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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Denise Van Outen

In this refreshingly candid memoir, Denise speaks openly and sensitively about her rollercoaster career, her struggles in a past high-profile relationship and the betrayal she suffered at the hands of those once closest to her, with the hope that in doing so, she can help empower others to avoid and overcome any similar difficulties they may face. 
 
Denise shot to fame on The Big Breakfast in her early twenties. After a decade grafting through theatre jobs and children's TV shows, she was finally living the dream. However her life soon turned into a nightmare off-screen and behind the headlines as her heart was broken in a very public relationship, whilst her every move was printed in the tabloids thanks to her phone being tapped. After receiving a panning by the critics for her late night TV show aimed at the post-pub crowd, she then auditioned for and accepted an offer to play Roxie Hart in Chicago, which turned out to be a life-changing experience. The role took her to Broadway, where she caught the eye of one Andrew Lloyd Webber, eventually landing a judging role on Any Dream Will Do, which saw her rise back to primetime and the career that she loves, where she has stayed and flourished.

A Bit of Me

From Basildon to Broadway, and back

Mark Rowlands

Everything I Know I Learned From TV uses characters we all know and love and their TV worlds to explain the great questions of philosophy. The only qualifications you need to join in are ownership of a sofa, a remote control, a sense of humour and an enquiring mind. The philosophy discussed is very much 'life' philosophy, answering the questions we all want to know: How do you define what is a good life to lead? The Simpsons disagree over the right way to live with Nietzsche and Diogenes on hand to take sides. What is real happiness? Aristotle fights Descartes for the heart and mind of Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw. Can a good person do a bad thing? Kant and Socrates pay a call on Tony Soprano and his latter-day Mob to talk moral philosophy. Where does love end and friendship begin? Rachel and Ross ask Plato about the philosophy of emotions and wonder if they're just good friends. Is the pursuit of self-knowledge a good thing? Socrates helps Niles and Frasier Crane and their dad deal with the relative merit of the examined and the unexamined life. And much more.

Everything I Know I Learned From TV

Philosophy For the Unrepentant Couch Potato

Justin Lee Collins

He street jams in spandex and wrestles in lycra. He's been a magician, a ventriloquist and a clown. He's hugged some of the biggest stars in the world, and pretty much anyone else who's crossed his path. He mucks about, wears silly costumes and manhandles his friend Alan Carr on national TV on a weekly basis. And people have literally paid him to do all this. Good times! 
 
But life wasn't always so kind to young Justin. He discovered he couldn't kiss very well at school camp in Plymouth. "An attractive sixth-form girl let me snog her. I was about 12. She pulled away, and said 'Aaah, you can't do it.' Then she then picked me up and carried me back to my room." The years stacking shelves at Bristol's Marks and Spencer weren't exactly a high point. Being told to 'walk faster' by his boss and being given a final warning: "it dawned on me they thought that putting out knickers and crisps was beyond me!" Bad times. 
 
But mere retail couldn't keep him down! This hilarious coming-of-age story follows his journey from collecting Star Wars toys as a small boy to schmoozing Carrie Fisher in her Hollywood home, and becoming one of the most loved and instantly recognised faces on British TV. For each new twist his life has taken, he hasn't changed a bit. He's as bouncy, funny, shambolic, huggable and of course Bristolian as he's ever been. This is the story of how it all happened. By accident. 
 
But this book is not just a routine celebrity autobiography/memoir - that would be boring. Especially for Justin himself, whose attention span is that of a small child at the best of times. Instead, this is JLC utilising his remarkable photographic memory to ponder the unfeasibly peculiar and funny moments that have defined his life, and desperately trying to make sense of it all. Rock on!

Good Times!

Simon Goddard

London 1962. Five young hooligans have formed a band and are on a collision course with the austere and intolerant values of post-war Britain. From their beginning in a scummy flat off the Kings Road to the notorious Redlands scandal, this is the anarchic rollercoaster ride of the Stones’ first five years. 
 
