Search results for ""canongate books""

'There are chefs whose restaurants I rush to, chefs I have been honoured to cook with, chefs whose recipes I want to use over and over again. April is all of these to me. Read this book, and you will understand why' Ruth Rogers'Her lovely new book finds her revelling in veg, and all its gloriously colourful, mouth-watering, tummy-filling potential. I defy any curious cook to flick through these delicious pages and not want to get busy immediately' Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallApril Bloomfield - co-owner of the lauded Spotted Pig restaurant in New York - is a chef renowned for her nose-to-tail ethos. But her reverence for sweet peas and bright bunches of radishes matches her passion for the perfect cut of meat. In A Girl and Her Greens, April proves that vegetables can be as juicy, inviting and indulgent as the most succulent steak. From Swiss Chard Cannelloni to Roasted Onions with Sage Pesto, from Kale Polenta to Fennel Salad with Blood Orange, from Braised Peas and Little Gem Lettuce to Roasted Leeks with Walnut Breadcrumbs A Girl and Her Greens is packed with tantalising and flavoursome recipes for hearty food where vegetables truly take centre stage.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'Unforgettable . . . a hilarious, poignant and impassioned plea to revolutionise our attitudes to death' Gavin Francis, GuardianFrom her first day at Westwind Cremation & Burial, twenty-three-year-old Caitlin Doughty threw herself into her curious new profession. Coming face-to-face with the very thing we go to great lengths to avoid thinking about, she started to wonder about the lives of those she cremated and the mourning families they left behind, and found herself confounded by people's erratic reactions to death. Exploring our death rituals - and those of other cultures - she pleads the case for healthier attitudes around death and dying. Full of bizarre encounters, gallows humour and vivid characters (both living and very dead), this illuminating account makes this otherwise terrifying subject inviting and fascinating.

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A glimpse of a quickly melting corpse at the foot of a volcano has amateur sleuth and food enthusiast Valerie Corbin shocked. But how can she investigate a murder, when there''s no evidence the victim ever existed?The first Orchid Isle cozy mystery, set in tropical Hilo, Hawai''i, introduces a fun and feisty LGBTQ+ couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions!Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai''i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.Early one morning, the couple and their friend - tattooed local boy, Isaac - set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spyi

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The Painted Man is here. I feel him in the darkness. He says, If you let me in, I''ll make the pain stop. God help me, I want to let him.After losing his delivery job - the last thing binding him to an empty life - Eddie Luther, veteran and drifter, drives into the snowy woods with a bottle of sleeping pills. But instead of eternal silence, Eddie hears a whisper inside his damaged ear.Help me.He follows the call and finds a cryptic journal filled with loneliness and longing, a journal whose words seem written for him alone. Guided by the clues in its pages, he embarks on a journey into a shadowy world beneath the small town of Devil''s Fork, Nebraska - a world where girls become cats, televisions whisper prophecies, and only those cast out of society can see and use magic . . . Or maybe Eddie''s sanity is slipping. All he knows for sure is that he''s falling in love with someone he''s never seen, someone who may be more tha

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An eerie Appalachian town. A fatal fire. Three women whose fates intertwine . . .Essa Montgomery and her brother Clyde were brought up in New Hope, a serpent-handling church in Vintera, West Virginia, until the shocking deaths of both their parents closed the church down. Now twenty, reclusive Essa lives alone in her childhood home in the shadow of New Hope, which to her horror has been taken over by a new charismatic, unsettling pastor who continues the dangerous practice. So when the church burns down, she''s glad - until she learns that two people died in the blaze, and her brother''s the prime suspect . . .Life has made Juliet Usher, who scratches a living as a psychic medium, both assertive and ruthless. With a baby on the way, it''s the worst possible time for her partner Clyde to be arrested. She''ll do anything to survive and keep him out of prison - no matter what it takes!Merrit Callahan has always been ambitious. A striving news repor

