Beetles are arguably the most diverse organisms in the world, with nearly half a million beetle species described & catalogued in our museums, more than any other type of living thing. This astonishing species diversity is matched by a similar diversity in shape, form, size, life history, ecology, physiology & behaviour. Beetles occur everywhere, & do everything. & yet they form a clearly discrete insect group, typically characterised by their attractively compact form, with flight wings folded neatly under smooth hard wing-cases. Almost anyone could recognise a beetle, indeed many are intimately associated with human society. Groups like ladybirds are familiar to us from a very young age. Large stag beetles & handsome chafers are celebrated for their imposing size & bright colours. The sacred scarabs of the ancient Egyptians were given iconic, if not god-like, status & even though the exact religious meanings may be fading after three millennia, their bewitching jewellery & monumental statuary inspire us still. Despite this ancient & easy familiarity with beetles, the Coleoptera remains tainted by the notion that it is a `difficult` group of insects. The traditional routes into studying British natural history, through birdwatching, butterfly-collecting & pressing wild flowers, now extend to studying dragonflies, bumblebees, grasshoppers, moths, hoverflies & even shieldbugs. These are on the verge of becoming popular groups, but beetles remain the preserve of the expert, or so it seems. So many British beetles are easy to find & easy to identify by the non-expert, but that bewildering background diversity, & the daunting numbers of species in the Coleoptera as a whole, have been enough to dissuade many a potential coleopterist from grasping the nettle & getting stuck in. Richard Jones` groundbreaking New Naturalist volume on beetles encourages those enthusiasts who would otherwise be put off by the, to date, rather technical literature that has dominated the field, providing a comprehensive natural history of this fascinating & beautiful group of insects. ...

An enticing collection of before-&-after scenarios, created by master artist & acclaimed author of This Is Not A Book Graphic artist Jean Jullien insightfully & comically depicts a set of clever & surprising before-&-after two-frame narratives, each progressed by a page turn. From pale skin to sunburned skin, dirty to clean, long hair to short hair (to long again), Jullien masterfully builds anticipation & a satisfying resolution with each pairing. Striking the perfect balance of predictability & unexpectedness, this book will leave readers in wonder as they flip back & forth.

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In the late 1970s, a pyromaniac runs amok in rural Norway. As homes are burnt to cinders, panic spreads as neighbours wonder who amongst them could cause such fear & anguish. Born in to this chaos, Gaute Heivoll is indelibly linked to this disturbing time, & to the arsonist intent on such destruction. Before I Burn is a fictional exploration of the true events of Norway`s most dramatic arson case. By juxtaposing the pyromaniac`s story with his own, Gaute Heivoll lays bare the insanity that lies just beneath the surface of the human psyche, & the triggers that may flip any of us into madness. Written in fluid, vivid prose, & with a shattering honesty & humanity, Before I Burn is a literary sensation. ...

They say `live every day as if it`s your last`
- but you never actually think it`s going to be. At least I didn`t. The thing is,
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Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love
- all forgotten overnight. & the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine`s life.
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Reinaldo Arenas was born to a poverty-stricken family in rural Cuba. By the time of his death in New York four decades later, he had become one of Cuba`s most important poets, an outspoken critic of Castro`s regime & one of the leading gay voices of the twentieth century. In Before Night Falls, Arenas tells of his odyssey from young rebel fighting for the Revolution, through his suppression as a writer, his disillusionment with Castro, his imprisonment & torture, to his eventual exile from Cuba to New York, where in 1987 he was diagnosed with AIDS. He committed suicide in 1990, ending a life of constant struggle against repression. In a farewell note, Arenas wrote: Due to my delicate state of health & to the terrible depression that causes me not to be able to continue writing & struggling for the freedom of Cuba, I am ending my life.. . I do not want to convey to you a message of defeat, but of continued struggle & hope. Cuba will be free. I already am. (signed) Reinaldo Arenas ...

The story of the land that became Scotland is one of dramatic geological events & impressive human endeavour. Alistair Moffats gripping narrative ranges from the great thaw at the end of the Ice Age which was instrumental in shaping Scotlands magnificent landscape through the megalith builders, the Celts & the Picts, to the ascension of King Constantine II. Moffat deploys his knowledge with wit & deftness, interweaving the story with numerous special features on topics as diverse as cave drawings of dancing girls, natural birth control, the myth of Atlantis & the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence all of them valuable, sometimes quirky, additions to the whole picture. Rounding out the account is a selection of carefully chosen colour photographs that give a strong sense of the Scottish landscape & monuments. Erudite & entertaining, ” Before Scotland”, newly available in paperback, transforms our understanding of a neglected period. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the land that became Scotl&. ...

Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2011 Graham Hendrick, an historian, has left his wife Barbara for the vivacious Ann, & is more than pleased with his new life. Until, that is, the day he discovers Ann`s celluloid past as a mediocre film actress. Soon Graham is pouncing on old clues, examining her books for inscriptions from past lovers, frequenting cinemas & poring over the bad movies she appeared in. It`s not that he blames Anne for having a past before they met, but history has always mattered to him... ...

Around 1900, the Salierno family, Italian peasant farmers, make a tough living in a village in a mountainous & volcanic region in the South. Their youngest daughter, Concetta, 15, is seriously injured in a devastating earthquake &, when she wakes up from a coma, suffers memory loss of everything leading up to the disaster. When she later discovers she is pregnant, her family marries her off hastily to neighbours who owe a debt of honour. Marriage arrangements according to traditional restrictions are also made for her sisters Nunzia & Immacolata, after their dangerous trip to the carnival at the neighbouring town of San Michele. Concetta, with the help of grieving signora Clara & her remaining son, Francesco, (Peppe having lost his life in the earthquake) tries to piece together the mysterious events that occurred before the earthquake. Continued doubt about the father of her child casts a shadow over her marriage & her family relationships, but her stoical determination leads through a personal journey of self-discovery, full of dramatic & revealing surprises. Concetta's future & past become gradually clearer through one long hot summer in a rocky landscape. The mystery of her memory loss is played out against a world of constant agricultural work, church, eel fishing in the river & the underground passages beneath the village. ...

Sunday Times top thriller read of the year 2016 The rich are different. But fate is blind. Down-on-his-luck artist Scott Burroughs would usually take the ferry back to New York from Martha`s Vineyard, but he is unexpectedly offered a spare seat on the Bateman family`s private jet. Then just minutes after take-off, the plane crashes into the ocean & of the eight passengers & three crew, only Scott & the Batemans` small son, JJ, are left alive. The extraordinary nature of their survival, combined with the fact that David Bateman was CEO of a populist TV news channel, means that Scott will not be returning to anonymity. Along with the orphaned boy, he is engulfed by a maelstrom of speculation, which soon overtakes the official investigation into the tragedy. Who else was on the plane? Was there a bomb, a missile? Who is Scott Burroughs? As the chapters drive towards their heart-stopping conclusion, weaving with ever-increasing suspense between the shocking aftermath of the crash & the intimate backstory of each of the passengers & crew members, Noah Hawley creates a searching, thrilling novel of love, fame, wealth, art, entertainment & power. ...