We follow our heroes in a rags-to-riches romp of sex, scandal, mischief and uproarious behaviour as they challenge the establishment, invent the archetype of the rebellious, parent-scaring rock star lothario and, eventually, receive their comeuppance from the powers that be. 
 
Presented with the audacious wit and bawdy humour of a vintage novel, complete with Dickensian illustrations, Rollaresque celebrates the young Stones in the grand English literary tradition of lovable rogues. This is the music biography reinvented as a ripping yarn.

Rollaresque

The Rakish Progress of The Rolling Stones

'Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?!' 
 
He has yet to encounter an obstacle he couldn't overcome. He's the WWE legend as eight-time champion, he's outlasted being buried up to his neck in a desert (The Scorpion King), battled the giant Tamatoa (Moana), ruthless mercenaries (Jumanji), and murderous racers (the Fast and Furious series) all thanks to his motivation and drive. 
 
Do you want to learn how to do the same? Then get inspired with this uplifting collection of quotes from the man himself on success, wrestling, fitness, family and more. 
 
What else can we say, except, you're welcome?!

What Would The Rock Do?

Robin Askwith

Of all the actors and personalities thrown up by that strangest of periods. The 1970s, surely Robin Askwith was one of the most 'of his time'? As star of the infamous CONFESSIONS films, as well as over 25 other movies, Askwith was huge. His cheeky, innocent face, his Mick Jagger lips and more often than not his bare arse -- he, possibly more than anyone else sums up a bygone era remembered fondly by millions. Today, Askwith is a cult figure. The CONFESSIONS films are still regular staples on British TV and around the world, especially in the Commonwealth countries. They are just as funny as they ever were -- classic camp British humour in the same language as the Carry On films. In this brilliant autobiography, the self-deprecating Askwith cuts straight to the chase, starting in the `70s as he auditions for CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER, moving on to CONFESSIONS OF A POP STAR and DRIVING INSTRUCTOR. His career was truly amazing and varied beyond belief. From IF. . . to NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDEF From CONFESSIONS to Zefferelli`s BROTHER SUN, SISTER MOON and Pasolini CANTERBURY TALES. He was also great friends with the late Lindsay Anderson. In the end, Robin is most famous for his sex comedies and isn't embarrassed about it one jot. It`s a rollicking ride. Hold On Tight!

The Confessions Of Robin Askwith

John Robb

In the crazed aftermath of the late '80s northern pop explosion there have been few survivors. The Charlatans, however, still prosper despite once being perceived as runts of the Manchester music scene. The cruellest of luck has visited heartbreaking death, nervous exhaustion, a jail sentence, and the prospect of falling almost totally out of fashion upon them. And yet, a deceptively tough band with a charismatic lead singer, their combination of unnerving honesty, sheer pop talent, great live shows, and a total and touching commitment to their fans has seen them survive some of the worst disasters that fate has thrown at any pop group. They have remarkable street suss that, with their small town backgrounds makes them totally at one with their huge following -- a relationship that has given them a fistful of number one albums. This is a tale of a love of pop and a lust for life. A story of northern pop and a band with guts and a passion for creativity. It traces the rise of the Charlatans from the fringes of the Manchester scene in the late Eighties to their current position at the top of British music, one of the key bands of the Nineties in possession of a rare and beautiful canon of great pop tunes.

The Charlatans We Are Rock

Rita Gilligan

Meet Rita Gilligan, Hard Rock Cafe’s original ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ waitress and international cultural ambassador and MBE. It was 1971 when Hard Rock first opened its doors in London, and Rita was there with her spunky, chatty, and absolutely lovable personality. Over the forty-five years she served at Hard Rock, Rita has collected quite some stories to tell, including her relationship with rock ‘n’ roll celebrities, Hard Rock’s history, and her own personal life struggles. In this book Rita tells her story from being a shy Catholic schoolgirl in Galway to becoming the best known waitress and later ambassador of one of history's most iconic American style restaurants. She also narrates how she met Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and many other famous celebrities during her time at the Hard Rock. Written with candid humour and disarming honesty, Rita serves up a brilliantly crafted story about how the Hard Rock, like herself, defied all the odds to become a global phenomenon.

