The year 2014 is the Chinese Year of the Horse – what will this mean for you? This complete guide contains all the predictions you will need to take you into the year ahead – a lively fast-paced year favouring ideas, innovation and personal growth. The ancient art of Chinese astrology, which predates the Western zodiac, is a detailed system of divination that has been in use in the Orient for thousands of years. The depth of its wisdom and the accuracy of its character analysis and prediction has caught the imagination of the Western world in recent years and led to a rapid rise in its popularity. This popular and enlightening bestselling guide – now in its 27th year – includes: ? Everything you need to know about the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac. ? An explanation of the Five Elements: metal, water, wood, fire and earth, and which one governs your sign. ? Individual predictions to help you find love, luck and success. ? What the Year of the Horse has in store for you, your family, your loved ones and friends.

Fighting for survival in a shattered world… the truth is her only hope. The thrillingly dark sequel to No. 1 New York Times bestseller, DIVERGENT. I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am. Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future. Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever… because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.

The sixth marvellous tale of high adventure and derring-do from the master of steampunk literature, set in the world of The Court of the Air A daring underwater chase ends in a battle for the Kingdom itself… The streets of Middlesteel are under attack by an unseen enemy, leaving bloodless corpses in its trail. The newssheets scream vampire, but the truth is even more deadly than anyone knows. Charlotte Shades, Mistress of Mesmerism, is a thief – and a darned good one at that. When two mysterious men ask her to steal King Jude’s Sceptre from the Parliament vaults, the challenge (and reward) is too great to pass up. After all, Charlotte’s natural charm and the magic of the gem she wears – the mysterious Eye of Fate – have never failed her before. Only consulting detective Jethro Daunt and his steamman companion Boxiron know there’s more to these two men than meets the eye. Yet even as they rescue Charlotte from a fate worse than death, they are thrown into a plot thicker than even they realize. They escape beneath the waves in an ancient submarine led by Commodore Jethro Black, where they encounter stiff resistance from the strange people who inhabit the vast underwater kingdoms. But man, woman, seanore and gillneck alike must band together if they are to defeat a danger that might not even be from this world…

The ideal companion to the hugely successful Gem Calorie Counter, this is a handy portable guide to carbohydates in everyday foods. Perfect for those following the Fast Diet (5:2 Diet), Dukan Diet, Atkins Diet or other weight-loss diets. Clearly laid out tables give details of net carbohydrates per portion (slice, biscuit, apple) making it quick and simple to use. Reducing carbohydrates and following a high protein diet has become a popular and effective way of losing weight and keeping those extra pounds off. The interest in the Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution is clear proof of this. The key to following a high-protein diet is to control your carbohydrate intake. Collins Gem Carb Counter is a guide to the net carb contents of everyday foods. It also gives calories, protein and fat. Information is given per portion to make it easy to use. High protein, carb-counting diets are often referred to as a man’s diet and this emphasis on portions rather than 100 g means that there is less working out involved. Boredom is often the downfall of the carb counter, so a section is included which gives suggestions for different meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

CONSTANT PRINCESS Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from this internationally bestselling author, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon. We think of her as the barren wife of a notorious king; but behind this legacy lies a fascinating story. Katherine of Aragon is born Catalina, the Spanish Infanta, to parents who are both rulers and warriors. Aged four, she is betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and is raised to be Queen of England. She is never in doubt that it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land. Her faith is tested when her prospective fahter-in-law greets her arrival in her new country with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse. Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur's wife grows ever more bearable. But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty? Only by marrying Arthur's young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry. His father and grandmother are against it; her powerful parents prove little use. Yet Katherine is her mother's daughter and her fighting spirit is strong. She will do anything to achieve her aim; even if it means telling the greatest lie, and holding to it. Philippa Gregory proves yet again that behind the apparently familiar face of history lies an astonishing story: of women warriors influencing the future of Europe, of revered heroes making deep mistakes, and of an untold love story which changes the fate of a nation. THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL. Fabulous historical novel set in the court of King Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn attracts the attention of the young king and becomes his mistress; when he tires of her, she sets out to school her sister, Anne, as a replacement. Politics and passion are inextricably bound together in this compelling drama. The Boleyn family is keen to rise through the ranks of society, and what better way to attract the attention of the most powerful in the land than to place their most beautiful young woman at court? But Mary becomes the king's mistress at a time of change. He needs his personal pleasures, but he also needs an heir. The unthinkable happens and the course of English history is irrevocably changed. For the women at the heart of the storm, they have only one weapon; and when it's no longer enough to be the mistress, Mary must groom her younger sister in the ways of the king. What happens next is common knowledge - but here it is told in a way we've never heard it before, with all of Philippa Gregory's characteristic perceptiveness, backed by meticulous research and superb storytelling skills. BOLEYN INHERITANCE. From the bestselling author of `The Other Boleyn Girl' comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Katherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty, is Philippa Gregory's most compelling novel yet.

