Memoirs Books

Book Synopsis'One of the most beautiful books you will ever read' Kate Mosse In this powerful memoir, Joanna Cannon tells her story as a junior doctor in visceral, heart-rending snapshots. We walk with her through the wards, facing extraordinary and daunting moments: from attending her first post-mortem, sitting with a patient through their final moments, to learning the power of a well- or badly chosen word. These moments, and the small sustaining acts of kindness and connection that punctuate hospital life, teach her that emotional care and mental health can be just as critical as restoring a heartbeat. In a profession where weakness remains a taboo, this moving, beautifully written book brings to life the vivid, human stories of doctors and patients - and shows us why we need to take better care of those who care for us.Trade ReviewI tore through Breaking and Mending... frank, emotional and compassionate -- David NichollsOne of the most beautiful books you will ever read -- Kate MosseJoanna Cannon's powerful, moving memoir of her time as a junior doctor is so good. -- Nina StibbeNow a best-selling writer, Cannon's stories of her time as a junior doctor explore how humans can give each other hope and compassion in even the darkest of moments. -- Jameela Jamil * Stylist *The story of the struggling NHS has been told in several excellent books recently, and this is among the best. We need to listen. -- Katy Guest * Guardian *In Breaking and Mending, [Joanna Cannon] brings her literary talents to her previous career in a memoir brimming with her trademark compassion and psychological insight. ... What sets Cannon's book apart is not just its humanity and wisdom but the novelist's keen observational eye. Cannon is a chronicler both of the human condition and the quotidian details - the clothes, the tics, the sights, sounds, smells and ephemera - which speak to who we are. -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *Before she became a novelist, Cannon worked as a doctor. Here, she recalls her days on the wards in the most moving way. -- Anna Bonet * Red *This raw and emotional memoir ... is full of depth and insight, and made me so grateful to all those who work in healthcare. -- Nina Pottell * Prima *Powerful, shocking and intimate all at the same time -- John BoyneI will be buying Breaking & Mending today and you should too -- Adam Kay, author of THIS IS GOING TO HURTA deeply moving, thought-provoking memoir written with true compassion and intelligence -- Nathan FilerAll doctors should read this - and patients too. Emotionally wise and beautifully written -- Jill MansellCannon is on her way to becoming a national treasure - no one does quirky, funny and soul-searing the way she does * Emerald Street *There is so much compassion in this memoir, so much kindness and empathy. But there is also anger at the way the caring profession doesn't seem to care for those who work in it. It's a heartbreaking read but it ends on a hopeful note. -- Eithne Farry * The Sunday Express *A book driven by kindness and hope. It's a rare view into a strange and challenging word. -- Kerry Fowler * Sainsbury's Magazine *Fascinating read -- Lucy AtkinsBreaking & Mending is one of the most moving, compelling books I've ever read -- Marian KeyesHas all the makings of a highly charged novel, complete with unsavoury characters: the registrar who abandons the newly qualified Cannon mid-shift to go on holiday, the consultant who shouts and spits on her during a meeting. And there is plenty of tragedy, as she writes frankly about how difficult she found it to maintain professional distance from her most heartbreaking cases. Ultimately, though, hers is a hopeful story ... this NHS memoir is well-paced and often beautifully told. -- Lucy Knight * Sunday Times *Wonderful -- Jill MansellBreathtaking -- Louise DoughtyThere's an admirable ballsiness to Cannon. She whistleblows. She wears her heart on her sleeve. Plainly, she wants to nurture mental health in others and seeks to expose the stress, ridiculous workload and lack of pastoral care she experienced in medicine ... She writes lyrically, with a novelist's verve and colour -- Melanie Reid * Times *It is a breathtaking book ... Cannon's narrative skill here is subtle yet tremendous ... Cannon does language expertly, describing not only how to live, but why. I imagine she was the kind of doctor that surely all doctors should strive to be: human, honest, questioning, and (carefully) kind ... Joanna Cannon's story is beautiful. Here's to the wild cards. -- Christie Watson * Telegraph *Intimate, delicately constructed and as absorbing as it is arresting * i Paper *Intimate, delicately constructed and as absorbing as it is arresting -- Sophie Morris * Scotland on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisBinyavanga Wainaina tumbled through his middle-class Kenyan childhood out of kilter with the world around him.This world came to him as a chaos of loud and colourful sounds: the hair dryers at his mother's beauty parlour, black mamba bicycle bells, mechanics in Nairobi, the music of Michael Jackson - all punctuated by the infectious laughter of his brother and sister. He could fall in with their patterns, but it would take him a while to carve out his own. In this vivid and compelling debut, Wainaina takes us through his school days, his failed attempt to study in South Africa, a moving family reunion in Uganda, and his travels around Kenya.The landscape in front of him always claims his main attention, but he also evokes the shifting political scene that unsettles his views on family, tribe, and nationhood. Throughout, reading is his refuge and his solace. And when, in 2002, a writing prize comes through, the door is opened for him to pursue the career that perhaps had been beckoning all along. Resolutely avoiding stereotype and cliche, Wainaina paints every scene in One Day I Will Write About This Place with a highly distinctive and hugely memorable brush.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the PEN/Ackerley Prize 2013.At the tender age of fourteen, Richard Holloway left his home town of Alexandria, north of Glasgow, and travelled hundreds of miles to be educated and trained for the priesthood at an English monastery. By the age of twenty-five he had been ordained and was working in the slums of Glasgow. Through the forty years that followed, Richard touched the lives of many people as he rose to one of the highest positions in the Anglican Church. But behind his confident public faith lay a restless heart and an inquisitive mind. Poignant, wise and fiercely honest, Leaving Alexandria is a remarkable memoir of a life defined by faith but plagued by doubt.Trade ReviewLeaving Alexandria is many things. It is a compelling account of a journey through life, told with great frankness; it is a subtle reflection on what it means to live in an imperfect and puzzling world; and it is a highly readable insight into one of the most humane and engaged minds of our times. It is, quite simply, a wonderful book -- ALEXANDER McCALL SMITHLeaving Alexandria is a profound, personal investigation of the virtues and flaws of religion and the most stirring autobiography I have read in a great many years. It is also a meditation on the nature of one's own identity -- JOHN GRAY * * New Statesman * *At a time when the world has urgently needed wise and compassionate leadership, this poignant memoir, written with the integrity, intelligence and wit that we expect from Richard Holloway, lays bare the ludicrous and entirely unnecessary mess we have made of religion -- KAREN ARMSTRONGA beautifully written and often funny, emotional and intellectual self-exploration by one of the most extraordinary churchmen of our time -- BRYAN APPLEYARD * * Sunday Times * *Candid and deeply moving . . . Nobody could fail to be intensely moved by the final chapters of his memoir . . . a deeply lovable man; and what a wonderful book he has written -- MARY WARNOCK * * Observer * *Richard Holloway's memoir is endlessly vivid and fascinating. It's the record of a mind too large, too curious and far too generous to be confined within any single religious denomination. His account of how a passionate, intelligent boy grew out of a poor and deprived background without ever losing touch with the humane values it gave him, will be a delight and inspiration to believers, non-believers, and ex-believers alike -- PHILIP PULLMANThis is a portrait of a formerly devoted Christian who, by confessing his faults and doubts to us, becomes exemplary, an Everyman, and a guide to how we too might lose faith without sacrificing our souls -- ALAIN DE BOTTAIN * * The Times * *Leaving Alexandria gives a profound sense of the benefits, as well as the difficulties, that accrue from taking a zigzag path through life . . . it summarises an argument that a lot of people will find sympathetic, as well as compelling * * Guardian * *Captures the bewildering range of churches within the Church . . . Holloway certainly throws down the gauntlet - with a quiet, elegiac passion - to Christians who arm themselves in certainty . . . They should read this wide, erudite book as a matter of urgency * * Sunday Telegraph * *This is a deeply moving and disturbing biography. Holloway, is a confident author, assured when recreating both the past and the feelings that moments evoked . . . A writer capable of considerable brilliance, an intellectual who can provoke thought, a genuinely good man trying to be better * * Herald * *

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Book SynopsisA charming, illustrated gift book combining two timelessly stylish subjects - Audrey Hepburn and the city of Paris.Both classic, both inimitable, both fashion icons - Audrey Hepburn and Paris are a match made in heaven. Falling in love with the city at a young age, Audrey returned to Paris again and again in some of her most celebrated films (Sabrina, Funny Face, How to Steal a Million, Charade) wearing outfits from her favourite Parisian couturier, Hubert de Givenchy, and creating some of the most significant fashion moments of the twentieth century.Audrey in Paris brings together over 100 stunning photographs of her most iconic moments in the city, from film stills and behind-the-scenes shots to candid images of Audrey enjoying the city as a visitor. The book also includes a bespoke illustrated map showing her favourite spots. While dozens of successful books on Audrey have been published, this will be the first to document her time in the city of light.Tapping into Audrey's status as a fashion idol, which spans across the generations, as well as Paris's status as the world's capital of elegance, Audrey in Paris combines the gifty charm of How to be Parisian Wherever You Are with Audrey's forever appeal as a fashion muse.Gorgeous finishes will make this a stylish gift book to be treasured for years to come.

