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Vulgar Things
Vulgar Things
Lee Rourke
¥66.22
The second novel from Lee Rourke, author of the cult hit ‘The Canal’. Jon Michaels – a divorced, disaffected and fatigued editor living a nonde* life in North London – wakes one morning to a phone call informing him that his uncle has been found dead in his caravan on Canvey Island. Dismissed from his job only the day before and hung-over, Jon reluctantly agrees to sort through his uncle’s belongings and clear out the caravan. What follows is a quixotic week on Canvey as Jon, led on by desire and delusion, purposeful but increasingly disorientated, unfolds a disturbing secret, ever more enchanted by the island – its landscape and its atmosphere. Haunted and haunting, ‘Vulgar Things’ is part mystery, part romance, part odyssey: a novel in which the menial entrances and the banal compels.
Work Your Wardrobe: Gok's Gorgeous Guide to Style that Lasts
Work Your Wardrobe: Gok's Gorgeous Guide to Style that Lasts
Gok Wan
¥80.25
Style supremo and every woman's best friend, Gok Wan knows how important it is for a woman to look and feel her best. In his fantastic new style bible Gok breathes new life into your existing wardrobe, showing you how to transform the basics we all have into a fabulous new look. You will love your look without breaking the bank balance. We all want to look and feel great, and clothes are a great way to give you that instant confidence boost. But how can you do this without spending a fortune? Simple! Throw open those closet doors, ransack those rails and let Gok turn your wardrobe war zone into a style sanctuary. In his next book Gok takes you back to basics, showing you how to create the perfect capsule wardrobe that you’ll use every day of your life and still look amazing. He’ll give you the confidence to create fresh new looks from the classics you already have, showing you the different outfit combinations you can create and how to wear those wardrobe heroes in a new fabulously stylish way. We all know that a crisp white shirt looks great at the office, but let Gok show you how to dress it down at the weekend for that casual-chic look. By guiding you through each basic in turn, from the little black dress to those comfy jeans, your wardrobe will instantly become more versatile and you'll be able to update your look every season without breaking the bank balance on a whole new set of clothes. Packed with Gok's trademark advice on shopping for your shape, his golden rules and hints on what to avoid, plus insider style tips from celebrities and those in the know, this book will be your very own one-to-one personal wardrobe-fixing session with Gok. No longer will you fret over what to wear in the morning, nor will you spend hours (and loads of cash) traipsing around the shops. Your wardrobe will work for you so you'll enjoy getting ready as much as going out
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
J. R. R. Tolkien
¥58.47
The world first publication of a previously unknown work by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the epic story of the Norse hero, Sigurd, the dragon-slayer, the revenge of his wife, Gudrún, and the Fall of the Nibelungs. “Many years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien composed his own version, now published for the first time, of the great legend of Northern antiquity, in two closely related poems to which he gave the titles The New Lay of the V?lsungs and The New Lay of Gudrún. “In the Lay of the V?lsungs is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of Fáfnir most celebrated of dragons, whose treasure he took for his own; of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild who slept surrounded by a wall of fire, and of their betrothal; and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs (or Nibelungs), with whom he entered into blood-brotherhood. In that court there sprang great love but also great hate, brought about by the power of the enchantress, mother of the Niflungs, skilled in the arts of magic, of shape-changing and potions of forgetfulness. “In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, of Gunnar the Niflung and Gudrún his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd at the hands of his blood-brothers, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudrún. In the Lay of Gudrún her fate after the death of Sigurd is told, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns (the Attila of history), his murder of her brothers the Niflung lords, and her hideous revenge. “Deriving his version primarily from his close study of the ancient poetry of Norway and Iceland known as the Poetic Edda (and where no old poetry exists, from the later prose work the V?lsunga Saga), J.R.R. Tolkien employed a verse-form of short stanzas whose lines embody in English the exacting alliterative rhythms and the concentrated energy of the poems of the Edda.” — Christopher Tolkien
The Long Exile
The Long Exile
Melanie McGrath
¥72.30
A chilling true story of deception and survival set amidst the Inuit communities of the Canadian Arctic. In 1922 the Irish-American explorer Robert Flaherty made a film called ‘Nanook of the North’ which captured the world's imagination. Soon afterwards, he quit the Arctic for good, leaving behind his bastard son, Joseph, to grow up Eskimo. Thirty years later a young, inexperienced policeman, Ross Gibson, was asked by the Canadian government to draw up a list of Inuit who were to be resettled in the uninhabited polar Arctic and left to fend as best they could. Joseph Flaherty and his family were on that list. They were told they were going to an Arctic Eden of spring flowers and polar bears. But it didn't turn out that way, and this, Joseph Flaherty's story, tells how it did.
