Search results for ""MACMILLAN""

Ann Cleeves Classic Crime - engaging mysteries to savour, beloved characters to meet againA Prey to Murder is the fourth mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.The huge and powerful hawk dominated the scene. Its talons pierced the woman’s flesh and the beak pointed towards her eyes . . .The sight is a particularly horrible shock for George Palmer-Jones, ornithologist and amateur detective, as he was an old friend of the victim Eleanor Masefield. George and his wife Molly are staying at Eleanor’s family-run hotel, and whilst George believed Eleanor was a beautiful and charming widow, Molly has other ideas.Is Molly a little jealous? Or was Eleanor more a black widow – a ruthless manipulator of all those caught in her far-reaching web? Can Molly prove it in time to prevent another death?

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THE TOP TEN BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZEA The Times Book of the Year 2022'Morland writes about nature and the changing landscape with such lyrical precision that her prose sometimes seems close to poetry' - Christina Patterson, The Sunday TimesA Fortunate Woman is a compelling, thoughtful and insightful look at the life and work of a country doctor. Funny, moving and not afraid of the dark, it will speak to readers everywhere.Polly Morland was clearing her late mother’s house when she found a battered paperback fallen behind the family bookshelf. Opening it, she was astonished to see an old photograph of the remote, wooded valley in which she lives. The book was A Fortunate Man, John Berger’s classic account of a country doctor working in the same valley more than half a century earlier. This chance discovery led Morland to the remarkable doctor who serves that valley community today, a woman whose own medical vocation was inspired by reading the very same book as a teenager.A Fortunate Woman tells her compelling, true story, and how the tale of the old doctor has threaded through her own life in magical ways. Working within a community she loves, she is a rarity in contemporary medicine: a modern doctor who knows her patients inside out, the lives of this ancient, wild place entwined with her own.Revisiting Berger’s story after half a century of seismic change, both in our society and in the ways in which medicine is practised, A Fortunate Woman sheds light on what it means to be a doctor in today’s complex and challenging world. Interweaving the doctor’s story with those of her patients, reflecting on the relationship between landscape and community, and upon the wider role of medicine in society, a unique portrait of a twenty-first century family doctor emerges.Illustrated throughout with photographs by Richard Baker.'Contains a profound message for the future at a critical moment for general practice and us all' - Wendy Moore, TLS'I was consoled and compelled by this book’s steady gaze on healing and caring. The writing is beautiful' - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater and Ghost Wall'A vibrant and authentic portrait of the rural family doctor in these difficult contemporary times' - Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care at the University of Oxford

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*Now a live-action BBC series* From Julia Donaldson, the bestselling author of The Gruffalo, comes Princess Mirror-Belle and The Flying Horse, the exciting adventures of a mischievous princess.Full of black-and-white illustrations by Lydia Monks, Princess Mirror-Belle and the Flying Horse is perfect for fans of this bestselling picture book team who are beginning to read on their own. Contains six delightful stories that children will come back to again and again.Ellen's life is turned upside down by the hilarious Mirror-Belle, a spirited princess who claims to be from somewhere mysterious and far away. She appears out of mirrors to tell Ellen magical stories and take her on exciting escapades. From exploring a hospital after Ellen falls off her bike to chasing after Mirror-Belle's magic ball, going to the seaside and joining the unusual pets club, you can always guarantee that wherever Mirror-Belle goes, trouble will follow.This book contains the following stories:The Flying HorseThe Magic BallThe Sea Monster’s CaveThe Unusual Pets ClubSwan LakeThe Sleepwalking Beauty

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I want to sing you early songs. Go deeper.I want to take you back where you began,Find the scraps of you you hid in secretAnd bring them back to life beneath my tongue.Divisible by Itself and One is the powerful new collection from our foremost truth-teller Kae Tempest. Ruminative, wise, with a newer, more contemplative and metaphysical note running through, it is a book engaged with the big questions and the emotional states in which we live and create. Some of the poems experiment with form, some are free, and yet all are politically and morally conscious. Divisible by Itself and One is also a book about human form, the body as boundary and how we are read by the world. Taking its bearings - and title - from the prime number, Divisible by Itself and One is concerned, ultimately, with integrity: how to live in honest relationship with oneself and others. “Tempest delivers their thoughts gorgeously, rhythmically, but also with clarity and a fierce grace” Observer

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From Gary Paulsen, the award-winning author of Hatchet, comes a laugh-out-loud eco-adventure about a boy, his free-thinking dad and the puppy-training pamphlet that turns their summer upside down.Twelve-year-old Carl is fed up with his dad; he may be brilliant, but bin-diving for food, scouring through rubbish for 'salvageable' junk and wearing clothes fully sourced from garage sales is getting old. Increasingly worried by what his schoolmates will think – and encouraged by his riotous best friend – Carl decides to use a puppy-training pamphlet to 'retrain' his dad’s mindset . . . a crackpot experiment that produces some hilarious results!How To Train Your Dad is a fierce and funny novel about family, friendship and green-living from middle-grade master Gary Paulsen.

