinson Crusoe. It’s about art and literature and mythology and creativity and productivity and peace. It’s not about fixing it so much as understanding it. It’s a book to make you feel less alone.' * Refinery29 *‘Ought to be read not as self-help, but as an addition to that venerable philosophical genre, the consolation. It might keep you awake, but in solving and inquiring company’ -- Brian Dillon * 4Columns *‘Rich with imagery … One does not read it in a linear sense as dip in to absorb it piece by piece. Like the consciousness of the insomniac, it feels unmoored by temporal reality.’ -- Nicky Woolf * New Statesman *‘For anyone sleep deprived, this will offer unexpected comforts.’ * Saga Magazine *‘Elegant.’ -- Colin Grant * The Observer *‘A darkly thrilling beauty of a book … Benjamin’s talent is Arachne-like. The materials she integrates are eclectic, and the resulting constructed web of her thoughts is architecturally robust and resplendent with dazzling prose.’ -- Tali Lavi * Australian Book Review *‘A short, ludic book about long white nights ... [Benjamin] writes feelingly about the frustrations of being awake when you don’t want to be ... Her moans about her futile thought-loops alternate with flattering descriptions of her radiant nocturnal consciousness.’ -- Zoë Heller * The New Yorker *‘Insomnia is not so much a lament for lost oblivion as a defiant hymn to the wild isle of Insomnia.’ -- Fiona Capp * Sydney Morning Herald *‘Whatever the roots of her insomnia, in this book, Marina Benjamin embraces her condition and effects an alchemical transformation of it into something rich and strange … Benjamin’s willingness to look at her world “at a tilt” allows her vision of profusion and creative potentiality to illuminate, and set against, the terrors of the night.’ -- Howard Cooper * Jewish Chronicle *‘[Insomnia] will provoke you to think more deeply about sleeping and wakefulness — the mythology and politics of something we take for granted, until it eludes us.’ -- Sarah Ditum * In The Moment *‘Candid … thought-provoking.’ * New Books *‘Conjuring a spell over those dark hours that threaten to overtake her, Benjamin’s writing, like Scheherazade’s fables, manipulates and even dispels time. One finishes her book as if emerging, ironically, out of a dream: we cannot say how long it lasted, only that the sensation will, we hope, stay with us for a while.’ -- Rajat Singh * The Rumpus *‘Velvety ruminations on night wakefulness ... Benjamin’s mind works like a wide-roving trawler that rakes an area repeatedly before moving on to adjacent territory ... Insomnia turns out to be somewhat of a celebration of sleeplessness as well as a lament ... and is filled with memorable images.’ -- Heller McAlpin * NPR *‘A work that takes its structure from the insomniac’s mind, flitting restlessly between ideas to build what may be described as a philosophical portrait of sleeplessness ... This strange, entrancing book is in many ways a love letter, albeit one to a particularly irritating lover. Benjamin wants, she writes, “to flip disruption and affliction into opportunity, and puncture the darkness with stabs of light”.’ -- Jane McCredie * Weekend Australian *'Best read at those hours of night when sleep is elusive, this magical book is a series of meditations and cultural explorations into a state that at some time affects us all.' -- Thomas Arnold Fanning, author of Mind on FirePraise for The Middlepause: ‘Benjamin has conjured something philosophically poised and poetic from an unlikely subject, as much about the sanctuary of place and coming to terms with time, seasons and life’s cycles, and all rendered with clarity and calm.’ * The Saturday Age *Praise for The Middlepause: ‘Lucid and sophisticated … A restrained but wonderful guide to the convulsive changes of 50 and over … This is a book that yields valuable insights on almost every page.’ * The Guardian *Praise for The Middlepause: ‘Women do a lot of things to mark turning fifty. Go to a resort! Have a bang-up party! Far, far better: read The Middlepause.’ * Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman *

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Book SynopsisHarriet's parents hoped that, after leaving boarding school and doing `the Season', she would meet and marry a suitable young man. But she was to disappoint them. Just after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, she set off for Peshawar to see for herself the plight of thousands of displaced Afghan refugees. Determined to do something about their dire situation, Harriet set up a small silk weaving project for illiterate Turkmen refugees, and was sent by UNESCO to Mazar-i-sharif to work with Afghanistan's last remaining silk ikat weavers. During those years she was arrested by the KHAD, narrowly missed being blown up, survived acute bacterial meningitis in a Kabul hospital, and rescued an abandoned pi-dog puppy who became her devoted companion. At the end of the first Gulf War she travelled with the Peshmerga in the newly-liberated Iraqi Kurdistan. Then in 1994 she joined a group of unemployed builders and decorators driving convoys of food and aid from Croydon to the Muslim enclaves in Bosnia Herzegovina. Much has been written about conflicts in these countries, by war correspondents, diplomats and military personnel, but this is a different story. It is about young woman from a sheltered and privileged background travelling and working alone, in and around war zones, frequently with no financial or practical support, at a time of increasing Islamic fundamentalism. Harriet left her traditional, comfortable home and chose to live a life of adventure and danger helping refugees who had nowhere else to turn. She continues to raise money for charity through her business selling oriental textiles and remains friends with the refugees she helped in Afghanistan. However, she is now married, to just the sort of husband her parents always hoped for.

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Book SynopsisJust Hugh is a portrait of Hugh Leach, an end-of-era soldier, diplomat, traveller and, above all, charismatic enthusiast. The title reflects his passion for Just William books, one of his many and varied interests. To echo a phrase that Hugh used on the flyleaf of his Strolling About on the Roof of the World, the 'fons et origo' of these memories was an idea mooted at his memorial service in April 2016, five months after his death. The book combines anecdotes and recollections submitted after that service with others previously received for his RSAA obituary, together with Hugh's own reminiscences in his later years. Tales from twenty-five years of service between the Nile and the Euphrates and travels throughout Central Asia are interwoven with biographical details to create a 'memory book' of this unique, much missed, man of many parts.

