Search results for ""author weird"

Waterstones Best Humour Books of 2023Meet serial dater Olive. She's just a regular gal looking for love, but navigating the wild world of modern dating is getting her no closer to finding the one - why are there so many weirdos out there?!Follow Olive on her quest for companionship, as she goes on dates that go from bad to worse to even more disastrous, including a man who disappears after going to the toilet in a restaurant and is later spotted on shift waiting tables; a woman who vomits all over her on the beach; and a professional triangle player who gets into a fist fight and jumps out of not one but two moving cabs.Will Olive ever find the one? And will they be everything she's looking for?Following up on the popularity of her viral dating comics series on Instagram, Disaster Dates and Lucky Escapes is crammed full of outrageous dating comics illustrated in artist Tess Smith-Roberts's colourful and fun signature style so loved by her 193k Instagram followers. The sometimes gross, often relatable but always laugh-out-loud hilarious stories are weaved into a narrative, with some dates submitted by Tess's Instagram followers, some inspired by previous submissions and, of course, some fan favourites from her popular dating comics series on Instagram.

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No genre manifests the pleasure of reading - and its power to consume and enchant - more than romance. In suspending the category of the novel to rethink the way prose fiction works, Without the Novel demonstrates what literary history looks like from the perspective of such readerly excesses and adventures.Rejecting the assumption that novelistic realism is the most significant tendency in the history of prose fiction, Black asks three intertwined questions: What is fiction without the novel? What is literary history without the novel? What is reading without the novel? In answer, this study draws on the neglected genre of romance to reintegrate eighteenth-century British fiction with its classical and Continental counterparts. Black addresses works of prose fiction that self-consciously experiment with the formal structures and readerly affordances of romance: Heliodorus’s Ethiopian Story, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, Fielding’s Tom Jones, Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, and Burney’s The Wanderer. Each text presents itself as a secondary, satiric adaptation of anachronistic and alien narratives, but in revising foreign stories each text also relays them. The recursive reading that these works portray and demand makes each a self-reflexive parable of romance itself. Ultimately, Without the Novel writes a wider, weirder history of fiction organized by the recurrences of romance and informed by the pleasures of reading that define the genre.

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“This book is hilarious and that bitch made me laugh out loud.”—Chelsea Handler A chaotically joyous collection of essays from one of the original influencers and the internet's sweetheart, Bretman "The Baddest" Rock. Hilarious and earnest, this collection of essays, how-tos and never-before-seen photos goes far beyond what we know of Bretman Rock from social media. Who is Bretman Rock Sacayanan behind the screen and how did he become the original superstar influencer and today’s beloved best friend of the internet? You're That Bitch welcomes you into Bretman Rock's world—from how his childhood in the Philippines, his family, Filipino culture, and being a first-generation immigrant helped shape him into who he is today. Peek into how Bretman became a social media sensation at the precocious age of 14, balancing living a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle on weekends while still serving lunch at his school’s cafeteria, running as a varsity track-star, and making honor roll during the week. With his signature honesty, this is an unfiltered and unprecedented look at what it means to be one of the first digital celebrities and that bitch–-from dealing with cancel culture, drama and heartbreak, to what it means to love yourself and your community. From the funniest and undeniably cutest person on the internet, this is a book for the weirdos and for the bad bitches . . . this book is for you!

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“This book is hilarious and that bitch made me laugh out loud.”—Chelsea Handler A chaotically joyous collection of essays from one of the original influencers and the internet's sweetheart, Bretman "The Baddest" Rock. Hilarious and earnest, this collection of essays, how-tos and never-before-seen photos goes far beyond what we know of Bretman Rock from social media. Who is Bretman Rock Sacayanan behind the screen and how did he become the original superstar influencer and today’s beloved best friend of the internet? You're That Bitch welcomes you into Bretman Rock's world—from how his childhood in the Philippines, his family, Filipino culture, and being a first-generation immigrant helped shape him into who he is today. Peek into how Bretman became a social media sensation at the precocious age of 14, balancing living a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle on weekends while still serving lunch at his school’s cafeteria, running as a varsity track-star, and making honor roll during the week. With his signature honesty, this is an unfiltered and unprecedented look at what it means to be one of the first digital celebrities and that bitch–-from dealing with cancel culture, drama and heartbreak, to what it means to love yourself and your community. From the funniest and undeniably cutest person on the internet, this is a book for the weirdos and for the bad bitches . . . this book is for you!

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A tantalising LA Novel by Legendary American Writer, Craig Nova, for fans of Michael Connelly and James Ellroy.Quinn Farrell is a modern-day fixer in Los Angeles — he cleans up other people’s messes. Rich people’s messes. For a lot of money. He’s so good that he’s become indispensable to Hollywood moguls and he’s managed to construct a working moral framework so that he can live with himself. That is until a new neighbour moves next door, Rose Marie, who works with terminally ill teens. Against all his survival instincts, Farrell falls in love with Rose Marie and then her uncanny patients, who shine a spotlight into his soul. When a client steps over the line and Farrell is hired to clean up after a reprehensible crime, his carefully constructed ethical house of cards comes crashing down. Double Solitaire is the first in a series of LA-based thrillers featuring Quinn Farrell,. As with all Nova’s deeply intuitive fiction, Farrell is an unforgettable living force in a setting that needs no fiction to be any weirder than it is: contemporary Hollywood.

