Search results for ""quercus publishing""

The brain is considered the most complex structure in all of creation. But recent discoveries in neuroscience are now revealing the inner secrets of the brain - how it works, why it makes us who we are and what happens when it goes wrong. This cutting-edge and comprehensive guide explains why the human brain became so clever; how it controls everything from breathing, sleeping and seeing to identity, imagination, pleasure and pain; and what will happen when the brain integrates with computers or the latest genetic discoveries. Award-winning science writer Rita Carter also demystifies amnesia, multiple personalities, psychopathy, dreaming, hallucinations, addiction, autism, dyslexia, schizophrenia, dementia, and numerous other conditions of the mind.The Brain in Minutes covers: the origin and anatomy of the brain; control of the body; mood and emotions; perception; consciousness; memory and learning; personality; intelligence and other higher functions; language; strange states of the mind; malfunctions, disease and treatments; and the future of the brain. It also includes 200 high-tech scans, images and diagrams that detail and explain the structure and workings of the amazing human brain.

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The Terrifying Story of the Most Monstrous Serial Killers through History.Serial Killers are the most notorious and disturbing of all criminals, representing the very darkest side of humanity. Yet they endlessy fascinate and continue to capture the public's attention with their strange charisma and deadly deeds. From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy and the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, these killers transfix us with their ability to commit utterly savage acts of cruelty and depravity. Only with modern police detection methods and psychological profiling, have these figures that have existed throughout human history finally been identified in the deadliest category: serial killers. These methods, the killers' characters and their crimes are described here in fascinating and terrifyingly gripping detail. The whole history of serial killers is brought to life in 50 chapters, including:Herman Webster Mudget, Devil in the White CityJohn Christie, 10 Rillington Place murdersZodiac KillerIan Brady and Myra Hindley, The Moors MurderersTed BundyFred and Rosemary WestJeffrey DahmerAileen WuornosHarold Shipman, Dr Death

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'What operating system does your PC run on?' 'Electricity,' said Gran.From the author of November 2016 Number One Christmas bestseller, Five on Brexit Island, join the Five in their next hilarious adventure in this bestselling series for grown-ups!The Five go north to see their grandmother who is alone over the Easter weekend. They're shocked to find it's been so long that they don't recognise her at all. While they're there, they try to help her with her computer. They try first to fix her iTunes account, and then her internet banking - after all it's the least they can do! However everything they touch turns to dust. They end up getting her cut off from the internet, the gas and the electricity, and reduced to a World War II-style privations - that is until the toddler from next door comes in and fixes everything. They return home somewhat with their tails between their legs, only to discover that with their help Gran has learned to make videos, and has become an internet sensation.

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This straight-talking, fun book is aimed at fresh graduates planning a career in the creative industries. It gives them the tools to identify and navigate the right path. Filled with practical tips and exercises, and illustrated with 'how to' flow charts and diagrams, it focuses not just on the creative skills needed for a successful and lucrative career but a great lifestyle too.

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Creative thinking is something everyone can do. It's a way of looking at the world afresh, doing new things in new ways, taking risks. With The Creative Nudge, use 'nudge theory' to unleash your innate originality. A new behavioural science that reveals how small actions can have big impacts on our thinking, nudge theory powers this book. Using simple behaviour changes, retrain your brain and live a more creative and rewarding life.

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'One of the only books on the subject and directly applicable across several modules and levels.' - Matt Bassett, Coventry UniversityIn this, the first product design book devoted purely to styling, Peter Dabbs helps students and professionals to understand how to style their own consumer-focused products.Providing a clear and simple breakdown of the stages in the styling process, Product Design Styling is packed with:Annotated illustrationsPhotographs of industry examplesModified images showing proportions, silhouettes and linesThe clear text and visual examples guide you through a structured professional styling process that has been broken down into digestible stages. Each stage examines and illustrates what designers should be focusing on, how to evaluate what has been designed, and how to then optimize it if required. You will also learn how to analyse and critique the styling of competitors, as well as your own work, and use this awareness to confidently produce superior designs in less time.

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With pace, wit and a beady eye, Adventures in Modern Marriage revisits the characters from Nicholson's highly acclaimed The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life. But now the children are grown up, and the adults are older, though not always wiser. Here is a big-hearted novel about life and love in the bestselling vein of Colm Toibin and Nick Hornby'So incredibly accurate and true. Utterly captures the sense of quiet desperation of ordinary lives ... and the ways in which life turns on a sixpence' Kate Mosse on The Secret Intensity of Everyday LifeFocusing on Henry and Laura Broad and their daughter Carrie, this is a minute - but in true Nicholson style, extraordinarily empathetic - dissection of relationships and what keeps them going. It is an acute and compassionate look at male mid-life crises, female sexual desire, death and the fear of it, children and the trouble with them - all the things we battle with every day.

