Memoirs Books

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Book Synopsis'Late Light brings the refreshing perspective of someone who goes from seeing England as a foreign place to someone who deeply studies its secret wonders. An astonishing read.' - Amy Liptrot, The OutrunThis is a book about falling in love with vanishing thingsLate Light is the story of Michael Malay's own journey, an Indonesian Australian making a home for himself in England and finding strange parallels between his life and the lives of the animals he examines. Mixing natural history with memoir, this book explores the mystery of our animal neighbours, in all their richness and variety. It is about the wonder these animals inspired in our ancestors, the hope they inspire in us, and the joy they might still hold for our children.Late Light is about migration, belonging and extinction. Through the close examination of four particular 'unloved' animals - eels, moths, crickets and mussels - Michael Ma

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Notable BookA New York Times Editors'' ChoiceA New York Post Best Book of the YearAn Amazon Best Biography/Memoir''Hilarious and harrowing, and hard to put down'' Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for Smoking''Might be a career-destroying book... highly enjoyable'' Daily Telegraph''A spin doctor to the rich and corrupt spills his secrets... starts with the crack of a Jack Reacher thriller'' The New York TimesThe man who used to pull the strings of the global media is now pulling back the curtain: a bridge-burning, riotous confession by a top PR operative who exposes the secrets of the $129-billion industry that controls so much of what we see and hear in the media.After nearly two decades in the PR business, Phil Elwood wants to come clean, by exposing the dark underbelly of the very industry that''s made him so successful. The first step is revealing exactly what he''s been up to for the past twenty years - and it isn''t pretty.From helping win the Qatar World Cup bid, to a four-day Las Vegas bacchanal with a dictator''s son, and helping to land a Middle Eastern dictator''s wife a glowing profile in Vogue at the same time the Arab Spring broke out, Elwood reveals all his slippery tricks for seducing journalists in order to create chaos and cover for politicians, dictators and spies.But as Phil moved up the ranks, he felt worse and worse about the sleaziness of it all - and his role in it - until he received a shocking wake-up call from the FBI. This risky game nearly cost Phil his life and his freedom. Seeing the light, he has decided to tell the full truth about who is the worst human._____''A rollicking, unexpectedly affecting story. . . It''s going to be one of the big, buzzy Beltway books of the year.'' Politico''Phil Elwood has written a book about his Washington life that''s part therapy, part cautionary tale ? and quite funny . . . What makes Elwood''s story stand out from the typical Washington read is that his personal demons are so intertwined with his professional choices . . . Elwood''s prose is zippy, even Sorkin-esque, and he relishes dark humor.'' The Washington Post''If Hunter S. Thompson billed clients by the hour, it would look like All The Worst Humans by Phil Elwood. The pacing and storytelling propel the book''s epic sweep across the darkside of DC and global hotspots. Even the most experienced in PR will learn things they did not know, and Elwood''s gripping personal story is an unexpected and wild ride.'' Bill McCarren, former Executive Director, National Press Club''A lively, often hilarious, blood-chilling tale.'' Sam Kashner, Air Mail''A redemption story about becoming a better human, a story Elwood tells with vulnerability, heart, and brutal honesty.'' James Kirchick, New York Times bestselling author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington''An exhilarating ride through the underbelly of global power structures.'' Ben Smith, author of Traffic and editor in chief of Semafor''I raced through this book and was gripped by every page.'' Sophie Heawood

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Book Synopsis'This book will shake your brain and make your soul scream. I am so ready for myself after reading this book!' Adele'Untamed will liberate women - emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It is phenomenal.' Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls and Eat Pray LoveWho were you before the world told you who to be? Part inspiration, part memoir, Untamed explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet the expectations of the world, and instead dare to listen to and trust in the voice deep inside us. From the beloved New York Times bestselling author, speaker and activist Glennon Doyle.*****For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There. She. Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high but soon she realised they had come to her from within. This was the voice she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions and social conditioning. Glennon decided to let go of the world's expectations of her and reclaim her true untamed self. Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanising wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is also the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honour our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts.Untamed shows us how to be brave. And, as Glennon insists, 'The braver we are, the luckier we get.'Trade ReviewThis book will shake your brain and make your soul scream. I am so ready for myself after reading this book! * Adele *Remarkable ... Untamed arrived in my lap at exactly the right moment. A time and age where I'm constantly considering my own authenticity and confidence to simply be me. * Fearne Cotton *Untamed will liberate women - emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It is phenomenal. * Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls and Eat Pray Love *What an absolute guru of a woman ... Untamed is a sort of memoir, but unlike any you've ever read before ... Reading it is like receiving an intravenous drip of fist-pumping, adrenalised RIGHTNESS. * Elizabeth Day, author of How To Fail *This memoir is so packed with incredible insight about what it means to be a woman today, what it means to be 'good' and what women will do in order to be loved. I swear I highlighted something in EVERY chapter. * Reese Witherspoon *

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Book SynopsisWalking saved his life. Now it will help find him a family. In the follow-up to his Sunday Times bestselling Finding Hildasay, Christian Lewis takes his next steps – along the coastline of Britain and on the road of life.Since his time on Hildasay, Chris’s adventure has only got wilder. No one was more surprised than Chris when, in November 2020, he had an unlikely (seemingly destined) encounter with fellow adventurer Kate. The two turned out to be kindred spirits and – even more astonishingly – Kate made the bold decision to join Chris on the walk of a lifetime. Day in, day out, as they trekked the coastline down from Scotland together, their relationship grew, and soon the couple were thrown in at the deep end when their first child – baby Magnus – arrived.But, away from Scotland, Chris’s struggles with mental health returned. The solitude of Hildasay seemed far away and he unravelled once again.

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Book Synopsis**Winner of the Goodreads Readers' Choice Memoir Award 2024**''Remarkably candid'' Guardian ''A remarkable person with remarkable stories to tell'' Lauren Graham ''Bold, unapologetic and inspiring'' Sutton FosterDiscover Kelly Bishop's captivating story of six decades in show business: a must-have for fans of Gilmore Girls in search of a journey beyond Stars Hollow.Kelly Bishop's storied career has been defined by landmark achievements, from winning a Tony Award for her turn in the original Broadway cast of A Chorus Line to her memorable performance as Jennifer Grey's mother in Dirty Dancing. It is probably her role as matriarch Emily in the modern classic Gilmore Girls that cemented her legacy.Now, Bishop reflects on her remarkable life and looks towards the future, sharing some of her greatest stories and the life lessons she's learned. From her early transition from dance to drama, to marrying young to a compulsive gambler, to the losses and achievements she experienced among them marching for women's rights and losing her second husband to cancer Bishop offers a rich, genuine celebration of her life.Full of witty insights and featuring a special collection of personal and professional photographs, The Third Gilmore Girl is a warm, unapologetic, and powerful memoir from a woman who has left indelible impressions on her audiences for decades.Kelly's story of her life and career is an incredibly engaging read, full of warmth, and honesty' *5 star reader reviewThis is so much more than an ode to Gilmore Girls. Kelly Bishop has had an incredible life and career [she] is extremely honest about her personal life and it was such a touching read' *5 star reader reviewIf you're a fan of Gilmore Girls and especially Kelly Bishop, you're in for a treat' *5 star reader review

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Book SynopsisThe iconic bags, the instantly recognizable packaging, the celebrity fans – Hèrmes is the last word in luxurious accessories. Through the generations, Hermès have created innovative and exquisite accessories for the most glamorous customers. From their nineteenth-century saddlery workshop to 1960s Paris and beyond, Hermès has graced the arms and wardrobes of style icons from Grace Kelly and Jane Birkin to Victoria Beckham and Kim Kardashian. Little Book of Hermès tells the story of the evolution of the House of Hermès, through beautiful illustrations of the most coveted items and authoritative text by fashion historian Karen Homer.Table of ContentsIntroduction • The Early Years • A New Generation • Considered Expansion • The Evolution of Fashion • Iconic Bags • Silk Scarves • Aristocracy and Celebrity Clientele.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewRemarkable . . . skilful storytelling . . . intrepidly adventurous and unconventional . . . couldn't be more relevant. The kinship he felt with the Inuit on that first visit saw the publication of a literary work that was well ahead of its time. -- Michael Segalov * Observer *Fearless reverse ethnology . . . gorgeous descriptions . . . an eye for absurdity . . . Kpomassie is a writer of enviable and maybe indispensable amiability and serenity . . . With his gaze and his mind continually turned out and facing forward, he is up to every predicament he encounters; he has the mother wit, the equanimity and the self-confidence of the epic hero -- London Review of Books * Michael Hofmann *Beautiful, compassionate, insightful . . . inner and outer landscapes both richly and honestly detailed . . . the furthest a book has taken me . . . Astonishing -- Johny Pitts * author of Afropean *A fascinating snapshot of Inuit culture and a reminder of the common threads that bind us all . . . a first-rate storyteller to the whole world -- Noo Saro-Wiwa * The Times *It is a long way in miles, but even longer in resilience, adventurous persistence and uncanny charm. . . . Kpomassie's book contains a catalogue of his impressions, combined with striking passages of fine writing. The result is the curious double perspective of a naïve visitor, combined with the controlled distance of a writer -- Paul Zweig * The New York Times Book Review *Warm, witty and joyful -- Ann Morgan * Financial Times *Surprising . . . this beautifully written, page-turning piece of unjudgmental anthropological reportage by a black man finding his soul through seeking the soul of the Inuit recognises an important lesson for today. -- Sue Prideaux * The Times *Pioneering and unforgettable * Mr Porter *An ebullient snapshot of a vanished age -- John Self * Observer New Review *