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Book SynopsisJoin Fons Oerlemans and Kee Arens on a journey of courage, resilience and high adventure as they push the boundaries of possibility on six heroic transatlantic voyages aboard their extraordinary self- built vessels. From a humble life raft to daring designs using unconventional materials such as an old steam boiler, a nine-ton truck and even a colossal bottle, Oerlemans fearlessly sails his creations across the Atlantic to forge a legacy of innovation and determination. With his wife, Kee, he navigates treacherous waters, tempestuous storms and harrowing challenges to conquer not only the ocean’s depths but also their own doubts and fears. From their first expedition in 1974 to their latest voyage, their story celebrates the indomitable spirit of true adventurers.

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Book SynopsisA series of luminous vignettes describe the childhood of Argentina's rediscovered modernist writer. Self-contained, interconnected fragments begin with her family's departure to Mendoza in 1910 and end with their return to Buenos Aires and the death of her father in 1915. Lange's notes tell intimate, half-understood stories from the seemingly peaceful realm of childhood, a realm inhabited by an eccentric narrator searching for clues on womanhood and her own identity. She watches: her pubescent older sister, bathing naked in the moonlight; the death of a horse; and herself, a changeable and untimely girl. How she cried, when lifted onto a table and dressed as a boy, and how she laughed, climbing onto the kitchen roof in men's clothing and throwing bricks to announce her performance. Lange makes her domestic setting into a laboratory where strangeness and eroticism combine in delicate, daring flashes of literary brilliance.Trade Review‘[Lange’s] stark, dreamy and often morbid observations that read like windows into the soul . . . Eccentric and obsessive, Lange reveals herself to be a born surrealist, examining and interpreting situations and people from elliptical angles.’ Catherine Taylor, Irish Times----‘A muse to the young Jorge Luis Borges and Oliverio Girondo, Norah Lange was herself a profoundly gifted writer, one capable of drawing her readers back in time, plunging you into a lost world of soulful horseback riding on the pampas and bucolic women’s sewing rooms. Her Notes from Childhood is an endearing, mesmerising, unforgettable masterpiece through which we can see anew the private history of women in Latin America. Read Norah and be bewitched.’ Pola Oloixarac ----'One of the most beautiful and luminous books of childhood memoirs ever written in Latin America, so rich in the genre.'Cesar Aira----'The postcards of gender construction in Notes from Childhood are a delight . . . as is her exquisite prose. The fact that Lange has been considered a secondary figure speaks only of the strict hierarchy of themes that regulated, and in my opinion, continues to regulate entry into the canon.'Marina Yuszczuk----'The apparently peaceful realm of childhood where the book was set concealed the fact that the text turned memories of a life into a literary investigation, the setting of childhood into an often disturbing laboratory.' Silvia Molloy----'Lange never lacked recognition from writers: Cesar Aira, Elvio Gandolfo, and Arturo Carrera have described her as one of the greats of Argentine literature'Adriana Astutti, Clarin

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Book SynopsisEmerging like a butterfly from its chrysalis, a remarkable little ship, the 'Sheemaun;' springs from her designer's drawing-board to sail through eight decades of history, gathering in her wake a unique collection of admirers, including former owners, former crews, and those who served courageously on her during WW2. Their stories are revealed here; tales of bravery and daring, accounts of bombs, mines, depth-charging and death; stories of espionage and smuggling; and memorable chronicles of Royal occasions, cruising, maritime festivals and much else. This fascinating, deeply engrossing true story takes the reader into the heart and soul of the 'Sheemaun' and of all those who have loved her.

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Book Synopsis‘The sudden demise of Valin Pollen brought my career in the communications industry to an abrupt end, but I felt it was a good moment to reflect on what I had gained from the experience. We all tend to make a fair number of mistakes in life, the trick, of course, is to learn from them. What’s important is how we deal with obstacles and the strength we gain in overcoming them. I think I’ve learnt that in adversity one should never, ever quit. Meanwhile I still find myself looking for the next challenge - perhaps because the past didn’t work out quite as I had originally planned.’

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Book SynopsisFINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A TIME MUST-READ BOOK When Wayétu Moore turns five years old, her father and grandmother throw her a party at home in, Liberia. Yet all she can think about is how much she misses her mother, studying in faraway New York. Then war breaks out in Liberia. The family is forced to flee on foot, until a remarkable rescue by a rebel soldier. But even in the relative safety of her adopted home, America, Moore finds herself - as a Black woman and immigrant - in a new kind of danger. Will she forever be that girl still running?Trade Review'Immersive, exhilarating... This memoir adds an essential voice to the genre of migrant literature, challenging false popular narratives that migration is optional, permanent and always results in a better life' - New York Times'Wayetu Moore's memoir is a moving and richly drawn tale of a family threatened by violence in '90s Liberia and their escape from it. Out of this tumultuous experience, Moore has shaped a powerful, utterly convincing, and unforgettable story' - Chigozie Obioma, author of 'The Fishermen''In her bruising new memoir, Moore describes the perilous journey as well as her experiences of being a black immigrant living in the American South. Through it all, she threads an urgent narrative about the costs of survival and the strength of familial love' - TIME'As the migrant experience becomes crushingly more common around the world, stories such as The Dragons, The Giant, The Women remind us just how personal and painful these displacements are' - Elle, Best New Books of Summer 2020'Wayetu Moore has written an elegant, inspired, page-turning memoir I couldn't put down. Destined to become a classic!' - Mary Karr

