Imagine taking a hike along the windswept red plains of Mars to dig for signs of life, or touring one of Jupiter`s sixty-four moons where you can take photos of its swirling storms. For a mini-break on a tight budget, the Moon is quite majestic & very quiet if you can make it during the off-season. Beautifully illustrated & packed with real-world science, The Vacation Guide to the Solar System is the essential planning guide for the curious space adventurer, covering all of the essentials for your next voyage, how to get there, & what to do when you arrive. Written by an astronomer from the American Museum of Natural History & one of the creators of the Guerilla Science collective, this tongue-in-cheek reference guide is an imaginative exploration into the `what if` of space travel, sharing fascinating facts about the planets in our solar system & even some moons! ...

Two weeks in a remote island villa with America`s most dysfunctional family
- what could possibly go wrong? The Posts are going
...

” The Vale of Kashmir” is a world-renowned photographer`s spectacular tribute to the land & people of this remote region. In his stunning ...

In June 1914, Sir Anthony Valentine, a keen mountaineer, arrives with his family to spend the summer in their chalet, high in the French Alps. There, for the first time, fourteen-year-old foundling Mathilde starts work as one of the `uglies`
- village girls employed as servants & picked, it is believed, to ensure they don`t catch Sir Anthony`s roving eye. For Mathilde it is the start of a life-long entanglement with les anglais
- strange, exciting people, far removed from the hard grind of farming. Except she soon finds the Valentines are less carefree than they appear, with a curiously absent daughter no one talks about. It will be decades
- disrupted by war, accidents & a cruel betrayal
- before Mathilde discovers the key to the mystery. & in 1976, the year Sir Anthony`s great-great grandson comes to visit, she must decide whether to use it. Vividly evoking the dramatic landscape that so enthrals the Valentines, this deeply involving, intriguing novel tells the story of an English family through the generations & a memorable French woman, whose lives seem worlds apart yet which become inextricably connected.



...

In June 1914, Sir Anthony Valentine, a keen mountaineer, arrives with his family to spend the summer in their chalet, high in the French Alps. There, for the first time, fourteen-year-old foundling Mathilde starts work as one of the `uglies`
- village girls employed as servants & picked, it is believed, to ensure they don`t catch Sir Anthony`s roving eye. For Mathilde it is the start of a life-long entanglement with les anglais
- strange, exciting people, far removed from the hard grind of farming. Except she soon finds the Valentines are less carefree than they appear, with a curiously absent daughter no one talks about. It will be decades
- disrupted by war, accidents & a cruel betrayal
- before Mathilde discovers the key to the mystery. & in 1976, the year Sir Anthony`s great-great grandson comes to visit, she must decide whether to use it. Vividly evoking the dramatic landscape that so enthrals the Valentines, this deeply involving, intriguing novel tells the story of an English family through the generations & a memorable French woman, whose lives seem worlds apart yet which become inextricably connected.



...

` The thing he felt ending was not just one person, or even one generation; it was older, & had, in truth, been ending for a long time... It was a chain of stories clinging to stories, of love clinging to love. It was an inheritance he did not know how to pass on.` Shetland: a place of sheep & soil, of harsh weather, close ties & an age-old way of life. A place where David has lived all his life, like his father & grandfather before him, but where he abides only in the present moment. A place where Sandy, a newcomer but already a crofter, may have finally found a home. A place that Alice has fled to after the death of her husb&. But times do change
- island inhabitants die, or move away, & David worries that no young families will take over the chain of stories & care that this valley has always needed, while others wonder if it was ever truly theirs to join. In the wind & sun & storms from the Atlantic, these islanders must decide: what is left of us when the day`s work is done, the children grown, & all our choices have been made? The debut novel from one of our most exciting new literary voices, The Valley at the Centre of the World is a story about community & isolation, about what is passed down, & what is lost between the cracks.
...

A new novel from the internationally bestselling author of ` The Joy Luck Club`. In fin de siecle Shanghai, violet Minturn grows up at Hidden Jade Path, the city`s most exclusive courtesan house. But when revolution comes, she is separated from her mother & forced to become a ”virgin courtesan.” Both Chinese & American, violet moves between these cultural worlds, becoming a shrewd businesswoman who deals in seduction & illusion. But her successes belie her private turmoil. violet`s need for answers propels her on a quest of discovery: a journey to make sense of her life, to right the wrongs of the past
- to find love requited. Spanning fifty years & two continents, ` The Valley of Amazement` dramatises the collapse of China`s imperial dynasty & the secret life of the courtesan house. Unfolding old family secrets, this novel returns readers to the compelling territory of ` The Joy Luck Club`. With her characteristic wisdom, grace & humour, she conjures a story of the inheritance of love, its mysteries & betrayals, & its illusions & truths.
...

An expansive, heartbreaking novel from the internationally bestselling author of ` The Joy Luck Club`. In turn-of-the-century Shanghai, violet Minturn is raised by her American mother, the mistress of the city`s most renowned courtesan house. When the revolution comes, a cruel deception forces violet to become a virgin courtesan. ` The Valley of Amazement` is the story of three women, bound by blood & betrayal. But, as she struggles to understand her heritage, it is violet`s determination to forge her own destiny that propels this bittersweet tale of family secrets, changing identities & lost love. ...

From the annals of Dr Watson comes this dark tale of Sherlock Holmes' early encounter with Professor Moriarty. When Holmes & Watson receive a cipher from one of Moriarty's henchmen warning of dark doings at a manor house, they find themselves on the trail of a murderer. Almost immediately, they are on their way to Sussex where they discover a corpse with its head blown to pieces. But all is not as it seems. For the origins of this case lie in America, & involve a Pinkerton's man & the doings of a terrible & secretive lodge... ...

From the annals of Dr Watson comes this dark tale of Sherlock Holmes` early encounter with Professor Moriarty. When Holmes & Watson receive a cipher from one of Moriarty`s henchmen warning of dark doings at a manor house, they find themselves on the trail of a murderer. Almost immediately, they are on their way to Sussex where they discover a corpse with its head blown to pieces. But all is not as it seems. For the origins of this case lie in America, & involve a Pinkerton`s man & the doings of a terrible & secretive lodge... ...