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Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERINDIE BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION WINNER'EXTRAORDINARY' The Times, 'BEAUTIFUL' Dolly Alderton, 'SHATTERING' Observer, 'INCREDIBLE' Benjamin Zephaniah, 'UNPUTDOWNABLE' Sunday Times, 'ASTOUNDING' Matt Haig, 'POWERFUL' Elif Shafak At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth.This is Lemn's story: a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph.Sissay reflects on his childhood, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation's best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.Trade ReviewA lyrical, painful and yet hope-filled memoir . . . Shattering, light-searching * * Observer * *Searing . . . Unputdownable . . . My Name Is Why is authentic and beautiful, a potential game-changer in public attitudes to children raised in care. It's about bureaucratic cruelty and what happens when love is absent. Don't miss it * * The Times * *An extraordinary story * * Sunday Times * *The most amazing thing about this book is that it's not made up. This actually happened. It is an incredible story -- BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAHI have never read a memoir like it. A blistering account of a young life in the hands of neglectful authorities. It's a quest for understanding, for home, for answers. Grips like a thriller. Astounding -- MATT HAIGThe great triumph of this work comes from its author's determination to rail against what he rightly diagnoses as this institutionally endorsed disremembering of black and marginalised experience. It is a searing and unforgettable re-creation of the most brutal of beginnings -- Michael Donkor * * Guardian * *Utterly devastating and beautiful . . . Breathtakingly written -- DOLLY ALDERTONThis is a deeply moving memoir that speaks with incredible poeticism. A staggering exposé of colonial theft and abandonment, this book is grippingly heartbreaking -- DAVID LAMMYA fascinating memoir . . . So powerful -- ELIF SHAFAKThe engaging transfiguring truth of My Name Is Why is like a baptism of truth - leaving you washed clean of lies and reborn in love. Profound in its kindness, intelligence and unselfish heart, this book is important and unputdownable -- JESSICA HYNES

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Book SynopsisAt twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's rapid death from cancer, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America - from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, and into Washington state - and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise - a promise of piecing together a life that lay in ruins at her feet. Strayed's account captures the agonies - both mental and physical - of her incredible journey; how it maddened and terrified her, and how, ultimately, it healed her. Wild is a brutal memoir of survival, grief and redemption: a searing portrayal of life at its lowest ebb and at its highest tide.Trade ReviewClear, honest, and quietly riveting * Marie Claire *A spectacular book... Both a literary and a human triumph * New York Times *A deeply honest memoir about mother and daughter, solitude and courage, and regaining footing, one step at a time * Vogue *Strayed's language is so vivid, sharp and compelling that you feel the heat of the desert, the frigid ice of the High Sierra and the breathtaking power of one remarkable woman finding her way - and herself - one brave step at a time. * People *Table of ContentsPART ONE: THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS 1: The Ten Thousand Things 2: Splitting 3: Hunching in a Remotely Upright Position PART TWO: TRACKS 4: The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 1: California 5: Tracks 6: A Bull in Both Directions 7: The Only Girl in the Woods PART THREE: RANGE OF LIGHT 8: Corvidology 9: Staying Found 10: Range of Light PART FOUR: WILD 11: The Lou Out of Lou 12: This Far 13: The Accumulation of Trees 14: Wild PART FIVE: BOX OF RAIN 15: Box of Rain 16: Mazama 17: Into a Primal Gear 18: Queen of the PCT 19: The Dream of a Common Language

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Book SynopsisA journey along the Irish coast with powerful Irish woman beside you.At a crossroads in her life, Gráinne Lyons set out to travel Ireland?s west coast on foot. She set a simple intention: to walk in the footsteps of eleven pioneering Irish women deeply rooted in this coastal landscape and explore their lives and work along the way. As a Londoner born to Irish parents, she also sought answers in her own identity.As Gráinne heads north from Cape Clear Island where her great-grandmother was a lacemaker, she considers Ellen Hutchins, Maude Delap, Edna O?Brien, Granuaile and Queen Maeve among others from her unique perspective. Their homes ? in places that are famously wild and remote ? are transformed into sites of hope, purpose, opportunity and inspiration. Walking through this history, her journey reveals unexpected insight into emigrant identity, travelling alone, femininity and the trappings of an ?ideal? life.Against the backdrop and power of this great ocean, Wild Atlantic Women will inspire the twenty-first-century reader and walker to keep going, regardless of the path.

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Book Synopsis*A memoir and self-help manual by one of the country's most treasured comedians - for anyone who feels stuck in a rut but doesn't have the tools or self-belief to shake things up*In his mid-twenties, Jimmy was bored, boring, unfulfilled and underachieving. He wasn't exactly depressed, but he was very sad. Think of a baby owl whose mum has recently died in a windmill accident. He was that sad. This book tells the story of how Jimmy turned it around and got happy, through the redemptive power of dick jokes.Written to take advantage of the brief window between the end of lockdown and Jimmy getting cancelled for saying something unforgivable to Lorraine Kelly, this book is as timely as it is unnecessary. Because you might be interested in Jimmy's life but he's damn sure you're a lot more interested in your own, Before & Laughter is about both of you. But mainly him. It tells the story of Jimmy's life - the transformation from white-collar corporate drone to fake-toothed donkey-laugh plastic-haired comedy mannequin - while also explaining how to turn your own life around and become the you you've always dreamt of being. At just £20, it's cheaper than Scientology, quicker than therapy, and significantly less boring than church.Before & Laughter contains the answers to all the big questions in life, questions like:· What's the secret to happiness?· Is Jimmy wearing a wig?· What happened with that tax thing?· What's the meaning of life?· Is Jimmy's laugh real?· Can those teeth bite through vibranium?And for readers in the West Country: yes, there are pictures (actually, sorry, there are no pictures, but there's a book about a hungry caterpillar you'll love).Because it's Jimmy Carr - recently scientifically proved to be the funniest comedian in the UK - there are jokes, jokes and more jokes throughout. If laughter really was the best medicine, the NHS would be handing out this book in Nightingale Hospitals.Fascinating, thoughtful and insightful - are all words that appear in the book.Trade ReviewRiveting * Daily Mail *An utterly sincere guide for people to achieve bigger things in life * Guardian *Very funny and very beautiful, packed with jokes and genuinely wise advice * Chris Evans *So good. I've loved every second of reading it * James Corden *A hilarious book that will be adored by Jimmy's fans. Both of them * David Walliams *Made me laugh, made me think, what more do you want from a comedian's memoir? * Alastair Campbell *I was really annoyed at how good this book is and that's the biggest compliment I can give * Romesh Ranganathan *Very, very funny - a great read * Gary Davies, The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show *At last, a selfless biography that aims to inspire and does. Also, of course, very, very funny * Rich Hall *It's the first life advice book from someone whose life you would actually want * Katherine Ryan *

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Book Synopsis**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER** 'Rattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful.' Atul Gawande, bestselling author of Being Mortal What makes life worth living in the face of death? At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father. Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both. 'A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living' Nigella LawsonTrade ReviewA vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living. -- Nigella LawsonRattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful. -- Atul Gawande, author of BEING MORTALA great, indelible book ... as intimate and illuminating as Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal,” to cite only one recent example of a doctor’s book that has had exceptionally wide appeal ... I guarantee that finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option ... gripping from the start ... None of it is maudlin. Nothing is exaggerated. As he wrote to a friend: “It’s just tragic enough and just imaginable enough.” And just important enough to be unmissable. * New York Times *Powerful and poignant. * The Sunday Times *Less a memoir than a reflection on life and purpose… A vital book. * The Economist *Powerful and poignant… Elegantly written posthumous memoir… Should be compulsory for anyone who intends to be a doctor… A profound reflection on the meaning of life. -- Daisy Goodwin * Sunday Times *A stark, fascinating, well-written and heroic memoir. -- Stefanie Marsh * The Times *The power of this book lies in its eloquent insistence that we are all confronting our mortality every day, whether we know it or not. The real question we face, Kalanithi writes, is not how long, but rather how, we will live – and the answer does not appear in any medical textbook. -- Alice Okeeffe * Guardian *Exceptional. -- Katie Law * Evening Standard *When I came to the end of the last flawless paragraph of When Breath Becomes Air, all I could do was turn to the first page and read the whole thing again. Searingly intelligent, beautifully written, and beyond brave, I haven't been so marked by a book in years. -- Gabriel Weston, author of DIRECT REDA remarkable book… Kalanithi writes very well, in a plain and matter-of-fact way, without a trace of self-pity, and you are immediately gripped and carried along… [He] was clearly a deeply thoughtful and compassionate man, and his death is a great loss to medicine, but at least he has left this remarkable book behind. -- Dr Henry Marsh * Observer *A meditation on what makes a life worth living. * Guardian *It turns out not really to be about dying at all but about life and how to live it — though the closeness of death gives it an urgency and economy… When Breath Becomes Air is a Renaissance book from a Renaissance man. It is a work of philosophy and morality, a reconciliation of science and religion. There is even plot and excitement… It was only with the restrained, elegant epilogue written by his wife Lucy Kalanithi that I found myself weeping helplessly… When Breath Becomes Air tells us what means to live a good life, by giving us a glimpse into an exceptional one. -- Lucy Kellaway * Financial Times *A powerful and compelling read. * The Economist, Book of the Year *An astonishingly affecting memoir and eloquent examination of what it is to be human and confront your own mortality… This is a remarkable book by a man who was driven by his passion for his life, his loves and his career. His death is undoubtedly a tragedy but in writing this memoir he has guaranteed that his voice and the important story it tells will resonate for years to come. -- Mernie Gilmore * Daily Express *As thought-provoking as it was moving. The sheer exuberance of Kalnithi’s intellectual curiosity shone through in his writing. -- Katie Law * Evening Standard, Book of the Year *To the venerable canon of doctors who could write (from Chekhov to Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande), another name can be added: that of Paul Kalanithi… Brilliantly written. -- Louise Carpenter * Sunday Telegraph *Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, When Breath Becomes Air… split my head open with its beauty. Truly. Madly. Deeply. -- Cheryl Strayed, author of WILDThanks to When Breath Becomes Air, those of us who never met Paul Kalanithi will both mourn his death and benefit from his life. This one of a handful of books I consider to be a universal donor - I would recommend it to anyone, everyone. -- Ann Patchett, author of BEL CANTOA remarkable book about what it means to live…a tour de force…The book will be compared inevitably to Sacks’ work and also to the iconic book that Joan Didion wrote about grief, The Year of Magical Thinking. And like that book, it’s destined to become an elegiac classic on the subject of mortality. But it’s a different feeling from Didion’s gorgeous, melancholy fog of war. When Breath Becomes Air is electrically alive in its anticipation of death. -- Lisa Chase * Elle *