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A bizarre discovery right under Mrs Pargeter''s patio turns a quiet and sunny June morning into a thrilling hunt for answers in this new instalment of the light-hearted and entertaining Mrs Pargeter mystery series.When widow Mrs Pargeter decides to have her morning coffee on the patio of her mansion in Chigwell, her intention is to admire her beautiful garden in peace and quiet. Little does she expect one of the patio''s paving slabs to crack in two, depositing her on the ground - and revealing a human skull with a neat hole in the middle of its forehead!Not wanting to bother the police just yet, Mrs Pargeter decides to save them some trouble and starts investigating the curious find herself. And who better to assist than her late husband''s ''business associates'', private investigator Truffler Mason and chauffeur Gary? The trio are soon certain that a murder has been committed and the body disposed of under some convenient building work

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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 . . .Fans of S.J. Parris, C.J. Sansom and Rory Clements won''t

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Two planets. Seven spells. One battle for survival.Adrian Capstan''s dream of going to Mars and becoming a wizard is about to be realized when he travels to the red planet armed with seven ancient spells. By connecting to magical forces on Mars, he hopes he''ll finally be able to bring the mysterious spells alive.But when Adrian lands at the Mars spaceport, he discovers a scene of destruction. Revolt against Earth has led to a dangerous regime ruling the planet, and the wizards are under attack. As Adrian begins to unlock the spells, he is drawn into an epic fight for survival. And when he unleashes the seventh spell''s true power, the stakes for the two planets couldn''t be higher . . .

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In a small seaside town, something fishy''s going on . . .Tidal Shores, a small seaside town in South Carolina, has seen its fortunes nose-dive. But not for much longer! The ''Big Ten'' on the town council have come up with a range of ingenious ideas to get tourists flocking back, from buried pirate treasure to beauty pageants, but it''s handsome taxidermist Gunner Jones'' plan to dupe the public into believing that his creation ''Miss Lucy'' - combining the top half of an albino ape with a large goliath tigerfish - is a real mermaid that wins the day.As Gunner''s bizarre creature takes center stage, inquisitive reporter Zoe Porter isn''t fooled by its supposed credibility, but with mermaid mania sweeping the country, will anyone believe her exposé? And when events take a sinister turn, Zoe is suddenly drawn into a much darker story . . .

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A serial killer, dormant for years, reawakens after viewing a Netflix docuseries depicting his string of homicides. The killer is not happy with his portrayal and no one in the cast and crew is safe! The first instalment of a gripping new thriller series set in Chicago and featuring a young sibling sleuth-duo and their working dogs.Siblings Cory and Crystal Pratt are still trying to get their lives together after a tragic accident which killed their parents years ago. The only thing that distracts them now is their jobs. With Crystal working as a newly minted detective at the Chicago Police Department and Cory owning a dog training academy with two human remains detection dogs of his own, their professional paths cross every now and then.Crime, and especially murder, in Chicago is nothing new, but when a string of killings happen that seem to be connected to a Netflix docuseries and its cast and crew, Cory and Crystal are called in to stop the number of

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The ruthless reign of Henry IV and the clerical tyranny of Archbishop Arundel keep Brother Chandler and his friends under constant threat in this gripping medieval mystery featuring friar-sleuth Rodric Chandler.Clark''s use of period detail is unparalleled, and the plot remains taut and brisk til the end Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewChester, 1400. Riding for his life, with a copy of Chaucer''s heretical Canterbury Tales in his possession, friar-sleuth Brother Chandler is ambushed on the road and wakes up in a stranger''s house.Is his ''rescuer'', wool merchant John Willoughby, friend . . . or foe? Willoughby declares that he, like Chandler, has renounced the self-crowned King Henry IV and will help Chandler get his dangerous belongings to safety. He seems trustworthy, but Chandler knows that if he''s caught by the King''s merciless censors together with the Tales, he''ll be burned at the stake.But then Willoughby'

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Set against the racial turbulence of the Civil Rights Era, Dreamer is the first work of fiction to explore the life of Martin Luther King Jr - political visionary, human rights activist, preacher, scholar and martyr. Johnson's brilliantly realised historical novel deftly handles its material, weaving together a subtle and beautiful novel of immense power and importance. Dreamer is a multi-layered masterpiece.

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Genesis covers some of the most famous stories of all time, including the garden of Eden, Noah's Ark and Cain and Abel. Using the emergence of the people of Israel as a starting point, it tells the story of the beginning of the world as ancient writers understood it. The text is introduced by Steven Rose.

