Memoirs Books

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

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Book SynopsisA new edition of the inspirational memoir that touched thousands - one woman's journey from cancer and near-death to ultimate healing, spiritual freedom and inner power.Since its initial publication, Anita Moorjani’s memoir of her near-death experience has sold over a million copies worldwide in 45 languages. This 10th Anniversary Edition includes a new afterword that describes how Anita’s life has dramatically changed since the book’s original publication, including the discovery of empathic abilities that gave her a profound new perspective on her near-death experience. Anita shares how after fighting cancer for almost four years, her body began shutting down. As her organs failed, she entered into an extraordinary near-death experience where she would realize her inherent worth and the actual cause of her disease. Upon regaining consciousness, Anita found that her condition had improved so rapidly that she was able to be released from the hospital within weeks… without a trace of cancer in her body! After years of struggling to forge her own path while trying to meet everyone else’s expectations, she had the realization – as a result of her epiphany on the other side – that she had the power to heal herself… and that there are miracles in the Universe that she had never even imagined. In Dying to Be Me, Anita shares all she has learned about illness, healing, fear, ‘being love’, and the true magnificence of each and every human being!

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Book SynopsisWhen do we become adults? What does it mean to grow up? And what are the experiences that propel us forward — or keep us stuck? These are the questions that journalist Moya Sarner sets out to answer as she begins training as a psychotherapist. But as she delves further into her own mind and others’, she soon realises that growing up is far from the linear process we imagine it to be. So begins a journey of discovery into what growing up really involves, and how we do it again and again throughout our lives.Trade ReviewInteresting ... thoughtful and painfully open.’ -- James McConnachie * The Sunday Times *‘Moya Sarner has written a book about growing up which also happens to be a book about being alive: about managing pain and loss, about uncertainty and change, about humility and courage, about finding meaning and acceptance. She is asking all the right questions, in our uncertain times, and her search for answers is inspiring. Writing that is full of insight and depth, and always feels refreshing. This book is invigorating and thought-provoking, rigorous, elegant, and compassionate. It is about thinking, healing, and connecting. We need more like it.’ -- Tom Hiddleston‘Searching and consoling, When I Grow Up interrogates the beliefs we hold about life’s stages, and the labels we yearn for and resist. It is a generous, illuminating exploration of what it means to grow up, why we want to, and how to know when you’ve done it.’ -- Nell Stevens, author of Bleaker House‘A deeply compassionate book that made me think differently about not only what it means to be an adult but also what it means to be a human being.’ -- Imogen West-Knights‘Incredibly insightful and helpful. Everyone could learn something from this book.’ -- Olivia Petter, author of Millennial Love‘A journalist and psychotherapist explores what it means to be an adult in a world that often infantilises … She takes her skills as a journalist and what she has learned about listening to explore the vexed question of what becoming a mature adult personality might entail, and why achieving it has become such a trial and a puzzlement for so many today, herself included.’ -- Sally Vickers * The Guardian *‘Journalist and psychotherapist in training Moya Sarner takes us on a journey into what growing up really means, and what it involves. Drawing upon her conversations with adults in search of adulthood, and sharing her case studies and theories, When I Grow Up is an invigorating and thought-provoking novel.’ * Happy Mag *‘[A] multi-faceted book which is part psychology, part memoir with a little dash of self-help thrown in for good measure.’ * The Ross-Shire Journal *

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Book SynopsisFrom Hanif Kureishi, author of The Buddha of Suburbia, a memoir about the accident that left him paralysed. Moving, funny, remarkable' Richard Eyre___________________A few days ago, a bomb went off in my life, but this bomb has also shattered the lives of those around me. My partner, my children, my friends.'On Boxing Day 2022, in Rome, Hanif Kureishi had a fall. When he came to, in a pool of blood, he was horrified to realise he had lost the use of his limbs. He could no longer walk, write or wash himself. He could do nothing without the help of others, and required constant care in a hospital. So began an odyssey of a year through the medical systems of Rome and Italy, with the hope of somehow being able to return home, to his house in London. While confined to a series of hospital wards, he felt compelled to write, but being unable to type or to hold a pen, he began to dictate to family members the words which formed in his head. The result was an extraordinary series of dispa

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Book Synopsis“I spent six decades learning how never to reveal my weakness to anyone - now it’s time for change.” When he was just two and a half, Barrington Sowden's mother left him and his older sister in the care of his grandparents in Jamaica, joining the Windrush exodus from the island to seek work in the UK. With his father having departed years earlier, Barrington was left with no memory of his parents, and his childhood was marked by a series of unusual events, including the unexpected death of his beloved grandfather in circumstances which to this day appear suspicious. At the tender age of ten years old, Barrington joined his parents in Manchester, and was rapidly plunged into a life surrounded by violence, drugs and racism, forcing Barrington to constantly fight to forge his own path. Chronicling his life from his early years to the present day, One Journey, Many Lives tells the story of an ordinary man trying to build resilience amidst extraordinary circumstances.

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Book SynopsisThe Road from Kharkiv: A Journey of Pain in Pursuit of Love, God and Sense is a story of the author’s spiritual development as she dealt with a life-threatening situation of extreme adversity. At first hand, Katheryna Fedorova and her family faced the terrifying experience of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Based in Kharkiv, the family decided to leave their home and flee westwards to find safety from the bombing and the fighting. Katheryna and her family commenced their long trip, beginning an uncertain, stressful and challenging odyssey. Taking up offers, often from well-meaning strangers and unknown organisations, received from her extensive network of contacts on social media, the family found refuge in various places in Ukraine, Romania and Austria. Throughout the trip, Katheryna’s faith kept her going and helped her look after her family while still assisting other people along the way. Through it all, Katheryna’s spiritual views and beliefs evolved as her interactions with others presented the opportunities for life lessons to be learned. The Road from Kharkiv: A Journey of Pain in Pursuit of Love, God and Sense will appeal to those interested in spiritual and personal development; how to deal with adversity; the philosophy of life; and those keen to read a first-hand experience of the Ukraine-Russian war.

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Book SynopsisAs seen on Channel 5's Springtime on the Farm and Cannon Hall: A Yorkshire Farm.In their own words, this is the very personal story of the ups and downs of the Nicholson family at Cannon Hall farm spanning almost 70 years.

