Kate West is the author of The Real Witches' Handbook and The Real Witches' Kitchen. She is Media Officer for The Children of Artemis and High Priestess of the Hearth of Hecate, which runs a popular email support and enquiry service for Witches around the world. A practising Wiccan for over 30 years, she has excellent international contacts.

The nostalgic memoir of a young man, eldest of fourteen, growing up in 40s Wednesbury. The heartbreaking true account of his son struggling to come to terms with his father’s dementia. A tribute to the unbreakable bond between father and son. When Simon McDermott first noticed his dad Ted’s sudden flares of temper and fits of forgetfulness, he couldn’t have guessed what lay ahead. Then came the devastating, inevitable diagnosis. As Ted retreated into his own world, Simon and his mum Linda desperately tried to reach him until at last: an idea. Turning the ignition in his mum’s little runaround, Simon hit play on Ted’s favourite song Quando Quando Quando. And like that, they were just two mates driving around Blackburn, singing at the top of their lungs. Simon filmed their adventure, uploaded the video to YouTube and woke up to messages, tweets and his phone ringing off the hook. Their carpool karaoke had gone viral all the way across the globe. But a record deal, Pride of Britain Awards, over ?130,000 raised for The Alzheimer’s Society and a Top 10 single later, Simon was still losing Ted. That’s when he made a decision. His Dad – the storyteller of his childhood and his best friend – couldn’t tell his own story, so Simon would tell it for him. This is that story. Set in the heart of the Black Country just before WWII, and written with the help of Ted’s friends and family, The Songaminute Man recalls a boy who became a gutsy and fiercely loyal man. It remembers a childhood of sleeping top-to-toe, rationing, adventure in the woods and making-do-and-mending, a close-knit community, and a life-long passion for music. Full of poignant moments, the ups and downs of family life and treasured memories, The Songaminute Man is a story of two halves: a celebration of the man Ted was, and a powerful and moving account of caring for a loved one.

WINNER OF THE SOUTH BANK SKY ARTS LITERATURE AWARD 2018 A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR ? A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ? A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ? A DAILY MAIL BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘A masterpiece’ Mail on Sunday ‘I honked so loudly the man sitting next to me dropped his sandwich’ Observer She made John Lennon blush and Marlon Brando clam up. She cold-shouldered Princess Diana and humiliated Elizabeth Taylor. Andy Warhol photographed her. Jack Nicholson offered her cocaine. Gore Vidal revered her. John Fowles hoped to keep her as his sex-slave. Dudley Moore propositioned her. Francis Bacon heckled her. Peter Sellers was in love with her. For Pablo Picasso, she was the object of sexual fantasy. “If they knew what I had done in my dreams with your royal ladies” he confided to a friend, “they would take me to the Tower of London and chop off my head!” Princess Margaret aroused passion and indignation in equal measures. To her friends, she was witty and regal. To her enemies, she was rude and demanding. In her 1950’s heyday, she was seen as one of the most glamorous and desirable women in the world. By the time of her death, she had come to personify disappointment. One friend said he had never known an unhappier woman. The tale of Princess Margaret is pantomime as tragedy, and tragedy as pantomime. It is Cinderella in reverse: hope dashed, happiness mislaid, life mishandled. Combining interviews, parodies, dreams, parallel lives, diaries, announcements, lists, catalogues and essays, Ma’am Darling is a kaleidoscopic experiment in biography, and a witty meditation on fame and art, snobbery and deference, bohemia and high society. ‘Brown has been our best parodist and satirist for decades now … Ma’am Darling is, as you would expect, very funny; also, full of quirky facts and genial footnotes. Brown has managed to ingest huge numbers of royal books and documents without losing either his judgment or his sanity. He adores the spectacle of human vanity’ Julian Barnes, Guardian

世界各地之有味笑話如恆河沙數，素來是廣受大眾歡迎的流行讀本。本書作者Mr. C特別編撰「小小笑話」系列，精選妙絕抵死的笑話匯集成篇，以輕巧且價錢相宜的迷你版本出版，為你帶來經濟實惠的閱讀樂趣和享受。除了豐富精選的笑話，書首更有得意有趣的遊戲，供大家互動玩耍一下，順便先來個大腦熱熱身，然後再放開懷抱笑個痛快。 《癲癲WORKING》及《公主病駕到》分別取材為Office笑話及男女關係笑話，詼諧抵死，適合成人閱讀。 《囧囧CLUB》及《女王捉字室》則取材為校園笑話(classroom jokes)，幽默搞笑，適合學生閱讀。

《拆走醫院的炸彈》以40個關於醫生、病人、護士及家屬的真實個案，改編成活潑生動的故事去講述醫患關係，出版未足半年初版3000冊已售罄，反應理想。 本書文字簡短精練，盡量保留病房內外、醫生護士與病人及家屬之間衝突中的言行，其中也有病房內外的特殊用語、有趣代號甚或爛gag等，生動傳神。 其實人的一生總離不開醫院、醫生與護士。不過，由於種種言語、心理、行為上的誤會、誤解、矛盾、衝突，醫患之間始終不容易建立起互信、互諒的關係，因此醫院內「炸彈」處處！如何拆彈？！ 細閱本書，讀者除了可看到病房眾生相外，更可嘗試代入角色，想像一下炸彈引爆前的凝重、爆發一刻的顫震，以及爆後心理的忐忑。本書更試圖從第三者的角度，提出「拆彈」的忠告與實踐良策。可讀之餘，發人深省。 《拆走醫院的炸彈》新版除了保留了故事、沙龍照片、勵志金句外，在內容上也作出了修訂；特別的是更換上新裝。今次伊利沙伯醫院破天荒邀請到醫管局主席胡定旭、香港防癌會主席高永文醫生，聯同一眾演藝界明星名人葛民輝、羅蘭、廖安麗，以及譚玉瑛一起粉墨登場，角色扮演醫生、病人、護士及家屬，拍攝封面及內頁照片；星光熠熠，令人耳目一新！

風──創作路，多風暴；風眼中，看平靜。 花──風旅中，遇花海；學種花，孕新生。 雪──花落時，雪堵路；寒道裡，享甘薯。 月──雪告別，前路明；月照下，見新遊。 作者在書中以自然之景──風、花、雪、月為幹，既說一己的創作歷程，又細說對人世間的萬事萬物的觀察，體現作者的觀點與視覺。 綣綣塵世間，我們會遇到風雨，但風雨過後，得享霎時平靜，柳暗花明，未至絕路。碰到寒雪堵路，調整心境，實是享甘薯的好時光。人生有高有低，或臨絕處卻又逢生。作者欲藉文、圖道出的，正是此理。 此作以清新的繪圖為主，配以精簡的文字，感悟各式各樣人生小道理，讓讀者在閱讀之時，享受一刻的清泉，澄明身心。 內文範例： 同生同等。 兒時，我無聊跳高伸手蜻蜓，但牠總會飛高來欺負我； 當時我還無知地認為長高後，牠就難逃我的魔掌。 今天，牠就在我身邊飛過，當然人大了， 我沒伸出那頑皮手來捉牠。 因我明白，不是現在我的高度足以捉到牠， 而是牠因快下雨而低飛。 我早就不應跟牠比較高低，即使現在我能力比牠高，亦不等於我就要向牠施展魔爪， 因從沒有誰想打倒誰，而是本身就是應該共存。

本書從提高小學生寫字能力的角度出發，以香港教育局課程發展處中國語文教育組編訂的《香港小學學習字詞表》為基礎，參考衆多小學語文教材，精選350個小學階段使用頻率、構字構詞能力強的漢字，從偏旁、筆畫、筆順等方面對漢字逐一解構，幫助小學生掌握正確的漢字書寫規則。

本書運用現代語言學方法，將粵語作為一個完整的語言系統，從詞彙、詞法、句法等方面，全面論述粵語語法上的種種表現，兼論粵語音系和各種拼音系統的異同。一方面可作為研究和學習粵語的教材，讓讀者對粵語的語言特點有較為完整的認識，；另一方面，以讀者熟悉的具體語言事實來說明比較抽象的理論，做到既能介紹粵語特色，又能普及語言學基本概念，亦適合所有對粵語有興趣的普通讀者閱讀。

本書精選小學生8種常用修辭法，包括：比喻、擬人、排比、反復、設問、反問、誇張、對偶等，提供3百多條測試題目，輔以淺白的文字加以解說，幫助學生讀者把握運用有關修辭的用法。為增添閱讀趣味，本書加入了生動的故事，幽默的漫畫和形式豐富的遊戲，務求做到「學」與「樂」統一。

重點探討慢性腎病中西治療比較及配合，並清楚列出容易產生的併發症，慢性腎衰竭的狀況，提供實用診治和個人調養方法。提供中藥藥饍、食療、生活方式調護，並輔以簡易的菜餚、湯水等食譜，讀者可以自行烹調食用。

香港中文大歷史系成立於1963年，至2013年已經歷了五十年。在這五十年的歲月中，歷史系的前賢和師輩奠下了嚴肅的學術風氣與扎實的研究根基。莘莘學子，遂得以承傳錢穆、牟潤孫、全漢昇、嚴耕望、王德昭、孫國棟等眾多史學名宿的治學精神。 為了慶祝歷史系踏入金禧之年，我們邀請校友撰文論述前輩老師的個人風骨、學術成就、治史理念、研究心得及教學旨趣等，編成此書以總結五十年來歷史系前賢的開創、耕耘之功及治史業績，好讓後輩繼往開來，延續並發展創系以來的理念和精神。

全書包含幾個英語語法範疇：易混淆詞、單複數、量詞、數目詞彙、同音異義詞、短語動詞、慣用語、明喻和隱喻等 內容選自余黎青萍於報章撰寫的專欄文章，談及英語學習不同的重要範疇，作者從日常生活、工作、傳媒報導等搜集實例，從反方面指出措辭不當、似是而非的毛病，也從正面說明如何學好英語，如何活用 phrasal verbs 及 idioms，幫助讀者明白英語如何可表達得傳神。

本書從鍛鍊體魄的好處開始，仔細講解跑步前的風險評估，按個人體能和目標設計的多種長跑訓練計劃和訓練方法，如長距離跑、節奏跑及間歇跑的要點，還詳述如何預防受傷、處理傷患、配合飲食營養，加強鍛鍊效果。

「極短篇」，又有人稱之為「小小說」或「掌上小說」。寫「極短篇」，極不容易，在如此小的篇幅內說故事，從頭到尾，一眼望盡，瑕瑜立見，無可隱藏，其實「難度」相當高。 但本書作者卻是寫「極短篇」的高手，書中精選了她的三十篇佳作，當中的故事，既有愛情的，也有人情的，甚至奇幻的，題材豐富，異彩紛呈，情節引人入勝，結局又出人意表。每個故事讀後，相信讀者或會會心微笑，或會擊節驚歎，又或會領悟到一點點人生的道理。

Engineer naturally lean web pages and leverage the latest web platform features to dramatically boost page speed About This Book ? The first book for web developers that shows how to put AMP to work ? Improve your website's mobile experience and get more traffic ? Practical methods to achieve a step change in performance quickly and easily Who This Book Is For This book is for experienced web developers who are aware of the impact of slow-loading web pages on conversion rates and user engagement, and who are seeking to serve content to their end users in a rich and enticing way using the Accelerated Mobile Pages framework. You should be familiar with HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and JSON. What You Will Learn ? Build, validate, and deploy AMP pages ? Create interactive user notifications, navigation menus, accordions, contact pages with forms and maps ? Monetize your traffic with a variety of ad styles and providers ? Analyze your traffic by integrating analytics providers and tracking user-behavior along several dimensions ? Embed social media with amp-youtube, amp-instagram, amp-twitter, and amp-facebook ? Build e-commerce functionality including product pages and shopping carts ? Deliver rich media experiences using AMP custom elements ? Use advanced deployment techniques to extend functionality ? Install ServiceWorkers and build Progressive Web Apps for offline use In Detail Google introduced the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project to give mobile users lightning-fast response times when accessing web pages on mobile devices. AMP delivers great user experiences by providing a framework for optimizing web pages that otherwise would take much longer to load on a mobile platform. This book shows how to solve page performance issues using the mobile web technologies available today. You will learn how to build instant-loading web pages, and have them featured more prominently on Google searches. If you want your website to succeed on mobile, if you care about SEO, and if you want to stay competitive, then this book is for you! You will go on a mobile web development journey that demonstrates with concrete examples how to build lightning-fast pages that will keep your visitors on-site and happy. This journey begins by showing how to build a simple blog article-style web page using AMP. As new concepts are introduced this page is gradually refined until you will have the skills and confidence to build a variety of rich and interactive mobile web pages. These will include e-commerce product pages, interactive forms and menus, maps and commenting systems, and even Progressive Web Apps. Style and approach Get step-by-step instructions to build web pages of different types, gain expert tricks to brand your pages without bloating them, and see methods to embed advertising.

Learn C# in 7 days with practical examples, build a foundation for C# programming, and boost your skills to an advanced level About This Book ? Learn the basics of C# in 7 days ? Works as a reference guide describing the major features of C# ? Build easy and simple code through real-world example scenarios Who This Book Is For The book is for aspiring developers and absolute novices who want to get started with the world of programming. You do not need any knowledge of C# for this book. What You Will Learn ? Understand and set up the .NET environment ? Code in C# using the Visual Studio 2017 RC (preferable community edition) IDE ? Define variables, syntax, control flows, statements, and arrays etc through examples ? Understand the concepts of Object-Oriented Programming using C# ? Get acquainted with attributes, collection, generics, and LINQ ? Get your hands on class members such as Modifiers, Methods, Properties, Indexers, File I/O, Exception Handling, and Regex ? Build a real-world application using C# 7 In Detail This book takes a unique approach to teach C# to absolute beginners. You’ll learn the basics of the language in seven days. It takes a practical approach to explain the important concepts that build the foundation of the C# programming language. The book begins by teaching you the basic fundamentals using real-world practical examples and gets you acquainted with C# programming. We cover some important features and nuances of the language in a hands-on way, helping you grasp the concepts in a fluid manner. Later, you’ll explore the concepts of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) through a real-world example. Then we dive into advanced-level concepts such as generics and collections, and you’ll get acquainted with objects and LINQ. Towards the end, you’ll build an application that covers all the concepts explained in the book. By the end of this book, you will have next-level skills and a good knowledge of the fundamentals of C#. Style and approach Fast paced guide to get you up-to-speed with the language. Every chapter is followed by an exercise that focuses on building something with the language. The codes of the exercises can be found on the Packt website

Build fast and powerful applications by harnessing the power of protocol-oriented programming in Swift 4 About This Book ? Leverage the power of protocol-oriented programming in your applications and learn from real-world use cases ? Create a flexible code base with protocols and protocol extensions ? Leverage the power of generics in Swift 4 to create very flexible frameworks Who This Book Is For This book is for Swift developers who want to learn and implement protocol-oriented programming in their real-world applications.. What You Will Learn ? Understand the differences between object-oriented programming and protocol-oriented programming ? Explore the different types that Swift offers and what pitfalls to avoid ? Delve into generics and generic programming ? Learn how to implement Copy-On-Write within your custom types ? Implement several design patterns in a protocol-oriented way ? Design applications by prioritizing the protocol first and the implementation types second In Detail Swift has become the number one language used in iOS and macOS development. The Swift standard library is developed using protocol-oriented programming techniques, generics, and first-class value semantics; therefore, every Swift developer should understand these powerful concepts and how to take advantage of them in their application design. This book will help you understand the differences between object-oriented programming and protocol-oriented programming. It will demonstrate how to work with protocol-oriented programming using real-world use cases. You will gain a solid knowledge of the various types that can be used in Swift and the differences between value and reference types. You will be taught how protocol-oriented programming techniques can be used to develop very flexible and easy-to-maintain code. By the end of the book, you will have a thorough understanding of protocol-oriented programming and how to utilize it to build powerful and practical applications. Style and approach This book is written for developers who learn best by working with code, so every concept discussed in this book is reinforced with real code examples.

Rich Finelli's modern CSS training course, based on his bestselling Mastering CSS video, now available in a book. Master CSS from best practices to practical CSS coding. About This Book ? Learn CSS directly from Rich Finelli, author of the bestselling Mastering CSS training course ? From best practices to deep coding, Rich Finelli shares his CSS knowledge with you ? Rich Finelli covers the latest CSS updates with flexbox and works with retina devices Who This Book Is For This book is for web designers who wish to master the best practices of CSS in their web projects. You already know how to work with a web page, and want to use CSS to master website presentation. What You Will Learn ? Master fundamental CSS concepts like the anatomy of a rule set, the box model, and the differences between block and inline elements ? Employ flexbox to layout and align elements simply and cleanly ? Become proficient with CSS3 properties such as transitions, transforms, gradients, and animations ? Delve into modular, reusable, and scalable CSS for more organized and maintainable style sheets ? Understand media queries and other pillars of responsive web design ? Get creative with the @font-face property, Google Web Fonts, font services such as Typekit, as well as, icon fonts ? Understand the workflow for HiDPI (retina) devices using 2x images, SVG, and the srcset attribute In Detail Rich Finelli trains you in CSS deep learning and shows you the techniques you need to work in the world of responsive, feature-rich web applications. Based on his bestselling Mastering CSS training video, you can now learn with Rich in this book! Rich shares with you his skills in creating advanced layouts, and the critical CSS insights you need for responsive web designs, fonts, transitions, animations, and using flexbox. Rich begins your CSS training with a review of CSS best practices, such as using a good text editor to automate your authoring and setting up a CSS baseline. You then move on to create a responsive layout making use of floats and stylable drop-down menus, with Rich guiding you toward a modular-organized approach to CSS. Your training with Rich Finelli then dives into detail about working with CSS and the best solutions to make your websites work. You'll go with him into CSS3 properties, transforms, transitions, and animations. You’ll gain his understanding of responsive web designs, web fonts, icon fonts, and the techniques used to support retina devices. Rich expands your knowledge of CSS so you can master one of the most valuable tools in modern web design. Style and approach Let Rich Finelli train you in CSS! This book has a direct training style because it is based on Rich's bestselling Mastering CSS training course.

Recipes for emerging developers in R programming and data scientists to simplify their R programming capabilities About This Book ? Develop strategies to speed up your R code ? Tackle programming problems and explore both functional and object-oriented programming techniques ? Learn how to address the core problems of programming in R with the most popular R packages for common tasks Who This Book Is For This book is for developers who would like to enhance the R programming skills. Basic knowledge of R programming is assumed. What You Will Learn ? Install R and its various IDE for a given platform along with installing libraries from different repositories and version control ? Learn about basic data structures in R and how to work with them ? Write customized R functions and handle recursions, exceptions in R environments ? Create the data processing task as a step by step computer program and execute using dplyr ? Extract and process unstructured text data ? Interact with database management system to develop statistical applications ? Formulate and implement parallel processing in R In Detail R is a powerful tool for statistics, graphics, and statistical programming. It is used by tens of thousands of people daily to perform serious statistical analyses. It is a free, open source system whose implementation is the collective accomplishment of many intelligent, hard-working people. There are more than 2,000 available add-ons, and R is a serious rival to all commercial statistical packages. The objective of this book is to show how to work with different programming aspects of R. The emerging R developers and data science could have very good programming knowledge but might have limited understanding about R syntax and semantics. Our book will be a platform develop practical solution out of real world problem in scalable fashion and with very good understanding. You will work with various versions of R libraries that are essential for scalable data science solutions. You will learn to work with Input / Output issues when working with relatively larger dataset. At the end of this book readers will also learn how to work with databases from within R and also what and how meta programming helps in developing applications. Style and approach This book will be a companion for R programmer and emerging developers in R programming areas. This book will contain recipes related to advanced R programming which will enable users to solve complex problems efficiently.

