` This new American uniform
- the baseball cap, t-shirt, shorts & trainers (why not a scooter?) is not about looking good. It`s
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The maths we learn in school can seem like an abstract set of rules, laid down by the ancients & not to be questioned. In fact, Jordan Ellenberg shows us, maths touches on everything we do, & a little mathematical knowledge reveals the hidden structures that lie beneath the world`s messy & chaotic surface. In How Not to be Wrong, Ellenberg explores the mathematician`s method of analyzing life, from the everyday to the cosmic, showing us which numbers to defend, which ones to ignore, & when to change the equation entirely. Along the way, he explains calculus in a single page, describes Godel`s theorem using only one-syllable words, & reveals how early you actually need to get to the airport. ...

Our memories are what make us who we are. Some are real. Some are made up. But they are the stories that tell us who we are. Without them we are nobody. Hattie`s summer isn`t going as planned. Her two best friends have abandoned her: Reuben has run off to Europe to `find himself” & Kat is in Edinburgh with her new girlfriend. Meanwhile Hattie is stuck babysitting her twin siblings & dealing with endless drama around her mum`s wedding. Oh, & she`s also just discovered that she`s pregnant with Reuben`s baby... Then Gloria, Hattie`s great-aunt who no one even knew existed, comes crashing into her life. Gloria`s fiercely independent, rather too fond of a gin sling & is in the early stages of dementia. Together the two of them set out on a road trip of self-discovery
- Gloria to finally confront the secrets of her past before they are erased from her memory forever & Hattie to face the hard choices that will determine her future... Non Pratt`s Trouble meets Thelma & Louise with a touch of Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey, Clare Furniss` remarkable How Not To Disappear is an emotional rollercoaster of a novel that will make you laugh & break your heart.
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I had no life experience, zero common sense & had never eaten rice. I suffered from debilitating anxiety, was battling an eating disorder & had just had my heart broken. I hoped by leaving to travel the world I would be able to heal myself. Instead, Lauren`s travels were full of bad luck & near-death experiences. Over the space of a year, she was scammed & assaulted; lost teeth & swallowed a cockroach. She fell into leech-infested rice paddies, was caught up in a tsunami, had the brakes of her motorbike fail & experienced a very unhappy ending during a massage in Thail&. It was just as she was about to give up on travel when she stumbled across a handsome New Zealander with a love of challenges... ...

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Paris was known for isolated monuments but had not yet put its brand on urban space. Like other European cities, it was still emerging from its medieval past. But in a mere century Paris would be transformed into the modern & mythic city we know today. Though most people associate the signature characteristics of Paris with the public works of the nineteenth century, Joan De Jean demonstrates that the Parisian model for urban space was in fact invented two centuries earlier, when the first complete design for the French capital was drawn up & implemented. As a result, Paris saw many changes. It became the first city to tear down its fortifications, inviting people in rather than keeping them out. Parisian urban planning showcased new kinds of streets, including the original boulevard, as well as public parks & the earliest sidewalks & bridges without houses. Venues opened for urban entertainment of all kinds, from opera & ballet to a pastime invented in Paris, recreational shopping. Parisians enjoyed the earliest public transportation & street lighting, & Paris became Europe`s first great walking city.A century of planned development made Paris both beautiful & exciting. It gave people reasons to be out in public as never before & as nowhere else. & it gave Paris its modern identity as a place that people dreamed of seeing. By 1700, Paris had become the capital that would revolutionize our conception of the city & of urban life. ...

` What a marvellous book this is.. .de Botton dissects what [ Proust] had to say about friendship, reading, looking carefully, paying attention taking your time, being alive & adds his own delicious commentary. The result is an intoxicating as it is wise, amusing as well as stimulating, & presented in so fresh a fashion as to be unique.. .I could not stop, & now much start all over again.` Brian Masters, Mail on Sunday ` De Botton not only has a complete understanding of Proust`s life.. .but what is particularly charming about this small, readable book is its tongue-in-cheek benignity, its lightly held erudition & its generous way of lending itself to what is not only the greatest book of the century but also the darkest & the most eccentric` Edmund White, Observer ` It contains more human interest & play of fancy than most fiction.. .de Botton, in emphasizing Proust`s healing, advisory aspects, does us the service of rereading him on our behalf, providing of that vast sacred lake a sweet & lucid distillation.` John Updike, New Yorker ` De Botton`s little book is so charming, amusing & sensible that it may even itself change your life.` Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph ` This engaging book is one of the most entertaining pieces of literary criticism I have read in a long while.` Sunday Telegraph `A very enjoyable book` Sebastian Faulks ...

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2013. Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live & create. When Margaux, a talented painter & free spirit, & Israel, a sexy & depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close--sometimes too close--observation of her new friend, her new lover, & herself, she might regain her footing in art & life. Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant & always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, & part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless & dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be? ...

Why do most people know what an Ewok is, even if they haven`t seen Return of the Jedi? How have Star Wars action figures come to outnumber human beings? How did ` Jedi` become an officially recognised religion? When did the films` merchandising revenue manage to rival the GDP of a small country? Tracing the birth, death & rebirth of the epic universe built by George Lucas & hundreds of writers, artists, producers, & marketers, Chris Taylor jousts with modern-day Jedi, tinkers with droid builders, & gets inside Boba Fett`s helmet, all to find out how STAR WARS has attracted & inspired so many fans for so long. ` It`s impossible to imagine a Star Wars fan who wouldn`t love this book. There are plenty of books about Star Wars, but very few of them are essential reading. This one goes directly to the top of the pile` Booklist (starred review). ...

Why do most people know what an Ewok is, even if they haven`t seen Return of the Jedi? How have Star Wars action figures come to outnumber human beings? How did ` Jedi` become an officially recognised religion? When did the films` merchandising revenue manage to rival the GDP of a small country? Tracing the birth, death & rebirth of the epic universe built by George Lucas & hundreds of writers, artists, producers, & marketers, Chris Taylor jousts with modern-day Jedi, tinkers with droid builders, & gets inside Boba Fett`s helmet, all to find out how STAR WARS has attracted & inspired so many fans for so long. ` It`s impossible to imagine a Star Wars fan who wouldn`t love this book. There are plenty of books about Star Wars, but very few of them are essential reading. This one goes directly to the top of the pile` Booklist (starred review). ...

How Super Cool Stuff Works is a cutting edge guide exploring how incredible new technologies are shaping the modern world. Kids will love the fun laptop-style cover & layout throughout. Mind-blowing images reveal the secret inner workings of everything from drones & supercomputers to underwater hotels & flying cars. How Super Cool Stuff Works lifts the lid on today`s most innovative ideas while also exploring the technology of tomorrow. ...