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A A Gill

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. E. W. Mason

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

The short life of A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) was described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.

A. J. A. Symons

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Nora Ephron

Soak up the wisdom of the inimitable Nora Ephron with this stunning 20th-anniversary special edition, featuring a foreword by Dolly Alderton. The perfect gift for yourself or a friend. 
 
'Ephron has an uncanny ability to sound like your best friend, whoever you are' NEW YORK TIMES. 
 
'The book that most influenced me' LILY ALLEN 
 
Acclaimed Hollywood filmwriter and director Nora Ephron examines the indignities of ageing in a collection of wickedly witty autobiographical pieces such as 'I Hate My Handbag', 'Blind as a Bat' and 'What I Wish I'd Known'. I Feel Bad About My Neck offers the consolation that no matter how much your neck sags, your boobs droop, your skin wrinkles and your children don't appreciate you, someone has been there before you. 
 
Nora Ephron captures the essence of what it means to be an older woman in an irresistible, laugh-out-loud funny, frank and unexpectedly moving book that every woman should have on their shelves.

I Feel Bad About My Neck

And Other Thoughts On Being a Woman

with a new introduction from Dolly Alderton

Emily Emmerson

What do you get when a celebrity and a fan meet on a dating app? 
 
Meet Jessy and Patrick. 
 
All Jessy wants is to figure out what to do with her life. She hates her job, lives in a crappy London apartment and her love life is non-existent. . .That is until her twin sister begs her to join her newly launched dating app, Butterflies. 
 
Lead singer and front man of These Exiles, Patrick just wants a break after coming off tour. But when he’s mistakenly arrested, his record label insists on doing damage control. Their latest scheme? Getting Patrick on the dating apps and into a relationship. 
 
When Jessy and Patrick match on Butterflies, neither plan to actually meet. . . but then they literally bump into each other and chaos ensues. With their faces plastered all over the internet, and Patrick’s record label jumping on the publicity, the two find themselves unexpectedly ‘dating.’ 
 
Can they keep up the farce in front of the whole world, or will they start to believe their own lie?

Famously in Love

James Patterson

Imogen Edwards-Jones

BORN IN THE SHADOWS. LIVED FOR THE SPOTLIGHT. WAS SHE MURDERED? 
 
Before Marilyn Monroe, there was Norma Jeane. No one would have thought that the girl who spent her childhood between foster homes and orphanages would one day become a global star. 
 
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe tells the extraordinary story of Marilyn Monroe’s life – and the shocking circumstances of her death. 
 
For decades, fans have speculated about the truth of her final days. Was it suicide? A tragic accident? Murder? Drawn from rigorous research, this book seeks answers. 
 
Told in vivid, dramatic scenes, James Patterson and Imogen Edwards-Jones uncover the life and death of the remarkable woman who was Marilyn Monroe. 
 
__________________________________ 
 
'A poignant primer on the life and death of the Hollywood star... skilfully weaves the known details into a poignant biography.' - The Times 
 
‘Electrifying . . . A spellbinding new account of the star’s final days by the world’s greatest thriller writer’ - Daily Mail 
 
'Meticulously researched deep dive into the glamorous life of Marilyn Monroe - and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death in 1962.' - The i Paper 
 
__________________________________ 
 
 
PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON 
 
'It's no mystery why James Patterson is the world's most popular thriller writer ... Simply put: nobody does it better.' JEFFERY DEAVER 
 
'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD 
 
'Patterson boils a scene down to the single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It's what fires off the movie projector in the reader's mind.' MICHAEL CONNELLY 
 
'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN 
 
'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON 
 
'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL

The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe

Daniel Levitin

'Fascinating' OBSERVER 
'Essential' WALL STREET JOURNAL 
‘Intriguing’ GUARDIAN 
 
We are only just beginning to appreciate the healing power of music on our minds and bodies. Here, a neuroscientist and celebrated musician introduces a bold new paradigm for medical treatment. From explaining how ‘rhythmic auditory stimulation’ can fight multiple sclerosis, to examining why Tracy Chapman’s songs might just help cure PTSD, Professor Daniel Levitin explores how we can use music to repair our bodies and heal our deepest psychological wounds. The result is both a surprising tour through the science of music, and a joyful celebration of humanity’s oldest obsession.

