A. J. Liebling, born in Manhattan in 1904, joined the staff of the New Yorker in 1935 and contributed innumerable articles to the magazine throughout his lifetime, on subjects ranging from food to boxing and France to horse racing. As a war correspondent during the Second World War, he reported from France, England and Algeria, and participated in the Normandy landings. In later life he married the writer Jean Stafford, his third wife. He died in 1963.

A. J. Liebling

A. J. Rosen is an author of YA fantasy and is known as @agatharoza on Wattpad.

A. J. Rosen

A. K. Davidson

A. O. Scott has been a film critic at the New York Times since 2000. His writing has appeared in many other publications, including the New York Review of Books, Slate, the New Yorker and the Nation. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 2010, Scott is currently Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism at Wesleyan University. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. 
 
@aoscott

A. O. Scott

A.S. Byatt (1936-2023) was a novelist, short-story writer and critic of international renown. Her novels include Possession (winner of the Booker Prize 1990), the Frederica Quartet and The Children’s Book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. She was appointed CBE in 1990 and DBE in 1999, and was awarded the Erasmus Prize 2016 for her ‘inspiring contribution to life writing’ and the Pak Kyongni Prize 2017. In 2018 she received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award.

A. S. Byatt

A. T. Williams won the George Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2013 for his book A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa. He lives in Warwickshire.

A. T. Williams

A. W. Chase

Dubbed ‘The new queen of spy fiction’ by the Guardian newspaper, and ‘the real thing’ by the Washington Post, A.C. 'Ava' Glass is the CWA Dagger-shortlisted author of Alias Emma (The Chase), The Traitor and The Trap. The Traitor was a 2023 Richard and Judy Bookclub pick. Alias Emma was a Barnes and Noble book of the month. A former crime reporter and communications consultant, for five years Ava worked closely with spies. Her time in that world fascinated her, and the people she met back then inspire every book she writes.

A.C. Glass

A.E. Housman

Arthur Edward Waite was the designer and co-creator of the now famous Rider Waite Tarot deck. 
 
An American-born British poet and scholarly mystic, his strong interest in all esoteric matters - divination, magic, Kabbalism, alchemy and Freemasony - led to him penning a number of books. These include the Key to the Tarot, The Book of Ceremonial Magic and A New Encyclopedia of Freemasony.

A.E. Waite

A.E. Warren is the author of the Tomorrow's Ancestors series, which consists of Subject Twenty-One, The Hidden Base, The Fourth Species and The Final Rising. 
 
After spending eight years working as a lawyer, she began to write in the evenings and early mornings as a form of escapism from life in a very small cubicle with lots of files. She self-published her first novels in her spare time, which were picked up by Del Rey UK which is the science fiction/fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House. 
 
 She is an avid reader, occasional gamer and fair-weather runner. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and hopefully, one day, a wise border terrier named Austen.

A.E. Warren

A.G.D. Maran

A.J. Ayer

A K Benedict writes crime and speculative fiction in a room filled with clowns, mannequins and Doctor Who figures. Her first novel, The Beauty of Murder, was nominated for an eDunnit award and is in development for a major 8-part TV series by Company Pictures. Her second, Jonathan Dark or The Evidence of Ghosts, came out in February 2016. She's written Torchwood audio dramas for Big Finish and her short stories have featured in anthologies including Great British Horror and Best British Short Stories. She lives in St Leonards-on-Sea with her dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford.

A.K.Benedict

A. L. Kennedy has twice been selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and has won a host of other awards – including the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day. She lives in Essex.

A.L. Kennedy

A.M. Ellis is a speculative fiction author and lover of everything steeped in myth and mystery. Her stories often lean into diverse voices, not only in her identity as a Black woman, but in exploring neurodivergence and mental health. A proud introvert and nostalgic gamer, she lives in Maryland, USA, with her husband and three children. Angelica is also the author of Hunt A Killer, a PERFECT SCORE novel, under the pen name A.M. Ellis, which she wrote as an IP for Scholastic in the US.

A.M. Ellis

A.N. Wilson was born in 1950 and educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is an award-winning biographer and a celebrated novelist, winning prizes for much of his work. He lives in North London.