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'A fascinating demythologising of the Playboy brand and Hefner himself' - Pandora Sykes'A raw, honest unveiling of the misogyny and darkness of the Playboy Mansion. . . I almost feel compelled to send a copy to every young woman who still believes the legacy of Playboy holds some glamour or promise' - Ellie FlynnOne of Stylist’s 'best non-fiction for 2024'One of the Independent’s 2024 'must-reads'One of The Sunday Times 'most exciting memoirs' for 2024'I was 21 years old when I found myself on the front stoop of the Playboy Mansion. I want to tell the real story of my time there - the good and the bad, the dark and the light.'In 2008 the Playboy mansion became Crystal Harris's sanctuary - a shimmering vestige of opportunity. Within months she had ascended its hierarchy to become Hugh Hefner's top girlfriend. But her new home came at a cost. Forced to follow strict rules that governed everything from her appearance to behaviour, she began to lose her identity. By the time she married Hef in 2012, the mansion had become her prison.Having made a promise to Only Say Good Things, for years Crystal suppressed the truth of what really happened behind the mansion's closed doors. Now, in this raw and honest memoir, she's finally ready to expose it all.Laying bare the devastating impact that a culture of relentless objectification and misogyny had on her health, Crystal's extraordinary story carries powerful lessons that are relevant to us all.Trade ReviewLifts the lid on the bleak truth of the inside story of the Playboy empire * Stylist *A fascinating demythologising of the Playboy brand and Hefner himself - who is revealed to be an agoraphobic megalomaniac incapable of real emotion.What drew so many women to him? And why did they stay? In this absorbing memoir, Crystal Hefner grapples with these questions and many more, with admirable candour -- Pandora SykesThis was such a raw, honest unveiling of the misogyny and darkness of the Playboy Mansion. Crystal reflects on both the vulnerabilities that led her into Hugh Hefner’s orbit, and the impact that his empire had on society and other young women with such candour that I almost feel compelled to send a copy to every young woman who still believes the legacy of Playboy holds some glamour or promise. Crystal’s ability to question her own complicity in Hugh Hefner’s misogynistic world, while also reflecting on all the complex factors that led her there is refreshing, and relatable for so many women and young girls who are still sold the lie that our self-worth is tied to our appearance or attractiveness to men. -- Ellie Flynn * Investigative journalist and broadcaster *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY AWARD 2025From Hanif Kureishi, author of The Buddha of Suburbia, a memoir about the accident that left him paralysed.___________________A few days ago, a bomb went off in my life, but this bomb has also shattered the lives of those around me. My partner, my children, my friends.'On Boxing Day 2022, in Rome, Hanif Kureishi had a fall. When he came to, in a pool of blood, he was horrified to realise he had lost the use of his limbs.He could no longer walk, write or wash himself. He could do nothing without the help of others, and required constant care in a hospital. So began an odyssey of a year through the medical systems of Rome and Italy, with the hope of somehow being able to return home, to his house in London.While confined to a series of hospital wards, he felt compelled to write, but being unable to type or to hold a pen, he began to dictate to family members the words which formed in his head. The result was an extraordinary series of dispatches from his hospital bed a diary of a life in pieces, recorded with rare honesty, clarity and courage.This book takes these hospital dispatches edited, expanded and meticulously interwoven with new writing and charts both a shattering and a reassembling: a new life born of pain and loss, but animated by new feelings of gratitude, humility and love.Moving, funny, remarkable' Richard Eyre''Extraordinary, unique and unputdownable'' Independent

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Book Synopsis'Sheila had such a remarkable way of bringing her characters and her stories to life and we are all very grateful for the lovely legacy she left behind through her novels.' Rosie GoodwinOne last cough from the overheated engine of the Morris 8 and the bulging doors appeared to burst at the seams, with children tumbling eagerly out and dispersing in all directions - rushing past the shabby old weather boarded cottage into the tangled orchard and, with joyous whoops, discovering the gnarled plum trees groaning under the weight of huge, glistening purple-red Victorias. At the outbreak of World War II seven-year-old Sheila and her family left Surrey to take refuge in Suffolk. For Sheila country life was strange at first, but roaming the fields and picking wildflowers was what childhood dreams were made of. When the bombing died down, the family moved back to Surrey, but Sheila would later return to the countryside when she, her hus

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF 2024 LAKELAND BOOK OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING''It raises the standard of nature writing. This is both radical manifesto and activism in book form'' Sally Huband, author of Sea Bean''Long before I knew I was sick, I knew I was breakable . . .''After years of unexplained health problems, Polly Atkin''s understanding of her body had become fluid and disjointed. When she was finally diagnosed with two chronic conditions in her thirties, she began to piece together her own history: the fractures and dislocations, the exhaustion and medical disregard.A searing blend of memoir, nature writing and pathography, Some of Us Just Fall traces a remarkable journey through illness. From misdiagnoses to wild swimming in the Lake District, Polly examines her genetic inheritance, her place in the natural world and her future in her body.

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Book SynopsisThe quintessential book for Newcastle United fans everywhere, Sky Sports presenter Pete Graves tells the inside story of the Magpies today, using exclusive interviews with Eddie Howe and other club legends.Welcome to Newcastle United, the most exciting football club in the world right now.Since joining the team in 2021, Eddie Howe has been determined to transform Newcastle United from a perennial underachiever into one of the biggest teams in not just the Premier League, but Europe as well. With the players, fans and decision-makers finally all working together, and with the pain of the past behind them, the Magpies are ready for a new era to begin...Telling the story of Newcastle through some of its most competitive moments, including Kevin Keegan and Bobby Robson''s stewardships, as well as touching on some of its trickier times, television presenter and diehard fan Pete Graves recaps the team''s history and goes inside the club to sho

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Book SynopsisJen Hadfield was the youngest poet to win the T. S. Eliot Prize for her second collection, Nigh-No-Place, which was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. She has also won an Eric Gregory Award and the Edwin Morgan Poetry Competition. She lives in Shetland with her family.

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Book SynopsisA gripping and powerful account of what prison is like and what it takes to make it through... Make sure you read it. Kimberley ChambersWidely known in the criminal underworld as the ''Black Widow'', Linda Calvey spent the first half of her life in league with the UK''s top gangsters, robbing banks and rubbing shoulders with the Kray twins. That is, until her lover Ronnie crook was murdered at point-blank, and she was falsely convicted for murder.Having spent decades behind bar, Linda is now Britain''s longest serving female prisoner. Detailing the systems, characters and rules of prison life, as well as her run ins with notorious criminals Charles Bronson, Myra Hindley and Rose West, this is her story of life inside, and how she learnt to survive.Featuring stories of fights, dodgy dealings and what happens when a screw gets taken hostage, this is a gritty and eye-opening look at prison life from a woman who has seen it all.It will change y

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Book Synopsis* AS HEARD ON STEPHEN BARTLETT'S DIARY OF A CEO * * THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK * ‘I wish he could be editor of the world!’ GRAHAM NORTON ‘Courageously truthful’ SALMAN RUSHDIE ‘Inspiring and fascinating’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO Edward Enninful has lived an extraordinary life. Here, for the first time, he shares the inspiring story of his journey, beginning in a childhood bedroom in Ghana overlooking firing squads, to arriving in 1990s London as an asylum seeker, to today setting the cultural agenda as the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue. His covers have changed our understanding of beauty and desirability. Featuring exclusively African models, first responders, global activists and the oldest cover star at age 85, they have also broken sales records. This is the story of how he did it. A Visible Man is the story of a husband, son, brother, friend – and icon. Taking us from the neon thrills of Soho clubs to nights spent on friends’ sofas, this is the story of Edward’s phenomenal grit and determination: through fame and failures, joy and loss, ill health and addiction, heartbreak and coming out. It’s the story of one man’s revolutionary mission to change how we see the world, showing how unwavering passion and perseverance can allow anyone to make their mark. --- ‘Enjoy it. Share it.’ IDRIS ELBA ‘Inspirational . . . and it’s not just for people in fashion’ CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN ‘One of the most inspirational books I’ve ever read’ CHRIS EVANS 'Edward Enninful is a pioneer’ ELIZABETH DAYTrade ReviewAnyone interested in what it takes, from a beautiful human being's point of view, to change an industry from within, should read this book. Edward offers an insight only he can -- Idris ElbaEdward Enninful inspires a whole new generation to show us anything is possible when you work hard with love and passion . . . This book is a revelation and shows the genius and strength of this wonderful, pioneering, legendary man of fashion -- Donatella VersaceI had so much fun reading A Visible Man. Edward, as always, speaks from his very large heart -- Grace CoddingtonHis absorbing self-portrait gives us profound insights into growing up black and gay in Ghana, London, and in the fashion media . . . It’s a terrific and, I think, important book -- Salman RushdieWhat fun! -- Kate MossEdward’s story is a true beacon of inspiration, hope and change for the better. He has blazed a path for so many to follow, which sadly had never been possible before -- Claudia SchifferEdward’s journey is a lesson for the culture and future generations to come -- Naomi CampbellAn inspiring and fascinating memoir about an extraordinary man who has become a major global changemaker . . . He writes about the highs and lows of his life and career with an admirably honest self-awareness about his own vulnerabilities . . . [and] a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed when you are considered an outsider -- Bernardine EvaristoInspiring, entertaining, ground-breaking -- Munroe BergdorfI knew very little of Edward Enninful's life before reading his new memoir. What a story! A fairytale that never shies away from the harsh realities of contemporary life. I wish he could be editor of the world!' -- Graham NortonEdward’s book is the proof that you that you can have a beautiful soul, an extraordinary eye, and a loving heart… and confirms that showing vulnerability can be inspiring and glamorous! -- Diana von FurstenbergEdward Enninful is not just a local hero but a globe icon -- Steve McQueenEdward is carrying out important work, leading change, and challenging the obsolete elements of the fashion system, while never disrespecting the legacy and the goals that fashion has achieved -- Giorgio ArmaniA remarkable book’ -- Krishnan Guru-MurthyThe memoir — beautifully written and compelling — depicts the story of a shy, studious boy from a conservative, high-achieving family whose talent and drive propelled him from nowhere to the top of the fashion world . . . He is a serious man, on a serious mission; complacency is not in his vocabulary * Irish Examiner *What a book . . . I inhaled it . . . Inspirational . . . The book is wonderful . . . and it’s not just for people in fashion -- Claudia WinklemanWhile his achievements (and friendship with Rihanna) are the reason to pick up his memoir, the real treat is in his come-up story, which he tells with honesty, heart and plenty of juicy details – qualities that are still all-too-rare in fashion * Guardian Australia: 15 Great Celebrity Memoirs *

