万本电子书0元读

万本电子书0元读

Journey of a Lifetime
Journey of a Lifetime
Alan Whicker
¥69.26
The iconic broadcasting legend dusts down his suitcase for a final journey around the globe, revisiting locations of significance to his life and career. Published to coincide with a major Bbc Tv series of the same name, this is a glorious celebration of 50 years in front of the camera. For as long as most can remember, Whicker has roamed far and wide in search of the eccentric, the ludicrous, and the socially-revealing aspects of everyday life as lived by some of the more colorful of the world's inhabitants. Since the late 1950s, when the long-running Whicker's World documentary was first screened, he has probed and dissected the often secretive and unobserved worlds of the rich and famous, rooting out the most implausible and sometimes ridiculous characters after gaining admittance to the places where they conduct their leisure hours. The great man's legacy contains a number of genuine television firsts. As well as landmark interviews with figures as diverse as Papa Doc, Paul Getty, and The Sultan of Brunei, he was a pioneer, covering subjects like plastic surgery, gay weddings, polygamy, swinging, and following gun-toting cops, fly-on-the-wall style, for British screens long before anyone else. This wonderful new book is the end product of a very personal journey. Whicker retraces his steps, catching up with some past interviewees and reflecting on how the world has changedfor good and badover the passing of time. Lyrical and uplifting, this autobiography is peppered with a celebrated globetrotter's brand of subtle satire.
Aggers’ Ashes
Aggers’ Ashes
Jonathan Agnew
¥146.27
An inside account of England’s Ashes triumph in Australia 2010/11. England’s much celebrated Ashes win by two clear matches with three comprehensive innings victories must rank as one of the finest of any English cricket team from any era. It kept people at home glued to their televisions, computers and radios – often all three at the same time – long into the night as the bitter winter and a depressed economy were forced into the background by the sheer joy and exhilaration of giving the old enemy a trouncing. It had been twenty-two years since a touring side won three Tests in Australia and twenty-four since the Ashes were last won on Australian soil. The current England team bears worthy comparison with some of the legendary teams of the past, captained by greats like Brearley, Hutton and Jardine. Andrew Strauss with back-to-back Ashes wins can now sit amongst that illustrious company. From the first ball of the tour in Perth to a closing rendition of the infamous ‘Sprinkler Dance’ on the outfield in Sydney some two months later – a clip that received some 250,000 hits in just three days – one person was there throughout, BBC Cricket Correspondent Jonathan Agnew, better known to his legion of Test Match Special fans as ‘Aggers’. Following the success of his last book Thanks, Johnners, Agnew has written a highly personal diary of his experiences in Australia. Whether he is sharing late night conversations in the bar with England coach Andy Flower, exchanging banter with new TMS recruit Michael Vaughan or keeping cricket junkies around the world sated with his daily Twitter feed, Aggers brings his unique sense of theatre and excitement to every day’s proceedings. With additional contributions from the best BBC cricket bloggers and the resident TMS statistician, Aggers Ashes is the only companion you will need to relive those glorious days when history was made Down Under.
Collected Love Poems
Collected Love Poems
Brian Patten
¥80.25
Of all the poets writing today, Brian Patten is perhaps the most accessible and popular. Now his love poems, old and new, are collected together in his single volume. Widely acknowledged as one of Europe's foremost writers, Brian Patten's love poems have earned him recognition far and wide. Truthful and tender, profoundly aware of the possibility of magic and the miraculous, these poems are beautiful, informed and, even at their darkest moments, filled with courage and hope. Alongside old favourites, this edition will contain a selection of new and hitherto unpublished poems. A must for lovers and poetry lovers everywhere this February.
