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

PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

Richard Rorty

Richard Rorty is one of the most provocative figures in recent philosophical, literary and cultural debate. This collection brings together those of his writings aimed at a wider audience, many published in book form for the first time. In these eloquent essays, articles and lectures, Rorty gives a stimulating summary of his central philosophical beliefs and how they relate to his political hopes; he also offers some challenging insights into contemporary America, justice, education and love.

Philosophy and Social Hope

Steve Hagen

What is Buddhism? What are its true teachings? What can it bring to our lives? 
 
Here Steve Hagen, a Zen priest, cuts through the many misconceptions surrounding Buddhism, and shows us its true purpose. Drawing on down-to-earth examples from everyday life, this practical and straightforward guide penetrates the most essential and enduring questions at the heart of the Buddha's teachings: How can we see the world in each moment, rather than merely as what we think, hope, or fear it is? How can we base our actions on reality? How can we live lives that are wise, compassionate, open and honest? 
 
This book offers a profound and clear path to a life of joy and freedom.

Buddhism is Not What You Think

Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs

In the modern world our lives are more frenetic than ever. We live with a burning sense that we have to get something done. But what do we really achieve? And why are we never satisfied? 
 
This book is an invitation to switch off, and to enjoy stillness - right now. Bestselling author and teacher Steve Hagen provides an accessible and thorough manual on meditation, for both newcomers and experienced practitioners. He offers simple practices that avoid needlessly complicating meditation; highlights where many of us get stuck in meditating - and how to get unstuck; and, above all, focuses on meditation not simply as a spiritual technique, but as a way of living.

Meditation Now or Never

Carlo Rovelli

One of our most beloved scientists, a fearless free spirit, Carlo Rovelli is also a masterful storyteller. In this collection of writings, the logbook of an intelligence always on the move, he follows his curiosity and invites us on a voyage through science, literature, philosophy and politics. 
 
Written with his usual clarity and wit, these pieces, most of which were first published in Italian newspapers, range widely across time and space: from Newton's alchemy to Einstein's mistakes, from Nabokov's butterflies to Dante's cosmology, from travels in Africa to the consciousness of an octopus, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning of atheism. Charming, pithy and elegant, this book is the perfect gateway to the universe of one of the most influential physicists of our age.

There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness

Spike Milligan

An irreverent but very funny spoof of The Old Testament in which, in his own inimitable fashion, Spike Milligan gives his version of the best known biblical stories.

The Bible According to Spike Milligan

Roald Dahl

Do you like feeling scared? Featuring fourteen classic spine-chilling stories chosen by Roald Dahl these terrible tales will have you shivering as you turn the pages. 
 
They include such timeless and haunting tales as Sheridan Le Fanu's The Ghost of a Hand, Edith Wharton's Afterward, Cynthia Asquith's The Corner Shop and Mary Treadgold's The Telephone. 
 
 
Roald Dahl reveals even more about the darker side of human nature in seven other centenary editions featuring his own stories: Lust, Madness, Cruelty, Deception, Trickery, Innocence and War.

Fear

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
One of TIME's Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade 
 
'Captivating, fascinating, profoundly beautiful. . . Rovelli is a wonderfully humane, gentle and witty guide for he is as much philosopher and poet as he is a scientist' John Banville 
 
'We are time. We are this space, this clearing opened by the traces of memory inside the connections between our neurons. We are memory. We are nostalgia. We are longing for a future that will not come' 
 
Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe. 
 
With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery. Enlightening and consoling, The Order of Time shows that to understand ourselves we need to reflect on time -- and to understand time we need to reflect on ourselves. 
 
Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre

The Order of Time

Charlie Porter

Most of us live our lives in our clothes without realizing their power. But in the hands of artists, garments reveal themselves. They are pure tools of expression, storytelling, resistance and creativity: canvases on which to show who we really are. 
 
In What Artists Wear, style luminary Charlie Porter takes us on an invigorating, eye-opening journey through the iconic outfits worn by artists, in the studio, on stage, at work, at home and at play. From Yves Klein's spotless tailoring to the kaleidoscopic costumes of Yayoi Kusama and Cindy Sherman; from Andy Warhol's signature denim to Charlotte Prodger's casualwear, Porter's roving eye picks out the magical, revealing details in the clothes he encounters, weaving together a new way of understanding artists, and of dressing ourselves. 
 