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A Sunday Times bestsellerHow long is 'now'? The short answer is 'somewhere between 2 and 3 seconds'. The long answer involves an incredible journey through neuroscience, our subconscious and the time-bending power of meditation. Living in the present may never feel the same. Ready for some more? Okay. Why isn't Pluto a planet? Why are dogs' noses wet? Why do hens cluck more loudly after laying an egg? What happens when one black hole swallows another? Do our fingerprints change as we get older? How young can you die of old age? And what is at the very edge of the Universe?Life is full of mind-bending questions. And, as books like What If? and Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? have shown, the route to find each answer can take us on the weirdest and most wonderful journeys. How Long is Now? is a fascinating new collection of questions you never thought to ask, along with answers that will change the way you see everything.

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The Big Book of Dinosaurs is a comprehensive anthology of all things prehistoric. Covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, it offers a clear and simple visual introduction to the weirdest, smallest and scariest dinosaurs of all time.This classic dinosaur encyclopedia has been updated and been given a refreshed, modern design to make it friendly and relevant to a new generation of readers. Find out how many teeth a T.rex had, what the Stegosaurus ate for breakfast and the wingspan of a Pterodactyl. Fascinating nuggets of text are perfect for reading aloud. Amazing artwork, incredible CGI models of the coolest dinosaurs and photographs of fossils and bones shed light on discoveries and explain how we know so much about these amazing creatures.The Big Book of Dinosaurs is the ideal gift for children from 5-8 discovering dinosaurs for the first time or dino-mad kids who want to find out more about their favourites.

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A witty and expertly compiled compendium of running wisdom and humour. From a short jog that lifts your mood to the closing stages of a marathon when you feel physically exhausted but emotionally invincible all at once, running delivers every time. Running: Cheaper Than Therapy is a celebration of the pastime that always makes you feel better, covering every aspect of running life from jogging etiquette and the things we both love and hate about it, through to the weirdest and most wonderful marathons around the world. Also included are the funniest spectator signs ever, cool advice that could improve your PB and brilliantly insightful running philosophies. Complete with guest contributions from Parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt, political strategist Alastair Campbell, Olympian Liz Yelling and comedian David Baddiel, this brilliantly knowing compendium will be appreciated by joggers, triathletes and runners who know the joy of putting on a pair of trainers and getting out there.

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Embark on an annual excursion of scandals, absurdities and farcical monstrosities with satirist and artist Cold War Steve.Enclosed in this esteemed tome you will find a land of hereditary weirdos and despicable world leaders; contemptible party-hosting and disastrous decision-making; delicious downfalls and nonsensical uprisings. The only path to sanity is through the most scathing of cosmic cynicism and commentary; thankfully, this annual provides just that.Featuring a congress of coruscating collages, as well as contributions from the revered James O'Brien, John Sweeney, Stewart Lee, Sheena Patel, Jason Williamson, Kit de Waal, Neville Southall and Roy, this volume is a fitting antidote to the disgraces and travesties of the last year and beyond.

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This captivating collection of puzzles and trivia, exploring the world's weirdest events and crazy conspiracies, is sure to set your mind reelingTest your knowledge of US presidents with fiendish trivia questionsSolve clues to discover how the CIA allegedly control their subjectsHelp the reptilian find the right path to its royal throneDiscover some of the most perplexing mysteries that have bewildered humankind for centuries! Dive deep into this entertaining book, where the most enduring conspiracy theories are reimagined as puzzles.From crosswords and counting conundrums to spot the differences and sudoku, whether you're a sceptic or a self-confessed conspiracy obsessive, there's plenty in these pages to sharpen your mind and have you believing the impossible.Inside you will find a variety of puzzles, including:- Spot the difference between two Illuminati symbols- Find the names of the politicians who are secretly controlling us within word searches- Shuffle the letters of anagrams to identify the names of paranormal beings- Figure out what happened during the most mysterious unexplained events throughout history

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An exciting new collection of profiles from one of the countries most talented and innovative journalists, Bongani Madondo.Bongani has spent his life stalking and studying icons and celebrities of our age. He’s risked his health chasing celebrities, weirdoes, icons and revered personalities from bathrooms to tropical islands to present this collection of in-depth interviews and profiles. Along the way he’s endured a political tirade from Danny Glover, gone in search of a lost comic book hero, and cried with Busi Mhlongo.In some interviews the line between journalist and interviewee has blurred. At other times, Bongani has managed to break through the mask and reveal the real Brenda Fassie, a reflective Zolani Mahola or a just-out-of-bed John Perlman.In the process he’s tried to work out what the thugs, dice-rollers, showbiz pimps, spiritual visionaries and other celebrated God-figurines have to offer the world. Beyond the genius, the arrogance, the foolishness, the fears, the jealousy and the madness, what is it that makes us worship them?

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The second title in the bestselling series from the brilliantly talented Liz Pichon. No school for two whole weeks! (Yeah!) I can forget ALL about lessons (and irritating things like Marcus Meldrew). And concentrate on good stuff like: Inventing new ways to annoy my sister Delia. (So many). Band practice for DOGZOMBIES (with my mate Derek). Watching TV and eating caramel wafers. Eating caramel wafers and watching TV. Excellent. Unfortunately a couple of small problems called the dentist and my big weirdo sister, Delia, seem to be getting in the way of my BRILLIANT plans . . . ABOUT THE SERIES: Written in diary form Full of Tom's doodles and pictures & his amazing sense of humour The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, was the winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize! Perfect gifts for boys & girls who love to laugh themselves silly The first series of The Brilliant World of Tom Gates won the Scottish BAFTA for Entertainment! Love Tom Gates? Don’t miss Liz Pichon’s spectacular Shoe Wars, a laugh-out-loud, gadget-packed adventure!