Music as Medicine

How We Can Harness Its Therapeutic Power

Netflix Entertainment LLC

Relive the most striking moments from the acclaimed and beloved Netflix show Stranger Things with this stunning officially licensed coloring book. 
 
Starting with that fateful D&D game in the Wheelers’ basement, this book charts the gang as they fight the Demogorgon, fall in love, use their powers, and save the world. Featuring 110 pages of fully original illustrations printed on high quality paper, this extra-thick coloring book is the perfect opportunity to prepare yourself to return to Hawkins for a giant adventure.

Stranger Things: The Complete Colouring Book

Seasons 1-5

Alex James

There is nothing that can touch the sound made by a close-knit group of people who have been playing together for years and years and years, playing as though their lives depended on it. For many years, all our lives did, and actually, I’d suddenly realised, they did still. 
 
One winter’s night, Alex James received an unexpected call. Blur had been invited to play their biggest gig ever: Wembley Stadium. The only trouble was, he and his bandmates hadn’t spoken to – or even shouted at – each other for years. And he now had five children, an out-of-control menagerie of cats, and a sprawling farm to run. 
 
This is the story of what happened next. Taking us behind the scenes of a raucous, rollercoaster year, Alex describes how the band made a surprise – and emotional – return, recording an acclaimed album and playing sold-out shows around the world, from Colchester to Colombia and beyond. Plus: how he went on a crash diet to fit back into his ‘Britpop Trousers,’ somehow organised an entire festival of his own, and tried to perfect the recipe for a giant Frazzle. 
 
Over the Rainbow is a heartfelt and hilarious account of what it feels like to be catapulted back into the limelight with one of the world’s biggest bands. It is a love letter to Blur, to friendship and to music. And it shows us all that, however old – or hungover – we might feel, nothing’s ever truly over: it’s always just the start of the next thing.

Over the Rainbow

Tales from an Unexpected Year

Al Pacino

From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full 
 
To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force. 
 
But Pacino was in his mid thirties by then, and had already lived several lives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemian existence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercely loving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left them when he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the South Bronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spirits never left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed him toward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. In good times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through pain and joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe. 
 
Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothing left to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and the important relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriage between creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s golden thread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and you can be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can also dim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft before he had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out of love. That has made all the difference. 
 
_________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Praise for Al Pacino: 
 
‘Al Pacino is magical’ Martin Scorsese 
 
‘A legend’ Francis Ford Coppola 
 
‘So unique and special’ Robert De Niro 
 
‘A singular, special talent, whose work stands the test of time’ Robin Williams 
 
‘A wicked sense of humour’ Oliver Stone 
 
‘Charming, hilarious, a nonstop talker. There is an aspect of him that is like a lost orphan, like this kind of crazy idiot savant’ Diane Keaton 
 
‘As Michael in The Godfather, Pacino was everything I wanted that character to be on screen. I couldn’t believe it. It was, in my eyes, a perfect performance, a work of art’ Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather 
 
‘Comedic, talented, and certifiably insane’ Johnny Depp 
 
‘Al is money, the man in charge, making it happen. I got to act with Al Pacino and it was worth more to me than anything’ Samuel L Jackson 
 
‘A marvellous actor and man’ Sean Connery 
 
‘The depth of Al Pacino's artistry is only more overwhelmed by the generosity of his spirit and his warmth. Al Pacino is Van Gogh. Modigliani' Andy Garcia 
 
‘The greatest actor in the world’ Jamie Foxx

Sonny Boy

A Memoir

Bea Fitzgerald

Six people land on a desert island ready to make their reality show debut. But three weeks and eighteen episodes later, five of the six contestants sit in a Portuguese police station, and none of them are winners. 
 
Because twelve million people were watching when Rhys Sutton died. The best friend, the rival, the girlfriend, the lover, and the sworn enemy are left standing. And no-one is talking. But how do you keep secrets when the world has been watching? 
 
Especially when, just a day before his murder, Rhys was the most hated man on television.

Then Things Went Dark

Alan Connor

Test your wits with the ultimate game of cunning, logic and intuition 
 
'This book is brilliant' Zoe Ball, BBC Radio 2 
 
It's time to start your adventure. Get them before they get you 
 
Put your sleuthing skills to the test in a world of deception, betrayal, and strategy. Placed in a castle in the Scottish Highlands, you must figure out if your fellow players are Faithful or a Traitor. Can you trust Jorge, the dentist with an encyclopaedic memory and tendency to smile at everyone? Or Nina, the retiree who acts like the group's matriarch but has a knowing glint in her eyes..? Beware, for in this treacherous game, trust is a luxury you cannot afford. 
 