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Celebrate fifteen years of embracing differences with this shiny special anniversary edition of Tyrannosaurus Drip featuring brand new bonus material. Everyone knows that tyrannosauruses are supposed to be big and scary, so when a placid duckbill dinosaur's egg ends up in the wrong nest, confusion is sure to ensue! When the baby dinosaur hatches out, he's so out of place that his grisly big sisters call him Tyrannosaurus Drip. Poor little Drip: all he wants is a quiet life munching on water weed . . .From the stellar partnership of Julia Donaldson and David Roberts, this fantastic rhyming adventure story has plenty of humour and is perfect for young dinosaur fans everywhere!

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A haunting and moving debut, The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell is perfect for fans of The Familiars and The Binding.1830. After a violent storm, a woman is found alone, naked, near death on the Northumberland moors. She has no memory of who she is or how she got there. But she can remember how to help a woman in labour, how to expertly dress a wound and can speak fluent French.With the odds against her – a penniless single woman – she starts to build her life from scratch, using her skills to help other woman around her. She finds a happy place in the world. Until tragedy strikes, and she must run for her life.In London, Dr Borthwick lives a solitary life working as an accoucheur together with his midwife, Mrs Bates, dealing with mothers and babies in both the elegant homes of high society, and alongside a young widow, Eleanor Johnson, volunteering in the slums of the Devil’s Acre. His professional reputation is spotless and he keeps his private life just as clean, isolating himself from any new acquaintances. He is harbouring a dark secret from his past, one that threatens to spill over everything . . .

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Lift-the-Flap Fairy Tales: Cinderella is a fresh, modern and wonderfully witty take on the much-loved story, retold in a playful rhyme and accompanied by bright and funny illustrations. Flaps to lift on every page bring to life the classic story of Cinderella and her mean stepsisters. Open the invitation to the Royal Ball, see the Fairy Godmother appear in a puff of smoke, and watch Cinderella's pumpkin magically turn into a magnificent coach!Featuring a free audio reading, complete with music and sound effects! Just scan the QR code on the book with your smart device to hear the story. With this bonus audio feature, you can listen to the story wherever you are, and follow along with the book by turning the pages when you hear the chime.

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Natasha Devon's Clicks - How to Be Your Best Self Online is the perfect guide for young people navigating the digital world.There are three billion people online. Each of those people has their own biases, agendas and issues. It’s little wonder when young people step into the digital world and are bombarded with ‘hot takes’, calls to cancel ‘problematic’ individuals, trolls, fake news and celebrity sales pitches they’re likely to find it overwhelming and confusing.This book wants to change that. It will teach young people how to:- See and evaluate all sides of an argument- Spot fake news- Explain their ‘take’ persuasively- Use the internet to campaign for a fairer world- Get the most out of their online role models- Show allyship to marginalised groupsNatasha Devon is a writer, campaigner and broadcaster. She travels to schools and colleges throughout the UK and the world, delivering classes and conducting research with teenagers, teachers and parents on mental health, body image and social equality.Natasha spoke to a wide range of experts and organizations for this book including The Centre for Countering Digital Hate, Childnet, Glitch, Fullfact and Stop Funding Hate

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'Stunning . . . Built like a thriller, moving, wise and illuminated on every page with love' -Joanne Harris, author of ChocolatA parent's deeply moving love letter to a daughter who has always known exactly who she is.When Carolyn Hays’s child made clear to the family that they were all wrong, he was not a boy, but, in fact, a girl, the Hays shifted pronouns, adopted a nickname and encouraged her to dress as she felt comfortable. One ordinary day, a caseworker from the Department of Children and Families knocked on their door to investigate an anonymous complaint about the upbringing of their transgender child. It was this threat that instilled in them a deep-seated fear for their child’s safety in the Republican state they called home. And so they uprooted their lives to the more trans-accepting Northeast United States, though they were never far from the hate and fear resting at the nation’s core.Intimate, lyrical and thought-provoking, A Girlhood is an ode to Hays’s brilliant, brave child, as well as a cathartic revisit of the pain of the past. It tells of the brutal truths of being trans, of the sacrificial nature of motherhood, and of the lengths a family will go to shield their youngest from the cruel realities of the world. Hays asks us all to love better, for children everywhere enduring injustice and prejudice just as they begin to understand themselves. A Girlhood is a celebration of difference, a plea for empathy, a hope for a better future, but moreover, it is a love letter to a child who has always known herself and is waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

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When I am Sad helps young children to start managing their emotions. They can lift the flaps, slide the tabs and turn the wheel to explore why they feel sad and how to move on from these emotions.With delightful illustrations from Marie Paruit, this is the perfect book for parents and carers to share with young children who are just starting to recognize their feelings and to develop their emotional intelligence. Explanations, hints and tips from Early Years expert Dr Janet Rose provides parents with all the extra guidance they need.The Little Big Feelings series has been endorsed and recommended by Dr Amanda Gummer’s Good Play Guide.Learn more about sharing emotions in the Little Big Feelings series: Sometimes I am Worried, Sometimes I am Angry and I Like to be Helpful.