A fly-on-the-wall account of the greatest drama in modern sporting history by the New York Times cycling correspondent. As Lance Armstrong’s precipitous fall from grace continues, New York Times sports reporter Juliet Macur takes the reader behind the scenes to bring to life the astonishing twists and turns of the scandal that has rocked the world of cycling. With unprecedented access to the key players in the drama – from Armstrong’s fellow cyclists and top cycling officials to doctors, trainers and wives – Cycle of Lies reveals how Armstrong built a fortress of people around him to protect his image and upend the lives of anybody who stood in his way. As America’s fallen idol faces potential perjury charges, Cycle of Lies widens the focus to expose corruption at all levels of the sport in a thrilling, page-turning work of contemporary narrative history.

For most mothers, keeping up with the washing, the mess and the irrepressible energy of two young boys is a challenge in itself. But when Sue Askin’s eldest son was diagnosed with autism, only to be followed by her own diagnosis of MS the next year, the challenge became ever so slightly harder… Told in her own upbeat words, this is the heart-warming and funny account of one woman’s determination to do the best for her child, whilst learning to cope with her own diagnosis without any fuss. Packed with funny anecdotes and familiar challenges to which all families will relate, you’ll be uplifted and inspired as much as you’ll be smiling.

A story of love and grief. ‘I became a widower and a father on the same day’ says Joseph Luzzi. His book tells how Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ helped him to endure his grief, raise their infant daughter, and rediscover love. On a cold November morning, Joseph Luzzi, a Dante professor, found himself racing to hospital – his wife, eight-and-a-half months pregnant, had been in a horrible car accident. In one terrible instant, Luzzi became both a widower and a first-time father. Adrift and grieving, Luzzi found himself sharing Dante’s dark wood with an intimacy that years of reading had never shown him: the words became a wise companion through the Inferno of his grief, his healing, and ultimately his rediscovered love.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, a short story about a young boy’s coming of age. While on holiday with his mother, a young boy sees a group of older children jumping from a rock into deep sea. He feels compelled to challenge himself to match them, and in doing so will take his first steps away from childhood. An amazingly vivid short story, Through the Tunnel explores the difficulties of childhood and ageing, resonating with many of Doris Lessing’s acclaimed novels. This story also appears in the collection To Room Nineteen.

The exhilarating conclusion to the critically acclaimed THE LUCK UGLIES series. “The Luck Uglies has it all: a feisty heroine, monstrous creatures, and a brimful of humor, and horror, to keep the readers turning the pages.” Joseph Delaney, Author of the Spook’s Apprentice series Rye feared her father, Harmless, might be lost forever after he was driven into the forest Beyond the Shale by his deadly enemy Slinister Varlet. Now Slinister is making moves to claim leadership over the Luck Uglies. Can Rye find her father, save her village and put an end to the fighting for good? Thrilling adventure, impossible choices and an epic battle with very highest stakes.

This is Claire’s story, one of four individual journeys taken from Wherever You Are by The Military Wives. Claire Balneaves never thought she’d end up as a military wife. But when she met a young medical assistant, Dave Balneaves, at a naval hospital, everything changed. Before long Claire and Dave had tied the knot and moved into married quarters – and Claire began to settle into the unique life of a military wife. Moving from house to house, from country to country, often solitary – in many ways Claire lived as a single mother. When family and medical difficulties cast a cloud over her personal life, Claire had no one to turn to. But from the moment she joined a nascent choir of military wives, that changed: wives with similar stories came together to sing, and there they found solace and strength. They found each other. Mere months later, the Military Wives choir would have met Gareth Malone, performed for the Queen, recorded a bestselling album and achieved a Christmas number 1. This is one woman’s true story of heartbreak and hope, and of how the choir changed the course of her life. Sales of this book will benefit the Military Wives Choirs Foundation, a network of choirs that reaches across the military community to provide support, guidance and funding for individual choirs, but first and foremost to bring women closer together through singing. The Foundation is a registered subsidiary charity of SSAFA Forces Help.

