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.

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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

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

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)

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

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

Carl Hiaasen

"Every weekend, thousands of otherwise rational men and women are cursing, kicking at divots and smashing expensively milled putters against the trunks of immovable hardwood trees. These players go home in a toxic funk to inflict gloom upon their loved ones until the following Saturday, when they rush back to the golf course and do it all over again." 
 
In the summer of 2005, Carl Hiaasen picked up a golf club again for the first time in 32 years. He was not the best of players in 1973, and had certainly not got any younger in the intervening period. Undeterred, and weighed down by an increasing quantity of golf equipment and game-enhancing products acquired from adverts on The Golf Channel, who can see a sucker coming, Carl was soon hacking and shanking his way around the courses of Florida, and his obsession with the sport was rekindled. Animals were harmed during the making of this book. 
 
Over the course of the next 18 months, Carl's game got better, then worse, then slightly better, then much worse again, and he even managed to jinx Tiger Woods. On the way to finally summoning up the courage to compete in an actual tournament himself, Carl details the hilarious consequences of his misguided belief that he could actually play the game. We also learn that Justin Timberlake has a better golf handicap (6) than Bob Dylan (17), that Eagle Trace golf course contains not one trace of an eagle, and that Mind Drive capsules are not necessarily a good idea. 
 
But through all the misery and frustration (save the odd glorious shot), golf took up residence in Carl's heart again. Fairway to Hell is the ultimate tale of the trials and tribulations of the amateur golfer, but also the heart-warming story of how the game brought together the generations of the Hiaasen family.

Fairway To Hell

Zane Radcliffe

WINNER OF THE WH SMITH'S PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD [New Talent] 
 
There are 750,000 Irish living in London. One of them has to get out. For good... 
 
It is the summer of 1999. Bic (half-Irish, half-Scots) is eking out a living selling crêpes to the hordes descending on Greenwich market. With one severed ear, two bizarre deaths and the arrest of his dog for civil disobedience, Bic's year hasn't exactly been going to plan. 
 
But when raven-haired Roisin takes the stall opposite his, things seem to be looking up - if Bic can just get past her over-protective brothers. That is, until Bic wakes up the-morning-after-the-night-before, in his clothes, in Edinburgh, to find he's the UK's Most Wanted Man - on the run and with fourteen murders to his name... 
 
'Very fresh, very funny' COLIN BATEMAN 
 
'A huge and exciting plot...I loved the twist at the end' Goodreads 
 
'Great story and full of humour' Goodreads

London Irish

The hilarious romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie Kinsella 
 
If you suddenly had a friend that only you could see or hear, what would you do? 
 
You could worry that your stressful life has tipped you over the edge and you have lost the plot, big time . . . you could hide under your duvet, hoping that they would go away . . . 
 
Or 
 
You could have some fun . . . 
You could make your ex-boyfriend take you back . . . 
You could solve the mystery of the dragonfly necklace, make a fool of yourself many times, get your business back on its feet . . . 
You could dance with a gorgeous man who just can’t resist you . . . 
 
And you could just discover the best friend you ever had. 
 
***** 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]

Twenties Girl

Vintage escapism from the number one bestselling romcom author

Stephen Clarke

A year after arriving in France, Englishman Paul West is still struggling with some fundamental questions: 
_________________ 
 
What is the best way to scare a gendarme? 
 
Why are there no health warnings on French nudist beaches? 
 
And is it really polite to sleep with your boss's mistress? 
 
In his second comedy of errors, Paul West opens an English tearoom, and mutates (temporarily) into a Parisian waiter. 
 
Meanwhile, he continues his search for the perfect French mademoiselle. But will Paul find l'amour éternel, or will it all end in merde? 
 
Author's apology: 'I'd just like to say sorry to all the suppository fans out there, because in this book there are no suppositories. There are, however, lots of courgettes, and I see this as progress. Suppositories to courgettes - I think it proves that I'm developing as a writer.' Stephen Clarke

Merde Actually

How NOT to open an English tearoom in Paris

Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson’s first travel book, The Lost Continent, was unanimously acclaimed as one of the funniest books in years. In Neither Here nor There he brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one language, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before. 
 