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‘Funny but serious, accessible but rich in meaning, consistently surprising – the world looks slightly different after reading a Billy Collins poem. He’s a one-off, an American treasure’ Nick Laird These are poems of whimsy and imaginative acrobatics, but they are grounded in the familiar, common things of everyday experience. Collins takes us for a walk with an impossibly ancient dog, discovers the proper way to eat a banana, meets an Irish spider, and invites us to his own funeral. Facing both the wonders of being alive and the thrill of mortality, these new poems can only solidify Collins’s reputation as one of America’s most durable and interesting poets.

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** Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023 **In Stone Blind, the instant Sunday Times bestseller, Natalie Haynes brings the infamous Medusa to life as you have never seen her before.'Witty, gripping, ruthless' - Margaret Atwood via Twitter'Beautiful and moving' - Neil Gaiman via Twitter'So to mortal men, we are monsters. Because of our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call us monsters.’Medusa is the sole mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her Gorgon sisters, she begins to realize that she is the only one who experiences change, the only one who can be hurt. And her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.When the sea god Poseidon commits an unforgivable act in the temple of Athene, the goddess takes her revenge where she can – and Medusa is changed forever. Writhing snakes replace her hair, and her gaze now turns any living creature to stone. The power cannot be controlled: Medusa can look at nothing without destroying it. She is condemned to a life of shadows and darkness.Until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . .Praise for Natalie Haynes, the Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of A Thousand Ships:‘With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism… her thoughtful portraits will linger with you long after the book is finished’ - Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe‘Haynes combines a wide-ranging knowledge of the original myths with a gift for compelling narrative’ - The Times‘Natalie Haynes is both a witty and an erudite guide. She wears her extensive learning lightly and deftly drags the Classics into the modern world’ - Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life‘Haynes is master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories’ - Telegraph‘Haynes is the nation’s greatest muse’ - Adam Rutherford

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Winner of the Royal Society Science Book.'Exhilaratingly whizzes through billions of years . . . Gee is a marvellously engaging writer' - The TimesFor billions of years, Earth was an inhospitably alien place – covered with churning seas, slowly crafting its landscape through volcanic eruptions, the atmosphere in a constant state of chemical flux. And yet, despite facing literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter, life has been extinguished and picked itself up to evolve again.From that first foray to the spread of early hominids who later became Homo sapiens, life has persisted, undaunted. A (Very) Short History of Life: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters is an enlightening story of survival, of persistence, illuminating the delicate balance within which life has always existed, and continues to exist today. It is our planet like you’ve never seen it before.Dr Henry Gee presents creatures from ‘gregarious’ bacteria populating the seas to duelling dinosaurs in the Triassic period, to magnificent mammals with the future in their grasp. Life’s evolutionary steps – from the development of a digestive system to the awe of creatures taking to the skies in flight – are conveyed with an up-close intimacy.'Henry Gee makes the kaleidoscopically changing canvas of life understandable and exciting.' – Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

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Night Without Stars is the epic follow-up to The Abyss Beyond Dreams, and the stunning conclusion of the Chronicle of the Fallers duology from Peter F. Hamilton.'Hamilton in peak form' – Kirkus ReviewsTo prevent an invasion, she must start a revolution.Part of the Commonwealth, the planet of Bienvenido is in crisis. They are battling the Fallers, a fearsome alien race who have now infiltrated every level of human society. Nowhere is safe – and no one can be trusted. Known as the ‘Warrior Angel’, a mysterious individual is leading a desperate resistance, aided by forbidden technology. Yet the technophobic government obstructs the Angel’s efforts at every turn. As Fallers prepare to attack from the skies, the odds seem impossible on the ground. However, astronaut Ry Evine has made a discovery. It could unlock powerful secrets of the Commonwealth – and prevent their annihilation. But time isn’t on humanity’s side . . .

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Wonder: The Natural History Museum Poetry Book by Ana Sampson is a beautiful collection of poetry with poems inspired by The Natural History Museum. Covering everything from the depths of space to the centre of the earth, this beautiful collection includes poems about the solar system, planet earth, oceans and rivers, birds, dinosaurs, fossils, wildlife, flowers, fungi, insects, explorers and palaeontologists. Each section includes an introduction to the topic with insights into particularly interesting species.The museum has a collection of over eighty million objects and, behind the scenes of its twenty-eight galleries, it holds kilometres of preserved specimens, libraries of rare books and artworks, wonders gathered on some of the most famous voyages in history, rooms packed with pressed plants, warehouses teeming with stuffed animals and freezers full of DNA. As well as a museum, it is a state-of-the-art centre for discovery with over three hundred resident scientists and over ten thousand visiting researchers each year, investigating everything from dinosaurs to life on other planets.This collection is made up of brand new and classic poems, illustrated with botanical drawings and engravings from the museum’s collections.This fantastic collection speaks of the wonder of nature and shows us why we need to look after our incredible planet.

