Search results for ""canongate books""

The second instalment of Jeeves and Wooster's bally spiffing adventures is chock-full of unabridged stories of sparkling brilliance. Martin Jarvis is on top form, voicing a whole range of colourful characters, including the hapless incurable romantic Bingo Little, superbly.From money-making schemes involving placing wagers on the lengths of vicars' sermons to poor Bingo producing the village school Christmas entertainments, every one of Wodehouse's celebrated short stories is guaranteed to raise chortles from even the most stony-faced listener!Martin Jarvis is a leading British actor, whose acclaimed audiobook reading is always a delight to hear.

Read more less

Jeeves and Wooster are a case-in-point of chalk and cheese coexisting to make an enduring partnership of sublime comedy. Hapless, though always engaging, Bertie Wooster would be lost without his 'man' Jeeves, to advise him, not only on sartorial good taste but, crucially, to be on hand to rescue the young master from a variety of social and romantic entanglements. Immortalised on-screen by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie - and on the Broadway stage by Martin Jarvis himself - the duo have won the hearts, minds and laughter of generations since the first Jeeves story was published in 1916.STORY LISTINGS: 1. Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum 2. No Wedding Bells for Bingo 3. Aunt Agatha Speaks Her Mind 4. Pearls Mean Tears 5. The Pride of the Woosters is Wounded 6. The Hero's Reward 7. Introducing Claude and Eustace 8. Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch 9. A Letter of Introduction 10. Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant 11. Comrade Bingo 12. Bingo Has a Bad GoodwoodMartin Jarvis is an award-winning actor renowned for his readings of P.G. Wodehouse.

Read more less

The debonair Uncle Fred makes a welcome return to Blandings, where plotting and confusion is rife. Blackmail, sabotage, jilted lovers and pigs under threat of kidnap all feature largely, making this hilarious instalment in the Blandings series irresistible to fans and newcomers alike.The story sees lovely debutante Myra Schoonmaker unhappily ensconced in Blandings at the insistence of Lady Constance Keeble, who objects to Myra's entanglement with down-at-heel curate Bill Bailey. But Blandings never has been a place to stifle the wants of the heart for long. Soon, all kinds of subterfuge and shifty goings-on are afoot to reunite the lovebirds, with the help of an unbeatable cast of misfits and society schmoozers including Pongo Twistleton, Lord Tilbury, Lavender Briggs and of course, amiably vague Lord Emsworth and his trusty 'man-mountain' butler Beach.Read by the fantastic, critically-acclaimed Martin Jarvis.

Read more less

The greatest ever selection of fictional detectives, all together in one superb CD collection. Find Sherlock Holmes with his long suffering colleague, Dr. Watson in The Dying Detective, Father Brown as a witness in court in The Man in the Passage, and J.G. Reeder in The Poetical Policeman and The Green Mamba. In Chimes, a very clever story by Dam Muriel Spark, her hitherto undiscovered detective will keep you guessing right up to the surprise ending. Popular favourite Inspector Morse features in The Burglar by Colin Dexter. Discover Nicholas Blake's intellectual young toff sleuth Nigel Strangeways in The Assassin's Club, and the very eccentric antique dealer and psychic Morris Klaw in Sax Rohmer's unusual and memorable story set in a museum.There's something for everybody in this brilliantly baffling collection to keep listeners of all ages in suspense.Narrator Edward Hardwicke was a British actor most famous for his role as Dr Watson opposite Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes in the popular 1980s television series.

Read more less

With this rich range of unabridged stories we celebrate the very best of contemporary writers and writing.Among others the collections features thriller writer Ruth Rendell, witty William Boyd, the Japanese literary sensation Haruki Murakami, ever-inventive Helen Simpson, and Patrick O'Brien, world-famous for his nautical series.Readers include top British actors Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres and Janet McTeer.

Read more less

Sounds like easy money: collecting an antique for a rich stranger. Alan Allen, freshly unemployed, short of cash, and caught up in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, is about to find out otherwise. But not before being swept on a European wild-goose chase in this refreshing, surreal and gloriously funny novel.