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Book SynopsisTHE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING ACCOUNT OF A NEUROSURGEON''S OWN NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE.Internationally acclaimed neurosurgeon Dr Eben Alexander always considered himself a man of science. His unwavering belief in evidence-based medicine fuelled a career in the top medical institutions of the world. But all this was set to change. One morning in 2008 he fell into a coma after suffering a rare form of bacterial meningitis. Scans of his brain revealed massive damage. Death was deemed the most likely outcome. As his family prepared themselves for the worst, something miraculous happened. Dr Alexander''s brain went from near total inactivity to awakening. He made a full recovery but he was never the same. He woke certain of the infinite reach of the soul, he was certain of a life beyond death. In this astonishing book, Dr Alexander shares his experience, pieced together from the notes he made as soon as he was able to write again. Unlike oTrade ReviewDr Eben Alexander's near-death experience is the most astounding I have heard in more than four decades of studying this phenomenon. In my opinion, Dr Alexander is living proof of an afterlife. * Dr Raymond Moody, bestselling author of Life After Life *Dr Alexander's neuroscience career taught him that near-death experiences are brain-based illusions, and yet his personal experience left him dumbstruck. His honest struggle to make sense of this unforgettable journey is a gripping story, unique in the literature of spiritual experiences that may well change how we understand our role in the universe. * Dr Bruce Greyson, Carlson Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine; co-editor of The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences *An interesting account of how a man's spiritual beliefs were fundamentally changed by an unforeseen and nearly fatal event * Glasgow Herald *I don't know whether Heaven exists, but I do believe that Eben's account is real and that he witnessed a part of the Universe that most of us haven't seen * Anthony Peake, author of Is There Life After Death?: The Extraordinary Science of What Happens When We Die and Making Sense of Near Death Experiences *A man of science coming out for life after death has extra resonance, rather like Richard Dawkins saying 'God bless.' Based on his own life experience after falling into a coma, it's a fascinating read whatever your own opinions * Belfast Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThe incredible true survival story of one man's record-breaking fourteen months lost at sea.On 17th November, 2012, Salvador Alvarenga left the coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip. A vicious storm killed his engine and the current dragged his boat out to sea. The storm picked up and carried him West, deeper into the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Alvarenga would not touch solid ground again for fourteen months. When he was washed ashore on January 30th, 2014, he had drifted over 9,000 miles.Three dozen cruise ships and container vessels passed nearby. Not one stopped for the stranded fisherman. He considered suicide on multiple occasions – including offering himself up to a pack of circling sharks. But Alvarenga developed a method of survival that kept his body and mind intact long enough for the Pacific Ocean to spit him up onto a remote palm-studded island. Crawling ashore, he was saved by a local couple living in their own private castaway paradise.Based on dozens of hours of interviews with Alvarenga and his colleagues, search and rescue officials, the medical team that saved his life and the remote islanders who nursed him back to normality, 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin is an epic tale of survival and one man's incredible story of beating the ultimate odds.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024Raw and radical, strange and beguiling - a love letter to Britain''s breathtaking flatlands, from Orford Ness to Orkney, and a reckoning with the painful, hidden histories they contain''Expansive and arresting'' Financial Times''Sharp, subtle and very moving'' Robert MacfarlaneNoreen Masud has always loved flat landscapes - their stark beauty, their formidable calm, their refusal to cooperate with the human gaze. They reflect her inner world: the ''flat place'' she carries inside herself, emotional numbness and memory loss as symptoms of childhood trauma. But as much as Britain''s landscapes provide solace for suffering, they are also uneasy places for a Scottish-Pakistani woman, representing both an inheritance and a dispossession.Pursuing this paradox across the wide open plains that she loves, Noreen weaves her impressions of the natural world with the poetry, folklore and history of the land, and with recollections of her own early life, rendering a startlingly strange, vivid and intimate account of a post-traumatic, post-colonial landscape - a seemingly flat and motionless place which is nevertheless defiantly alive.''Beautifully written and elegantly constructed'' Kamila Shamsie''A Flat Place reminds us that there is hope in the smallest of gestures'' Sara AhmedSHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE ONDAATJE PRIZE 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD 2024BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 ACCORDING TO THE GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, NEW YORKER

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Book SynopsisA chemist by training, the author became one of the witnesses to twentieth-century atrocity. In these haunting reflections inspired by the elements of the periodic table, he ranges from young love to political savagery; from the inert gas argon - and 'inert' relatives like the uncle who stayed in bed for twenty-two years - to life-giving carbon.

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Book Synopsis''This book is just about my favourite book of all time ... I''m not entirely convinced I could like somebody who didn''t like this book ... it''s funny and moving and gives you an insight into this extraordinary moment as the war is about to begin ... it''s so vivid, and what''s more, it''s incredibly current'' Robert Rinder, BBC Radio 4''Wonderfully funny and very poignant'' Philip Toynbee''More than an extremely amusing autobiography ... she has evoked a whole generation. Her book is full of the music of time'' SUNDAY TIMES''Whenever I read the words Peer''s Daughter in a headline,'' Lady Redesdale once sadly remarked, ''I know it''s going to be something about one of you children.'' The Mitford family is one of the century''s most enigmatic, made notorious by Nancy''s novels, Diana''s marriage to Sir Oswald Mosley, Unity''s infatuation with Hitler, Debo''s marriage to a duke and Jessica''s passionate commitment to communism. Hons and Trade ReviewMore than an extremely amusing autobiography ... she has evoked a whole generation. Her book is full of the music of time * SUNDAY TIMES *[An] uproarious yet deadly portrait of family life and family politics ... It evokes the atmosphere of the 1930s with more feeling than almost any other book of the period -- Christopher Hitchens * THE ATLANTIC *Wonderfully funny and very poignant -- Philip ToynbeeStunning. Reads like an extravagantly mannered fiction, except that it is all fabulously true ... Miss Mitford is at once touching and wildly funny, and there is not one of highly coloured characters that is not violently alive and uncomfortably kicking -- Siriol Hugh-Jones * TATLER *This book is just about my favourite book of all time ... I'm not entirely convinced I could like somebody who didn't like this book ... it's funny and moving and gives you an insight into this extraordinary moment as the war is about to begin ... it's so vivid, and what's more, it's incredibly current -- Robert Rinder * A GOOD READ, BBC Radio 4 *Her awareness of where she's from and what she had is astonishing ... to maintain that kind of awareness is astonishing, and she is very funny, but she also writes very well ... she mixes the hugely political, the very sweeping things, with intensely personal moments -- Stella Duffy * A GOOD READ, BBC Radio 4 *What is really quite amazing about this book, which I have read many, many times, and love ... [is] she's not La Pasionaria, she's not some really left-wing heroine, but she is amazing to have got from where she started to where she ended up -- Harriett Gilbert * A GOOD READ, BBC Radio 4 *