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Book SynopsisCooking is thinking! The spatter of sauce in a pan, a cook's subtle deviation from a recipe, the careful labour of cooking for loved ones: these are not often the subjects of critical enquiry. Cooking, we are told, has nothing to do with serious thought; the path to intellectual fulfilment leads directly out of the kitchen. In this electrifying, innovative memoir, Rebecca May Johnson rewrites the kitchen as a vital source of knowledge and revelation. Drawing on insights from ten years spent thinking through cooking, she explores the radical openness of the recipe text, the liberating constraint of apron strings and the transformative intimacies of shared meals. Playfully dissolving the boundaries between abstract intellect and bodily pleasure, domesticity and politics, Johnson awakens us to the richness of cooking as a means of experiencing the self and the world - and to the revolutionary potential of the small fires burning in every kitchen.Trade Review“Small Fires is… brave enough to hurt feelings, and delicious enough for no one to care.” — The New York Times "In Small Fires, Johnson explores how the food we make and the ways we make it—and then the stories we tell about making it—shape who we are. . . . Mixing deeply personal anecdotes with more complex theory, Small Fires is at once relatable and mind-expanding." — Vogue "In this slim, spicy, genre-defining work, Rebecca May Johnson spatchcocks the division between intellectual and domestic labor... Blending humor and academic citation, poetic lineation, and personal reverie, this inquiry into the nature of cooking is as delightfully messy as the process itself—some serious food for thought." — Oprah Daily “A gorgeous book…I love to read about the body and I love to read about food, and this tender little book allowed me to do both.” — Saba Sams, The Guardian “Small Fires is a manifesto for reclaiming cooking as an intellectual... a rewarding book that stayed with me — and, like all brilliant food writing, it made me think twice about what I choose to eat and who I eat it with... a brave, honest book.” — Sunday Times “Rich in pleasure and revelation.” — Observer “Small Fires possesses an intellectual fleet footedness and exuberance akin to the writing of Deborah Levy or Rebecca Solnit, as sentences skip between mischievous punning and impassioned agitation... the enthusiasm of the writing here is generous, embracing and emboldening.” — i news “I recommend the book for its insightful, radical, beautiful essays – and for all the kitchen dancing.” — The Guardian “An electrifying read.” — Olive magazine “Revolutionary… this is a book that wakes up the reader’s senses and delivers critical arguments “spattered” in oil, like the pages of a much-used recipe book, making them palatable.” — Times Literary Supplement “Just incredible... a real revelation.” — Sky Arts Book Club “An electrifying, genre-breaking mixture of food writing, memoir and philosophy, asking profound questions about desire, community, appetite and the body" — Rebecca Tamás, Observer "An intense, thought-provoking enquiry into the very nature of cooking, which stayed with me long after I finished it." — Nigella Lawson "One of the most original food books I've ever read, at once intelligent and sensuous, witty, provoking and truly delicious, a radical feast of flavours and ideas." — Olivia Laing "Small Fires is a smart, creative and thoughtful book: it challenges us to think more about how and why we cook, and confounds our expectations of what food writing can be." — Ruby Tandoh "Liberating... a new way to write about food." — Jonathan Nunn "I loved this genre-busting book which made me look differently at every recipe that I cook. Through a mix of memoir and philosophy, Rebecca May Johnson shows that cooking can be a wild kind of magic." — Bee Wilson "Destined to become essential reading for anyone interested in writing about food... Bold, beautiful, daring... It is a book that changed me." — Rachel Roddy "Small Fires is a tender, electric, intimately transformative work. Rebecca May Johnson has written her own glowing epic, reshaping the notion of the recipe as a text alive with possibility. In her hands, recipes become memory objects, acts of translation, expansive spaces full of feeling." — Nina Mingya Powles, author of Small Bodies of Water "Rebecca May Johnson's scintillating soliloquy on cooking adds a whole new dimension to food-writing, and pulls the tablecloth out from beneath a lot of stale (and often male) assumptions about the nature and value of domestic labour. I'll never think of a 'recipe' in the same way again." — Fuchsia Dunlop "Small Fires is like nothing else I have read. Truly unique, truly unusual, it weaves together cooking, dancing, and the Odyssey in a riveting, and moving exploration of what counts as knowledge. It had me rethinking what a recipe is, what cooking is, what is 'I' and what is 'you'. It is a book that asks profound and serious questions while also being musical, erotic, and deeply pleasurable. Being in the company of Rebecca May Johnson's voice -- companionable, intimate, questioning -- was a sheer delight. I didn't want it to end." — Katherine Angel “The most compelling book about cooking I’ve read this year, perhaps ever. Rebecca is a writer of extraordinary intelligence and wit, and I would push this book with feverish enthusiasm into the hands of anyone who spends time in the kitchen.” — Jackson Boxer’s Christmas gift guide, Evening Standard “Brave, funny, thought-provoking, heart-warming, and like nothing else you will have ever read.” — The best food books for Christmas, Club Oenologique “Cooking is thinking is the takeaway argument of Small Fires, and I can’t tell you how good it felt to read those three words in succession without some kind of qualification.” — Chantal Braganza, Hazlitt “The creative, bracing essays of Rebecca May Johnson’s Small Fires redefine the act of cooking and elevate the value of domestic labor... with a combination of intellectual rigor and playfulness, they analyze the emotions, difficulty, and importance involved in offering food to others.” — Foreword Reviews “In Small Fires, Johnson gives the [recipe] text the epic it deserves, looking at it every which way but prioritizing the living, breathing, hungry eye of the home cook” — N+1 Magazine “A welcoming, challenging, original meditation on recipes and their use.” — Los Angeles Review of Books “Keenly aware of the assumptions that have informed so much writing about food, Johnson seeks to restore cooking to its rightful place as a form of knowledge—one through which pleasure, desire, and resistance can be expressed.” — The New Republic“Johnson peels back the layers, looking at what food, appetite and pleasure mean in a bold and imaginative way.” — Glamour (UK)“Rich in pleasure and revelation.” — Guardian, Paperbacks of the Month“Small Fires put me back in the kitchen. Not just physically, but spiritually. I'm back in my kitchen. I'm making messes. My cookbook pages are splattered with little gluttonies. Food is by no means too good for words, and Johnson's are too perfect a pairing. Read this book or else.” — Stacy Wayne D.

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Book SynopsisI wanted my mother's story. I wanted a tale that could put my world back togetherThree months after Kyo Maclear's father dies, a DNA test reveals that they were not biologically related. All at once Kyo's mother becomes unknown to her; she has a big story to tell, the story of a secret buried for half a century, but her memories are fading. Words are failing them both, so she looks to gardening - her mother's second fluent tongue - to bridge the gap between them. Unearthing is written in the wild green language of soil, seed, leaf and mulch. A memoir of inheritance that goes far beyond heredity, this is the story of what happens when we give up the weeded and pruned plots of our family histories and open ourselves up to a more expansive view of kinship. Told through the passage of seasons, with beautiful illustrations by the author, it is a deeply thoughtful meditation on race, lineage and grief and a tender testimony to the ineradicable love between a mother and a daughter.

