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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Steve Lopez

When Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles's skid row, he finds it impossible to walk away. More than thirty years ago, Ayers was a promising student at Julliard - ambitious, charming and hugely talented - until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by schizophrenia. When Lopez finds him, Ayers is homeless and paranoid, but glimmers of his earlier brilliance are still there. 
 
Over time, the two men form a bond, and Lopez imagines that he might be able to change Ayer's life. For each triumph, there is a crashing disappointment, yet neither man gives up. Their friendship will changes both of their lives in ways that neither could predict. Poignant and ultimately hopeful, The Soloist is a beautifully told story of devotion in the face of seemingly unbeatable challenges, and the inspiring power of music.

The Soloist

Tim Cahill

Driving 15,000 miles from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in a record-breaking twenty-three and a half days, Tim Cahill's Road Fever is a hilarious account of a preposterous journey, a breathtaking tour of North and South America, as well as a veritable how-to for pulling off cheeky scams to get ahead. All in the spirit of getting his name written into the record books. 
 
Told with the humour, knowledge, and propriety-be-damned attitude that have made his other adventure books such critical and popular successes, Cahill embarks on his fastest, funniest trip yet. He reveals everything there is to know about surviving South America on a diet of beef jerky and Farmer's milk shakes and getting General Motors and the Guinness Book of World Records to subsidize his wanderlust.

Road Fever

John Boyne

1867. On a dark and chilling night Eliza Caine arrives in Norfolk to take up her position as governess at Gaudlin Hall. As she makes her way across the station platform, a pair of invisible hands push her from behind into the path of an approaching train. She is only saved by the vigilance of a passing doctor. 
 
It is the start of a journey into a world of abandoned children, unexplained occurrences and terrifying experiences which Eliza will have to overcome if she is to survive the secrets that lie within Gaudlin’s walls…

This House is Haunted

Caryl Brahms

S J Simon

First published in 1941, No Bed for Bacon is a comic classic. Out of print since 1985, but much-discussed in the press following the release of the Oscar-showered film Shakespeare in Love, the novel fizzes with wit, warmth and the occasional custard pie. It is a festive celebration of 'The Great Bard' par excellence. 
 
Five o'clock and all's well in Merrie England. But not for long. Good Queen Bess is stirring in her four-poster and is feeling neither happy nor glorious. Down at the Globe, Will Shakespeare is chewing the end of his quill: something's amiss with Love's Labours Wunne. And Walter Raleigh, boiling his new potato in the depths of the regal kitchens, is getting very hot under the collar of his latest cloak - will his spud achieve the perfect fluffiness for The Royal Tasting? Heads are sure to roll before the day is out.

No Bed For Bacon

Steve Jones

In his new book, Steve Jones takes on the challenge of going back to the book of the millennium, Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. Before The Origin, biology was a set of unconnected facts. Darwin made it into a science, linked by the theory of evolution, the grammar of the living world.It reveals ties between cancer and the genetics of fish, between brewing and inherited disease, between the sex lives of crocodiles and the politics of Brazil. Darwin used the biology of the nineteenth century to prove his case. Now, that science has been revolutionized and his case can be reargued using the twentieth century's astonishing advances. 
 
From AIDS to dinosaurs, from conservation to cloned sheep, bursting with anecdotes, jokes and irresistible facts, Almost Like a Whale is a popular account of the science that makes biology make sense. It will catch the millennial mood and tell all those for whom Darwin is merely a familiar name what he really meant. It exposes the Darwinian delusions which try (and fail) to explain human behaviour in evolutionary terms, and, while giving an up-to-date account of our own past, shows how humans are the first species to step beyond the constraints of biology.

Almost Like A Whale

The Origin Of Species Updated

Jack Dee

In this hilariously frank account of his life, Jack Dee finally reveals what turned a once optimistic young man into this grumpy middle-aged git.It's a journey that takes him from a first gig as a ventriloquist's dummy, to working in an artificial leg factory and delivering incontinence pads for the NHS, before he finally ends up on stage at the Comedy Store.Along the way, Jack shares his laugh-out-loud views on everything from the 'overrated moon landing' to boutique hotels, personal trainers and 'people who hold their cutlery the wrong way'. 
Outrageous, absurd, and full of surprises, this is Jack Dee at his funniest.