In the official book of the BAFTA-winning phenomenon, The Traitors: The Interactive Game Book, the decisions you make will decide what happens next. Take this thrilling journey on your own or with others, pooling your wisdom to make the right choices. With over 20 standalone games to play in a group - all with cunning Traitors twists - this is the perfect gift, guaranteed to unleash hours of mischief and fun. 
 
*Praise for The Traitors TV show* 
 
'Addictively fiendish, this treachery was the best thing on TV in 20 years' Daily Mail 
 
'By far and away the most compelling and engrossing reality show of 2022, if not all time' Rolling Stone 
 
'One of the hottest realities right now, The Traitors is an absolute phenomenon you can enjoy also in a book format. Now, this is not a normal book' Digital Spy

The Traitors

The Ultimate Game of Cunning, Logic and Intuition

Elliot Mintz

'A charmingly modest tale of a long brush with stardom, with all its pleasures and frustrations' Kirkus 
'A captivating and intimate window into the complicated lives of one of rock’s most legendary couples' Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) 
_____________ 
 
'It’s hard to define the relationship Elliot had with our family. But I ultimately think the best word to describe him is: friend. Perhaps our closest friend. The reason I wanted Elliot to write a book, first and foremost, is because he is a good storyteller. The fact that he was there in the lives of John and Yoko (and mine), is really just icing on the cake. I like hearing him talk, and I’m sure you will, too' Sean Ono Lennon 
 
From the moment he interviewed Yoko Ono on his late night radio show in September 1971, Elliot Mintz’s life would never the same again. That phone call would lead him to an intense and revealing friendship with Yoko and her husband, John Lennon, until John’s untimely death in 1980, and beyond, to the present day. 
 
In 1971, then the talk host on American airwaves, Elliot Mintz was talking to all of the major figures in the burgeoning West Coast music scene when he was asked whether he would interview Yoko about her new album. Their talk quickly lead to other private calls and then to John Lennon, with whom he quickly formed a firm bond. Those conversations became hours-long epics, to the extent that Elliot had another phone line put in, for which only two people had the number - John and Yoko. 
 
The aftermath of The Beatles’ breakup ushered in a tumultuous decade. Elliot witnessed it, or heard all about it, at close hand including the unbearable cost of such fame when John and Yoko separated for what became known as his ‘lost weekend’. There was joy when their son Sean was born and the creative rebirth that was the multi-platinum selling triumph, Double Fantasy. But then there was unimaginable tragedy too when John was brutally murdered in December 1980.

We All Shine On

John, Yoko, and Me

Holly Stars

By day, shy accountant Joe hides behind their desk and plays by the rules. 
By night, Joe takes to the stage as Misty Divine, a star of the London drag scene. 
But when Misty's mentor, Lady Lady, is found dead in her dressing room, Misty finds herself under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. 
Because Lady Lady was murdered - and Misty and her fellow performers quickly become prime suspects. 
Heartbroken by the loss, and frustrated by the biases of the police, Joe is determined to uncover the killer in their midst. But what can they, a mere accountant, possibly do? 
This is a case for Misty Divine...

Murder in the Dressing Room

Ivy Fairbanks

A sizzling exes-to-lovers, second-chance romance from the author of TikTok sensation, Morbidly Yours!She doesn’t do second chances. But he's not done writing their song. 
 
Cielo “Lo” Valdez doesn’t believe in second chances. Surviving cancer at seventeen taught her life is too short to spend time on someone who wronged you. But Aidan O’Toole is determined to show her life is too long not to spend it together. 
 
When the tough-as-nails Texan moved to Galway for medical school, she wasn’t looking for love. Aidan, a gorgeous tattooed mandolin-playing lawyer, slipped past her defenses. They each fell hard and fast. But when Aidan was given the opportunity of a lifetime—to move to London and record an album—he took it, breaking Lo's heart. Yet more than two years and a successful album later, every song he writes is still about her, the one he let get away. And every time Lo hears his voice on the radio singing about love, it’s an arrow straight to her soul. 
 
Now they’re on a collision course as maid of honor and best man at Lo’s cousin’s wedding. Are some mistakes worth forgiving? Can Aidan convince Lo their song wasn’t meant to end?