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Book SynopsisSure to be hailed alongside H is for Hawk and The Hare with Amber Eyes, an exceptional work that is at once an astonishing journey across countries and continents, an immersive examination of a great artist's work, and a moving and intimate memoir.At the age of 42, his father not long dead and his young sons growing fast, Toby Ferris set off on a seemingly quixotic mission to track down each of the 42 surviving paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who, at the age of 42, had been approaching the end of his own short life.Over the next five years Ferris would travel to 22 galleries in 19 cities in 12 countries across 2 continents: Budapest to San Diego, Detroit to Naples, Berlin to Madrid, ticking off his Bruegels as he went.The results of his journeying are a revelation: Bruegel's panels, their landscapes teeming with robust life, become a lens through which Ferris takes stock of the world, informing everything from mortality, fatherhood, and contemporary life, to the bombing of RotteTrade Review‘I was reminded a little of Sebald, a little of Teju Cole, a little of Geoff Dyer – but mostly I knew I had met a book that kept its own rules and knew its own voice … Oddly beautiful and beautifully odd, it will draw many readers into its strange world, and the short lives that it contains’ Robert Macfarlane ‘A quixotic global quest to see all of the master’s 45 paintings’ Sunday Times ‘…an intricately plotted book that is by turns stimulating and moving…the real strength of this book lies in Ferris’s infectious enthusiasm for Bruegel, and every arcane offshoot loops back to the artist’s work. He is brilliant on the detail, on the slight variations that denote the master from the copyists, on the realities of peasant life, on the marginal figures; and Bruegel of all painters is the most rewarding subject for this sort of scrutiny’ Spectator ‘…an uncategorisable book that mingles paintings and pensées, history and life lessons, travel and memoir. The pictures, every one of them enigmatic, stimulate innumerable musings and thoughts, some random, some focussed… This book mimics the way the mind works when confronted with compelling but complicated paintings’ Literary Review ‘The advent of Toby Ferris’s 42nd birthday sparked him off on a quest to visit each one of the 42 surviving paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The project had little to do with either Bruegel or painting, and everything to do with Ferris’s own listlessness, exacerbated by the recent death of his father. So packed with life are those 16th-century images that Ferris mined them for insights into the human condition: “birth to death in 42 panels”, as the subtitle has it, but with less weighty digressions, too, on everything from children’s games to mastodons’ New Statesman

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Book Synopsis'Horizon is magnificent; a contemporary epic' Robert Macfarlane, author of UnderlandFrom the author of the classic Arctic Dreams comes a vivid recollection of his travels around the world and the encounters that shaped an extraordinary life. Taking us nearly from pole to pole - from modern megacities to some of the earth's most remote regions - Barry Lopez gives us his most far-ranging and personal work. Spanning decades of travel, Horizon describes journeys to six regions of the world: from Western Oregon to the High Arctic; from the Galápagos to the Kenyan desert; from Botany Bay in Australia to finally, unforgettably, the ice shelves of Antarctica. Lopez also probes the history of humanity's quests and explorations, from prehistoric expeditions to today's ecotourism. He takes us to some of the hottest, coldest, and most desolate places on the globe, via friendships with scientists, archaeologists, artists and local residents, in a book that makes us see the world differently. It is the crowning achievement of one of the world's best travel writers. 'The greatest nature writer in the world ... He is also the greatest travel writer ... [an] astounding new memoir' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewThe greatest nature writer in the world ... He is also the greatest travel writer ... [an] astounding new memoir -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *Magnificent; a contemporary epic -- Robert Macfarlane * Guardian, Book of the Week *Riveting, seductive, and beautifully written. I don’t know of any other writer who so mesmerizingly, so seemingly effortlessly, weaves together art, science and poetry—I found myself underlining sentences on every page. Barry Lopez is one of my literary heroes -- Andrea WulfBarry Lopez brings the world alive like no other writer. His writing evokes diverse peoples and places with great humanity and humility. Horizon deserves to become a modern classic -- Sir Ranulph FiennesA visionary masterpiece, a towering monument to a life dedicated to the whole of the world and everything in it -- Neil Ansell, author of The Last WildernessA celebration and investigation of the impulse to explore, Horizon is itself an exploration—of both the human and inhuman worlds. In his intensity, his clarity, and his capacity for wonder, Barry Lopez is unmatched -- Elizabeth KolbertBarry Lopez is a straight-up magnificent writer. To read Horizon is to be transported to wondrous landscapes far beyond the pale, and thereby obtain an astounding perspective on our increasingly uncertain future. Lopez expresses faith that our species can avert annihilation by investing ‘more deeply in the philosopher’s cardinal virtues’: courage, justice, reverence, and compassion—virtues this book possesses in abundance -- Jon KrakauerThe world is vast, and so are the heart and the curiosity of Barry Lopez. His voice is incomparable and necessary. No one else alive, to my knowledge, thinks so carefully about the moral dimensions of landscape -- David QuammenNobody journeys like Barry Lopez. He's humble, he's ethical, he's honest, he's curious, he's doubtful, he's properly sad and he's wild. He wakes us up to the worth and the mystery of the world. His great affection for humanity comes up from every patch of earth he visits. This is an epic book that goes from pole to pole, and yet manages to make a distinct 'everywhere' out of each little patch he visits. A glorious book, gloriously told -- Colum McCannA masterpiece ... huge-hearted, wise and sorrowful book by the Philosopher-King of Gaia -- Joy WilliamsNo one has worked harder to make sense of our present civilization than Barry Lopez, and in these chronicles we get to share the travels that helped shape his extraordinary mind and heart. A great gift to us all -- Bill McKibbenThe crowning achievement of Barry Lopez's illustrious career… we need adventurous, curious souls like Lopez to keep traveling and bringing back stories from beyond our particular horizon - in order to find our way forward as a species, together * Daily Mail *Reading Barry Lopez is a religious experience… most memorable and compelling * Observer *Breathtaking in its ambition… There could be no more essential guide than Lopez for navigating the time that remains * Sunday Times *Subtle, monumental, rich * Nature *Lopez… [is] renewing our sense of the entire planet…as home… He can move from the largest of canvases to the most local and seemingly familiar… [A] keen and uncompromising critic of the continuing colonialism that plagues the so-called developing world… At the same time, hope can be drawn from the fact that more of us are finally beginning to notice our predicament… a surer appreciation and reverence of the world that we inhabit -- John Burnside * Literary Review *A winning memoir ... Exemplary writing about the world and a welcome gift to readers * Kirkus Review *Horizon encompasses both the conquistadors’ lust for gold and the mining of Big Data… I don’t know whether Lopez is possessed of extrasensory perception, but he’s not short of wisdom. And he’s not merely keeping it; he’s sharing it. -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph *Superb essays that reveal the author's remarkable technical mastery of very diverse subjects, and these are rewarding. More-over, the examples of Captain Cook and Charles Darwin are on hand as historical proxies and inspirations for Lopez's own quest for global inclusivity. Finally there is, as distraction almost on every page, the sonorous cadence of his prose -- Mark Cocker * Spectator *Horizon…[is] a magisterial and deeply personal survey of the world’s most remote regions… it is enthralling -- Penelope Lively * Tablet, *Summer reads of 2019* *The best parts of Horizon are like a carefully constructed mosaic… Lopez packs his pages like the hold of a cargo plane, with everything strapped down, aisles between, and labelled… Horizon…has a definite design – like that of a garden -- Benjamin Lytal * London Review of Books *Life-affirming -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year* *Life-affirming in its depictions of the wonders that remain... You’ll find it a lot smarter than your phone * Daily Telegraph, *Travel books of the year* *An epic account of a life lived in love with and scrutiny of our wounded natural world -- Robert Macfarlane * Big Issue, *Books of the Year* *The horizon…serves as a metaphor for humanity’s future, one in which a definitive ending is not yet in sight. Horizon is not, therefore, without hope. There is still time for us to alter our behaviour -- Elizabeth-Jane Burnett * Times Literary Supplement *This is a book to be read slowly, savouring the descriptive language and side-tracking to research the human and natural history touched on by its long reach... If you have nature in your soul, you won't regret spending time reading this book when you're not - it will inspire, enthral and encourage your own reflections and observations. In this sense, it is both practical and escapist, and there is no greater praise for such a work of expansive non-fiction, a late enrichment to an already deep and wide life's work -- David Callahan * Birdwatch *A magnificent achievement: symphonic in structure, epic in scope, its themes and ideas develop across 500 pages, all rendered in prose of spare and sinuous clarity -- John Mitchinson * Byline Times *

