Flann O` Brien`s first novel is a brilliant impressionistic jumble of ideas, mythology & nonsense. Operating on many levels it incorporates plots within plots, giving full rein to O` Brien`s dancing intellect & Celtic wit. The undergraduate narrator lives with his uncle in Dublin, drinks too much with his friends & invents stories peopled with hilarious & unlikely characters, one of whom, in a typical O` Brien conundrum, creates a means by which women can give birth to full-grown people. Flann O` Brien`s blend of farce, satire & fantasy result in a remarkable, astonishingly innovative book. ...

It`s summer & time to head to Crabby Spit for a camping holiday. ` Don`t forget to write!` says Grandma. &, sure enough, the postcards come thick & fast, detailing all the timeless pleasures of playing on the beach, paddling & surfing, finding treasures, dancing to the glow of a bonfire. But look out for the mischievous family dog who makes it his business to collect all the belongings of an absent-minded artist. Full of Roland Harvey`s beautifully observed characters, this is a humorous & hugely enjoyable picture book. ...

A collection of recipes to suit the relaxed nature of holidays interspersed with evocative stories of a life at a remote beach location away from the convenience of shops & markets. The recipes are pared down & adaptable, some with a seaside focus, such as those featuring several different ways to prepare crayfish, & they cover all seasons. The author outlines her beach food philosophy which

Includes:: improvising ingredients with whatever is to hand & simplifying recipes to work with less.A `waste not` approach to cooking is paramount where the nearest shops are an hour`s drive away. Combining nostalgia for the simple life with the skills of a trained Cordon Bleu chef this is a book to be savoured
- at the beach.


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At the Edge tells the story of a 1500 kilometre walk from the southwest corner of Ireland to the northwest corner of Scotl&. By following the Atlantic coast all the way, Joseph links the most vibrant Gaelic communities. Reflections on identity, culture & sustainability make this a unique & memorable book. It will appeal particularly to those with Irish or Scottish heritage & no doubt some will want to do the journey themselves
- although perhaps not on foot.
...

The sweeping & compelling new novel from the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. ` Dark, brutal, moving, powerful` Jane Harris `A wonderful book; rich, evocative, original. I loved it` Joanne Harris What happens when you can`t run any further from your past? Ohio, 1838. James & Sadie Goodenough have settled in the Black Swamp, planting apple trees to claim the land as their own. Life is harsh in the swamp, & as fever picks off their children, husband & wife take solace in separate comforts. James patiently grows his sweet-tasting `eaters` while Sadie gets drunk on applejack made fresh from `spitters`. Their fighting takes its toll on all of the Goodenoughs
- a battle that will resonate over the years & across America. Fifteen years later their youngest son, Robert, is drifting through Gold Rush California & haunted by the broken family he fled years earlier. Memories stick to him where mud once did. When he finds steady work for a plant collector, peace seems finally to be within reach. But the past is never really past, & one day Robert is forced to confront the brutal reason he left behind everything he loved. In this rich, powerful story, Tracy Chevalier is at her imaginative best, bringing to life the urge to wrestle with our roots, however deep & tangled they may be.
...

The remarkable story of the French Foreign Legion, its dramatic rise throughout the nineteenth century, & its most committed champion, General Hubert Lyautey. An aura of mystery, romance, & danger surrounds the French Foreign Legion, the all-volunteer corps of the French Army, founded in 1831. Famous for its physically grueling training in harsh climates, the legion fought in French wars from Mexico to Madagascar, Southeast Asia to North Africa. To this day, despite its reputation for being assigned the riskiest missions in the roughest terrain, the mystique of the legion continues to attract men from every corner of the world. In At the Edge of the World, historian Jean-Vincent Blanchard follows the legion`s rise to fame during the nineteenth century--focusing on its campaigns in Indochina & especially in Africa--when the corps played a central role in expanding & protecting the French Empire. As France struggled to be a power capable of rivaling the British, the figure of the legionnaire--deadly, self-sacrificing, uncompromisingly efficient--came to represent the might & morale that would secure a greater, stronger nation. Drawing from rare, archival memoirs & testimonies of legionnaires from the period & tracing the fascinating career of Hubert Lyautey, France`s first resident-general in Morocco & a hero to many a legionnaire, At the Edge of the World chronicles the Foreign Legion at the height of its renown, when the corps & its archetypically handsome, moody, & marginalized recruits became both the symbols of a triumphant colonialism & the stuff of legend. ...

The cyclist is legendary for his You Tube viral videos like The Ridge, Cascadia & Imaginate: nerve-racking montages of stunts which scale everything from mountain peaks, rooftops, ghost towns & movie sets. It hasn`t been an easy ride. Doubt, stress & the `what if?` factor circle every trailblazing trick, which require imagination, fearlessness, groundbreaking techniques & an eye for a good camera angle. He has spent his life pushing the extremes; somehow, he`s still around to tell the tale. In this unflinching memoir of mayhem, Danny shares his anarchic childhood on the Isle of Skye & early days as a street trials rider, takes us behind the scenes of his training & videos, & reveals what it takes to go the next level
- both mentally & physically.
...

The cyclist is legendary for his You Tube viral videos like The Ridge, Cascadia & Imaginate: nerve-racking montages of stunts which scale everything from mountain peaks, rooftops, ghost towns & movie sets. His life is one of thrills, bloody spills & millions of online hits. It hasn`t been an easy ride. Doubt, stress & the `what if?` factor circle every trailblazing trick, which require imagination, fearlessness, groundbreaking techniques & an eye for a good camera angle. He has spent his life pushing the extremes; somehow, he`s still around to tell the tale. In this unflinching memoir of mayhem, Danny shares his anarchic childhood on the Isle of Skye & early days as a street trials rider, takes us behind the scenes of his training & videos, shares never-seen-before sketches from his personal notebook, & reveals what it takes to go the next level
- both mentally & physically.
...

Paris, near the turn of 1932-3. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir & their friend Raymond Aron, who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking...” It`s not often that you miss your bus stop because you`re so engrossed in reading a book about existentialism, but I did exactly that... The story of Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus, Heidegger et al is strange, fun & compelling reading. If it doesn`t win awards, I will eat my copy”. (Independent on Sunday). ” Bakewell shows how fascinating were some of the existentialists` ideas & how fascinating, often frightful, were their lives. Vivid, humorous anecdotes are interwoven with a lucid & unpatronising exposition of their complex philosophy... Tender, incisive & fair”. (Daily Telegraph). ” Quirky, funny, clear & passionate... Few writers are as good as Bakewell at explaining complicated ideas in a way that makes them easy to understand”. (Mail on Sunday). ...

Paris, near the turn of 1933. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir & their friend Raymond Aron, who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking. Pointing to his drink, he says, ” You can make philosophy out of this cocktail!” From this moment of inspiration, Sartre will create his own extraordinary philosophy of real, experienced life
- of love & desire, of freedom & being, of cafes & waiters, of friendships & revolutionary fervour. It is a philosophy that will enthral Paris & sweep through the world, leaving its mark on post-war liberation movements, from the student uprisings of 1968 to civil rights pioneers. At the Existentialist Cafe tells the story of modern existentialism as one of passionate encounters between people, minds & ideas. From the `king & queen of existentialism`
- Sartre & de Beauvoir
- to their wider circle of friends & adversaries including Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty & Iris Murdoch, this book is an enjoyable & original journey through a captivating intellectual movement. Weaving biography & thought, Sarah Bakewell takes us to the heart of a philosophy about life that also changed lives, & that tackled the biggest questions of all: what we are & how we are to live.


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