Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now - As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It, and Long for It


Craig Taylor - 2011
    In the style of Studs Terkel (Working, Hard Times, The Good War) and Dave Isay (Listening Is an Act of Love), Londoners offers up  the stories, the gripes, the memories, and the dreams of those in the great and vibrant British metropolis who “love it, hate it, live it, left it, and long for it,” from a West End rickshaw driver to a Soldier of the Guard at Buckingham Palace to a recovering heroin addict seeing Big Ben for the very first time. Published just in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games, Londoners is a glorious literary celebration of one of the world’s truly great cities.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog


Dylan Thomas - 1940
    It also shows him a spinner of tales & a creator of memorable characters.The peachesA visit to Grandpa'sPatricia, Edith & ArnoldThe fightExtraordinary little coughJust like little dogsWhere Tawe flowsWho do you wish was with usOld GarboOne warm Saturday

Cold Hand in Mine: Strange Stories


Robert Aickman - 1974
    The story Pages from a Young Girl's Journal won Aickman the World Fantasy Award in 1975. It was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1973 before appearing in this collection.Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full, being more ambiguous than standard ghost stories. Throughout the stories the reader is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story (Pages from a Young Girl's Journal) but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing.• The Swords • The Real Road to the Church • Niemandswasser • Pages from a Young Girl's Journal• The Hospice • The Same Dog • Meeting Mr. Millar • The Clock Watcher

Eye of the Needle


Ken Follett - 1978
    Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is beginning to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life. All will come to a terrifying conclusion in Ken Follett's unsurpassed and unforgettable masterwork of suspense, intrigue, and the dangerous machinations of the human heart.

The Conquest of Happiness


Bertrand Russell - 1930
    First published in 1930, it pre-dates the current obsession with self-help by decades. Leading the reader step by step through the causes of unhappiness and the personal choices, compromises and sacrifices that (may) lead to the final, affirmative conclusion of 'The Happy Man', this is popular philosophy, or even self-help, as it should be written.

Here Is Where We Meet


John Berger - 2005
    and Pig Earth among them-with a shimmering fiction drawn from chapters of his own life.One hot afternoon in Lisbon, the narrator finds his long-dead mother seated on a park bench. "The dead don't stay where they are buried," she tells him. And so begins a remarkable odyssey, told in simple yet gorgeous prose, that carries us from the London Blitz in 1943, to a Polish market, to a Paleolithic cave, to the Ritz Hotel in Madrid. Here Is Where We Meet is a unique literary journey that moves freely through time and space but never loses its foothold in the sensuous present.

The Persephone Book of Short Stories


Susan GlaspellElizabeth Berridge - 2012
    The use of metaphor is delicate and subtle; often the women are strong and capable and the men less so; shallow and selfish motives are exposed.The dates of these stories range from 1909 to 1986 and there are thirty in all. The ten stories which are already in print in Persephone editions of their work are by Katherine Mansfield, Irène Némirovsky, Mollie Panter-Downes (twice), Elizabeth Berridge, Dorothy Whipple, Frances Towers, Margaret Bonham, Diana Gardner and Diana Athill. The ten stories which have already been published in the Quarterly and Biannually are by EM Delafield; Dorothy Parker; Dorothy Whipple; Edith Wharton; Phyllis Bentley; Dorothy Canfield Fisher; Norah Hoult; Angelica Gibbs; Penelope Mortimer; and Georgina Hammick. And lastly the ten stories which are new are by Susan Glaspell, Pauline Smith, Malachi Whitaker, Betty Miller, Helen Hull, Kay Boyle, Shirley Jackson, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Elizabeth Spencer and Penelope Fitzgerald.

Kaya Bani Chandan


Rajendra Kher - 1999
    Gujarati translation of 'Deaha Zala Chandanacha', original Marathi biographical novel on the life of Revered Pandurang Shastri Athavale; who is recipient of 100s National & International awards including Magsaysay Award, Templeton Award etc.This Gujarati translation is the recipient of Baroda Marathi Vangmay Parishad Puraskar.

If Only They Could Talk


James Herriot - 1970
    From the author whose books inspired the BBC series "All Creatures Great and Small", this first volume of unforgettable memoirs chronicles James Herriot's first years as a country vet, with the signature storytelling magic that has made him a favourite the world over. Here is a book for all those who find laughter and joy in animals, and who know and understand the magic of wild places and beautiful countryside.