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Book SynopsisWhen her father becomes gravely ill on holiday in Budapest, Alexandra Fuller rushes to join her mother at his bedside, where they see out his last days together and then carry his ashes back to their farm in Zambia. A master of time and memory, Fuller moves seamlessly between the days and months following her father's death. She contends with his overwhelming absence, and her memories of a childhood spent running after him in southern and central Africa. She then faces seemingly irreparable family fallout, new love found and lost, and, eventually, further unimaginable bereavement. Bursting with pandemonium and tragedy, here is a story of joy, resilience and vitality, from a writer at the very height of her powers.Trade ReviewTravel Light, Move Fast ceaselessly surprises, delights and devastates in unequal measure. Poignant and utterly profound. I read it in a single sitting. -- Richard E. GrantHer writing is all her own, graceful, full of dry humor, and charming. In her hands, a life becomes art. * The Millions *Fuller writes with devastating humour and directness about desperate circumstances . . . tender, remarkable * Daily Telegraph *In Travel Light, Move Fast, the author draws her father to center stage - and shows how essential his love and lightheartedness were to their survival ... As Fuller shows in this beautifully written and deeply loving portrait, laughing and crying are such a huge part of life -- Fiammetta Rocco * The New York Times *Her prose is fierce, unsentimental, sometimes puzzled, and disconcertingly honest * Sunday Telegraph *Owning a great story doesn't guarantee being able to tell it well. That's the individual mystery of talent, a gift with which Alexandra Fuller is richly blessed * Entertainment Weekly *[Fuller's] family remains endlessly fascinating and delightful companions for long-time readers and new ones alike. . . A gorgeously written tribute to a life well lived and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable loss and grief. * Booklist *[Fuller] sifted through a lifetime of memories in order to pen this celebration of the man whose profound influence helped shape her own worldview. [She]writes gracefully about embracing grief as an indelible part of the human experience. Another elegant memoir from a talented storyteller. * Kirkus Reviews *I loved this book so much I was appalled. Why, when bookshops are stacked full of memoirs by authors who can't write, isn't Alexandra Fuller heaped up in perilous piles so near the till it's impossible to evade her? It's packed with exquisite jokes, quotes and details... I'd demand memoir upon memoir, if it weren't for the devastation. * Spectator *Fuller's story is exquisitely rendered, and told with an honesty as beautiful as it is heartbreaking ... More than a memoirist, Fuller is an interpreter of humanity, a reminder that beyond our capacity for love and our willingness to endure, grace is within our reach. * Winnipeg Review *

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Book SynopsisAn intimate, riveting portrait of modern Turkey, combining memoir, politics and history.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisIt's Belfast, 1975. The city lies under the dark cloud of the Troubles, and hatred fills the air like smoke. But Tony Macaulay has just turned twelve and he's got a new job. He's going to be a paperboy. And come rain or shine or bombs and mortar he will deliverPaperboy lives in Upper Shankill, Belfast, in the heart of the conflict between Loyalists and Republicans. Bombings are on the evening news, rubble lies where buildings once stood, and rumours spread like wildfire about the IRA and the UDA.But Paperboy lives in a world of Doctor Who, Top of the Pops and fish suppers. His battles are fought with all the passion of Ireland's opposing sides but against acne, the dentist and the wee hoods' who rob his paper money. On his rounds he hums songs by the Bay City Rollers, dreams about outer space and dreams even more about the beautiful Sharon Burgess.In this touching, funny and nostalgic memoir, Tony Macaulay recounts his days growing up in Belfast during the Troubles, the harrowing yeTrade Review‘A wholly delightful book’ Irish Independent ‘An enchantingly-written story of a young boy coming to terms with the world around him; a very readable romp that will appeal to nostalgic and curious readers alike.’ Verbal Magazine

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Book SynopsisWhat a beautiful, rich, poetic memoir this is. Phyllis writes of longing, suffering, family, and food with such delicate power. Like the best chefs, she knows how to make a masterpiece from a few simple ingredients: truth, poignancy, and love. A wonderful book.' Elizabeth Gilbert, author of 10 million copy bestseller Eat, Pray, LoveBake. I bake for others. Belgian waffles, French toast, crêpes, chocolate chip cookies. When I cook, I am calm, I am confident. There is comfort in the logic.Chef and award-winning writer Phyllis Grant's life has been defined by food.First, as a dancer struggling to find her place at Julliard, when banana muffins with inch-thick streusel are the fuel for another day of training. Then, a lowly junior chef in high-pressure NYC four-star kitchens, as she masters the tarte Tatin and ice cream custard.Falling in love with her future husband and the garlicky tomato sauce he makes in his bare apartment.The quesadillas she can't stop eating in LA before she realisesTrade Review‘What a beautiful, rich, and poetic memoir this is. Phyllis Grant writes of longing, suffering, celebration, family, and food with such delicate power. Like the best chefs, she knows how to make a masterpiece from a few simple ingredients: truth, taste, poignancy, and love. This is a wonderful book.’ Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love ‘Grant whips up moments of intense emotion and life with the briefest of words and images. Throughout it all, food is the life source, comfort, energiser and inspiration bursting from the pages a la Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential.’ Stylist 'Almost more poetry than prose . . . At times breathtakingly painful and suffused with sadness, it's always fueled by food.'Independent ‘In epigrammatic, nearly poetic diction, Grant, a ballet dancer turned pastry chef turned damn fine writer, reminds us of how transformative the junctures where food and life collide can be … [She has a] keen attention to the sublime detail and a voice as eviscerating as it is lyrical.’The New York Times ‘Phyllis Grant writes sentences that send jolts through your body. This book is poetry. This book is truth. In structure and tone it's like nothing I have ever encountered. Every woman should read it and every man should read it, too, because it's about the reality of how we live our lives. I devoured it in a few hours and when I was done, I was crying on the train home.’ Jeff Gordinier, author of Hungry ‘Phyllis Grant has the voice of a poet and the sensuality of a cook. This very brave book makes you want to experience the world with equal intensity. As for the recipes…. completely irresistible.’ Ruth Reichl, author of Garlic and Sapphires and Comfort Me with Apples

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Book Synopsis[A] moving, beautifully written book about love and mental health and life' BOB ODENKIRKFiercely intelligent, humane and necessary' NATHAN FILER, author of THE SHOCK OF THE FALL''At its heart a story about love an astonishing new voice'' ALI MILLAR, author of THE LAST DAYSI'm scared the bad people will hear me talking to you.'I watch him take his notebook and a marker pen from his bag. As he zips the compartment back up I see the tip of our large, serrated kitchen knife, the one that went missing last night.Zach was nineteen when Tanya discovered him rerouting the wires of their landline, sure that the phone was bugged, that his friends were Mafia, that the helicopters swirling above were deployed by spies, that he couldn't trust anyone her included.That moment upturned and unmoored everything. It would strand them both in a profound and terrifying isolation the way that perhaps only a psychotic break or loving someone who is experiencing one can.Zig-Zag Boy is a journey along the Trade Review‘By turns an eloquent meditation on the power of nature and a terrifying expose … [an] intense, readable journey … fresh with keenly observed details … What Zig-Zag Boy does best is put you inside the dark recesses of living with a mentally ill adult child, an experience that is on the rise … hopefully it will inspire the most important quality of all among providers, police officers and the public: empathy’Beth Macy, New York Times ‘A moving portrait of a mother's love for her son. It is also a fiercely intelligent, humane and necessary contribution to mental health literature’Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall 'At its heart a story about love; the lengths a mother will go to in a bid to understand her child … Rendered in prose that rings clear and true, Zig-Zag Boy announces an astonishing new voice'Ali Millar, author of The Last Days ‘Takes us to the heart of loving and parenting a child in the most intensive and often heartbreaking way. Marked by wonderful storytelling, a wry sense of humour and a determination to tell the truth no matter what, you will get lost in this story. And be the better for it’Emily Rapp, author of The Still Point of the Turning World ‘Starts by chronicling a mother’s nightmare as her promising son falls into psychosis, but ends up being far more than the story of what happens when we fear for the life of someone we love. A searing indictment of the medical industrial complex across continents’Gina Frangello, author of Blow Your House Down ‘A wonder. I loved this book and loved the family at the heart of it … This is a beautiful book’Mark Lukach, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward ‘In unforgettable imagery and nuanced prose, Tanya Frank gives us an incredible journey’Susan Straight ‘A beautiful, vibrant, powerful memoir about both holding tight and letting go’Gayle Brandeis

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Book SynopsisA funny, practical and crucial guide for women facing the life-changing prospect of returning to work after having children.When Dolly had her children, the idea of returning to the fast-paced, all-consuming job she had previously loved felt daunting and somehow unprecedented, despite it being the experience of so many millions of women. She struggled to find material to galvanise and reassure her, and to make her feel that anything was possible.In this book, Dolly aims to change all of that. Interweaving practical advice and her own personal experiences with anecdotes, life-hacks and guilt-avoidance strategies from a diverse range of women from fashion designers to taxi drivers, journalists to actors, lawyers to doctors, bankers, entrepreneurs and restaurateurs Leaving the Ladder Down is a gift for the next generation of women taking on the trials, challenges and general amusement involved in combining career and motherhood.Equally empowering and accessible, and featuring serious advice from employers, employment lawyers and health specialists to boost knowledge and confidence, this book acts as a ladder down' to the next generation of working women, from a generation who have experimented their way to making it work.