A.N. Wilson

A.T. Emerald

A.W. Priest

A.B.C. Merriman-Labor was a barrister, writer and munitions worker born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1877. His published works include A Series of Lectures on the Negro Race and The Story of the African Slave in a Nutshell. He also edited two editions of the Handbook of Sierra Leone. He arrived in the UK in 1904 to study law. In 1907, he organised a centenary commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade in Westminster Abbey. He later embarked on an 'entertainment-lecture' tour called Life and Scenes in Britain, travelling across thousands of miles of West, South West and Central Africa, which he expanded on to create Britons Through Negro Spectacles.

ABC Merriman-Labor

AJ Cronin

AJ Molloy

Aabria Iyengar is an American actress and author.

Aabria Iyengar

Aaliya Jaleel is a freelance illustrator, designer, and visual development artist, currently majoring in Animation at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also the illustrator of Under My Hijab and Muslim Girls Rise. You can visit her online at www.aaliyamj.com.

Aaliya Jaleel

Aaron Allston

After more than fifteen years of experience as a clinical psychotherapist, Dr Aaron Balick has taken the amazing insights from psychology and psychotherapy out of the consultation room and made them accessible to the wider world. 
 
He has been an ‘agony uncle’ for many years for both CBBC and BBC Radio 1, as well as on television, including BBC Worldwide, BBC 3 and BBC Learning.

Aaron Balick

Aaron Carroll

Aaron Dignan is the founder of The Ready--a global organizational transformation and coaching practice--that helps companies large and small adopt new forms of self-organization and dynamic teaming. Clients include Johnson &amp; Johnson, Microsoft, Lloyds Bank, Citibank, Boeing, Mailchimp, Airbnb, Dropbox, and charity: water. 
 
He is also the founder of Murmur--a SaaS startup that helps teams scale culture through the magic of working agreements. The Murmur platform will allow every team on the planet to define and share their ways of working. 
 
Dignan is the author of Brave New Work (2019) and Game Frame (2011), co-host of the Brave New Work podcast, and a friend to misfit toys.

Aaron Dignan

Aaron Edwards is a senior lecturer in defence and international affairs at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, specialising in terrorism and counter-insurgency. He is the author and editor of several books, including Defending the Realm: The Politics of Britain’s Small Wars Since 1945, and has lectured all over the world on aspects of national and international security. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Aaron Edwards

Aaron Robertson is a writer, an editor, and a translator of Italian literature. His translation of Igiaba Scego’s Beyond Babylon was short-listed for the 2020 PEN Translation Prize and the National Translation Award, and in 2021 he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Nation, Foreign Policy, n+1, The Point, and Literary Hub, among other publications. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Aaron Robertson

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Philip Caveney

Sebastian Darke has the world on his narrow shoulders. The son of a human father and an elvish mother, he is deperately trying to become the family breadwinner and has taken on his late father's job - celebrated jester, Prince of Fools. 
 
Trouble is, Sebastian can't tell a joke to save his life. Dressed in his father's clothes and accompanied by his talking (and endlessly complaining) buffalope, Max, he sets off for the fabled city of Keladon, where he hopes to be appointed court jester to King Septimus. On the way he encounters a tiny but powerful warrior called Cornelius; the beautfiul Princess Kerin; blood-thirsty Brigands and enough perils to make him wonder why he ever decided to leave home. 
 
A hilarious and swashbuckling adventure!

Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools

Kes Gray

Nick Sharratt

Daisy's getting into double the trouble in this fantastic collection! Whether she's tracking down thieves in DAISY AND THE TROUBLE WITH BURGLARS, or starring in her school nativity play in DAISY AND THE TROUBLE WITH CHRISTMAS, one thing's for sure - there's always trouble when Daisy's about.

A Winter Double Daisy

Mark Haddon

Ben's a born daydreamer. He's much rather be in the Sahara, or on a Viking ship than sitting in a boring maths lesson. Then Agent Z appears on the scene - and THAT means secret missions, cunning plans and careful strategies. And soon Ben and his friends, Barney and Jenks, realize that life on planet earth is RATHER exciting after all!