Heart Strings

Richard Sennett

The Performer explores the relations between performing in art (particularly music), politics and everyday experience. It focuses on the bodily and physical dimensions of performing, rather than on words. Richard Sennett is particularly attuned to the ways in which the rituals of ordinary life are performances. 
 
The book draws on history and sociology, and more personally on the author's early career as a professional cellist, as well as on his later work as a city planner and social thinker. It traces the evolution of performing spaces in the city; the emergence of actors, musicians, and dancers as independent artists; the inequality between performer and spectator; the uneasy relations between artistic creation and social and religious ritual; the uses and abuses of acting by politicians. The Janus-faced art of performing is both destructive and civilizing. 
 
This is the first in a trilogy of books on the fundamental DNA of human expression: performing, narrating, and imaging.

The Performer

Art, Life, Politics

Julie Owen Moylan

Berlin, 1926. After the death of their parents, sisters Leni and Annette only have each other. Desperate to support her younger sister, Leni finds work at a notorious cabaret: the Babylon Circus, a place where reality and fantasy merge. 
 
Leni is happiest hiding in the shadows, until she meets resident pianist, Paul, beginning a tentative love affair that will play out over the next forty years. 
 
But can a love born within the feverish walls of the Babylon Circus ever survive? And can the bond between Leni and Annette – tugged in opposite directions of their own – also endure?

Circus of Mirrors

Meredith Trapp

She’s Texas's toughest bull rider, and he’s determined to win her heart. 
 
Dakota and Wyatt. Storm and sunshine. Growing up, they were as inseparable as a pair of cowboy boots. The best of friends – or so Dakota thought. 
 
Every summer, Wyatt would come home to his family’s flower farm in Granite Falls, Texas, and they’d stargaze in the fields together, pinkies brushing, laughter rumbling with the cicadas . . . until one summer, he never returned. 
 
Dakota hasn’t heard a peep from Wyatt in over three years, and during that time, a lot has changed. He’s the hockey world’s golden boy, and she’s developed a reputation as “The Cowboy Killer,” breaking both rodeo records and men’s hearts. The last thing Dakota needs is a distraction from her bull-riding goals, but everything changes when her old friend waltzes back into town with an adorable baby on his hip. 
 
Wyatt’s back to get the girl he’s been obsessing over for years, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get her back – two-stepping at the rodeo, jumping into Cibolo Creek, even rendezvousing in outdoor showers. All Dakota wants is to keep her distance and focus on training, but when she learns the truth behind why Wyatt left, she finds it hard to stay away. . . 
 
The scorching Texas sun might not be the only thing that burns them this summer.

Homebound

David Jason

Sir David Jason's career, from the outside, might seem like one glorious procession to national treasure status. But the truth is that he's had more knockbacks, more ups and downs, and more roundabout routes along his bumpy journey in life than one of Del Boy's get-rich schemes. 
 
David's north star for navigating life's challenges has always been his positive outlook and his resilience. 'This time next year, we'll be millionaires' was what Derek Trotter once said. This certainly wasn't always the case for David, growing up in a working class family in London in the rubble of the Blitz. Before he was making us laugh on TV he was a jobbing electrician. But with every challenge he has faced in life, he's always looked forward, and has never give in. 
 
In this latest volume of memoirs, told in his characteristically warm and funny style, David reveals the hard-won wisdom of a life lived doggedly getting through one day, looking to the next, and always chasing what's new on the horizon. It will touch, entertain and inspire readers, and might even teach them a thing or two about living a good life.

This Time Next Year

A Life Of Positive Thinking

Bono

An updated and abridged edition of Bono’s bestselling memoir, including a new introduction by the author, Stories of Surrender is an unforgettable love story, a tribute to fatherhood, friendship, faith and music. Honest, irreverent, and intimate, it’s a backstage pass to a frontman's remarkable life, from Bono’s childhood in Dublin to the rise of U2. A companion to the Apple Original Film of his critically acclaimed solo theatre show, Stories of Surrender is a luminous autobiography of one of the great voices of our time. 
 
Bono: Stories of Surrender, An Apple Original Film is streaming on Apple TV+ this May. 
 