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'Fans of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler will devour it.' - Daily MirrorDarkly witty, deeply moving – Jackie Polzin's Brood is a startlingly original debut novel about motherhood, marriage and grief, full of sorrow, joy and unrelenting hope.Over the course of a single year, our nameless narrator heroically tries to keep her small brood of four chickens alive despite the seemingly endless challenges that caring for another creature entails – and all the while struggling to confront her own recent loss. From the forty-below nights of a brutal Minnesota winter to a sweltering summer which brings a surprise tornado, she battles predators, bad luck, and the uncertainty of a future that may not look anything like the one she always imagined.'Full of surprise, humor, grief, and wisdom.' - Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves'The most vibrant and compelling slice of life I’ve been privy to in a great while.' - Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had'Splendidly unsentimental, quirky, witty, smart and a complete one-off.' - Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

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The Number One International bestseller'We need books like this one' - psychologist Steven PinkerAt last, stupidity explained! And by some of the world’s smartest people, among them Daniel Kahneman, Dan Ariely, Alison Gopnik, Howard Gardner, Antonio Damasio, Aaron James and Ryan Holiday.Stupidity is all around us, from the colleagues who won’t stop hitting ‘reply all’ to the former school friends posting conspiracy theories on Facebook. But in order to battle idiocy, we must first understand it. In The Psychology of Stupidity, some of the world’s leading psychologists and thinkers – including a Nobel Prize winner – will show you . . .· Why smart people sometimes believe in utter nonsense· How our lazy brains cause us to make the wrong decisions· Why trying to debate with fools is a trap· How media manipulation and Internet overstimulation makes us dumber· Why the stupidest people don’t think they’re stupidAs long as there have been humans there has been human stupidity, but with wit and wisdom these great thinkers can help us understand this persistent human affliction.

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Push, pull and slide the tabs to zoom about town in Busy Cars! Lower the convertible's roof, swish the windscreen wipers and charge the car at the end of the day in this book about fun, fast, four-wheeled vehicles.Perfect for toddlers who like to play as they read, they will love this bright and colourful board book with gentle rhyming text and wonderful illustrations by Mel Matthews, which is part of the popular Busy Book series.Keep little ones busy with more of the Busy Book series: Busy Garage, Busy Tractor and Busy Ambulance.

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From the author of the thrilling science-fiction epic Children of Time, winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award. Shards of Earth is the first high-octane, far-future space adventure in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture trilogy.'One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction' – Christopher PaoliniThe war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans ­such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky:'Enthralling, epic, immersive and hugely intelligent' – Stephen Baxter on Shards of Earth'He writes incredibly enjoyable sci-fi, full of life and ideas' – Patrick Ness‘Brilliant science fiction’ – James McAvoy on Children of Time

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The million-copy bestselling series.Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s heartwarming Tales from the Cafe, translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time . . .From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer. Among some faces that will be familiar to readers, we will be introduced to:The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years agoThe son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeralThe man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marryThe old detective who never gave his wife that gift . . .This beautiful tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives.Continue the heartwarming storytelling with Before Your Memory Fades and Before We Say Goodbye.

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A stunning counting book full of gorgeous baby animals, with amazing flaps to lift and holes to peep through. From Julia Donaldson, bestselling author of The Gruffalo, and Sharon King-Chai, who together created the award-winning Animalphabet.From a leopard with her cubs, to a frog and its tadpoles, young readers will delight in counting each creature’s babies and seeing where they live. With rhyming text and a surprise search-and-find game, this is a read-aloud delight and an absolute must for the family bookshelf. A truly beautiful Christmas gift. Included in the Telegraph's the Best Children's Books of the Year.

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'Excellent' Financial Times'Stirring, impressively detailed' Time magazineThe Battle for the Falklands is a thoughtful and informed analysis of an astonishing chapter in modern British history from journalist and military historian Sir Max Hastings and political editor Simon Jenkins.Ten weeks. 28,000 soldiers. 8,000 miles from home.The Falklands War in 1982 was one of the strangest in British history. At the time, many Britons saw it as a tragic absurdity - thousands of men sent overseas for a tiny relic of empire - but the British victory over the Argentinians not only confirmed the quality of British arms but also boosted the political fortunes of Thatcher's Conservative government. However, it left a chequered aftermath and was later overshadowed by the two Gulf wars.Max Hastings’ and Simon Jenkins’ account of the conflict is a modern classic of war reportage and the definitive book on the conflict.

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'A brilliant tour-de-force' - Times Literary SupplementBomber Command is acclaimed historian Sir Max Hastings' compelling account of one of the most controversial struggles of the Second World War.RAF Bomber Command’s offensive against the cities of Germany was one of the epic campaigns of the Second World War. More than 56,000 British and Commonwealth aircrew and 600,000 Germans died in the course of the RAF’s attempt to win the war by bombing. The struggle began in 1939 with a few primitive Whitleys, Hampdens and Wellingtons, and ended six years later with 1,600 Lancasters, Halifaxes and Mosquitoes razing whole cities in a single night.Max Hastings traced the developments of area bombing using a wealth of documents, letters, diaries and interviews with key surviving witnesses. Bomber Command is, in turn, a fascinating, meticulously-researched, and vivid assessment of the RAF's integral role in the Second World War.