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Book SynopsisThe untold story behind the hit true crime podcast The Clearing, this unforgettable memoir traces one daughter's moving quest to understand her larger-than-life childhood as she searches for the truth about her father, the serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards.One evening in 2009, April Balascio was searching online, as she had been every night, for unsolved murders in the towns her family had lived growing up, when she stumbled across the latest investigations into the Sweetheart Murders cold case. All at once, the buried memories of her father's dark history were awakened, and she knew she had to take action. She picked up the phone to call a detective and the rest is infamous true crime history.In her unflinching memoir, Balascio bravely reveals an astonishing tale of a lifetime of manipulation, unexplained upheavals, and silent fear. Some part of her had always known what her father was capable of, but the full truth of how she came to these revelations is as riveting as it is quietly terrifying. Through searing storytelling, dedicated research, and intimate insight, Raised by a Serial Killer is a gripping, courageous memoir unlike any other.

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Book SynopsisThis comforting memoir will help us all feel less alone as we navigate the emotional turmoil of midlife' Davina McCall, author of MenopausingFrom the bestselling author of Mum, What's Wrong With You?' comes a witty, compelling, honest and reassuring guide to living a magnificent midlife.If I was removed from the hurly burly of these overwhelming days, I would be able to patiently and logically think it all through. To untangle this conundrum. I would be able to find the thing I had lost. Probably the most important thing I owned. My identity.Tackling everything from empty nest, career reinvention, sex, marriage, brain fog, burnout, perimenopause and menopause this laugh out loud memoir is a pathfinder for women whose messy midlife rage caught them by surprise. With advice from experts, celebrities and personal stories, the book will help women feel less alone as they embrace this liberating and transformational new stage of life.Trade Review‘This comforting memoir will help us all feel less alone as we navigate the emotional turmoil of midlife. It's full of advice and stories to support everyone who needs a bit of reassurance that it really is all going to be ok and the best is yet to come… coz it really is’ Davina McCall, author of Menopausing ‘At last, a book that we can all relate to in so many different ways! Lorraine uses her vast experience, both personally and professionally, to educate, reassure and guide us to have the most positive and healthy midlife’ Dr Louise Newson, author of Menopause ‘Read Lorraine's words, take comfort in them and then equip yourself with the advice she has gathered. Use it to navigate your way through your midlife years. The power of sharing our feelings and experiences and supporting one another cannot be underestimated and that’s what this book does. There’s magic within these pages’ Jo Whiley ‘Few books tackle both the physical and emotional elements of women's midlife experience but this one does with warmth, wit and seriously helpful advice. It's a practical and gentle nudge for women towards a happier, healthier and more uplifting midlife experience’ Julia Samuel MBE ‘This book is hilarious, honest and brilliantly relatable, it reads like a warm hug from a best friend who will hold your hand and support you despite all your foibles. Thank you for making me feel I am not alone in the confusing muddle and malaise of midlife. This book is hilarious, honest and brilliantly relatable’ Louise Minchin, author of Fearless

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Book Synopsis*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*This is the remarkable story of a local lad who grew up in the shadow of Upton Park and became Mr West Ham': a one-club man who lived the dream.A modern footballing legend, Mark Noble is the embodiment of what it means to be a Hammer, pouring his heart and soul into the club he supported as a boy. Born and raised in Canning Town, Mark joined the West Ham youth squad in 2000 and made his senior-team debut aged just 17.Now, after over 20 years, with a wealth of memories and more than 500 appearances for his boyhood club under his belt, Mark finally looks back at his remarkable career, reflecting on his journey from boot boy to club captain, bossing the midfield, scoring pressure penalties and becoming an inspirational figurehead on and off the pitch.This is the story of a brilliant footballer, a genuine ambassador and a local legend. This is the unforgettable autobiography of Mark Noble.

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Book SynopsisAlan Rusbridger is Editor in Chief of the Guardian and a keen amateur musician. After reading English at Cambridge he started on a local newspaper and tried his hand at a range of journalistic jobs including reporter, columnist, critic, foreign correspondent, magazine editor, features editor and, from 1995, editor. During his time editing the Guardian the paper has won numerous awards and has grown to be one of the three largest online newspapers in the world. He led the paper's coverage of the secret WikiLeaks cables and the Guardian's campaign to get at the truth about phone hacking, which led to numerous resignations, the closure of the News of the World and the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the British press. As a boy, he was a cathedral chorister, a reasonable orchestral clarinetist and a very mediocre pianist. He failed to be a world-class conductor, abandoned the organ and put his clarinets in the attic. In hisTrade ReviewExtraordinary... Prepare to be inspired * Sunday Telegraph *Bernard Levin once told me that journalism was "half gossip, half obsession, half slog and half madness". If that's true Play it Again is a minor classic from a major hack...it's about a stressed, insanely busy middle-aged person finding time to cultivate a hobby and discovering that his inner fire has been rekindled. That's a lesson we all need. -- Richard Morrison * The Times *As soon as you enter the pages you are hooked, not just by the efforts to overcome this elusive piece through curiousity and courage, but by the clear way in which the diary takes the reader into the murky world of WikiLeaks and the still more polluted waters of phone hacking by News International... Riveting stuff... Play It Again is a hugely enjoyable, touching and informative volume * Literary Review *An absorbing and technically detailed book… Rusbridger is a vivid writer who is able to make the physical experience of playing the piano…very gripping. -- Nicholas Kenyon * Times Literary Supplement *In his page-turning diary, Chopin has to make room for Julian Assange, Leveson and the hacking scandal… This charming, nimble, book argues that a life cannot be too rounded nor a day too full. * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisSalman Rushdie is the author of eleven novels, one collection of short stories, three works of non-fiction, and the co-editor of The Vintage Book of Indian Writing. In 2008 Midnight's Children was judged to be the Best of the Booker, the best novel to have won the Booker Prize in its forty year history. The Moor's Last Sigh won the Whitbread Prize in 1995 and the European Union's Aristeion Prize for Literature in 1996. He is a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres and in 2007 was knighted for his services to literature.Trade ReviewJoseph Anton is a splendid book, the finest new memoir to cross my desk in many a year -- Jonathan Yardley * Washington Post *Funny, painfully moving and absolutely necessary to read -- Nicholas Shakespeare * Daily Telegraph *Joseph Anton is a book that makes you laugh. It makes you sympathise. It may even scare you. It should also make you — if you believe that freedom is essential — very, very angry. -- David Aaronovitch * Times *Frank and…more gripping than any spy story…the prose makes for powerful reading... He is a great writer who has been brave. -- Margaret Drabble * Observer *An intimate tale of fathers and sons, of the beginnings and ends of marriages, of friendships and betrayals. At the same time, Joseph Anton is a large-scale spectacle of political and cultural conflicts. * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisIn this collection of profiles, essays and travel stories, Chatwin takes us to Benin, where he is arrested as a mercenary during a coup; to Boston to meet an LSD guru who believes he is Christ; to India with Indira Ghandi when she attempted a political comeback in 1978; and to Nepal where he reminds us that ''Man''s real home is not a house, but the Road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot''Trade ReviewAs a writer he was unclassifiably interesting: lucid, ironic, cool. He seemed to owe nothing to anybody. -- Colin Thubron * Sunday Times *Chatwin is equally fascinating on places. He goes yeti-hunting in Nepal, and magnificently evokes the Himalayas' seductive harshness. He visits Afghanistan in the steps of his own favourite writer, Robert Byron, and reveals something no current news report ever succeeds in doing why anyone should want to spend time in that beautiful, tormented land...human existence at least as Chatwin sees it is gloriously open-ended, unpredictable and exotic * Sunday Times *One of its chief delights is that it contains so many of its author'sbest anecdotes, his choicest performances -- Salman Rushdie * Observer *I like the combination of its far-reaching quality and the minute precision with which his thoughts are charted -- Rose Tremain * Sunday Times *All the writing in this volume demonstrates Bruce Chatwin’s loathing of the humdrum, the dreary, the predictable. What attracted him was the unusual, the weird and wonderful… the journalist in him (strongly present) knew a good story when it heard one -- Margaret Forster * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2024Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2023 for Nature Writing''Exquisite, luminous and quietly radical . . . utterly unique and refreshing'' Lucy JonesWhere nothing grows, moss is the spark that triggers new life. Embarking on a journey though landscape, memory and recovery, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett explores this mysterious, ancient marvel of the plant world, meditating on and renaming her favourite mosses from Glowflake to Little Loss and drawing inspiration from place, people and language itself. ''Fascinating, subtle and risk-taking . . . Poetry, descriptive-evocative prose, memory, memoir, natural history and more all drift and mingle in strikingly new ways'' Robert Macfarlane

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Book Synopsis''ENCHANTING'' MAIL ON SUNDAY They care for their elderly, play with their kids, and always put family first. Can we all learn something from the wisdom of wolves? In this unforgettable book, wolf expert and naturalist Elli Radinger draws on her 25 years of first-hand experience among the wolves of Yellowstone National Park to tell us their remarkable stories. __________ Wolves are more human than we ever knew . . . In fact, they can teach us how to be better humans. They play, love, care for others, show compassion, die of broken hearts, pine for home, work in teams, are endlessly patient and leaders know when to defer to followers. In The Wisdom of Wolves naturalist Elli Radinger takes us on a journey into the heart of the wolf pack, revealing what they can teach us about family, cooperation, survival, leadership, commitment and how to enjoy what life gives us. No other book will bring you closer to discovering the truth about wolves - and ourselves. ''This book is the result of her two decades of close observation; part impassioned memoir, part natural history study, and part photo gallery. Her access to her subjects is extraordinary'' SUNDAY TIMES''Elli''s bestselling book suggests that in a high-tech age, when so many of us have become alienated from nature, wolves have much to teach us about the art of living well'' DAILY MAIL''Through The Wisdom of Wolves, we get to feel that little bit closer to the pack and discover what we may have in common'' BBC WILDLIFETrade ReviewEnchanting * Mail on Sunday *This book is the result of her two decades of close observation; part impassioned memoir, part natural history study, and part photo gallery. Her access to her subjects is extraordinary. * The Sunday Times *Elli's bestselling book suggests that in a high-tech age, when so many of us have become alienated from nature, wolves have much to teach us about the art of living well * Daily Mail *Elli leads us into the world of the wolves that inhabit Yellowstone National Park . . . we learn about the various family dynamics, squabbles and difficulties encountered. Through The Wisdom of Wolves, we get to feel that little bit closer to the pack and discover what we may have in common * BBC Wildlife *Perfection! * Staffordshire Living *