Living with the Laird: A Love Affair with a Man and his Mansion
Living with the Laird: A Love Affair with a Man and his Mansion
Belinda Rathbone
¥72.99
A captivating memoir of one woman’s relationship with a man and his mansion. When Belinda Rathbone, a New York art historian, met eccentric Anglo-Scots bachelor John Ouchterlony it was the start of a story of clashing cultures and crumbling houses. After a whirlwind romance she married the man – and his 400 acre estate and decrepit mansion in Scotland. In her charming and moving account of their time together she reveals her many discoveries about this strange world – not just the persistence of lino, and family history ancient and recent, but the value of dead elms, the art of the Aga, yoga with the aristocracy, and the vitally important business of producing an heir…
The Complete Helen Forrester 4-Book Memoir
The Complete Helen Forrester 4-Book Memoir
Helen Forrester
¥268.30
The complete four-volume collection of classic memoir recounting a poverty-stricken childhood in 1930s Liverpool that started with Twopence To Cross the Mersey. Twopence To Cross The Mersey – When Helen Forrester’s father went bankrupt in 1930 she and her six siblings were forced into dreadful poverty in Depression-ridden Liverpool. Managing the household and caring for the younger children all fell on twelve-year-old Helen. Written without self-pity, Forrester’s memoir of these grim days is as heart-warming as it is shocking. Liverpool Miss – Life remains extremely tough for fourteen-year-old Helen. Her continuing struggles against malnutrition, dirt and, above all, the selfish demands of her parents, are deeply shocking. But Helen’s fortitude in the most harrowing of situations makes this a story of amazing courage. By The Waters Of Liverpool – though her parents are as financially irresponsible as ever, wasting money while their children go without, for Helen the future is brightening. At seventeen, she has fought won some important battles with her parents and won, then she meets Harry… Lime Street At Two – It is 1940 and Helen, now twenty, is working at a welfare centre. Her wages are pitifully low and her mother claims the whole of them for housekeeping but she is still thrilled to be gaining some independence. As WWII rages, tragedy isn’t very far away, but Helen faces it with courage and determination.
The House is Full of Yogis
The House is Full of Yogis
Will Hodgkinson
¥66.22
A witty memoir about the trials of adolescence, the tribulations of family life and the embarrassment that ensues from having larger-than-life parents Neville and Liz Hodgkinson bought into the Thatcherite dream of home ownership, aspiration and advancement. The first children of their working class parents to go to university and have professional careers, they lived in a semi-detached house in Richmond, sent their sons Tom and Will to private school, and went on holiday to Greece once a year. Neville was an award-winning science writer and Liz was a high-earning tabloid hack. Then a disastrous boat holiday, followed by a life-threatening bout of food poisoning from a contaminated turkey, led to the search for a new way of life. Nev joined the Brahma Kumaris, who believe evolution is a myth, time is circular, and a forthcoming Armageddon will make way for a new Golden Age. Out went drunken dinner parties and Victorian décor schemes; in came large women in saris meditating in the living room and lurid paintings of smiling deities on the walls. Liz took the arrival of the Brahma Kumaris as a chance to wage all-out war on convention, from announcing her newfound celibacy on prime time television to writing books that questioned the value of getting married and raising children. By an unfortunate coincidence, this dramatic and highly public transformation of the self coincided with the onset of Will’s adolescence. This is his story.
Confessions of an Undercover Cop (The Confessions Series)
Confessions of an Undercover Cop (The Confessions Series)
Ash Cameron
¥66.22
The sixth book in the bestselling Confessions series. What is life like for a female Undercover Cop? Ash Cameron gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at life in the Police. Funny, moving and irreverent, you’ll never look at a bobby the same way again…! What is life like for an Undercover Cop? Ash Cameron joined the police in the 70s – think Life on Mars with added ladders in her tights. From arresting East End gangsters, dealing out justice to football hooligans and coping with sexism on the job, Ash did it all. So when she was asked to go undercover, well, it was just another job, wasn’t it? Told with warmth and humour, these ‘confessions’ will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you roll your eyes as you learn exactly what goes on behind-the-scenes in the police…
Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD
Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD
Martin Aston
¥103.10
The first official account of the iconic record label. An NME Book of the Year 2013 ? A Rough Trade Book of the Year 2013 ? A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2013 This Mortal Coil, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Throwing Muses, Breeders, Dead Can Dance, Lisa Germano, Kristin Hersh, Belly, Red House Painters. Just a handful of the bands and artists who started out recording for 4AD, a record label founded by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1979, a label which went on to be one of the most influential of the modern era. Combining the unique tastes of Watts-Russell and the striking design aesthetic of Vaughan Oliver, 4AD records were recognisable by their look as much their sound. In this comprehensive account concentrating on the label’s first two decades (up to the point that Watts-Russell left), music journalist Martin Aston explores the fascinating story with unique access to all the key players and pretty much every artist who released a record on 4AD during that time, and to its notoriously reclusive founder. With a cover designed by Vaughan Oliver this is an essential book for all 4AD fans and anyone who loved the music of that time.
The Rest Is Noise Series: Beethoven Was Wrong
The Rest Is Noise Series: Beethoven Was Wrong
Alex Ross
¥11.77
This is a chapter from Alex Ross’s groundbreaking history of twentieth-century classical music, ‘The Rest is Noise’. Further extracts are available as digital shorts, accompanying the London Southbank festival programme. After Paul McCartney listened to the electronic layering and looping of Stockhausen, the Beatles used the same effects on Revolver’s ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and put an image of the composer on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. For a split second during ‘Revolution 9’ the final chords of Sibelius’s Seventh Symphony can be heard. Even the most jaded veteran of twentieth century music must have been startled by the influence of the post-war avant-garde on the psychedelic generation. Now a major festival running throughout 2013 at London’s Southbank, The Rest is Noise is an intricate commentary not just on the sounds that defined the century, but on art’s troublesome dance with politics, social and cultural change. Alex Ross is the New Yorker’s music critic, and the winner of the Guardian First Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award for The Rest is Noise, which was also shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson and Pulitzer prizes for non-fiction.
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Joe Lovejoy
¥82.01
A major in-depth biography of Sven-Goran Eriksson - the first foreign manager of the England football team - which chronicles his time in the hot seat, from taking over from Kevin Keegan, the story of the 2002 World Cup Finals in Japan and South Korea, through to the 2004 European Championships. Reserved - some would say introvert - by nature, he has so far dismissed as intrusive almost all questions about anything other than the England team. There is a fascinating story to be told about the moderate full-back who failed in his own country, retired from playing at 27, then went on to become one of the best coaches in the world. The son of a truck driver from a small provincial town in Sweden, Eriksson left school early and worked in a social security office. He went to college to study PE and played football as an amateur before being persuaded by an older teammate Tord Grip (now his assistant with England) that his career lay elsewhere in management. Modest success at Roma and Fiorentina was followed by a renewal of Sampdoria's fortunes. It wasn't long before Lazio came knocking - but not before an acrimonious fallout with Blackburn when his surprise about-turn left the Lancashire club without a new manager. He enjoyed phenomenal success in Rome, however, where he led Lazio to the scudetto, and this eventually paved the way to the England manager's job. Since then Eriksson has come under the microscope from the English press, as much for his private affairs as for his team's stuttering performances. Despite his achievements in leading England to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2002, his methods, formations and team selections are the subject of fierce debate up and down the country. Joe Lovejoy's book captures the essence of the man and goes some way to explaining his influence behind England. This paperback edition explores his thoughts about his captain playing his football in Spain and documents England's rocky road to the 2004 European Championship finals.
The Bad Mother
The Bad Mother
Esther Walker
¥22.66
A hilariously honest, and rather sweary, book about parenting from the author of The Bad Cook. From play dates to potty training, from weening to whining or whether to have two, or three, or more! Esther Walker focuses her unique humour on the art of parenting. Fans of Esther’s blog and journalism, or her bestselling Bad Cook book, will not be disappointed. This is every bit as funny, sweary and just plain honest as you would expect. Esther offers up her occasional successes and many failures as examples to parents everywhere: look, this is what happens, you’ll just have to deal with it! Harassed mums and dads will read this and smile, as well as sighing with ‘it isn’t just me’ relief.
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 1 of 3
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 1 of 3
Cathy Glass
¥12.85
Will You Love Me can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 1 of 3 (Chapters 1-9 of 27). You can read Part 1 two weeks ahead of release of the full-length eBook and paperback. The eleventh memoir and latest title from the internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass. This book tells the true story of Cathy’s adopted daughter Lucy. Lucy was born to a single mother who had been abused and neglected for most of her own childhood. Right from the beginning Lucy’s mother couldn’t cope, but it wasn’t until Lucy reached eight years old that she was finally taken into permanent foster care. By the time Lucy is brought to live with Cathy she is eleven years old and severely distressed after being moved from one foster home to another. Withdrawn, refusing to eat and three years behind in her schooling, it is thought that the damage Lucy has suffered is irreversible. But Cathy and her two children bond with Lucy quickly, and break through to Lucy in a way no-one else has been able to, finally showing her the loving home she never believed existed. Cathy and Lucy believe they were always destined to be mother and daughter – it just took them a little while to find each other.
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 3 of 3
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 3 of 3
Cathy Glass
¥47.48
Will You Love Me can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 3 of 3 (Chapters 17-27 of 27). You can read Part 3 on release of the full-length eBook and paperback. The eleventh memoir and latest title from the internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass. This book tells the true story of Cathy’s adopted daughter Lucy. Lucy was born to a single mother who had been abused and neglected for most of her own childhood. Right from the beginning Lucy’s mother couldn’t cope, but it wasn’t until Lucy reached eight years old that she was finally taken into permanent foster care. By the time Lucy is brought to live with Cathy she is eleven years old and severely distressed after being moved from one foster home to another. Withdrawn, refusing to eat and three years behind in her schooling, it is thought that the damage Lucy has suffered is irreversible. But Cathy and her two children bond with Lucy quickly, and break through to Lucy in a way no-one else has been able to, finally showing her the loving home she never believed existed. Cathy and Lucy believe they were always destined to be mother and daughter – it just took them a little while to find each other.