The Importance of Being Kennedy
The Importance of Being Kennedy
Laurie Graham
¥57.09
A brilliant novel by Laurie Graham set in wartime London, which follows Kick Kennedy, sister of future US President JFK, as she takes London society by storm. Nora Brennan is a country girl from Westmeath. When she lands herself a position as nursery maid to a family in Brookline, Massachusetts, she little thinks it will place her at the heart of American history. But it's the Kennedy family. In 1917 Joseph Kennedy is on his way to his first million and he has plans to found a dynasty and ensure that his baby son, Joe Junior, will be the first Catholic President of the United States. As nursemaid to all nine Kennedy children, Nora witnesses every moment, public and private. She sees the boys coached at their father's knee to believe everything they'll ever want in life can be bought. She sees the girls trained by their mother to be good Catholic wives. World War II changes everything. At the outbreak of war the Kennedys are living the high life in London, where Joseph Kennedy is the American ambassador. His reaction is to send the entire household back across the Atlantic to safety, but Nora, surprised by midlife love, chooses to stay in England and do her bit. Separated from her Kennedys by an ocean she nevertheless remains the warm, approachable sun around which the older children orbit: Joe, Jack, Rosemary, and in particular Kick, who throws the first spanner in the Kennedy works by marrying an English Protestant. Laurie Graham's poignant new novel views the Kennedys from below stairs, with the humour and candour that only an ex-nursemaid dare employ.
Who Killed Change?
Who Killed Change?
Ken Blanchard
¥66.22
By the bestselling author of The One Minute Manager, a business parable that teaches organizations to cope successfully with change. Every day organizations around the world launch change initiatives – often big, expensive ones - designed to improve the status quo. Yet 50 to 70 percent of these change efforts fail. A few perish suddenly, but many die painful, protracted deaths that drain the organization's resources, energy and morale. So, Who or what is killing change? That's what you'll find out in this delightful whodunit. The story features a Columbo-style detective named Agent who's investigating the murder of yet another Change. One by one, Agent interviews thirteen prime suspects, including a myopic leader named Vision; a chronically tardy manager named Urgency; an executive named Communication whose laryngitis makes communication all but impossible; and several other dubious characters. The suspects are sure to sound familiar, and you're bound to relate them to your own workplace. In the end, Agent solves the case in a way that will inspire you to become an effective Change Agent in your own organization.
Crash
Crash
J. G. Ballard,Zadie Smith
¥66.22
The definitive cult, post-modern novel – a shocking blend of violence, transgression and eroticism. When Ballard, our narrator, smashes his car into another and watches a man die in front of him, his sense of sexual possibilities in the world around him becomes detached. As he begins an affair with the dead man's wife, he finds himself drawn with increasing intensity to the mangled impacts of car crashes. Then he encounters Robert Vaughan, a former TV scientist turned nightmare angel of the expressway, who has gathered around him a collection of alienated crash victims and experiments with a series of auto-erotic atrocities, each more sinister than the last. But Vaughan craves the ultimate crash – a head-on collision of blood, semen, engine coolant and iconic celebrity. First published in 1973 Crash remains one of the most shocking novels of the second half of the twentieth century and was made into an equally controversial film by David Cronenberg. Ballard’s autobiography Miracles of Life was published in 2008 and Extreme Metaphors, a collection of interviews with the author, is due out in 2012.