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Book SynopsisThe ingredients we use in Caribbean cookery tell a story - and it''s a hugeswirling tale...The Pepperpot Diaries is Andi Oliver''s long-awaited first cookbook. Showcasingboth traditional and new recipes, cherished ingredients and vibrant flavours fromacross the Caribbean. Let Andi Oliver take you on an exploration of identity andheritage as she shows you how to create simple yet sensational dishes that willbring the unbeatable flavours of Caribbean cooking to your table.The story of food captured in this book will take readers on a journey around themelting pot of cultural influences, history and legacy that has uniquely shapedhanded-down and contemporary Caribbean cuisine. Through her travels in Antigua,Andi shares her deeply personal journey on reconnecting with the food she grewup eating - the flavours and ingredients that run through her heart and soul - andwhat the future might hold for Caribbean cookery. ThiTrade ReviewAndi Oliver shares the glorious diversity of Caribbean food -- Mark Diacono * delicious *Andi Oliver's debut cookbook is brimming with the delicious Caribbean flavours she is renowned for celebrating, incorporating her travels in Antigua to create a unique, excuberant culinary experience. * Liz Earle Wellbeing *Not just a cookbook - it's an exploration of heritage and identity, in which mouthwatering recipes for fried dumplings, shrimp fritters, chocolate goat curry and ackee, callaloo and saltfish are interspersed with essays and diary entries from Andi's extended stay in her ancestral home of Antigua. -- Paul Kirkley * Waitrose Weekend *Passionate, autobiographical and rammed with Oliver's infectious personality. I defy anyone not to love it. -- Tim Hayward * Financial Times - Best Summer Books of 2023 *A feast of Caribbean cuisine -- Richard Hopton * Country & Town House *Andi Oliver shares the glorious diversity of Caribbean food, influenced by the islands’ indigenous peoples as well as “those who have come and gone”. This is a personal book, communicating the experience of a black British woman drawn to her roots, and the recipes – tea-brined spiced chicken, sticky star fruit pork chops – are really inviting. As Oliver puts it, while there’s “a dark shadow in the story… in our food, there is light and joy and survival…” -- Mark Diacono * delicious BEST COOKBOOKS OF 2023 *Family and history told through plates of food. When Andi Oliver was stuck in Antigua for three months during the pandemic (her mother’s family is from there), it resulted in this, her first cookbook. All the Caribbean classics you hope for are here: fried dumplings; ackee, saltfish, callaloo; pepperpot; rice and peas; and roti. Many others, too. The dish I cannot wait to eat is the curry goat with chocolate. The hack I’ll use most often is the green seasoning. The recipes are punctuated with diary notes and stories (meet Vicky, the car-park meat-dealer, Sister Hector and Granny), all in Oliver’s warm, infectious voice. She is UK food’s best-loved personality, The Pepperpot Diaries can only add to that. -- Allan Jenkins * Observer Food Monthly - BOOKS OF 2023 *Broadcaster and chef Andi Oliver describes Caribbean food as ‘constantly evolving and bursting with flavour’. This warm, chatty book mixes tales from her own life with recipes from all over the Caribbean; highlights are chocolate curry goat, green banana and coconut dumplings, and a spicy rice pudding. A delightful guide to this vibrant cuisine. -- Constance Craig Smith * The Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisPresents a sequence of early recollections, beginning with the dazzling lights and sounds of my first footings on earth in a steep Cotswold valley some three miles long.

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Book SynopsisAn inspiring and intimate self-portrait of the champion of equality that encompasses her brilliant tennis career, unwavering activism, and an ongoing commitment to fairness and social justice.''A constant role model in my life, Billie Jean King is a leading example of integrity in the face of adversity. The book''s powerfully honest and unapologetic candor is a reflection of King''s brilliant mark on the world and the glass ceilings she shattered'' Serena WilliamsIn this spirited account, Billie Jean King details her life''s journey to find her true self. She recounts her groundbreaking tennis career -- six years as the top-ranked woman in the world, twenty Wimbledon championships, thirty-nine grand-slam titles, and her watershed defeat of Bobby Riggs in the famous Battle of the Sexes. She poignantly recalls the cultural backdrop of those years and the profound impact on her worldview from the women''s movement, the assassinations and anti-war protests Trade ReviewShe changed how women athletes and women everywhere view themselves * President Barack Obama *The book's powerfully honest and unapologetic candor is a reflection of King's brilliant mark on the world -- Serena WilliamsFascinating, energising, inspirational * Clare Balding *Prepare to be inspired. * CNN.com *A powerful self-portrait of an inspiring athlete and activist * Time *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR TWO IRISH BOOK AWARDS''Something they don''t tell you about getting older is that you fall. Oh, you hear about it in passing, of course, She had a fall, poor thing. Falling is not something you ever think about as a younger woman. You think about falling in love . . .''At 20 Londoner Ann Ingle fell madly in love with an Irish fellow she met on holiday in Cornwall. At the church to arrange their shotgun wedding she discovered that he hadn''t even told her his real name.Sixty-odd years later Ann looks back on that first glorious fall and in a series of essays considers what she has learned from the life that followed - bringing eight children into the world, their father''s years of mental illness and tragic death at 40, being a cash-strapped single mother in 1980s Dublin, coming into her own in her middle years - going to college, working and writing, and continuing to evolve and learn into her ninth decade, even as she accepts thTrade ReviewA beautiful book * Irish Times *Lifted my spirits beyond description! So loving and non-judgemental and Ann Ingle's enjoyment of life is beautiful to behold. Genuinely inspirational. I LOVE ANN INGLE -- Marian KeyesI loved it, really loved it . . . a very uplifting, hopeful book . . . brilliant -- Ray D'ArcyWhat a beautiful openhearted, at times broken-hearted memoir . . . honest, funny, searingly direct, a wonderful voice . . . remarkable -- Joe DuffyHeart-breaking yet funny, and jaw-droppingly honest . . . by some distance, the most courageous, most poignant, most life-affirming memoir I've read in the last twenty years and more -- Paul Howard

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Book SynopsisIn this compelling memoir, Bishop James Jones reflects on his life and work – including his role in the inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster – and his continued search for justice.Trade ReviewBishop James makes a powerful plea for the "earthing" of God’s vision of justice. Drawing on his own experiences of listening to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, of ministering to the people of Liverpool and Hull, of chairing the Independent Panel on Forestry, and much, much more, he shows us how we all share the same vision of justice – for the victims of wrongdoing, for the future of the planet, for all manner of people. But to justice we need also to bring mercy and compassion for the vision to be truly fulfilled. A good read indeed. -- Baroness Hale, Former President of the Supreme Court (on Justice for Christ's Sake)Essential reading for anybody feeling lost on the lonely search for justice . . . As we wait for change, and for the scales of justice to be evened up by a Hillsborough Law, we can see in the pages of this book how faith can rise above the legal and political fray and bring healing. It is not only the people of Liverpool or Hull who owe Bishop James Jones a debt of thanks; it is the entire nation. -- Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester (on Justice for Christ's Sake)James has given us a series of pen portraits from his life, but they are much more than that. They take us to the heart of his spiritual journey, and we follow him in a lifetime of learning and understanding. A most powerful book — the richest kind of testimony, where nothing is held back. -- Jeremy Vine, broadcaster and journalist (on Justice for Christ's Sake)Bishop James Jones has unique experience and insight into key issues of justice which have affected people here in the UK and more widely. Drawing on his faith and reflecting on those insights he reminds us not only of the negative impact of injustice, but also the positive and life-affirming effect of justice and leads our thinking to a way forward to provide justice for all. -- The Rt Hon Theresa May MP, Prime Minister 2016-18 (on Justice for Christ's Sake)Utterly unpretentious . . . this book is about catharsis . . . it is a mirror on to the soul [with] an integrity and directness hard to match. * Church Times (on With My Whole Heart) *A book quietly singing with reverence and relevance. * Christianity (on With My Whole Heart) *

