Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded shops no corny office parties no fruitcakes no unwanted presents. Thats just what Luther & Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that just this once theyll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on the street without a rooftop Frosty the snowman; they wont be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they arent even going to have a tree. They wont need one because come December 25 theyre setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But as this weary couple is about to discover skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences
- & isnt half as easy as theyd imagined. A classic tale for modern times Skipping Christmas" offers a hilarious look at the chaos & frenzy that has become part of our holiday tradition."
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Paul Murray's Skippy Dies" is a tragicomic masterpiece about a Dublin boarding school. It is longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010. Ruprecht Van Doren is an overweight genius whose hobbies include very difficult maths & the Search of Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Daniel ' Skippy' Juster is his roommate. In the grand old Dublin institution that is Seabrook College for Boys nobody pays either of them much attention. But when Skippy falls for Lori the frisbee-playing siren from the girls' school next door suddenly all kinds of people take an interest
- including Carl part-time drug-dealer & official school psychopath...A tragic comedy of epic sweep & dimension " Skippy Dies" scours the corners of the human heart & wrings every drop of pathos humour & hopelessness out of life love Robert Graves mermaids M-theory & everything in between. " That rare thing a comic epic... Murray is a brilliant comic writer but also humane & touching & he captures the misery & elation joy & anxiety of teenage life". (David Nicholls " Guardian"). " Novels rarely come as funny & as moving as this utterly brilliant exploration of teenhood & the anticlimax of becoming an adult.. .one of the finest comic novels written anywhere". (Eileen Battersby " Irish Times"). "I loved " Skippy Dies".. .three novels fused into one ignited tragicomic tour de force". (Ali Smith " Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year"). " An unforgettably exuberant saga set in an Irish boys' school. The insulting repartee is Shakespearean the minor characters hilarious & Murray captures the fleeting joys & lasting sorrows of adolescence perfectly". (Emma Donoghue " Daily Telegraph"). "A triumph.. .brimful of wit & narrative energy". (" Sunday Times"). " The sprawling brilliance of Paul Murray's darkly comic second novel works on many different levels... When you finish the last page you may be tempted to start all over again". (" Metro"). Paul Murray is the author of " An Evening of Long Goodbyes" shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award in 2005 & " Skippy Dies" longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010."
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Ideas of separation & divorce--the geographical divides of borders the separation of the dead & the living the movement from childhood to adulthood & the end of relationships--drive this poetry collection from one of Great Britains rising young talents. The collection revolves around the poems Y Gaer" & " The Hillfort " the titles themselves suggesting the linguistic divide in Wales from poems concerned with childhood a Welsh landscape & family to an outward-looking vision that is both geographic & historic." ...

Skomer Island is a National Nature Reserve a Site of Special Scientific Interest a world-renowned bird paradise & home to the worlds largest colony of Manx Shearwaters. It is also home to author painter & photographer Jane Matthews. In this new revised edition of the superb natural history book Jane provides a close up of the isl&. Its six chapters illustrate the landscape seasons populations & the research that takes place throughout the year. A collection of over 100 full colour photographs with contributions from Iolo Williams & Matthew Parris this unique book encapsulates the beauty & magic of Skomer an ideal gift for wildlife enthusiasts worldwide. ...

The Dark Wizard has sent six fearsome Beasts to capture the good Beasts of Avantia. They are imprisoned in the Dark Realm & it is Toms quest to save them. He & his companions must undertake a perilous journey & defeat Skor the Winged Stallion. Dont miss: TORGOR THE MINOTAUR
- NARGA THE SEA MONSTER
- KAYMON THE GORGON HOUND
- TUSK THE MIGHTY MAMMOTH
- STING THE SCORPION MAN



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Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective powerful magician master of dirty tricks & burglary (in the name of the greater good of course). Oh yeah. & dead. Then there's his sidekick Stephanie. She's...well she's a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case evil had better watch out... So you won't keep anything from me again?" He put his hand to his chest. " Cross my heart & hope to die." " Okay then. Though you don't actually have a heart " she said. "I know." " And technically you've already died." "I know that too." " Just so we're clear." Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies & leaves her his estate Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key Stephanie finds help from an unusual source
- the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard. When all hell breaks loose it's lucky for Skulduggery that he's already dead. Though he's about to discover that being a skeleton doesn't stop you from being tortured if the torturer is determined enough. & if there's anything Skulduggery hates it's torture... Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie & Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it."
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Get ready for the biggest NEW publishing phenomena of 2007! So you wont keep anything from me again?" He put his hand to his chest. " Cross my heart & hope to die." " Okay then. Though you dont actually have a heart " she said. "I know." " And technically youve already died." "I know that too." " Just so were clear." Stephanies uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies & leaves her his estate Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror it certainly wasnt fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key Stephanie finds help from an unusual source
- the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard. When all hell breaks loose its lucky for Skulduggery that hes already dead. Though hes about to discover that being a skeleton doesnt stop you from being tortured if the torturer is determined enough. & if theres anything Skulduggery hates its torture... Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie & Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One things for sure: evil wont know whats hit it."
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Together for the first time in a bumper paperback edition books 1 & 2 in the dead famous bestselling series. It's one book...and twice the awesome. Book 1: Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective sorcerer warrior. Oh yes & dead. Book 2: Vengeous. Dusk. Sanguine. Three of the deadliest killers alive are in town to resurrect an unstoppable creature of horrifying power...and only Skulduggery & Valkyrie stand in their way. ...

Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective sorcerer warrior. Oh yes. & dead. Skulduggery Pleasant is gone sucked into a parallel dimension overrun by the Faceless Ones. If his bones haven't already been turned to dust chances are he's insane driven out of his mind by the horror of the ancient gods. There is no official Sanctuary-approved rescue mission. There is no official plan to save him. But Valkyrie's never had much time for plans. The problem is even if she can get Skulduggery back there might not be much left for him to return to. There's a gang of villains bent on destroying the Sanctuary there are some very powerful people who want Valkyrie dead & as if all that wasn't enough it looks very likely that a sorcerer named Darquesse is going to kill the world & everyone on it. Skulduggery is gone. All our hopes rest with Valkyrie. The world's weight is on her shoulders & its fate is in her hands. These are dark days indeed. ...

The sixth instalment in the historic hysterical & horrific Skulduggery Pleasant series. Think youve seen anything yet? You havent. Because the Death Bringer is about to rise! The Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer & thats a Good Thing. Theres just one catch. Theres a reason the Necromancers dont need her any more. & thats because theyve found their Death Bringer already the person who will dissolve the doors between life & death. & thats a very very Bad Thing! ...