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Book SynopsisFeaturing a foreword from Annie MacIn Welcome to the club, Manchester legend DJ Paulette shares the highs, lows and lessons of a thirty-year music career, with help from some famous friends.One of the Haçienda’s first female DJs, Paulette has scaled the heights of the music industry, playing to crowds of thousands all around the world, and descended to the lows of being unceremoniously benched by COVID-19, with no chance of furlough and little support from the government. Here she tells her story, offering a remarkable view of the music industry from a Black woman’s perspective. Behind the core values of peace, love, unity and respect, dance music is a world of exclusion, misogyny, racism and classism. But, as Paulette reveals, it is also a space bursting at the seams with powerful women.Part personal account, part call to arms, Welcome to the club exposes the exclusivity of the music industry while seeking to do justice to the often invisible women who keep the beat going.Trade Review‘Imagine the DJ is taking notes while everyone in the club is dancing. Welcome to the club is exactly that, notes of a DJ – the irrepressible sunlight of DJ Paulette. A fascinating insight into the music business by a northern Black woman.’Lemn Sissay, author of My Name Is Why'Icon. Trailblazer. Activist. Warrior. DJ Paulette has led the way for Black women and women everywhere in a global music industry riddled with racism and misogyny. She has blown apart the myths. This is a magnificent book. A manifesto for our times and a rallying call for the future.'Maxine Peake, actress and activist'Paulette continues to light the way for others, building in relevance and significance, wowing crowds, annihilating dancefloors. I would recommend Welcome to the club as an essential read for anyone and everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it.'Craig Charles, actor, comedian, DJ, television and radio presenter ‘Paulette is someone I’ve always respected, admired and been inspired by. This book is beautifully written, incisive, dry, witty and real – true Mancunian honesty. What an adventure and a truly fascinating life.’Rowetta, member of the Happy Mondays'Paulette is a pioneer, a ground-breaker, a trailblazer and never afraid to hold a mirror up to the world to show that there is still so much more to do. A self-assured shimmy of a book that instantly transports you to the dancefloor and beyond. I love it!'Arielle Free, BBC Radio 1 presenter‘DJ Paulette's Welcome to the club is a testament to her ability to witness the dancefloor while blending memorable anecdotes that bring new life to the UK underground music scene. More than her fabulous landing in Paris, where she built a new world of listeners around her name and sound, it's the fact that Paulette turns notable moments in her thirty-year career into a close listening experience. There's a musical quality to this book that sounds like what Black women DJs have tried to tell the world – our unique experiences turn any party into a lively classroom. Paulette leaves curious students waiting for the next chapter so they can hear it like a song.’Lynnée Denise, DJ, writer and interdisciplinary artist‘When I first met Paulette, back in that pivotal space of early 1990s Manchester, I don’t think any of us really understood what we were getting out of nightlife beyond raw enjoyment. Now we've had a chance to re-evaluate those codes, to understand how much they meant in forming us as people. This book explains why nightlife matters, beamed in directly from a vanguard position behind the DJ booth. Paulette understands the philosophy of the nightclub because she was there when it was at its very best.’Paul Flynn, author of Good As You: 30 Years of Gay Britain ‘I arrived in 1990s Manchester, found a place to live and a job then got dragged up, went clubbing and there was DJ Paulette on the decks. She made being an outsider look hot, and I wanted in. Her energy and music were the soundtrack to my queer gender-bending dance floor years. Decades on I still want to be in her club. If music and clubbing played an important part in your life, then so will this book.’Kate O'Donnell, Artistic Director of Trans Creative'I now realise the weight of the obstacles and challenges Paulette overcame, her fortitude to compete in male-dominated arenas, the racism she undoubtedly encountered. Her mettle and contribution have clearly opened doors for the diversity and equality we strive for today.'Simon Dunmore, DJ and Founder of Defected Records & Glitterbox'With fierce resilience and passion, DJ Paulette’s travels through clubland reveal her personal triumphs over life’s adversities. A book filled with music and love, positivity and enthusiasm. 'Princess Julia, DJ, model and music writer‘Any list of the pioneers of the Manchester club scene, and the international scene it so heavily influenced, is not complete without the name of DJ Paulette. Ours is a city that celebrates those who challenge elites, break down barriers and open doors for others to walk through. Paulette has done all of those things and more and that is why we are so proud of her.’Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester‘A thrilling ride around the world through the lens of a Black female DJ. Covering the good, the bad and the ugly, DJ Paulette tells it like it is. There are few visible Black female role models in the music industry and DJ Paulette is a passionate advocate for racial, gender and LGBTQ+ equality, but most of all she’s a legendary DJ. If you want a fresh, original voice on electronic dance music, culture, politics and more, this is the book for you!’John Shortell, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The Musicians’ Union‘A refreshingly honest and positive queer voice. DJ Paulette’s memoirs are everything that club culture needs at the moment: Written with warmth and passion, this book continues the trend of female professionals telling their stories – the good and the bad ones – so that we learn how clubs can once again become the places of Peace, Love, Unity and Respect.’Dr Beate Peter, The Lapsed Clubber Project'A true original of the UK club scene, Paulette has experienced the highs and lows of dance music culture, and this heartfelt and insightful book tells the story of what she saw and learned with her distinctive style, warmth and wicked wit.'Matthew Collin, author of Rave On and Altered State'DJ Paulette has written a story that needed to be told, and as only she could tell it. Rich with experience and careful research, Welcome to the club is a must-read for anyone interested in house music, DJing and the power of life narrative.'Audrey Golden, author of I Thought I Heard You Speak'Welcome to the club is joyful, funny and furious. DJ Paulette’s essential read doubles up as an alternative history of dance music, told from the middle of the dancefloor. It’s a sparkling and generous ride through international high times and low moments, documenting music industry racism, sexism and homophobia with fabulous clarity. This pioneering DJ and musical instigator has written a full-bodied celebration of the myriad ways music can save your life – and can also make your life. 'Emma Warren, author of Dance Your Way Home'This book made me dizzy in a good way! Paulette is a great story teller who brings her musical journey to life in a way which entertains and inspires, much like her DJ sets and radio shows.'Mr. Scruff, record producer and DJ'This is one of those books whose absence from the canon of musical history goes largely unnoticed until it is written.'Louis Cammell, The Skinny‘This book is a timely reminder that history or herstory is not written yet and never over. It gives a valuable and personal account of the development of DJing as a professional music career and its beginnings in the LGBTQ community in Manchester at the start of the 1990s. At moments it is a disturbing and hard read, but read it one must. This is a much needed and powerful account for anybody interested in the music business and the development of dance music internationally.’Sally Anne Gross, music industry practitioner and academic'Paulette’s rollicking memoir takes you through unmarked doors vibrating with bass to celebrate a life lived to the full in dance music.'Frank Broughton, DJ History -- .Table of ContentsForeword by Annie MacIntroduction: welcome to the club (Belleville or bust)1 Finders keepers: in the beginning2 London to Paris: Eurostar3 Bad behaviour: shit shags and crap hotels4 FAQs (female asked questions)5 How to kill a DJ6 Sane as it ever was7 Lifetime VIP: a manifestoIndex

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Book SynopsisWhen Jet McDonald cycled four thousand miles to India and back, he didn’t want to write a straightforward account. He wanted to go on an imaginative journey. The age of the travelogue is over: today we need to travel inwardly to see the world with fresh eyes. Mind is the Ride is that journey, a pedal-powered antidote to the petrol-driven philosophies of the past.The book takes the reader on a physical and intellectual adventure from West to East using the components of the bike as a metaphor for philosophy, which is woven into the cyclist's experience. Each chapter is based around a single component, and as Jet travels he adds new parts and new philosophies until the bike is 'built'; the ride to India is completed; and the relationship between mind, body and bicycle made apparent.Trade Review‘A truly unique reading experience’ Bike Radar, Best Cycling Books 2020

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Book SynopsisLong considered one of Simone de Beauvoir’s masterpieces, A Very Easy Death is a profoundly affecting, day-by-day recounting of her mother’s final days after she is hospitalized following a fall. Though a devout Catholic, her faith is subsumed by her terror of death, and as her body fails, she clings to life with fierce, primal desperation. In depicting her mother’s refusal to ‘go gentle’ while her autonomy and dignity are taken from her, Simone de Beauvoir ‘shows the power of compassion when it is allied with acute intelligence’ (Sunday Telegraph). Powerful, touching and sometimes shocking, this is an end-of-life account that no reader is likely to forget. Trade Review‘True and deeply moving.’ — Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature ‘The mother of 20th-century feminism.’ — Joanna Biggs, London Review of Books‘In every decade of my life since my 20s, I have been awed, confused, intrigued and inspired by Simone de Beauvoir’s attempt to live with meaning, pleasure and purpose.’ — Deborah Levy, author of Real Estate ‘It was Alice Walker, Hélène Cixous, Angela Davis, Virginia Woolf, George Eliot, and Simone Weil and de Beauvoir who mattered most to me.’ — Zadie Smith, author of NW ‘Navigating the complexities of end-of-life with deep compassion and dignity, this moving book is steeped in empathy and the searching, thoughtful interrogation we’ve come to expect from de Beauvoir.’ — Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations‘Nowhere is de Beauvoir’s rigorous honesty more visible than in this haunting account of the death of her mother... As she charts her last weeks and her abasement at the hands of doctors and illness, both hostility and unexpected love play themselves out on the page.’ — Lisa Appignanesi, author of Everyday Madness‘It would be hard to think that Simone de Beauvoir who flaunted so many strictures of life, would accept death.... And the intention of this memoir, which is in part a requiem and in part an exorcism, is its disturbing, defiant insistence on the fact that this can only be an utterly lonely experience.’ — Kirkus‘Beauvoir’s graciously written memoirs carry distinct appeal in recording the emotional and intellectual birth pangs of a fascinating woman.’ — Time ‘This book is written with restrained emotion and a literalness, a faithfulness to fact, that is very moving coming from a woman whom we have known as dedicated to abstractions. ... it illustrates the general tragedy of the human condition through a particularized instance. A book of near despair, yet dignified. — Library Journal