Read more less

See/Saw is an illuminating history of how photographs frame and change our perspectives. Starting from single images by the world's most important photographers - from Eugène Atget to Alex Webb - Geoff Dyer shows us how to read a photograph, as he takes us through a series of close readings that are by turns moving, funny, prescient and surprising.Following Dyer's previous books on photography, The Ongoing Moment and The Street Philosophy of Garry Winogrand, See/Saw brilliantly combines visual scrutiny and stylistic flair. It shows us how a photograph can simultaneously record and invent the world, and reveals a master seer at work.In the spirit of the intellectual curiosity of Berger, Sontag and Didion, Geoff Dyer helps us to see the world around us, and within us, afresh.

Read more less

SHORTLISTED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEARA TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEARNO ONE WILL FORGET . . .In a grimy flat in Glasgow, a homemade bomb explodes, leaving few remains to identify its maker.Detective Harry McCoy knows in his gut that there'll be more to follow. The hunt for a missing sailor from the local US naval base leads him to the secretive group behind the bomb, and their disturbing, dominating leader.On top of that, McCoy thinks he's doing an old friend a favour when he passes on a warning, but instead he's pulled into a vicious gang feud. And in the meantime, there's word another bigger explosion is coming Glasgow's way - so if the city is to survive, it'll take everything McCoy's got . . .

Read more less

'Insightful, wise and life-affirming' Observer'Turns death into life, despair into hope, sorrow into joy' Stephen FryIn Radical Acts of Love, Janie Brown, oncology nurse and counsellor, offers a sensitive and wise insight into our final moments by recounting twenty conversations she has had with people who were dying.

Read more less

'BREATHTAKING' Dolly Alderton, 'REMARKABLE' Marian Keyes, 'LIFE-CHANGING' Emma Jane Unsworth, 'COMPELLING' Amy Liptrot, 'EXTRAORDINARY' Sali HughesTo everyone else, Terri White appeared to be living the dream - living in New York City, with a top job editing a major magazine. In reality, she was struggling with the trauma of an abusive childhood and rapidly skidding towards a mental health crisis that would land her in a psychiatric ward.Coming Undone is Terri's story of her unravelling, and her precarious journey back from a life in pieces.

Read more less

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-FictionShortlisted for the Wellcome Book PrizeIn this groundbreaking new book, Thomas Page McBee, a trans man, trains to fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden while struggling to untangle the vexed relationship between masculinity and violence.Through his experience of boxing - learning to get hit, and to hit back; wrestling with the camaraderie of the gym; confronting the betrayals and strength of his own body - McBee examines the weight of male violence, the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes and the limitations of conventional masculinity. A wide-ranging exploration of gender in our society, Amateur is ultimately a story of hope, as McBee traces a way forward: a new masculinity, inside the ring and out of it.A graceful and uncompromising exploration of living, fighting and healing, in Amateur we gain insight into the stereotypes and shifting realities of masculinity today through the eyes of a new man.

Read more less

Blandings Castle is the home of Lord Emsworth, who likes nothing better than to potter at home in his enormous castle garden. But his rural idyll is once again set to be disturbed. No peace is possible when his sister Constance is let loose, and she is constantly trying to reorganise the household! Without great success . . .The nieces are unhappy, McAllister leaves at a difficult time, and then The Empress of Blandings - Emsworth's prize pig - goes off her pig-food! Set this against the continuing tangled love affairs of Freddie Threepwood, and the stage is once more set for classic Wodehouse hilarity!

Read more less

In The Story of Looking, Mark Cousins takes us on a lightning-bright tour - in words and images - through how our looking selves develop over the course of a lifetime, and the ways that looking has changed over the centuries. From great works of art to holiday photos, from cityscapes to cinema, through science and history, protest and propaganda, and the refusal to look, this book illuminates how we construct as well as receive the things we see.

Read more less

'An ode to the ocean, and the generations of women drawn to the waves or left waiting on the shore' Guardian In Salt On Your Tongue, Charlotte Runcie explores what the sea means to us, and particularly what it has meant to women through the ages. In mesmerising prose, she explores how the sea has inspired, fascinated and terrified us, and how she herself fell in love with the deep blue.This book is a walk on the beach with Turner, with Shakespeare, with the Romantic Poets and shanty-singers. It's an ode to our oceans - to the sailors who brave their treacherous waters, to the women who lost their loved ones to the waves, to the creatures that dwell in their depths, to beachcombers, swimmers, seabirds and mermaids. Navigating through ancient Greek myths, poetry, shipwrecks and Scottish folktales, Salt On Your Tongue is about how the wild untameable waves can help us understand what it means to be human.

Read more less

'Fast-paced, with more twists and turns than a high-octane roller coaster' New York Journal of Books'Nail-biting suspense, high-octane action and a keep-'em-guessing plot . . . Superb!' Booklist'One of the most entertaining writers of British spy fiction currently operating' Deadly Pleasures Mystery MagazineFOUR WASHED-UP SPOOKS. TWO DEAD CIVILIANS. ONE REMOTE AND DEADLY OUTPOST.Harry Tate is a loyal MI5 officer and a servant of the State. But when two civilians are shot dead during a drugs intercept gone wrong, he is forced to take an immediate posting to the Red Station. What he doesn't know is that this remote Balkan outpost is a punishment and he won't be going home. With an assassination team coming for him and invading Russian forces heading straight for the Red Station, Harry does whatever he can to save himself. But with few allies and enemies everywhere, Harry's chances of survival shrink with each passing day . . .

Read more less

On an island in the shape of a teardrop live two sisters. One is admired far and wide, the other lives in her shadow. One is the Oracle, the other is destined for the Underworld.But what will happen when she returns to the island? Based on the Japanese myth of Izanami and Izanagi, The Goddess Chronicle is a fantastical tour de force about ferocious love and bitter revenge.The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way. Authors in the series include Karen Armstrong, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, David Grossman, Natsuo Kirino, Alexander McCall Smith, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson.

Read more less

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZEMrs Death tells her intoxicating story in this life-affirming fire-starter of a novelMrs Death has had enough. She is exhausted from spending eternity doing her job and now she seeks someone to unburden her conscience to. Wolf Willeford, a troubled young writer, is well acquainted with death, but until now hadn't met Death in person - a black, working-class woman who shape-shifts and does her work unseen.Enthralled by her stories, Wolf becomes Mrs Death's scribe, and begins to write her memoirs. Using their desk as a vessel and conduit, Wolf travels across time and place with Mrs Death to witness deaths of past and present and discuss what the future holds for humanity. As the two reflect on the losses they have experienced - or, in the case of Mrs Death, facilitated - their friendship grows into a surprising affirmation of hope, resilience and love. All the while, despite her world-weariness, Death must continue to hold humans' fates in her hands, appearing in our lives when we least expect her . . .

Read more less

'A gleeful, page-flipping read . . . One you'll be glad to take a ringside seat for' Observer'A rollicking historical novel' Daily MailAnnie Perry is born beside the coal-muddied canals of the Black Country at the height of the industrial revolution. When her father dies, her Romi family can no longer afford to keep her, and at nine years old she is sold for six guineas to the famous and feared bare-knuckle boxer Bill Perry, the Tipton Slasher.Bill is starting to lose his strength but insists he has one last fight in him. In fear for his life, Annie steps into the ring, fists raised in his defence. From that moment on, she will fight - for Bill and for her future.A whole new world opens up for Annie, one of love, fortune, family and education, but also of danger. One wrong move, one misstep, and the course of her life will be changed for ever.

Read more less

'A gleeful, page-flipping read' Observer'The ultimate summer escape' New York TimesOne wrong move, one misstep, and the course of a life can be changed for ever.Annie Perry is born beside the coal-muddied canals of the Black Country at the height of the industrial revolution. At nine years old she is sold for six guineas to the famous and feared bare-knuckle boxer Bill Perry, the Tipton Slasher. From that moment on, Annie will fight - for Bill and for her future.A whole new world opens up to Annie, one of love, fortune and family, but also of great danger.

Read more less

Megan Melvick has spent years avoiding her inheritance, the dark and disquieting family estate Benbrae, now home only to her distant, aristocratic father, and her sister Melissa, dying quietly in an upstairs bedroom. Trapped behind her unreliable hearing aids and vulnerable to what others want her to see, Megan is unable to find the answers she wants: why is there a new woman on her father's arm? And why has their absent mother not returned to say a final goodbye to Melissa?Benbrae has always been a place of loss and misfortune for Megan, but as the Melvick family diminishes still further, she must ask one final question. If there is a curse on the house, will she be its next victim?

Read more less

WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH'A truly original, brilliant novel' Daily Mail'Very special indeed . . . your world will be a better place for reading this story' Joanna CannonEveryone deserves a second chance.You just have to take the first step.Rocked by a terrible accident, homeless Kelly needs to escape the streets of Glasgow. Maybe she doesn't believe in serendipity, but a rare moment of kindness and a lost ring conspire to call her home, returning to the small town she fled so many years ago.

Read more less

Winner of the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Poetry First published in 1998, The Fire People celebrated the rising stars of the time, many of whom have since become established names. Edited by the number one bestselling author and poet Lemn Sissay OBE, this seminal anthology takes inspiration from roots, reggae and hip-hop. Including work from: Chris Abani, Patience Agbabi, Malika Booker, John Citizen, Salena Godden, Lorraine Griffiths, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jackie Kay, Parm Kaur, Shamshad Khan, Cheryl Martin, Raman Mundair, Bunmi Ogunsiji, Koye Oyedeji, Mallissa Read, Vanessa Richards, Khefri Cybele Riley aka KA'frique, Roger Robinson, Joy Russell, Kadija Sesay, John Siddique, Labi Siffre, Lemn Sissay, Dorothea Smartt, Andria Smith, SuAndi, Tricky, Akure Wall, Marie Guise Williams.

Read more less

A SCOTSMAN BOOK OF THE YEAREDINBURGH, 1853.In a city of science, discovery can be deadly . . .In a time of unprecedented scientific discovery, the public's appetite for wonder has seen a resurgence of interest in mesmerism, spiritualism and other unexplained phenomena. Dr Will Raven is wary of the shadowlands that lie between progress and quackery, but Sarah Fisher can't afford to be so picky. Frustrated in her medical ambitions, she sees opportunity in a new therapeutic field not already closed off to women.Raven has enough on his hands as it is. Body parts have been found at Surgeons' Hall, and they're not anatomy specimens. In a city still haunted by the crimes of Burke and Hare, he is tasked with heading off a scandal.When further human remains are found, Raven is able to identify a prime suspect, and the hunt is on before he kills again. Unfortunately, the individual he seeks happens to be an accomplished actor, a man of a thousand faces and a renowned master of disguise.With the lines between science and spectacle dangerously blurred, the stage is set for a grand and deadly illusion . . .

Read more less

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BERNARD SHAW PRIZEA woman's life, erupting with brilliance and promise, is fissured by betrayal and the pressures of duty. What had once seemed a pastoral family idyll has become a trap, and she struggles between being the wife and mother she is bound to be and wanting to do and be so much more.The woman in question is Sylvia Plath in the final year of her life. As Plath's marriage to Ted Hughes unravels through the heady days of their first summer in Devon together, Sylvia turns increasingly to writing to express her pain and loss, yet also her resilience and power. She has decided to die, but the art she creates in her final weeks will set her name, and the world, ablaze.

Read more less

The first and best compendium of facts weirder than fiction, of intriguing information and must-talk-about trivia has spawned many imitators - but none as addictive or successful.For nearly three decades the editors researched curious facts, unusual statistics and the incredible stories behind them. The most entertaining and informative of these have been brought together in this edition.

Read more less

LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE RICHARD JEFFERIES AWARDA WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023Footprints in the Woods is John Lister-Kaye's account of a year spent observing the comings and goings of otters, badgers, weasels and pine martens. This family - Mustelidae - all live in the wild at Aigas, the conservation and field study centre that has been John's home for more than forty-five years.With the patient and meticulous care of a true naturalist, John observes and records the lives, habits and habitats of these elusive animals. Hours of careful waiting and watching in the woods and loch, the river, fields and moorland is rewarded with insight into how these animals live when unhindered by human interference; sometimes red in tooth and claw, but often playful, familial, curious and surprising.As a boy, badgers and weasels were John's first encounter with wild animals. Now he has spent fifty years living side-by side with them in the Highlands and come to know much of their ways. Footprints in the Woods is the culmination of that long association with the Mustelidae family, a love letter to the otters, badgers, weasels and pine martens that also call Aigas home, and a reminder of the fragility of habitat and the beauty and variety we have to lose if we don't choose to actively protect it.

Read more less

Lexy''s wedding becomes a crime scene when a murderer dares to strike on her big day in this superbly plotted and wickedly funny cozy.Lexy Campbell is getting married! But in the six months of planning it took to arrive at the big day, she has become . . . a challenge. Friendships are strained to breaking point, Lexy''s parents are tiptoeing around her, and even Taylor, her intended, must be having second thoughts. Turns out it''s moot. Before the happy couple can exchange vows, Sister Sunshine, the wedding celebrant, is discovered dead behind the cake, strangled with the fairy lights.Lexy''s dream wedding is now not just a nightmare: it''s a crime scene. She vows not to get drawn into the case, but the rest of the Last Ditch crew are investigating a bizarre series of goings-on in Cuento''s cemetery, and every clue about the graveyard pranks seems to link them back to Lexy''s wedding day. Will the Ditchers solve the case? Will Sister Sunshine''s killer

Read more less

Join Countess turned advice columnist Amelia Amesbury as she tries to juggle a new Season and a new murder in this charmingly deadly historical mystery.A beautiful debutante, a wealthy widow, and a dead would-be baron. What could be more exciting?Countess by day, secret advice columnist by night, Amelia Amesbury has life happily balanced on a quill''s edge . . . until her sister Margaret shows up in London under a blanket of scandal and Amelia is catapulted out of mourning and into the ton''s unforgiving Season.However Madge''s Season debut is marred by a rather inconvenient death at the dining table as the infamous Mr Radcliffe takes ill and is later confirmed dead by poisoning. With Madge being the last person to have cross words with the soon-to-be baron, the ton''s gossip mill - and the police - are looking to pin the murder on her.Adding to the Ton''s troubles is a jewellery thief targeting the most lavish of Society''s houses. Is

Read more less

Pirates in Penzance? Queen Elizabeth''s half-sister and secret agent Ursula Blanchard takes on a dangerous new mission involving mysterious disappearances and murder in Cornwall in this gripping Tudor mystery.1594. Ursula Stannard is attending on her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth, when she receives an urgent summons from Sir Robert Cecil. Cornishman Master Roskilly was fished out of the sea by Sir Francis Godolphin, and has a shocking tale of being snatched by pirates and put on a slave vessel to Constantinople before his audacious escape. And he''s not the only one . . . Folk in Cornwall are mysteriously disappearing. But why are only exceptional or unusual individuals being kidnapped, and could there be a link to two recent murders?With the queen''s annual progress stalled, Ursula agrees to go undercover to unmask those responsible, knowing that Queen Elizabeth would be the most prized captive of all . . .

Read more less

From the award-winning author of the internationally-bestselling Brigid Quinn thrillers, which have been translated into 20 languages, comes this gripping series spin-off: an upmarket novel of domestic suspense about a pair of sisters nicknamed Malice and Lethal, and a husband who vanishes into thin air, only to reappear and throw a bomb into both their livesAlice Einstein - known as Malice to her former schoolfriends - likes to tell herself stories. There''s a good one she''s workshopping about how, despite once being a critically acclaimed literary novelist, she''s ended up blocked and uninspired, living in her timid, conflict-averse sister Liesel''s spare room.But then Liesel sends her an SOS worthy of a thriller novel. The horror! The horror! Sam is back.Sam, Liesel''s wealthy ex-husband, vanished ten years ago, leaving her a chunk of money but no explanation. Sam is handsome, charming, manipulative . . . and now he claims he''s sick.

Read more less

A quiet town. A horrible incident. Things that don''t add up. - The highly-anticipated latest instalment of the DS McAvoy series from the Sunday Times best-selling, Kindle chart-topping author. McAvoy is a true original Mick HerronAn unexpected invite to his estranged mother''s surprise birthday party at a fancy Durham hotel gives DI Aector McAvoy and his wife Roisin a chance for a well-deserved holiday. Off-duty, and still recovering from his previous injuries, McAvoy is determined to take advantage of the all-expenses-paid break, despite the old grudges and thick tension between himself and his step-family.However, what should have been a relaxing, if awkward, getaway weekend turns out to be a full-on nightmare, when McAvoy finds himself in the middle of a town drama that involves the tragic demise of Ishmael Piper, a rock star''s millionaire son . . . and best friend of McAvoy''s charming, bullying step-brother.With dark

Read more less

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BERNARD SHAW PRIZEA woman's life, erupting with brilliance and promise, is fissured by betrayal and the pressures of duty. What had once seemed a pastoral family idyll has become a trap, and she struggles between being the wife and mother she is bound to be and wanting to do and be so much more. The woman in question is Sylvia Plath in the final year of her life. As Plath's marriage to Ted Hughes unravels through the heady days of their first summer in Devon together, Sylvia turns increasingly to writing to express her pain and loss, yet also her resilience and power. She has decided to die, but the art she creates in her final weeks will set her name, and the world, ablaze.

Read more less