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Children of Albion Rovers is the best-selling and critically acclaimed collection of novellas that features six of the most exciting young writers to emerge from Scotland in the 90s: award-winning authors Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner, Gordon Legge, and James Meek and introducing the striking new talents of Laura Hird and Paul Reekie. Children of Albion Rovers is a world of tripped-out crematorium attendants (Alan Warner), vengeful traffic-wardens (James Meek), born-again vinyl junkies (Gordon Legge), and teenage girls who sexually humiliate their teachers (Laura Hird). Also included are Paul Reekie's fictional account of ideals betrayed, and Irvine Welsh's first ever sci-fi story, featuring alien space casuals wreaking havoc through the known universe. The resulting mix is intoxicating to say the least.

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Covering his childhood and student years, David Daiches recalls a unique period between the two world wars. There was something special about the Scottish-Jewish interchange in those years. Daiches was one of the sons of Edinburgh's Chief Rabbi. In their home, a quiet dark hub of foreign faith, memories of light and fesitivity predominate. Illustrious visitors from every corner of the globe would call on the distinguished Rabbi and the sons of the house would argue cheerfully with these itinerant scholars and diplomats. School was Scottish Presbyterian, with its characteristic smells of wood, chalk, ink and schoolbag leather. Daiches did not play games, sing hymns, wear the ubiquitous school shorts or socialize after school, yet not only did he survive these tribulations, he excelled. The book includes the author's memoirs of his father, "Promised Lands". It is a meditation on religious tolerance, and his father's vision of a society that could respect and synthesize cultural difference is of relevance to modern Scotland.

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This is a full translation of the Scottish epic "The Bruce". The poem is regarded as one of the key sources for the life of Robert the Bruce. It contains detailed notes explaining and simplifying the narrative, as well as contemporary accounts. The book includes "The Declaration of Arbroath".

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Joanna Bannerman, capricious, selfish and warm-hearted, passionately seeks life and 'loveliness'. Certainly the bustling streets of Glasgow at the turn of the century promise much greater excitement than the solid evangelical background she has known hitherto. Her studies in the School of Art open up new horizons - of independence and love - and Joanna reaches for them all.First published in 1920, this novel powerfully evokes the image of a young woman ensnared yet ultimately released by her capacity for emotion. It contains a strong autobiographical element and is also a powerful evocation of the life and industry of the Second City of the Empire.

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This indispensable anthology contains selections of the best work by Scotland's most acclaimed modern Gaelic poets: Sorley Maclean, George Campbell Hay, Iain Crichton Smith, Derick Thomson and Donald MacAulay. Designed as much for English readers of Gaelic, the poems are presented in parallel texts with line-for-line translations. These translations have been made by the poets themselves, thereby maximising the retention of the spirit and form of the originals.

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Chris Guthrie and her son, Ewan, have come to the industrial town of Duncairn, where life is as hard as the granite of the buildings all around them. These are the Depression years of the 1930s, and Chris is far from the fields of her youth in Sunset Song. In a society of factory owners, shopkeepers, policemen, petty clerks and industrial labourers, 'Chris Caledonia' must make her living as bets she can by working in Ma Cleghorn's boarding house.Ewan finds employment in a steel foundry and tries to lead a peaceful strike against the manufacture of armaments. In the face of violence and police brutality, his socialist idealism is forged into something harder and fiercer as he becomes a communist activist ready to sacrifice himself, his girlfriend and even the truth itself, for the cause.Grey Granite is the last and grimmest volume of the Scots Quair trilogy. Chris Guthrie is one of the great characters in Scottish Literature and no reader of Sunset Song and Cloud Howe should miss this last rich chapter in her tale.

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Introduced by Naomi Mitchison. Set over two thousand years ago on the calm and fertile shores of the Black Sea, Naomi Mitchison's The Corn King and the Spring Queen tells of ancient civilisations where tenderness, beauty and love vie with brutality and dark magic. Erif Der, a young witch, is compelled by her father to marry his powerful rival, Tarrik the Corn King, so becoming the Spring Queen. Forced by her father, she uses her magic spells to try and break Tarrik's power. But one night Tarrik rescues Sphaeros, an Hellenic philosopher, from a shipwreck. Sphaeros in turn rescues Tarrik from near death and so breaks the enchantment that has bound him. And so begins for Tarrik a Quest - a fabulous voyage of discovery which will bring him new knowledge and which will reunite him with his beautiful Spring Queen.