The Light’s On At Signpost
The Light’s On At Signpost
George MacDonald Fraser
¥66.22
From the author of the ever-popular Flashman novels, a collection of film-world reminiscences and trenchant thoughts on Cool Britannia, New Labour and other abominations. In between writing Flashman novels, George MacDonald Fraser spent thirty years as an "incurably star struck" screenwriter, working with the likes of Steve McQueen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cubby Broccoli, Burt Lancaster, Federico Fellini and Oliver Reed. Now he shares his recollections of those encounters, providing a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. Far from starry-eyed where Tony Blair & Co are concerned, he looks back also to the Britain of his youth and castigates those responsible for its decline to "a Third World country … misruled by a typical Third World government, corrupt, incompetent and undemocratic". Controversial, witty and revealing – or "curmudgeonly", "reactionary", "undiluted spleen", according to the critics – The Light's on at Signpost has struck a chord with a great section of the public. Perhaps, as one reader suggests, it should be "hidden beneath the floorboards, before the Politically-Correct Thought Police come hammering at the door, demanding to confiscate any copies".
Flashman and the Redskins (The Flashman Papers, Book 6)
Flashman and the Redskins (The Flashman Papers, Book 6)
George MacDonald Fraser
¥72.30
Coward, scoundrel, lover and cheat, but there is no better man to go into the jungle with. Join Flashman in his adventures as he survives fearful ordeals and outlandish perils across the four corners of the world. What was Harry Flashman doing on the slopes of Little Bighorn, caught between the gallant remnant of Custer’s 7th Cavalry and the attack of Sitting Bull’s braves? He was trying to get out of the line of fire and escape yet again with his life (if not his honour) intact. Here is the legendary and authentic West of Mangas Colorado’s Apaches, of Kit Carson, Custer and Spotted Tail, of Crazy Horse and the Deadwood stage, gunfighters and gamblers, scoundrels and Indian belles, enthusiastic widows and mysterious adventuresses. The West as it really was: terrifying!
The Great British Tuck Shop
The Great British Tuck Shop
Steve Berry,Phil Norman
¥91.23
The ultimate book of sweetie nostalgia! AS SEEN ON THIS MORNING A colourful, witty and irreverent encyclopedia of all the sweets and crisps of your youth. From Mojos to Rainbow Drops, Space Raiders to Trios, Corona to Kia Ora and everything in between. Fully illustrated with hundreds of wrappers, ads and specially recreated packshots this book will lead you down memory lane until you reach the corner shop, load up a 10p mix up bag and rot your teeth on the contents. The authors have been given access to the archives, factories and warehouses of some of the leading sweet and snack manufacturers in the country and have delivered a book that is packed full of fascinating historical research… … and lots and lots of sweets. WITH A FOREWORD BY JONATHAN ROSS.
Amnesia
Amnesia
Beverly Barton
¥51.50
You’ll be up all night with this addictive thriller from the New York Times bestselling author. What if, one by one, your exes were being murdered – and all the evidence pointed at you? Hotshot lawyer Quinn Cortez is infamous for his prowess in the courtroom – and the bedroom. But when his latest conquest – notorious party girl Lulu Vanderley – is found butchered, Cortez becomes the prime suspect. Suffering paralysing blackouts, and with no memory of his actions at the time of the murder, Cortez must fight to clear his name. Lulu's cousin Annabelle is willing to believe he is innocent – until more bodies are discovered, and all the clues lead back to him. To catch a killer, Cortez must explore the blackness within him, and confront the shocking truth…
Ship of Rome (Masters of the Sea)
Ship of Rome (Masters of the Sea)
John Stack
¥63.18
Against a backdrop of the clash of the Roman and Carthaginian empires, the battle for sovereignty takes place on the high seas Atticus, captain of one of the ships of Rome's small, coastal fleet, is from a Greek fishing family. Septimus, legionary commander, reluctantly ordered aboard ship, is from Rome, born into a traditionally army family. It could never be an easy alliance. But the arrival of a hostile fleet, larger, far more skilful and more powerful than any Atticus has encountered before, forces them to act together. So Atticus, one of Rome's few experienced sailors, finds himself propelled into the middle of a political struggle that is completely foreign to him. Rome need to build a navy fast but the obstacles are many; political animosities, legions adamant that they will only use their traditional methods; Roman prejudice even from friends, that all those not born in Rome are inferior citizens. The enemy are first class, experienced and determined to control the seas. Can Atticus, and the fledgling Roman navy, staffed with inexperienced sailors and unwilling legionaries, outwit and outfight his opponents. SHIP OF ROME, full of magnificent sea-battles, packed with strong characters, torn between two powerful empires, is the first book in a new series, MASTERS OF THE SEA, by a brilliant new author.