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Book SynopsisA “fascinating and very moving” (Aaron Sorkin, award-winning screenwriter of The West Wing and The Social Network) chronological timeline spanning from Biblical times to today that explores one of the most interesting countries in the world—Israel.Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby. But “this is not your Bubbie’s history book” (Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher). Instead, offering a fresh, 360-degree view, Tishby brings her “passion, humor, and deep intimacy” (Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times bestselling author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor) to the subject, creating an accessible and dynamic portrait of a tiny country of outsized relevance. Through bite-sized chunks of history and deeply personal stories, Tishby chronicles her homeland’s evolution, beginning in Biblical times and moving forward to cover everything from WWI to Israel’s creation to the disputes dividing the country today. Tackling popular misconceptions with an abundance of facts, Tishby provides critical context around headline-generating controversies and offers a clear, intimate account of the richly cultured country of Israel.

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Book Synopsis ‘Derry Girls meets David Sedaris’ Elske Rahill ‘The writing is full of energy and originality’ Irish Times Trade Review‘We cannot recommend that you read this memoir enough – short of stopping people in the street and pressing it into their hands, we really urge you just to order it online right now. Right this moment’ STYLIST ‘O’Neill has produced a literary equivalent of Derry Girls’ Charlie Connelly, The New European ‘A charming book, by turns caustic and funny, innocent and canny’ The Mail on Sunday ‘The writing is full of energy and originality. One can only imagine what good company O’Neill is in person . . . this book is genuine and funny with insights into Northern Ireland’s evolution through the 1980s and 1990s into something like peace’ Sinéad O’Shea, Irish Times ‘It was a joy to spend time in O’Neill’s world, and the irresistible sense of fun she sparked could have led me on to read many more stories about her family life . . . equal parts hilarious, moving and compelling’ Emer O'Hanlon, Irish Independent ‘Derry Girls meets David Sedaris – a sound dose of social history served with all the lightness and humour of an after-work cocktail’ Elske Rahill, author of An Unravelling ‘This is a brassy, ballsy, belter of a book – full of the real grit of what it means to come from Northern Ireland . . . From sexy toy petrol stations to mortifying period chats with yer swearing ma – from Gerry Adams on the telly to naming your goats in an attempt at bridging the political divide – from burning a placenta the weekend of the twelfth to portakabin penance with Tamagotchis: this book will turn your views on the Troubles upside down. O'Neill writes the North like no one else I have encountered; with wit, humour and pure affection’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Thin Places

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Book SynopsisI am glad I am alive to witness these things; giving words to this life of sensations is a relief. Smell the flowers while you can.Close to the Knives is the artist, writer and activist David Wojnarowicz's extraordinary memoir. Filthy, beautiful, and sharp to the point of piercing, it is both an exploration of the world seen through the eyes of an artist, and a moving portrait of a generation living, grieving, and dying through the AIDS crisis. It is a triumphant hymn of resistance, and a dizzying celebration of the joys of seeing and living in the world.Trade ReviewDavid Wojnarowicz has caught the age-old voice of the road, the voice of the traveller, the outcast, the thief, the whore . . . Pick up this book and listen -- William S. BurroughsMy book of a lifetime, my book for these dark times, an antidote to stupidity, cruelty and oppression of all kinds -- Olivia Laing * * Guardian * *Wojnarowicz's writing fairly smokes with acrid ironies. It's passionate and personal * * New York Magazine * *David Wojnarowicz is brilliantly attuned to American talk and responsive to the moods and innovations of society's truants. He also has the best conscience of any writer I know. This fierce, erotic, haunting, truthful book should be given to every teenager immediately -- Dennis CooperEveryone should read Close to the Knives to understand the overall political agenda behind suffering . . . This isn't just David's story, it's our story -- Karen FinleyDavid Wojnarowicz: still fighting prejudice 24 years after his death . . . Nothing I have ever read matches the fury and grief of this writing -- Olivia Laing * * Guardian * *

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Book SynopsisMolly Jong-Fast is an author, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, a political analyst for MSNBC News and host of the Fast Politics podcast. She lives in Manhattan. How to Lose Your Mother is her fifth book.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisWitty and fascinating a guide book that can''t help but inspire' independent.co.ukAnthony Bourdain saw more of the world than nearly anyone. His travels took him from his hometown of New York to a tribal longhouse in Borneo, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai to the stunning desert solitude of Oman's Empty Quarter and many places beyond.In World Travel, a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places in his own words. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid. Additionally, each chapter includes illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook.Supplementing Bourdain's words are a handful of essays by friends, colleagues, and family that tell even deeper stories about a place, including sardonic accounts of traveling with Bourdain by his brother, Chris; a guide to C

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Book SynopsisIn Journeys to Impossible Places, best-selling author and presenter Simon Reeve reveals the inside story of his most astonishing adventures and experiences, around the planet and close to home.Journeys to Impossible Places continues the story Simon started in his phenomenal Sunday Times bestseller Step by Step, which traced the first decades of his life from depressed and unemployed teenager through to his early TV programmes.Now Simon takes us on the epic and thrilling adventures that followed, in beautiful, tricky and downright dangerous corners of the world, as he travelled through the Tropics, to remote paradise islands, jungles dripping with heat and life, and on nerve-wracking secret missions. Simon shares what his unique experiences and encounters have taught him, and the deeper lessons he draws from joy and raw grief in his personal life, from desperate struggles with his own fertility and head health, from wise friends, fatherhood, inspiring villagers, brave fighters, his beloved dogs, and a thoughtful Indian sadhu.Journeys to Impossible Places inspires and encourages all of us to battle fear and negativity, and embrace life, risk, opportunities and the glory of our world.

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Book SynopsisI read this book in one sitting. I loved the story of the two boys, of their relationships with the nature around them, their community, and their relationship with each other.' Marc Hamer, author of How to Catch a Mole and Spring RainIn the vein of H is for Hawk and Raising Hare this moving memoir shines a light on the transformative power of nature as it tells the story of two boys, Jean and Johnny, who learned the language of birds. This captivating book brings together two birds of a feather: Jean and Johnny, boys from very different worlds growing up in a small village in France. Jean is the genteel pharmacist's son, dressed in his Sunday best; Johnny's father is a rough, working-class sheep herder, always with the odour of animals clinging to him. Each year, over three hundred bird species visit their village, which intersects a major migratory flyway. The two boys' stories converge when Jean enters a bird-calling contest. He places second, and at only eleven years old becomes a child celebrity on the bird-calling circuit. Then Johnny starts to compete as well. At the annual bird festival, both boys are standouts, and a long, admiring rivalry develops between them, eventually culminating in the European championships. As they evolve as performers, the two boys' identities become more distinct: Jean is soft-spoken, while Johnny likes to play to the crowd. While most of their competitors are adult men, hunters who learned to call birds for sport, the two boys are fascinated with the pure beauty of birdsong, and in trying to transcend themselves through imitating birds. Their shared passion develops into an enduring partnership as performers, and they go on to tour the world in concert as the Bird Singers. This is a story as much about friendship as it is about birdsong. The setting is timeless and bucolic, with long walks to small village schools, games of pick-up football, and father-son birding trips. The chapters, which bounce back and forth between the two narrators, are woven through with descriptions of colourful characters in the bird-calling competition circuit and the kind of ornithological detail that can only come from a true passion for birds. There is poetry in the description of the different birds, from common seagulls to thrushes and bluethroats and nightingales, and something like communion in the way Jean and Johnny understand the feathered friends they imitate. Unique, evocative, and cinematic, The Bird Singers is the story of an unlikely friendship, sparked by a desire to speak with the avian world.

