Steve Roud was Local Studies Librarian for the London Borough of Croydon and served as Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society for over fifteen years. He has been researching British folklore for over thirty years and is the joint author of the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore, plus other books on traditional drama and folk song, and the Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland, which won the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award in 2004. His publications include London Lore (2008) and The Lore of the Playground (2010). He also compiles the Folk Song Index and the Broadside Index, two internationally acclaimed computer databases of traditional folk and popular song. He lives in Sussex.

Steve Roud

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Matt Rife

both the hottest and most controversial comedian in America. Now, in his new book, Matt gives his legions of fans and haters plenty to talk about, with hilarious and dangerously revealing stories about his insane rise to stardom—from the trashy backroads of Ohio to the bedrooms of MILFs in LA to sold-out stadiums around the world. 
 
Matt Rife is well aware that he’s both the most loved and the most controversial comic in America today. And honestly, he thinks that’s your problem. 
 
In his very first book, Matt reveals without apology everything that led him to becoming comedy’s biggest lightning rod before he reached thirty, in a story full of bold and hysterical takes on everything from Justin Bieber tramp stamps and rap battles with ex-cons to Matt’s battles with depression and his many brushes with failure before finally hitting it big. 
 
Born in trashy backwoods Ohio, Matt was saved by his foul-mouthed but loving grandpa Steve and a passion for standup. He started hitting comedy clubs before he could even drink, cutting his teeth in front of mostly Black crowds who dared him to succeed. Matt honed a brand of razor-sharp, brutally honest standup that took no prisoners—and took him to the most famous stages of Atlanta and LA before he graduated high school. Along the way, he broke the hearts of MILFs everywhere, finally hit puberty at the ripe age of twenty-two, never met a grudge he wouldn’t keep—and never, ever backed down. 
 
Full of Matt at his most unfiltered best opening up about his life for the very first time, this book will give Matt’s millions of fans everything they want and more—and might even get his insecure enemies to change their minds. Your Mom’s Gonna Love Me is one part memoir, one part comedy special, one part crazy first date. Just you and Matt between the covers. What could be better?

Your Mom’s Gonna Love Me

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

The insider account into the sitcom that barely survived its first season - but went on to become a modern classic. 
 
When Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, creators of The Office, came together to write a new comedy, they wanted to create something that would celebrate the power of community. Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson and the rest of the Pawnee gang became the escape we all needed, balancing sharp political commentary with heart, optimism and top-notch comedy. But the road wasn’t smooth, despite one of TV’s most lovable casts. 
 
Featuring exclusive cast and creator interviews and unmatched insider knowledge from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, Parks and Rec gives the untold story of how the iconic show came to be. With a foreword from Offerman himself, Armstrong gains access to new and exclusive interviews with Michael Schur, Greg Daniels, Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, as well as other cast and crew members.

Parks and Rec

Lit'rally the Inside Story of America’s Great Underdog Sitcom

Greg James

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
Brilliantly funny and life-affirming stories of growing up from much-loved Radio 1 presenter and bestselling children's author, Greg James. 
 
When Greg James was ten years old, his nylon shell suit-clad idols the Chuckle Brothers ('to me, to you') signed an autograph (from them, to him) with the message 'All the best for the future.’ It was a weirdly formal message for a kid. Ten-year-old Greg had no idea what the future held, no clue what was in store for him as he carried on through life. How could he? No one really knows what's coming. 
 
We all have big dreams and small ones, ideas about how we want our lives to pan out: when you'll get married, where you'll live, how many children you want, what you want to be when you grow up. We race through the milestones, desperate to unlock life's next level and before you know it, you’re a ‘grown up'. That’s all well and good but have you remembered to have fun along the way? 
 
Whether it's entertaining the nation with his hugely popular BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, writing big funny adventures for kids with his bestselling children's books, finding the joy in cricket and F1 in his podcasts Tailenders and The Fast and the Curious, or posting stupid videos of his adorable but quite thick dog Barney, Greg’s focus is to put a smile on people's faces because, let's face it, having fun is something we all forget to prioritise sometimes. 
 
In All the Best for the Future, Greg looks at how he thought his life would go and shares the things that wind him up, make him sad, make him laugh and the little passions and interests that he relies on to get him through the day - whether it was a good one or a bad one. He tells us who he is, who he thought he'd be and who he still thinks he could be. Most of all though, his message for everyone is not to let go of that inner child as he navigates how to grow up without growing old. It’s possible to be fully functioning adults, with bills to pay and a dog to look after, and still find time to play with a train set...

All the Best for the Future

Growing Up Without Growing Old

Luke Evans

Growing up in a small village in the Rhymney Valley, Luke's life was shaped by his Jehovah's Witness upbringing, a path he'd eventually navigate to come out to his parents, knowing he risked losing them. In his raw and honest account, he shares his struggles of always feeling different and being bullied as a child, and his brave decision to leave home at just seventeen, searching for a new life and a place where he truly belonged. 
 