Part love letter, part guide to chic, and featuring generous photographic spreads, What Artists Wear is both a manual and a manifesto, a radical, gleeful, inspiration to see the world anew-and find greater pleasure and possibility in the clothes we all wear.

What Artists Wear

Over two millennia ago, a Greek philosopher had a number of wondrous insights that paved the way to cosmology, physics, geography, meteorology and biology, setting in motion a new way of seeing the world. Anaximander's legacy includes the revolutionary idea that the earth floats in a void, that the world can be understood in natural rather than supernatural terms, that animals evolved, and that universal laws govern all phenomena. He introduced a new mode of rational thinking with an openness to uncertainty and to the progress of knowledge. 
 
In this elegant work, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli brings to light the importance of Anaximander's overlooked legacy to modern science. He examines Anaximander as a scientist interested in shedding light on the deep nature of scientific thinking, which Rovelli locates in his rebellious ability to reimagine the world again and again. Anaximander celebrates the radical lack of certainty that defines the scientific quest for knowledge.

Anaximander

And the Nature of Science

"And God said, Let there be light; and there was light, but Eastern Electricity Board said He would have to wait until Thursday to be connected." 
 
There have been many interpretations of the Old Testament over the centuries but never one quite like this. Spike Milligan has rewritten, in his own inimitable style, many of the best-known stories of the Old Testament, featuring characters like King "my brain hurts" Solomon, the great oaf of a giant Goliath and the lesser-known crossword clue, Hushai the Archite. 
 
Believers and non-believers alike will enjoy this hilarious re-working, where the jokes, jests and jibes tumble over each other from Chapter One, Verse One until kingdom come.

John Gray

In The Soul of the Marionette, John Gray draws together the religious, philosophic and fantastical traditions that question the very idea of human freedom. We flatter ourselves about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous forces - biological, physical, metaphysical - constrain our every action. Many writers and intellectuals have always understood this, but instead of embracing our condition we battle against it, with everyone from world conquerors to modern scientists dreaming of a 'human dominion' almost comically at odds with our true state. 
 
This is a stimulating and enraging meditation on everything from cybernetics to the fairground marionettes of the title.

The Soul of the Marionette

A Short Enquiry into Human Freedom

John Wyndham

David Strorm's father doesn't approve of Angus Morton's unusually large horses, calling them blasphemies against nature. Little does he realize that his own son, his niece Rosalind and their friends, have their own secret aberration which would label them as mutants. But as David and Rosalind grow older it becomes more difficult to conceal their differences from the village elders. Soon they face a choice: wait for eventual discovery or flee to the terrifying and mutable Badlands ... 
 
The Chrysalids is a post-nuclear story of genetic mutation in a devastated world, which tells of the lengths the intolerant will go to to keep themselves pure.

The Chrysalids

Kayla Edwards

Loren and Darien have settled back into their old routines, grateful that the whirlwind of dangers they’d faced on Kalendae are now behind them - or so they think. But Loren soon finds herself caught in a new storm when the Terran Imperator blackmails her into working for him. There’s only one problem: he expects her to use her magic, and she doesn’t seem to have any left. To keep Darien safe, she agrees. But the secrets she is forced to keep, and her involvement with the imperator’s son, threaten to drive her away from Darien in ways she might never recover from…

City of Souls and Sinners

Rupert Isaacson

Rowan came back from the shamans in Mongolia a changed boy. The three most debilitating effects of his autism - his incontinence, his endless tantruming, and his inability to make friends - were gone. 
 
But a year almost to the day since Rowan's improvement he started regressing: the accidents and tantrums reappeared, terrifying his father Rupert. Something had to be done. 
 
Father and son embarked on a new quest, journeying from the bushmen of Namibia to the coastal rainforests of Queensland, Australia and finally to the Navajo reservations of the American southwest, where Rowan was transformed - they had begun the Long Ride Home.