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Incantatory, intimate, and incendiary, the poems of this award-winning debut are filled with explosive wit and humor like "a knife you don't see coming." A kaleidoscopic intelligence flows through Beautiful Zero, embracing forms of culture high and low in effort to finding meaning in the chaos. Poems about Shark Week and college football sit beside Roman Polanski and biting critiques of modern war. A series of poems set in a Kaiser Permanente hospital tear into the world of privatized health care while simultaneously charting a story of love in the face of catastrophe. Yet even at her most surreal, Willoughby always finds the pulsing heart at the core of the poem. She embraces what she cannot understand about both the world and herself because after all, "Nothing is as random as they say it is. / You were born the weirdo that you are."

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Enter the world of Below London, where causing a ruckus is the best thing you can do!When notorious troublemaker Rayleigh Mann sneaks out to go trick-or-treating on Halloween, he gets more than he bargained for - in the form of a monster straight out of his nana's stories.The weirdest thing though? The monster tells Rayleigh that the father he never knew is actually the Bogey Mann, the most terrifying of all monsters, the Supreme Scarer himself.And there's more - Bogey is missing and Rayleigh is the only one who can find him. But to do so, Rayleigh must travel to Bogey's world, Below London... There Rayleigh's penchant for tricks might just help him survive an adventure straight out of his wildest dreams - or perhaps his most terrifying nightmares.A wonderfully monstrous fantasy adventure for readers aged 9-12 and fans of AMARI, NEVERMOOR and THE MARVELLERS!

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The human body is truly an amazing thing. Capable of awe- inspiring feats of speed and agility, while being mind-blowing in complexity, our bodies are unmatched by any other species on Earth. In the Big Book of the Human Body, we explore our amazing anatomy in fine detail before delving into the intricacies of the complex processes, functions and systems that keep us going. For instance, did you know you really have 16 senses? We also explain the weirdest and most wonderful bodily phenomena, from blushing to hiccuping, cramps to jaundice. We will tour the human body from skull to metatarsal, using anatomical illustrations, amazing photography and authoritative explanations to teach you more. This book will help you understand the wonder that is the human body and in no time you will begin to see yourself in a whole new light.

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Bobby Dollar is an angel—a real one. He knows a lot about sin, and not just in his professional capacity as an advocate for souls caught between Heaven and Hell. Bobby’s wrestling with a few deadly sins of his own—pride, anger, even lust.But his problems aren’t all his fault. Bobby can’t entirely trust his heavenly superiors, and he’s not too sure about any of his fellow earthbound angels either, especially the new kid that Heaven has dropped into their midst, a trainee angel who asks too many questions. And he sure as hell doesn’t trust the achingly gorgeous Countess of Cold Hands, a mysterious she-demon who seems to be the only one willing to tell him the truth. When the souls of the recently departed start disappearing, catching both Heaven and Hell by surprise, things get bad very quickly for Bobby D. End-of-the-world bad. Beast of Revelations bad.Caught between the angry forces of Hell, the dangerous strategies of his own side, and a monstrous undead avenger that wants to rip his head off and suck out his soul, Bobby’s going to need all the friends he can get—in Heaven, on Earth, or anywhere else he can find them. You’ve never met an angel like Bobby Dollar. And you’ve never read anything like The Dirty Streets of Heaven.Brace yourself—the afterlife is weirder than you ever believed.

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Stand back! The tales in this raunchy round-the-world romp might get you dirty. We've all had unspeakable experiences while traveling that we're ashamed to admit, but these often become our best stories in the retelling. The writers in this collection cast inhibition aside and reveal their weirdest and worst moments and how they made the best of them. And memorable moments in exotic destinations come in all shapes and sizes: insects as big as Pam Anderson's left tit, regrettable sex, stink-eyed officials, horrible healers, Lady Gaga's shoes and Madonna's special meal, trigger-happy militants, and peeping Tom rock stars. Adventure vicariously as: Spud Hilton (not Monty Python) finds the Holy Grail by accident. Meghan Ward squats, and then the toilet grunts back, in Goa. Kasha Rigby proved how tough she is on National Geographic's Ultimate Survival Alaska, but is she a match for a 90-year-old bone breaker in Guatemala? Namibians stereotype Chinese men as Bruce Lee--Gerald Yeung wonders if attacking baboons will do the same. Keph Senett (hoping not to follow in the footsteps of Pussy Riot) braves bombs, police and a Soviet-era sofa bed to play soccer at the LGBT games in Putin's Russia. Jabba-the-Turd versus Shannon Bradford in an epic showdown in Argentina. And many more...

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'This exciting, science-packed novel is a cracking read and bursts with action, warmth and humour' - BookTrust Great Books Guide 2021 'This is great fun; an energetic middle-grade debut with a fresh contemporary feel and a good dash of Stranger Things' - The Bookseller Alfie has noticed a few things since his family moved to Folding Ford. He really misses life in the city. He and his sister don't exactly fit in here. But the most interesting one is that the weather is BONKERS. One frost-covered branch on one tree in the middle of June? A tiny whirlwind in a bucket in the garden? Only in Folding Ford. Armed with his bike, a notepad and his new best mate Sam, Alfie is going to investigate. His best clue is Nathaniel Clemm … the only thing in town weirder than the weather. When Alfie ‘investigates’ Mr Clemm’s garden, only SLIGHTLY illegally, he finds a strange box that freezes his trainers and makes his teeth tingle. And when he opens it, only SLIGHTLY deliberately, SOMETHING gets out. Something fast, fizzing and sparking with electricity and very, very much alive. But the creature from the box brings trouble of its own, and as barometers and tempers go haywire in Folding Ford, Alfie finds himself at the centre of a perfect storm. Skellig meets Stranger Things in this funny, heartfelt adventure story perfect for fans of Ross Welford, Christopher Edge and Frank Cottrell Boyce.

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Growing up on the embattled Mawr Estate in South Wales, all Gemma sees are burglaries, muggings, sadness and boredom. With a dad in prison and a mum who has given up hope, she, like everyone around her, is holding on to memories of the times when happiness wasn't so hard to find. When her search for the scene of a perfect childhood day takes her up into the surrounding hills, Gemma is forced into a meeting with the legendary Cowgirl. Everyone at school knows she's a weirdo: six foot tall and angry, the only conversations she has are with the twelve cows on her dad's farm. But with her abrupt arrival in Gemma's life, everything starts to look different. And with her only friends in mortal danger of the abattoir, it turns out she and Gemma have a mission on their hands. A gently funny story of a community coming together, this is a tale of happy endings in unexpected places.Shortlisted for the Waterstones Prize Winner of the Tir na n-Og Award Cover illustration by Tom Clohosy Cole.Also by G. R. Gemin: Sweet Pizza"The warmth and charm of 'Sweet Pizza' are quite extraordinary; though there are some very moving moments, it is mainly a joyous and eccentric comedy." - Kate Saunders, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize Judge

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The Atlas Corporation was all set to tear apart the planet Mercury—converting its resources into a swarm of solar-collecting megastructures—when Esteban Velasco, lead Atlas engineer, is found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Detective Isaac Cho and Special Agent Susan Cantrell, both eager to return to active duty despite close calls on their last case, are sent in to assess the situation. Their superiors expect a simple declaration of suicide, but Velasco’s death proves anything but typical. The detectives soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery far more complex—and strange—than anyone expected, leading them to a church for Mercury-loving weirdos, a “nudist” colony open to Saturn’s unbreathable atmosphere, an exclusive park for hunting dinosaurs, and a ghost town where forgotten machines wage war over condo floorplans. What was meant to be an easy return to duty for the detectives takes a sudden dark turn when ruthless mind-hackers ambush and nearly kill them, making one fact crystal clear: If they don’t solve this case soon, it’ll be their corpses that turn up next.

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THE OLD GODS ARE RETURNING-AND SOME OF THEM ARE NOT FRIENDLY!When Derek Secrest was suddenly pulled out of Naval flight officer school to take part in a top secret government project involving telepathybecause tests showed that he had a strong latent talent for psi powers he thought things couldn't get weirder. He was wrong.Soon he was contacted by a mysterious woman who could open portals at will through spacetime. Her powers seemed godlikeand they were. Millennia ago, extra-dimensional beings with great powers had come to earth and taken on human form, remembered in legends as gods and goddessesand titans, the ancient enemies of the gods. The godlike beings had driven off the titans, but now the old enemy is returning, with a new plan to use humans with psionic abilities to rule the Earth, and not be driven from it this time. And the titans always did have a fondness for human sacrifice.Unless Derek and a handful of other telepaths can join forces with the ancient gods to defeat the titans, the world will be plunged into a new dark age of terror and death. Even so, judging from mythology, how much can you really trust a god. . . ?

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Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body—and in human history. Why is sweat salty? Why do we sweat when stressed? Why do some people produce colourful sweat? And should you worry about Big Brother tracking the hundreds of molecules that leak out in your sweat—not just the stinky ones or alleged pheromones—but the ones that reveal secrets about your health and vices? Everts’s entertaining investigation takes readers around the world—from Moscow, where she participates in a dating event in which people sniff sweat in search of love, to New Jersey, where companies hire trained armpit sniffers to assess the efficacy of their anti-sweat products. In Finland, Everts explores the delights of the legendary smoke sauna and the purported health benefits of good sweat, while in the Netherlands she slips into the sauna theatre scene, replete with costumes, special effects and towel dancing. Along the way, Everts traces humanity’s long quest to control sweat, culminating in the multibillion-dollar industry for deodorants and antiperspirants. And she shows that while sweating can be annoying, our sophisticated temperature control strategy is one of humanity’s most powerful biological traits. Deeply researched and written with great zest, The Joy of Sweat is a fresh take on a gross but engrossing fact of human life. The New York Times Most Anticipated Book of the Summer

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From the mother-daughter team behind the bestselling Just Between Us: Mother & Daughter comes a new keepsake journal for sisters to celebrate their unique bond. A No-Stress, No-Rules Journal: Just Between Us: Sisters provides thoughtful guidelines and inspired prompts that pave the way for discussing everything from the weirdest (and best!) thing about your family to favorite books, music, TV shows, and more. • Provides space to share stories, record memories, and answer questions that help nurture and grow the sisterly bond. • Plenty of room to personalize the content, plus fun pages for drawing pictures and making lists. • Inspires conversations that help sisters to get to know each other on a more personal level and create precious, lasting memories. Fans of Just Between Us: Mother & Daughter and Just Between Us: Grandmother & Granddaughter will also enjoy this guided life journal that preserves memories and helps family traditions grow. Conversation and writing prompts include “My top five favorite foods,” and “If I could go anywhere in the world, I would go to,” to help grow and strengthen sister relationships in a stress-free, no pressure way. Makes a wonderful gift for sisters of all ages.

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Say goodbye to boring biology with this fast-fact-packed tour of the human body. It's the perfect way for children aged 9 plus to brush up on their S.T.E.M. stats and cement what they have learned in class with this fun book.Human Body explores the oddest, weirdest and most interesting parts of the human body in bite-sized chunks of text, so readers won't be overwhelmed with information. Funny illustrations and photos are designed to hold their interest, and help them engage with S.T.E.M. topics.Human Body takes a look at the body's major organs and systems, from tiny cells to big bones and from the top of the head to the tips of the toes. There is also a fun activity all about breathing and lungs for budding STEMsters to try out, too.The Stupendous and Tremendous Science series is ideal for all children aged 9+ who are studying S.T.E.M. topics at school or who simply have a fascination with science. It covers all the core topics in a fun and accessible way.Title in the series:Ecstatic and Excellent EnergyHappy and Healthy Human BodyPowerful and Pongy PlantsSoaring and Spectacular Space

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The history of American witches is way weirder than you ever imagined. From bewitched pigs hell-bent on revenge to gruesome twentieth-century murders, American Witches reveals strange incidents of witchcraft that have long been swept under the rug as bizarre sidenotes to history.On a tour through history that’s both whimsical and startling, we’ll encounter seventeenth-century children flying around inside their New England home “like geese.” We’ll meet a father-son team of pious Puritans who embarked on a mission that involved undressing ladies and overseeing hangings. And on the eve of the Civil War, we’ll accompany a reporter as he dons a dress and goes searching for witches in New York City’s most dangerous neighborhoods.Entertainingly readable and rich in amazing details often left out of today’s texts, American Witches casts a flickering torchlight into the dark corners of American history.

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A first collection of Los Angeles artist Jon Huck’s hauntingly beautiful watercolor paintings on paper and wood The bold first collection of watercolors on paper and wood by Los Angeles artist Jon Huck (born 1961), At the Drop of a Hat portrays a wild tableau of misfits and weirdos caught in a panoply of odd scenarios and ambivalent moods. There are masks, costumes, recurring props and motifs, and a pervasive ambiguity between human and beast. A gleefully deranged comedy animates these bright surfaces—a sense of spontaneous mischief and delight in the brush strokes and blurred paints—but also a longing within the characters themselves, hints of dark melancholy and unsettling private narratives. With a self-taught experimental style both unrestrained and delicately precise, Huck is a nuanced observer of gesture, posture and facial expression, of the personae that conceal us and the flaws that make us real.

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Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body—and in human history. ,Why is sweat salty? Why do we sweat when stressed? Why do some people produce colourful sweat? And should you worry about Big Brother tracking the hundreds of molecules that leak out in your sweat—not just the stinky ones or alleged pheromones—but the ones that reveal secrets about your health and vices? Everts’s entertaining investigation takes readers around the world—from Moscow, where she participates in a dating event in which people sniff sweat in search of love, to New Jersey, where companies hire trained armpit sniffers to assess the efficacy of their anti-sweat products. In Finland, Everts explores the delights of the legendary smoke sauna and the purported health benefits of good sweat, while in the Netherlands she slips into the sauna theatre scene, replete with costumes, special effects and towel dancing. Along the way, Everts traces humanity’s long quest to control sweat, culminating in the multibillion-dollar industry for deodorants and antiperspirants. And she shows that while sweating can be annoying, our sophisticated temperature control strategy is one of humanity’s most powerful biological traits. Deeply researched and written with great zest, The Joy of Sweat is a fresh take on a gross but engrossing fact of human life.

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Larry Kaufman can safely be called an exceptional chess grandmaster. Larry Kaufman started out as a prodigy, however not in chess but as a whizz kid in science and math. He excels at shogi (Japanese chess) and Go, and is also a world-famous computer programmer and a highly successful option trader. Remarkably, as a chess player he only peaked at the weirdly late age of fifty. Yet his victories in the chess arena are considerable. Over a career span of nearly sixty years Kaufman won the state championships of Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, D.C. and Pennsylvania. He was an American Open Champion and won the U.S. Senior Championship as well as the World Senior Championship. Never a great chess player himself (his words), he met or played chess greats such as Bobby Fischer, Bent Larsen, Walter Browne, Boris Spassky, Viktor Kortchnoi and many others. He worked as a second to legendary grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili, and coached three talented youngsters to become International Master, one of them his son Raymond. This engrossing memoir is rife with stories and anecdotes about dozens of famous and not-so-famous chess players. In one of the most remarkable chapters Larry Kaufman reveals that the American woman chess player that inspired Walter Tevis to create the Beth Harmon character of Netflixs The Queens Gambit fame, is his former girlfriend. You will learn about neural networks, material values and how being a chess master helps when trading options. And find lots of memorable but little-known annotated games.

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'Like a hairier Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a a big-hearted novel about finding your "pack" in unexpected places' Marie Claire, Best Books of the YearBrian, an aimless slacker in his twenties, works double shifts at his waiter job, never cleans his apartment and gets black-out drunk with his restaurant comrades, Nik and Darby. He's been struggling to manage his transition to adulthood almost as much as his monthly transitions to a werewolf. Really, he is not great at the whole werewolf thing, and his recent murderous slip-ups have caught the attention of Tyler, a Millennial were-entrepreneur determined to explore exponential growth strategies in the mythological wellness market. Tyler has got a plan and he wants Brian to be part of it, and weirdly his brand of self-help punditry actually encourages Brian to shape up and to stop accidently marking out bad tippers at the restaurant as potential monthly victims. But as Brian gets closer to Tyler's pack and drifts further away from Nik and Darby, he realises that Tyler's expansion plans are much more nefarious than a little lupine enlightenment...Big-hearted, goofy, anarchic and funny, Bored Gay Werewolf is a smart take on the doomsday logic of late capitalism and the complicated meeting point of masculinity and sexuality. More than that, though, and like Scooby Doo with Grindr or Stranger Things with sex and ennui, it's a buddy novel about finding your pack, the power of friendship, and learning how to be comfortable in your own, shaggy werewolf pelt

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When oddballs Agnes, Roberta and Ruby discover a mutual passion for synchronised swimming, the trio form Team Pom. But between snack time, their favourite TV show and raising pigeons, it can be hard to find time to practice. Tired of their last place, loser status, a crew of self-proclaimed weirdos start their own synchronised swimming club. But on their way to gain the respect and free snacks they deserve, they stumble upon a lonely giant squid in their local pool. Will he be the secret weapon they need to propel them into synchronised swimming super stardom? Or will they end up with ink on their faces? Who are the villainous strangers in bowler hats? And, most importantly, what's for lunch? The first in this series and a debut comic book from award-winning Filipino illustrator Isabel Roxas, Squid Happens is a hilarious read that explores friendship, teamwork and what it means to be yourself.