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All the tools you need for management success, this effective, compact guide will enable you to quickly grasp key management concepts and techniques. Contents include: Benchmarking, Branding, Core competition, Empowerment, Leadership, Mergers and acquisitions, Project management and the Supply chain.

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What readers are saying about The Love Factory:''The first time I''ve wanted to start re-reading a book from the moment I finished it''''Like Sex and the City on acid''''Anna [is] a heart-capturing protagonist''''a warm, inclusive, big-hearted book''You can control want, but desire controls youWhen literary writer Anna falls on hard times, she tries her hand at erotic fiction to make money, and faces an uncomfortable truth. Though she''s a wife and mother of two, her stories fail to fly because she''s never experienced true sexual desire. Even her Sicilian grandmother - wearer of diamante sunglasses and knock-off Louis Vuitton - knows more than she does about real passion. Anna turns to her friends for inspiration. As secrets and desires are revealed, she discovers more about the people close to her than she ever knew. When one of them suggests she borrow an alter ego to

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The first in the fast-and-furious fantasy adventure The Legends of the Älfar: the worlds of the dark elves and the dwarves collide in what Malazan Empire calls 'Tolkien with a dash of Gemmell and a sprinkling of George R.R. Martin'.The elves, dwarves and humans all know the älfar to be dark, relentless warriors. This is their time. In Dson Faïmon, the realm of the älfar, the warriors are planning a military campaign. Caphalor and Sinthoras are looking to enlist a powerful demon to strengthen their army - but the two älfar have very different goals. While Caphalor is determined to defend the borders of their empire and no more, the ambitious Sinthoras is intent on invasion: and he has the kingdoms of dwarves, elves and men firmly in his sights.Righteous Fury is the first book in bestselling author Markus Heitz's The Legends of the Älfar series.

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I had been looking for someone to write to for a long time, but how does a man write letters to a god?From his Mediterranean garden on the island of Menorca, Cees Nooteboom writes to the trident-wielding deity, Poseidon, initiating a dialogue not only with the past, as Alberto Manguel observes in his Preface, but with an entire world that seemed lost for ever.Offering a seductive interweaving of keen observation and the fruits of a vast knowledge, Nooteboom explores questions of human existence through the minutiae of the living world around him, and marvels at the secrets of the deep. He recalls figures in history, places he has travelled to, objets trouvés, works of art and literature, and takes a fresh look at the ancient myths. At once playful and poignant, beautiful and bizarre, Nooteboom's Letters to Poseidon are couched in the glittering prose of one of Europe's outstanding stylists.

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In What Do We Really Know? Simon Blackburn addresses the twenty most-asked philosophical questions, including 'Can machines think?', 'What is the meaning of life?', 'Is death to be feared?', 'Why be good?', 'What am I?' and 'What do we really know?' Each 3000-word essay examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, and provides answers from history's great thinkers.

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Sometimes the darkest secrets are buried the deepest . . . When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake''s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she''s warily drawn back to the town - and people - she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel''s not the only relic of the past to return: a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge, including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother''s disappearance . . .READERS LOVE MEGAN MIRANDA''S THRILLERS''Compelling and beautifully written!'' 5* READER REVIEW''Megan Miranda is a phenomenal writer'' 5* READER REVIEW''Suspenseful, riveting'' 5* READER REVIEW

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The most accessible introduction to the central ideas of business and management.

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True in the way only great fiction can be . . . Every word matters. Read it CLARE OSHETSKY Clara''s sentences are tender and illuminating, they carefully guided me along a complex family story, like stones skimming on water . . . I''m so thankful this book exists SZILVIA MOLNARThis is the story of a child with black eyes that float in and out of focus, a child soft and round, with translucent, blue-veined legs unable to hold his weight. This is the story of his place in the Cévennes house where he was born, overlooked by swaying trees and craggy mountains. This is the story of his siblings: the eldest who spends his days cheek-to-cheek with his baby brother, attuned to the rushing, buzzing, whistling sounds that connect him to the outside world; the sister who rejects him and resents him for consuming the attention of her parents and brother, for turning her family upside down; and the youngest, whose life unfolds in the shadow of what his brother''s m

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Perfect holiday reading from Domenica de Rosa, author of the bestselling Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries under the pen name Elly Griffiths. A group of would-be authors retreats to Tuscany where they learn more than how to write better. Patricia O''Hara''s carefully composed ads for the writers'' retreat she runs promise so much. The splendour of the thirteenth century Italian castle and chef Aldo''s melanzane never fail to wow the guests, but huge maintenance bills and bad news from the bank mean it''s make or break time for the Castello.Each of her seven aspiring authors arrives with the inevitable baggage alongside their unpublished manuscripts. But this August something is different, and soon lifelong spinster Mary is riding on the back of Aldo''s vespa, and smouldering odd-job man Fabio has set more than one heart racing.As temperatures rise, the writers gossip, flirt and gently polish their prose by the pool. But with ghosts, scorpions, and