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Book SynopsisMaggy Van Eijk knows where the best place to cry in public is: the top deck of a bus, right at the front. She also knows that eating super salty liquorice or swimming in an icy cold pond are things that make you feel alive but aren't bad for you.Turning 27, Maggy had the worst mental health experience of her life so far. She ended a three-year relationship, was almost fired (twice), went to A&E over twelve times, saw three different therapists and had three different diagnoses. But she didn't let that year stop her. Taking pen to paper, Maggy started writing lists. Lists to remind her when she's anxious or when the world won't stop spinning, that everything will be okay, whether it's starfishing her heart out in bed first thing in the morning, or just simply phoning a friend.In her brave and important book, with a brand new chapter, Maggy lays bare the true reality of mental illness in the hope it can help others come out the other side too.

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Book SynopsisHoward Kendall: Notes on a Season provides a unique and rich insight into the legendary manager's historic season of 1984-85. Compiled from the matchday programme notes, Kendall takes us through a campaign that included a league double over Liverpool, an epic 5-0 v Manchester United and Cup Winners' Cup against Bayern Munich.

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Book SynopsisAn ancestry test suggesting she shared some DNA with the Sámi people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic tundra, tapped into Laura Galloway's wanderlust; an affair with a Sámi reindeer herder ultimately led her to leave New York for the tiny town of Kautokeino, Norway. When her new boyfriend left her unexpectedly after six months, it would have been easy, and perhaps prudent, to return home. But she stayed for six years.Dálvi is the story of Laura's time in a reindeer-herding village in the Arctic, forging a solitary existence as she struggled to learn the language and make her way in a remote community for which there were no guidebooks or manuals for how to fit in. Her time in the North opened her to a new world. And it brought something else as well: reconciliation and peace with the traumatic events that had previously defined her - the sudden death of her mother when she was three, a difficult childhood and her lifelong search for connection and a sense of home. Both a heart-rending memoir and a love letter to the singular landscape of the region, Dálvi explores with great warmth and humility what it means to truly belong.Trade ReviewMeeting Laura Galloway in the pages of her memoir has been like dropping into the incredible life of someone who inspires you to the moon and back. How far would you go to save your own life? For Laura the answer is to the ends of the earth. This astonishing, tender, jaw-dropping story is a page turner. Take this unforgettable journey with Laura and return with gems for your own life. -- Sheri Salata, author of THE BEAUTIFUL NO: AND OTHER TALES OF TRIAL, TRANSCENDENCE AND TRANSFORMATIONLaura Galloway's account of her escape to a new life in the Arctic tundra is an enchanting tale of courage, hope and breath-taking grit. I loved it. -- Christina Patterson, author of THE ART OF NOT FALLING APARTAn affecting memoir and a paean to the singular climate and landscape of the Arctic, Dálvi (winter in northern Sámi) is a profound exploration of connections lost and found. * Traveller *[A] compulsive account -- Hephzibah Anderson * Observer *[A] fascinating memoir. * The New European *Remarkable...intriguing...readers can't help but be impressed by her drive * Los Angeles Review of Books *[T]his remarkable memoir is as stirring as it is gripping... a joyous, life-affirming read. * LoveReading *Table of Contents1: Unravelled 2: Ailu 3: Guovdageaidnu 4: Detritus 5: Among the Reindeer 6: Away 7: Bargu (work) 8: Westward 9: Alone 10: Broken 11: Angels Appear 12: Beivvas (sun) 13: Boo 14: The Others 15: Grace 16: I Am Not A Sami 17: London 18: Cahppe 19: Ellos (life) 20: America 21: Nilla 22: Wild 23: Return

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Book SynopsisWhat if you followed your heart to a life that made you truly happy? When her daughter Emmie was 6 years old, Evie Farrell left her corporate career, sold or donated almost everything she owned, rented out her house and, hand-in-hand with Emmie, began an epic two-and-a-half-year backpacking adventure that would change their lives forever. Evie farewelled a nasty break-up, long hours in a demanding job, a hefty mortgage and snatched hours with her daughter for a new life lived outside the lines, spending every day with Emmie exploring the world beyond the suburbs. They camped on the Great Wall of China, hung in train doorways in Sri Lanka, swam with mantas in Indonesia, donated much-needed blood in Cambodia, spotted wild orangutans and pygmy elephants in Malaysian Borneo, prayed in Buddhist temples in Taiwan and were chased by monkeys everywhere. In their journey toward happiness and self-acceptance, they learnt more about each other and the beautiful world around them than Evie ever expected. Backyard to Backpack is the inspirational true story that will have you asking yourself, what might be if you took a chance, stepped off the path of expectation and created your own adventure?

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary memoir of anticipatory grief, seventy-two minutes of life and a silent maternity leave, from artist and academic Tamarin Norwood. A few months into pregnancy, Tamarin Norwood learned that the baby she was carrying would not live. Over the sleepless weeks that followed, Tamarin, her husband and their three-year-old son tried to navigate the unfamiliar waters of anticipatory sorrow and to prepare for what was to come. Written partly during pregnancy and partly during the silent maternity leave that followed, The Song of the Whole Wide World is an emergency response to grief held somewhere between the womb, the grave and the many stories that bind them: stories drawn from medical science, poetry, liturgy, vivid waking dreams of underwater life, and knowledge held deep within the body. This profoundly moving and intimate account offers a lyrical and fearless meditation on birth, death, and the possibilities of consolation.