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Upgrade is the mind-bending thriller from Blake Crouch, author of the bestselling Dark Matter and Recursion.‘You are the next step in human evolution . . .’What if you were capable of more?Your concentration was better, you could multitask quicker, read faster, memorize more, sleep deeper.For Logan Ramsay, it’s happening. He’s beginning to see the world around him, even those he loves the most, in whole new ways.He knows that it’s not natural, that his genes have been hacked. He has been targeted for an upgrade.Logan’s family legacy is one he has been trying to escape for decades and it has left him vulnerable to attack. But with a terrifying plan in place to replicate his upgrade throughout the world’s population, he may be the only person capable of stopping what has already been set in motion.To win this war against humanity Logan will now have to become something other than himself . . .Intricately plotted and epic in scope, Upgrade asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity – and our boundless potential. Are you ready for the impossible?

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Within the pages of Allie Esiri's gorgeous poetry collection, A Poem for Every Autumn Day you will find verse that will transport you to vibrant autumnal scenes, from harvest festival to Remembrance Day.The poems are selected from Allie Esiri’s bestselling poetry anthologies A Poem for Every Day of the Year and A Poem for Every Night of the Year.Perfect for reading aloud and sharing with all the family, this book dazzles with an array of familiar favourites and remarkable new discoveries. These seasonal poems – together with introductory paragraphs – have a link to the date on which they appear.Includes poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, John Betjeman, Amy Lowell, Paul Laurence Dunbar, William Shakespeare and Christina Rossetti who sit alongside Seamus Heaney, John Agard, Simon Armitage, Patience Agbabi and Imtiaz Dharker.This soul-enhancing book will keep you company for every day of Autumn. Enjoy more seasonal poetry collections with A Poem for Every Summer Day and A Poem for Every Winter Day.

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The Dance of the Seagull is the fifteenth darkly humorous adventure starring Inspector Montalbano from bestselling author Andrea Camilleri. Inspector Montalbano is awake at dawn, sitting on his porch, when his attention is caught by a seagull which falls from the sky, performing a strange dance, before lying down to die. Montalbano is perplexed by what he has witnessed and the scene hangs over him like an omen. About to depart for a holiday with his girlfriend Livia, Montalbano makes a quick trip to the police station to tie up loose ends. But when his dear colleague Fazio is discovered missing – and it transpires that the policeman has been involved in his own secret investigations – Montalbano instead launches a desperate search for his lost friend, as time begins to run out . . . Navigating a shadowy maze of smuggling, blackmail and the darkest murder, and moving from the docks of Vigàta to its deep, dry wells where the mafia hide their terrible crimes, Inspector Montalbano must have his wits about him to unravel this tangled mystery.'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . Simply superb' - Sunday TimesThe Dance of the Seagull is followed by the sixteenth Inspector Montalbano novel, The Treasure Hunt.

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The Song of Achilles meets Mulan in He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan - a dazzling queer historical fantasy of war and destiny set in an epic alternate China, and sequel to Sunday Times bestselling She Who Became the Sun.'Transcendent, heart-wrenching' - Joanne Harris, author of ChocolatWhat would you give to win the world?Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory – one that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor.However, Zhu isn’t the only one with imperial aspirations. Courtesan Madam Zhang plots to steal the throne for her husband. But scorned scholar Wang Baoxiang is even closer to the throne. He’s maneuverered his way to the capital, where his courtly games threaten to bring the empire to its knees. For Baoxiang also desires revenge: to become the most degenerate Great Khan in history. In the process, he’d make a mockery of the warrior values his Mongol family loved more than him.To stay in the game, Zhu must gamble everything on one bold move. A risky alliance with an old enemy: Ouyang, the brilliant but unstable eunuch general. All contenders will do whatever it takes to win. But when desire has no end, and ambition no limits, could the price be too high for even the most ruthless heart to bear?Praise for Shelley Parker-Chan:‘As brilliant as Circe . . . a deft and dazzling triumph’ – Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne'Magnificent in every way. War, desire, vengeance, politics – Shelley Parker-Chan has perfectly measured each ingredient' – Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree'Shelley Parker-Chan is a genius' – Jen Williams, author of Talonsister

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Read the hilarious coming-of-age classic! Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret is now a major film starring Rachel McAdams and Abby Ryder Fortson.Meet Margaret. She's going through all the same things most teenage girls have to face; fitting in, friendship and first bras.Life isn't easy for Margaret. She's moved away from her childhood home, she's starting a new school, finding new friends – and she's convinced she's not normal.For a start she hasn't got a clue whether she wants to be Jewish like her father or Christian like her mother. Everyone else seems really sure of who they are.And, worst of all, she's a 'late developer'. She just knows that all her friends are going to need a bra before she does. It's too embarrassing to talk to her parents about these things.So she talks to God instead – and waits for an answer . . .

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A funny and inspiring collection of poems about sport by Brian Moses and Roger Stevens! Olympic Poems is perfect for any young poet or aspiring Olympian.These are poems about winning and about taking part; poems about having all the right kit, but no talent; poems that show that coming first in the egg and spoon race really is as important to your mum and dad as being an Olympic athlete; poems about being a team player and poems about being an individual hero. In fact, this book is packed with sporting gems of all kinds.

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A cult classic of Italian literature, published in English for the first time, with an afterword by André Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name.'A masterpiece' - Le Figaro'Dazzling in every detail' - ElleIn the late 1960s, Leo Gazzara leads a precarious life in Rome. He spends his time in an alcoholic haze, bouncing between hotels, bars, uninspiring jobs, romantic entanglements and the homes of his rich friends. Leo drifts, aimless and alone.But on the evening of his thirtieth birthday, he meets Arianna. All night they drive the city in Leo’s run-down Alfa Romeo, talking and talking. They eat brioche for breakfast, drink through the dawn, drive to the sea and back. A whirlwind beginning. What follows is the story of the year Leo fell in love and lost everything.Intense, romantic, witty and devastating, Last Summer in the City is a forgotten classic of Italian literature which offers an intoxicating portrait of two lonely people, pushing and pulling each other away and back again.'The most beautiful love story of the year' - Il Giornale

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Rediscover the classic magical adventure of the Little Wooden Horse, brought to life with the original inside illustrations from the author of Milly-Molly-Mandy, Joyce Lankester Brisley.When Uncle Peder the toymaker falls on hard times, his little wooden horse must go out into the world to seek his fortune. But whether he's working in a coal mine, sailing the seven seas with a band of pirates, or walking the tightrope in a circus, the loyal little horse only has one wish: to return to his beloved master.Originally published in 1938, Ursula Moray-Williams' The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse is her most famous story and continues to be one of the most-loved classic stories of children's literature.

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THE CONTROVERSIAL SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. Candid, fearless and provocative – the author of American Psycho on who he is and what he thinks is wrong with the world today. Bret Easton Ellis is most famous for his era-defining novel American Psycho and its terrifying anti-hero, Patrick Bateman. With that book, and many times since, Ellis proved himself to be one of the world’s most fearless and clear-sighted observers of society – the glittering surface and the darkness beneath.In White, his first work of non-fiction, Ellis offers a wide-ranging exploration of what the hell is going on right now. He tells personal stories from his own life. He writes with razor-sharp precision about the music, movies, books and TV he loves and hates. He examines the ways our culture, politics and relationships have changed over the last four decades. He talks about social media, Hollywood celebrities and Donald Trump.Ellis considers conflicting positions without flinching and adheres to no status quo. His forthright views are powered by a fervent belief in artistic freedom and freedom of speech. Candid, funny, entertaining and blisteringly honest, he offers opinions that are impossible to ignore and certain to provoke.What he values above all is the truth. ‘The culture at large seemed to encourage discourse,’ he writes, ‘but what it really wanted to do was shut down the individual.’ Bret Easton Ellis will not be shut down.

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A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and Instant New York Times Bestseller'Marple meets Succession' – Sunday Times'If rich terrible people behaving appallingly is your jam then The Club is the book for you!' – Marian KeyesThere’s no place like Home . . .The Home Group is a collection of ultra-exclusive private members' clubs and a global phenomenon, and the opening of its most ambitious project yet – Island Home, a forgotten island transformed into the height of luxury – is billed as the celebrity event of the decade.But as the first guests arrive, the weekend soon proves deadly – because it turns out that even the most beautiful people can keep the ugliest secrets and, in a world where reputation is everything, they'll do anything to keep it.If your name's on the list, you're not getting out . . .For fans of The White Lotus and Big Little Lies, Ellery Lloyd's The Club is an exhilarating, addictive read, telling a story of ambition, excess, and what happens when people who have everything - or nothing - to lose are pushed to their imit.'One of the most riveting books I've read in a long time' – Louise Candlish, author of Our House'Smart, topical and immensely entertaining' – T.M. Logan, author of The Holiday'Glitzy and twisty and tons of fun' – Observer

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Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T. L. Huchu is the second spellbinding book in the Edinburgh Nights series.‘Stupendously engaging’ – Ben Aaronovitch, bestselling author of Rivers of LondonSome secrets are meant to stay buriedWhen Ropa Moyo discovered an occult underground library, she expected great things. She’s really into Edinburgh’s secret societies – but turns out they are less into her. So instead of getting paid to work magic, she’s had to accept a crummy unpaid internship. And her with bills to pay and a pet fox to feed.Then her friend Priya offers her a job on the side. Priya works at Our Lady of Mysterious Maladies, a very specialized hospital, where a new illness is resisting magical and medical remedies alike. The first patient was a teenage boy, Max Wu, and his healers are baffled. If Ropa can solve the case, she might earn as she learns – and impress her mentor, Sir Callander.Her sleuthing will lead her to a lost fortune, an avenging spirit and a secret buried deep in Scotland’s past. But how are they connected? Lives are at stake and Ropa is running out of time.Praise for The Library of the Dead:‘Roll on the sequel’ – The Times‘One of the strangest and most compelling fantasy worlds you'll see all year’ – SFX

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New Yorker journalist Jonathan Blitzer has been covering the immigration crisis at America’s southern border since it began, but the current emergency is the end of a much larger story. In this, his first book, Blitzer goes back to the beginning, to the shadowy civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala in the 1980s; to the American prison system in the 1990s, where petty street criminals learned how to organize themselves into international crime syndicates; to Honduras’s brutal crackdown on crime in the 2000s and the emergence of Salvadorean gangs across the United States. And then the Trump era, in which immigration became a vector of resurgent populism, with mass internments the order of the day.Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here is a fresh and full account of America’s immigration problems, but itis much more than that. It is an odyssey of struggle and resilience, telling the epic story of peoplewhose lives ebb and flow across the border and those who help and hinder them. It is a gripping andpersuasive attempt to answer not only the question of how America got there, but the vital question ofwho we are and who we want to be in our liberal Western democracies, whether we are incarceratingchildren on our southern borders or watching them drown on the shores of the Mediterranean.