‘Bono – the guy that wants to save the world. One of the Dubliners. Rock star poet. Lovable rogue. You have to appreciate his commitment to social causes – always pushing for change, always trying to fix things. Good for him. Most people don’t even bother. Trying to change the world and maybe transcend it. Singing for a world too obsessed with noise to listen. Searching for redemption like all of us are – and he seems to be aware of the depths of that search. He knows the distance between the soul and the public square. He’s got guts that guy. Bravo Bono.’ Bob Dylan 
 
‘A brilliant, very funny, very revealing, autobiography-through-music. Maybe the best book ever written about being a rockstar.’ Caitlin Moran 
 
‘Surrender is a rich and honest book, rich because of its honesty. If you want to know the man behind the shades, read this book. He’s worth getting to know.’ Salman Rushdie

Bono: Stories of Surrender

Jeannette Nelson

How the world’s best actors communicate with gravitas – and how you can, too. 
 
‘The theatre stars’ voice guru’ Daily Mail 
 
Acting is all about charisma. Whether you’re an A-list star or an extra, when you’re on stage you need to perform in a way that makes your audience listen. 
 
That stage presence is something we can all learn from. Every time you speak up in a meeting, recount an anecdote, or tell a joke, it’s essential to communicate with gravitas. 
 
Jeannette Nelson knows a thing or two about gravitas. As Head of Voice at the National Theatre, she has spent three decades working with the world’s leading actors – from Al Pacino to Benedict Cumberbatch to Juliette Binoche – teaching them to speak clearly and move confidently. 
 
Now, Nelson pulls back the curtain on the tricks that professional performers use to own the room. Starting with clear speech and good posture, before moving on to the art of rhetoric and overcoming stage fright, she outlines a holistic three-stage method to communicating with authority, authenticity and eloquence. Throughout, she peppers the book with stories of how world-renowned actors learnt to make themselves heard – and how you can, too. 
 
The result is a fascinating and eminently practical guide to the art of performance. If all the world’s a stage, then this book will turn you into its lead actor.

Centre Stage

Lessons from Actors on the Art of Charisma

Olivia Ford

Jenny Quinn has a secret. She just won a spot as a contestant on a prime-time TV baking show. It's only the second time in her marriage that she's kept something from beloved husband Bernard. And now she's got a chance of being crowned Britain's best baker. 
 
But as her ordinary life collides with unexpected stardom, the other secret Jenny's been keeping - the one supposed to stay hidden forever - is in danger of surfacing. 
Could Jenny Quinn's rise to fame also be her downfall?

Jenny Quinn’s Rise to Fame

Stephanie Wrobel

Why did he invite them? Why did they come? 
A hotel dedicated to the Master of Suspense &ndash; round-the-clock film screenings, movie memorabilia in every room, and an aviary of fifty crows. 
Owner Alfred Smettle invites his five closest friends from college to stay. He hasn&rsquo;t spoken to any of them in sixteen years. Alfred calls it a reunion. Really, it&rsquo;s a last chance. 
But Alfred is not the only one with an agenda. And it&rsquo;s only a matter of time before things get worse. After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a dead body.

The Hitchcock Hotel

Earl Slick

Jeff Slate

You might not have heard of Earl Slick, but you've heard him play guitar. 
 
In 1974 I got a call from a British guy called David Bowie. I wasn't really that familiar with his work, but I thought, what the hell? 
 
I'm sitting like a jerk for a couple minutes and then in walks this spooky-ass looking guy with bright red hair and no eyebrows. He was dressed the way an English rock star might think a Harlem pimp would dress. Whoa. David was definitely the strangest cat I'd ever seen, and I'd been around some off-the-wall characters. He had his guitar with him and I had a jacket with a bottle of brandy inside one pocket and my vial in the other. We drank, played for a while...and that's where it all started. 
 
That fateful day launched Earl Slick's career as rock and roll's gun for hire. Most famous for being Bowie's sideman, Slick has played with everyone from John Lennon to Eric Clapton, and with bands from The Cure to the New York Dolls. 
 
A fly on the wall for the last 50 years of rock and roll history, Earl Slick is the most famous guitarist you've never heard of. And he's got the stories to prove it. 
 
'Mean ass blues for a skinny ass white guy' - Buddy Guy

Guitar

Anthony Grafton

At the heart of the extraordinary ferment of the High Renaissance stood a distinctive, strange and beguiling figure: the magus. An unstable mix of scientist, bibliophile, engineer, fabulist and fraud, the magus ushered in modern physics and chemistry while also working on everything from secret codes to siege engines to magic tricks. 
 