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Book SynopsisIn this compelling memoir, Erich Sommer recalls his life in pre-war Germany and the adventures he had flying for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Born in 1912, the third son of a district court judge, Erich grew up in an atmosphere of uncertainty following the First World War. In 1932 he started training as a brewery engineer, shortly before the Nazis came to power. The implications this had on the lives of average Germans are described in great detail. When war came in 1939, he became a navigator, successfully serving with the Luftwaffe's first pathfinding unit, then a special and little-known control commission in Morocco to monitor the disarmament of Vichy French forces. He then served as a navigator with a high-altitude squadron flying the relatively rare Ju 86 bomber fitted with a pressurised cabin in missions during the Battle of Britain. He then went to the Russian Front flying radar-equipped Ju 88s tracking Soviet fleet movements. This led to training as a pilot, following which Erich joined a special commando equipped with the revolutionary Arado Ar 234 jet. Shortly afterwards Erich flew the world's first jet-reconnaissance sortie over the invasion front. He ended his war in Italy. After the war, Erich moved with his wife to Australia where he lived peacefully until his death in 2005. With a detailed introduction from acclaimed Luftwaffe historian J. Richard Smith and illustrated throughout with photographs from private family albums, Luftwaffe Eagle is a fascinating insight into the life of an exceptional Luftwaffe pilot and navigator.Trade ReviewIt is one of the best personal accounts to have appeared in many years and should not be missed. -- Flypast * Flypast *Grub Street are to be highly commended for bringing us this readable and gripping account. -- Britain at War

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Book SynopsisMihir Bose, born in Kolkata shortly before Indian independence in 1947, still feels enormous gratitude towards Mr Crombie of the UK's Home Office, who confirmed his permanent resident's rights. After studying in Britain, Bose had dreamed of making a life and career there; now he could pursue it. Shiva Naipaul mocked him for reembracing the colonial lash, doubting Bose's prospects as a writerbut he was wrong.This absorbing account shows how Britain has changed dramatically for the better since the '60s. Then, Indian food was shunned, not adored; landladies wouldn't rent Bose a room; white women would not have relationships for fear of mixed babies; and he suffered several assaults, fearing for his life.Bose could not imagine then that the British would take such great strides towards multi-racial harmony. Yet Britain's complex, sometimes deeply shameful, imperial legacy must still be addressed. India, defying its doubters, has been coming to terms with its tortured past

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Book SynopsisNona Baker stayed behind in the Malayan jungle during WWII and was adopted by Chinese guerrillas. Against all odds, this remarkable, brave young woman, known as Pai Naa (White Nona), remained in the jungle for three years, avoiding capture by the Japanese and betrayal by spies.

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Book SynopsisMary McCann was born in the 1920s into the harsh and deprived countryside life of Northern Ireland. Growing up, she took care of her siblings, wearing clothes that her mother made out of flour sacks. School life was harsh and illness and deprivation were constant threats. Mary adored her hard-working father but felt distant from her mother, with whom she nursed neighbours through diseases that swept through the community. Mary endured many trials and tribulations in her large family before she found her way to London, England and the start of a new life. She had a family of her own but members of the family back home followed her, not always happily. This is a story that will make you laugh and cry - an important historical account of life in Northern Ireland at the beginning of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewAn incredible insight into Northern Irish life in the early 20th Century, Mary Mccann's book describes communities before cars, electricity and the expectations we know of today. From the traditional Irish ceilidhs of rural villages and growth of the IRA, to poverty and illness, this rich depiction of Mary Mccann's experiences is one that will inspire and inform - shedding a light on a time that is no less relevant now as it was then. - James Stewart, Constant Star review

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Book SynopsisTV celebrity judge Farmer Chris on Channel 5 Star's Celebs On The Farm and regularly featured farmer on Channel 5's The Yorkshire Vet, Chris Jeffery tells his remarkable life story, born a farmer's son who became a pig farm manager, milkman, insurance adviser, meat humper, animal nutrition representative to farm supply shop owner, before a career in television beckoned at 60. Chris' amazing journey has taken him from a village near York and a now distant world of Shire horses, girls, rugby and his close circle of pals to a life map that includes Suffolk, Northern Ireland, a Russian love affair, owning a racehorse and proposing to his third wife in the Indian Ocean. Today he is back with his true first love - animals - running a rare breeds farm with his beloved pedigree Whitebred Shorthorn herd and his plum pudding pigs. Follow Chris' highs and lows as he sometimes lurches from crisis to crisis but always comes out smiling - and how a comic moment captured on Channel 5 sealed his opportunity to become the man who calls the shots on the fate of the famous on a celebrity show that has recently been nominated in a series of TV awards.

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Book SynopsisClifford Guard was born in 1923, in the South Wales city of Swansea, into a life of abject poverty. By age 15, he sought escape through joining the merchant navy, and acted on an imperative from his father to reach America where he could forge a different future. When the Second World War broke out, he joined the US Army’s 3rd Armored Division, where he was nicknamed `Limey’ by two friends he’d endure battle with—Trix and The Greek. From the desolation of Omaha Beach to the Battle of the Bulge, they spent the next 11 months dodging gunfire, disarming landmines and liberating towns as they drove the Nazi Army from France. GI Limey is a story about the bond that keeps soldiers together, through the danger of combat and the decades after. In this honest account, Clifford Guard examines how war shaped his identity, one defined by two allied countries an ocean apart.

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Book SynopsisWhere do I truly belong? This is the question Anne Pia continually asked of herself growing up in the Italian-Scots community of post-World War Two Edinburgh. This candid, vibrant memoir shares her struggle to bridge the gap between a traditional immigrant way of life and attaining her goal of becoming an independent-minded professional woman. Through her journey beyond the expectations of family, she discovers how much relationships with other people enhance, inhibit and ultimately define self. Yet – like her relationship with her own mother – her ‘belonging’ in her Italian and Scottish heritages remains to this day unresolved and complex.Trade ReviewLanguage of My Choosing throws fresh light on the Italian community in Scotland and gives its women their individual voice in a new way. This story resonates with the challenges of migration and immigration which we continue to face today. — DONALD SMITH Bold and honest, raw at times but ultimately celebratory, beautifully written and razor sharp; a wonderful blend of autobiography and social history. — ANN MARIE DI MAMBRO