The Rock 'N’ Roll Waitress at the Hard Rock Cafe

Stuart Maconie

The Lives Less Ordinary series brings you the most exciting, adventurous and entertaining true-life writing that is out there, for men who are time-poor but want the best. Lives Less Ordinary drops you into extreme first-hand accounts of human experience, whether that's the adrenaline-pumping heights of professional sport, the brutality of the modern battlefield, the casual violence of the criminal world, the mind-blowing frontiers of science, or the excesses of rock 'n' roll, high finance and Hollywood. Lives Less Ordinary also brings you some of the finest comic voices around, on every subject from toilet etiquette to Paul Gascoigne. 
 
Anyone who every dreams of being in the music business thinks that 'being with the band' is an instant passport to free drugs, women and hedonistic, rock 'n' roll good times. But Stuart Maconie hilariously tells a different story of the slow-drip hell of continental travel in the claustrophobic confines a small van with a certain death metal trio. 
 
This digital bite has been extracted from Stuart Maconie's brilliant book Cider with Roadies.

How to Survive on Tour with a Rock Band

Lives Less Ordinary

Dan Sullivan

FOREWORD BY SIR DAVID JASON 
 
As Macbeth said to Hamlet in Midsummer Night's Dream, 'we've been done up like a couple of kippers - Del 
 
In this pukka 42-carat gold-plated bargain, you have the wit and wisdom of Del Boy, Rodney, Albert, Boycie and Trigger at your disposal. Packed with all the funniest and most memorable lines from the classic British sit-com as it turns 40, this quote book is the crème de la menthe. Never be caught short again. 
 
 
Let's face it Del, most of your phrases come out of a Citroen manual - Rodney

Peckham Patter

The Complete Wit and Wisdom of Only Fools

Motsi Mabuse

'Ever since I was a child I loved to dance. I had it in me - and when you dance the whole day and you've got music, it doesn't feel like work. It's freedom. It's love. It's therapy.' 
 
Before taking Strictly Come Dancing by storm, Motsi Mabuse worked her way up to becoming one of the top professional dancers worldwide and was crowned the Latin dance champion. From the moment she fell in love with the glitterball world as a young child watching a dance tournament, she knew that dancing was her destiny. 
 
However, it wasn't always an easy path. Motsi takes us back to her youth growing up in apartheid-era South Africa, where she experienced exclusion and discrimination. She raised the money herself to compete in international competitions, eventually uprooting her life to be with her dance partner in Germany. Through it all, Motsi never let anything hold her back from fulfilling her dreams, showing the determination, hard work and resilience it took to get to where she is today. 
 
In Finding My Own Rhythm, Motsi leads us in to the rhinestone-studded world of dance, through the ups and downs, romances and heartbreaks, the obstacles and adversity, and the long hours and triumphs that made it all worth it, all while staying true to herself and moving to the beat of her own rhythm.

Finding My Own Rhythm

My Story

Since forming in 2007, JLS have achieved everything they'd hoped for and more. From four smash-hit albums and five number one singles, to BRIT and MOBO awards and sell-out tours, Oritsé, Marvin, JB, and Aston have proved themselves as one of Britain's biggest boybands ever. 
 
But all good things come to an end and in this, their last ever official book together, the boys share their favourite memories with the people they love most: their fans. 
 
Inside, they reflect on everything they've experienced in the last six years, as a band and in their own personal lives, while sharing exclusive photos and the secrets they've kept. Find out how they feel about juggling family and finding love with life on the road and recording in the studio; how special it feels to step out on stage in front of thousands of fans and why choosing to part from the best friends they could have ever found was the hardest decision of all. 
 
The highs, the lows; the good times and bad, this is JLS like you've never seen them before. Older, wiser and hotter than ever, this is their final farewell and a treasured keepsake for years to come.

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