In this moving and lyrical collection of essays, the award-winning poet and novelist Kei Miller explores the silence in which so many important things are kept. He examines the experience of discrimination through this silence and what it means to breach it: to risk words, to risk truths. And he considers the histories our bodies inherit - the crimes that haunt them, and how meaning can shift as we move throughout the world, variously assuming privilege or victimhood.
Through letters to James Baldwin, encounters with Derek Walcott, Liam Neeson, Soca, Carnival, family secrets, love affairs, white women's tears, questions of aesthetics and more, Miller powerfully and imaginatively recounts everyday acts of racism and prejudice.
In this moving and lyrical collection of essays, the award-winning poet and novelist Kei Miller explores the silence in which so many important things are kept. He examines the…
This autumn, life is catching up with struggling novelist Thomas Quinn.
Five years ago, his sometimes friend Andrew Black wrote a single, million-copy-selling mystery novel and then disappeared. Now could it be that Quinn is being stalked by the hero of Black's book? His wife, Imogen, usually has the answers, but she's working on the other side of the world, and talking to her on webcam just isn't the same.
Quinn finds himself in a world that might well be coming apart at the seams. If he can find Black, he might start finding answers.
Maxwell's Demon forges an entirely new blend of mystery - somewhere between detective fiction, ghost story and philosophical quest. With the same white-knuckle thrills as Hall's first novel, The Raw Shark Texts, this new audiobook is also a freewheeling investigation into the magic power locked inside the alphabet, love through the looking glass, the bond between parents and children, and, at its heart, the quest for meaning in a world that, with each passing season, seems to become more chaotic and untidy.
This autumn, life is catching up with struggling novelist Thomas Quinn.
Five years ago, his sometimes friend Andrew Black wrote a single, million-copy-selling mystery novel…
Leaplings, children born on the 29th of February, are very rare. Rarer still are Leaplings with The Gift - the ability to leap through time. Elle Bibi-Imbele Ifie has The Gift, but she's never used it. Until now. On her twelfth birthday, Elle and her best friend Big Ben travel to the Time Squad Centre in 2048. Elle has received a mysterious warning from the future. Other Leaplings are disappearing in time - and not everyone at the centre can be trusted. Soon Elle's adventure becomes more than a race through time. It's a race against time. She must fight to save the world as she knows it - before it ceases to exist...
Leaplings, children born on the 29th of February, are very rare. Rarer still are Leaplings with The Gift - the ability to leap through time. Elle Bibi-Imbele Ifie has The Gift,…
Why do we think and do evil? What can science teach us about why humans do bad things? And what do our reactions to deviance teach us about ourselves? Drawing together science, psychology and philosophy, Julia Shaw unlocks the intricacies of the world of criminal psychology. Grappling with thorny dilemmas from 'Would I kill baby Hitler?' to 'Why do I want to murder my spouse?', Making Evil will give you a better understanding of the world, yourself, and your Google search history. Original, fresh and rigorous, Making Evil shines a searching light into the darker corners of the human psyche, illuminating a modern science of evil.
Why do we think and do evil? What can science teach us about why humans do bad things? And what do our reactions to deviance teach us about ourselves? Drawing together science,…
FAMILIES. SOMETIMES THEY'RE A BLOODY NIGHTMARE . . . Life with the Radleys: Radio 4, dinner parties with the Bishopthorpe neighbours and self-denial. Loads of self-denial. But all hell is about to break loose. When teenage daughter Clara gets attacked on the way home from a party, she and her brother Rowan finally discover why they can't sleep, can't eat a Thai salad without fear of asphyxiation and can't go outside unless they're smothered in Factor 50. With a visit from their lethally louche Uncle Will and an increasingly suspicious police force, life in Bishopthorpe is about to change. Drastically.
FAMILIES. SOMETIMES THEY'RE A BLOODY NIGHTMARE . . . Life with the Radleys: Radio 4, dinner parties with the Bishopthorpe neighbours and self-denial. Loads of self-denial. But all…
Tom Gauld has created countless iconic strips for the Guardian over the course of his illustrious career. A master of condensing grand, highbrow themes into panel comics, his weekly strips embody his trademark sense of humour while simultaneously opening comics to an audience unfamiliar with the artistry that cartooning has to offer. Funny but serious, these comics allow Gauld to put his impressive knowledge of history, literature and pop culture on full display - his impeccable timing and distinctive visual style setting him apart from the rest.
This postcard set celebrates more than a decade of Gauld's contributions to the Guardian, with fifty of his most beloved strips, on everything from Samuel Beckett's sitcom pitches (such as Waiting for Kramer, a show where two men await the arrival of a man named Kramer who never comes), 'Procrastination for Creative Writers, a 10-Week Course' and 'Poetry Anthologies for People Who Don't Like Poems'. Witty and beautifully drawn, The Snooty Bookshop will make you laugh at least fifty times, guaranteed.
The Snooty Bookshop Cards edition by Tom Gauld
Tom Gauld has created countless iconic strips for the Guardian over the course of his illustrious career. A master of condensing grand, highbrow themes into panel comics, his…
One man’s thrilling journey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after seemingly committing an unforgiveable act of violence, from the award-winning author of the The Devil in Silver and Big Machine.
Apollo Kagwa has had strange dreams that have haunted him since childhood. An antiquarian book dealer with a business called Improbabilia, he is just beginning to settle into his new life as a committed and involved father, unlike his own father who abandoned him, when his wife Emma begins acting strange. Disconnected and uninterested in their new baby boy, Emma at first seems to be exhibiting all the signs of post-partum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go far beyond that. Before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act—beyond any parent’s comprehension—and vanishes, seemingly into thin air.
Thus begins Apollo’s odyssey through a world he only thought he understood to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His quest begins when he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Emma’s whereabouts. Apollo then begins a journey that takes him to a forgotten island in the East River of New York City, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest in Queens where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever. This dizzying tale is ultimately a story about family and the unfathomable secrets of the people we love.
One man’s thrilling journey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after seemingly committing an unforgiveable act of violence, from the award-winning…
A beloved star of stage and screen, Alan Cumming’s life and career have been shaped by a complex and dark family past - full of troubled memories, kept buried away. But then an unexpected phone call from his long-estranged father brought the pain of the past hurtling back into the present, and unravelled everything he thought he knew about himself. Not My Father’s Son is the story of his journey of discovery, both a memoir of his childhood in Scotland, and an investigation into his family history which would change him forever.
A beloved star of stage and screen, Alan Cumming’s life and career have been shaped by a complex and dark family past - full of troubled memories, kept buried away. But then an…
There’s Grandaddy Jake Santee, 99 years old, an unreformed gambler, cranky reprobate and fierce opponent of the work ethic. Thanks to his home-distilled hooch, Ol’ Death Whisper, he reckons he’s in with good shot at immortality. And then there’s Tiny, adopted at the age of four by Grandaddy Jake, a giant young man as gentle as Jake is belligerent.
And then there’s Fup, an uncompromising twenty-pound mallard, partial to a drink herself, whose unique presence transforms the Santee household.
Hilarious, heartwarming and magical, Fup is a contemporary fable that inspires an almost evangelical fervour in all who read it. It is a work of enormous originality with a giant heart.
There’s Grandaddy Jake Santee, 99 years old, an unreformed gambler, cranky reprobate and fierce opponent of the work ethic. Thanks to his home-distilled hooch, Ol’ Death Whisper,…
Yumi Fuller hasn't set foot in her parents' farm in Idaho since she ran away when she was fifteen. Now, twenty-five years later, the prodigal daughter - and now a struggling single mother of three - is returning home, desperate to win back the love of her ailing father and to confront her best friend and her conflicted past.
Still spirited and rebellious, she finds a world - and her parents - changed beyond recognition. In the weeks and months to come, Yumi breathes life back into her parents' farm. And with the arrival of a group of young anti-GM activists, the Seeds of Resistance, she finds herself caught up in a new revolution.
All Over Creation is a moving exploration of the dichotomies of love and responsibility and a celebratory tale of the capacity for renewal that resides within us all.
Yumi Fuller hasn't set foot in her parents' farm in Idaho since she ran away when she was fifteen. Now, twenty-five years later, the prodigal daughter - and now a struggling…
It’s hardest to belong when you’re closest to home…
One wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world’s greatest mathematical riddle. Then he disappears. When he is found walking naked along the motorway, Professor Martin seems different. Besides the lack of clothes, he now finds normal life pointless. His loving wife and teenage son seem repulsive to him. In fact, he hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton. And he’s a dog. Can a bit of Debussy and Emily Dickinson keep him from murder? Can the species which invented cheap white wine and peanut butter sandwiches be all that bad? And what is the warm feeling he gets when he looks into his wife’s eyes?