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Book SynopsisPublished to celebrate the life of Mike Peyton, ‘the world’s greatest yachting cartoonist’, this second edition features personal tributes from some 12 other successful and well-known sailors (including Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Sir Ben Ainslie and Tom Cunliffe). They all recognise Mike’s observational talent and comment on how sailors see themselves (or their friends) in his cartoons. Along with 80 of his incomparable cartoons, Mike Peyton recounts how he became a yachting cartoonist and his fifty years of sailing. So as well as chuckling at the cartoons themselves there is the opportunity to learn from Peyton’s 50 years of experience of sailing different boats, meeting a variety of sailors, and getting into – and out of – some truly hilarious situations.Trade Review“A welcome re-run of the greatest cartoons from yachting’s greatest cartoonist.” (Classic Boat) “Looking through the book, which depicts so many years of sailing, it’s easy to understand why Mike’s work is loved by so many. There’s a gentle, warm humour to his work, which will be much missed in the sailing world.” (Sailing Today) “Whatever branch of yachting is our choice, Mike caught us to a tee. His ability to squeeze the juice out of a situation we all have shared, while populating it with characters we know so well, was unique.” (Tom Cunliffe, Yachting World) “As well as 79 classic cartoons, I particularly enjoyed the 32 pages written by Mike filled with wonderfully-observed vignettes from his 50 years afloat, like written versions of his cartoons. Worthy of a place next to anyone’s bunk.” (Yachting Monthly)Table of Contents1. Fifty Years of Sailing; 2. Deep Water; 3. Land in Sight; 4. All Ashore; 5. Jumbles; 6. Below Decks; 7. Stopped for the Moment.

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Book SynopsisIn the Gaza Strip, growing up on land owned by his family for centuries, eleven-year-old Yousef is preoccupied by video games, school pranks, and meeting his father's impossibly high standards. Everything changes when the Second Intifada erupts and soldiers occupy the family home. Yousef's father refuses to flee and risk losing the house forever, so the army keeps the family in a state of virtual imprisonment. Yousef struggles to understand how his father can be so committed to peaceful co-existence that he welcomes the occupying Israeli soldiers as `guests', even in the face of unfair and humiliating treatment. Over time, Yousef learns how to endure his new life in captivity - but he can't anticipate that a bullet is about to transform his future in an instant. Shot by an Israeli soldier at the age of fifteen, and taken to hospital in Tel Aviv, Yousef slowly and painstakingly confronts the paralysis of his lower body. Under the ceaseless care of Israeli medical professionals, he gains a new perspective on the value of co-existence. These transformative experiences set Yousef on a difficult new path that leads him to learn to embody his father's philosophy, and spread a message of co-existence in a world of deep-set sectarianism. The Words of My Father is a moving coming-of-age story about survival, tolerance and hope.Trade Review"To experience love and humanity on many levels, read this story. Beautifully told by a young man whose voice deserves to be heard - even if the world is not yet ready to listen." - Diana Darke, author of The Merchant of Syria "Yousef Khalil Bashir has written a work of profound spiritual beauty, one of the great memoirs to emerge from this terrible conflict. For Israelis like myself, reading Bashir's story is a deeply wrenching experience. And yet, while I strongly disagree with some of his premises, I found myself feeling grateful to Bashir for his open heart and mind. "The Words of My Father" offers all of us hope that this seemingly intractable conflict can find a solution that is just to both sides."-Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

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Book SynopsisLight is changing, dramatically. Our world is getting brighter - you can see it from space. But is brighter always better? Artificial light is voracious and spreading. Vanquishing precious darkness across the planet, when we are supposed to be using less energy. The quality of light has altered as well. Technology and legislation have crushed warm incandescent lighting in favour of harsher, often glaring alternatives. Light is fundamental - it really matters. It interacts with life in profound yet subtle ways: it tells plants which way to grow, birds where to fly and coral when to spawn. It tells each and every one of us when to sleep, wake, eat. We mess with the eternal rhythm of dawn-day-dusk-night at our peril. But mess with it we have, and we still don't truly understand the consequences. In Incandescent, journalist Anna Levin reveals her own fraught relationship with changes in lighting, and she explores its real impact on nature, our built environment, health and psychological well-being. We need to talk about light, urgently. And ask the critical question: just how bright is our future?Trade Review'A vital account of an increasing hazard.' Dr John Lincoln, Trustee, LightAware charity; 'This is an issue whose time has come.' Kevin Gaston, Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter; 'Details the disruptive effects of light pollution on the natural world, from the humble dog whelk to turtles … Incandescent will make you more appreciative of “the ultimate low-energy lighting source”: daylight.' Suzi Feay, Financial Times; 'Incandescent is a well-researched and written book, with accessible analysis and explanations supported by technical details about LED lighting’s potential impact on human health and the wider environment. It throws an intriguing new light on an unanticipated problem that is only now becoming recognised.' Clive Simpson; Praise for Anna Levin's previous book, Otters: Return to the River: 'Stunning . . . a unique insight into these elusive animals.' BBC Wildlife Magazine; 'Captivating . . . a beautiful insight into behaviour that the rest of us would barely glimpse.' BBC Countryfile Magazine; 'Anna has caught the master at his trade and the rippling River Tweed and its lissom otters, and blended them together in these pages so that we can all be out there, with the dew forming on Laurie's long vigils, silent as snow, watching, watching...' Sir John Lister-Kaye;Table of ContentsMy Light Year; Other People’s Stories; This Stuff of Physics, Metaphors and Mysteries; Body and Mind; In the Natural World; The World We’ve Created; Banning the Bulb; The Language of Light and an Ideological Tangle; Now What?; Reflections and Refractions

