The first book in William Nicholson`s award-winning fantasy adventure series, perfect for fans of Philip Pullman, Mortal Engines & Star Wars. ` Gloriously cinematic & completely enthralling`
- Independent This Modern Classic edition contains special bonus material. I hate school! I hate ratings! I won`t reach higher! I won`t strive harder! I won`t make tomorrow better than today! In the walled city state of Aramanth, rules are everything. When Kestrel Hath dares to rebel, the Chief Examiner humiliates her father & sentences the whole family to the harshest punishment. Desperate to save them, Kestrel learns the secret of the wind singer, & she & her twin brother, Bowman, set out on a terrifying journey to the true source of evil that grips Aramanth... ` In terms of imagination & sheer scale, it`s as ambitious as books get... think Star Wars & then some`
- Daily Telegraph Fantasy books for children don`t get more spectacular than The Wind Singer. William Nicholson`s Wind on Fire trilogy has been translated into over 25 languages & won prizes including the Blue Peter Book Award & Smarties Prize Gold Award. One of the greatest writers of our time, William Nicholson has not only sold millions of children`s books worldwide, but has also written for the screen & the stage, including the Oscar-winning film Gladiator & the BAFTA-winning play Shadowlands.

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In Haruki Murakami`s increasingly surreal canon of work, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is probably his most popular & widely read text. It resonates with contemporary Japan, exploring responsibility for both the past & the present, & also the effects of alienation & isolation; as usual though, Murakami goes about this by making some of the most mundane everyday moments unconventional, viewing them with a lyrical wit that can only be described as surreal &, at times, morbidly comic. Toru Okada`s cat has disappeared & this has unsettled his wife, who is herself growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has started receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada`s vague & blameless life, spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz & opera & drinking beer at the kitchen table, are turned inside out, & he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell. At first seemingly a mixture of different threads, Murakami slowly weaves them into a novel of considerable depth, exploring in particular detail how Japan of the late 20th century reconciles with & bears responsibility for Japan of the early 20th century, something that even Western authors seem tentative to do. Touching, humorous, witty & dark, view the world of emotions in a lyrically unconventional way: through the mind of Haruki Murakami. ...

Love wine, but only know so much? Looking for some guidance on the perfect red? Want to break away from choosing the same old favourites? Are you keen to learn about wine varieties & which will suit the right cuisine? The Wine Pocket Bible is filed with answers to everything that matters in the world of wine, including: * Which wines are best for meat & fish dishes? * How do I interpret labels when buying wine? * Which is the correct way to taste & describe wine? * How do I make a classic champagne cocktail? * How do I go about investing in & storing wine? This indispensible little guide will tell you what you need to know when you need to know it. ...

Rioja, a breathtaking region of northern Spain, produces some of the best wines. This exceptionally beautiful illustrated volume pays tribute to Riojan winemaking & culture & it is the only wine book endorsed by the Riojan government. Ana Fabiano has travelled the world representing Riojan wines & this work is the fruit of 20 years of research. She delved into Castilian books, conducted interviews with local experts & spoke with generations of winemakers. The result is a book from the heart that provides a historical overview of the area along with up-to-the-moment information on each valley, including its bodegas, grape varietals, wines & producers. To enhance enjoyment of these wonderful wines, Fabiano provides a food section with recipes & pairings. ...

The Wine Year is an annual overview of vineyards & grape imbibing around the globe that tells you what is happening where & in what month in the world of wine. Features focus on such knowledge as how wine is made, how to acquire a good cellar, practical suggestions of detailed menu suggestions for matching food with wine & where to discover the wine making regions at first h&. Interviews with key producers & industry specialists are included & photographs evoke the true sense of the wines & regions, tastes & places covered. ...