The Long Ride Home

The Extraordinary Journey of Healing that Changed a Child's Life

Jenna Levine

Two strangers. One apartment. 
Will it be love at first . . . bite? 
 
Cassie Greenberg needs a new place to live, and fast. When she finds an affordable apartment in a beautiful neighbourhood, she knows there must be a catch. 
 
Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. 
 
He is also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, always asks about her day, and doesn't look half bad shirtless on the rare occasions they're both home and awake. 
 
There's no denying there's a spark between them - but there's also a secret. . . 
 
With true love at stake, will Frederick come clean? 
 
AUTHORS ARE OBSESSED WITH MY ROOMMATE IS A VAMPIRE: 
 
'Bloody delightful!' Ashley Poston, New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics 
'Wonderfully weird and sexy as hell ' Alicia Thompson 
'A kooky, sparkly piece of happiness' India Holton 
'This one is good to the last drop' Publishers Weekly 
'Whimsical, magical, and hilarious' Sarah Hawley 
'Will leave you laughing so loud you could wake the undead' Elizabeth Davis 
'Wildly entertaining, delightfully steamy, laugh-out-loud hilarious, wrenchingly romantic' Thea Guanzon 
'A fresh, charming romp full of heart and some of the best kissing scenes I've ever read' Isabel Cañas

My Roommate is a Vampire

Tori Anne Martin

When 'messy witch' Morgan Greenwood drunkenly offers to fake date her dream woman Rory Sandler during the New England Witches' festival, she's sure she was hexed at birth. And to complicate matters, Rory accepts. 
 
But although they're 'pretending' to be a couple, their undeniable chemistry soon starts to feel real -until Morgan realizes she may have accidentally given Rory an illegal love potion. If this is true, she'll have to prove how incompatible she and Rory are to break the potion. 
 
Morgan is no stranger to disaster, so ruining their relationship should be easy. 
 
Could the magic between them be real? Or will Rory be Morgan's latest screw up?

This Spells Disaster

The steamy sapphic romance to curl up with this winter!

Sarah Blake

The Miltons are a powerful old New York family - the kind of family that used to run the world. And in 1935, they still do. Kitty and Ogden Milton seem to have it all: an elegant apartment on the Upper East Side, two beautiful little boys, a love everyone envies. When a tragedy befalls them, Ogden comforts Kitty the only way he knows how - they go sailing, picnic on a small island off the coast of Maine, and buy it. 
 
For generations the Miltons of Crockett Island revel in a place that is entirely their own. But it's 1959, and the world is changing: Ogden's firm hire a Jewish man, Len Levy, who earns the admiration of not only his boss, but his boss's beautiful young daughter. When Len and his friend visit the island, the Milton's principles and prejudices are challenged like never before. 
 
At the dawn of the 21st century, the family money has run dry, and the island is up for sale. Returning for one last visit, Kitty's granddaughter uncovers disturbing evidence about her family's wealth - and realizes she is on the verge of finally understanding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her family all her life.

The Guest Book

The New York Times Bestseller

John Thavis

'A humane and realistic and (yes) humorous picture of a mortal institution. To an old Prot like me, it's a tour of alien terrain and a bridge to old and dear friends' Garrison Keillor 
 
For thirty years John Thavis worked for the Catholic News Service in Rome and reported on the inner workings of the Vatican. The Vatican Diaries is his insightful and often very funny account of exactly what goes on in this unique and secretive institution. It's a place where cardinals fight private wars, scandals are constantly threatening to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past comes up painfully against the considerations of modern life. 
 
He describes the politics surrounding the election of a new pope and the beatification of an old one, the angst of dealing with the international issue of sexual abuse, the intricacies of arranging a Papal visit to India, the conflicts involved in trying to build a car park over an ancient Roman burial site - and above all the unfathomable personality of the conservative Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope to resign for 600 years. At this extraordinary moment of crisis in the Church, Thavis's account of its inner workings is invaluable.