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This thrilling and charming middle grade fantasy steeped in Japanese lore and mythology follows Tessa after she breaks a precious family heirloom, sending her on a wild adventure to save herself, her family-and all of Tokyo.Tessa Miyata has never fit in. When she and her two sisters are told they will be staying at their grandparents in Japan, Tessa is thrilled. A summer in Japan could be her chance to go on an adventure worthy of impressing her classmates back home. Her hopes are quickly dashed when, all too soon, she realizes that life in Japan is just like being in California: her sisters are old enough to go into Tokyo, while she can''t even go to the corner store by herself. Plus, her grandparents want her to stay home with the neighbor kid, thirteen-year-old Jin Uehara, who''s made it clear he''s too cool to spend time with a weirdo like her. When Tessa is finally allowed to go to Tokyo, it''s only to join her grandpa''s retiree a

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The crowning achievement of an astonishing career, ‘Boneland’ concludes the story that began over fifty years ago in ‘The Weirdstone of Brisingamen’. If the sleeper wakes, the dream dies… Professor Colin Whisterfield spends his days at Jodrell Bank, using the radio telescope to look for his lost sister in the Pleiades. At the same time, and in another time, the Watcher cuts the rock and dances, to keep the sky above the earth and the stars flying. Colin can’t remember; and he remembers too much. Before the age of twelve years and nine months is a blank. After that he recalls everything: where he was, what he was doing, in every minute of every hour of every day. But Colin will have to remember what happened when he was twelve, if he wants to find his sister. And the Watcher will have to find the Woman. Otherwise the skies will fall, and there will be only winter, wanderers and moon…

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From the creator of the hit manga and anime Kiss Him, Not Me! comes another off-the-wall, geeky shojo comedy! A series of mixups leads to God misplacing the souls of a girl and the handsome idol singer she adores--in each other's bodies! And they can switch back and forth by...kissing?! Azusa lives for only one man: Chika-kun, the cutest and most popular star in the idol group Prince 4 U. She goes to the shows. She watches the interviews. She ropes in her long-suffering best friend and makes him stand in line at dawn to buy the latest exclusive merch. But one concert changes her life, when she accidentally dies trying (and failing) to save his life! It turns out it was all a mix-up, and God agrees to return the two of them to Earth...but fate's mistakes don't end there, as they each wake up in the other's body! To make matters even weirder, they discover they can switch back and forth by kissing! What on Earth does heaven have in store for them?

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From the creator of the hit manga and anime Kiss Him, Not Me! comes another off-the-wall, geeky shojo comedy! A series of mixups leads to God misplacing the souls of a girl and the handsome idol singer she adores--in each other's bodies! And they can switch back and forth by...kissing?! Azusa lives for only one man: Chika-kun, the cutest and most popular star in the idol group Prince 4 U. She goes to the shows. She watches the interviews. She ropes in her long-suffering best friend and makes him stand in line at dawn to buy the latest exclusive merch. But one concert changes her life, when she accidentally dies trying (and failing) to save his life! It turns out it was all a mix-up, and God agrees to return the two of them to Earth...but fate's mistakes don't end there, as they each wake up in the other's body! To make matters even weirder, they discover they can switch back and forth by kissing! What on Earth does heaven have in store for them?

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From the creator of the hit manga and anime Kiss Him, Not Me! comes another off-the-wall, geeky shojo comedy! A series of mixups leads to God misplacing the souls of a girl and the handsome idol singer she adores--in each other's bodies! And they can switch back and forth by...kissing?! Azusa lives for only one man: Chika-kun, the cutest and most popular star in the idol group Prince 4 U. She goes to the shows. She watches the interviews. She ropes in her long-suffering best friend and makes him stand in line at dawn to buy the latest exclusive merch. But one concert changes her life, when she accidentally dies trying (and failing) to save his life! It turns out it was all a mix-up, and God agrees to return the two of them to Earth...but fate's mistakes don't end there, as they each wake up in the other's body! To make matters even weirder, they discover they can switch back and forth by kissing! What on Earth does heaven have in store for them?

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Geneviève L. Walsh's debut solo collection covers her first five years of performing her punk-song-length poetry about love, hatred, aggressive platitudes, sexual politics, alienation and inebriation. Includes a Foreword by Henry Normal. "A collection full of passion and subversion ... keen and urgent with an untamed beauty - like a puma caught under a streetlight. She chooses her language and targets with precision and infuses humour and fight in every verse." - Henry Normal, poet "Rejecting the beige and embracing the dark, this collection is a lyrical and defiant hymn to vodka nights and concrete days. Shot through with nostalgia and the fear of losing fellow dancers to normality." - Kate Fox, Stand-up Poet "A unique and passionately inclusive voice guides us with incredible skill and dexterity through everything that unites us: love, loss, and drunk conversations. This book is a brutally affectionate hug and a call to arms for all the losers, freaks, and feral lost souls of the world." - Steve Nash, Saboteur Awards Performer of the Year "Sharp, dark, insightful, inciteful, Geneviève switches it up; lyrically rich imagery / word lust / street voice. From the Femme Banal to the Double Windsor noose, for hardcore losers everywhere. Buy it and "make yourself fucking lovely"." - Louise Fazackerley, Performance Poet "A stunning collection from a unique voice. Poetic without ever being pretentious. Dive in and embrace your inner weirdo." - Kieren King, Cantankerous Word Git "Her poems are like Geneviève herself... strong yet sensitive, clever yet accessible, dark yet resplendent with colour. A collection penned with acute observation and affection. A poetic celebration of 'otherness'." - Joy France, Afflecks Creative in Residence