Anthony Grafton's wonderfully original book discusses the careers of men who somehow managed to be both figures of startling genius and - by some measures - credulous or worse. The historical Faust, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Johannes Trithemius and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa are all fascinating characters, closely linked to monarchs, artists and soldiers and sitting at the heart of any definition of why the Renaissance was a time of such restless innovation. The study of the stars, architecture, warfare, even medicine: all of these and more were revolutionized in some way by the experiments and tricks of these extraordinary individuals. 
 
No book does a better job of allowing us to understand the ways that magic, religion and science were once so intertwined and often so hard to tell apart.

Magus

The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa

Peter Biskind

The revolution has been televized. From The Sopranos to Stranger Things, the shows we watch - and the ways we watch them - have been transformed over the past fifty years. Out of the bland wasteland of 'play-it-safe' broadcasting came astonishing stories of sex , violence, and corruption shown first on cable, and then by way of streaming. Today, the power of viewers to select what they want and when they want it is greater than ever before. In short, we are living in a new golden age of television, but golden ages don't last forever, and this one may turn out to be too much of a good thing. Revolutions have a habit of eating their own, and the era of 'peak TV' may have an unhappy ending. 
 
Pandora's Box is a major new account of the small screen from incisive cultural critic Peter Biskind. Through exclusive, candid and colourful interviews with writers, showrunners, directors and actors, Biskind brings us face to face with the people whose creations we encounter every day on our sofas, revealing the dynamic interplay of art, commerce and technology. We follow executives down the corridors of power and see how their money and guile cultivate, then crush creativity; we witness the making - and unmaking - of TVs biggest hits. There has never been a more exciting time in entertainment history, and in Peter Biskind, the ideal insider guide, captures all of it.

Pandora’s Box

The Greed, Lust, and Lies That Broke Television

Judi Dench

Taking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig; cavorting naked through the countryside painted green; acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head... these are just a few things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare. 
 
In this book, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career. In a series of conversations with actor/director Brendan O'Hea, she guides us through Shakespeare's plays with incisive clarity, revealing the secrets behind her rehearsal process and vignettes of her creative partnerships, all told with her mischievous sense of humour and a peppering of hilarious anecdotes.

Shakespeare

The Man Who Pays The Rent

Kate Robb

Is love on the small screen better than the real thing? 
 
Brynn&rsquo;s happy ending has gone up in flames. She&rsquo;s newly divorced and living with a roommate &ndash; Josh &ndash; to afford her mortgage. At least she&rsquo;s got Carson&rsquo;s Cove to binge - her beloved 90s teenage soap. 
 
So when a birthday cake shows up on her and Josh&rsquo;s doorstep, Brynn makes a wish for her own happily-ever-after. 
 
The next morning, she doesn't wake up in her apartment. She's in Carson's Cove... and Josh is there too. Except they're not Brynn and Josh; they're the sweetheart and the bad boy. 
 
Will they stick to the script, or will real love change the story forever? 
 
A young divorcee finds herself in the ideal world of her favourite 90s nostalgia TV show, in this second-chance romantic comedy from the author of This Spells Love. 
 
---- 
 
Praise for Kate Robb 
 
'Utterly enchanting - a romance voice to watch' BK Borison, author of Lovelight Farms 
'A rom-com meets magic delight...' Sarah Adams, author of Practice Makes Perfect 
&lsquo;You&rsquo;ll laugh, you&rsquo;ll cry, you&rsquo;ll giggle and kick your feet' ***** 
&lsquo;I want to reread it every year because it's officially one of my comfort books' ***** 
&lsquo;A super cute romance with a parallel timeline twist' ***** 
'This book gives you all the warm and snuggly feelings&rsquo;' *****

Prime Time Romance

Chris MacDonald

At long last, Adam Sealey has an Oscar within reach. Working with his controversial former mentor, Jonathan, he's given the performance of a lifetime, and he almost believes it might be worth the cost. 
 
Because Adam subscribes to &quot;the method&quot;. It's the secret that the world's greatest actors swear by - digging into their darkest, most personal traumas to bring a role to life. And Adam's greatest trauma is worse than most. Back in drama school, he had to choose between a girl he loved and the success he craved. What he did that night is his darkest secret. 
 
And then he gets a message: someone knows. And if they tell, everything Adam's worked for will come crashing down.