The Vatican Diaries

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church

Leslie René

Incantations professor Maggie has plenty on her plate, between the magical academy slashing her syllabus, and the mysterious stranger she kissed at the Beltane masquerade ball. She REALLY could do without sharing her office with the famous (and famously broody) alchemist Arthur Taliesin, when his spell gone wrong leaves much of their college uninhabitable. Arthur's insufferable attitude and unfortunate good looks make it impossible for Maggie to concentrate. She’ll do anything to get him out of her office. Including helping him reverse the magic that threatens the school. But Maggie is starting to realize that much of what she believes about Arthur is merely a mask…

Maggie and Arthur's Magic Moment

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

In a climate when iconoclasm is the smartest intellectual stance - whether against bankers, traders, politicians, the energy industry, or journalists - one of today's most prominent rabble-rousers gives his quick-witted and snappy guide to questioning the status quo. 
 
With characteristic panache and brio, Taleb uses aphorisms to condense his rambunctious ideas and style. This is the perfect reference for anyone searching for the right questions to ask.

The Bed of Procrustes

Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Josh Winning

Bastian just wanted a break from his immortal existence as vampire with his loyal familiar, Whitby. But of course everything is turned upside down when they discover a ghastly murder and Bastian is the town’s first suspect. He’s forced to work with the local detective to find the killer before it’s too late ... except, the detective is utterly gorgeous and Bastian is a sucker for beautiful things.

Be Still My Unbeating Heart

Emma Noyes

After Charlie Hudson’s classmate goes missing in the forest she is determined to find out what happened and starts to suspect the mysterious newcomer, Elias Everhart.With his piercing eyes and sharp wit, Charlie knows he has a secret. More than one. What she doesn’t know is that those secrets will lead her to a place she never imagined: a world made of magic, gods, and monsters - and a first love fated to fall apart. 
 
Truths and temptations lurk in the darkness, and for Charlie, the only thing more dangerous than her past, is the boy with the power to change her future.

Soul of Shadow

Katee Robert

As a bloodline vampire, Lizzie has never had a problem taking what she wants, and right now what she wants are the family heirlooms that were stolen from her, a ship, and a portal home. Unfortunately, even that short list is impossible to accomplish on her own&mdash;and her allies have bigger things to worry about. When they rescue a selkie, it&rsquo;s the perfect solution to her problem. Lizzie needs a guide through Threshold and the selkie needs her skin back. 
 
Maeve didn&rsquo;t choose to give up her skin&mdash;it was stolen from her. Now she&rsquo;s in an uneasy partnership with a dangerous woman who seems more apt to kill than to share a kind word. It&rsquo;s terrifying&hellip;and a bit alluring. Even though she knows it will end in heartbreak, Maeve can&rsquo;t help being drawn to Lizzie. 
 
Unfortunately, the danger to Maeve&rsquo;s heart is the least of her worries. The ship they&rsquo;re seeking belongs to the Cwn Annwn, and they don&rsquo;t take kindly to people who cross them. They&rsquo;re coming hunting, and not even Lizzie&rsquo;s viciousness or Maeve&rsquo;s knowledge will be enough to save them&hellip;

Blood on the Tide

Eva Knight

Hazy Florence is on track to graduate top of her class but she's determined to have a little fun along the way. 
 
As soon as she lays eyes on her mysterious and swoony new neighbour - Godric Hawthorn - Hazy knows he is just what she needs and they instantly fall for each other. 
 
But this is no quintessential college romance. Godric has a secret . . . he's a vampire. 
 
Dating a vampire comes with its own messy complications. And then there's Hazy's jealous ex-boyfriend who's dangerously close to the truth. 
 
Can Hazy protect her boyfriend's blood-sucking secret? 
 
Or could there be more at stake than Hazy and Godric's hearts?

My Boyfriend is a Vampire

One family's epic journey to rescue their son . . . 
 
Rupert and Kirstin Isaacson were heartbroken when they learned that their two-year-old son Rowan was autistic. And with each passing day, Rowan's growing isolation, his uncontrollable fits, each failed treatment, filled them with despair. 
 
Then one day Rowan escaped and ran into a field of horses. Rupert watched in horror - but saw a miracle occur. The horses responded lovingly to Rowan - and he to them. Could Rowan's affinity with these animals save their son from his condition? 
 
The Isaacsons left their home in Texas and travelled to the plains and mountains of Mongolia - the spiritual home of the horse - risking everything - their happiness, future and sanity - on an arduous epic horseback journey in search of a cure for Rowan . . .