Agent Z Meets The Masked Crusader

Ben's repulsive cousin, T.J., comes to stay. He discovers an incriminating videotape of Agent Z activities and blackmails Ben into becoming his slave.Meanwhile, Ben, Jenks and Barney embark on their first film, entitled Invasion of the Killer Bananas, in which T.J. unwittingly has a starring role. When T.J. disappears, however, the film points towards Ben, Jenks and Barney as murder suspects!In an attempt to clear their names, the boys use all the cunning of Agent Z to try and lure T.J. home and into the hands of the police . . .Mark Haddon has a sharp understanding of what makes children tick, and they will delight in the ever more daring, ever more hilarious missions of Agent Z and his three creators.

Agent Z and the Killer Bananas

Gretel Killeen

Catherine Vase

Join Eppie and Zeke as they get sucked down the plughole and into a brand-new adventure. It's a giggle-filled non-stop underwater romp with man-eating seaweed, magic mermaids, pirates in petticoats, fat fisherman and elastic eels . . . and that's all before breakfast. Will Zeke and Eppie ever get back on dry land and back to their normal size? This slapstick adventure, bursting with anarchic energy has enormous child-appeal even for the most reluctant reader.

My Sister's A Sea Slug

Ben's in danger of spending his holidays cooped up in a caravan with his mad Aunt Gwen. But by luck (and bribery), he gets a place on the school trip to an outward-bound centre in Wales, along with Barney, Jenks and of course, Agent Z. Abseiling, orienteering, sinking enemy canoes and sabotaging toothpaste are all in a day's work for the Crane Grove Crew. But then they uncover a news clipping which reveals that their centre manager, the affectionately nicknamed 'Grenade-head', is in fact an escaped bank robber. He's planning to recover the buried loot any night now and Agent Z and the crew intend to be there when he does. If you think that sounds like a downright ridiculous plan, you'd be right. Especially as the escaped criminal story turns out to be the invention of the crew's new pal, Roz and for once, the joke's on them! Mark Haddon has a sharp understanding of what makes children tick, and they will delight in the ever more daring, ever more hilarious missions of Agent Z and his three creators.

Agent Z Goes Wild

John Farman

Warning: This book could change your ideas about history for ever!! 
 
Do you know why the Celts got the best girls? Or who had his portrait painted after he was dead? And have you any idea who planned the first Channel Tunnel? From the dawn of civilization to the end of the Second World War, it's all here in the factually accurate and hilariously funny Very Bloody History of Britain. 
 
Bizarre, barmy and almost beyond belief, you've never had a history lesson like it!

The Very Bloody History Of Britain

The First Bit!

Pat Thomson

There's something for everyone in this collection of funny short stories. It's packed full of talking pigs, UFOs, gorillas, witches, mischievous house elves, flying postmen and lots more! Find out how Bozo the gorilla helps Jimmy deal with his lazy big brother, what Dinah Price does when she finds the three bears tucked up in her bed and what fate Agnethia Toadfax, trainee witch, has in store for Mr Smike the rude librarian . . .

You Can't Bring That in Here!

Nicholas Allan

Father Christmas is back, and this time he's had three helping of sprouts! As he tries to deliver the presents, his tummy rumbles, gurgles and groans, but Father Christmas knows he must keep it in - he doesn't want to wake anyone up! 
 
Will he come up TRUMPS?

Father Christmas Comes Up Trumps!

Russell Ash

What's your name? Is it Chloe? Jessica? Jack, Sam? Is it Emily? Rebecca? Matthew, Dan? 
 
...Or is it Fart Bear? 
 
Noah Zark? 
 
Piggy Banks? 
 
Be grateful for your ordinary name - this funny, fascinating book is full of the silliest, the strangest, the weirdest and the wackiest names from around the world (and some of them are quite rude too)!

Big Pants, Burpy and Bumface

Anne Finnis

If you've ever wondered what boys really think of girls and what girls really think of boys, this is your chance to find out. Do boys think girls have a better dress sense? Do girls think boys are better at maths and science? And who has the most disgusting habits? Packed full of opinions, from the ridiculous to the frighteningly spot-on, this book might make you mad, it might make you laugh out loud and it will certainly surprise you.