Thanks For Nothing

Tim Cahill has clambered up Mount Roraima in the Guyana highlands, searching for the site of Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World. He's dined on baked turtle lung in the desolate northeast of Australia and harvested poisonous sea snakes in the Philippines. He's watched a wrestling match between a shark and an "underwater zombie" during a horror movie shoot off the coast of Mexico. 
 
In this classic collection of adventure travel writing, Tim Cahill writes evocatively and often hilariously about these close encounters. He also briefs us on gorilla etiquette, porcupine vendettas, and the loathsome fate awaiting those who disturb ruins in the jungles of the Amazon. JAGUARS RIPPED MY FLESH is an exhilarating roller-coaster of a book, by a writer who gives new meaning to the expression "going to extremes".

Jaguars Ripped My Flesh

Miranda Innes

STEP INTO THE DREAMLIKE CITY OF MARRAKECH 
 
Where passionate music, magic potions and the drama of Africa are cooled by the intuitive genius of Arabic culture. 
 
Miranda Innes and her partner were lured into buying a beautiful long-neglected riad in the heart of this pink-walled city. Only after they'd begun their restoration work did they find that nothing in this place of smoke and mirrors was quite what it seemed. 
 
In Cinnamon City Miranda Innes takes you beyond the tourist track, behind the bolted doors and deep inside the romance that is Marrakech. With lyrical and evocative descriptions of the swirling colours, flavours and aromas, this glorious book will open your eyes to this most exotic of North African cities.

Cinnamon City

Jessica Pan

‘Funny, emotional and deeply inspiring, this is perfect for anyone wanting to break out of their comfort zone’ Heat 
 
What would happen if a shy introvert lived as an out-and-out extrovert for one year? Jessica Pan is about to find out… 
 
* 
 
When she found herself jobless and friendless, sitting in the familiar Jess-shaped crease on her sofa, she couldn't help but wonder what life might have looked like if she had been a little more open to new experiences and new people, a little less attached to going home instead of going to the pub. 
 
So, she made a vow: to push herself to live the life of an extrovert for a year. She wrote a list: improv, a solo holiday and... talking to strangers on the tube. She regretted it instantly. 
 
Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come follows Jess's hilarious and painful year of misadventures in extroverting, reporting back from the frontlines for all the introverts out there. 
 
But is life actually better or easier for the extroverts? Or is it the nightmare Jess always thought it would be? 
 
* 
 
‘In a world of self-care and nights in, this book will inspire and remind you to do some things that scare you every so often.’ Emma Gannon 
 
‘Tender, courageous and extremely funny, this book will make us all braver.’ Daisy Buchanan 
 
‘A chronicle of Pan’s hilarious and painful year of being an extrovert.’ Stylist

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come

An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously

Sophie Kinsella

The hilarious romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie Kinsella 
 
I’ve lost it :( 
 
The only thing in the world I wasn’t supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It’s been in Magnus’s family for three generations. And now, the very same day his parents are coming, I’ve lost it. The very same day. Do not hyperventilate, Poppy. 
 
Stay positive!! :) 
 
A couple of glasses of bubbly with the girls and Poppy’s life has gone into meltdown. Not only has she lost her engagement ring, but in the panic that followed, she’s lost her phone too. When she spots an abandoned phone in a bin it seems it was meant to be . . . Finders Keepers! 
 
Except the phone’s owner, elusive businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back, and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life. Can things get any more tangled? 
 
***** EVERYBODY LOVES SOPHIE KINSELLA: ***** 
 
'Funny, fast and farcical. I loved it' JOJO MOYES 
 
'I couldn’t put it down.' LOUISE PENTLAND (SprinkleofGlitter) 
 
'I almost cried with laughter' DAILY MAIL 
 
'Life doesn't get much better than a new Sophie Kinsella novel' RED 
 
'Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page' JENNY COLGAN 
 
[Cover may vary]

I've Got Your Number

Meet Rebecca Bloomwood. She's a financial journalist who spends all day writing articles on how to manage money wisely. Her own method of managing money is to hide her Visa bills under the bed and hope they'll disappear. 
Becky just can't stop shopping, whether it's stocking up on 3 for 2 offers, or buying an essential grey cardigan, or falling in lust with a pair of dreamy shoes. 
She knows she has to stop. Her bank manager is sending her sterner and sterner letters, her credit cards are being declined, her Mum and Dad have no idea . . . what is she going to do? 
Will Becky ever take control of her life, find love and regain the use of her credit card? 
The Shopaholic series begins with The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.

