Best of
English-Literature

2021

Will They, Won't They?


Portia MacIntosh - 2021
    When life goes off track sometimes the only thing you can do is go back to where it all began...Emmy Palmer is the star of Bragadon Forest, the biggest fantasy series on TV; adored by the public, living the life of glamour and luxury in London.But when scandal strikes, Emmy must escape the city and return to her seaside hometown to lie low and wait for the storm to pass.Emmy's agent decides it would be a good look to star in the community Christmas pantomime, but who else could be playing her leading man but her ex-boyfriend who she may or may not have ditched to move to London a decade ago...As the show approaches, love and friendships blossom and the real question is - Will they? Won't they?The brand new laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from top 10 bestseller Portia MacIntosh, guaranteed to put a smile on your face this winter.

Christmas at Fox Farm


Helen Pollard - 2021
    Robins dart across frosty hedgerows and holly bushes are covered with ruby-red berries. But this year they will need an extra pinch of festive magic to keep Christmas alive…Living at Fox Farm, with its cosy café, beautiful pottery studio and charming gift shop, is a dream come true for thirty-one-year-old Daisy. The kindly owner, Jean, and the close-knit village feel like the home and family Daisy has never had. She’s been looking forward to her first magical Christmas in the countryside.When Jean suddenly falls ill, Daisy is the first to lend a hand. She ropes in Alex – Jean’s handsome but stubborn nephew – to help her. When the pair discover the farm is almost bankrupt, it seems like the annual Christmas celebrations will be cancelled. Alex and Daisy need a plan, and quickly, if they are to pull off Christmas against the odds and save Fox Farm.From the get-go Daisy and Alex cannot agree on anything, from the mince pie recipe to the colour scheme for the tree. Soon, however, in true Christmas spirit, they find themselves coming together in the face of decorating disasters, tripping over each other at the holiday barn dance and tracking down a missing Santa Claus.But when Daisy discovers the secret Alex is keeping about the future of Jean’s farm, will she run from the only place that has ever felt like home? Or will she find a way to save Christmas and the farm, and open her heart to a new beginning for her and Alex?Grab a mug of hot chocolate and a mince pie (or two!) and lose yourself in this utterly charming and romantic holiday tale that proves home is where the heart is. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Heidi Swain and Holly Martin, this is the book that will make your Christmas!

The Post Office Girls


Poppy Cooper - 2021
    On Beth Healey's eighteenth birthday, she hopes that she will be able to forget the ghastly war and celebrate. But that evening, her twin brother Ned announces that he has signed up to fight. No longer able to stand working in her parents' village shop while others are doing their bit, Beth applies to join the Army Post Office's new Home Depot on the Regent's Park, and is astounded to be accepted. She will be responsible for making sure that letters and parcels get through to the troops on the front line. Beth is thrilled to be a crucial part of the war effort and soon makes friends with fellow post girls Milly and Nora, and meets the handsome James. But just as she begins to feel that her life has finally begun, everything starts falling apart, with devastating consequences for Beth and perhaps even the outcome of the war itself. Can Beth and her new friends keep it all together and find happiness at last?The Post Office Girls is perfect for fans of Johanna Bell, Daisy Styles and Nancy Revell. EADERS LOVE THE POST OFFICE GIRLS! 'A superb debut novel' - 5 STARS'Entertaining, enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable' - 5 STARS'I absolutely loved this book and I am already eagerly awaiting book two in the series' - 5 STARS'The book gave a wonderful in sight into postal-service life during the war. Well done, Poppy' - 5 STARS'An excellent WW1 book' - 5 STARS

Cook As You Are: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks and Messy Kitchens


Ruby Tandoh - 2021
    From last-minute inspiration to delicious meals for one, easy one-pot dinners to no-chop recipes for when life keeps your hands full, Ruby brings us 100 delicious, affordable and achievable recipes, including salted malted magic ice cream, one-tin smashed potatoes with lemony sardines and pesto and an easy dinner of plantain, black beans and eden rice.This is a new kind of cookbook for our times: an accessible, inclusive and inspirational addition to any and every kitchen. You don't have to be an aspiring chef for your food to be delectable or for cooking to be a delight. Cook as you are.