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1 girl with 1 best friend 1 middle school project 3 huge, slobbery dogs A recipe for success . . . or disaster? Most kids would dread the start of middle school and the year-long Explorations project that comes with it, but Ana knows that her + her best friend Lily + their plan to write and sell their own cookbook is a recipe for success. Lily's not just the perfect partner in culinary crime--she's also the only person in the world who understands Ana's need to wash her hands five times before picking up a spatula, and would never make fun of her for it. But Ana and Lily's plan for edible entrepreneurship turns into one big baking disaster when they're assigned to different partners for their projects. As if it wasn't bad enough that Lily seems more excited to get to know her new partner than bummed about being separated, Lily and her new friend plan to use the cookbook idea for themselves--and they didn't even ask! Worse, Ana's partner is Dasher, the strange new girl from Alaska, and she wants to do their project on the weirdest thing imaginable: sled dog racing. Dasher's dogs are scary, slobbery, and decidedly not germ-free, but Ana thinks she's found a loophole when she agrees to bake pancakes for spectators while Dasher mushes in a local race. That is, until Dasher sprains her ankle and has to drop out of the running. Can Ana learn to mush--and overcome her anxiety--in time to save her friendships, finish her project, and compete in the big race?

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Set in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 1990s, Derry Girls is a candid, one-of-a-kind comedy about what it's like to be a teenage girl living amongst conflict.It's a time of armed police in armoured Land Rovers and British Army check points. But it's also the time of Murder She Wrote, The Cranberries, Salt-N-Pepa, Doc Martens and The X Files. And while The Troubles may hang over her hometown, Erin has troubles of her own, like the fact that the boy she's in love with (actually in LOVE with) doesn't know she exists. Or that her Ma and Aunt Sarah make her include her weirdo cousin Orla in everything she does. Or that head teacher Sister Michael refuses to acknowledge Erin as a literary genius. Not to mention the fact that her second best friend has ALMOST had sex, whereas Erin's never even kissed anyone yet. These are Erin's Troubles.Described by the Guardian as 'daft, profane and absolutely brilliant', by the New Statesman as 'pitch-perfect' and by i-D as 'the greatest show on British (and Irish) TV', Derry Girls has dazzled audiences, with Channel 4's biggest UK comedy launch since 2004 and the biggest television series in Northern Ireland since modern records began.Now, alongside the third series, comes the first official tie-in. With Erin's inner take on everything that has happened so far, this book will both dive deeper into the events we have seen unfold on the screen and unveil brand new stories. Complete with newspaper clippings, doodles, school reports, handwritten notes, and much much more, Erin's Diary is a must-have for fans.

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Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 to 7From surviving middle school to feeling like a misfit, Ana Wright tackles it all in How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes are Untied. This heartwarming, coming of age story is the perfect summer reading book for middle school girls!Ana Wright's social life is officially on the endangered list: she lives in a zoo (umm, elephant droppings!?), her best friend lives on the other side of the world, and the Sneerers are making junior high miserable. All Ana wants is to fade into the background.Yeah, that's not going to happen.Creature File for Ana Wright:Species Name: Anaphyta NormalisKingdom: The Zoo, Junior HighPhylum: Girls Whose Best Friend Just Moved To New Zealand; Girls Who Are Forced To Live In A Zoo With Their Weirdo Parents And Twin BrotherWeight: ClassifiedFeeds On: Daydreams about Zackardia Perfecticus and wish cupcakesLife Span: Soon to become extinct due to social awkwardnessA 2015 Georgia Children's Book Award WinnerA 2015 Children's Choices Reading List TitleA 2015 Red Maple Award Nominee"A fun-filled, pitch-perfect book…An amusing, highly readable book about the perils of being 12 in a snake-eat-snake world."—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED Review

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"Ant is borderline obsessed with funerals, likening the events to weddings as gatherings he looks forward to. Yet, when a childhood friend passes, Ant's veneer starts to crumble. Weirdly funny, Whiteout Conditions tracks Ant and his friend Vince as they make their way through Chicogoland's suburbs, which, in Shah's telling, are as harrowing as any arctic climate." --Wendy J. Fox, BuzzFeed '15 Small Press Books To Kick Off Your 2020 Reading Season' Ant is back in Chicago for a funeral, and he typically enjoys funerals. Since most of his family has passed away, he finds himself attracted to their endearing qualities: the hyperbolic language, the stoner altar boy, seeing friends in suits for the first time. That is, until the tragic death of Ray -- Ant's childhood friend, Vince's teenage cousin. Ray was the younger third-wheel that Ant and Vince were stuck babysitting while in high school, and his sudden death makes national news. In the depths of a brutal Midwest winter, Ant rides with Vince through the falling snow to Ray's funeral, an event that has been accruing a sense of consequence. With a poet's sensibility, Shah navigates the murky responsibilities of adulthood, grief, toxic masculinity, and the tragedy of revenge in this haunting Midwestern noir.

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Underestimated for too long as just a shrub for cottage gardens, the hydrangea is experiencing a renaissance in floral design. Lavish and luscious, the often-giant blooms are the epitome of chic. The next title in Pavilion’s series of beautiful floral gardening guides celebrates the ornamental charm and butterfly-like petals of the hydrangea. This title celebrates the history and main varieties of the hydrangea, from its origins in China, Japan and Korea, to how they have taken over most gardens in the world. To this day, pink hydrangeas are popular in Asia, as they are given as love tokens, and most recently, a hydrangea hybrid won Plant of the Year at the 2018 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Pavilion’s guide to the most beautiful varieties reveals their fascinating assets together with practical cultivation tips for any garden or container. Including delicate blooms such as the raspberry ripple Miss Soari and the beautiful Annabelle, to the full-on and fabulous Glam Rock and the weirdly wonderful Limelight. With engaging commentary on each bloom, easy-to-follow advice and glorious photography, this book will appeal to everybody who is after the best bloom for weddings, gardens of any size, or looking for the most bountiful cut flowers.