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Book SynopsisOrder THE COMFORT BOOK. Available now!THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe world is messing with our minds. What if there was something we could do about it?Looking at sleep, news, social media, addiction, work and play, Matt Haig invites us to feel calmer, happier and to question the habits of the digital age. This book might even change the way you spend your precious time on earth.Trade ReviewWitty, honest and engaging . . . A worthy successor to Reasons to Stay Alive * * Sunday Times * *An honest and human guide to coping with the modern world . . . Notes on a Nervous Planet is generous, sensible and timely. Reading it will probably be good for your mental health. Especially if you leave your smartphone in another room . . . Thought-provoking * * Guardian * *Thought-provoking . . . [Haig's] hard-won wisdom asks us to think about how we can live in the present - and in so doing, he creates a wonderfully perceptive chronicle of life in the always-on social media age. A real-world guide to mindfulness * * Observer * *Beautiful, honest and wise -- FEARNE COTTONNotes on a Nervous Planet is a fascinating look at the link between anxiety and the world we live in . . . [Haig is] one of our warmest, wittiest and wisest writers * * Mail on Sunday * *Genius -- RUBY WAXHaig's bestseller Reasons to Stay Alive was an engaging self-help memoir which mined personal trauma for valuable life lessons. This follow-up is a rag-bag of personal experience, thoughts and feelings . . . some thought-provoking, some pertinent and important . . . He's a smart operator who knows his readership and genuinely wants to help them . . . I reached the last page admiring the author's inventive energy and insight -- Bel Mooney * * Daily Mail * *Take Notes on a Nervous Planet twice daily, with or without food. The book is crammed with wisdom, insight, love and wit -- STEPHEN FRYHaig tackles everything from internet anxieties, phone fears to life overload, putting the chaos into beautiful words * * Sunday Post * *A primer for how to live in the present moment. This book will find grateful readers everywhere -- NIGELLA LAWSON

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Book SynopsisThe inspiration behind the HBO series THE PACIFICHere is one of the most riveting first-person accounts to ever come out of World War 2. Robert Leckie was 21 when he enlisted in the US Marine Corps in January 1942. In Helmet for My Pillow we follow his journey, from boot camp on Parris Island, South Carolina, all the way to the raging battles in the Pacific, where some of the war''s fiercest fighting took place. Recounting his service with the 1st Marine Division and the brutal action on Guadalcanal, New Britain and Peleliu, Leckie spares no detail of the horrors and sacrifice of war, painting an unsentimental portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and all too often die in the defence of their country.From the live-for-today rowdiness of Marines on leave to the terrors of jungle warfare against an enemy determined to fight to the last man, Leckie describes what it''s really like when victory can only be measured inch by bloody inch. UnparalleledTrade ReviewHelmet for My Pillow is a grand and epic prose poem. Robert Leckie's theme is the purely human experience of war in the Pacific, written in the graceful imagery of a human being who - somehow - survived -- Tom HanksA powerful book that pulls no punches * The New York Review of Books *One hell of a book! The real stuff that proves the U.S. Marines are the greatest fighting men on earth! -- Leon Uris, author of Battle Cry

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING''An honest look at the farming life today. Raw, earthy and inspiring'' - Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment''A beautifully written, incredibly timely book'' - Clover Stroud, author of My Wild and Sleepless NightsWhen barrister and author Sarah Langford left her city life behind she found herself unexpectedly back in the world of farming. It was not how she remembered. Instead, she saw farmers dealing with very different problems to those faced by her grandfather, considered a hero for having fed a starving nation after war. Now farmers faced accusations of ecological mismanagement by a hostile urban media whilst battling extreme weather and political upheaval. Yet as Sarah learned how to farm and grew closer to the land, she discovered a new generation on a path of regenerative change.In Rooted, Sarah weaves her own story around those who tTrade ReviewEnthralling ... An unignorable call to understand the challenges facing not only farming but the Earth itself. * Spectator *Absorbing, compassionate [and] galvanising. * Guardian *Langford writes so movingly of the countryside and its effect on her heart and her family. * TLS *More than a memoir; Langford manages to contain and convey the whole scale of the coming agricultural revolution. * Daily Telegraph *A refreshing perspective on a overwhelmingly masculine world * Financial Times *Sarah Langford's book on farming is really a book about healing. All of life and death is here: family, politics, nature, climate, history, humanity. Rooted is a beautifully written, powerful reminder of where we've gone wrong, what is at stake, and how we can change. I loved it. * Christie Watson, bestselling author of The Language of Kindness *Rooted offers us an honest look at the farming life today. It is not an easy way to make a living, but through Langford's personal story - and those of who she meets - we appreciate how it offers a connection with the land, and a firmer sense of our place in the world. Raw, earthy and inspiring. * Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment *Moving, startling, uplifting, galvanising and unsettling, this plainly beautiful book is one of those rare few that changes how you see the world around you: the shape of fields seen from a train, the vegetables in a supermarket chiller cabinet, the earth beneath your feet and falling through your fingers. * Ella Risbridger, author of Midnight Chicken and The Year of Miracles *A beautifully written, incredibly timely book addressing not just where our food comes from and why this matters so much, but also fundamental questions relating to our relationship with the land, and the definition of home. * Clover Stroud, author of My Wild and Sleepless Nights *Heartbreaking and hopeful, this story of a farming revival has never been more important. It opened my eyes and touched my soul * Esther Freud *A magical book of wonderful stories about how farmers think and the challenges they face. It demonstrates that farmers across the country are passionate about producing food and caring for the land. A triumph * Jake Fiennes, author of Land Healer *Rooted is a brave thing: a book that prods into the ever-widening gulf between the binaries we increasingly use to examine the world. As conversations about what we eat and where it comes from reach fever-pitch, Sarah Langford's clear-eyed, inquisitive and passionate plea for farmers and farming offers a vital understanding when it has never been so needed. I hope everyone reads it. * Alice Vincent, author of Rootbound *An eloquent and personal insight into the terrible human as well as environmental cost of cheap food and an inspiring account of the people working to heal our relationship with our habitat and ourselves. Urgent, necessary and moving. * Ben Rawlence, author of The Treeline *A fine book: heartfelt, honest and hopeful. Sarah has the knowledge and skill to help people better understand where their food comes from and why we should all care. * Helen Rebanks *Moving, intimate, tender and searing, this is a gem of a book with deep roots and fresh green shoots. * Tamsin Calidas, author of I Am An Island *A timely and optimistic book, ostensibly about why we need farming to produce food, but more deeply about how farming is done, or could be done. Refreshingly authentic, Rooted gives us a hopeful sense of a regenerative future * Juliet Blaxland, author of The Easternmost House and The Easternmost Sky *Evocative and resonant. These are stories that need to be told. * Andy Cato, Groove Armada and Wildfarmed *Poetically written and filled with compelling data about modern-day farming * Vogue *Where Rooted ploughs its own shining furrow in its humanity ... but also the gathered, inspirational stories of farmers trying to do better and greener. * John Lewis-Stempel *