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD'Tragic and comic at the same time... an outrageous story, one that will break your heart' Sunday Independent'A terrific story, grippingly told' Sunday Times'I read The Glass Castle straight through in an evening, wearing an expression of slack-jawed amazement' SpectatorWhile Jeannette Walls was living on Park Avenue, covering the Academy Awards and attending black-tie parties at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, her parents were squatting in an abandoned building on the Lower East Side. Rex Walls, her father, was an ingenious adventurer and a hopeless alcoholic. Her mother was an artist who abhorred domestic routine and the chores of motherhood: 'Why should I cook a meal that will be gone in an hour when I can do a painting that will last forever?' Funny sad, quirky and loving, The Glass Castle is an almost incredible story of a nomadic, impoverished childhood. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING BRIE LARSON, WOODY HARRELSON AND NAOMI WATTSTrade ReviewTragic and comic at the same time... an outrageous story, one that will break your heart * Sunday Independent *A terrific story, grippingly told * Sunday Times *Like J.D. Salinger or Hemingway before her, Jeannette Walls has the talent of knowing exactly how to let a story tell itself * Sunday Independent *'I read The Glass Castle straight through in an evening, wearing an expression of slack-jawed amazement. Jeannette Walls has managed to balance her account with great precision; as she and her siblings did, we must both love and hate her parents * Spectator *There isn't a shred of self-pity in this deeply compassionate book * Marie Claire *Wall's journalistic bare-bones style makes for a chilling, wrenching, incredible testimony of childhood neglect * Kirkus Reviews *Affection, shame and guilt run side by side in this unforgettable memoir of a childhood spent ''on the skedaddle'' * Woman and Home *Funny and brilliantly written through a child's eyes, recreating a unique family life * Evening Herald *Walls has joined the company of writers such as Mary Karr and Frank McCourt who have been able to transform their sad memories into fine art * People *Walls has a God-given knack for spinning a yarn, and The Glass Castle is nothing short of spectacular * Entertainment Weekly *Extraordinary * Time *Each memory is more incredible than the last... That Walls recounts them so well and in such detail is our good fortune * Plain Dealer *Some people are born storytellers. Some lives are worth telling. The best memoirs happen when these two conditions converge. In The Glass Castle, they have * New York Newsday *The Glass Castle is the kind of story that keeps you awake long after the rest of the house has fallen asleep * Vogue *Utterly engaging and teeming with incident. This is a life so vividly rendered that the reader feels present at every moment * Express *Walls has carved a story with precision and grace out of one of the most chaotic, heart-breaking childhoods... This deeply affecting memoir is a triumph in every possible way, and it does what all good books should: it affirms our faith in the human spirit * Dani Shapiro *

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Book Synopsis'Conjures the rasp of the ski runner, the scent of burning blubber and the rippling iridescence of the Northern Lights' Sara Wheeler '[An] astonishing, haunting memoir' Isabella Tree The rediscovered classic memoir - the mesmerizingly beautiful account of one woman's year spent living in a remote hut in the Arctic In 1934, the painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable home for a year with her husband on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen. On arrival she is shocked to realise that they are to live in a tiny ramshackle hut on the shores of a lonely fjord, hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement. At first, Christiane is horrified by the freezing cold, the bleak landscape and the lack of supplies... But after encounters with bears and seals, long treks over the ice and months of perpetual night, she finds herself falling in love with the Arctic's harsh, otherworldly beauty. This luminous classic memoir tells of her inspiring journey to freedom and fulfilment in the adventure of a lifetime. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Jane Degras With a foreword by Sara Wheeler Born in 1897, CHRISTIANE RITTER was an Austrian artist and author. She wrote A Woman in the Polar Night on her return to Austria from Spitsbergen in 1934. It has since become a classic of travel writing, never going out of print in German and being translated into seven other languages. 'A year in the Arctic should be compulsory to everyone,' she would say in her later years. 'Then you will come to realise what's important in life and what isn't.' Ritter died in Vienna in 2000 at the age of 103.Trade Review“An epic story, elegantly told and full of mystery. Even though I could never hope to match her bravery and aplomb, Ritter made me long to decamp at once for the harshest and wildest corners of the earth.” — Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle

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Book SynopsisThe stories of a Jewish family and their attempts to escape the growing terror as the Nazis marched over Europe

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry''This book should be required reading for anyone thinking of having a baby, or even anyone who knows someone who is thinking of having a baby'' Scotland on Sunday''Fascinating and honest'' Mumsnet''Like talking to a friend'' ObserverThere were many things that Hollie McNish didn''t know before she was pregnant. How her family and friends would react; that Mr Whippy would be off the menu; how quickly ice can melt on a stomach. These were on top of the many other things she didn''t know about babies: how to stand while holding one; how to do a poetry gig with your baby as an audience member; how drum''n''bass can make a great lullaby. And that''s before you even start on toddlers. But Hollie learned. And she''s still learning, slowly. Nobody Told Me is a collection of poems and stories; Hollie''s thoughts on raising a child in modern BritaiTrade ReviewThe world needs these poems - and so does every parent . . . Interspersed with passages of spiky, penetrating prose, they offer a series of vivid snapshots of the highly emotional, frequently paranoid and always sleep-deprived experience of the first-time parent . . . The world needs this book. It should be required reading for anyone thinking of having a baby, or even anyone who knows someone who is thinking of having a baby. And I can't help wondering if these islands would be a happier and more pleasant place to live if Nobody Told Me was made a compulsory sex-ed set text in our schools. Politicians, please take note * Scotland on Sunday *The things no one tells you before you have a baby are numerous - Hollie McNish turns them into epic poems about the transformation of your body and Mr Whippy vans. You'll learn a lot * Grazia *McNish does not shy away from discussing the pain, emotional and physical, the fraying of self that comes with sleep deprivation, the poo, snot, seepages and leakages, but she also captures the bliss and wonder. Her rhymes have a driving quality, urgent words pinning down fleeting feelings, and her prose is warm and conversational, like speaking to a friend * The Observer *From a poem about morning sickness to a story about enduring a public toddler tantrum, [Hollie McNish] provides beautifully written solidarity covering both the trials and the joys of being a parent -- 10 Best Parenting Books * Independent *Hollie's poems are deep and delicate. They move across you in a way that's so gentle you almost don't realise how they've gone straight for the gut till you're thinking of them, by accident, days later. She writes with honesty, conviction, humour and love. She points out the absurdities we've grown too used to and lets us see the world with fresh eyes. Her poetry is welcoming, galvanising and beautiful. She's always been one of my favourites -- Kate TempestIt's a moving and profoundly personal account. Yet at the same time, Nobody Told Me offers an insight into the shared, unspoken experiences of many mothers. McNish describes Nobody Told Me as 'All the things I couldn't talk about.' It feels like time that we started talking * The Skinny *Her poetry has never shied away from issues of gender, race, commercialism and parenthood but it always delivers touching and accessible insights, and this book will surely do the same * The Big Issue *For a lyrical take on pregnancy and parenthood, look no further than Nobody Told Me: Poetry andParenthood from award-winning poet Hollie McNish. This beautifully written book includes a series ofpoems and stories, lifted from Hollie's personal diaries on becoming a parent, and documents her journeyfrom pregnancy to taking her child to pre-school for the first time * Independent *

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Book Synopsis''Fabulous, a triumph, and it will remain a favourite forever.'' CHRIS PACKHAM''A miniature masterpiece.'' THE INDEPENDENT''Charming and absorbing.'' THE TIMESIn celebration of its fifteen year anniversary, and including a new foreword by Helen Macdonald, this multi-award winning account of a close encounter with nature will delight readers everywhere.While an illness keeps her bedridden, Elisabeth Tova Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence in a flowerpot alongside her bed. She enters the rhythm of life of this mysterious creature, and comes to a greater understanding of her own confined place in the world. In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, she shares the inspiring and intimate story of her connection with Neohelix albolabris a common woodland snail.Intrigued by the snail's world from its strange anatomy to its mysterious courtship activ

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Book SynopsisA family memoir and a memorial to a short life, Joshua in the Sky tells the story of one man's attempt to come to make sense of the death of his baby nephew from a rare blood condition both share, asking the questions: whose life deserves to be remembered? And how?