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Do love stories often end this way? Why do you think it''s over?Shesheshen has made a fatal mistake for a monster: she''s fallen in love.Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who usually resides as an amorphous lump in the swamp of a ruined manor, unless impolite monster hunters invade intent on murdering her. Through a chance encounter, she meets a different kind of human, warm-hearted Homily, who mistakes Shesheshen for a human in turn. Shesheshen is loath to deceive, but just as she''s about to confess her true identity, Homily reveals she''s hunting the shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Shesheshen didn''t curse anyone, but to give them both a chance at happiness, she must figure out why Homily''s twisted family thinks she did. And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with the woman she loves.A glorious, funny, occasionally slightly violent love story which as

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From social media sensation George's Bakery comes Rebel Bakes - a joyful celebration of all things sweet.  In Rebel Bakes you'll find over 80 mouth-watering recipes to some of George's best-loved signature bakes, as well as a whole host of exclusive never-before-seen treats. From show-stopping layered cakes to sweet and speedy hob jobs, and from inventive cookies and tarts to unique traybakes, these recipes are easy to follow and seriously good. Whether you're a seasoned home baker or just starting out, this cookbook has something for everyone and will inspire you to have some fun and get creative in the kitchen. So, grab your apron, preheat the oven and get ready to enjoy the wickedly indulgent delights of George's Bakery from the comfort of your own kitchen!Recipes include: - Salted Caramel Cornflake Crevice - Pistachio, White Chocolate + Ra

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''Revelatory and illuminating'' New YorkerThe true, unvarnished history of the town at the heart of Silicon Valley.Palo Alto is nice. The weather is temperate, the people are educated, rich, healthy, enterprising. Remnants of a hippie counterculture have synthesized with high technology and big finance to produce the spiritually and materially ambitious heart of Silicon Valley, whose products are changing how we do everything from driving around to eating food. It is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system. In Palo Alto, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to t

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An inspirational can-do book from the star of Channel 4''s SAS: Who Dares Wins.In Hero Living Rudy Reyes introduces his philosophy to life - part Homer, part Bruce Lee and part Spider-Man. He outlines various stages towards revealing your inner hero: recognising the hero''s call, following the hero''s path and returning from life''s battlefield with the hero''s hard-earned wisdom. Rudy draws on his own heroic story of how he triumphed over harrowing childhood experiences of poverty and abandonment. Rather than giving up hope, he lived up to his full potential. First as a martial-arts champion, then as an elite warrior in the mountains of Afghanistan and on the sands of Iraq, and finally in his post-Marines life as a personal trainer, actor, motivational speaker and TV star. Find your inner hero through Rudy''s tried and tested method.

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The new bestseller from Damien Lewis, the Regiment's de facto historian.

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''A tender but substantive family memoir'' Sunday Independent''An acute eye and a lightness of touch ensures that this is never anything other than truly engrossing'' The FieldA few years ago Lally Snow moved to a Dorset village with her husband and three small children, having spent over a decade as a war photographer, foreign correspondent and film maker living in Kabul. She covered the conflict there as well as other wars from Gaza to Eastern Ukraine, and Iraq.In the late winter of 2021-22, Lally decided to rent an allotment, despite having only a rudimentary knowledge of gardening. She was starting from scratch and setting herself the dual challenge of growing an allotment at the same time as growing a family.This is a heart-warming, wry and at times tearful account of Lally''s travails as a mother and novice allotment holder, counterpointing horticultural progress with the perils of parenting. Along the way she reflect

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'Emotional, insightful, beautifully written. A story of making saves and being saved. The best football book I have read this year.' Henry WinterSir Alex Ferguson looked at Joe Sealey: 'You know your dad saved my career?' Joe replied: 'And you saved his.'More than three decades before, in 1990, Ferguson's managerial career stood at its lowest ebb. After three barren years at Old Trafford, he was facing dismissal. There was just the FA Cup final left. Manchester United were lucky to escape with a 3-3 draw at Wembley. For the replay, Ferguson took the gamble of his life, replacing his long-standing keeper, Jim Leighton, with Les Sealey, on loan from Luton. United won. Ferguson remained, winning another 24 major trophies.Les Sealey would play in another three finals for United. When he died suddenly, aged 43, Les left behind a warm, witty, and detailed autobiography in the form of a Tupperware box full of cassette tapes. His death, however, threw his son, Joe, into a tormented spiral of alcoholism and drug abuse before he was dragged from the brink.On Days Like These, longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, is the story of a remarkable double rescue. Of a football club and of a man.'Brings alive early 90s #MUFC & the mad genius of Ferguson' Sam Wallace

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'Sexy, fun and smart' BETH O'LEARY, author of THE FLATSHARE'I couldn't put down On Rotation, and you won't be able to, either... I personally couldn't get enough' MEG CABOT Angie has checked off all the boxes for the Perfect Immigrant Daughter: medical school, a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend and a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends. So when she bombs the most important exam of her medical career and gets dumped by her boyfriend, it is safe to say her parents are more than a little disappointed . . . Just when things couldn't get more complicated, Angie meets Ricky, and he's everything she shouldn't want. But if there's one thing Angie can't plan for, it's matters of her heart. 'Narrated by a strong lead with an unforgettable voice, On Rotation is an original romance novel bursting with charm, humor and the most loveable characters. I'm besotted with Angie and her posse!' LIZZIE DAMILOLA BLACKBURN, author of YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND?