In the sequel to his bestselling JFK in Ireland, the Emerald Isle’s favourite son delves into his country’s past to celebrate the Irish people who through their skills and endeavours helped make the British Isles great. In ‘The Irish Are Coming’ Ryan Tubridy takes a journey into Ireland’s past to unearth the many amazing, and altogether fascinating, contributions the Irish have made to everyday British life; whether it be making us laugh (Graham Norton), thrilling us with their acting (Peter O’Toole), or dazzling us with their audacious adventuring (Earnest Shackleton). Just as Stuart Maconie has celebrated in his own unique way all that is great about his North of England roots, so Ryan Tubridy makes a passionate case for the magnificent contribution Ireland has made to its nearest neighbour.

Earlier naturalists formed the impression that bird numbers remained more or less stable through time. In the years since these words were written, however, changes have occurred in the landscapes of the British Isles and in the seas around our coasts, causing bird populations to fluctuate in an unprecedented way. In Ian Newton’s latest New Naturalist volume, he explores bird populations and why their numbers vary in the way they do, from year to year or from place to place. He addresses the various factors that we know limit bird numbers – food supplies and other resources, competitors, predators, parasites and pathogens, and various human impacts. The combination of a rapidly expanding human population, a predominantly utilitarian attitude to land, central government policy on land use, and increasing mechanisation have combined to promote more massive changes in land use – and hence in bird habitats – in recent decades than at any comparable period previously. These developments have in turn brought huge changes in bird populations, as some species dependent on the old landscapes declined, and others benefiting from the changes increased. Over the same period, changing public attitudes to wildlife, protective legislation and a growing network of nature reserves allowed previously scarce bird species to recover from past onslaughts, while climate warming has promoted further changes. In this seminal new work, Ian Newton sets out to explain why different bird species are distributed in the numbers that they are, and have changed over the years in the way that they have. He emphasises the factors that influence bird numbers, rather than the numbers themselves, thus providing a much-needed overview which is necessary if we are to successfully manage bird populations, whether for conservation reasons, for sustainable hunting or for crop protection. The continued monitoring of bird numbers can also alert us to impending environmental problems. In addition, the regular watching and study of birds now provides a source of recreation and pleasure for very large numbers of people, who would find a world with fewer birds a poorer place.

Unabridged and illustrated in glorious full-colour throughout, this exquisite gift edition of the original story of Paddington, the classic bear from Darkest Peru, is truly to be treasured! “A bear? On Paddington station?” Mrs Brown looked at her husband in amazement. “Don’t be silly, Henry. There can’t be!” Paddington Bear had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same… for ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is involved.

Yoga has been shown to benefit both mind and body in the short and long term; it opens doors to a healthy lifestyle, a supple body and personal peace. 20 Minutes to Master Yoga is a clear introduction to the practice and key postures, showing you how to master the core ideas in just 20 minutes. Yoga is a simple but life-enhancing discipline, which concentrates on controlling body postures and breathing to strengthen the body and relax the mind. It is an age-old practice that is as useful today as it has been for centuries. This book will guide you through warm up exercises, building into key postures and finishing with how to correctly end a session. Previously published as First Directions: Yoga, this ebook brings together classic text, written by an expert in the field, with a new chapter that condenses all the ideas and practices into a simple, digestible 20-minute read. It covers: ? What Yoga is; its origins and its benefits ? Key postures with clear explanations and photographs ? ‘Points to remember’ to aid safe execution This is part of the 20 Minutes to Master series, ten indispensable guides that can show you how to transform your life in simple and effective ways. Other titles in the series include 20 Minutes to Master Past Life Therapy, 20 Minutes to Master NLP and 20 Minutes to Master Pilates.

An engaging and informative first-hand account of the last ‘grain race’ of maritime history, from respected travel writer Eric Newby. In 1939, a young Eric Newby – later renowned as a travel writer of exceptional talent – set sail aboard Moshulu, the largest sailing ship still employed in the transportation of grain from Australia to Europe. Every year from 1921 to 1939, the vessels involved in the grain trade would strive to find the shortest, fastest passage home – ‘the grain race’ – in the face of turbulent seas, atrocious weather conditions and hard graft. First published in 1956, ‘The Last Grain Race’, featuring many photographs from the author’s personal collection, celebrates both the spirit of adventure and the thrill of sailing on the high seas. Newby’s first-hand account – engaging and informative, with frequent bursts of humour and witty observations from both above and below deck – chronicles this classic sailing voyage of the Twenties and Thirties, and records the last grain race of maritime history.