Rebel Girls Champions: 25 Tales of Unstoppable Athletes


Rebel Girls - 2021
    It is part of the award-winning Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series.This paperback collection showcases some of the most beloved stories from the first three volumes of the New York Times best-selling series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. It also features brand new tales of game-changing athletes and their drive, resilience, and sportsmanship. In Rebel Girls Champions, young readers can win the World Cup with Megan Rapinoe, flip and tumble with Simone Biles, and land breathtaking snowboard tricks with Chloe Kim.  Coming out directly after the Tokyo Olympics, Rebel Girls Champions will include the most thrilling anecdotes from the 2021 Games.   The exciting, easy-to-read text is paired with colorful full-page portraits created by female artists from all around the world

After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man


Michael Ward - 2021
    Lewis’s most widely admired but least accessible works, The Abolition of Man, which originated as a series of lectures on ethics that he delivered during the Second World War.These lectures tackle the thorny question of whether moral value is objective or not. When we say something is right or wrong, are we recognizing a reality outside ourselves, or merely reporting a subjective sentiment? Lewis addresses the matter from a purely philosophical standpoint, leaving theological matters to one side. He makes a powerful case against subjectivism, issuing an intellectual warning that, in our “post-truth” twenty-first century, has even more relevance than when he originally presented it.Lewis characterized The Abolition of Man as “almost my favourite among my books,” and his biographer Walter Hooper has called it “an all but indispensable introduction to the entire corpus of Lewisiana.” In After Humanity, Michael Ward sheds much-needed light on this important but difficult work, explaining both its general academic context and the particular circumstances in Lewis’s life that helped give rise to it, including his front-line service in the trenches of the First World War.After Humanity contains a detailed commentary clarifying the many allusions and quotations scattered throughout Lewis’s argument. It shows how this resolutely philosophical thesis fits in with his other, more explicitly Christian works. It also includes a full-color photo gallery, displaying images of people, places, and documents that relate to The Abolition of Man, among them Lewis’s original “blurb” for the book, which has never before been published.

Gone: A search for what remains of the world's extinct creatures


Michael Blencowe - 2021
    Warm, wry and thought-provoking, Gone shows that while each extinction story is different, all can inform how we live in the future. Discover and learn from the stories of the:Great Auk. A majestic flightless seabird of the North Atlantic and the ‘original penguin’.Spectacled Cormorant. The ‘ludicrous bird’ from the remote islands of the Bering Sea. Steller’s Sea Cow. An incredible ten tonne dugong with skin as furrowed as oak bark. Upland Moa. The improbable birds and the one-time rulers of New Zealand. Huia. The unique bird with two beaks and twelve precious tail feathers. South Island Kōkako. The ‘orange-wattled crow’, New Zealand’s elusive Grey Ghost. Xerces Blue. The gossamer-winged butterfly of the San Francisco sand dunes. Pinta Island Tortoise. The slow-moving, long-lived giant of the Galápagos Islands. Dodo. The superstar of extinction. Schomburgk’s Deer. A mysterious deer from the wide floodplains of central Thailand. Ivell’s Sea Anemone. A see-through sea creature known only from southern England.    A modern must-read for anyone interested in protecting our earth and its incredible wildlife, Gone is an evocative call to conserve what we have before it is lost forever.

Iris Apfel


Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara - 2021
    Growing up in Queens, New York, little Iris was the only child at family events. Her grandmother would open a giant bag of fabric, filled with every color and pattern, and let her play with fabric scraps. This inspired a lifelong love of fashion. Famous for her eclectic style, built around oversized glasses, bright colors, and bold jewelry, Iris was the subject of an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when she was just 84 years young. This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the style icon's life.Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream. This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Paper dolls, learning cards, matching games, and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

Kamala Harris


Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara - 2021
    Little Kamala used to accompany her parents to civil rights marches in California, strapped into her stroller so she wouldn’t get lost. From an early age, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer to help people in need. In school, Kamala felt like she could do anything and everything. She earned a law degree to make sure the most vulnerable were protected by justice. Kamala’s life was full of firsts, including becoming the first woman, Black woman, and South Asian American to be elected vice president. As Kamala stated to little girls everywhere in her speech—she may be the first but she won't be the last. This powerful book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the politician’s life.Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream. This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Paper dolls, learning cards, matching games, and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

Wish Hunter (The Savannah River Series, #1)