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Book SynopsisFINALIST FOR THE 2023 PULITZER PRIZE FOR MEMOIR''An exquisite exploration of disability, identity and the human capacity to do (and be) more than we''ve ever dreamed'' Time''Gorgeously, vividly alive'' New York Times''Challenges the unspoken social taboos about the disabled body, unpacking myths of beauty and our complicity in upholding those myths'' Lit HubBorn with sacral agenesis, a visible congenital disability that affects her stature and gait, Chloé Cooper Jones had always found solace in what she thought of as ''the neutral room'' - a dissociative space in her mind that offered her solace and self-protection, but also kept her isolated. When she became pregnant (disproving her doctor, who had assumed it impossible), something necessary in her started to crack, forcing her to reckon with her defensive positionality to the world and the people in it. This prompted an odyssey across time andTrade ReviewEasy Beauty is bold, honest, and superbly well-written. Chloé Cooper Jones is ruthless in probing our weakest and darkest areas, and does so with grace, humor, and ultimately, with something one seldom finds: kindness and humanity. * André Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name *Graceful, soul-baring * Melanie Reid, The Times *Gorgeous, vividly alive... In rejecting the dismissive gaze of others, Jones stands in the light of her own extremely able self -- Books of the Year * New York Times *What a gift of a book ... Easy Beauty has the rigor and precision of Joan Didion and Maggie Nelson and a forthright humor and naked truth all its own. * Sarah Ruhl, author of Smile *Perceptive, stylish, and darkly funny, Easy Beauty is an act of grace, and a reckoning. Chloé Cooper Jones is a remarkable writer - I would follow her mind anywhere. * Anna Wiener, author of Uncanny Valley *Chloé Cooper Jones is a writer whose work I don't read, but enter: she weaves her brainy, crackling interior into the sinews of a reality that is forever reminding its participants of the difficulty of living inside a body. Easy Beauty is the most humane book I have read in a long time: in her insistence that we bear witness to each other, Jones calls forth a better, and indeed more beautiful world. I loved this book. * Kristen Radtke, author of Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness *I recommend Easy Beauty to anyone who has wanted beauty badly, even without knowing quite what it is, but who could never seem to access it. At least, I'm that sort of anyone, and I could feel and recognize parts of myself in every moment of this book. Chloé Cooper Jones' writing pierces right through and lets a light in. * Mitski, singer-songwriter *In this ambitious and elegant book about seeing and being seen, Chloé Cooper Jones invokes thorny, theoretical material about identity, the social order, and how we measure human value, but her clarity and compassion invite all readers in. She has created a forceful and fresh point of view from which to anatomize power, access, and perception in her precise, unsparing prose. A necessary, relentlessly honest book that feels both of the moment and timeless. * Whiting Foundation Judges citation *Jones is a magnificent guide, fiercely sharp and fiercely human. This book is for anyone who wants to immerse into a world of beauty, who wants to get real about the roots of their desire, and who can't quite kick the habit of admiring the structures-and humans-who harm them. The questions she raises will resound in your head for a long time to come. * Lulu Fisher, author of Why Fish Don't Exist and host of Radiolab *This book is utterly remarkable. I was spellbound by the style, the ideas, the vulnerability, the talent. * Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State *Dazzling . . . Chloe Cooper Jones challenges society's rules of attraction with razor-sharp wit and intellect . . .[and) makes a brilliant case for the beauty of complexity * Starred Publishers Weekly *Exquisite. Here Pulitzer finalist Jones reflects on our standards of beauty from the perspective of a disabled woman whose rare congenital condition affects her stature and gait, and leaves her in constant pain. But it's ultimately motherhood that liberates her, and prompts her to re-examine the limitations she has accepted as givens. * O Magazine *Jones challenges the unspoken social taboos about the disabled body, unpacking myths of beauty and our complicity in upholding those myths. Blending journalism, philosophy, and memoir, it's a book that everyone will be talking about. * Lit Hub *A memoir full of insight as the author tries to wrestle understanding and ownership of herself from a world still eager to assert its sovereignty over the female body. * Jarred McGinnis, author of The Coward *A soul-stretching, breathtaking existential memoir chronicles her reclaiming of body, mind, and self . . . Superlative writing, rendering complex emotion and unparalleled insight in skilfully precise language. Her debut is a game-changing gift to readers. * Booklist, starred review *Despite doctors' dire predictions that she wouldn't live, walk or have children, she has done these things and more. Here, she probes the ways a culture determines a person's value and embarks on a journey to understand the myth of beauty and her own unintentional complicity in it. * Washington Post *The multiple depths that Jones plumbs in Easy Beauty results in a memoir that can't easily be classified. The same can be said for the book's author. Jones is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a philosophy professor and a writer, who delves into her journey as a daughter, mother, wife and her search for a new way of seeing the world. In other words, her story is about the complexity of the human experience and the questions of identity and belonging that plague us all. * People Magazine *Inspired in part by the shift Jones saw in others' perceptions of her during her pregnancy, Easy Beauty challenges deep-seated assumptions about who gets to be capable, trustworthy, and desirable. * Bustle Magazine *Candid and truth-seeking, this memoir charts the act of refocusing and realigning the ways we view and interpret ourselves * NB Magazine *Achingly felt, Jones's writing is a revelation * Publishers Weekly, Best Books of 2022 *Easy Beauty is an exquisite exploration of disability, identity, and the human capacity to do (and be) more than we've ever dreamed * Time *Touching and often humorous... explores life from the perspective of those who don't conform to conventional beauty standards -- Charlotte Heathcote * Daily Record *Genius... Shifted my understanding of a world I've only experienced while able-bodied -- Best Memoirs of 2022 * Vulture *Moving, incisive... Jones resists sentimentality and is as unsparing of herself as she is of other people, and yet she writes with such graciousness. A wonderful debut -- Tomi Obaro * Buzzfeed News *Gorgeous, concise and often very funny... a gripping memoir about parenting, disabilities and figuring out what to do next... a philosophical masterpiece, written in the tradition of those who see philosophy not as a dry academic subject but as a way of life * Coachella Review *A masterpiece ... Cooper Jones uses the particulars of her own experience to formulate ideas that are at once universally applicable and genuinely profound * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisAcerbic, wisecracking and hilarious, this is the definitive essay collection from New York legend and satirist, Fran Lebowitz, star of Martin Scorsese''s hit Netflix series, Pretend It''s a City.''The gold standard for intelligence, efficiency and humour. Now and forever'' DAVID SEDARIS''She''s inexhaustible - her personality, her knowledge, her brilliance, most of all her humour'' MARTIN SCORSESE''The rare example of a legend living up to her own mythology. She really is THAT funny'' HADLEY FREEMANLebowitz turns her trademark caustic wit to the vicissitudes of life - from children (''rarely in the position to lend one a truly interesting sum of money'') to landlords (''it is the solemn duty of every landlord to maintain an adequate supply of roaches''). And her attitude to work is the perfect antidote to our exhausting culture of self-betterment (''3.40pm. I consider getting out of bed. I reject the notion as being unduly vTrade ReviewThe gold standard for intelligence, efficiency and humour. Now and forever -- David SedarisShe's inexhaustible - her personality, her knowledge, her brilliance, most of all her humour -- Martin ScorseseFran Lebowitz is the rare example of a legend living up to her own mythology. She really is THAT funny -- Hadley FreemanIn a world of humming, hawing, couching and obfuscating, there's nothing more refreshing than a dose of Fran Lebowitz -- Caroline O’DonoghueUnique .... Lebowitz offers vocational guides for aspiring heiresses, popes, empresses; manuals for landlords; guidance to the rich who wish to meet the poor * Vogue *The funniest woman in America * Washington Post *Despite now being over 40 years old, the essays still glitter, every bone-dry sentence pared down and packed with her unmistakeable personality -- Hadley Freeman * Guardian *A forcefield of comic self-certainty in a world of anxious uncertainty * Guardian *Right on the mark ... Among the things she hates ... baggage-claim areas, high tech, after-shave lotion, adults who roller skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan * Newsweek *Hilarious ... an unlikely and perhaps alarming combination of Mary Hartman and Mary McCarthy.... To a dose of Huck Finn add some Lenny Bruce, Oscar Wilde and Alexis de Tocqueville, a dash of cabdriver, an assortment of puns, minced jargon, and top it off with smarty pants * The New York Times *'the most well-connected iconoclast since Dorothy Parker' -- Jane Mulkerrins * The Times *In a world of humming, hawing, couching and obfuscating, there's nothing more refreshing than a dose of Fran Lebowitz -- Caroline O'DonoghueA marvellous raconteur, full of wit, wisdom and rebellion. Genuinely one of the funniest people in the world -- Irenosen OkojieAs witty, original, and impeccably discerning as the woman herself, The Fran Lebowitz Reader is a modern classic set to be read for generations to come -- Otegha Uwagba

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE SOCIETY SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDAn unconventional, unexpectedly funny, brutally honest memoir about infertility, pregnancy and motherhood''You and your partner want a baby. But your two bodies can''t make a baby together.''If you want a baby but your body says otherwise -If you don''t know the polite way to say thank you for the sperm -If you''re waiting for the sound of a brand-new heartbeat -If you know it takes a village to raise a baby but have no idea who should be doing what -If you''re lurching between bliss and bewilderment -If you don''t fit the shape of what you''ve been told a mother should be -Reach for The Unfamiliar and don''t let go.Moving and immersive, and written with wisdom, disarming humour and raw honesty, The Unfamiliar casts a fresh eye on motherhood and challenges our assumptions about pregnancy, gender roles, queer identity and what it means to be a parent.