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Book Synopsis'Sally's book is an exemplar of the best in the genre' Krishnan Srinivasan,The Statesman A blend of travel writing, memoir, history and current affairs that tells the story of Sri Lanka. A perfect read for first-time visitors, Sri Lankans abroad or at home, or anyone looking to deepen their understanding of one of the world's most fascinating and paradoxical countries. Razeen Sally was born to a Sri Lankan Muslim father and a Welsh mother. Just before his teens, a political conflict tore his family apart and he left Sri Lanka, barely going back for thirty years. When he finally returned home', he spent much of the next decade crisscrossing the island, trying to understand this paradoxical place. Blessed with nature's bounty and an easy, pleasure-loving people, it was nevertheless scarred by ethnic conflict and the violence of civil war. As a native and a tourist, Sally makes an ideal guide to Sri Lanka's past and present. He won't tell you which restaurant has the best reviews or the price of a hotel room. Instead, he will accompany you like a learned friend, sharing his journeys, pointing out the unmissable gems beyond the obvious spots, and unpacking the nation's culture and history. Insightful, intimate and moving, Return to Sri Lanka is an indispensable book, whether you're already familiar with this spectacular country, or planning your first visit.

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Book SynopsisLyndsey Stonebridge FBA is Professor of Humanities and Human Rights at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is the author of We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt's Lessons in Love and Disobedience (2024); Placeless People: Writing, Rights, and Refugees (2018); winner of the Modernist Studies Association Book Prize and a Choice Outstanding Academic Title; The Judicial Imagination: Writing After Nuremberg, which won the British Academy Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for English Literature; and the essay collection, Writing and Righting: Literature in the Age of Human Rights. She is a regular media commentator and broadcaster, and lives in London.www.lyndseystonebridge.com

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Book Synopsis10th anniversary edition, revised and updated with a new introduction from the authorTHE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD FOR NON-FICTIONWHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE?Aged 24, Matt Haig''s world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. It has helped millions of people do the same. Moving, funny and even joyous, these are the lessons Matt learned. His reasons to stay alive.

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Book SynopsisFresh, original, heartbreaking Reni Eddo-LodgeDevastating, hilarious, unlike anything I have ever read. Destined to be a classic Pandora Sykes''A must-read ... as mesmerising as it is poignant'' Stylist, SPRING MUST-READ BOOKS TO FEEL EMPOWERED''This utterly distinctive memoir, written almost out loud in Nottinghamshire vernacular, hauls you into the world Lees grew up in... it''s shocking, funny, heart-rending and totally brilliant'' The Bookseller, EDITOR''S CHOICE MAY 2021''What It Feels Like for a Girl says it like it is'' Evening Standard, BEST NEW BOOKS IN 2021Thirteen-year-old Byron needs to get away, and doesn''t care how. Sick of being beaten up by lads for talkin'' like a poof after school. Sick of dad - the weightlifting, womanising Gaz - and Mam, who pissed off to Turkey like Shirley Valentine. Sick of all the people in Hucknall who shuffle about like the living dead, going on about kTrade ReviewFresh, original, heartbreaking and optimistic. The subtlety of time passing reminds me of Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie's writing. -- Reni Eddo LodgeParis Lees is the voice of a generation -- Paul FlynnBrilliant, brutal and bitingly funny, Lees is going to rip your heart out and show you the ugly truth about kids Britain would rather pretend don't exist. There's never been a book like this -- Matthew ToddDevastating one page, hilarious the next, What It Feels Like for a A Girl is unlike anything I have ever read. Utterly unique and imbued with hope - it is destined to be a classic. -- Pandora SykesAn important debut -- Édouard LouisA sensational, gut-wrenching read: raw, moving, and ultimately life-affirming -- Owen JonesOften hilarious, sometimes moving, consistently engrossing, always authentic and ultimately uplifting. Reminiscent of Trainspotting and Irvine Welsh. A tour-de-force -- Matt CainA must-read ... as mesmerising as it is poignant * Stylist, SPRING MUST-READ BOOKS TO FEEL EMPOWERED *This utterly distinctive memoir, written almost out loud in Nottinghamshire vernacular, hauls you into the world Lees grew up in... it's shocking, funny, heart-rending and totally brilliant * The Bookseller, EDITOR’S CHOICE MAY 2021 *What It Feels Like for a Girl says it like it is * Evening Standard, BEST NEW BOOKS IN 2021 *A groundbreaking, peerless journey into trauma and the impossibility of fighting for the self -- Sleaford ModsParis Lees has created a totally complete world in the way that something like Trainspotting or Skins or It's A Sin did... made a universe, populated it with people that you absolutely care about, dialect that you're completely absorbed by, then smashed your heart to smithereens -- Alexandra HemingsleyNothing is off-limits in this unputdownable memoir ... her wit and expert storytelling soften some heartbreaking experiences * British Vogue *Heartbreaking, hilarious and impossible to put down: Paris Lees' What It Feels Like For a Girl is genuinely singular. It's raw, viscerally real and Byron is a character who will stay with you long after you've finished -- Yomi AdegokePowerful and authentic, a memoir with the depth and writerly virtuosity of a fine novel. -- Katherine O'DonnellA truly fresh, exciting take on the genre of memoir * Cosmopolitan *Raw, heartbreaking, and scorchingly funny, What It Feels Like For A Girl is a boldly-written and truly transformative account of an extraordinary life story. Please do yourself a favour and read it -- Otegha UwagbaLees has lived an extraordinary life, and it makes for extraordinary writing -- Rebecca Nicholson * Guardian *A ketamine-laced coming of age memoir... recalls being in a nightclub where you can still smoke and euphoric music blares non-stop ... a dark comedy from a little-heard perspective. Even when there's blood dripping on the page as a result of bullying, Lees manages to make it read like a sketch ... very powerful -- Kadish Morris * The Observer *Heartbreaking and hilarious * Dazed Magazine *Smart and exuberant... By excavating her painful past in her memoir, [Lees] has crafted a vivid story of trauma, rebellion and astonishing resilience -- Fiona Sturges * The Guardian *Fast and funny and furious... the writing is so alive and warm that you don't feel remotely miserable while reading it, even while your heart is pounding for her -- Sophie Heawood * Grazia *It is so vivid, and the use of dialect so clever, that it feels as if you are living her life with her. -- David WalliamsWritten in a chatty, instantly endearing vernacular, What It Feels Like For A Girl is a crank-it-up-to-11 account of the British trans experience. * Refinery29 *Written entirely in Midlands dialect, with each chapter named after a Noughties hit, Paris Lees's novelised account of her Nottingham childhood will make you shake with laughter and weep with heartbreak in the space of a few pages. * British Vogue Summer Reads *Set to be one of this summer's must-reads, Paris Lees' debut book is a coming-of-age memoir about her early life in the East Midlands. Written in Nottingham dialect, it's a story of growing up in a small town, with deliciously evocative tales of Noughties nights out. * Evening Standard *Energetic, dark and hilarious. Paris Lees, with her loud and proud sense of self, is set to explode.. if you read one book this summer, make it What It Feels Like for a Girl... radically cool, explosive and riotous ... long may Lees' voice shine neon bright -- Shivani Kochnar * The Daily Mail *Like Alan Sillitoe on acid... it's got to be a film. I've never read anything like it. -- Vicky McClureRaw and original * Elle Magazine *Extraordinary, riotous, furiously unique, moving and funny, What It Feels Like for a Girl is a deeply important book as well as being a fantastic read -- Elizabeth DayClever, gripping, messy, sad. I loved it. -- Travis AlabanzaSadness and joy also go hand-in-hand in What It Feels Like for a Girl, an exuberant account of Paris Lees's tearaway teenage years in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, where "the streets are paved wi' dog shit". Her gender nonconformity is just one aspect of an adolescence that also features bullying, violence, prostitution, robbery and a spell in a young offenders' institute. Yet despite the many traumas, Lees finds joy and kinship in the underground club scene and a group of drag queens who cocoon her in love and laughter. -- Fiona Sturges * The Guardian, Best Books of 2021 *Bold and compulsively readable... She writes with humour about heartbreakingly harrowing moments while simultaneously capturing the dazzling joy of Nottingham nightlife and the importance of finding those who accept you for who you truly are -- Emma Hanson * Harper's Bazaar, memoirs and autobiographies to be inspired by *

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisNick Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic, an American magazine founded in 1857, which earned the top honor for magazines, General Excellence, at the National Magazine Awards in both 2022 and 2023. In his time as CEO, the company has seen record subscriber growth. Before joining The Atlantic, he was the editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine. He is also a former contributor for CBS News and has previously served as editor. He has long been a competitive runner; in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race.