Run blazingly fast queries on complex graph datasets with the power of the Neo4j graph database About This Book ? Get acquainted with graph database systems and apply them in real-world use cases ? Use Cypher query language, APOC and other Neo4j extensions to derive meaningful analysis from complex data sets. ? A practical guide filled with ready to use examples on querying, graph processing and visualizing information to build smarter spatial applications. Who This Book Is For This book is for developers who want an alternative way to store and process data within their applications. No previous graph database experience is required; however, some basic database knowledge will help you understand the concepts more easily. What You Will Learn ? Understand the science of graph theory, databases and its advantages over traditional databases. ? Install Neo4j, model data and learn the most common practices of traversing data ? Learn the Cypher query language and tailor-made procedures to analyze and derive meaningful representations of data ? Improve graph techniques with the help of precise procedures in the APOC library ? Use Neo4j advanced extensions and plugins for performance optimization. ? Understand how Neo4j's new security features and clustering architecture are used for large scale deployments. In Detail Neo4j is a graph database that allows traversing huge amounts of data with ease. This book aims at quickly getting you started with the popular graph database Neo4j. Starting with a brief introduction to graph theory, this book will show you the advantages of using graph databases along with data modeling techniques for graph databases. You'll gain practical hands-on experience with commonly used and lesser known features for updating graph store with Neo4j's Cypher query language. Furthermore, you'll also learn to create awesome procedures using APOC and extend Neo4j's functionality, enabling integration, algorithmic analysis, and other advanced spatial operation capabilities on data. Through the course of the book you will come across implementation examples on the latest updates in Neo4j, such as in-graph indexes, scaling, performance improvements, visualization, data refactoring techniques, security enhancements, and much more. By the end of the book, you'll have gained the skills to design and implement modern spatial applications, from graphing data to unraveling business capabilities with the help of real-world use cases. Style and approach A step-by-step approach of adopting Neo4j, the world's leading graph database. This book includes a lot of background information, helps you grasp the fundamental concepts behind this radical new way of dealing with connected data, and will give you lots of examples of use cases and environments where a graph database would be a great fit

Enhance the performance of your applications by using React and adding the Progressive web app capability to it About This Book ? Bring the best of mobile sites and native apps to your users with progressive web applications ? Create fast, reliable, and engaging PWAs with React and Firebase ? Create high-performance applications even with low connection speeds by leveraging modern web technologies Who This Book Is For This book is for Java* Developers who want to develop high performance Web User Interfaces. This book requires basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. What You Will Learn ? Set up Webpack configuration, as well as get the development server running ? Learn basic Firebase configuration and deployment ? Create routes, manage multiple components, and learn how to use React Router v4 to manage the flow of data ? Use React life cycle methods to load data ? Add a service worker to the app and learn how it works ? Use a service worker to send Push Notifications ? Configure Webpack to split up the JavaScript bundle and lazy load component files ? Learn how to use the web Cache API to use your app offline ? Audit PWAs with Google's Lighthouse tool In Detail For years, the speed and power of web apps has lagged behind native applications. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) aim to solve this by bridging the gap between the web apps and native apps, delivering a host of exciting features. Simultaneously, React is fast becoming the go-to solution for building modern web UIs, combining ease of development with performance and capability. Using React alongside PWA technology will make it easy for you to build a fast, beautiful, and functional web app. After an introduction and brief overview of the goals of PWAs, the book moves on to setting up the application structure. From there, it covers the Webpack build process and the process of creating React components. You'll learn how to set up the backend database and authentication solution to communicate with Firebase and how to work with React Router. Next, you will create and configure your web app manifest, making your PWA installable on mobile devices. Then you'll get introduced to service workers and see how they work as we configure the app to send push notifications using Firebase Cloud Messaging. We'll also explore the App Shell pattern, a key concept in PWAs and look at its advantages regarding efficient performance. Finally, you'll learn how to add offline capabilities to the app with caching and confirm your progress by auditing your PWA with Lighthouse. Also, you'll discover helper libraries and shortcuts that will help you save time and understand the future of PWA development. Style and approach This is a step-by-step book, wherein, you will use the React framework to create a complete progressive web app.