It's A Boy Girl Thing

Mini Grey

What happens when you leave your toys out in the garden at night? They get beamed into space - that's what! Join our plucky band as they explore the cosmos, and help out one lonely alien along the way...

Toys in Space

Nicholas Fisk

Tom and his little sister, Polly discover a huge, colourful parrot in their kitchen called Mister Macaw. He is a loquacious and very bossy bird who has swallowed an English dictionary and is DESPERATE to get back to his tropical rainforest. The threesome must find a way of paying for the parrot's airfare - and come up with the mega-wacky solution of robbing a bank with a . . . banana!

Not A Dickybird

Get into double trouble with Daisy in this fantastic collection, featuring her first two troublesome tales: Daisy and the Trouble with Life and Daisy and the Trouble with Zoos. Trouble is, which story will you read first?

Double Daisy

Mitchell Symons

A collection of wise and wacky words of advice, from the bestselling and double Blue Peter Best Book with Facts-winning Mitchell Symons. 
 
From the marvellous mind of Mitchell Symons comes such gems of wisdom as: 
You can't trust a dog to watch your food. 
Why buy shampoo when real poo is free? 
Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, as you won't have a leg to stand on. 
And if getting even doesn't work, just get odd!

Don't Wipe Your Bum with a Hedgehog

Chris P Bacon

What would YOU rather do - hug a slug OR snog a frog? Have hair made of soggy spaghetti OR a nose made of plasticine? Be best friends with the Incredible Hulk OR with Batman? This brilliantly funny and totally addictive collection of impossible choices will keep you entertained for hours!

Hug a Slug or Snog a Frog?

A book of impossible choices

Mitchell Symons has stats and stories to entertain and amaze you! 
 
Did the Olympians really compete in the buff? 
 
Which striker's shorts fell down when he was taking a penalty? 
 
Which sport consists of running while juggling? 
 
Which football team's fanzine is called Linesman, You're Rubbish?

On Your Farts, Get Set, Go!

It's a busy year for the Queen - she has lots of important events to attend. Meanwhile, a little girl is wondering what knickers Her Majesty will choose to wear on a school visit! Will they be her 'at home' knickers - adorned with corgis - or her 'garden party' knickers, or perhaps her woolly Balmoral ones...? 
 
Both children and adults will love this very special and endearing insight into a child's imagination, from the best-selling author-illustrator of Father Christmas Needs A Wee and Jesus' Christmas Party. 
 
Recently, the Queen visited a nursery in Norfolk and enjoyed a display based on the book: 
 
"...just to make it special, there was one element that was not quite so traditional: pants. These were not just any pants, either. They were the Queen's Knickers, and at Dersingham Infant and Nursery School, in Norfolk, they were put on special display in honour of their royal visitor" ~ Valentine Low, The Times

The Queen's Knickers

A special new enlarged edition of the bestselling Christmas story told from the point of view of the grumpy innkeeper. When a night of angels, shepherds and bright stars keeps him from his sleep, is there anything that will cheer him up?

Jesus' Christmas Party

Tim Vine

Comedian and TV star, Tim Vine, will have you laughing for hours with this new, abridged version of his hilarious joke book . . . 
 
Velcro. 
What a rip off. 
 
Why do you never see an elephant on a bus? 
Because he's got a massive bum. 
 
So I went to the doctors. I said, 'I got hurt in a pillow fight.' He said, 'You've got concushion.' 
 
Believe it or not there are twice as many eyebrows in the world as there are people 
 
I tried to surf the Internet and I fell off my chair 
 
 
Read it to find these funny puns, plus many more original jokes and illustrations. You won't be able to put it down!

The (Not Quite) Biggest Ever Tim Vine Joke Book

Children's Edition

Ever wondered . . . 
 
Why are slugs so slimy? 
 
Why does your skin go wrinkly in the bath? 
 
How clever is your right foot? 
 
What is the best thing to do if you fall into quicksand? 
 
And do igloos have loos? 
 
Mitchell Symons knows the answers . . . and now you will too!

Do Igloos Have Loos?

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE... 
 
Arm yourself with the answers to top trivia such as: 
 
Why are porcupines so pongy? 
 