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'Beautiful... This book is absolutely awash with recipes that will delight and surprise' --twochubbycubsDiscover 100 mouth-watering recipes under 600 calories to help any home cook create simple, healthy, meals that are satisfying, PACKED with flavour and slimming-friendly. Bursting with delicious recipes for hearty breakfasts, satisfying lunches and comforting dinners, Slimming & Tasty will keep you and your family full and happy throughout the day without compromising your slimming journey.For weekdays when you're short on time, you'll find speedy breakfasts you can make the night before, such as Tiramisu Overnight Oats or Banoffee Weetabix, and prep-ahead lunchboxes like Sushi Roll in a Bowl or Chicken and Bacon Ranch Potato Salad. For weekends tuck into lazy brunches like savory Cheesy Hash Brown Waffles or a sweet Blueberry and Apple Breakfast Crumble. You'll also find plenty of recipes for satisfying dinners and simple-but-tasty traybakes you'll look forward to every evening of the week.Latoyah Egerton, creator of Sugar Pink Food, is also the 'Queen of the Fakeaway', and she shares her favourite recipes for satisfying cravings for a cheeky Friday night takeaway, such as healthier versions of a Fried Chicken Feast, Fish and Chips, Lo Mein Noodles, and Lamb Bhuna Curry, to name a few.And for those who want some extra help on their slimming journey, you'll find a low-calorie 7-Day Healthy Meal Plan to get you feeling motivated and inspired to cook nutritious and delicious meals at home. You'll quickly discover that slimming doesn't need to be bland or boring!

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From Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the New York Times bestselling author of MEXICAN GOTHIC, comes UNTAMED SHORE, a dark cocktail mixing a nuanced coming-of-age story with a classical noir. 'Brutality takes on an almost divine quality' LA Review of BooksBaja California, 1979: Viridiana spends her days under the harsh sun, watching the fishermen pulling in their nets and the dead sharks piled beside the seashore. Her head is filled with dreams of romance, travel and of a future beyond this drab town where her only option is to marry and have children.When a wealthy American writer arrives with his wife and brother-in-law, Viridiana jumps at the offer of a job as his assistant, and she's soon entangled in the glamorous foreigners' lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from her humdrum life. When one of them dies, eager to protect her new friends, Viridiana lies - but soon enough, someone's asking questions. It's not long before Viridiana has some of her own questions about the identities of her new acquaintances.Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman unwittingly entangled in a web of deceit.

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A rich and powerful exploration of desire, sin and redemption, by one of our best chroniclers of faith in the 21st century.I enjoyed it enormously. The story is so interesting, the theme so important and pertinent, and the fluency and lightness of touch so engaging to read. PHILIP PULLMANA novel that probes any number of aggressive varieties of moralism, while testing the reader''s own moral alertness for rigour, realism and generosity. An engrossing, three-dimensional, grown-up narrative. ROWAN WILLIAMSAn irresistibly readable, thoughtful and characteristically witty examination of the quandaries and compromises faced by the Church of England in an era of decline . . . I loved this book for its lightness of touch about serious subjects and for dialogue that glitters like clashing rapiers. MIRANDA SEYMOURAs a woman in the early 1980s, Clarissa Phipps is unable to pursue her priestly vocation. Instead, she joins th

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Hundreds of cycles have passed in Girdlegard since Tungdil Goldhand vanished. The dwarf Goïmron works as a gem carver in the city of Mallenias Watch. He is particularly fascinated by the old times, the great times of the five dwarf tribes, and so spends his spare time searching the markets for records and artefacts for clues about their proud history.And then Goïmron comes across an extraordinary book. The wealth of detail it contains leaves no doubt that the book must have been written by the heroic Tungdil Goldhand himself. But, impossibly, the last entry seems to be recent. . . When Goïmron sets out in search of the legendary dwarf, he and his troop of companions soon find themselves in the middle of ancient intrigues and brutal power struggles between ruthless humans, mysterious albae - and dragons.Once again, the land of Girdlegard needs the wisdom, humour, fighting spirit and stubbornness of the dwarves. Heroes old and new will accept the challenge . .