To Las Vegas . . . and beyond! 
 
Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is on a major rescue mission! Hollywood was full of surprises, and now she's on a road trip to Las Vegas to help her friends and family. 
 
She's determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has mysteriously disappeared, help her best friend Suze and even bond with Alicia Bitch Long-legs (maybe...). 
 
As Becky discovers just how much her friends and family need help, she comes up with her biggest, boldest, most brilliant plan yet! So can she save the day just when they need her most? 
 
Becky is setting out to make things right in this laugh-out-loud, feel-good conclusion to her American adventure that began with SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS.

Shopaholic to the Rescue

(Shopaholic Book 8)

The hilarious romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie Kinsella . . . soon to be a major motion picture! 
 
Emma is like every girl in the world. She has a few little secrets. 
 
Secrets from her mother: 
1. I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom to Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching TV. 
 
… From her boyfriend: 
2. I’m a size twelve. Not a size eight, like Connor thinks. 
3. I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken. 
 
… From her colleagues: 
4. When Artemis really annoys me (which is pretty much every day), I feed her plant orange juice. 
5. It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times. 
 
…Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world: 
6. My G string is hurting me. 
7. I faked my Maths GCSE grade on my CV. 
8. I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is… 
 
…until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. After all, she’ll never see him again. 
 
But on Monday morning, Emma’s office is abuzz about the arrival of Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO. Suddenly Emma is face-to-face with the stranger from the plane, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her. 
 
Things couldn’t possibly get worse... Until they do. 
 
 
***** EVERYBODY LOVES SOPHIE KINSELLA: ***** 
 
'Funny, fast and farcical. I loved it' JOJO MOYES 
 
'I couldn’t put it down.' LOUISE PENTLAND (SprinkleofGlitter) 
 
'I almost cried with laughter' DAILY MAIL 
 
'Life doesn't get much better than a new Sophie Kinsella novel' RED 
 
'Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page' JENNY COLGAN

Can You Keep A Secret?

Liz and Jonathan are in trouble. They can't sell their old house.Here they are, stuck with two mortgages, mounting debts and a miserable adolescent daughter who hadn't wanted to move anyway. Then it seems Marcus Witherstone will solve all their problems. He knows the perfect tenants from London who will rent their old house - glamorous PR girl Ginny and almost-famous Piers. Everything is going to be OK. 
 
Or is it? As Marcus starts to become involved with Liz, while her teenage daughter develops a passion for the lodgers, it seems that some deceptions are too close to home... 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

A Desirable Residence

Brendon Burns

In early October 2004, Brendon Burns - a delusional, god-fearing, drug addict, manic depressive and award-winning comedian - has a vision of happiness. He imagines himself sitting with two friends in a convertible in the middle of a desert, and for once he feels totally in control of his life. With the (slightly inebriated) voices in his head assuring him that he can recreate this perfect moment, he clearly has no choice but to gather the troops and head out to the US of A in pursuit his dream... 
 
Fear of Hat Loss in Las Vegas is the true story of four men - Brendon and his friends Barry Castagnola (the everyman), Paul Provenza (an Italian New Yorker, devout atheist, actor and movie director), and Keith (Barry's dad and best friend) - and their search for happiness and redemption in the heart of the Nevada desert. Demented, depraved, dangerously addictive and yet with a deep heart, soul and spirit, it is a tale of debauchery, mushrooms, fate, hookers, coincidence, stand-up comedy, aliens, Vegas and, ultimately, friendship. Rude, insane, in your face (and off their faces), it is the story of the perfect road trip. 
 
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas - unless of course it's really funny. Then Brendon will write a f**king book about it...

Fear of Hat Loss in Las Vegas

Like mother, like daughter...! 
 
Shopaholic Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood)'s two-year-old is ... spirited. She knows what she wants, whether it's a grown-up Prada handbag or a toy pony (40% off, so a bargain, surely?) When yet another shopping trip turns to mayhem, Becky decides it's time to give Minnie her own pocket money. Is it a bad sign when Minnie goes instantly overdrawn? 
 