It’s hardest to belong when you’re closest to home…
One wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world’s greatest mathematical riddle. Then…
In this fascinating new book, Oliver Burkeman argues that 'positive thinking' and relentless optimism aren't the solution to the happiness dilemma, but part of the problem. And that there is, in fact, an alternative path to contentment and success that involves embracing the things we spend our lives trying to avoid - uncertainty, insecurity, pessimism and failure. Thought-provoking, counter-intuitive and ultimately uplifting, The Antidote is a celebration of the power of negative thinking.
Is our search for happiness futile?
Or are we just going about it the wrong way?
In this fascinating new book, Oliver Burkeman argues that 'positive thinking' and relentless…
In UNDER WILDWOOD, Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis reveal new dimensions of the epic fantasy-adventure series begun with the bestselling WILDWOOD.
Ever since Prue McKeel rescued her brother from the malevolent Dowager Governess and returned home from the Impassable Wilderness, life has been pretty dull. Prue's mind is constantly returning to the verdant groves and sky-tall trees of Wildwood, where her friend Curtis remains as a bandit-in-training.
But all is not well in that world.A hard winter has come and discord reigns. Dark assassins with mysterious motives conspire to settle the scores of an unknown client. A titan of industry employs inmates from his orphanage to work in his machine shop, all the while obsessing over the exploitation of the Impassable Wilderness. Under a growing threat, Prue is drawn back into Wildwood, where she and Curtis will face their greatest challenge yet: to save themselves and the lives of their friends, and to bring unity to a divided country. In order to do that, they must go under Wildwood.
In UNDER WILDWOOD, Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis reveal new dimensions of the epic fantasy-adventure series begun with the bestselling WILDWOOD.
One night, George Duncan - decent man, a good man - is woken by a noise in his garden.
Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow. Unexpectedly moved, George helps the bird, and from the moment he watches it fly off, his life is transformed.
The next day, a kind but enigmatic woman walks into George's shop. Suddenly a new world opens up for George, and one night she starts to tell him the most extraordinary story.
One night, George Duncan - decent man, a good man - is woken by a noise in his garden.
Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow.…
"This is Life" is a missing baby mystery and an enchanted Parisian adventure. Hand in hand with lovable heroine Aurelie Renard, you will see life as you've never seen it before, discover the key to great art, witness the true cost of love, and learn how all these things may be controlled by the in-breath of a cormorant. Chock-full of charming characters and hilarious set-pieces this is a hugely enjoyable novel that will make you see life anew.
"This is Life" is a missing baby mystery and an enchanted Parisian adventure. Hand in hand with lovable heroine Aurelie Renard, you will see life as you've never seen it before,…
A heartbroken American writer starts a story about an ice-cold sombrero that falls inexplicably from the sky and lands in the centre of a small Southwest town. Devastated by the departure of his gorgeous Japanese girlfriend, he cannot concentrate on his writing and in frustration he throws away his beginning. But as the man searches through his apartment for strands of his lost love's hair, the discarded story in the wastepaper basket - through some kind of elaborate origami - carries on without him. Arguments over the sombrero begin, one thing leads to another and before long all hell breaks loose in the normally sleep town. Brautigan's fertile imagination twists and pulls at the ensuing chaos to come up with a tender, moving, surreal and incredibly funny tale that is told by a writer at the very peak of his creative powers.
A heartbroken American writer starts a story about an ice-cold sombrero that falls inexplicably from the sky and lands in the centre of a small Southwest town. Devastated by the…
In the four years since Simon's Cat first leapt in to our lives he has stared in more than 15 films, appeared in three best-selling books and has entertained and delighted millions of fans across the world. Along the way he has swotted flies, pulled down Christmas trees, and generally terrorized his long-suffering owner, Simon. And for the most part, he has had things his way. Until now. This year the nation's favourite cat faces up to his toughest challenge yet. With a new kitten in the house, a new girlfriend for Simon and endless new visitors to the garden, it is time to reassert his position - once and for all - as the undisputed Top Cat. One hundred original cartoons (each one in full colour), one hundred hilarious encounters: this is Simon's Cat vs. The World!
In the four years since Simon's Cat first leapt in to our lives he has stared in more than 15 films, appeared in three best-selling books and has entertained and delighted…