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Book SynopsisThe incredible Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller from the multi-million copy bestselling author of the phenomenon and 80-week Sunday Times bestselling The Salt Path''Beautiful, a thrill to read . . . you feel the world is a better place because Raynor and Moth are in it'' The Times''Winn''s writing transforms her surroundings and her spirits, her joy coming across clearly in her shimmering prose'' i''A beautiful, luminous and magical piece of writing'' Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry_______''It was the land, the earth, the deep humming background to my very being''In 2016, days before they were unjustly evicted from their home, Raynor Winn was told her husband Moth was dying.Instead of giving up they embarked on a life-changing journey: walking the 630-mile South West Coast Path, living by their wits, determination and love of nature.But all journeys must end and when the couple return to civilisation they find that four walls feel like a prison, cutting them off from the sea and sky that sustained them - that had saved Moth''s life.So when the chance to rewild an old Cornish farm comes their way, they grasp it, hoping they''ll not only reconnect with the natural world but also find themselves once again on its healing path . . ._______''Confirms Raynor as a natural and extremely talented writer with an incredible way with words. This book gives us all what we wanted to know at the end of The Salt Path which is what happened next. So moving, it made me cry . . . repeatedly'' Sophie Raworth, BBC''Brilliant, powerful and touching . . . will connect with anyone who has triumphed over adversity'' Stephen Moss, author and naturalist''Unflinching . . . There is a luminous conviction to the prose'' Observer''Notions of home are poignantly explored . . . wonderful'' GuardianLONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2021**Nominated for the Holyer an Gof Memoir Award**Praise for The Salt Path''An astonishing narrative of two people dragging themselves from the depths of despair along some of the most dramatic landscapes in the country, looking for a solution to their problems and ultimately finding themselves'' Independent''This is what you need right now to muster hope and resilience . . . a beautiful story and a reminder that humans can endure adversity'' Stylist''The landscape is magical: shapeshifting seas and smugglers'' coves; myriads of sea birds and mauve skies. Raynor writes exquisitely . . . it''s a tale of triumph; of hope over despair, of love over everything'' The Sunday Times''The Salt Path is a life-affirming tale of enduring love that smells of the sea and tastes of a rich life. With beautiful, immersive writing, it is a story heart-achingly and beautifully told'' Jackie Morris, illustrator of The Lost Words by Robert MacfarlaneTrade ReviewHeartening and comforting . . . The nature writing is beautiful and it is a thrill to read. You feel the world is a better place because Raynor and Moth are in it * The Times *Raynor Winn has written a brilliant, powerful and touching account of her life before and after The Salt Path, which, like her astonishing debut, will connect with anyone who has triumphed over adversity * Stephen Moss, author and naturalist *A beautiful, luminous and magical piece of writing * Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry *Written in wise, unflinching, exquisite prose, this is a different kind of journey - into the past, into grief and also into Winn's search for connection. A spiritual journey instead of a physical one, and, for me at least, an even richer one * Rachel Joyce, author of Miss Benson's Beetle *Deeply personal and spiritual in its exploration of the healing qualities of nature . . . Winn's writing transforms her surroundings and her spirits, her joy coming across clearly in her shimmering prose * i *In this unflinching sequel to The Salt Path, nature provides solace against forebodings of mortality . . . there is a luminous conviction to the prose * Observer *To follow Raynor Winn on her songline back to Cornwall is to know how it feels to walk yourself into the land you love and find peace at the end of the journey * Brian Jackman, travel journalist for The Sunday Times *An uplifting, illuminating read * Daily Mirror *Winn's soul-baring honesty and beautifully remembered, touching conversations will take your breath away * BBC Countryfile *Notions of home are poignantly explored . . . Her evocations of weather, landscape, the sea and her love for her partner, Moth, who has an incurable neurodegenerative condition, are wonderful * Guardian *Full of descriptions of dramatic landscapes that make the reader long for the great outdoors . . . an uplifting and illuminating book * Sunday Express *Heart-rending. A love letter to the natural world in all its wondrous glory . . . spellbinding * Herald *Explores the challenge of returning to mainstream life after homelessness * Daily Express, 2020 Hot Reads *The Wild Silence confirms Raynor as a natural and extremely talented writer with an incredible way with words. This book gives us all what we wanted to know at the end of The Salt Path which is what happened next. So moving, it made me cry . . . repeatedly -- Sophie RaworthThis book promises to take you away with the same amazing descriptive and emotive writing found in The Salt Path -- David Atherton, Great British Bake Off Winner 2019 * Waitrose Weekend *Profoundly moving and emotionally transcendent reading * The List *Unflinching . . . Another beautifully poignant read about triumph over adversity, and adjusting to life after immense change * The List *Intimate in feel and ambitious in scope . . . Throughout it all [Winn] retains her faith in the importance of having an almost visceral connection to the land * Observer *This sequel sees the pair trying unsatisfactorily to readjust to normal life before finding ways to reharness nature's healing power * Telegraph *Moving. A must-read for anyone inspired by The Salt Path . . . another thoughtful memoir * Good Housekeeping *The quality of Winn's writing draws us through the story with the same emotional honesty, lyricism and warmth that epitomises The Salt Path * Resurgence & Ecologist *A poignant and passionate, grounded yet uplifting journey of discovery in which we learn what can be found after all seems lost, The Wild Silence is a testament to the transformative power of nature and the fresh hope it nurtures within ourselves * Steven McKenzie, editor of The Big Issue *Picks up the story where Winn's astonishing The Salt Path left off * The New European *Wise, unflinching, exquisite prose -- Rachel JoyceLuminous and touching * Foyles *Raynor Winn's story has become the stuff of legend * Cornwall Life *Writing with such honesty is a trademark of [Winn's] style * The Marshwood Vale Magazine *'9 new books to read this September' * SheerLuxe *Powerful * Writers Forum *Beautiful * Herald *'Country Life Book of the Week' * Country Life *Down to earth yet astonishing . . . touching * This England *So beautifully told * i *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is ideal for anyone - learn from his basic lessons and change yourself - and the world, for the better * Northern Life Magazine *A book to inspire your children and grandchildren to become everything that they can. * The Wall Street Journal *Superb, smart and succinct * Forbes *

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Book Synopsis**AS SEEN ON BBC2's BETWEEN THE COVERS**A Guardian Book of the YearMaggie Nelson is one of the most electrifying writers at work in America today, among the sharpest and most supple thinkers of her generation - Olivia LaingBluets winds its way through depression, divinity, alcohol, and desire, visiting along the way with famous blue figures, including Joni Mitchell, Billie Holiday, Yves Klein, Leonard Cohen and Andy Warhol. While its narrator sets out to construct a sort of 'pillow book' about her lifelong obsession with the colour blue, she ends up facing down both the painful end of an affair and the grievous injury of a dear friend. The combination produces a raw, cerebral work devoted to the inextricability of pleasure and pain, and to the question of what role, if any, aesthetic beauty can play in times of great heartache or grief.Much like Roland Barthes's A Lover's Discourse, Bluets has passed between lovers in the ecstasy of new love, and been pressed into the hands of the heartbroken. Visceral, learned, and acutely lucid, Bluets is a slim feat of literary innovation and grace, never before published in the UK.Trade ReviewTranscendent.... very inspiring. She’s an amazing writer. -- Lorde * Irish Times *Maggie Nelson... She's so much better than anything I've read for a long, long time. -- Karl Ove KnausgaardThe book that changed my life... it's just brilliant. -- Sophie Mackintosh * Guardian *I remember where I was when I read each of Maggie Nelson's books in the same way I remember a place where I heard important news. Her words come, as though from a great distance, and strike incredibly close. I did not actually read Bluets, I think - I just let it hit me. -- Anne EnrightMaggie Nelson is one of the most electrifying writers at work in America today, among the sharpest and most supple thinkers of her generation. -- Olivia Laing[Nelson's] candour, also evident in The Argonauts, gives Bluets a turbo-charged vitality, precision and authenticity that frees her to reflect on the way female desire is too often sidelined or ignored.... In her dark excavation of grief, she has collected messages of great wisdom and powerful beauty. -- Gavin Francis * Guardian *A gorgeous, eddying read. -- Claire-Louise BennettNelson… looks sideways at her heartbreak, allowing for moments of piercing clarity as feelings come into focus. There is wisdom and beauty in this short work. -- Fiona Wilson * The Times *A luminous meditation on the author’s love for a single colour that displaces itself onto the grief prompted by the end of a relationship and the serious injury of a friend. -- Jenny Hendrix * Times Literary Supplement *Arty, smart and gorgeous meditation on the color blue. * Time Out *Bluets is a slim but intense volume dedicated to the colour blue, and to feeling blue. Nelson takes a Wittgensteinian form and fills it with feeling. In 240 loosely linked fragments she moves between memoir and analysis, from spiritual inquiry to erotic obsession… Beautiful. -- Tom Graham * Financial Times *A real short-sharp punch in the heart. Truly sad and beautiful, it’s a raw meditation on falling passionately in love with a colour. * Big Issue *What could be more invented than a life story that reads like a novel? Bluets doesn’t invent that way: its inventions are wilder, wiser (and more true) than that… each proposition is breathtaking. * Brick *A syncopated arrangement of 240 prose poems collected across three years of slowly dwindling grief and heartbreak, it centres around the colour blue and how it helped to heal Nelson’s pain. -- Isobel Thompson * A-List *This discussion of the colour blue is a gorgeous read, almost religious in the way it defaults to the beautiful and the sublime. -- Anne Enright * Guardian *When I want a sprawling, consuming book about love and loss, I turn to Maggie Nelson’s Bluets. The compact hybrid book of literature, memoir, and poetry at only 99 pages in length lingers long after the cover is turned over. -- Sarah MacDonald * Vice *I can’t stop thinking about [Bluets]. -- Darci PhenixAlways beguiling, her writing is powerful, incisive and so singular that it defies categorization … raw, honest and urgent… [Nelson] always prompt me to see some aspect of life very differently. -- Alice Rawsthorn * Observer *Last year, while recovering from a break up with a long-term partner, I carried the book with me everywhere... The way that she renders her experiences and thoughts in such vivid, aching and raw detail served as a shelter for me, and a way to articulate feelings I didn't yet have the distance or strength to put words to. -- Zaina Arafat * Good Housekeeping *Bluets is an expansive, intensely poetic text about Nelson's life-long infatuation with the colour blue... in Nelson's most visceral moments of divulgence, we see a testament to love in all its inexpressibility. -- Martha French * Varsity *