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Book Synopsis'Entertaining, affectionate and righteous' Guardian'Says so much about being a woman' Cosey Fanni TuttiIn 1983, backstage at the Lyceum in London, Tracey Thorn and Lindy Morrison first met. Tracey's music career was just beginning, while Lindy, drummer for The Go-Betweens, was ten years her senior. They became confidantes, comrades and best friends, a relationship cemented by gossip and feminism, books and gigs and rock 'n' roll love affairs.Thorn takes stock of thirty-seven years of friendship, teasing out the details of connection and affection between two women who seem to be either complete opposites or mirror images of each other. She asks what people see, who does the looking, and ultimately who writes women out of - and back into - history.Trade ReviewA vivid and witty memoir of the friendship between Thorn and Lindy Morrison of the Go-Betweens, two women in a cultural world dominated by men . . . [Thorn] brings wit, candour and vividness to her storytelling . . . As well as providing a portrait of a mercurial and brilliant musician, the book exposes the sexism and hypocrisy of an industry . . . Entertaining, affectionate and righteous * * Guardian * *This book says so much about being a woman -- COSEY FANNI TUTTIThorn's audacious salute to Lindy Morrison of Brisbane's gorgeous romantic heroes The Go-Betweens resonates far beyond its 1980s indie milieu . . . Their parallel history not only triggers moving meditations on female friendship, motherhood and ageing, but also gives Thorn the chance to prise away old rock'n'roll myths, revealing fresh stories hidden beneath * * The Times, Best Books of the Year * *It's such a radical act - as well as a loving one - for a woman to tell the story of her friend like this, and to free her (and all of us, it feels!) from the distorting prism of the male gaze. I honestly wanted to stand up and cheer! -- MELISSA HARRISONPhilosophical and furious . . . Illuminates rock's double standards . . . This is a book about more than music: it recounts the intricacies of female friendship and its crush of projection, permission, allyship and trying-on-for-size * * Observer * *A warm, open-hearted book about female friendship and an angry attack on the erasure of women from the story of pop . . . thrilling * * Herald, Music Books of the Year * *A gorgeous, vivid account of female friendship, what it is to be a woman in a band, activism, art, motherhood, love and having men take credit for your work -- SINÉAD GLEESONBrilliant . . . The idea of reclaiming women's history is still necessary in 2021 and Thorn, who is a beautiful memoirist, does it with grace and lightness . . . Writing this friendship into history is a gorgeous thing * * Daily Telegraph * *In telling the life story of Lindy Morrison, Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn is not only paying tribute to an inspirational friend, but defiantly restoring her to her rightful place in music history . . . Exploring identity, ambition and the bonds of friendship, this is an affectionate and timely tribute to an indomitable woman who carved a niche in a man's world * * Daily Express * *Must-read . . . writing shines with wit and philosophical insight * * Independent Ireland * *

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Book SynopsisIn a world of globetrotting explorers and record-breaking journeys - of which he has been part himself - Johno Ellison decided to return to his roots and walk the entire length of the River Wharfe, the Yorkshire waterway beside which he grew up. In his new book for Bradt, Walking the Wharfe, Ellison retraces the steps of Victorian author Edmund Bogg to investigate how the riverscape and its communities have evolved during the intervening 120 years. While wild camping, meeting modern-day Vikings, wartime ghosts and the fearless 'Dales Dippers', and learning how not to deal with a herd of over-inquisitive cows, Ellison encounters a microcosm of English history and culture. Starting in the Vale of York, Ellison walks upstream to explore the region's Viking and Roman heritage, as well as more modern developments such as Tadcaster's disastrous bridge collapse in 2015. He examines a profusion of Victorian spa towns, considers the impact of the Industrial Revolution and enjoys rare wildlife such as red kites and an otter, creatures that have returned to the area following successful conservation initiatives. Traversing the Yorkshire Dales National Park, including along the Dales Way long-distance footpath, Ellison is first bewitched by local legends of giants, trolls and witches, then seduced into wild swimming in a chilly river - albeit not the Strid, a section of the Wharfe notorious worldwide for reportedly drowning everyone who has ever tumbled into it - before seeking refuge in a candlelit pub during a storm that caused a power blackout. During his ascent, Ellison learns from a family who have farmed the Yorkshire hills for five generations before reaching the Wharfe's trickling source amid a vast boggy moorland. This enchanting travelogue is a must-read for anyone interested in nature, 'the great outdoors', or English history and culture. Residents and fans of Yorkshire will love it, as will anyone who has hiked the Dales Way. Above all, by combining personal connections with journalistic curiosity and a nose for a story, Walking the Wharfe affirms that even lesser-known parts of the small island of Britain can hold their own against renowned tourist sites the world over.Trade Review"In Walking the Wharfe, Johno Ellison shows that adventure is very much a state of mind, uncovering interesting tales and tackling challenges in his own backyard." - Ed Stafford, author, Walking the Amazon "A fascinating exploration of a beautiful corner of England. Johno Ellison writes a poetic love letter to the river of his roots with this enchanting walk along one of the country's hidden gems." - Alastair Humphreys, author and adventurerTable of ContentsPreface Bogg's Book Chapter1 75,000 Gallons of Ale Cawood to Ryther Chapter 2 Fenton Jumping Ryther to Ozendyke Chapter 3 The Great Heathen Army Ozendyke to Kirkby Wharfe Chapter 4 A Town Divided Kirkby Wharfe to Tadcaster Chapter 5 'I don't knaw owt aboot t' Romans' Tadcaster to Thorp Arch Chapter 6 'Nothing more beautiful and truly English can be imagined' Thorp Arch to Boston Spa Chapter 7 'He loves every human being, 'cept other dogs' Boston Spa to Wetherby Chapter 8 The Best Pub in Yorkshire Wetherby to Linton Chapter 9 'Avoid this place as you would a plague' Linton to Netherby Deep Chapter 10 Beware, Rombald's Wife Netherby Deep to Rougemont Chapter 11 'T'Owd Chief' Rougemont to Pool Bank Chapter 12 Hannibal Crossing the Chevin Pool Bank to Farnley Chapter 13 A Friend of the Navvies Farnley to Otley Chapter 14 'Ow Much?! Otley to Burley-in-Wharfedale Chapter 15 All Along the Ilkley Moor Burley-in-Wharfedale to Ilkley Chapter 16 A Prize-winning Heifer Ilkley to Addingham Chapter 17 England's Killer Creek Addingham to the Strid Chapter 18 Of Trolls and Wolves The Strid to Appletreewick Chapter 19 Maypoles and Hogbacks Appletreewick to Loup Scar Chapter 20 The Dancing Reverend Loup Scar to Ghaistrill's Strid Chapter 21 Dane's Blood and Kilnsey Nan Ghaistrill's Strid to Littondale Chapter 22 Wartime Ghosts Littondale to Kettlewell Chapter 23 The Beast of Buckden Kettlewell to Hubberholme Chapter 24 Giant's Grave Hubberholme to Nethergill Chapter 25 'Child of the clouds' Nethergill to Cam Fell Chapter 26 'Adieu to hills, glens and river'? Wharfe's Mouth to the source About the Author Acknowledgements