Why do angry monkeys fling their poo at each other? 
 
Why do ostriches pee on their own legs? 
 
Includes cool collector cards to swap with your mates.

That's So Gross!: Animals

GO MAD FOR MINIBEASTS! 
 
Discover the answers to top trivia such as: 
 
Does the dung beetle really stink? 
 
Why are caterpillars so muscly? 
 
Why would fleas be champion high-jumpers? 
 
Includes cool collector cards to swap with your mates.

That's So Gross!: Creepy Crawlies

NOXIOUS NOISES AND STINKY SMELLS . . . 
 
Amaze your mates with top trivia such as: 
 
Why do we puke and sweat? 
 
Which tribe uses farting as a greeting? 
 
How likely are you to be injured by a toilet seat?

That's So Gross!: Human Body

DID YOU KNOW . . . 
 
Square watermelons are sold in Japan? 
 
There is a River Piddle in Dorset? 
 
Americans use enough toilet paper daily to wrap around the world nine times? 
 
Mitchell Symons goes global - join him on his fun fact-finding world tour!

Why You Need a Passport When You're Going to Puke

DID YOU KNOW? 
 
Stinky ear wax has been hanging around in the ear canal for nearly a month before it is 'pickable'! 
 
Humans share a third of their DNA with lettuce. 
 
Cockroaches fart every fifteen minutes. 
 
Giraffes never kneel. 
 
The average person spends six months of their life on the loo. 
 
Amaze your friends and fascinate your family with this book packed with jaw-dropping, eyebrow-raising facts.

Why Does Ear Wax Taste So Gross?

EVER WONDERED . . . 
 
Why we burp? 
 
What a wotsit is? 
 
Whether lemmings really jump off cliffs? 
 
Why vomit always contains carrots? 
 
And why do farts smell like rotten eggs? 
 
No subject is too strange and no trivia too tough for Mitchell Symons, who has the answer to these crazy questions, and many more.

Why Do Farts Smell Like Rotten Eggs?

Quentin Blake

A classic, exuberant, rhyming picture book from the much-loved Quentin Blake. 
 
Mr Magnolia has only one boot. 
He has an old trumpet that goes rooty-toot - 
And two lovely sisters who play on the flute - 
But Mr Magnolia has only one boot. 
 
In this wittily rhyming picture book, Mr Magnolia has a full and happy life except for one serious omission - a boot. But one day, he receives a mysterious parcel, and at last Mr Magnolia can splash in the puddles with everyone else!

Mister Magnolia

Sandi Toksvig

It has never been more important to remember the girls and women who were written out of history. Just because we don't know about them and aren't taught about them in schools, it doesn't mean they weren't there. They achieved great things, concocted wonderful inventions and won battles. In this book, Sandi Toksvig tells us about the sheroes that have been ignored or overlooked, despite the fact that they changed our world. 
 
Perfect for fans of Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls and Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World, this is the book to show young people that anything is possible.

Girls Are Best

Let Mitchell Symons be your guide into the weird and wonderful world of trivia. 
 
Camels are born without humps. 
 
Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, was scared of mice. 
 
Only 30% of humans can flare their nostrils 
 
A group of twelve or more cows is called a flink 
 
And an elephant produces an eye-wateringly pongy 20 kilos of dung a day!

How Much Poo Does an Elephant Do?

A Private Thriller

A series of children's modern classic novels by renowned 20th century children's writers. All the titles in this series have the A Puffin Book logo, contemporary-style covers, and child-friendly endnotes.

A Puffin Book

A Ripley Novel

A Slice of the Moon

A Victorian Mystery

A Walk in...

A Women’s Murder Club Thriller

A chef Paul Delamare Mystery

Aberrations

Across the Universe

Actiphons

Adelia Aguilar

Adrian Mole

Adventures in Time

Aftermath

Against War

Age of X

Agent 21

Agent Z

Detective Aidan Waits is a troubled junior detective haunted by his past. Facing an uncertain future, and disconnected from his history, DC Waits and his partner, Detective Inspector Peter 'Sutty' Sutcliffe work on Manchester's streets to uncover the city's worst criminals among the grime of the underworld.

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