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The audio edition of John's Gospel from the widely acclaimed modern literary classic The New Testament in Scots. Tom Fleming's reading brings out the poetry, wit and humanity of William Lorimer's translation in a way which speaks to everyone.

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'Jack Kerouac died in 1969 at the age of forty-seven . . . Most of his friends survived him. Our idea was to seek them out and talk with them about Jack's life and their own lives. The final result, we hoped, would be a big, transcontinental conversation, complete with interruptions, contradictions, old grudges and bright memories, all of them providing a reading of the man himself through the people he chose to populate his work.' In this kaleidoscopic portrait of Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Carolyn Cassady, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Gore Vidal and many others talk, argue and reminisce about their times with him. But alongside these luminaries of the Beat generation are the voices of those who knew a different side of Kerouac: the working men, the childhood friends, the bar companions, the lovers. Fascinating, honest and richer than any orthodox biography could be, Jack's Book documents Kerouac's genius in its full, tragic, contradictory glory.

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Written with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Schnayerson, My Song is an inspiring story of performance and protest, from a superstar singer and actor who was on the front lines of practically every progressive political battle in modern memory. Along the way, he befriended some of the most influential figures of the 20th century, from Tony Curtis, Marlon Brando and Sidney Poitier to Martin Luther King, the Kennedys, Eleanor Roosevelt, Fidel Castro, James Baldwin, Bob Dylan and Nelson Mandela. From his impoverished childhood in Harlem and Jamaica, through his meteoric rise as an international calypso star, provocative crossover into Hollywood where he broke down many racial barriers, passionate lifelong involvement in the civil rights movement and myriad other social causes, to his personal struggles and rich friendships, this is a remarkable, multifaceted and hugely inspirational story."A man whose story should be told for generations to come" (Robert Redford)

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Prue McKeel is keeping out of trouble. Or trying to. Then her baby brother is abducted by crows and hauled off to the woods beyond the city. It is up to Prue to bring him back. On her mission she is plunged into the world of Wildwood and there she meets more trouble - and magic - than she ever thought possible.

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'You the funkiest man alive.' Miles Davis' accolade was the perfect expression of John Lee Hooker's apotheosis as blues superstar: recording with the likes of Van Morrison, Keith Richards and Carlos Santana; making TV commercials (Lee Jeans); appearing in films (The Blues Brothers); and even starring in Pete Townshend's musical adaptation of Ted Hughes' story The Iron Man. His was an extraordinary life. Born in the American deep south, he moved to Detroit and then, in a career spanning over fifty years, recorded hypnotic blues classics such as 'Boogie Chillen', rhythm-and-blues anthems such as 'Dimples' and 'Boom Boom' and, in his final, glorious renaissance, the Grammy-winning album The Healer. Charles Shaar Murray's authoritative biography vividly, and often in John Lee Hooker's own words, does magnificent justice to the man and his music.

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EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY, SOMETIMES . . .Lorenzo Cuni is a fourteen-year-old loner. His wealthy parents think he is away on a school skiing trip, but, in fact, he has stowed away in a forgotten cellar. He plans to live in perfect isolation for a week, keeping the adult world at bay. Then a visit from his estranged half-sister, Olivia, changes everything.

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'I consider myself a poet first and a musician second''It ain't the melodies that're important man, it's the words'There is no shortage of books about Bob Dylan. This one, however, is unique in its approach and the virtuosity of its execution.Ricks examines Dylan's songs through the biblical concepts of the seven deadly Sins, the four cardinal Virtues and the three Heavenly Graces. He does so with what one critic has described as 'an ultimately irresistible combination of laser-like intelligence with a fan's exuberant idolatry'.

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Meet Leela: nineteen, charismatic and fearlessly outspoken. With her sharp wit and stubborn optimism, she is the best paid bar dancer on Bombay's notorious Mira Road. Leela has a 'husband' (who is already married), a few lovers whose names she can't remember, an insufferable mother camping out in her flat and an adored best friend, Priya - the most beautiful woman she has ever seen. But when the dance bars are banned, Leela's proud independence faces its greatest test. In a city where everyone is certain that someone, somewhere, is worse off than them, Leela fights to survive - and win.

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