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Book SynopsisFrom one of the great thinkers and writers of our time, comes the unmissable final instalment in Deborah Levy''s critically acclaimed ''Living Autobiography''.''A beautifully crafted and thought-provoking snapshot of a life'' The Evening Standard_________________________________''I began to wonder what myself and all unwritten and unseen women would possess in their property portfolios at the end of their lives. Literally, her physical property and possessions, and then everything else she valued, though it might not be valued by society. What might she claim, own, discard and bequeath? Or is she the real estate, owned by patriarchy? In this sense, Real Estate is a tricky business. We rent it and buy it, sell and inherit it - but we must also knock it down.''Following the critical acclaim of Things I Don''t Want to Know and The Cost of Living, this final volume of Deborah Levy''s ''Living Autobiography'' is an exhilarating, thought-provoking and boldly intimate meditation on home and the spectres that haunt it._________________________________''Real Estate is a book to dive into. Come on in, the water''s lovely'' The Daily Telegraph''Her reflections on domesticity, freedom and romance are so beautiful, I found myself underlining multiple sentences a page. Wry, warm and uplifting, it''s a book I''ll return to again and again'' Stylist''[Levy''s living autobiography series is] a glittering triple echo of books that are as much philosophical discourse as a manifesto for living and writing'' Financial TimesTrade ReviewA beautifully crafted and thought-provoking snapshot of a life * Evening Standard *One of those wise books where you want to underline every sentence * Good Housekeeping *Her reflections on domesticity, freedom and romance are so beautiful, I found myself underlining multiple sentences a page. Wry, warm and uplifting, it's a book I'll return to again and again. * Stylist *The narrator of Real Estate is drily funny, irreverent, curious, even wise; she makes the reader want her for a companion . . . each of the books [in Levy's living autobiography series] bears several re-readings; together, they offer one version of how a woman might continually rewrite her own story. * The Observer *Levy is experimenting with language in subversive ways * Literary Review *This is a work about what it means to be a writer: its reinventions, isolations, self-interrogations, its shifting penury and riches, both emotional and financial. . . [Levy's living autobiography series is] a glittering triple echo of books that are as much philosophical discourse as a manifesto for living and writing. * Financial Times *Lyrical sentences come naturally, full of cadence . . . She's particularly touching on the love between mothers and daughters, and funny too . . . Real Estate is a book to dive into. Come on in, the water's lovely. * Daily Telegraph *Her voice - at once jokey and elliptical - is so casually intimate that it feels like catching up with an old friend . . . In three moving memoirs, Levy has perfectly fused the act of writing with the art of living. * i *Levy's intellectual energy is as frenetic as [the] dance floor, her memoirs a string of disparate pearls that entwine travelogue with philosophy and memory with literature * i *Expect fierce prose and bold meditations on what it means to be a woman. * Red *

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Book SynopsisFloweris a book of realistic confessions, likes, dislikes,memories and no-brainer observations. It treats personal truth as unavailable, something that must be made up and convincing.

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Book SynopsisHow do you get the best out of people? What does it take to make a team thrive? From the head coach of the U.S. Women''s National Soccer Team and legendary coach of Chelsea FC comes a book of hard-won lessons for leading a team to success, on and off the field. Few places will test your leadership skills more than elite sport. For more than twenty years, Emma Hayes has led her teams to trophy after trophy, coaching her players through personal and professional setbacks, and becoming a powerful advocate for women in sports.A Completely Different Game shares Hayes''s inspirational, innately human approach to fulfilling the potential of those around her. Beginning with her upbringing in Camden and ending with her move to the US National Team, Hayes takes us through the events that shaped her and the critical leadership lessons she learned along the way. She also lays bare the difficulties that came with managing a women''s sports team in an industry design

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING STEVE COOGAN AND JONATHAN PRYCETHIS IS THE TRUE STORY OF THE UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN A FLIGHTLESS BIRD AND A TEACHER OUT OF HIS DEPTH . . .''I can''t remember the last time I read a book that made me smile so continuously'' 5***** Reader Review''How could a penguin transform so many lives? Read it and see. You''ll not regret it'' 5***** Reader Review''Delightful, uplifting, enjoyable, fun and beautifully written'' 5***** Reader Review_______Tom Michell is in his roaring twenties: single, free-spirited and seeking adventure. He has a plane ticket to South America, a teaching position in a prestigious Argentine boarding school, and endless summer holidays.What he doesn''t need is a pet. What he really doesn''t need is a pet penguin.But while on holiday in Uruguay he spots a penguin struggling in an oil slick and knows he has to help. And then the penguin refuses to leave his side . . .Clearly Tom has no choice but to smuggle it across the border, through customs, and back to school. He names him Juan Salvador.Whether it''s as the rugby team''s mascot, the housekeeper''s confidant, the host at Tom''s parties or the most flamboyant swimming coach in world history, Juan Salvador transforms the lives of all he meets - including Tom, who discovers a compadre like no other . . ._______AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 2''A much-beloved tale about a much-beloved bird . . . Heart-warmingly eccentric'' Guardian''So touching that I didn''t want it to end. I really loved this book'' Michael Bond, creator of Paddington''Charming'' Daily Mail''One of the most touching tales we''ve read all year'' Heat

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Book SynopsisTHE BOOKSHOP WOMAN IS A LOVE STORY, A LOVE STORY ABOUT BOOKSNanako Hanada''s life has not just flatlined, it''s hit rock bottom... Recently separated from her husband, she is living between 4-hour capsule hostels, pokey internet cafes and bookshop floors. Her work is going no better - sales at the eccentric Village Vanguard bookstore in Tokyo, which Nanako manages, are dwindling. As Nanako''s life falls apart, reading books is the only thing keeping her alive.That''s until Nanako joins an online meet-up site which offers 30 minutes with someone you''ll never see again. Describing herself as a sexy bookseller she offers strangers ''the book that will change their life'' in exchange for a meeting. In the year that follows, Nanako meets hundreds of people, some of whom want more than just a book...Acerbic and self-knowing, The Bookshop Woman is a soul-soothing story of a bookseller''s self-discovery and an ode to the joy of reading. Offering a glimpse into bookselling in Japan and the quirky side of Tokyo and its people, this is a story of how books can help us forge connection with others and lead us to ourselves.This is a story about the beauty of climbing into a book, free diving into its pages, and then resurfacing on the last page, ready to breathe a different kind of air...

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Book Synopsis''The book I''ve been waiting for my entire life'' DOLLY ALDERTONIs it possible that life without romantic love isn''t so bad?When poet Amy Key was growing up, she looked forward to a life shaped by romance, fuelled by desire, longing and the conventional markers of success that come when you share a life with another person. But that didn''t happen for her. Now in her forties, she sets out to explore the realities of a life lived in the absence of romantic love.Using Joni Mitchell''s seminal album Blue - which shaped Key''s expectations of love - as an anchor, Arrangements in Blue elegantly honours a life lived completely by, and for, oneself.Building a home, travelling alone, choosing whether to be a mother, recognising her own milestones, learning the limits of self-care and the expansive potential of self-friendship, Key uncovers the many forms of connection and care that often go unnoticed.With profou

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Book Synopsis‘A beautiful, intimate and hunger-inducing portrait of grief, race, heritage and coming to know yourself through what you eat.’ - Stylist, ‘Books of the Year’'As good as everyone says it is and, yes, it will have you in tears. An essential read for anybody who has lost a loved one, as well as those who haven't' – Marie ClaireThe New York Times bestseller from the Grammy-nominated indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast, an unflinching, deeply moving memoir about growing up mixed-race, Korean food, losing her Korean mother, and forging her own identity in the wake of her loss.In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band – and meeting the man who would become her husband – her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.Vivacious, lyrical and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.‘Possibly the best book I’ve read all year . . . I will be buying copies for friends and family this Christmas.’ – Rukmini Iyer, The Guardian ‘Best Food Books of 2021’‘Wonderful . . . The writing about Korean food is gorgeous . . . but as a brilliant kimchi-related metaphor shows, Zauner’s deepest concern is the ferment, and delicacy, of complicated lives.’ – Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times, ‘My favourite read of the year’Trade ReviewMichelle Zauner's Crying In H Mart is as good as everyone says it is and, yes, it will have you in tears. An essential read for anybody who has lost a loved one, as well as those who haven't. * Marie Claire *The best book I’ve read in the past year . . . frank, lyrical, humorous. -- Claudia Roden * Financial Times *The book’s descriptions of jjigae, tteokbokki, and other Korean delicacies stand out as tokens of the deep, all-encompassing love between Zauner and her mother, a love that is charted in vivid descriptions of her mother after death; in a time when people around the world are reckoning with untold loss due to COVID-19, Zauner’s frankness around death feels like an unexpected yet deeply necessary gift. * Vogue US *A beautiful, honest and stylish account of grief, food and heritage. The way Zauner writes about food and how it acts as a bridge between her and her mother, her culture, her sense of self, is brilliantly written. -- Nikesh Shukla, author of Brown BabyCrying in H Mart stunned me - with its truthfulness and the force of its yearning. Beautiful, intimate, powerful, it is an unforgettable portrayal of grief and the bond between mother and daughter. -- Catherine Cho, author of InfernoA gripping, sensuous portrait of an indelible mother-daughter bond that hits all the notes: love, friction, loyalty, grief. All mothers and daughters will recognize themselves – and each other – in these pages. -- Dani Shapiro, author of InheritanceZauner brings dish after dish to life on the page in a rich broth of delectable details, cultural context and the personal history often packed into every bite. . . [Crying in H Mart] will ultimately thrill Japanese Breakfast fans and provide comfort to those in the throes of loss while brilliantly detailing the colorful panorama of Korean culture, traditions and — yes — food' * San Francisco Chronicle *Crying in H Mart is a warm and wholehearted work of literature, an honest and detailed account of grief over time, studded with moments of hope, humor, beauty, and clear-eyed observation. It is not to be missed. * Seattle Times *Crying in H Mart is palpable in its grief and its tenderness, reminding us what we all stand to lose. * Vulture *It is [Zauner's] ability to convey how her mother's simple offering of a rice snack was actually an act of the truest love that leaves the most indelible impression. * Refinery 29 *Incandescent. * Electric Lit *A book you experience with all of your senses: sentences you can taste, paragraphs that sound like music. [Zauner] seamlessly blends stories of food and memory, sumptuousness and grief, to weave a complex narrative of loyalty and loss. -- Rachel SymeA wonder: A beautiful, deeply moving coming-of-age story about mothers and daughters, love and grief, food and identity. It blew me away, even as it broke my heart. -- Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and MeWhen a loved one dies, we search all of our senses for signs of their presence. Zauner’s ability to let us in through taste makes her book stand out—she makes us feel like we are in her mother’s kitchen, singing her praises. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 Wainwright Prize, Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the turning of Dara McAnulty's world, from spring to summer, autumn to winter, on his home patch, at school, in the wild and in his head. Evocative, raw and beautifully written, this very special book vividly explores the natural world from the perspective of an autistic teenager juggling homework, exams and friendships alongside his life as a conservationist and environmental activist. With a sense of awe and wonder, Dara describes in meticulous detail encounters in his garden and the wild, with blackbirds, whooper swans, red kites, hen harriers, frogs, dandelions, skylarks, bats, cuckoo flowers, Irish hares and many more species. The power and warmth of his words also draw an affectionate and moving portrait of a close-knit family making their way in the world.Trade Review"His portrait of loving parents raising three neurodivergent children on poetry, punk and puffins is profoundly moving." Alex Preston, The Observer; "Rich poeticism courses through the writing that belies his years." Hilary A White, Irish Independent; "Like reading William Blake or Ted Hughes, it really is a strange and magical experience...surely one of the most talked about nature books, or any books, this year." The Daily Mail; "I adored it." Lauren St John.; '...the fanfare is wholly justified: this is an astonishingly assured book for one so young.' Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller (Non-fiction Book of the Month, June 2020); "This lovely and remarkable book." Charlotte Moore, The Spectator; 'an extraordinary voice and vision: brave, poetic, ethical, lyrical'. Robert Macfarlane; "Breathtaking." Philip Marsden; 'McAnulty's writing glows with his deep sympathy for the natural world' Tim Flannery

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Book SynopsisA TIME magazine Must-Read Book of the Year Ever wonder what your therapist is thinking? Now you can find out, as therapist and New York Times bestselling author Lori Gottlieb takes us behind the scenes of her practice — where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she). When a personal crisis causes her world to come crashing down, Lori Gottlieb — an experienced therapist with a thriving practice in Los Angeles — is suddenly adrift. Enter Wendell, himself a veteran therapist with an unconventional style, whose sessions with Gottlieb will prove transformative for her. As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her own patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen who feels she has nothing to live for, and a self-destructive twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very questions she is bringing to Wendell. Taking place over one year, and beginning with the devastating event that lands her in Wendell’s office, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone offers a rare and candid insight into a profession that is conventionally bound with rules and secrecy. Told with charm and compassion, vulnerability and humour, it’s also the story of an incredible relationship between two therapists, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious inner lives, as well as our power to transform them.Trade Review‘Absorbing and fascinating.’ -- Oliver Burkeman * The Guardian *‘This is a wonderful book … I wish I hadn’t finished reading it, but will start from the beginning again happily.’ -- Nigella Lawson‘Gottlieb has written a wise, funny, and sometimes blisteringly sad book that is warmer than any self-help guide: one that feels like a friend.’ -- Anna Leszkiewicz * New Statesman *‘Candid and deeply personal, this is a book about being both patient and clinician, and one that offers hope to us all.’ -- Sarah Shaffi * Stylist Magazine’s ‘Your Guide to 2019’s Best Non-Fiction Books’ *‘In prose that’s conversational and funny yet deeply insightful, psychologist Lori Gottlieb is here to remind us that our therapists are people, too.’ * Refinery29 *‘In her memoir, bestselling author, columnist, and therapist Lori Gottlieb explores her own issues — and discovers just how similar they are to the problems of her clients.’ * Bustle *‘Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is funny, hopeful, wise, and engrossing — all at the same time. Lori Gottlieb takes us inside the most intimate of encounters as both clinician and patient and leaves us with a surprisingly fresh understanding of ourselves, one another, and the human condition. This is a daring, delightful, and transformative book.’ -- Arianna Huffington, founder of Huffington Post and founder & CEO of Thrive Global‘I’ve been reading books about psychotherapy for over a half century, but never have I encountered a book like Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: so bold and brassy, so packed with good stories, so honest, deep, and riveting. I intended to read a chapter or two but ended up reading and relishing every word.’ -- Irvin Yalom MD, author of Love’s Executioner, and other Tales of Psychotherapy, and professor emeritus of psychiatry at Stanford University.‘If you have even an ounce of interest in the therapeutic process, or in the conundrum of being human, you must read this book. It is wise, warm, smart, and funny, and Lori Gottlieb is exceedingly good company.’ -- Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet‘Shrinks, they’re just like us — at least in Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, the heartfelt memoir by therapist Lori Gottlieb. Warm, funny, and engaging (no poker-faced clinician here), Gottlieb not only gives us an unvarnished look at her patients’ lives, but also her own. The result is the most relatable portrait of a therapist I’ve yet encountered.’ -- Susannah Cahalan, New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire‘Here are some people who might benefit from Lori Gottlieb’s illuminating new book: Therapists, people who have been in therapy, people who have been in relationships, people who have experienced emotions. In other words, everyone. Lori’s story is funny, enlightening, and radically honest. It merits far more than 50 minutes of your time.’ -- A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically‘Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is ingenious, inspiring, tender, and funny. Lori Gottlieb bravely takes her readers on a guided tour into the self, showing us the therapeutic process from both sides of the couch — as both therapist and patient. I cheered for her breakthroughs, as if they were my own! This is the best book I've ever read about the life-changing possibilities of talk therapy.’ -- Amy Dickinson, “Ask Amy” advice columnist and New York Times bestselling author of Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things‘This book is so insightful, and compassionate, and rich, and taught me a lot about myself. I was sucked right in to these vivid, funny, illuminating stories of humans trying to climb their way out of hiding, overcome self-defeating habits, and wake up to their own strength. Gottlieb has captured something profound about the struggle, and the miracle, of human connection.’ -- Sarah Hepola, New York Times bestselling author of Blackout‘With wisdom and humanity, Lori Gottlieb invites us into her consulting room, and her therapist’s. There, readers will share in one of the best-kept secrets of being a clinician: when we bear witness to change, we also change, and when we are present as others find meaning in their lives, we also discover more in our own.’ -- Lisa Damour, PhD. New York Times bestselling author of Untangled‘Some people are great writers, and other people are great therapists. Lori Gottlieb is, astoundingly, both. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is about the wonder of being human: how none of us is immune from struggle, and how we can grow into ourselves and escape our emotional prisons. Rarely have I read a book that challenged me to see myself in an entirely new light, and was at the same time laugh-out-loud funny and utterly absorbing.’ -- Katie Couric, award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Best Advice I Ever Got‘Gottlieb is an utterly compelling narrator: funny, probing, savvy, vulnerable. She pays attention to the small stuff — the box of tissues and the Legos in the carpet — as she honours the more expansive mysteries of our wild, aching hearts.’ -- Leslie Jamison, author of The Recovering: intoxication and its aftermath‘Saturated with self-awareness and compassion, this is an irresistibly addictive tour of the human condition.’ STARRED REVIEW * Kirkus *‘Gottlieb finds herself learning powerful lessons from her patients as they untangle their emotional challenges while learning to understand her own self-image and what it genuinely means to be human ... Written with grace, humor, wisdom, and compassion, this heartwarming journey of self-discovery should ­appeal to fans of Mitch Albom and Nicholas Sparks.’ * Library Journal *‘Therapists play a special and invaluable role in the lives of the 30 million Americans who attend sessions, but have you ever wondered where they go when they need to talk to someone? Veteran psychotherapist and New York Times best-selling author Lori Gottlieb shares a candid and remarkably relatable account of what it means to be a therapist who also goes to therapy, and what this can teach us about the universality of our questions and anxieties.’ * Thrive Global, ‘10 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2019’ *‘A dishy romp, an eavesdropper’s guilty pleasure … provocative and entertaining … Gottlieb gives us more than a voyeuristic look at other people’s problems (including her own). She shows us the value of therapy.’ -- Susan Sheehan * The Washington Post *‘What makes this book a joy to read is that it offers a wise and witty meld of the author’s personal insights and clinical observations plus bite-sized nuggets of psychology without ever lecturing or boring the reader ... For those who are skeptical, fearful or turned off by the idea of the talking cure, this fly-on-the-wall view of the subject just might convince you that therapy is remarkably worthwhile ... For self-help aficionados, there is wisdom galore on topics such as the drivers and inhibitors of psychological transformation, managing loss and grief, discovering meaning in life and work ... And for therapists, there is the chance to sit back and take note of how another clinician applies her skills to conjure up the magic of effective therapy ... A talented and highly accomplished writer, Gottlieb’s insecurities and chronic internal conflicts may surprise some readers. The fact that she doesn’t hold back talking about her suffering is what makes this book so powerful ... a most satisfying and illuminating read for psychotherapy patients, their therapists, and all the rest of us.’ -- Karen R. Koenig * New York Journal of Books *‘An irresistibly candid and addicting memoir ... [Gottlieb’s] book does feel deeply, almost creepily, voyeuristic ... In showing us how patients reveal just a part of their selves, [Gottlieb] gives us a dizzily satisfying collage of narratives, a kind of ensemble soap opera set in the already soap operatic world of Los Angeles ... Gottlieb can be judgmental and obsessive, but she’s authentic, even raw, about herself and her patients.’ -- Alex Kuczynski * The New York Times Book Review *‘She combines journalism and therapy, most notably in her “Dear Therapist” advice column for the Atlantic, which itself somewhat makes the argument for therapy based on the fact that the questions are often far too complicated ever to be answered in the span of one response, though Gottlieb does her best ... There’s something satisfyingly voyeuristic and intimate about getting to listen in on anyone else’s therapy, a feeling Gottlieb amplifies by contextualising what is actually happening in each session from a more clinical perspective. She does this by gently and constantly explaining to the reader what exactly therapists are trying to do with their patients, sharing language and frameworks ... It’s strange to see Gottlieb, a therapist herself, seemingly imply that someone can be too ‘together’ to benefit from talking to someone. And yet, I’m glad she grapples with this. Watching her come to the realisation that the process has things to offer her beyond a quick solution is a lesson in and of itself.’ -- Susan Matthews * Slate *‘As Gottlieb’s patients proceed (often painfully) through their sessions, so does Gottlieb with her new therapist, Wendell. And we get to listen in through this unusual combination of memoir, self-help guide and therapy primer ... warm, approachable, and funny — a pleasure to read ... As we watch Gottlieb and her patients learn to tell the rest of their own stories and move beyond their pain, we find some surprising insights and even a bit of wisdom.’ -- Sarah McCraw Crow * Bookpage *‘Gottlieb plunges further into the psychological depths as she discloses how therapists keep each other honest ... Some readers will know Gottlieb from her many TV appearances or her “Dear Therapist” column, but even for the uninitiated-to-Gottlieb, it won’t take long to settle in with this compelling read.’ -- Joan Curbow * Booklist *‘An addictive book that’s part Oliver Sacks and part Nora Ephron. Prepare to be riveted.’ * People Magazine, Book of the Week *‘Reading it is like one long therapy session — and may be the gentle nudge you need to start seeing a therapist again IRL.’ * Hello Giggles *‘With startling wisdom and humour, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others ... Maybe You Should Talk To Someone is revolutionary in its candour, offering a deeply personal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly revealing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.’ * Bookreporter *‘A psychotherapist and advice columnist at The Atlantic shows us what it’s like to be on both sides of the couch with doses of heartwarming humour and invaluable, tell-it-like-it-is wisdom.’ * O, The Oprah Magazine *‘Entirely reframes the way we think about psychotherapy … Movingly depicts our collective longing for lasting connection.’ * Entertainment Weekly *‘A delightful, fascinating dive into human behavior and idiosyncrasies, habits, and defenses, fears and blind spots: hers, her patients’, yours, and mine.’ * Chicago Tribune *‘This relatable memoir reminds us that many of our struggles are universal and just plain human.’ * Real Simple *‘A no-holds-barred look at how therapy works.’ * Parade *‘A fascinating, funny behind-the-scenes look at what happens when people — even shrinks themselves — ‘break open,’ with the help of a therapist.’ * Shondaland *‘Who could resist watching a therapist grapple with the same questions her patients have been asking her for years? Gottlieb, who writes the Atlantic’s “Dear Therapist” column, brings searing honesty to her search for answers.’ -- Bethanne Patrick * The Washington Post, The 10 books to read in April *‘[Maybe You Should Talk to Someone] explores the ups and downs of life with humour and grace.’ * BookBub *‘Charmingly readable.’ -- Sarah Ditum * In The Moment *‘In her compassionate and emotionally generous new book, Gottlieb … pulls back the curtain of a therapist’s world … The result is a humane and empathetic exploration of six disparate characters struggling to take control of their lives as they journey back to happiness.’ * ALA’s Public Libraries Online *‘[A] smart, hilarious, insightful book. Lori Gottlieb will have you laughing and crying as she breaks down the problems of her patients, her therapist, and herself.’ * Patch.com *‘Both poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, [Gottlieb] reveals how our stories form the core of our lives.’ * Orange County Register *‘Reads like a novel and reveals what really happens on both sides of the couch.’ * Men’s Health *‘A hugely entertaining memoir about a therapist in therapy.’ -- Kerri Sackville * Sunday Age *‘A rare and candid insight into a profession that is conventionally bound with rules and secrecy. Told with charm and compassion, vulnerability and humour, it’s also the story of an incredible relationship between two therapists and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious inner lives, as well as our power to transform them.’ * Sunraysia Daily *’Heartwarming and upbeat, this memoir demystifies therapy and celebrates the human spirit.’ * Shelf Awareness *‘A sparkling and sometimes moving account of her work as a psychotherapist, with the twist that she is in therapy herself ... For someone considering but hesitant to enter therapy, Gottlieb’s thoughtful and compassionate work will calm anxieties about the process; for experienced therapists, it will provide an abundance of insights into their own work.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘A source of inspiration.’ -- Cherlynn Low * Yahoo Finance *‘A great read for anyone interested in mental health, humanity, and empathy.’ -- Jen Saulnier * Mirage News *‘It‘s incredibly open, honest, and there are insights Gottlieb comes to acknowledge in the pages that will resonate with you deeply.’ -- Jess Campbell * GQ *