The Sum of My Parts


James Sanford - 2011
    At first I tried to deny my condition (trying to treat a tumor with hot baths and ice packs). Eventually, I decided I would learn as much about my illness as possible while trying to keep my emotions on hold.What followed was an experience that finally forced me to deal with issues about my body that I had tried to ignore for decades. Along the way I dealt with a physician who gave me ridiculous advice and acquaintances who asked unbelievable questions. But I was also fortunate to be surrounded by people who supported me and doctors who helped me through the process.

The End We Start From


Megan Hunter - 2017
    Days later, the family are forced to leave their home in search of safety. As they move from place to place, shelter to shelter, their journey traces both fear and wonder as Z's small fists grasp at the things he sees, as he grows and stretches, thriving and content against all the odds.This is a story of new motherhood in a terrifying setting: a familiar world made dangerous and unstable, its people forced to become refugees. Startlingly beautiful, Megan Hunter's The End We Start From is a gripping novel that paints an imagined future as realistic as it is frightening. And yet, though the country is falling apart around them, this family’s world – of new life and new hope – sings with love.

Here, There and Everywhere: Best-Loved Stories of Sudha Murthy


Sudha Murty - 2018
    Winner of the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature, the Padma Shri, the Attimabbe Award from the government of Karnataka for excellence in Kannada literature, and the Raymond Crossword Lifetime Achievement Award, her repertoire includes adult non-fiction, adult fiction, children's books, travelogues and technical books. Here, There and Everywhere is a celebration of her literary journey and is her 200th title across genres and languages. Bringing together her best-loved stories from various collections alongside some new ones and a thoughtful introduction, here is a book that is, in every sense, as multifaceted as its author.

The Tale of Mr. Tod


Beatrix Potter - 1912
    Fortunately Tommy Brock the badger and Mr. Tod the fox dislike each other so much that they Tommy Brock kidnaps Benjamin's young family, Mr Tod unwittingly becomes the rabbits' ally.The Tale of Mr Tod is number 14 in Beatrix Potter's series of 23 little books, the titles of which are as follows:1 The Tale of Peter Rabbit2 The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin3 The Tailor of Gloucester4 The Tale of Benjamin Bunny5 The Tale of Two Bad Mice6 The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle7 The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher8 The Tale of Tom Kitten9 The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck10 The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies11 The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse12 The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes13 The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse 14 The Tale of Mr. Tod15 The Tale of Pigling Bland16 The Tale of Samuel Whiskers17 The Tale of The Pie and the Patty-Pan18 The Tale of Ginger and Pickles19 The Tale of Little Pig Robinson20 The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit21 The Story of Miss Moppet22 Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes23 Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes

Our Tragic Universe


Scarlett Thomas - 2010
    But for Meg—locked in a dead-end relationship and with a deadline looming for a book that she can't write—this thought fills her with dread. Stuck in a labyrinth of her own devising, Meg knows that there must be a way out.

The Righteous Spy


Merle Nygate - 2018
    BUT WHO IS THE REAL ENEMY? Eli Amiram is Mossad’s star spy runner and the man responsible for bringing unparalleled intelligence to the Israeli agency. Now, he’s leading an audacious operation in the UK that feeds his ambition but threatens his conscience.The British and the Americans have intel Mossad desperately need. To force MI6 and the CIA into sharing their priceless information, Eli and his maverick colleague Rafi undertake a risky mission to trick their allies: faking a terrorist plot on British soil.But in the world of espionage, the game is treacherous, opaque and deadly... A twisting international spy novel, The Righteous Spy is an intriguing tale of espionage that portrays a clandestine world in which moral transgressions serve higher causes. A must-read for fans of Homeland, Fauda and NCIS, it will also appeal to readers of Charles Cumming and John le Carré. 'Intriguing and atmospheric. Merle Nygate is a writer to watch' - Charles Cumming'A tense, compelling thriller, The Righteous Spy combines the high drama of a spy story with a clear-eyed telling of the grubby compromises and betrayals that are the reality of agents’ lives. With vividly drawn characterisation and a gripping plot, I couldn’t put it down' - Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange'Relentless - goes where le Carré fears to tread. Merle Nygate’s characters, their tradecraft and their dramas leap off the page in a spy tale that is as gripping as it is authentic' - Martin Fletcher, author of Promised Land'Gripping from the start, The Righteous Spy is a must read for fans of fast paced and intelligent thrillers' - Leigh Russell, author of the million-copy selling DI Geraldine Steel series