Osebo the leopard has a fine drum a huge drum a magnificent" drum. All the animals covet Osebo's drum but he won't let anyone else have it not even Nyame the Sky-God. So Nyame offers a big reward to the animal that brings him the drum. All try
- the monkey the elephant even the python
- & all fail. Can a very small tortoise succeed in outwitting the boastful leopard? Jessica Souhami's vibrant collage illustrations full of movement & humor add additional appeal to this delightful story. The short rhythmic text is perfect for reading aloud."

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No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan is back
- & the New Orleans nights have never felt so torrid or so dangerous..
...

Brother Cadfael sets out to visit the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury knowing that a grand wedding is due to take place at the Abbey of Saint Peter & Saint Paul. As he arrives at Saint Giles the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians & the groom an arrogant fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather. With his usual astuteness he suspects that this union may be more damned than blessed. He is horrifically proved right when a savage murder disrupts the May-December marriage leaving Brother Cadfael with a dark & terrible mystery to solve. For the key to the killing
- & a secret
- are hidden among the lepers of Saint Giles & Brother Cadfael's skills must diagnose a sickness not of the body but of a twisted soul.

...

It is 1320 & civil war is looming as Ralph of Houndeslow rides into Crediton. Ralph faces a daunting task as Master of St Lawrences the leper hospital. Not only are his charges grievously ill they are also outcasts of society shunned by all healthy folk. The citizens of Crediton have other concerns. The murder of Godfrey of London & the assault on his daughter Cecily for instance crimes all to easily attributed to the conman & womaniser John of Irlaunde. Sir Baldwin Furnshill Keeper of the Kings Peace is not convinced that John is the culprit & soon his is following other leads assisted by Bailiff Simon Puttock. But only when they discover the identity of the man overheard talking to Cecily before the attack will the astounding truth begin to emerge. Meanwhile feeling against the lepers is growing fed by rumours deliberately spread. Unless the burghers of Crediton can be made to see reason Baldwin & Simon could have full-scale slaughter on their hands. ...

Brian Draper was tired of feeling tired; life in its fullness" felt like a life crammed full of stuff & no more. "I dont want to be the kind of father who turns up late & exhausted for his childrens school concert & sits at the back fiddling with a Blackberry distracted vacant. I want to be THERE in the front row fully present." Drawing on the guidance of Christian wisdom he began to notice opportunities day to day to reduce the quantity & increase the quality of life
- to make room for his soul. LESS IS MORE distils a wonderful spiritual principle which is especially significant at this point in history when time is limited & money is in short supply. Chapters include: Clearing the loft
- literally & spiritually; Using your senses to savour what is free; Finding rhythm; Giving freely; Expressing yourself."

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For the last two centuries Western philosophy has developed in the shadow of Hegel whose influence each new thinker tries in vain to escape: whether in the name of the pre-rational Will the social process of production or the contingency of individual existence. Hegel's absolute idealism has become the bogeyman of philosophy obscuring the fact that he is the dominant philosopher of the epochal historical transition to modernity; a period with which our own time shares startling similarities. Today as global capitalism comes apart at the seams we are entering a new transition. In Less Than Nothing" the pinnacle publication of a distinguished career Slavoj Zizek argues that it is imperative that we not simply return to Hegel but that we repeat & exceed his triumphs overcoming his limitations by being even more Hegelian than the master himself. Such an approach not only enables Zizek to diagnose our present condition but also to engage in a critical dialogue with the key strands of contemporary thought
- Heidegger Badiou speculative realism quantum physics & cognitive sciences. Modernity will begin & end with Hegel."
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In 1985 Bret Easton Ellis shocked stunned & disturbed with his debut novel Less Than Zero. Published when he was just twenty-one this extraordinary & instantly infamous work has done more than simply define a genre it has become a rare thing: a cult classic & a timeless embodiment of the zeitgeist. It continues to be a landmark in the lives of successive generations of readers across the globe. Filled with relentless drinking in seamy bars & glamorous nightclubs wild drug-fuelled parties & dispassionate sexual encounters Less Than Zero -- narrated by Clay an eighteen-year-old student returning home to Los Angeles for Christmas -- is a fierce coming-of-age story justifiably celebrated for its unflinching depiction of hedonistic youth its brutal portrayal of the inexorable consequences of such moral depravity & its author's refusal to condone or chastise such behaviour. ' An extraordinarily accomplished first novel' New Yorker ' The Catcher in the Rye for the MTV generation' USA Today ' One of the most disturbing novels I've read in a long time. It possesses an unnerving air of documentary reality' Michiko Kakutani New York Times ...

The Larion spell table has been dormant for nearly a thousand Twinmoons. It waits in a forgotten chamber in Sandcliff Palace the abandoned Larion Senate stronghold on Eldarns North Sea. The spell table holds the power to see the people of the five lands safely through the oppression & brutality that have haunted them for generations but without Lesseks key it is a worthless slab of granite
- & Lesseks key itself is just a nondescript stone Steven Taylor & Mark Jenkins overlooked on the night they fell through the far portal into Eldarn. Retrieving the key & freeing Eldarns people rests with Steven Taylor the would-be sorcerer from Colorado who is racing across America with Nerak the fallen Larion dictator hot on his heels. Steven must reach Idaho Springs & find Lesseks key before it falls into Neraks hands & is lost for ever
- & with it the lives of untold millions in both of Stevens worlds.

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A Lesser Evil" is the thrilling novel from Lesley Pearse. She defied her parents to marry for love... Following her heart Fifi moves with Dan to London where they rent a seedy flat in Dale Street Kennington. Though Fifi must now become acquainted with squalor she is soon drawn into the goings on behind the shabby front doors of her new neighbours. But it is the Muckles at number 11 who are the street's focus. Rumours of criminal depravity & shocking behaviour are rife. So when Fifi steps in to help their youngest child she risks the wrath of this frightening family. Suddenly not only her marriage & her family but the lives of all the inhabitants of Dale Street are at the mercy of the immoral Muckles... Lesley Pearse author of the hugely successful " Till We Meet Again" & " Secrets" explores love life & morality in her thrilling novel "A Lesser Evil". Susan lewis fans should take note of Lesley Pearse. Praise for Lesley Pearse: " With characters it is impossible not to care about.. .this is storytelling at its very best". (" Daily Mail"). " Lose yourself in this epic saga". (" Bella"). " An emotional & moving epic you won't forget in a hurry". (" Woman's Weekly"). With her gripping & moving storylines best-selling author Lesley Pearse has captured the imaginations of millions in the UK & abroad. Her other titles " The Promise" "A Lesser Evil" " Till We Meet Again" " Secrets" " Charlie" " Father Unknown" " Gypsy" " Trust Me" " Faith" " Never Look Back" " Remember Me" & " Hope" are also available as Penguin paperbacks. Lesley lives near Bristol & has three daughters & two grandchildren." ...