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Book SynopsisIn Forty Autumns, Nina Willner recounts the history of three generations of her family - mothers, sisters, daughters and cousins - separated by forty years of Soviet rule, and reunited after the fall of the Berlin Wall.Shortly after the end of the Second World War, as the Soviets took control of the eastern part of Germany, Hanna, a schoolteacher''s daughter, escaped with nothing more than a small suitcase and the clothes on her back. As Hanna built a new life in the West, her relatives (her mother, father and eight siblings) remained in the East. The construction of the Berlin Wall severed all hope of any future reunion. Hanna fell in love and moved to America. She made many attempts to establish contact with her family, but most were unsuccessful. Her father was under close observation; her mother, younger sister Heidi and the others struggled to adjust to life under a bizarre and brutal regime that kept its citizens cut off from the outside worldTrade ReviewWillner's epic memoir traverses three generations of mothers, recounting the tragedy, estrangement, and overwhelming courage of a family torn apart by the ideological division of Germany during the Cold War. Willner, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, weaves familial legends of escape from farmsteads guarded by roving East German border patrols, with tales of international espionage at the 1958 World's Fair. Her interrogative and unabashed voice explores the painful intersection of national duty and familial responsibilities . . . Willner's depiction of the brutal East German regime and the fight of one family to unite is a thrilling and relevant read for historians and casual readers alike. * Publishers Weekly *Thoughtful and informative, Willner's book not only offers a personal view of the traumatic effects of German partition. It also celebrates the enduring resilience of the human spirit. A poignant and engrossing, occasionally harrowing, family memoir. * Kirkus Review *A fascinating and very readable book, suffused with family affection * Oldie *Willner writes about events that happened on another continent before she was born with such vividness and immediacy that she could almost have been there herself. This account of the collective sorrow of a family rent asunder, relating their experiences in the context of the Cold War, gives a human face to the millions for whom the Berlin Wall divided not just a city but their hearts * The Herald *

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Book Synopsis''We have written here about terrible things that we never wanted to think about again . . . Now we want the world to know: we survived, we are free, we love life.''On May 6, 2013, Amanda Berry made headlines around the world when she fled a Cleveland home and called 911, saying: Help me, I'm Amanda Berry . . . I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for ten years. A horrifying story rapidly unfolded. Ariel Castro, a local school bus driver, had separately lured Berry and two other young women, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, to his home, where he trapped them and kept them chained. In the decade that followed, the three girls were frequently raped, psychologically abused and threatened with death if they attempted to escape. Years after she was taken, Berry had a daughter by their captor, a child she bravely raised as normally as possible under impossible conditions. Drawing upon their recollections and the secret diary kept

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Book SynopsisThis is a unique, eye-witness account of everyday life right at the heart of the Nazi extermination machine. Slomo Venezia was born into a poor Jewish-Italian community living in Thessaloniki, Greece. At first, the occupying Italians protected his family; but when the Germans invaded, the Venezias were deported to Auschwitz.Trade Review"'A unique participant's account of everyday death and life,' the jacket says. That sense of existential inversion is what comes across most strongly in this book, more strongly than even Levi's greatest work can convey." The Australian "Venezia reports soberly and seemingly without emotion - and yet the book becomes breathtaking in its forcefulness."Holocaust and Genocide Studies "Venezia's experiences during the war is at once both fascinating and disturbing. His description of prewar Salonika and his complicated ethnic/national background certainly help illuminate our picture of the multicultural societies of Europe that the Second World War nearly completely eliminated. He also captures the violence and brutality of Auschwitz in a very readable fashion. His descriptions of the inhumanity of the camp will remain with me for quite some time."H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online "A deeply sincere, unadorned description of Venezia's journey through hell ... There are few, if any, better descriptions of the impact of massive psychic trauma on the human soul." Jewish Book World "Venezia comes across as a very reliable witness. His language is clear, and he certainly does not idealize the members of the 'Sonderkommando' or his own role in the extermination process. It is a detailed and heartbreaking story, told in very restrained language."Journal of Contemporary History "A harrowingly matter-of-fact account."Boston Globe"Most Sonderkommando members were systematically killed by the SS. But fate allowed Shlomo Venezia to survive, and the horrific privilege to bear witness."History Wire "Shlomo Venezia's unnervingly dispassionate personal record demands to be heard. Interviewer Beatrice Prasquier's brusque questions, answered with painful truthfulness, bring home the lifelong scars this Greek Italian Jew must carry from the ever-present memories of the numberless innocents he helped lead to their grotesque slaughter." Morning Star "What is remarkable is on the one hand the lack of anger, the simple language dealing with events that are unforgettable and beyond reality, and on the other hand the fact of Venezia's daily life ever since ... He has never, in his mind, lived outside the camp." Atsmi Uvsari "I read many accounts of former deportees, and each time they take me back to life in the camp. But the story told by Shlomo Venezia is especially overwhelming because it is the only complete eye-witness account that we have from a survivor of the Sonderkommandos." Simone Veil "This holocaust survivor's testimony, like all others, will be read with fear and trembling." Elie Wiesel, Nobel LaureateTable of ContentsPreface (Simone Veil). Note (Béatrice Prasquier). Acknowledgments. I. Life in Greece before the Deportation. II. The First Month in Auschwitz-Birkenau. III. Sonderkommando: Initiation. IV. Sonderkommando: The Work Continues. V. The Revolt of the Sonderkommando and the Dismantling of the Crematoria. VI. Mauthausen, Melk, and Ebensee. Historical Notes. The Shoah, Auschwitz and the Sonderkommando (Marcello Pezzetti). Italy in Greece: A Short History of a Major Failure (Umberto Gentiloni). About David Olère. Selected Bibliography.

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Book Synopsis''Very funny, moving and heartwarming'' BOB MORTIMER''A bollockbuster!'' ADAM BUXTONIf we are cowardly, we are told to grow someIf we''re brave, we''re said to have huge onesIf it''s cold, they are liable to fall off - even if you''re a brass monkeyIf we''re in trouble, someone will threaten to break themIf we have to work hard, we might very well bust themIf we''re in somebody''s thrall, then they''ve got us by themAbout fifteen years ago, stand-up comedian and writer Richard Herring first took part in a campaign to encourage men to have a little (non-sexual) feel of their balls every now and again. But it was embarrassing and weird, and if there was something wrong, he didn''t want to know about it.Anyway, that kind of stuff only happens to other people, doesn''t it?At the start of 2021 Richard was diagnosed with testicular cancer. For a man whose output includes a stand-up tour titled Talki

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Book SynopsisSUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. As you'll discover in his incomparable memoir, inventor, mechanic, TV presenter and walking tall as the definition of the British eccentric, Edd China sees things differently. An unstoppable enthusiast from an early age, Edd had 35 ongoing car projects while he was at university, not counting the double-decker bus he was living in. Now he's a man with not only a runaround sofa, but also a road-legal office, shed, bed and bathroom. His first car was a more conventional 1303 Texas yellow Beetle, the start of an ongoing love affair with VW, even though it got him arrested for attempted armed robbery. A human volcano of ideas and the ingenuity to make them happen, Edd is exhilarating company. Join him on his wild, wheeled adventures; see inside his engineering heroics; go behind the scenes on Wheeler Dealers. Climb aboard his giant motorised shopping trolley, and let him take you into his parallel universe of possibility.

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Book SynopsisA brilliant and captivating insight into the bizarre nature of contemporary Japan.Trade ReviewA frantic, very funny, urban quest * Mail on Sunday *Wonderfully oddball ... Here is a cult book all right, which could do for Japan and the martial arts what Hornby did for Highbury and the football terraces * Guardian *His fine eye for eccentricities makes this an entertaining travelogue * Observer *A rattling good yarn and very funny into the bargain * Independent on Sunday *His explanation of how to come to terms with intense pain should be read to every footballer who has ever writhed about in agony after a kick on the shin... It is a clever, enthralling book * Daily Mail *Brilliant ... everyone should read it -- Tony Parsons * Late Review *This is a splendidly written adventure, something sane at last on the craziness of martial arts * Independent on Sunday *Poetry in motion -- Sue Townsend * Sunday Times *Communicates the existential purity of his elective regime with irrepressible passion ... it also has the unmistakable stamp of authentic experience * Daily Telegraph *A book of unexpected brilliance. It is subtle, funny, stimulating and original - a rites-of-passage story, an explanation of an alien culture, and an inspiring work of philosophy -- Patrick FrenchTwigger vividly captures the wince-inducing physical and emotional trials endured by those who would wear the black belt. But he also offers a rare insight in aikido's peculiarly Darwinian group dynamic and how it fits into modern Japanese society. After this marvellously insightful account I will snigger no more at Steven Segal's po-faced chop-sockey * Literary Review *The most intriguing sports book ever to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award * Daily Mail *A frantic, very funny, urban quest. -- Simon Garfield * Mail on Sunday *A book of unexpected brilliance. It is subtle, funny, stimulating and original - a rites-of-passage story, an explanation of an alien culture, and an inspiring work of philosophy -- Patrick FrenchHis fine eye for eccentricities makes this an entertaining travelogue * The Observer *A rattling good yarn and very funny into the bargain -- Tim Hulse * Independent on Sunday *This is a splendidly written adventure, something sane at last on the craziness of martial arts * Independent on Sunday *His explanation of how to come to terms with intense pain should be read to every footballer who has ever writhed about in agony after a kick on the shin... It is a clever, enthralling book -- Ian Wooldridge * Daily Mail *Brilliant ... everyone should read it -- Tony Parsons * Late Review *Wonderfully oddball ... Here is a cult book all right, which could do for Japan and the martial arts what Hornby did for Highbury and the football terraces -- Frank Keating * Guardian *Poetry in motion -- Sue Townsend * Sunday Times *Communicates the existential purity of his elective regime with irrepressible passion ... it also has the unmistakable stamp of authentic experience * Daily Telegraph *Twigger vividly captures the wince-inducing physical and emotional trails endured by those who would wear the black belt. But he also offers a rare insight in aikido's peculiarly Darwinian group dynamic and how it fits into modern Japanese society. After this marvellously insightful account I will snigger no more at Steven Segal's po-faced chop-sockey -- Ben Farrington * Literary Review *The most intriguing sports book ever to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award * Daily Mail *

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