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*Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2021**From Daniel Mason, the bestselling, award-winning author of The Winter Soldier and The Piano Tuner comes a collection of interlacing tales of men and women as they face the mysteries and magic of the world.On a fated flight, a balloonist makes a discovery that changes her life forever. A telegraph operator finds an unexpected companion in the middle of the Amazon. A doctor is beset by seizures, in which he is possessed by a second, perhaps better, version of himself. And in Regency London, a bare-knuckle fighter prepares to face his most fearsome opponent, while a young mother seeks a miraculous cure for her ailing son. At times funny and irreverent, always moving, these stories cap a fifteen-year project that has won both a National Magazine Award and Pushcart Prize. From the Nile’s depths to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, from volcano-wracked islands to an asylum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, these are lives of ecstasy and epiphany.

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'A taut, sharp, funny book about being young now. It's brutal—and brilliant.' - Zadie SmithWinner of the Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Fiction Debut of the YearLonglisted for the Women's Prize For FictionEdie is just trying to survive. She’s messing up in her dead-end admin job in her all-white office, is sleeping with all the wrong men, and has failed at the only thing that meant anything to her, painting. No one seems to care that she doesn’t really know what she’s doing with her life beyond looking for her next hook-up.And then she meets Eric, a white middle-aged archivist with a suburban family, including a wife who has sort-of-agreed to an open marriage and an adopted black daughter who doesn’t have a single person in her life who can show her how to do her hair. As if navigating the constantly shifting landscape of sexual and racial politics as a young black woman wasn’t already hard enough, with nowhere else left to go, Edie finds herself falling head-first into Eric’s home and family.Razor-sharp, provocatively page-turning and surprisingly tender, Luster by Raven Leilani is a painfully funny debut about what it means to be young now.‘A book of pure fineness, exceptional.’ – Diana Evans, GuardianA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Guardian, New York Times, New Yorker, Boston Globe, Literary Hub, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Time, Good Housekeeping, InStyle, NPR, O Magazine, Buzzfeed, Electric Literature, Town & Country, Wired, New Statesman, Vox, Shelf Awareness, i-D, BookPage and more.One of Barack Obama’s Favourite Books of the Year.

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Mostly Harmless is the fifth and final part in Douglas Adams' much-loved cult classic series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.This edition includes exclusive bonus material from the Douglas Adams archives, and an introduction by Dirk Maggs, co-producer of BBC Radio 4's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases.Arthur Dent hadn't had a day as bad as this since the Earth had been blown up.After years of galactic wanderings, Arthur finally settles on the small planet Lamuella and becomes a sandwich maker. Looking forward to a quiet life, his plans are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter.There's nothing worse than a frustrated teenager with a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in their hands. When she runs away, Arthur goes after her determined to save her from the horrors of the universe.After all – he's encountered most of them before . . .

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So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth installment in Douglas Adams' bestselling cult classic, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 'trilogy'.This edition includes exclusive bonus material from the Douglas Adams archives, and an introduction by Neil Gaiman.There is a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. It’s not an easy thing to do and Arthur Dent thinks he’s the only human who’s been able to master this nifty little trick – until he meets Fenchurch, the girl of his dreams.Fenchurch knows how the world could be made a good and happy place. Unfortunately, she’s forgotten. Convinced that the secret lies within God’s Final Message to His Creation they go in search of it.And, in a dramatic break with tradition, actually find it . . .Follow Arthur Dent's galactic (mis)adventures in the last of the 'trilogy of five', Mostly Harmless.

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Find the perfect silly joke in this collection from Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, the creators of the internationally bestselling Treehouse series. Q: How do monkeys make toast? A: They put it under a gorilla!Q: What's grey and powdery? A: Instant elephant mix!From Bears to Birds, Penguins to Pirates, School to Space, The Treehouse Joke Book is packed full of hilarious jokes and silly one-liners that will make anyone laugh their socks off. The perfect gift for any Treehouse fan, join Andy and Terry as they find the ideal joke for any occasion!

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The million-copy bestselling series about a small Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s moving Before the Coffee Gets Cold, translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the cafe’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by Alzheimer's, see their sister one last time, and meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the cafe, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .Continue the beautiful storytelling with Tales from the Cafe, Before Your Memory Fades, and Before We Say Goodbye.