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''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man begins with one of the most arresting opening sentences in literature'' Patrick McGuinness, from his Preface.A Portrait first appeared in instalments in the modernist magazine The Egoist in 1914, before it came out as a book in 1916, the year of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland. An autobiographical ''coming of age'' story, A Portrait is Joyce''s first novel. Many elements of Joyce''s own life - his Catholic schooling, his family circumstances and his father''s financial difficulties, as well as his sexual, political and artistic awakenings - are fictionalized and in it he skilfully extend the English language, as it opens with a child''s voice rendered by a third-person narrator, and closes with the mature Stephen''s first-person reflections.

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'A timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times1978: The National Front is gaining ground in Hackney. To counter their influence, anti-fascist groups launch the Carnival Against Racism in Victoria Park. Observing the event is Detective Constable Patrick Noble, charged with investigating racist attacks in the area and running Spycops in both far-right and left wing groups. As Noble's superiors are drawn further into political meddling, he's inveigled into a plot against the embattled Labour government as the Winter of Discontent begins to bite.1983: Under a disciplinary cloud after a Spycops op ended in tragedy, Noble is offered a reprieve by an old mentor. He is dispatched in the early hours to Stoke Newington police station, where a young black man has died in suspicious circumstances. This is Thatcher's Britain now, a new world that Noble unwittingly helped to usher in, where racial tensions are weaponised by those in power. His investigation will expose the dark heart of a nation at war with itself.'Gripping' The Times'Enthralling' Sunday Times'A propulsive crime novel' Guardian'One of our very best contemporary crime writers' David Peace

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The incredible novel of one woman's quest to save her people - and her world. Now updated with all-new material and a reading-group discussion guide. It comes without warning, without explanation - the sudden deadly Stink that shreds the life of the People, poisoning the land, sickening the trees, killing babies in the womb. It comes from above, from the Plains of the Ancestors, but what has caused this murderous curse? It falls to Pyn-Poi to find out. The young tree-woman must climb the unclimbable cliff, to face the Ancestors on their own ground and demand an accounting for the Stink. But the end of the climb is just the beginning of Pyn-Poi's journey. What she finds in the world above is an abomination beyond the most fearsome fire-stories of the People - and she must defeat it, or face the extinction of everything she has ever loved.Praise for The Night Field 'Simple, beautiful prose'

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The perfect guide for any gardener looking for inspiration on how to create a pollinator-friendly garden all year round.Pollinators are essential to life on Earth. Yet bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects are struggling due to climate change and habit loss. Fortunately, what we choose to plant in our gardens can help them to thrive. In this heartfelt guide, horticulturalist and Gardener''s World presenter Rachel de Thame highlights plants we can grow that are rich in nectar and pollen, ensuring the garden is filled with beautiful flowers for us all to enjoy year-round.Arranged by season and illustrated with exquisite hand-painted watercolours and glorious photography showcasing many of Rachel''s favourite plants, this book provides a captivating look at how best to support nature. Whether you have a small urban courtyard or a large country garden, A Flower Garden for Pollinators will guide your choice of plants, attracting a host of pol

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The most interesting Dutch writer of his generation Herman KochVivid and moving. A marvellous hybrid of a book about one of the major contemporary causes of sickness and unhappiness. In it we recognise ourselves, our restlessness and insecurity George SzirtesSomething inside will not let me be . . . Daan Heerma van Voss is not just anxious. According to tests on the cortisone levels in his hair, he is seventy-four times as anxious as the average person. And that makes him hard to live with. When another relationship is broken by his crippling fears, the only way to cope is to get to the roots of his condition. But he also wants to dig deeper and tackle the big questions. Why are 264 million people worldwide suffering from anxiety, and why is this number growing every day? Is it hereditary? Is there a link with creativity? And how can you love when you''re living in a constant state of fear? In his quest for answers,

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Part locked-room suspense, part adventure story, Dead Rich is unforgettable. 'Totally gripping' Jane Casey'A fresh, high-octane . . . thriller' Vaseem Khan--------------------------------------------------------------------------PARADISE CAN BE MURDERSuper yachts are secretive, like their owners. Like castles, they are created to inspire awe. Like castles too, they are defended. They are an entire world, separate from the rest of us.Kai, a carefree once-successful musician is invited by his new Russian girlfriend Zina to join her family's Caribbean holiday. Impulsively accepting he learns that Zina is the daughter of a Russian oligarch, Stepan Pirumov and that the trip is aboard his yacht, the Zinaida, moored in St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. On arrival Kai discovers that the head of security has been arrested, armed guards are below deck, there's an onboard panic room and a strong sense of all not being quite right beneath the gleaming surfaces of the Pirumov's lives. An unnerving presence punctures the atmosphere: a murderous imposter is on board the Zinaida, but who is it?Kai will find that the only person he can trust will be Erin and that the world of the super-rich will become a prison from which they must escape.