For anyone who wants to understand the full story that lies within a glass of wine, this book opens up the inner secrets of the geology, the vineyards, the wines, & the growers of the northern Rhone Valley in France. Home to the spicy Syrah, or Shiraz, & the floral Viognier grapes, the northern Rhone Valley is one of France`s oldest wine-growing regions; its appellations include Hermitage, Cote-Rotie, Condrieu, Crozes-Hermitage, St-Joseph, & Chateau-Grillet. With evocative descriptions & marvelous insights, this accessible, elegant book, the culmination of more than thirty years following the Rhone, is a comprehensive & authoritative survey of the various estates, winemakers, & their wines. Taking a deeper look at the northern Rhone than Livingstone-Learmonth`s highly regarded previous volumes on the Rhone Valley, this revised & up-to-date edition covers more producers &

Includes:: more in-depth information on the various terroirs, the histories of the wines, & the methods for making the wines. Livingstone-Learmonth concentrates on letting the producers explain their outlook & methods &

Includes:: much local color.” The Wines of the Northern Rhone”
Includes:: assessments of thousands of wines, with guide dates on when to drink & how long to age them; winemakers` views on what foods best accompany their wines; new vineyard maps for each appellation; detailed descriptions by growers discussing the effect of different soils on their wines; precise information on how each domaine makes its wines; &, new research on the historical links between Hermitage & Bordeaux.




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The Winner Stands Alone is the enthralling new novel by the incomparable Paulo Coelho. The story is set during the Cannes International Film Festival & the entire action plays out over 24 hours. Igor is a wealthy Russian businessman. His wife Ewa left him two years ago & Igor has never really come to terms with their break up, especially as Ewa is now remarried to a famous fashion designer, Hamid Hussein. Igor is insanely jealous & when Ewa left him he told her that he would destroy `whole worlds` in order to get her back, & he intends to keep his promise... Igor has followed Ewa & her new husband to Cannes & his plan is to cause as much violence & destruction as possible until Ewa realises how much he loves her & comes back to him. Ewa loved Igor but she was absolutely terrified of him. She knows that Igor has killed people in the past when he was a soldier, but she also knows a dark secret
- that he once cold bloodedly murdered a beggar who was bothering them in a restaurant. Igor is clearly unhinged & he will stop at nothing to regain her love & so he goes on a ruthless killing spree until he tracks down Ewa... The star-studded film festival acts as a backdrop to Igor`s maniacal murdering spree & we are ntroduced to various characters along the way, all of whom are desperately trying to get their big break in the shallow world of show business; Gabriela a young & naive actress who is being exploited by her agent & Jasmine a troubled young Rwandan refugee working as a model. The Winner Stands Alone is a gripping, fast-paced thriller, & Coelho cleverly weaves in elements of social satire, poking fun at our celebrity & money obsessed culture.
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Winter camping has its own special allure: the splendid quiet of a winter forest, the hush of falling snow, the thrill of gliding over ice & snow on skis. From building a snow shelter to traveling comfortably in sub-zero temperatures, The Winter Camping Handbook covers everything you`ll need to know in order to enjoy wilderness travel & adventure in the colder months. Extremely user-friendly, the book`s step-by-step approach covers everything from choosing a location to explore, selecting teammates, planning the trip, winterizing a travel vehicle, gear selection, making camp, food & nutrition, dealing with winter safety concerns, & even camping with children. Now revised & updated to include tips for using smartphones & the latest GPS navigation, this is the definitive guide to cold-weather hiking & camping. ...

It`s 1942 & the Nazis are racing to build an atomic bomb. They have the physicists, but they don`t have enough `heavy water`
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The Great War took much more than lives. It robbed a generation of friends, lovers & futures. In Freddie Watson's case, it took his beloved brother &, at times, his peace of mind. Unable to cope with his grief, Freddie has spent much of the time since in a sanatorium. In the winter of 1928, still seeking resolution, Freddie is travelling through the French Pyrenees
- another region that has seen too much bloodshed over the years. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Shaken, he stumbles into the woods, emerging by a tiny village. There he meets Fabrissa, a beautiful local woman, also mourning a lost generation. Over the course of one night, Fabrissa & Freddie share their stories of remembrance & loss. By the time dawn breaks, he will have stumbled across a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries. By turns thrilling, poignant & haunting, this is a story of two lives touched by war & transformed by courage.
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