The Street Philosopher
The Street Philosopher
Matthew Plampin
¥58.86
An elegant, powerful novel, set in Victorian England, a time not so different from our own… perfect for fans of THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER and THE SHADOW OF THE WIND Ambitious young journalist Thomas Kitson arrives at the battlefields of the Crimea as the London Courier’s man on the ground. It is a dangerous place, full of the worst horrors of war but Kitson is determined to make his mark. Under the tutelage of his hard-bitten Irish boss Cracknell, and assisted by artist Robert Styles, he sets about exposing the incompetence of the army generals. Two years later, as Sebastopol burns, Thomas returns to England under mysterious circumstances. Desperate to forget the atrocities of the Crimea, he takes a job as a ‘street philosopher’, a society writer reporting on the gossip of the day. But on the eve of the great Art Treasures Exhibition, as Manchester prepares to welcome Queen Victoria, Thomas’s past returns to haunt him in the most horrifying way…
Marley: A Dog Like No Other
Marley: A Dog Like No Other
John Grogan
¥44.15
A special film tie-in edition of the heart-warming story about the World’s Worst Dog, adapted from John Grogan’s phenomenally bestselling memoir, Marley and Me. Meet Marley, a yellow furball of a puppy who quickly grows into a large, rowdy Labrador retriever. Marley is always getting into trouble, whether he is stealing underwear, crashing through doors, or drooling on guests, some may say he’s the World’s Worst Dog! But those who know and love Marley accept him as a dog like no other. His heart is pure and his larger-than-life personality irresistible. He brings joy to his family, the Grogans, and teaches them what really matters in life.
Pretty Little Things
Pretty Little Things
Jilliane Hoffman
¥45.81
A terrifying new standalone psycholgical thriller from the bestselling author of ‘Retribution’ and ‘The Cutting Room’ Special Agent Bobby Dees knows what grief feels like. He understands the pain of losing a child. And he'll do whatever he can to prevent it from happening again. The phone call that comes on a Sunday morning will take him away from his insular world of grief and sleepless nights – and into a far darker place. A young girl, Elaine Emerson, has gone missing and only Dees has a chance of finding her. It seems that Elaine was last seen waiting to meet her boyfriend - a mysterious figure she met secretly online who goes by the name of El Capitan, and whose reality is as cruel and chilling as the worst thing Dees can imagine…
‘Stop in the name of pants!’ (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, Book 9)
‘Stop in the name of pants!’ (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, Book 9)
Louise Rennison
¥51.50
Sound the Cosmic Horn for bestselling author Louise Rennison’s ninth book of the confessions of crazy but loveable teenager Georgia Nicolson! Now that Georgia has finally won over gorgey Masimo, the Italian Stallion, her old friend and lip-nibbling partner Dave the Laugh has popped up again. Will Georgia go to Pizza-a-gogo land to visit dreamy Masimo? Or could her perfect boy be closer than she thinks. A Sex Kitty’s life is never simple… More hilarious confessions from our fave teen drama queen, Georgia Nicolson.