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This festive season, fall in love with The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss - a romantic read perfect for fans of Beth O'Leary and Josie Silver.'If you need help getting into the festive spirit, this is the book for you' - Good Housekeeping'Sparkly and romantic' - My WeeklyOn the first day of Christmas, a dating app offered meTwelve tailored chances for perfect harmony . . .Kate Turner is happily single – a bit too happily, in fact. Since returning to her hometown, the sleepy village of Blexford, love hasn’t really had a look in.But Kate does love Christmas. So when her best friend insists she signs up to the Twelve Dates of Christmas, a brand new dating app service, she doesn’t need too much persuading. Twelve perfect festive dates with the area’s most eligible men – who could say no?Amongst the twinkling lights and falling snow, over hot chocolates and glasses of red wine, romance is easy to find. But with each date, Kate learns more about the men, and even more about herself.As the big day approaches, Kate’s left wondering – is it really the season for true love, or will this Christmas be the coldest yet?* * * *Readers are loving The Twelve Dates of Christmas!‘What a fabulous book to snuggle up and get cosy with. I'm all set for Christmas now!’‘This is a perfect festive read, I adored this book!’‘A really funny read that you can imagine being a slice of real life’‘This made me feel so Christmassy that I want to put my lights up now’‘The perfect book to cosy up with in the lead up to the festive period’

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Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013'Funny, erudite, frequently irritating . . . and never boring' Sarah Bakewell, Financial Times 'An excellent, rich and amusing read' The Times, Book of the WeekFor centuries much of Europe was in the hands of the very peculiar Habsburg family. An unstable mixture of wizards, obsessives, melancholics, bores, musicians and warriors, they saw off – through luck, guile and sheer mulishness – any number of rivals, until finally packing up in 1918. From their principal lairs along the Danube they ruled most of Central Europe and Germany and interfered everywhere – indeed the history of Europe hardly makes sense without them.Danubia plunges the reader into a maelstrom of alchemy, skeletons, jewels, bear-moats, unfortunate marriages and a guinea-pig village. Full of music, piracy, religion and fighting, it is the history of a dynasty, but it is at least as much about the people they ruled, who spoke many different languages, lived in a vast range of landscapes, believed in many rival gods and often showed a marked ingratitude towards their oddball ruler in Vienna. Joining Germania and Lotharingia in Simon Winder's endlessly fascinating retelling of European history, Danubia is a hilarious, eccentric and witty saga.

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A terrifying arsonist is terrorizing Edinburgh in Torch, the second novel in Lin Anderson's forensic crime series featuring Rhona MacLeod.It’s Edinburgh, Scotland, days before the biggest New Year’s party in the world. When Karen, a young homeless girl, dies in a case of suspected arson, her friend Jaz sets out to avenge her death.Faced with similar cases in Glasgow, Dr Rhona MacLeod heads to the capital to establish whether the string of attacks are linked. Arriving as festivities begin to get under way, Rhona starts her investigation and is confronted by combative Severino MacRae, the city’s chief fire investigator.As the attacks escalate, it becomes clear a ruthless individual is behind the fires and has threatened to strike again at Hogmanay. While Jaz begins to uncover what happened to his friend, Rhona and MacRae must work together in a desperate attempt to locate the fire starter before any more people die . . .

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A Company of Swans is a sweeping tale of romance, freedom and the beauty of dance from award-winning author, Eva Ibbotson, with a new introduction by Joanna Nadin.Weekly ballet classes are Harriet Morton's only escape from her intolerably dull life. So when she is chosen to join a corps de ballet which is setting off on a tour of the Amazon, she leaps at the chance to run away for good.Performing in the grand opera houses is everything Harriet dreamed of, and falling in love with an aristocratic exile makes her new life complete. Swept away by it all, she is unaware that her father and intended fiancé have begun to track her down . . .'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' Nigella Lawson, The TimesRediscover Eva Ibbotson, award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in her sweeping historical romances, including The Morning Gift, A Song For Summer and The Secret Countess, originally published as A Countess Below Stairs, Magic Flutes, originally published as The Reluctant Heiress, Madensky Square and A Company of Swans.

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Roars, claws and jaws – get your teeth into the ULTIMATE dino guide! Filled with tons of fun facts, hilarious jokes and incredible infographics.From Dougie Poynter, McFly bassist, dinosaur fanatic and co-author of the bestselling picture book series The Dinosaur that Pooped, comes this ultimate book of dinosaurs.Dinosaurs are AWESOME! Discover everything you ever wanted to know about these jaw-droppingly cool pre-historic legends in Dinosaurs Rock! – including facts that will blow your mind, dino profiles, dinosaurs in pop culture, dino jokes, historical bloopers and loads more.

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A day to remember . . .Faith Ferguson is one of New York’s most sought after wedding planners. Realizing dreams and making magic happen are part of why Faith loves her job. But weddings are not always champagne and roses, and this particular year brings challenges both professionally and personally.On an estate in the Hamptons, the Alberts' event – with orchid swans, a firework extravaganza and added family strife – does not come without its problems. And Morgan and Alex’s chic, tasteful and joyful celebration in a handsome New York townhouse runs like clockwork, until a last minute addition to the guest list threatens to derail it. While a stiff, formal reception at a city club with a groom who cares more for his colleagues than his bride-to-be sends warning signals to Faith.Faith has come close to marriage twice – with disastrous consequences. She loves making magic happen for others, but believes it’s not for her. But the saying ‘never say never’ is true . . . and you know when it’s time to say ‘I do’.In The Wedding Planner, the world’s favourite author, Danielle Steel, presents a heartfelt and uplifting story about the winding road to love and the many ways to find joy while staying true to oneself.

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