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After moving to the tiny village of Biskopskulla, middle school student Clara Hutchins discovers that her family has a history in the region: one hundred forty years ago, one of her ancestors was hanged as a witch from the white oak tree on the edge of town. When Clara finds a mildewed diary in the basement, she’ s even able to read the rambling thoughts of her long-dead relative. But when the book’ s predictions about Clara’ s own life start coming true, she wonders if those 19th-century villagers had a point: maybe her great-great-great grandmother really did have unearthly abilities. Now, a break-in at the tomb of the town’ s founder means a great evil has returned to Biskopskulla. Clara and her newest friends— two of the weirdest boys in school— must join forces to decipher the messages of a murdered witch and stop an unnatural catastrophe. But as they quest through historic cemeteries, backcountry libraries, and high-octane scholastic bowl tournaments, something sinister is lurking, watching, and waiting…

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Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way. In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.

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Featuring comedic captions revealing what cats are really thinking while they do their number twos, this eye-watering collection of photos is guaranteed to gross you out while cracking you up Cats gotta crap, just like people. But unlike us, they do it where we can see it. And we watch them in the act like the absolute weirdos we are. Sometimes we even take pictures. What must our feline companions think of all this? Well, Pooping Pets: The Cat Edition is here to capture and share these priceless moments in all their disgusting glory. Within its pages, you’ll find the private thoughts of cats as they do their business, including: Did you say your lovely lawn needs some fresh fertilizer? If you rush me, I’ll save a few nuggets for your slippers! Can you make yourself useful and come wipe up? Not for the faint-hearted, but the perfect gift for lovers of toilet humour, this poo-blication is a steaming tribute to the bodily functions of our four-legged friends.

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Pop-art connoisseurs are treated to a mind-bending journey through the blistering paintings of San Francisco artist Dirty Donny Gillies. Take a visual tour of his vibrant, hand-drawn and screen-printed poster art series "Blacklight Rebellion" and hand-painted solo art show "Fantastic Voyage." This ultimate collection of cool also includes his iconic work for Stern Pinball, metal giant Metallica, Vans Skate, Snap-on tools, and Cruz Pedregon's Top Fuel Funny Car, not to mention work on his own air-brushed 1970s boogie van. The art attack continues with eye-melting imagery from skateboard decks, decal sets, toys, guitars, drums, and his series of model kits for AMT. Pop-art collectors will appreciate full-page photos from the likes of legendary street photographer Ricky Powell, as well as the commentary by Ed Robertson of the Bare Naked Ladies, Mastadon's Brann Dailor, Brendon Small of animated series Metalocalypse, Howie Pyro, (Danzig, D-Generation) and fellow weirdo artist Skinner.

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'Top Bins! A personal best, a lap record and a hole in one for when rain has stopped play.' ALAN DAVIESHop, skip and jump into this wonderfully curious grand tour of the world of sports, brought to you by QI Elves James Harkin and Anna Ptaszynski.From sport's weirdest rules to its most unlikely heroes, via comically large cricket bats, pole-vaulting priests, creative football chants and exploding billiard balls, each chapter of Everything to Play For is brimming with surprising facts and intriguing stories.Even if you've never asked yourself what David Attenborough has to do with yellow tennis balls, why Victorian doctors feared the outbreak of 'bicycle face' or what led ancient Egyptian athletes to have their spleens removed, this book will give you the astonishing answers - and plenty more besides.**For more from the team behind QI's hit TV show, check out the QI FACTS series of books, @qikipedia, their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.com or visit qi.com.

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Described by Philip Pullman as 'the most important British writer of fantasy since Tolkein', Alan Garner has been enrapturing readers with works like The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Owl Service, Red Shift and The Stone Book Quartet for more than half a century. Now, a group of the writers and artists he has inspired over the years have come together to celebrate his life and work in First Light.This anthology includes original contributions from David Almond, Margaret Atwood, John Burnside, Susan Cooper, Helen Dunmore, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Garner, Paul Kingsnorth, Katherine Langrish, Helen Macdonald, Robert Macfarlane, Gregory Maguire, Neel Mukherjee, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith, Elizabeth Wein, Michael Wood and many, many more.Whether a literary essay, a personal response to Garner's writing or a story about the man himself, each piece is a tribute to his remarkable impact. Edited by the acclaimed journalist and novelist Erica Wagner, First Light will touch the heart of anyone who grew up reading Alan Garner.

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We talk about the weather a lot. It exasperates, confounds and on occasion delights us. Our national conversation is dominated by the weather, but how much do we really know about it? In Bring Me Sunshine, Charlie Connelly sets off on the trail of our island obsession. He breezes through the lives of meteorological eccentrics, geniuses, rainmakers and cloud-busters and brings vividly to life great weather events from history. He sheds light on Britain's weirdest wind, why we have the wettest place in England to thank for the trusty pencil, the debt that umbrella owners owe to Robinson Crusoe and why people once thought firing cannons at clouds was a great idea. Having adventured round the shipping forecast areas for his bestselling Attention All Shipping, Connelly is the perfect guide through a mélange of gales, blizzards, mists, heatwaves and the occasional shower of fish. By turns informative, entertaining and hilarious, Bring Me Sunshine answers all your weather questions as well as helping you to distinguish your graupel from your petrichor.

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