The Horse Boy

A Father's Miraculous Journey to Heal His Son

Scott Hershovitz

'Witty and learned ... Hershovitz intertwines parenting and philosophy, recounting his spirited arguments with his kids about infinity, morality, and the existence of God' Jordan Ellenberg, author of Shape 
 
A funny, wise guide to the art of thinking, and why the smallest people have the answers to the biggest questions 
 
'Anyone can do philosophy, every kid does...' 
 
Some of the best philosophers in the world can be found in the most unlikely places: in preschools and playgrounds. They gather to debate questions about metaphysics and morality, even though they've never heard the words, and can't tie their shoelaces. As Scott Hershovitz shows in this delightful book, kids are astoundingly good philosophers. And, if we let ourselves pause to think along with them, we might discover that we are, too. 
 
Nasty, Brutish, and Short is a unique guide to the art of thinking, led by a celebrated philosophy professor and his two young sons. Together, Scott, Rex, and Hank take us on a romp through classic and contemporary philosophy, steered by questions like, does Hank have the right to drink Fanta? When is it okay to swear? And, does the number six exist? They explore weighty issues, like punishment and authority; sex, gender, and race; the nature of truth and knowledge; and the existence of God. And they call on a host of professional philosophers, famous and obscure, to help them along the way. Ultimately, they demonstrate that we shouldn't just support kids in their philosophical adventures: we should join them, so that we can rekindle our own innate, childlike wonder at the world. We'd all be better, more discerning thinkers for it.

Nasty, Brutish, and Short

Adventures in Philosophy with Kids

Emma Bull

Eddi McCandry sings rock and roll. But her boyfriend just dumped her, her band just broke up, and life could hardly be worse. Then, walking home through downtown Minneapolis on a dark night, she finds herself drafted into an invisible war between the faerie folk. Now, more than her own survival is at risk-and her own preferences, musical and personal, are very much beside the point. 
 
War for the Oaks is a brilliantly entertaining fantasy novel that's as much about this world as about the imagined one.

War for the Oaks

Alexandria Bellefleur

Samantha Cooper is having a day from hell. 
 
In less than 24 hours, her life has unravelled, leaving her single and with nowhere to live. To top it all off, she’s trapped in an elevator with a gorgeous woman claiming to be a demon. 
 
Daphne is not at all what Sam expected from someone claiming to be an evil supernatural entity. Pretty, witty, and dressed in pink, she’s here to offer Sam a deal: six wishes in exchange for Sam’s soul. With nothing left to lose, Sam agrees; after all, she only needs one wish to win her ex back. 
 
Daphne is nobody’s fool, though, least of all a pesky human trying to trick the system, so she grants each wish with a twist that forces Sam to make another. But as Sam desperately tries to outsmart the devilishly beautiful demon, she soon begins to wonder whether the woman of her dreams might actually be the stuff of nightmares…

The Devil She Knows

Meg Smitherman

Ami awakes from years in stasis to find she’s at the edges of deep space, and the only surviving member of her crew. Utterly alone and unable to contact Earth, she sends out a distress beacon, not expecting a response. When she gets one from a being who calls himself Dorian, she’s welcomed onto his ship as he offers his assistance in any way he can. But nothing on Dorian’s ship is as it seems. And as Ami tries to navigate the maze of hallways and first contact with this alien being, a deep hum begins to resonate, haunting her, as if the ship itself is whispering to her.

Thrum

Raven Kennedy

One king caged my body. 
 
Another has caged my mind. 
 
War has broken out between Annwyn and Orea, though that&rsquo;s not the only battle being waged. 
 
There&rsquo;s a fight inside me, and it&rsquo;s one I&rsquo;m determined to win, no matter how much they try to strip me down and hollow me out. 
 
Yet they&rsquo;ve forgotten one thing. The ancient magic of the pair bond. One can never truly be lost when two souls are already bound. 
 
Because Slade and I? We are connected by more than just fated magic, and we will always find each other.

Showing results for: ‘Steve Roud’

Filters

Category

Age

Publication Date

Format

Series

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter