The bear has organized a picnic on the river for his friends. It`s the perfect day & everything is going swimmingly until they are disturbed by a loud croaking noise from among the lily pads. It`s the frogs! They want to join in, but the friends don`t fancy putting up with the noise, so they move on to a quieter part of the lake. Unfortunately they soon find themselves stuck on a sandbank, & only the frogs can help them! ...

Jeremy Underwood is a long-suffering subeditor on The Daily Beast, Britain`s mightiest tabloid. Returning from holiday, he notices two burqa-clad figures lurking outside the paper`s offices in Kensington. Fear is in the air since two male suspects escaped from a mosque. Jeremy`s observation sets off a chain of events that rapidly escalates, as the great Beast comes under siege. Alexander Starritt`s novel is a vivid anatomy of that most uncontrollable & irresponsible of large creatures, the British tabloid newspaper. He writes with pinpoint precision about the ways in which scapegoats are selected by an institution that sees itself as the voice of Middle Engl&. The fearsome professionalism & manic rivalries of a newsroom have rarely been so well described. This is a compelling novel in which comedy teeters on the edge of horror. ...

Jeremy Underwood is a long-suffering subeditor on The Daily Beast, Britain`s mightiest tabloid. Returning from holiday, he notices two burqa-clad figures lurking outside the paper`s Kensington offices. Two male terrorism suspects have escaped from a mosque disguised as women; recently suspicion & fear have made everyone alert. Jeremy`s casual observation sets off a chain of events that spins out of control, as the great Beast feels that it is the next target of terrorism. Alexander Starritt`s darkly funny novel is a vivid anatomy of that most uncontrollable of large creatures, the British tabloid newspaper. The ferocious professionalism & manic rivalries of a newsroom have rarely been so well described. & at the heart of the newsroom is the brooding, dictatorial figure of its editor, Charles Brython, the booming voice of Middle Engl&. His world is under threat, & he will do whatever it takes to defend it. This is a story in which comedy teeters on the edge of horror. ...

The Beast is an animal You`d better lock the Gate Or when it`s dark, It comes for you Then it will be too late Alys was the only one to see the soul eaters when they came to her village. The others were sleeping. They never woke up... Now, an orphan, Alys knows the full danger of the soul eaters. She`s heard the nursery rhymes the chidren sing about the twin sisters who feed on souls. She`s seen people disappear into the fforest & never come back. So why, then, does she find herself mysteriously drawn to the fforest? Is she what everyone around her says she is? A witch? Alys soon finds herself on a journey that will take her to the very heart of the fforest. There she must decide where true evil lies. & face the thing they call.. . The Beast.A fairy tale with a difference: shivery, dark, & deeply satisfying. ` Read it if you loved The Handmaid`s Tale`
- Entertainment Weekly
...

For centuries the ceremonial order of the Knights of the Tarasque have met to bear the effigy of a mythical beast through the Provencal town of Tarascon. But one summer`s night the ceremony is disrupted by a gruesome discovery: a mutilated body found at the feet of the effigy, apparently torn apart by enormous teeth & claws. Could it be that the monster of legend is more than just myth? The case draws an unwilling Michel de Palma, called `the Baron` by his colleagues in the Marseille murder squad, into the dark heart of Provence, where mythology is part of everyday life. As more dismembered corpses appear, de Palma falls into a world coloured by murky financial intrigues & the tortured history of post-occupation France. It is a world where de Palma`s uninvited investigations could soon see him in mortal danger. ...

One day a few years ago, 300 migrants were kidnapped between the remote desert towns of Altar, Mexico, & Sasabe, Arizona. A local priest got 120 released, many with broken ankles & other marks of abuse, but the rest vanished. oscar Martinez, a young writer from El Salvador, was in Altar soon after the abduction, & his account of the migrant disappearances is only one of the harrowing stories he garnered from two years spent traveling up & down the migrant trail from Central America & across the US border. More than a quarter of a million Central Americans make this increasingly dangerous journey each year, & each year as many as 20, 000 of them are kidnapped. Martinez writes in powerful, unforgettable prose about clinging to the tops of freight trains; finding respite, work & hardship in shelters & brothels; & riding shotgun with the border patrol. Illustrated with stunning full-color photographs, ” The Beast ”is the first book to shed light on the harsh new reality of the migrant trail in the age of the ”narcotraficantes.” ...

“ The Beatles in London Walk” is the most literal way you can take a Magical Mystery Tour about arguably the greatest band of all time; John, Paul, George & Ringo lived in the centre of London in the sixties, at the height of Beatlemania. This guide will let you capture some of the excitement of the Beatles’ time in London, with places such as the famous Abbey Road Crossing & Studios; London homes of John, Paul, & Ringo, plus those of Mick Jagger & Hendrix; the house in which Paul lived with Jane Asher & where he wrote “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” & “ Yesterday”; where John & Yoko first met; where Paul first met Linda & The Registry Office in which they later married; film locations for “A Hard Day’s Night”; Paul’s present-day London home which he has owned for over 30 years; “ Swinging London’s” Carnaby Street; The Apple Headquarters, on whose rooftop, the Beatles played for the very last time. A must for any fan of the Fab Four. To see other titles in this series of thematic walks in London please click on the series link. ...

There is no problem in cooking on a boat when the weather is fine & the sea smooth. It is a different ball-game when the wind comes up & the boat begins to dance... June Raper has been at sea long enough to be suspicious of recipes describing ”how to make jam at sea” or ”take four pints of water & a lobster”. The recipes in this book are practical
- she has tried them all out on her boat, & guarantees they will work. Over 100 recipes included, each is indexed by wind strength so you can serve something tasty, nutritious
- & easy
- in a blow, or make something more elaborate on a calm day. Previously published as Boat Cuisine which went out of print in 2013.


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This is a celebration of the beauties & possibilities of Heliotrope & Honeysuckle, Auricula, Snapdragon, Spanish Iris & Corydalis, & all the other plants that enliven & exalt the gardens of Engl&. Gertrude Jekyll gives good advice on how to make a garden a place of repose & pleasure. Writing with enthusiasm on the colours & scents of flowers, on the frustrations (and delights) of weeding & on the debasing influence of flower shows, she is practical, wise & entertaining in equal measure. Generations of inhabitants have helped shape the English countryside
- but it has profoundly shaped us too. It has provoked a huge variety of responses from artists, writers, musicians & people who live & work on the land
- as well as those who are travelling through it. English Journeys celebrates this long tradition with a series of twenty books on all aspects of the countryside, from stargazey pie & country churches, to man's relationship with nature & songs celebrating the patterns of the countryside (as well as ghosts & love-struck soldiers).

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Without doubt one of the greatest observers of human nature in all its messy complexity, Chekhov`s short stories are exquisite masterpieces in miniature. His work ranged from the light-hearted comic tales of his early years to some of the most achingly profound stories ever composed, & this variety of tone & temper is collected in this essential new collection. Chekhov wrote stories throughout his writing career, & this selection has been chosen from amongst his life`s work, including many of his greatest works, alongside unfamiliar discoveries, all newly translated. From the masterpiece of minimalism ` The Beauties`, to the beloved classic ` The Lady with the Little Dog`, & from `A Man in a Box` to the bitterly funny `A Blunder`, the stories collected here are the essential collection of Chekhov`s greatest tales. ...