Were the 70s & 80s all they were cracked up to be? Or have we never had it so good? Philip Glenister
- one of our best-loved actors
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Like bubonic plague & stone cladding no-one took Margaret Thatcher seriously until it was too late. Her first act as leader was to appear before the cameras & do a V for Victory sign the wrong way round. She was smiling & telling the British people to f*** off at the same time. It was something we would have to get used to.' Things Can Only Get Better is the personal account of a Labour supporter who survived eighteen miserable years of Conservative government. It is the heartbreaking & hilarious confessions of someone who has been actively involved in helping the Labour party lose elections at every level: school candidate: door-to-door canvasser: working for a Labour MP in the House of Commons; standing as a council candidate; & eventually writing jokes for a shadow cabinet minister. Along the way he slowly came to realise that Michael Foot would never be Prime Minister that vegetable quiche was not as tasty as chicken tikki masala & that the nuclear arms race was never going to be stopped by face painting alone. ...

This extraordinary book makes visible the inner complexity of some of the worlds most iconic products. Photographer Todd Mc Lellan disassembles mechanical relics such as the typewriter & modern gadgets such as the iPad before laying them out & photographing them in meticulously detailed arrangements or capturing them in an exploded form the individual pieces frozen in mid-air. Essays by people who work within the world of disassembly & restoration accompany each chapter. ...

A compelling story of one man's battle to protect his community against the forces of change the Penguin Classics edition of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is introduced by Biyi Bandele. Okonkwo is the greatest wrestler & warrior alive & his fame spreads throughout West Africa like a bush-fire. But when he accidentally kills a clansman things begin to fall apart. Then Okonkwo returns from exile to find missionaries & colonial governors have arrived in the village. With his world thrown radically off-balance he can only hurtle towards tragedy. First published in 1958 Chinua Achebe's stark coolly ironic novel reshaped both African & world literature & has sold over ten million copies in forty-five languages. This arresting parable of a proud but powerless man witnessing the ruin of his people begins Achebe's landmark trilogy of works chronicling the fate of one African community continued in Arrow of God & No Longer at Ease. Chinua Achebe (b. 1930) was raised in the large village of Ogidi in Eastern Nigeria & graduated from University College Ibadan. The author of more than twenty books
- novels short stories essays & collections of poetry
- Achebe received numerous honours from around the world including honourary doctorates from more than thirty colleges & universities. He was also the recipient of Nigeria's highest award for intellectual achievement the Nigerian National Merit Award. In 2007 he won the Man Booker International Prize for Fiction. He died in 2013. If you enjoyed Things Fall Apart you might like Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness also available in Penguin Classics. A great book that bespeaks a great brave kind human spirit". (John Updike). " His courage & generosity are made manifest in the work". (Toni Morrison). " The writer in whose company the prison walls fell down". (Nelson Mandela)."

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Packed with great things for boys to do this title presents such activities as a treasure map cowboy hat monster hand & a castle tower. These activities have easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions & photographs or pictures of the finished objects. ...

To look & listen to the extraordinary Katie Piper it is difficult to comprehend the severe trauma she suffered from a brutal rape & acid attack which left her with deep physical & emotional scars. These terrible events would have crushed most people but through her positive outlook & sheer determination Katie has become inspirational to millions & living proof that no matter what life throws at you if you work hard & believe
- things will get better. Katie now begins to answer the question that everyone wants to know
- ' Where did you find the courage?' She shares the key steps & support that led to her emotional recovery & acknowledges the pain we have all felt at times whether suffering a breakup life change or more serious trauma. Drawing on her own experiences & letters from other survivors Katie shows with spectacular compassion that we can all find the strength within to carry on.

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The inspiration for this series of reflections initially came from Tim O Briens collection of short stories reflecting on his time in Vietnam called The Things They Carried". In these stories we dont just hear about the physical things that the soldiers carry but also their terrors & dreams. The author has taken this idea & applied it to the Passion focussing on the things that Jesus carried: not just the cross itself but the crown of thorns he was forced to wear the seamless robe that was taken from him the other burdens that we laid upon him & also the hopes & fears that he carried in his heart & that are reflected in the different passion narratives. The idea was further developed for the 2006 Good Friday Three Hours service at St Pauls Cathedral & it is these reflections that have now been expanded & developed into this book. Suitable for Lenten study either for groups or individuals the engagingly written meditations will have a life beyond Lent & will bear repeated reading." ...

A must read...I couldn't put it down." --Simone Elkeles on Catching Jordan From the bestselling author of Catching Jordan comes a new teen romance sure to appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen. SOME RULES WERE MEANT TO BE BROKEN. Kate has always been the good girl. Too good according to some people at school--although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer everything is different... This summer she's a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp & she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He's the first guy she ever kissed & he's gone from geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt...with her. Kate used to think the world was black & white right & wrong. Turns out life isn't that easy... Praise for Miranda Keaneally: " Fresh fearless & totally romantic."--Sarah Ockler bestselling author of the Twenty Boy Summer " Catching Jordan is the romantic comedy I've been waiting for. I loved it!"--Jennifer Echols author of Such a Rush " An incredibly well-written beautiful story that balances romance drama & comedy perfectly."--Bookish on Stealing Parker" ...

There was a lot that we kept from my mother. My dad would say to me as a teenager Dont tell your mother". We couldnt face the disapproval. Sue Johnston always seemed to be disappointing her mother. As a girl she never stayed clean & tidy like her cousins. As she grew older she spent all her piano lesson money on drinks for her mates down the pub & when she discovered the Cavern she was never at home. The final straw was when Sue left her steady job at a St Helens factory to try her hand at that unsteadiest of jobs: acting. Yet when Sue was bringing up her own child alone her mother was always there to help. & playing her much-loved characters Sheila Grant & Barbara Royle
- although her mum wouldnt say she was proud as such she certainly seemed to approve. & in her mothers final months it was Sue she needed by her side. The relationship with your mother is perhaps the most precious & fraught of any womans life. When she began writing Sue set out to record all the big things & all the small things. Everything I wanted to tell my mother but felt I never could. The result is a warm poignant & often very funny memoir by one of Britains favourite actresses."
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' There was a lot that we kept from my mother. My dad would say to me as a teenager Don't tell your mother." We couldn't face the disapproval.' Sue Johnston always seemed to be disappointing her mother. As a girl she never stayed clean & tidy like her cousins. As she grew older she spent all her piano lesson money on drinks for her mates down the pub & when she discovered The Cavern she was never at home. The final straw was when Sue left her steady job at a St Helen's factory to try her hand at that unsteadiest of jobs: acting. Yet when Sue was bringing up her own child alone her mother was always there to help. & playing her much-loved characters Sheila Grant in Waking the Dead & Barbara in The Royle Family- although her mum wouldn't say she was proud as such she certainly seemed to approve. & in her mother's final months it was Sue she needed by her side. The relationship with your mother is perhaps the most precious & fraught of any woman's life. When she began writing Sue set out to record 'all the big things & all the small things. Everything I wanted to tell my mother but felt I never could'. The result is a warm poignant & often very funny memoir by one of Britain's favourite actresses." ...