“This is the very beginning of the story of my life with my son. In some ways it is an unconventional one; a tale of choosing solo motherhood, with all its painful and joyful twists and turns. But at its heart it simply recounts a mother’s love for her child; a love that has been replicated throughout time all over the world.” The true story of Esther, who, at the age of 42, found herself single yet longing to be a mother. Flying in the face of the advice and scaremongering from the media, she made the brave decision to go it alone. Initially, the path was smooth, and Esther received nothing but encouragement and support from family and friends. But, as she ventured further down the path towards solo motherhood, Esther began to run up against bureaucracy, crushing negativity, obstructions and, occasionally, in amongst the care and compassion of doctors, nurses, embryologists and sonographers, bewildering incompetence. From IUI to IVF, dramatic hormonal fluctuations creating frustration and exhaustion, and a devastating blow, through to the joy of motherhood at last, Esther’s story is both moving and life-affirming.

From a cutting-edge cultural commentator, a bold and brilliant challenge to cherished notions of the internet as the great leveler of our age. The internet has been hailed as an unprecedented democratising force, a place where everyone can participate. ? So why are minorities and marginalized groups under-represented on user-generated websites, with less than 15% of Wikipedia written by women? ? Why does keyword-jammed and star-studded churnalism proliferate, at the expense of in-depth, investigative journalism? ? And how have a handful of giant corporations like Facebook, Google and Apple seized control of our creativity, galvanizing individuals to produce content for free? ‘The People’s Platform’ argues that for all our ‘sharing’, the internet reflects real-world inequalities as much as it reduces them, as attention and income frequently accrue to those who already have plenty of both. The online world does offer a unique opportunity for greater freedom, but a community that supports the diverse and lasting will not spring up from technology alone. If we want the internet to be a people’s platform, we will have to make it so.

CSI in the land of elves, but they aren’t cute and christmassy, they’re sometimes sinister, and definitely deceased… Private eye Nicely Strongoak is your average detective-for-hire, if your average detective is a dwarf with a Napoleon complex. In a city filled with drug-taking gnomes, goblins packing heat and a serious case of missing-persons, Strongoak might just be what’s needed. But things are about to turn sour. When on the trail of the vanished surfer, Perry Goodfellow, Nicely receives a sharp blow to the head, is burgled by goblins and awakes in a narcotic-induced haze on the floor of a steamwagon with an extremely deceased elf, who just happens to have Nicely’s axe wedged in his head. Nicely must enter the murky world of government politics if he is going to crack his toughest case yet. He’ll have to find Perry, uncover who the dead elf is and leave no cobblestone unturned…

"I am seriously gutted to have reached the end of this fantastic series. They have been the perfect tonic over the past few weeks" ~ Book Addict Shaun "As soon as I read Trouble in Tinseltown I knew I would love this series and I havent been disappointed. I have felt like a broken record as each novella has surpassed the previous one, but for me, it has just got better and better" ~ Jill Loves to Read "I'm going to miss reading one (or maybe two) of these daily. They have been a perfect way to relax in the evening and I'm sad this is the last one." ~ Lost to Books "Deliver Us to Dublin... With Care is the final instalment in what has been a brilliant summer series by Aimee Duffy. We've been brought plenty of laughs, romance and drama and in Dublin, after the fascinating way Flirting in Florence ended, there was a lot to be wrapped up. Having been with Ciara, Elle and Gem on their whole road trip journey, I really feel like I'll miss the characters but I thought the culmination to the series did their stories justice." ~ Reviewed the Book The final instalment of Summer Flings - a fun, flirty and laugh out loud rom com series of short stories. Miserable, lonely and broken hearted, Ciara returns to Dublin on a mission to sort out her life. A job is at the top of the list but a visit to the doctor has surprising repercussions. She refuses to drift apart from her friends now that real life has begun, struggles to fit new relationships into her life and still has to deal with everything else fate throws her way. But even Ciara should know that there's always something a little bit special to be found at the end of the rainbow... The ideal summer treat for those relaxing days soaking up the sun!

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of… anything but a wife? The third book in the Swell Valley series by bestselling author Tilly Bagshawe Henry Saxton-Brae has it all – a titled, self-made millionaire, his fiancée just happens to be a supermodel who is as kind and loyal as she is ravishingly beautiful. To top it all, he’s just bought Hanborough Castle, the jewel in the crown of the Swell Valley. Life couldn’t be better… for someone who was ready to settle down. Could he really be the only man in the world not in love with his future wife? Flora Fitzwilliam has been summoned by legendary designer Graydon James to restore Hanborough to its former glory. She soon discovers that it’s not just the house that needs fixing, and Flora seems to be the only person who sees the real Henry Saxton-Brae. Between her boss’s waning talents and Henry’s roving eye, Flora is being torn apart. Can she pull off the job, and make Henry see that his bachelor days are behind him? Not since Rupert Campbell-Black has there been such a devastatingly sexy man in jodhpurs!