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Book SynopsisApsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott's final expedition to the Antarctic which he joined to collect the eggs of the Emperor penguin. After the expedition, Cherry-Garrard served in the First World War and was invalided home. With the zealous encouragement of his neighbour, George Bernard Shaw, Cherry-Garrard wrote The Worst Journey in the World (1922) in an attempt to overcome the horror of the journey. As the years unravelled he faced a terrible struggle against depression, breakdown and despair, haunted by the possibility that he could have saved Scott and his companions.Trade ReviewThe best polar book there is * Observer *Probably the best adventure yarn ever published * Independent *Remains the masterpiece of heroic travel * The Times *The finest book ever written about Antarctic exploration as well as a great literary classicOver the greater part of a lifetime I have worn out two copies of the Antarctic's classic, Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World * William Trevor *

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Book SynopsisNERO BOOK AWARDS WINNER 2023WINNER, NON FICTION BOOK 2023, BOOKS ARE MY BAG AWARDSSHORTLIST, BOOKSHOP.ORG INDIE CHAMPIONSSHORTLIST, AMAZON NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLIST, GOODREADS CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEARAudible Books of the Year 2023The Times Books of the Year 2023Apple Best Audiobooks of 2023BOOKSHOP.ORG Book of the Month January 2024THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'I tore through this hilarious, smart, sad, revealing book' - Bob Odenkirk'Funny, sharp and has incredible clarity' - Jon Ronson'An absolute riot. I'm literally going to read it again once I've finished, and I'm a miserable bastard...it's a belter' - FRANKIE BOYLE'Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge.' - Rachael Healy, The GuardianA summary of my book:1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.2. My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.4. Homelessness.5. Stripping.6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.8. REDACTED as too spicy.9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.'Fern's book, like everything she does, is awesome. Incredibly funny, and so unapologetically frank that I feel genuinely sorry for her lawyers.' - PHIL WANG'Of course it's funny - it's Fern Brady - but this book is also deeply moving and eye-opening'- ADAM KAY'It made me laugh out loud and broke my heart and made me weep...I hope absolutely everyone reads this, and it makes them kinder and more curious about the way we all live' - DAISY BUCHANAN'Glorious. Frank but nuanced, a memoir that doesn't sacrifice voice or self-awareness. And it has brilliant things to say about being autistic and being funny' - ELLE MCNICOLL'A set text for all of us in 2023' - DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE'Fern is a brilliant, beautiful writer with a unique voice and even more unique story. Astute, honest and very, very funny.' - LOU SANDERS'So funny and brilliant' - HOLLY SMALE'Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, Strong Female Character is a necessary corrective. Brady offers a compelling, messy, highly resonant portrait of what masked Autism feels like.' - Devon Price, author of Unmasking AutismTrade ReviewOf course it's funny - it's Fern Brady - but this book is also deeply moving and eye-opening -- ADAM KAYIt made me laugh out loud and broke my heart and made me weep...I hope absolutely everyone reads this, and it makes them kinder and more curious about the way we all live -- DAISY BUCHANANGlorious. Frank but nuanced, a memoir that doesn't sacrifice voice or self-awareness. And it has brilliant things to say about being autistic and being funny -- ELLE MCNICOLLFern is a brilliant, beautiful writer with a unique voice and even more unique story. Astute, honest and very, very funny. -- LOU SANDERSSo funny and brilliant -- HOLLY SMALEAn absolute riot. I'm literally going to read it again once I've finished, and I'm a miserable bastard...it's a belter -- FRANKIE BOYLEFern Brady's book is alive in your hands. Brave doesn't cover it and I'm not sure what will. Fizzing with intelligence, it will hit you in the heart, lungs and liver. You'll laugh, cry, be still and if you're not autistic - by god you'll learn. If you are autistic you'll be seen, heard, held, rocked and loved here. A set text for all of us in 2023 * DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE *Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge. Fern Brady is a natural and engaging writer, weaving bleak episodes with moments of pure comedy as she re-appraises crucial moments in her life through the lens of her autism diagnosis. Brutal honesty and a talent for storytelling combine to make an insightful memoir that's not only very funny, but will no doubt provide invaluable moments of recognition for many readers. * RACHAEL HEALY, The Guardian *Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, Strong Female Character is a necessary corrective. Brady offers a compelling, messy, highly resonant portrait of what masked Autism feels like * Devon Price, author of Unmasking Autism *This Bathgate girl has more jaw-dropping tales to share than your average comedian-cum-author could hope to harvest in a lifetime. Perhaps more of us ought to grapple with our own mortality if it births something so bold as Strong Female Character. * The List *Strong Female Character will reassure fellow autistic folk that they are not alone * Chortle *Shocking and incredibly moving - and it will make you laugh at subjects that you didn't think you possibly could * Scotland on Sunday *A brutal, funny and heartbreaking memoir. The pace is brisk and her deadpan humour makes the darkest material hilariously funny. -- Marianne Power * The Times *Brilliant! -- Sarah Atkinson, CEO Social Mobility Foundation * HR Magazine *This very personal account of bullying, stripping, homelessness and stand-up is shocking and incredibly moving - and will make you laugh at subjects that you didn't realise could be funny. -- Kirsty McLuckie * i Paper *[Brady] brings unsparing wit to a memoir that calls out the bulls--t in every culture she's experienced. -- Helen Brown * The Telegraph *Strong Female Character is a clear-eyed, deeply sane account of an at times tumultuous life; a life shaped by class and gender, but mostly, it's now clear to her, by her autism. * The Herald *