Starring first on the West End stages in iconic productions like Miss Saigon, Avenue Q, and Rent, he quickly captivated the hearts of audiences and caught the eye of Hollywood's elite, going on to secure roles in blockbuster films like The Hobbit, Beauty and the Beast, the Fast and Furious franchise, and Nine Perfect Strangers TV series. 
 
In this intimate memoir, Luke takes us behind the scenes of his career on the stage and screen. He writes beautifully of the relationship he now has with his family and the respect they all have for one another on their different paths. Luke's story is a powerful tale of resilience, courage, and the pursuit of finding a sense of belonging and identity.

Boy From the Valleys

My unexpected journey

Catherine Cohen

‘I ask my therapist why should I want to grow / she says I will suffer less / what is she trying to prove?’ 
 
Tragicomic verses from the award-winning comedian and millennial renaissance woman. 
 Catherine Cohen, the one-woman stand-up chanteuse who has electrified the downtown NYC comedy scene in her white go-go boots, has been posting poignant, unfiltered poems on social media since before Instagram was a thing. A self-proclaimed self-obsessed millennial on the prowl with her beaded bag, she ponders guys who call you dude after sex, English-major dreams, true love during the pandemic, and other weighty matters in these captivating short lyrics. 'I wish I were smart instead of on my phone,' Cohen confides; 'heartbreak, / when it comes, and it will come / is always new.' 
 
A Dorothy Parker for our time, a Starbucks philosophe with no primary-care doctor, this poet and rising megastar is a welcome new breed of everywoman – a larger-than-life best friend, who will say all the outrageous things we think but never say out loud ourselves. 
 
'Cat’s poems are equally hilarious as they are profound. Her lines morph from being quite absurd to deeply meaningful, a trick only she can master. A genre-defining original!' Amelia Dimoldenberg 
 
‘Catherine is a once-in-a-generation comic genius who makes the cringey perils of modern life seem both glamorous and survivable! She also looks amazing in white boots.’ Jack Rooke, creator of Big Boys 
 
‘Does anyone chronicle and lampoon millennial ennui as hilariously, as vulnerably, and as bitingly as Cat Cohen? NFW TBH. I’m a stan!’ Alan Cumming, author of Not My Father’s Son

God I Feel Modern Tonight

Poems from a Gal about Town

Jimmy Tarbuck

In October 1963, Jimmy Tarbuck made his TV debut on Sunday Night at the Palladium, The young comedian stepped out on stage and brought the house down. Two years later, he was hosting the show. 
 
As a football-mad youngster, Jimmy's dream had been to play professionally for his beloved Liverpool FC. Meanwhile, his childhood friends John Lennon and Cilla Black shot to fame as chart-topping sensations of the Merseybeat phenomenon. But it was a gift for making people laugh that was to propel him to stardom. 
 
Hosting the biggest show on British TV, he found himself on telly every week introducing superstars like Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli and Rudolf Nureyev. Then he went to America and there he was on stage with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, chatting to Elvis in Vegas and chinwagging with Sinatra in Miami. This was a golden age for British entertainers, and he takes us back to the camaraderie of those days, remembering his old muckers Eric and Ernie, Tommy Cooper and Kenny Lynch, laughing together as they conquered the world. 
 
As his incredible story shows, Jimmy has gone through life seeing the funny side of everything and, even through tough times, he knows that laughter is always the best medicine. Read his autobiography for a big, joyful dose it.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

My autobiography

Chris Harris

'What defines the car-saddo condition is not being able to recall a time when the toy-car-era of your life actually ended. Because for us sufferers, it never does.' 
 
Nobody knows cars like Chris Harris does. He calls it 'unhinged geekery', but the rest of the world call it infectious enthusiasm, adrenaline fuelled escapism and rigorous journalistic integrity. 
 
And then there are his famous skills at the wheel, from city cars to rally cars, not forgetting the Guinness World Record 3.4km sideways in an electric car. 
 
And now for the first time, Harris takes us down the road of his lifelong obsession with the automobile - along surprising diversions, around hazards and obstructions, down the fast lane collecting Gs and back to the lock-up to prep the stock. 
 
From the six-year-old who could recite the stats from What Car? magazine to the YouTube car guru whose honest reviews got him banned by Ferrari. From the Scalextric track of his childhood, to podiums as a racing driver out in the world. From behind his garage doors to the floodlit Top Gear studio. 
 
Variable Valve Timings brings you an incredibly engaging story of adventure and petrolhead joy, told with wit, warmth and disarming honesty. This book is a true one-off, just like Chris.

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