Hero Bowen - 2021
    E. Schwab.Nadia Kaminski’s family has stolen wishes for generations, auctioning them off to skeevy business tycoons and politicians in back-alley deals. Their operation is simple enough. Find someone who gained a wish after saving a life. Trick the wisher into sharing a deep secret. Steal the wish. And as a marriage counselor, Nadia has more access to people’s secrets than most.But when Nadia comes across the perfect opportunity to steal a wish for herself, she takes it—and the rock star she’s stolen it from desperately wants his wish back.As Nadia tries to figure out how to get rid of the cocky thorn in her side, she must face off against vengeful wish hunters, her all-too-powerful family, and the consequences of her own desires—because stealing wishes can be a deadly affair.Content note: spousal death, gun violence, miscarriage.

A Room of One's Own


Virginia Wolf - 2021
    

The Wife of Willesden


Zadie Smith - 2021
    Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend.She plays many roles round here. And neverScared to tell the whole of her truth, whetherOr not anyone wants to hear it. WifeOf Willesden: pissed enough to tell her lifeStory to whoever has ears and eyes . . .'Zadie Smith's first time writing for the stage, The Wife of Willesden is a riotous twenty-first century translation of Geoffrey Chaucer's classic The Wife of Bath's Prologue, brought to glorious life on the Kilburn High Road.Commissioned to celebrate Brent's year as Borough of Culture 2020, The Wife of Willesden will premiere at the Kiln Theatre, London in September 2020.

Lights Day and Night: The Science of How Light Works


Susan Hughes - 2021
    Over the course of a summer vacation, the pair investigate the many fascinating aspects of light, including natural and artificial light; the many uses of light; how light can be absorbed, reflected and refracted; the meaning of opaque, translucent and transparent; how the eye sees light; and why some animals need less light to see than humans. From forest fires to traffic lights, this book also provides loads of examples of sources of light. Beginning near the shore of a lake looking up at the stars on a summer night, and ending at the same shore enjoying a fireworks display, our guides offer readers an intriguing and lyrical introduction to light and all its mysteries.The second book in the delightfully informative Science of How series, award-winning author Susan Hughes's engaging narrative gives young children an age-appropriate overview of the science of light. Ellen Rooney's friendly and inviting illustrations with their many shades of blue beckon readers to be a part of the characters' fun summertime exploration. Presenting complex topics in a graphic, appealing and easy-to-digest format, this comprehensive one-of-a-kind book strongly supports the Next Generation Science Standards. The manuscript was carefully reviewed by an expert in the field. The book includes a glossary and instructions for a shadow puppet show.

Audrey Hepburn (Inspired Inner Genius)


Inspired Inner Genius - 2021
    The inspirational tale of Audrey Hepburn! Inspire love, magnanimity, and unlimited possibilities.This inspirational Audrey Hepburn children’s book includes:I: Illustrated biography — Printed in full color and written like a storybookII: Extended biography — Curated to deepen your child’s knowledge about Audrey HepburnIII: Gallery — an iconic photo of Audrey Hepburn...IV: Glossary — Reinforce your child’s learning with simplified explanations of advanced vocabulary...V: Muse Museum — Introduce your little ones to a myriad of other inspirational individuals in our book collection…VI: BONUS Education Guide — An educational tool (downloadable pdf) to center a class around or to spark an enriching conversation just before bedtime...Age Specifications:This illustrated biography book of Audrey Hepburn is perfect for boys and girls between 5 to 10 years old.

Yes Yes More More


Anna Wood - 2021
    A film journalist shares tea and a KitKat with Marcel Proust, more or less, during a long train journey. An afterparty turns into a crime scene. Colleagues, maybe in love, have lunch and don't quite talk about their relationship. A woman flees to New Orleans and finds unexpected treasures there. In her electric debut, Anna Wood skips through the decades of a woman's life, meeting friends, lovers, shapeshifters and doppelgangers along the way. Pleasures and regrets pile up, time becomes non-linear, characters stumble and shimmy through moments of rupture, horror and joy. Written with warmth, wit and swagger, these stories glide from acutely observed comic dialogue to giddy surrealism and quiet heartbreak, and always there is music – pop songs as tiny portals into another world. Yes Yes More More is packed with friendship, memory, sexuality, love, and the radical possibilities of pleasure.