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Book SynopsisIn Bump, Bike and Baby, Moire O’Sullivan charts her journey from happy, carefree mountain runner to reluctant, stay-at-home mother of two. With her sights set on winning Ireland’s National Adventure Racing Series, she manages to maintain her post-natal sanity, and slowly learns to become a loving and occasionally functioning mum.Trade Review‘A fun, light-hearted and insightful account of the challenges competitive mums are faced with.’'Honest, humorous and insightful: a must-read for mums who run.’‘A winning journey through pregnancy, motherhood and mountains. You can't stop until you get to the end.’‘Bump, Bike and Baby is a hilarious account of her journey through pregnancy and as a new mother, all the while training for the Irish National Adventure Racing Series title. ’ * Outsider Magazine *‘I really enjoyed the book. The honest account of how Moire dealt with coming to terms with becoming a reluctant mum is extremely brave... Brutally honest...’‘Highly recommend this book, whether you are involved in sport or not, it’s a wonderful, honest, raw and eye opening read’ * Kayathlon.ie *‘A refreshing, honest memoir on becoming a mom and not losing one’s identity as acompetitive racer.’ * Booklist Online *‘An insightful, witty and honest account of her challenges in adventure racing and motherhood.’‘Moire’s determination to get back to fitness while learning (and becoming) a loving mum is an excellent read. This book is packed to the brim with inspiration, success, failures.’‘This is a book about how we can belong to different tribes: cyclist, mother, wife, sports champion; and the struggle to balance these identities.’ * Dublin Cycling Campaign *‘I thoroughly recommend this book. It made me laugh, it made me wince but it also addresses important issues and it made me think... Ultimately it’s a story of perseverance, strength and self development all wrapped up with bringing two new little boys in to the world.’ ‘Enjoyable and lighthearted, yet honest and up-front – dealing with some difficult topics with insight and a good dose of humour.’ * WildRunning.net *‘Moire gives us an insight usually lost in the fluffiness of Hallmark pregnancy.’‘Honest and revealing...’ * Run Deep *

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Book SynopsisFeatured in Amazon.com's Best Books of 2018. ‘Every day we put fire and swords and electricity into our bodies, throw knives at them, contort them, wrap them in snakes, and every day we wake up sure those things won’t harm us but also sure that there is so much else that will.’ When her mother had a series of strokes, Tessa Fontaine couldn’t stand to watch her mother disappear. The Electric Woman tells Tessa’s story of joining America’s last travelling freak show, and learning to perform death-defying acts in order to come to terms with her mother’s illness. In her life-affirming memoir, Tessa finds hope and companionship among sword swallowers and snake charmers.Trade Review‘This remarkable, beautifully written memoir explores the depth of mother-daughter love and the courageous acts of overcoming fear and accepting change. ’ * Publishers Weekly *‘This is an assured debut that doesn’t shy away from the task of holding the ordinary and otherworldly in its hand, at once. It’s herein that the book’s power lies... The quiet beauty of this book lies in its ordinary, enigmatic human feats of interpersonal connection.’ * The New York Times *‘A glorious, sequinned affirmation of life and vitality... a genuinely touching denouement to this original debut.’ * The Spectator *‘Fascinating and heartfelt, Fontaine's memoir brushes with death but, more important, finds life and light in unexpected places, giving value to otherness in an unpredictable world.’ * Booklist *‘Astounding, amazing, inspiring and a little bit terrifying.’ * StarTribune *‘Come for the carnie life, stay for the courageous account of facing fear.’ * BookPage *‘Fontaine smashes together two distinct memoirs, one focused on grieving her mother's prolonged illness and death, the other her unlikely, brave'n'crazy season as a small-time carnival performer ... As exciting as the snake handling, card tricks, and ‘secret rituals’ of the carnival's insides are, it is the grinding journey of mom-grief that will resonate with readers ... Take a walk on the wild side, why dontcha?’ * Library Journal *‘Her story about the marvels and heartbreaks of carnival life is thrilling and captivating, and you won't be able to stop talking about it.’ * Bustle *‘Somewhere between knives and fire beats the heart of a young woman daring herself to live. In her memoir, The Electric Woman, Tessa Fontaine weaves her way through a mother-death story and a daughter-coming-alive story against the backdrop of America's last traveling sideshow. There are so many ways to bring ourselves back to life. So many people along the way who become our secular guardian angels. This story is a breathtaking, fire-eating, heart-stopping, death-defying thrill.’‘This book is absolutely a must-read for everyone! Mesmerising...’‘In a word: wow. I read The Electric Woman in a hallucinatory fever filled with hospital beds and carnival rides, gray eyes and biting boa constrictors, brain bleeds and headless bodies, fire eaters and electrified women. Tessa Fontaine is a real-life snake charmer--her writing hooked and hypnotized me from page one. I had to read just one more chapter, just one more until I reached the end of her extraordinary memoir, dismayed that it was over but so grateful for the unforgettable ride.’‘This is a memoir like no other. One in which reinvention means starting out as a heartbroken girl and becoming a fire eater, a snake charmer, an escape artist, an electric woman. These are not metaphors, and yet again they are: expertly developed, sustained, and revealed in intensifying and sometimes terrifying complexity, as Tessa Fontaine enters, embraces, and finally allows herself to be transformed by the carnival's World of Wonders and the unforgettable cast of characters who calls the sideshow home.’‘Yes, I have done it. I have run away to the circus, a realm of wonder, harsh reality, and colorful characters, vividly described by a remarkable writer who pulls off her own high-wire act with honesty and abandon, moving from loss to delight. In The Electric Woman, Tessa Fontaine is an escape artist determined to detonate the grim reality of mere existence, taking us on the most original journey I can remember in a recent memoir. As she moves through guises and adventures, she learns how to become the woman her mother loves and the person she didn't think she could be: her own marvelous self.’‘The Electric Woman is a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at carnival life, and an ode to unconditional love.’‘The Electric Woman is a love story, a coming-of-age, a brilliant exploration of discovery by a young woman ultimately set free by the flames of fire.’‘With fearless grace and piercing intensity, The Electric Woman delivers us to the potent mercy of unmitigated love, the passion of shared suffering, the resilience of the spirit, and the ecstasies of our transfigurations.’‘A beautiful and ferocious book… I loved every page.’

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Book SynopsisYou're probably familiar with tired cliches around gaming culture in the media... that video games are violent and damaging. That they re for children, or society's outcasts; for the lazy and those without purpose. Joe Donnelly is here to tell you that video games, in fact, save lives. They saved his. Inspired by his own experience navigating depression following a tragic personal loss, Checkpoint reflects on the comforting and healing effect that entering into new digital worlds and narratives can have on mental health both personally and on a wider scale. From the big-budget triple A studios, to the one-person indie set-ups, there are thousands of eye-opening games exploring human complexities overtly and subtly all waiting to enthrall and comfort players old and new. Through exclusive, in-depth interviews with video game developers, health professionals, charities and gamers alike, Joe makes the case for the vital value of gaming culture and why we should be more open minded and willing to pick up a controller if not for fun, for the well-being of ourselves and our loved ones.