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Rachel's boyfriend Frank is different from other people. His strangeness is part of what she loves about him: his innocence, his intelligence, his passionate immersion in the music of JS Bach. As a coder, Frank sees patterns in everything, but as his theories slide further towards the irrational, Rachel becomes increasingly concerned for his wellbeing. There are people Frank knows online, people who share his view of the world and who insist he has a unique role to play. In spite of Rachel's fears for his safety, Frank is determined to meet them face to face.When Frank disappears, Rachel is forced to seek help in the form of Robin, a private detective who left the police force for reasons she will not reveal. Like Frank, Robin is obsessed with the music of Bach. Like Frank, she has unexplained connections with the criminal underworld of southeast London.An obscure science fiction story from the 1950s appears to offer clues to Frank's secret agenda, but not to where he is. As Robin and Rachel draw closer in their search for the truth, they are forced to ask themselves if Frank's obsession with an alien war, against all logic, might have a basis in fact.Nina Allan's new novel is a work of the greatest imaginative power, an investigation of the human need to make connections, to find causes and effects, however fantastic. Conquest is the story of a disappearance, and of the mystery that follows.

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Comparisons do not do justice to the complexity of Stefansson''s book, nor the uniqueness of his prose DANIEL MASON, author of North WoodsStefánsson shares the elemental grandeur of Cormac McCarthy EILEEN BATTERSBY, TLSA rich depiction of life, love and loss . . . Stefánsson is a writer of great scope and imagination RONAN HESSION, author of Leonard and Hungry PaulStefánsson''s prose rolls and surges with oceanic splendour BOYD TONKIN, Spectator A spellbinding saga about the inhabitants and inheritors of one rural community, by one of Iceland''s most celebrated novelists.A man comes to awareness in a church in rural Iceland, not knowing why he''s there or how he arrived. When a local woman offers to reunite him with her sister, he realises he''s lost not only his bearings, but his memory as well: he doesn''t recognise either woman, and as their stories unfold, he is p

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Some secrets last for generations . . . ''Deliciously twisty'' HEATHER DARWENT''Full of mystery'' ANITA FRANK''A wonderfully twisting tale of family secrets'' REBECCA NETLEYA bewitching and haunting story of family secrets - and the lengths some will go to protect them.When Ailsa Reid''s life in London begins to fall apart, she escapes to her grandparents'' house in Fife. But she arrives to find her grandmother, Moira - recently diagnosed with dementia - has gone missing.Desperate to ensure Moira''s safe return, Ailsa must rely on the help of her estranged mother, Rowan. Tensions simmer between the two women as they attempt to piece together what has happened.To find Moira, both Ailsa and Rowan must look to their ancestors, to a story about witches burned on the hill above the Reid house centuries ago and the curse laid upon the women that came after. Can they break the bonds of history in t

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*THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*''Beth O''Leary is that rare, one-in-a-million talent who can make you laugh, swoon, cry and ache all in the same book'' Emily Henry They''ll do anything to save the hotel, except work together . . .Welcome to Forest Manor Hotel, where the staff and guests are one happy family. Except for Izzy and Lucas - bitter rivals banned from working the same shift, for everyone''s sake. After struggling for years, the hotel may soon have to close its doors forever. But when Izzy returns a guest''s lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management this might fix everything. With four rings still sitting in lost property, Izzy and Lucas are forced to work together to try to save the day. But as their rivalry becomes something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas start to wonder if there''s more at stake here than the hotel''s future . . .This Paperback Edit

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''Opens with a terrific hook'' IRISH TIMES''Absolutely absorbing'' SAM BLAKE''A chilling, magical read'' PATRICIA GIBNEY''Breathtakingly paced'' S. A. DUNPHY''Truly gripping'' SINEAD CROWLEYTHE DEAD WON''T STAY SILENT FOREVER...It''s a crisp spring morning when Cass drops her husband, a respected lecturer, to the beach for his medically prescribed swim. While waiting for him, something catches her eye. A young woman runs towards her husband and embraces him - until he holds his hand over her face and she falls down on the stones, dead.In the backseat of the car, their seven-year-old son sits quietly. When her husband returns, he says nothing. Neither does Cass. Afraid to speak up in the immediate aftermath, Cass embarks on a solitary quest to unravel what has taken place.Cass is quickly drawn into a web of lies that pulls her back to the previous autumn, when a beautiful Italian postgra