The Precipice: Neoliberalism, the Pandemic, and the Urgent Need for Radical Change


Noam Chomsky - 2021
    In The Precipice, Noam Chomsky sheds light into the phenomenon of Trumpism, exposes the catastrophic nature and impact of Trump’s policies on people, the environment, and the planet as a whole, and captures the dynamics of the brutal class warfare launched by the masters of capital to maintain and even enhance the features of a dog-eat–dog society to the unprecedented mobilization of millions of people against neoliberal capitalism, racism, and police violence.

Little Leonardo's Fascinating World of Astronomy


Sarafina Nance - 2021
    Get lost in captivating illustrations and text about that big wide-open space above us. Did you know that everything you can see, touch, taste, and smell is actually just a teeny tiny part of the Universe? Or that even though Earth has only 1 moon, Jupiter has 79 and Saturn has 82? Or did you know that there is a planet that’s made of diamond? Little Leonardo’s Fascinating World of Astronomy joins the Little Leonardo Fascinating World of series, illustrated by Greg Paprocki.Companion book to the Little Leonardo Fascinating World of series featuring basic concepts about what astronomers do and all things space.

Served Cold: A HorrorTube Anthology


R. Saint ClaireMike DeFrench - 2021
    BrownSweep in the Sidestreet by A.B. FrankFrostbite by Alfie TobuttBlack Wood by Marie McWilliamsThe Cold Traps by Steve DonoghueThis Grey Winter by Mihalis GeorgostathisOrpheus Descends by Andrew LyallThou by Mers SumidaThe Walk-in by Mike DeFrenchEnsnared by Aphrodite LeeCold Crossing by Jacob PeytonSnow Boy by Ryan StroudThe Woods and Mister Softee by R. Saint ClaireRevival by Madison EstesLake Alice by Michael TaylorFractals by D.L. TilleryWater of Life by Gloria McNeelyBlack Solstice by Dane Cobain

Where did the universe come from? And other cosmic questions


Chris Ferrie - 2021
    But some secrets remain beyond our realm of understanding―and seemingly beyond the very laws and theories we have relied on to make sense of the universe we inhabit. It is clear that the quantum, the world of atoms and electrons, is entwined with the cosmos, a universe of trillions of stars and galaxies...but exactly how these two extremes of human understanding interact remains a mystery. Where Did the Universe Come From? And Other Cosmic Questions allows readers to eavesdrop on a conversation between award-winning physicists Chris Ferrie and Geraint F. Lewis as they examine the universe through the two unifying and yet often contradictory lenses of classical physics and quantum mechanics, tackling questions such as:Where did the universe come from?Why do dying stars rip themselves apartDo black holes last forever?What is left for humans to discover?A brief but fascinating exploration of the vastness of the universe, this book will have armchair physicists turning the pages until their biggest and smallest questions about the cosmos have been answered.

Astronomical: From Quarks to Quasars: The Science of Space at its Strangest


Tim James - 2021
    It's no surprise then, that the weirdest facts in science (not to mention the weirdest scientists themselves) are found in astrophysics and cosmology. If you're looking for instructions on how to set up your grandad's telescope this book probably isn't for you. In Astronomical, Tim James takes us on a tour of the known (and unknown) universe, focusing on the most-mind boggling stuff we've come across, as well as unpacking the latest theories about what's really going on out there. Guiding us through Einstein's relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory, Astronomical delves into the baffling corners of the cosmos and tackles the biggest mysteries we face: from alien life to the zodiac; from white holes to wormholes; from quasars to quark stars. This is the science of space at its absolute strangest.

Why Don't Astronauts Burp?: Questions and Answers about Space


Anne Rooney - 2021
    Featuring laugh-out-loud illustrations, this awesome fact book is overflowing with out-of-this-world facts and stats that are great for sharing.Includes: - Peculiar plants- The moons of the solar system- Human space travel- Black holesThis book introduces young minds to the science of space in a engaging and memorable way. Perfect for curious kids aged 7+.ABOUT THE SERIES: Big Ideas! is a dynamic, educational fun fact series for children aged seven and up, illustrated throughout with humorous cartoons. Packed with surprising facts, stats, and records that kids will just love to share, it revels in all things weird, unexpected, mind-blowing, funny, and gross!