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Book Synopsis_______________WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTIONTHE TOP 2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEKAN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR_______________Mudlark (/mAdla;k/) noun A person who scavenges for usable debris in the mud of a river or harbourLara Maiklem has scoured the banks of the Thames for over fifteen years, in pursuit of the objects that the river unearths: from Neolithic flints to Roman hair pins, medieval buckles to Tudor buttons, Georgian clay pipes to Victorian toys. These objects tell her about London and its lost ways of life.Moving from the river's tidal origins in the west of the city to the point where it meets the sea in the east, Mudlarking is a search for urban solitude and history on the River Thames, which Lara calls the longest archaeological site in England.As she has discovered, it is often the tiniest objects that tell the greatest storTrade ReviewThis is a quirky and delightful read, wonderfully evocative of London’s gloopy, ghost-haunted river * Daily Mail *A treasure. One of the best books I’ve read in years -- Tracy BormanReveals to us the fascinating and poignant micro-world of London's history -- Hallie RubenholdEnchanting. It made even a capsized cynic like me feel more sentimental about the Thames. In fact, I am quite tempted to join Maiklem on the riverbed looking for treasure * Sunday Times *Mudlarks are river scavengers, but Lara Maiklem is more like a time traveller. Her prose has none of the self-conscious sensibility that defines contemporary nature writing; her thoughtful sentences read as though she were talking to herself. There is a great deal to learn from these pages, not least the insight that finding lost things is the best way of losing yourself. It is, above all, her wisdom that makes Lara Maiklem such restful company * Guardian *Maiklem persists, in this weirdly engaging book, in seeking out a curious beauty. Maiklem’s description of the fog is worthy of Dickens or Joseph Conrad. Maiklem pungently evokes the broken bridges, slippery river stairs, causeways, jetties and boatyards. No one has looked at these odd corners since Sherlock Holmes * Sunday Telegraph *Maiklem’s storytelling shines. Her imagined histories for her special finds read like waterborne fairy stories, a hard kernel of truth clothed in mythical finery. Reading it, I felt like I was down on the foreshore myself, sifting through the pages for titbits * Daily Telegraph *A lovely, lyrical, gently meandering book, filled with fascinating diversions and detail * Literary Review *Maiklem's enthusiasm is infectious, and her reimagining of the lives of those who parted with these items is an illuminated joy * i *Whoever buys it is blessed. I love the fact that [Maiklem] makes herself the centre of this huge, timeless, endless story that reaches from the distant past and flows past all our consciousnesses out to a place far beyond the reach of the estuary. Lara is such a natural writer; every page just tingles with her imagination. It is a love letter to life itself -- Ian MortimerMaiklem has an infectious love of linking the present with the past. It is historic detail like this that makes Mudlarking much more than just a lengthy list of discarded bric-a-brac. Lara is a romantic, motivated primarily by the human stories behind the objects. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it is the making of many an author. And Lara has it in spades * Daily Mail *Maiklem augments the Thamesian tally, summoning old Londoners out of silty suspension from a discarded Victoria Cross or a pot-lid. There are other mudlarking books, but this one offers engaging insight into an amphibian ambience of strongly marked characters, semi-secret exploits and outlandish theories. Maiklem is not alone in resorting to the river for salvation as much as salvage * Spectator *A beautifully written memoir of one woman’s relationship with the sacred Thames and the ghosts of its past. Lara Maiklem’s book on mudlarking is as deep and as rich as the Thames and its treasures. Fascinating -- Stanley TucciA hybrid of personal memoir, London history and literary cabinet of curiosities * Telegraph *Maiklem’s knowledge and skill are evident and unarguable. [She] leaves the door open for the rest of us: with a bit of luck and patience you too, she suggests, could spot something interesting on the foreshore, ask around, take it to a museum and end up owning a little bit of history. What a thrill -- Caught by the River[An] enthralling and evocative history of London and its people -- Book of the Month * Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2025An English teacher''s love letter to reading and the many ways literature can make us, and our lives, better.How can a Victorian poem help teenagers understand YouTube misogyny? Can Jane Eyre encourage us to speak out? What can Lady Macbeth teach us about empathy? Should our expectations for our future be any greater than Pip's? And why is it so important to make space for these conversations in the first place?In a career spanning almost three decades, English teacher Carol Atherton has taught generations of students texts that will be familiar to many of us from our own schooldays. But while the staples of exam syllabuses and reading lists remain largely unchanged, their significance and their relevance evolves with each class, as it encounters them for the first time.Each chapter of Reading Lessons invites us to take a fresh look at these novels, plays and poems, revealing how they have shaped our beliefs, our values, and how we interact as a society. As she recalls her own development as a teacher, Atherton emphasizes the vital, undervalued role a teacher plays, illustrates how essential reading is for developing our empathy and makes a passionate case for the enduring power of literature.''Atherton must be an inspiring teacher if her marvellous book is anything to go by'' The Independent''Beautifully written, sensitive and full of warmth ... A vital point of reflection for anyone who has taught, or been taught, English literature'' Jeffrey Boakye''A love letter to literature itself ... At a time when English is under attack as an academic subject, Carol Atherton's powerful defence of it reminds us what we are in danger of losing'' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author of The Turning Point

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Book Synopsis'Simply wonderful.' - BEN FOGLE'Kate's book has the warmth and calming effect of a log fire and a glass of wine. Unknit your brow and let go. It's a treat.' - GARETH MALONE'Kate Humble pours her enviable knowledge into attainable goals. It's a winning combination and the prize - a life in balance with nature - is definitely worth claiming.' - LUCY SIEGLE'As ever, where Kate leads, I follow. She has made me reassess and reset.' - DAN SNOW'Kate Humble's new book is a lesson in moving on from a tragedy and finding our place in the world' - WOMAN & HOME'A Year of Living Simply is timely, given that the pandemic has forced most of us, in some way to simplify our lives, whether we planned to or not. Kate wrote it before any of us were aware of the upcoming crisis, but it captures the current moment perfectly... It's not necessarily a "how to" book, more of a "why not try?" approach.' - FRANCESCA BABB, MAIL ON SUNDAY YOU'What I particularly love is her philosophy for happiness, which is the subject of her new book, A Year of Living Simply. The clue is in the title. Remember the basics. Instead of barging through the day on autopilot, really stop to think about the tiniest little things that added a moment of joy. No, of course stopping and smelling the flowers won't cure all our ills and woes. But taking the time to savour the things that bring pleasure, really being in that moment and appreciating it, can remind you that most days have moments that buoy your mood.' - JO ELVIN, MAIL ON SUNDAY YOUIf there is one thing that most of us aspire to, it is, simply, to be happy. And yet attaining happiness has become, it appears, anything but simple. Having stuff - The Latest, The Newest, The Best Yet - is all too often peddled as the sure fire route to happiness. So why then, in our consumer-driven society, is depression, stress and anxiety ever more common, affecting every strata of society and every age, even, worryingly, the very young? Why is it, when we have so much, that many of us still feel we are missing something and the rush of pleasure when we buy something new turns so quickly into a feeling of emptiness, or purposelessness, or guilt?So what is the route to real, deep, long lasting happiness? Could it be that our lives have just become overly crowded, that we've lost sight of the things - the simple things - that give a sense of achievement, a feeling of joy or excitement? That make us happy. Do we need to take a step back, reprioritise? Do we need to make our lives more simple? Kate Humble's fresh and frank exploration of a stripped-back approach to life is uplifting, engaging and inspiring - and will help us all find balance and happiness every day.

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Book SynopsisThis is a triumph. A love letter to the ghosts of Edinburgh. I feel its hand upon my shoulder. – Sara Sheridan As a writer of fiction, I found myself itching to lift some of these characters from the page into the fertile fields of my own imagination. – Val McDermid Anyone who loves Edinburgh and is fascinated by its private histories will be entranced by this book. – The Scotsman About the book 10 Scotland Street – the story of an Edinburgh home and its cast of booksellers, silk merchants, sailors, preachers, politicians, cholera and coincidence and its widespread connections over two centuries across the globe.Trade ReviewThis is a triumph. A love letter to the ghosts of Edinburgh. I feel its hand upon my shoulder. - Sara Sheridan The story that Leslie unfolds for us spreads its threads across the globe. And it moves through different strata of society, painting a kaleidoscopic portrait of social, political, fiscal and financial life in Scotland and beyond, all through the lens of a single flat in a single city [...] We learn how property and wealth were passed through families, not always in the straight lines we imagine inheritance to travel in. It’s not hard to read between the lines of wills and gifts to picture some of the loves and dislikes, the disapprovals and the determination to make good past wrongs. As a writer of fiction, I found myself itching to lift some of these characters from the page into the fertile fields of my own imagination. - Val McDermid A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable book, a work of prodigious research […] Anyone who loves Edinburgh and is fascinated by its private histories will be entranced by this book. - Allan Massie, The Scotsman Hills proceeds with thorough scholarship […] Above all, she writes really well: fluent, authoritative, persuasive prose, sometimes anecdotal, often slyly colliding formality and contemporary colloquialism. - Broughton Spurtle The writing matches the process of researching in an archive when one’s eye is caught by something not directly concerned with the matter in hand, the so-called ‘rabbit holes’. There is a veritable warren of these […] I was genuinely sad to come to the final page of this book. I heartily recommend it. - Edward Duvall, Old Edinburgh Club

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Book SynopsisFrom celebrated French author Colombe Schneck, translated by Lauren Elkin and Natasha Lehrer, comes The Paris Trilogy; three autobiographical tales from different seminal periods throughout her life, each interrogating desire, society, love, loss, and womanhood in all its forms.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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