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Book SynopsisPointless, risky, absurd. Yes, that is the beauty of it - absurdly determined to metamorphose themselves into a glossy photograph seen in a glossy magazine that caused a spark of desire within the tinder-dry kindling of their imagination. They were consumed with all that the photograph promised until that reality could be made theirs: to achieve all of the experience, the life's journey implied within it, to redefine their already long lives, to change themselves, to fast-track to the achievement of the decades of experience exemplified by those young adventurers in that glossy photograph in that glossy magazine. What an absurd notion. For no other reason, it had to be: three quickly became five guys on heritage motorcycles, hooking up with an ex-Special Forces operative and a combat zone photographer to make it seven for a safari across the top of Africa. From Spain to Tangier, they traversed the Riff, navigated the Atlas Mountains, circled Cirque du Jaffar, and rode through the Gorges du Ziz. Rough-riding across Morocco has never been so much fun. Wild camping on the way under star-spattered sky, across unforgiving terrain where luxury is a warm sleeping bag. In places where if you don't guard it you lose it, and where changing co-ordinates on a fast and furious basis makes good sense. Through oft sudden lows where the warmth of a Moroccan welcome exceeds the heat from black coffee, honeyed mint teas, or a meal from a hot tajine. Until dusty boots touch down on the sands of the Sahara at Erg Chebbi to witness a new dawn rise.Trade ReviewPress - Octane magazine, Bike magazine. Author interviews: Talk Radio Europe, Adventure Rider Radio. Podcasts/video on https://www.gbpublishing.co.uk/absurd

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Book SynopsisImagine a time before the whole world knew The Beatles - you are in 1960s Liverpool, standing in an overcrowded, dark, sweaty cellar, waiting for John, Paul, George and Pete to take to the stage - about to witness the face of popular music, and your own life, changing forever. This is the story of Mike and Bernadette Byrne's amazing and uniquely personal journey. They not only witnessed music history being made but they went on to build The Beatles Story, the most successful Beatle exhibition in the world. With no money of their own, little experience, and hardly any support from the city, they succeeded. Bernadette was a Cavern regular who went on to date George and Paul, while Mike was a fellow Merseybeat musician and acquaintance of The Beatles. Like scenes in a Beatles film yet to be made, Bernie was caught with her hair in rollers by George Harrison, Paul McCartney nearly burned her parents' house down and Mike was backed by a 21-year-old Ringo while playing at Butlins Holiday Camp. From escaping screaming fans in George Harrison's car and organising 14 labourers to carry Ringo's customised Mini up an escalator in a Dallas mall, to secret meetings with senior Beatle bosses in a London crypt, this journey is packed with unseen pictures and many untold stories about The Beatles - and how a Liverpool couple helped Liverpool fall in love with the Beatles again. The book is a large, coffee table size hardcover with full colour interior, full of rare and magnificent images.

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Book SynopsisAt birth it was only Amal's father who looked at her and said "I see hope in her face. I want to call her 'Amal'- meaning 'Hope'- in the hope that Allah will give us boys after her." The fifth daughter in a patriarchal society and an indigenous Bedouin in a Jewish state, Amal Elsana came into this world fighting for her right to exist. Today she is a key shaper of public opinion on Israel's marginalized minorities.Hope is a Woman's Name tells of Amal's journey navigating interweaving systems of power and oppression - the patriarchal and the nationalist - in her fight for justice and equality. As a shepherd at the age of 5, she led her flock across the green mountains of Laqiya, her village in the Negev in southern Israel, and later ran literacy classes for the women in her tribe in her early teens, the beginning of a lifelong career organizing people to promote policy change for Israel's Bedouin, a minority within the Palestinian minority. She later established economic empowerment programs for marginalized women, helping to found an Arab-Jewish school, and creating organizations to promote shared society. Where others come up against obstacles, Amal builds bridges; not by sacrificing her identity, but by embracing it. Each thread of her identity - Bedouin, Arab, woman, feminist, Palestinian and Israeli - is woven into the tent of her life, a tent where no one is left out in the sun.

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Book SynopsisAbdul is just 7 years old when his parents are killed before his eyes.As a brutal war sweeps Sudan, Abdul and his 3-year-old brother are forced to flee.Their gruelling journey across the Sahara to a refugee camp in Chad is fraught with danger, and every day is a struggle against hunger and disease.Until one day Abdul is offered a chance to escape. A chance that could save him, but will force him to make the most heartbreaking decision of his life.Abdul's death-defying flight leaves deep scars. But his affinity with animals provides a lifeline, when he is offered the chance to work with elite racehorses. Including one owned by the Queen.____________________________________________________'What Abdul has gone through is simply unimaginable. But his story shows the incredible power of sport to bring people together and help them to heal, even after the most appalling suffering.' CLARE BALDING'A lesson to us all in courage and hope' LORD DUBS, who escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport in 1939

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Book SynopsisHow do you teach a mother to love her child, when she's still a child herself?Jeanie Doyle nurtures, teaches and cares for young and dysfunctional mums, showing them how to care for their newborn babies, sometimes even taking the mother into foster care before the baby is born.The first in a brand-new series of books by the 'foster super-gran', Wicked Girl is the shocking true story of the very first case Jeanie dealt with: a baby girl who was found abandoned on the steps of a church just before Christmas. While the 14-year-old mother was tracked down, Jeanie took her little daughter into her own care. But while she tried to help the two of them heal and bond, the terrible truth about the baby's father was revealed...A twist on the standard Cathy Glass books, Wicked Girl offers Jeanie's rare perspective of fostering young women alongside their babies. Will mother and daughter be reunited for good, or will the vulnerable young mother make the heartbreaking decision that they are both better off apart?

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