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Interstellar Vehicle Archimedes has been hurtling through space for more than five generations, an oasis of heat and light in the middle of absolutely nowhere. But now the ageing starship is preparing to brake, for it is arriving at Destination Star: Tau Ceti, the new home for the space-born descendants of the First Crew.For trainee engineer Ravinder MacLeod, the world he knows is coming to an end. Once Archimedes succumbs to the gravitational pull of the Destination Star and its (hopefully) habitable planet, there will be no going back - or anywhere else. As Braking Day approaches, Ravi finds himself caught between the rigid requirements of the officer class to which he aspires and his blue-collar, ne'er-do-well family. Unfortunately for Ravi, Boz, his brilliant ex-con cousin, seems determined to make his life difficult - not least by her experiments with forbidden technology.Then Ravi is assigned to routine maintenance deep in the massive engines of the Archimedes, where, alone and out of contact, he comes face to face with something impossible - mind-breakingly impossible.Plagued by nightmares and visions and worried that his grip on reality is slipping, Ravi turns to Boz for help. Their search for answers takes them to the jagged place where the ship's future intersects with its long past. For not everyone is excited to be reaching journey's end, and the ghosts of the First Crew may not have been fully laid to rest.

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Scarface meets Moby Dick in this groundbreaking, darkly comic novel about a young man''s attempt to capitalize on his mother''s murky legacy - a story steeped in Miami''s marvelous and sinister magic.Failed Pitbull impersonator Ismael Reyes - you can call him Izzy - might not be the Scarface type, but why should that keep him from trying? Growing up in Miami has shaped him into someone who dreams of being the King of the 305, with the money, power, and respect he assumes comes with it. After finding himself at the mercy of a cease-and-desist letter from Pitbull''s legal team and living in his aunt''s garage-turned-efficiency, Izzy embarks on an absurd quest to turn himself into a modern-day Tony Montana.When Izzy''s efforts lead him to the tank that houses Lolita, a captive orca at the Miami Seaquarium, she proves just how powerful she and the water surrounding her really are -permeating everything from Miami''s sinking streets to Izzy''s

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Jim Shepard is a fiction writer of peculiar but tantalizing gifts. The New York TimesIn a tiny settlement on the west coast of Greenland, 11-year-old Aleq and his best friend, frequent trespassers at a mining site exposed to mountains of long-buried and thawing permafrost, carry what they pick up back into their village, and from there Shepard''s harrowing and deeply moving story follows Aleq, one of the few survivors of the initial outbreak, through his identification and radical isolation as the likely index patient. While he shoulders both a crushing guilt for what he may have done and the hopes of a world looking for answers, we also meet two Epidemic Intelligence Service investigators dispatched from the CDC--Jeannine, an epidemiologist and daughter of Algerian immigrants, and Danice, an MD and lab wonk. As they attempt to head off the cataclysm, Jeannine--moving from the Greenland hospital overwhelmed with the first patients to a Level 4 high-secur

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Fresh, original, authentic and gritty' Lee Child The third and final gritty Newcastle-set crime thriller in this acclaimed trilogy about a PTSD-suffering veteran turned sleuth in the face of local villainy.A group of vigilantes are carrying out a campaign of harassment against the homeless, hounding them both verbally and physically to get them off the streets. Jimmy Mullen is approached by his friend Gadge, who wants to confront the people behind it but Jimmy has finally got his life back on track. He's working at a hostel for 18 to 25-year-olds and he's reluctant to get involved in anything dodgy.Gadge decides to go it alone but is attacked by two of the vigilantes. The police find him unconscious in an alley, covered in blood. Problem is, there's a dead body in the alley too and it's his blood that Gadge is covered in. He's also got the murder weapon in his hand.Convinced that Gadge has been set up, and feeling guilty that he didn't back him up in the first place, Jimmy returns to the streets to try and find out who's behind his friend's difficulties. Unfortunately, he's about to discover that Gadge has a lot of enemies to choose from.Praise for Dead End Street'A brilliant character' Harriet Tyce'An unforgettable ride, filled with twists that will make your head spin' Sun'Fast-paced and intense' Patricia Gibney'Authentic . . . raw and riveting' Sunday Independent'A fantastic story' Nikki Smith'Unflinching yet compassionate' Philippa East'A breakneck and exhilarating conclusion' Kate Simants'Satisfying and involving' Quietus'Wood writes with knowledge and compassion' Literary Review

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Bestselling author and New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik embarks on a wildly creative inquiry into perhaps the oldest question: how do we learn a new skill? For decades, Adam Gopnik has been one of our most beloved writers, a brilliantly perceptive critic of art, food, France, and more. But recently, he became obsessed by a fundamental matter: how did the people he was writing about learn their outlandish skill, whether it was drawing a nude or baking a sourdough loaf? In The Real Work-the term magicians use for the accumulated craft that makes for a great trick-Gopnik apprentices himself to an artist, a dancer, a boxer, and even a driving instructor (from the DMV), among others, trying his late-middle-age hand at things he assumed were beyond him. He finds that mastering a skill is a process of methodically breaking down and building up, piece by piece-and that true mastery, in any field, requires mastering other people''s minds. Exuberant and profo