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A moving account of one man's race to save a herd of elephants – with unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, The Elephant Whisperer is an enthralling book that will appeal to animal lovers and adventurous souls everywhere.When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of 'rogue' elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd's last chance of survival – dangerous and unpredictable, they would be killed if Anthony wouldn't take them in.As Anthony risked his life to create a bond with the troubled elephants and persuade them to stay on his reserve, he came to realize what a special family they were, from the wise matriarch Nana, who guided the herd, to her warrior sister Frankie, always ready to see off any threat, and their children who fought so hard to survive.

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Book SynopsisGreenlights: Your Journal, Your Journey is a guided companion to the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Greenlights, filled with prompts, pithy quotes, adages, outlaw wisdom, and advice on how to live with greater satisfaction from Matthew McConaughey. Matthew has been writing in journals since he was fifteen years old. His adventures have taken him from Texas to Australia, from Mali to Peru-and he has chronicled them all. In this authentic, unconventional journal, the prompts encourage going inside: remembering, reflecting, and musing, and also going outside: adventuring, taking risks, and dreaming big. Who could be a better guide for seekers setting out on the road to understanding their lives inside and out, past, present, and future?

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Book Synopsis'An extraordinary and powerful book, full of vitality. Every page celebrates the way traditional skills can shape who we are' Tristan Gooley'Lyrical, moving and never self-pitying . . . a lovely book' The TimesBen Short has a successful career in advertising, a flat in a trendy part of London, a flashy motorbike. But after years of suffering with anxiety, he's a wreck. A drastic change is needed.For a time, he finds solace working with a forester, then as an apprentice to a Gypsy woodman, setting up home in a dilapidated wagon with just a rescue dog for company. However, it is not until he feels the call of the furnace, a glowing charcoal kiln in the Dorset woods, that he can truly re-forge his thoughts, put the years of suffering behind him, and start afresh by immersing himself in the old ways of woods and fire.Exquisitely written and deeply honest, Burn is a hopeful story of transformation, a celebration of manual work and craft, and a love letter to the English countryside.'Beautifully written . . . reading it leaves you feeling ruffled but alive' Mail on SundayTrade ReviewLyrical, moving and never self-pitying . . . a lovely book. * The Times *Short's story is as much about work as it is escape and landscape; he illuminates the value of doing rather than thinking. Beautifully written, Burn is melancholy and hopeful in equal measure. Like taking a forest ramble in changeable weather, reading it leaves you feeling ruffled but alive * Mail on Sunday *An intriguing, touching and beautifully written book, about how it feels to be in a dark place spiritually, to move into the woods but enter an increasingly lighter place, to be practising the ancient skills of coppicing and charcoal burning, to love a dog. -- Ruth PaveyIn this candid memoir, [Ben] learns the benefits of living simply . . . above all, Ben discovers the joys of risking everything in the search for personal happiness. * The Countryman *A most excellent read. Destined to become a classic in its field, much like Walter Rose's memoir, The Village Carpenter -- Sean HellmanAn extraordinary and powerful book, full of vitality. Every page celebrates the way traditional skills can shape who we are. -- Tristan Gooley

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

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Book Synopsis'Immensely powerful and is an extraordinary testament to the human desire for survival' Daily MailA harrowing and inspiring true story of a young boy's abusive childhood, from internationally bestselling author Dave Pelzer. Brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother - Dave became a slave; he was no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and unwashed, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dog's bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. But throughout Dave kept alive dreams of finding a family to love him. This book covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspirational book of the horrors of child abuse and the steadfast determination of one child to survive. It is the first book in the My Story trilogy.'Heartfelt... cannot fail to move you' HeatTrade ReviewThis heartfelt true story of one child's courage to survive cannot fail to move you - HEATHis tale will both break and warm your heart - DAILY MIRRORA remarkable true story... Truly touching, and emotionally shocking. A marvel - BESTWhat has made Dave Pelzer's story a bestseller is that it is also a story of redemption. It is a story where love, kindness, patience and endurance triumph - DAILY MAIL

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Book SynopsisA new book from one of our most acclaimed writers. We always believe that changing our mind is an improvement, bringing a greater truthfulness to our dealings with the world and other people. It puts an end to vacillation, uncertainty, weak-mindedness. It seems to make us stronger and more mature. Well, we would think that, wouldn't we?'In this engaging and erudite essay, critically acclaimed writer Julian Barnes explores what is involved when we change our minds: about words, about politics, about books; about memories, age and time.

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Book Synopsis''Engrossing'' Daniel Beer, Guardian''A beautiful book... incisive, radiant'' Olivia Laing''Illuminating, dramatic... majestic writing'' Spectator''Enthralling... a triumph'' Andrew SolomonAlex Halberstadt returns to Russia, the troubled, enigmatic land of his birth, where decades of Soviet totalitarianism shaped and fractured three generations of his family, in this haunting work of memoir and history.In Ukraine, Halberstadt tracks down his paternal grandfather - most likely the last living bodyguard of Joseph Stalin. He revisits Lithuania, his Jewish mother''s home, to examine the legacy of the Holocaust and the pernicious anti-Semitism that remains largely unaccounted for. And he returns to his birthplace, Moscow, where his grandmother designed homespun couture for Soviet ministers'' wives, his mother consoled dissidents at a psychiatric hospital, and his father made a dangerous living by selTrade ReviewAn act of literary archaeology... [in] finely wrought prose... melding the genres of biography, history and memoir. The book is more than just an account of one family's ordeals: it is an engrossing account of dictatorship, war and genocide, and how the toxic legacy they left behind has etched itself into successive generations of Soviet citizens. -- Daniel Beer * The Guardian *A loving and mournful account that's also skeptical, surprising and often very funny... Lush and moving. -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times *Illuminating, dramatic... It's as if [Halbertstadt's] feelings about Russia were frozen in time when he emigrated, leaving shards of perception that are peculiarly incisive... Majestic writing. -- Matthew Janney * Spectator *Alex Halberstadt is a magnificent writer. Young Heroes of the Soviet Union is a beautiful book about trauma and its impact on one extraordinary family, and an incisive, radiant look at the long legacy of suffering and war.This terrific, gripping book, part family memoir, part history...[is] a superb evocation of the Soviet Union in the 1960s and '70s. -- David Herman * Jewish Chronicle *Enthralling... Alex Halberstadt describes the disjunction between his Soviet childhood and his American adolescence with incandescent wit, a sometimes bitter but always compelling nostalgia, and great literary flair. This book is a triumph. -- Andrew SolomonSurprising, sad, funny, and engrossing... This is history as memoir, and vice versa. -- John Jeremiah Sullivan[An] elegant testimony to the subordination of human life to the will of an overmighty state. -- Robert Leigh-Pemberton * Daily Telegraph *Fascinating. -- Julia Llewellyn Smith * Mail on Sunday *This truly excellent book will transform your understanding of what memoir can do. -- Wells Tower

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

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

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