Florence and Giles
Florence and Giles
John Harding
¥45.62
A sinister Gothic tale in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher 1891. In a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself - and narrates this, her story - in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors like one of the old house's many ghosts and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles. Sometimes Florence doesn't sleepwalk at all, but simply pretends to so she can roam at will and search the house for clues to her own baffling past. After the sudden violent death of the children's first governess, a second teacher, Miss Taylor, arrives, and immediately strange phenomena begin to occur. Florence becomes convinced that the new governess is a vengeful and malevolent spirit who means to do Giles harm. Against this powerful supernatural enemy, and without any adult to whom she can turn for help, Florence must use all her intelligence and ingenuity to both protect her little brother and preserve her private world. Inspired by and in the tradition of Henry James' s The Turn of the Screw, Florence & Giles is a gripping gothic page-turner told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating narrative voice.
Black Mamba Boy
Black Mamba Boy
Nadifa Mohamed
¥66.22
Named as one of the Granta Best Of Young British Novelists 2013. Longlisted for the Orange Prize and winner of the Betty Trask Award. For fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, a stunning novel set in 1930s Somalia spanning a decade of war and upheaval, all seen through the eyes of a small boy alone in the world. Aden, Yemen, 1935; a city vibrant, alive, and full of hidden dangers. And home to Jama, a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly and he finds himself alone in the world. Jama is forced home to his native Somalia, the land of his nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon and the fascist Italian forces who control parts of East Africa are preparing for battle. Yet Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father, who has been absent from his life since he was a baby, is alive somewhere. And so begins an epic journey which will take Jama north through Djibouti, war-torn Eritrea and Sudan, to Egypt. And from there, aboard a ship transporting Jewish refugees just released from German concentration camps, across the seas to Britain and freedom. This story of one boy's long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa and its people; a story of displacement and family.
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
¥66.22
From one of America's iconic writers, a portrait of a marriage and a life – in good times and bad – that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. A stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill. At first they thought it was flu, then pneumonia, then complete sceptic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later – the night before New Year’s Eve –the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of 40 years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LA airport, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Centre to relieve a massive hematoma. This powerful book is Didion’s ‘attempt to make sense of the weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness … about marriage and children and memory … about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself’. The result is an exploration of an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage, and a life, in good times and bad.
Grand Conspiracy: Second Book of The Alliance of Light
Grand Conspiracy: Second Book of The Alliance of Light
Janny Wurts
¥66.22
Where there is light, there must always be shadow… The fifth volume in Janny Wurts’s spectacular epic fantasy, now re-released with a striking new cover design along with the rest of the series. The wars began when two half-brothers, gifted of light and shadow, stood shoulder to shoulder to defeat the Mistwraith. Their foe cast a lifelong curse of enmity between them that has so far woven three bitter conflicts and uncounted deadly intrigues. It is a time of political upheavel, fanaticism and rampaging armies. Distrust of sorcery has set off a purge of the talented mageborn – none reviled more than Arithon, Master of Shadow. Through clever manipulation of events at the hands of his half-brother Lysaer, Lord of Light, Arithon’s very name has become anathema. Now the volatile hatreds that spearheaded the campaign against Shadow have overtaken all reason. Those that still stand in Arithon’s desperate defence are downtrodden, in retreat and close to annihilation. The stage is set for the ultimate betrayal.
A Darker Place (Sean Dillon Series, Book 16)
A Darker Place (Sean Dillon Series, Book 16)
Jack Higgins
¥58.86
Dillon and company are back in the ultimate blockbuster from the ‘legend’ that is Jack Higgins Disillusioned with the Putin Government, famous Russian writer and ex-paratrooper Alexander Kurbsky decides he wants to disappear into the West. However he is under no illusions about how the news will be greeted at home - he has seen too many of his countrymen die mysteriously at the hands of the thuggish Russian security services, so he makes elaborate plans with Charles Ferguson, Sean Dillon and the rest of the group known informally as the "Prime Minister's private army" for his escape and concealment. It's a real coup for the West…except for one thing. Kurbsky is still working for the Russians. The plan is to infiltrate British and American intelligence at the highest levels, and he has his own motivations for doing the most effective job possible. He does not care what he has to do or where he has to go…or whom he has to kill.