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'So funny, and so wise. Just like the man himself' Richard Osman 'I inhaled it. HILARIOUS. So sharp - it really made me laugh' Katherine Ryan''Morally bankrupt . . . Not a book to be seen on your shelves during a Zoom call' Jo BrandJack Dee is here to help. Too often today the emphasis in psychotherapy is on providing clients with a metaphoricalhug when what they so clearly need is good slap, so Jack Dee took the matter into his own hands and whilst everyone else was baking bread and clearing out their cupboards during lockdown, he retrained online as a psychotherapist. After an incredibly gruelling four hours of study, he got his certificate of completion from The Ruislip College of Advansed Learning (sic).So, with his training in hand, he's been expertly helping people with their problems ever since. What is Your Problem? is a compilation of readers' varied problems, be they about relationships, finances, nosey neighbours, coping with Christmas, teenagers or Mike from the accounts department, and Jack's very unique and very professional advice.What is Your Problem? is a book to turn to when life has taken a downward turn, or you just need a very good laugh.

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A fitting and frightening conclusion to a magnificent series The TimesThe final instalment of the acclaimed Black Forest Investigations brings the series to a shattering close.Louise Bonì, Chief Inspector of the Freiburg criminal police, gets intelligence from an informer that two guns have been bought from a Russian criminal network. Desperate to prevent a fatal act of violence, Bonì is swift to investigate. Before long she identifies the vehicle used to collect the weapons, but the car''s owner has a watertight alibi. The man driving that night was Ricky Janisch, a neo-Nazi and member of the extreme right-wing group, the Southwest Brigade.Bottini is one of the most sophisticated crime writers of our times JOAN SMITH, Sunday TimesBonì and her team put Janisch under surveillance, and identify others belonging to the extreme right. The further they probe, the more shocking their discoveries. Could this be part of a mu

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''I was completely transported by The Ruins. Phoebe Wynne has evocatively rendered a beautiful, doomed French chateau while creating immersive, almost dream-like atmospherics. I loved this novel'' SARAH PEARSE, bestselling author of The SanatoriumCOME FOR THE DECADENCE. LIVE THE NIGHTMARE. STAY FOR THE REVENGE. . .Summer, 1985: Ruby has stayed at the chateau with her family every summer of her twelve years. It was her favourite place to be, away from the strictures of her formal childhood, but this year uninvited guests have descended, and everything is about to change...As the intense August heat cloaks the chateau, the adults within start to lose sight of themselves. Old disputes are thrown back and forth, tempers rise, morals loosen, and darkness begins to creep around them all. Ruby and her two young friends soon discover it is best not to be seen or heard as the summer spirals down to one fateful night and an incident that can

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'Rebecca meets The Secret History. Gloriously dark, gloriously gothic' Sara Collins, Costa First Novel Award-winning author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton For 150 years, Caldonbrae Hall has loomed high above the Scottish cliffs as a beacon of excellence in the ancestral castle of Lord William Hope. A boarding school for girls, it promises that its pupils will emerge 'resilient and ready to serve society'. Into its illustrious midst steps Rose Christie, a 26-year-old Classics teacher and new head of department. Rose is overwhelmed by the institution: its arcane traditions, unrivalled prestige, and terrifyingly cool, vindictive students. Her classroom becomes her haven, where the stories of fearless women from ancient Greek and Roman history ignite the curiosity of the girls she teaches and, unknowingly, the suspicions of the powers that be. But as Rose uncovers the darkness that beats at the very heart of Caldonbrae, the lines between myth and reality grow ever more blurred. It will be up to Rose - and the fierce young women she has come to love - to find a way to escape the fate the school has in store for them, before it is too late. Perfect for fans of Margaret Atwood and Madeline Miller, Madam is a darkly feminist tale with an electrifying cast of heroines you won't soon forget.______________________'Imagine if Donna Tartt and Margaret Atwood got together to write a creepy, suspenseful novel . . . Brooding and unsettling, Wynne paints a gorgeous picture that only serves to camouflage the dark secrets she's hidden within' - Chandler Baker, author of Whisper Network'The simmering menace and mystery kept me absolutely gripped . . . This was a smouldering slow burn of a novel that I could not put down' - Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne'Strange, dark, and utterly consuming . . . I loved it' - Katie Lowe, author of The Furies'Chilling, eerie and very clever. I devoured it' - Polly Crosby, author of The Illustrated Child'A thrilling debut, reminiscent of Du Maurier. The narrative, written in precise prose with beautifully crafted characters, barrels along at pace, leaving us breathless at each twist and turn. A truly wonderful read' - Nydia Hetherington, author of A Girl Made Of Air'I ripped through it and thoroughly enjoyed the ride . . . A highly entertaining and atmospheric read' - Kate Sawyer, author of The Stranding'Full of fire and light, written with a passionate intensity . . . Madam is a book that shimmers . . . It's an extraordinary achievement' - Now and Fen blog

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