Minnie isn't the only one in financial crisis. As the Bank of London collapses, people are having to Cut Back. Everyone needs cheering up, so what better way to do it than to throw a fabulous surprise party? A thrifty party, of course. Except economising and keeping a secret have never been Becky's strong points ... 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

Mini Shopaholic

(Shopaholic Book 6)

Tom Cox

Peter's mum and dad are worried. Over the last twelve months they've noticed ferocious changes taking place in their son. It's not just the mumbling and the cloud of melancholy that seems to hover permanently over his ever-more-militant mop of curly hair. It's not even the oversized trousers or the numerous metal chains that hang off them. The problem is that Peter, who is fourteen, wants to be a musician - a rock star preferably, but anything else that involves a guitar, gets him bags of money and free CDs, and gives him access to unlimited scantily clad groupies will suffice (as long as it's not classical). Uncoincidentally, ever since the advent of this new ambition, Peter's grades at school have plummeted from very good to somewhere below mediocre. What is to be done? 
In the spirit of intellectual enquiry, Peter and music-critic, Tom Cox, set off in a Ford Focus on a journey to the dark heart of Britain's musical heritage, to get the inside track on whether being a musician really is a sensible career choice for a teenager. They hunt the streets of Cambridge for former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett and have numerous encounters with folkies in tights. They explore the wilder shores of prog rock and get up close and personal in a lift with Brian Wilson. Tom gives a masterclass in second-hand-record-shop etiquette and finds that Peter is something of a child prodigy. Most of all, they drive around, talk about stuff and Peter eats crisps. 
 
Part coming-of-age story and part urban travelogue, this brilliantly funny book is a must for anyone who has ever been baffled by a teenage boy.

Educating Peter

Armistead Maupin

Maybe the Moon, Armistead Maupin's first novel since ending his bestselling Tales of the City series, is the audaciously original chronicle of Cadence Roth -- Hollywood actress, singer, iconoclast and former Guinness Book of Records holder as the world's shortest woman. 
 
All of 31 inches tall, Cady is a true survivor in a town where -- as she says -- 'you can die of encouragement'. Her early starring role as a lovable elf in an immensely popular American film proved a major disappointment, since moviegoers never saw the face behind the stifling rubber suit she was required to wear. Now, after a decade of hollow promises from the Industry, she is reduced to performing at birthday parties and Bar Mitzvahs as she waits for the miracle that will finally make her a star. 
 
In a series of mordantly funny journal entries, Maupin tracks his spunky heroine across the saffron-hazed wasteland of Los Angeles -- from her all-too-infrequent meetings with agents and studio moguls to her regular harrowing encounters with small children, large dogs and human ignorance. Then one day a lanky piano player saunters into Cady's life, unleashing heady new emotions, and she finds herself going for broke, shooting the moon with a scheme so harebrained and daring that it just might succeed. 
 
Her accomplice in the venture is her best friend, Jeff, a gay waiter who sees Cady's struggle for visibility as a natural extension of his own war against the Hollywood Closet. As clear-eyed as it is charming, Maybe the Moon is a modern parable about the mythology of the movies and the toll it exacts from it participants on both sides of the screen. It is a work that speaks to the resilience of the human spirit from a perspective rarely found in literature.

Maybe The Moon

John Boyle

John, a teenager, struggles with loneliness and alienation in Ferguslie Park, a rough housing scheme in 1950's Scotland. At school he makes friends with Laff, a Ferguslie boy who shares his dream of escape. Their friendship becomes a fortress against the mockery they face at school and the menace of 'Feegie' - and their dreams are only heightened when rock'n roll, jukeboxes and Teddy Boys erupt like a splash of technicolour into their monochrome lives. They yearn for sex, dream of romance, discover jealousy,get into fights... When tragedy intervenes, John is in danger of 'settling for less' - giving up on their youthful dream. But Laff's influence persists...

Laff

Julie Cohen

After years of watching her best friends Ben and Claire try for a baby, Romily offered to give them the one thing they most wanted. 
 
But Romily wasn't prepared for the overwhelming feelings that have taken hold of her and which threaten to ruin her friendship with Ben and Claire – and even destroy their marriage. 
 
Now there are three friends, two mothers and only one baby, and an impossible decision to make . . .

Dear Thing

Pamela Druckerman

'Fascinating...gripping...extremely funny...I loved it. It made me want to move to Paris' - India Knight, Sunday Times 
_______ 
 
Do you want to learn the secrets of the parents of France's well-behaved children? 
 
How come French babies sleep through the night? 
Why do French children happily eat what is put in front of them? 
How can French mothers chat to their friends while their children play quietly? 
_______ 
 
Parents are saying MERCI to Pamela Druckerman! 
 
***** ‘Our parenting bible’ 
***** ‘You are not alone! … Brilliantly funny and really helpful.’ 
***** ‘Eye opening … it has changed the way I view and interact with my little one!’

French Children Don't Throw Food

The hilarious NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER changing parents’ lives

Tamar Cohen

Mr &amp; Mrs Max Irving request the company of: 
 
Mrs Fran Friedman, mourning her empty nest, the galloping years and a disastrous haircut. 
Mr Saul Friedman, runner of marathons, and increasingly distant husband. 
The two Misses Friedman, Pip and Katy, one pining over the man she can’t have, the other trying to shake off the man she no longer wants. 
 
At the marriage of their son James, forbidden object of troubling desire. For thirty-six hours of secrets and lies, painted-on-smiles and potential ruin. And drinks, plenty of drinks. 
 
There’s nothing like a wedding for stirring up the past. As Fran negotiates her way from Saturday morning to Sunday evening she is forced to confront things she’s long thought buried, and to make decisions about the future that will have far-reaching consequences for them all.

Someone Else's Wedding

Scott Kelly

*As featured on BBC Breakfast, Radio 5Live and Steve Wright in the Afternoon on BBC Radio 2* 
 
From the Nasa astronaut who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station – what it’s like out there and what it’s like now, back here. Enter Scott Kelly's fascinating world and dare to think of your own a little differently. 
 
As soon as you realize you aren’t going to die, space is the most fun you’ll ever have... 
 
The veteran of four space flights and the American record holder for most consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few of us ever have and very few of us ever will. 
 
Kelly's humanity, compassion, humour, and passion shine as he describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both existential and banal. He touches on what’s happened to his body, the sadness of being isolated from everyone he loves; the pressures of constant close cohabitation; the catastrophic risks of colliding with space junk, and the still more haunting threat of being absent should tragedy strike at home. 
 
From a natural storyteller Endurance is one of the finest examples the triumph of the human imagination, the strength of the human will, and the boundless wonder of the galaxy. 
 
* 
 
What readers are saying... 
 
'Takes you up into space and lets you be a part of astronaut life' 
'Tough to put down! Tells a side you don't often hear or read about for that matter' 
'Mind blowing . . . up there with Ernest Shackleton for me' 
'My husband said it is the next best thing to going into space yourself' 
'Six stars!'

Endurance

A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery

Afsaneh Knight

Do you ever wonder where your life is going? 
You are not alone. 
 
Story (that’s his name) can feel a middle-youth crisis coming on. He’s got a great job, a great flat and great mates: 
Mac, who is obsessed with biscuits; 
JP, who never says anything if it’s nice; 
Cannie, whose only admirer is the bird that lives outside her window; 
and 
Vincent, who has finally proposed to his girlfriend after nineteen years. 
 
But alongside the drinks and the kicks, what has any of them actually done? And why is time passing like sand in a sieve? 
 
Is it possible to turn life around? Life is just life, right? And change is a gasping and slippery fish. . .

The Sunshine Years

Gabriel Noone is a writer whose late night radio stories have brought him into the homes of millions. Noone is in the midst of a painful separation from his lover of ten years when a publisher sends him proofs of a remarkable book: the memoir of a sickly thirteen-year-old boy who suffered horrific sexual abuse at the hands of his parents. 
 
Now living with his adoptive mother, Donna, Pete Lomax is not only a brave and gifted diarist but a devoted listener of Noone's show. When Noone phones the boy to offer encouragement, it soon becomes clear that Pete sees in this heartsick, middle-aged storyteller the loving father he's always wanted. Thus begins an extraordinary friendship that grows deeper only as the boy's health deteriorates, freeing Noone to unlock his innermost feelings. 
 
Then, out of the blue, troubling new questions arise, exploding Noone's comfortable assumptions and causing his ordered existence to spin wildly out of control. As he walks a vertiginous line between truth and illusion, he is finally forced to confront all his relationships - familial, romantic and erotic. 
 
As complex and hypnotically engrossing as the best of mysteries, The Night Listener is an astonishing tour de force that moves and challenges Maupin's readers as never before.

The Night Listener

Jessica Anthony

POLITICS IS ABSURD. Especially if you're a scheming Republican careerist who has just been sent a stuffed aardvark...Discover the bitingly funny satire that 'sizzles with uproarious fun, from its snout to the sting in its tale' (Independent) 
 
[An] ingenious satire…The perfect tonic for testing times…deliciously astute, fresh and terminally funny. ? GUARDIAN 
 
'What begins as a topical takedown of the American political system deepens into a hugely enjoyable romp through history...Madcap and satirical without ever being flippant, Anthony’s novel is totally unrealistic yet completely truthful. ? OBSERVER 
 
'It's a long time since I have enjoyed a novel so much. Fresh, witty and smart it also has heart' Kate Atkinson 
 
______ 
 
Republican congressman Alexander Paine Wilson is determined that nothing will stop him in his campaign for re-election. 
 
Not the fact that he is a bachelor, not the fact that his main adversary Nancy Beavers - married, with children - is rising in the polls. Nothing. 
 
That is, until one hot day in August, he receives a large parcel via FedEx. Inside is a gigantic taxidermy aardvark. 
 
This aardvark has a surprising history - from the Victorian naturalist who discovered it to the taxidermist who deemed it his finest creation. 
 
But for Wilson, the entrance of the aardvark sets off a chain of events that threaten to ruin his entire career. 
 
Constantly surprising, brilliantly comic and piquantly provocative, Enter the Aardvark is a tale for our times, a biting satire with a tender underbelly. 
____________________________________________ 
 
 
'So perfect and funny that you read it over and over, laugh every time...Completely insane but utterly hilarious' John Boyne 
 
'Inventive and darkly funny' Time 
 
'Fresh, astute and mouthwateringly sharp, this is a rare thing; a political satire that tugs on the heartstrings in unconventional ways' Irish Times 
 
'Spry, slim, clever...the inventiveness is impressive and the story has heart' The Sunday Times 
 
'The most fizzing and amusing novel of the year' Strong Words magazine 
 
'Sharp, inventive and very funny, it's an entertainingly bizarre political satire' TATLER 
 
'Weird, wonderful, and very much of the moment, Enter the Aardvark is a landmark political novel of the Trump era...With heart and humor, Anthony expertly skewers our current political climate' Esquire

Enter the Aardvark

Jason Webster

As Islam and the West prepare to clash once again, Jason Webster embarks on a quest to discover Spain's hidden Moorish legacy and lift the lid on a country once forged by both Muslims and Christians. He meets Zine, a young illegal immigrant from Morocco, a twenty-first century Moor, lured over with the promise of a job but exploited as a slave labourer on a fruit farm. Jason's life is threatened as he investigates the agricultural gulag, Zine rescues him, and the unlikely pair of writer and desperado take off on a rollercoaster ride through Andalucía. 
 
While Jason unveils the neglected Arab ancestry of modern Spain - apparent in its food, language, people and culture - Zine sets out on his own parallel quest, a one-man peace mission to resolve Muslim-Christian tensions by proving irresistible to Spanish señoritas.

Andalus

Unlocking The Secrets Of Moorish Spain

The hilarious romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie Kinsella 
 
Lexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking she's twenty-five with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life. But, to her disbelief, she learns it's actually three years later - she's a super-toned twenty-eight-year-old, her teeth are straight, she's the boss of her department - and she's married to a good-looking millionaire! 
 
She can't believe her luck - especially when she sees her stunning new loft apartment. And she'll definitely have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He's drawn up a 'marriage manual', which should help. 
 
But soon she realises her perfect life isn't all it seems. All her old friends hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up... and lands a new bombshell. 
 
What the **** happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does? 
 
***** EVERYBODY LOVES SOPHIE KINSELLA: ***** 
 
'Funny, fast and farcical. I loved it' JOJO MOYES 
 
'I couldn’t put it down.' LOUISE PENTLAND (SprinkleofGlitter) 
 
'I almost cried with laughter' DAILY MAIL 
 
'Life doesn't get much better than a new Sophie Kinsella novel' RED 
 
'Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page' JENNY COLGAN 
 
[Cover may vary]

Remember Me?

The brilliantly fast and funny romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie Kinsella. 
 
"I let out a huge, embarrassing honk of laughter on the tube reading Wedding Night. And then, two stops later, I did it again. This is why Sophie Kinsella is beloved by millions." JOJO MOYES 
 
It's all gone wrong with the man Lottie thought was Mr Right. Then out of the blue she gets a call from her first love. She decides it must be Fate, and rushes off to marry him and rekindle their sizzling Greek island romance. 
 
Lottie's older sister can't believe she's doing something so crazy. No more Ms Nice Sister, she's stopping this marriage. Right away! And she'll go to any lengths to do so... 
 
***** EVERYBODY LOVES SOPHIE KINSELLA: ***** 
 
'I couldn’t put it down.' LOUISE PENTLAND (SprinkleofGlitter) 
 
'I almost cried with laughter' DAILY MAIL 
 
'Life doesn't get much better than a new Sophie Kinsella novel' RED 
 
'Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page' JENNY COLGAN

Wedding Night

'Funny, fast and farcical. I loved it' JOJO MOYES 
 
'I almost cried with laughter' Daily Mail 
 
The hilarious romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie Kinsella, with a foreword from Daisy Buchanan 
 
Samantha thrives under pressure. A high-powered London lawyer, all she can concentrate on is taking the next step in her career; eating, sleeping, seeing friends – even taking a breath – will have to wait. 
 
But just when she’s about to get everything she has ever wanted, Samantha makes a mistake. A fifty-million-pound, career-destroying mistake. Unable to face the consequences, she does the unimaginable and runs away… 
 
Catching the first train she can, she finds herself in the countryside, outside a beautiful grand house. Mistaken for another woman, she falls into a new job as the family’s housekeeper. 
 
Disaster ensues. In a blink, her life has shifted from writing briefs to washing them – and she has no idea how to work the washing machine. Let alone the oven. A former master of the takeaway menu, she’s now expected to whip up fine cuisine. 
 
But gradually, she falls in love with her new life in a wholly unexpected way. Will her employers ever discover the truth? Will Samantha's old life ever catch up with her? And if it does...will she want it back? 
 
***** EVERYBODY LOVES SOPHIE KINSELLA: ***** 
 
'I couldn’t put it down.' LOUISE PENTLAND (SprinkleofGlitter) 
 
'Life doesn't get much better than a new Sophie Kinsella novel' RED 
 
'Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page' JENNY COLGAN

The Undomestic Goddess

Joby Warrick

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Black Flags, the harrowing true story of the mission to find and destroy Syria's chemical weapons and defeat ISIS - only to lose control of both. 
 
'Presents [the story] sharply and compellingly' Washington Post 
'Excellent' Independent 
 
In August 2012, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was clinging to power in a vicious civil war. Concerned that Assad might resort to chemical weapons, the international community warned that any such use would cross "a red line", warranting a military response. When a year later Assad bombed the Damascus suburb of Ghouta with sarin gas, killing hundreds, global leaders were torn between living up to their word and becoming mired in another unpopular Middle Eastern war. So when Russia offered to store Syria's chemical weapons, the world leaped at the solution. 
 
So begins a race to find, remove, and destroy 1,300 tons of chemical weapons in the middle of Syria's civil war. Told in harrowing detail, the initial effort is a tactical triumph for the West, but soon Russia's long game becomes clear: it has UN cover to assist Assad's regime. Meanwhile, the territory gains of ISIS further destabilise the country, and the terrorist organisation seeks to secure Syria's chemical arsenals for itself, with horrifying consequences. 
 
Red Line is a classic Joby Warrick true-life thriller: a character-driven narrative with a cast of heroes and villains, including weapons hunters, politicians, commandos, diplomats, and spies. Through original reporting and eyewitness accounts from direct participants, Joby Warrick reveals how a well-intentioned effort to save Syrian lives became swept up in a calamitous chain of events that would spawn a terrorist movement, unleash torrents of refugees, frustrate two U.S. presidents and empower the Western alliance's most dangerous foes.

Showing results for: ‘Steve Roud’

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