The Actor

Jenny Holmes

'Live for the day' is the motto for the times, and our girls plan to waltz their worries away... 
 
Ever-ambitious Sylvia wants more from her life, so starts planning a Dance Weekend at the Winter Gardens – not easy in wartime when air raids could cancel an event at the last minute. What she doesn't expect is for the competition to bring the dashing Vernon into her life too! Could everything finally fall into place for Sylvia? 
 
Joy's life has entirely turned around in the last year. Newly married to her beloved Tommy and at the helm of her family's business in Manchester, she can't believe how far she's come. But will the plight of her young employee Mildred throw things off course? Or will she and Tommy still be able to perfect their waltz in time for the competition? 
 
Pearl is still longing for her darling Bernie to return from the war. Dancing is the best way to distract herself from her worries, so she throws herself into rehearsing the jive with handsome GI partner Errol. But as tongues begin to wag, will the ballroom still provide the solace she needs? 
 
As the war wears on, can the Ballroom Girls really hit the big time?

The Ballroom Girls Hit the Big Time

Jeremy Clarkson

Get tucked in to a third bestselling helping of Clarkson's Farm from our favourite wellie-wearing wannabe farmer, Jeremy Clarkson 
 'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph 
 
 'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out 
 --- After three years, Jeremy Clarkson has discovered the golden rule of farming: 
 
 whatever you hope will happen, won't. 
 
 Enthusiastic schemes to diversify face defeat at the hands of the Council Planning department, or derision from Kaleb. Jeremy's plans for a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup are doubted by Lisa. And the stifling thickets of red tape keep only one person smiling – Cheerful Charlie, who charges by the hour. 
 
 But the animals couldn’t be happier. A rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro is delighting the cows. The pigs are bringing home the bacon. And the goats are . . . most probably psychopaths. 
 
 Yet on the good days it hard not to be optimistic. 
 Where else do you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner? 
 
 Maybe it’s not just Break-heart Maestro who gets a happy ending? 
 
---- 
 
Readers are loving Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly 
 
‘Another funny book from Jeremy. This one made me chuckle but, my only complaint it's too short. I wanted more. Hopefully Another book is being written as we speak’ ***** Reader Review 
 ‘I love the show and I love the books. Both make me chuckle but have also given me an insight into farming and how hard farming is’ **** Reader Review 
 ‘I’ve read the previous books and loved those as well. 
 Witty and funny with depth and a bit of seriousness’ **** Reader Review 
 ‘Loved it, quickest book I've ever read. Can't wait for the next Clarkson instalment’ **** Reader Review

Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly

Tom Hanks

'A proper literary belter' THE TIMES 
'Affectionate and endlessly entertaining' RICHARD OSMAN 
 
A wildly ambitious story of the making of a colossal, star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film, and the humble comic book that inspired it all. 
 
Spanning eighty years and culminating in the opening of a film, we meet a cast of characters including a troubled soldier, a young boy with an artistic gift, an inspired and eccentric director, a pompous film star on the rise, a tireless production assistant and countless film crew members who together create Hollywood magic. 
 
Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece offers an insider's take on the momentous efforts it takes to make a film. At once a reflection on America's past and present, on the world of show business and the real world we all live in.

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

William Hanson

Jordan North

'Funny, filthy and fantastic. Cackled from start to finish' - Rylan Clark 
 
How do you ask your mate for that &pound;50 back? 
When is OK to trump in front of your partner? 
And what should you do if you've accidentally sexted your boss? 
 
William and Jordan are from very different worlds. 
 
William's an etiquette expert, with his tongue firmly in his teacup and unparalleled knowledge of table linen. Jordan's a TV and radio presenter, the patron saint of Burnley and an expert in all things common. Together they've entertained millions of listeners worldwide with their hit podcast Help I Sexted My Boss. 
 
Now, they&rsquo;ve pooled all of their wisdom on how to get through life&rsquo;s most awkward moments. 
 
From candlelight suppers to picky teas, first dates to flatmate dramas, Help I Sexted My Boss is full of both useful and useless advice. This is your indispensable guide to navigating the trepidation and challenges of modern life. 
 
'Hilarious lads.. and weirdly useful. This generation&rsquo;s Ant and Dec. If one of them was really posh. Great read' - Vicky Pattison 
 
Sunday Times Bestseller, November 2023

Help I S*xted My Boss

A hilarious guide to avoiding life's awkward moments

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

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