Whether braving the homicidal motorists of Paris, being robbed by gypsies in Florence, attempting not to order tripe and eyeballs in a German restaurant or window-shopping in the sex shops of the Reeperbahn, Bryson takes in the sights, dissects the culture and illuminates each place and person with his hilariously caustic observations. He even goes to Liechtenstein.

Neither Here, Nor There

Travels in Europe

‘Funny, wise, learned and compulsive’ - GQ 
 
 Bill Bryson turns away from travelling the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and Notes from a Big Country, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. 
 
In Made in America, Bryson tells the story of how American arose out of the English language, and along the way, de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn’t won, why Americans say ‘lootenant’ and ‘Toosday’, how they were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up - as well as exposing the true origins of the words G-string, blockbuster, poker and snafu. 
 
‘A tremendously sassy work, full of zip, pizzazz and all those other great American qualities’ 
Will Self, Independent on Sunday

Made In America

An Informal History of American English

Lucy Cooke

Shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Society Investment Science Book Prize 
'Endlessly fascinating.' - Bill Bryson 'Eye-opening, informative and very funny!' - Chris Packham 
'Well-informed and downright funny' - Richard Dawkins 
 
 
History is full of strange animal stories invented by the brightest and most influential, from Aristotle to Disney. But when it comes to understanding animals, we’ve got a long way to go. 
 
Whether we’re watching a viral video of romping baby pandas or looking at a picture of penguins ‘holding hands’, we often project our own values – innocence, abstinence, hard work – onto animals. So you’ve probably never considered that moose get drunk and that penguins are notorious cheats. 
 
In The Unexpected Truth About Animals Zoologist Lucy unravels many such myths – that eels are born from sand, that swallows hibernate under water, and that bears gave birth to formless lumps that are licked into shape by their mothers – to show that the stories we create reveal as much about us as they do about the animals. 
 
Astonishing, illuminating and laugh-out-loud funny.

The Unexpected Truth About Animals

Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos and Other Wild Tales

Brilliant natural history, starring lovesick hippos, stoned sloths, exploding bats and frogs in taffeta trousers...

Laura Zigman

'Quirky, comic, honest' MARIAN KEYES 
'Funny and charming' JUDY BLUME 
'Wise and wonderful' ALICE HOFFMAN 
'Written with such humour and heart' STYLIST 
'A must read' RED 
 
If you've ever wondered whether you love your dog more than your partner... 
 
Life hasn't gone according to Judy's plan. Her career as a children's book author has taken a nose dive. Her teenage son Teddy treats her with a combination of embarrassment and indifference. She has 'separated' from her husband, Gary, who is living in the basement as they can't afford a divorce. And every day she has to write content for an uplifting self-help website while stalking her nemesis online - a creativity-lifestyle-coach guru with a social media following the size of Jupiter. All Judy wants is to not feel invisible. All she wants is to fill that space inside her. And when she decides to declutter the house, she hits on a radical solution... 
 
Gleefully irreverent, tender, funny and uplifting, Separation Anxiety is a book filled with happiness and heart. A novel about the connections we make, the people we love and the joyful messiness of life. 
___________________________________________________ 
 
Praise for Separation Anxiety 
 
'I adored this wise, funny, sad, quirky story...It's brilliant on the stories we tell ourselves and others in order to resist change, while beating ourselves up about not taking steps towards a happier future. Heartbreaking and life-affirming.' Daily Mail 
 
'Separation Anxiety was exactly what I needed for a change of pace, funny and charming' - Judy Blume 
 
'What a gem of a novel...It's laced with moments of self-doubt and marital mayhem, but also the many small daily acts of mercy and heroism that love inspires.' - Diane Ackerman 
 
'I enjoyed Separation Anxiety very much... It has a real freshness of voice and though it is very poignant, several parts also made me laugh out loud' - Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us 
 
'So sweetly funny, so very touching.' Sainsburys magazine 
 
'My advice: Start reading and don't stop until you get to the last page of this wise and wonderful novel.' - Alice Hoffman 
 
'[A] novel about stress, release, and the unlikely places we turn to for comfort in uncertain times' - Vogue 
 
'Laura Zigman is able to home in on the most tender, revealing, exquisitely painful aspects of our relationships with others and with ourselves. And somehow she manages to come out the other end with hope.' - Chelsea Handler 
 
'[Separation Anxiety] is compassionate and funny, articulating with gentle humor the terrible things that we're all grappling with. To steal a phrase from my daughter, it made me happy-cry.' - Laura Lippman

Separation Anxiety

John O'Farrell

Many of us were put off history by the dry and dreary way it was taught at school. Back then 'The Origins of the Industrial Revolution' somehow seemed less compelling than the chance to test the bold claim on Timothy Johnson's 'Shatterproof' ruler.But here at last is a chance to have a good laugh and learn all that stuff you feel you really ought to know by now... 
 
In this 'Horrible History for Grown Ups' you can read how Anglo-Saxon liberals struggled to be positive about immigration; 'Look I think we have to try and respect the religious customs of our new Viking friends - oi, he's nicked my bloody ox!'Discover how England's peculiar class system was established by some snobby French nobles whose posh descendents still have wine cellars and second homes in the Dordogne today. And explore the complex socio-economic reasons why Britain's kings were the first in Europe to be brought to heel; (because the Stuarts were such a useless bunch of untalented, incompetent, arrogant, upper-class thickoes that Parliament didn't have much choice.) 
 
A book about then that is also incisive and illuminating about now, '2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge', is an hilarious, informative and cantankerous journey through Britain' fascinating and bizarre history.As entertaining as a witch burning, and a lot more laughs.

An Utterly Impartial History of Britain

(or 2000 Years Of Upper Class Idiots In Charge)

Following his hugely popular account of the previous 2000 years, John O'Farrell now comes bang up to date with a hilarious modern history asking 'How the hell did we end up here?' 
 
An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain informs, elucidates and laughs at all the bizarre events, ridiculous characters and stupid decisions that have shaped Britain's story since 1945; leaving the Twenty-First Century reader feeling fantastically smug for having the benefit of hindsight.

An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain

or Sixty Years of Making the Same Stupid Mistakes as Always

The Unmumsy Mum

THIS IS NOT A PARENTING MANUAL. THIS IS REAL LIFE. 
 
The Unmumsy Mum writes candidly about motherhood like it really is: the messy, maddening, hilarious reality, how there is no 'one size fits all' approach and how it is sometimes absolutely fine to not know what you are doing. 
 
The lessons she's learnt while grappling with two small boys - from birth to teething, 3am night feeds to toddler tantrums, soft play to toilet training - will have you roaring with laughter and taking great comfort in the fact that it's definitely not just you... 
____ 
 
What readers are saying: 
 
***** 'Not just hilarious (although it is definitely that), it was helpful, emotional, and totally honest as usual!' 
***** 'Made me feel not alone and had me laughing out loud, and welling up at times, too, for the honesty.' 
***** 'I felt connected to so much in this book ... here's to the imperfect parents!' 
 
____ 
 
Praise for The Unmumsy Mum: 
 
'The Unmumsy Mum is hilarious. She says all the things we're scared to share - I love her!' Giovanna Fletcher 
'Hilarious, irreverent and searingly candid.' Bella magazine.

The hilarious, relatable No.1 Sunday Times bestseller

Anna McPartlin

Here is a truth that can’t be escaped: for Mia ‘Rabbit’ Hayes, life is coming to an end . . . 
 
Rabbit Hayes loves her life, ordinary as it is, and the extraordinary people in it. 
 
She loves her spirited daughter, Juliet; her colourful, unruly family; the only man in her big heart, Johnny Faye. 
 
But it turns out the world has other plans for Rabbit, and she’s OK with that. Because she has plans for the world too, and only a handful of days left to make them happen. 
 
Here is a truth that won’t be forgotten: this is a story about laughing through life’s surprises and finding the joy in every moment. 
 
Praise for Anna McPartlin: 
 
'What a beautiful book. I cried and smiled my way through' Jane Green 
 
'I loved the clear, elegant prose, the feisty characters and the sparkling dialogue' Susan Elliot Wright 
 
'A delightful roller-coaster ride of emotion' Sunday Independent 
 
'Buy a packet (or box) of tissues and settle down with this wonderful story' Heat Magazine 
 
The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes is a Richard and Judy recommended read, and a Simon Mayo Book Club pick.

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes

The unforgettable Richard and Judy Book Club pick

WINNER: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER READER AWARD FOR BEST TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 
WINNER: BOOKS ARE MY BAG READER AWARD FOR BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR BIOGRAPHY 2016 
 
Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation’s heart and became the bestselling travel book ever, and was also voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain.Now, to mark the twentieth anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brand-new journey round Britain to see what has changed. 
 
Following (but not too closely) a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath, by way of places that many people never get to at all, Bryson sets out to rediscover the wondrously beautiful, magnificently eccentric, endearingly unique country that he thought he knew but doesn’t altogether recognize any more. Yet, despite Britain’s occasional failings and more or less eternal bewilderments, Bill Bryson is still pleased to call our rainy island home. And not just because of the cream teas, a noble history, and an extra day off at Christmas. 
 
Once again, with his matchless homing instinct for the funniest and quirkiest, his unerring eye for the idiotic, the endearing, the ridiculous and the scandalous, Bryson gives us an acute and perceptive insight into all that is best and worst about Britain today.

The Road to Little Dribbling

More Notes from a Small Island

Isn't it always the way? You wait ages for one purple flour-filled condom and then three come along at once. Of course the correct procedure for a chemical attack in the House of Commons would have been for MPs to remain in the chamber and remove all items of clothing.I'm not sure which is the more horrific vision; anthrax all over London or Nicholas Soames slipping out of his Y-fronts while chatting to a naked Ann Widdecombe. 
 
Here at last is the third collection of John O'Farrell's immensely popular Guardian columns - the final part of the trilogy in which he discovers that Margaret Thatcher is actually his mother. Contained within these covers are a hundred funny, satirical essays on subjects as diverse as Man's ascent from the apes and the re-election of George W. Bush.Plus there is a full account of O'Farrell's heroic but slightly less successful attempt to capture his Tory home town for socialism.He claims that identity fraud has got so bad that an audacious impostor using the name A.L. Blair even managed to get himself a Labour Party card by posing a left-wing champion of wealth distribution and civil rights.He asks why a Blackberry isn't compatible with an Apple.And find out why the Queen didn't go to her own son's wedding; 'What happened to that other girl you were seeing?' 'Mother, we got divorced and then she died in a car crash, remember?' 'Well sometimes you have to work at these things dear...'

I Have A Bream

Marjorie Riddell

Mother always knows best... 
 
Safely ensconced in the village of Wether Bilbury, Mother reconciles herself as best she can to her daughter's move to London. She keeps in constant touch by letter and phone, offering sage advice about good hot lunches (milk pudding is most nourishing and rich in vitamins), warm underclothes (combinations are splendid), and the perils of galloping about London in six-inch heels from one bed-sitting-room to another and pints of black coffee. 
 
Reported conversations with disapproving aunts, inquisitive neighbours, and triumphant friends whose daughters have married well or have steady jobs with pensions, underline the hopelessness of Mother's cause. But she battles on bravely, sustained by the knowledge that 'When you're eighty and your wasted life is a mirror of empty cosmetic jars and bed-sitting-rooms with no roots ... at least you won't be able to turn round and blame me.' 
 
First published in 1954, this enchantingly funny book is essential reading for everyone who's ever had, or been, a mother.

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