City Kid
City Kid
Mary MacCracken
¥58.86
From the author of international bestsellers A Circle of Children and Lovey comes an inspiring true story of a gifted teacher’s determination to understand the ‘rotten’ city kid everyone has given up on. Sitting quiet and withdrawn at a battered school desk, Luke had the looks of a shy angel – and a past that special needs teacher Mary MacCracken could barely believe. Already Luke had been picked up 24 times by the police. He’d set over a dozen major fires, and had a staggering record of thefts. No adult could reach him, no teacher could control him, and no policeman could cow him. All this – and Luke was only seven and a half years old. Trying to help Luke was Mary MacCracken’s job – and a seemingly impossible challenge. This is the remarkable story of how the impossible came true.
Constance Street: Part 2 of 3
Constance Street: Part 2 of 3
Charlie Connelly
¥36.50
Constance Street can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 2 of 3. You can read Part 2 one week ahead of release of the full-length eBook and paperback. One forgotten street, 12 unforgettable women. Through the story of one street – Constance Street – we hear the true life tales of a tight knit group of working class women in the East End of London set against a backdrop of war, hardship and struggle. It’s a story of matriarchy and deep family ties, of a generation that was scattered away from the street during the blitz bombings, but which maintained the ties of that street for decades afterwards. Set in an area of East London called Silvertown, a once thriving docking community that at the turn of the 20th century was the industrial heartland of the south of England; the story focuses on the lives of 12 incredible women and their struggle to survive amidst the chaos of the war years. We have Nellie Greenwood, the author’s great grandmother who runs a laundry in Silvertown which becomes the focal point of the community. In 1917 a munitions factory in Silvertown explodes flattening much of the surrounding area and causing extensive damage to Constance Street – Nellie’s daughter is blown from her crib but miraculously survives. Deciding to open the laundry as a field hospital for the injured, Nellie and the women on the street come together to tend the wounded, the sick and the emotionally shattered as they cope with the aftermath of not just one but two world wars. Through the Great War, the roaring Twenties, the Depression and then the unimaginable – the outbreak of a second world war – Nellie and the street survive with love, laughter and friendships that bind the community together. But just as this incredible group of women live through the worst, the unthinkable happens. On 7 September 1940, Constance Street is no more. Following in the footsteps of Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth and The Sugar Girls, Constance Street is a life-affirming, heart-warming read that reminds us of a time when people pulled together.
Care for Your Kitten (RSPCA Pet Guide)
Care for Your Kitten (RSPCA Pet Guide)
RSPCA
¥31.59
ublished in association with the RSPCA, the UK’s leading animal welfare charity, this practical family guide is full of expert advice on how to choose a kitten and how best to look after it. If you already own or are planning to buy a kitten this easy-to-use introductory guide is a must. Clearly illustrated with colour photographs throughout, it covers all aspects of daily care including housing, feeding, handling, hygiene, grooming, health and first aid. Published in association with the experts at the RSPCA, this book will help you ensure that you are giving your kitten the best possible start in life.
Our Vinnie
Our Vinnie
Julie Shaw
¥58.86
The infamous Canterbury Estate in Bradford, a hotbed of crime, drink and drugs, was a law unto itself in the ’70s. So when one of their own was wronged in any way, the community always had its own way of dealing with it. The first title in a series of gritty family sagas, Our Vinnie accounts the dramatic true story of a brother’s determination to avenge his younger sister’s rape. Josie was just 11 when her Vinnie, then 14, was taken away to a detention centre. Distraught by his absence and left alone with indifferent parents, when she escapes from one of their rows she naively enters the house of a neighbour, Melvin, who – horrifically – leads her upstairs and overpowers her. Convinced by her friend Carol, Josie tells her sister Lyndsey about the rape but, with Vinnie out of the picture, Lyndsey uses the information for her own ends. When Vinnie returns, hardened by years inside the system, his outrage on discovering the truth is severe. And with new abuses continually coming to light, a cataclysmic series of violent events begins to spiral out of control… Dramatic and shocking, Our Vinnie is an unbelievable page-turner, documenting a community forsaken by society, and one brother’s unrelenting determination to take justice into his own hands.
My Mam Shirley (Tales of the Notorious Hudson Family, Book 3)
My Mam Shirley (Tales of the Notorious Hudson Family, Book 3)
Julie Shaw
¥58.86
Behind the notorious Hudson men who dominated the Canterbury Estate for over 30 years were the girls, and my mam Shirley. Whether marrying into or determined to escape from it, the third instalment of this gritty series recounts the incredible stories of the unflinching women behind the legendary Hudson family. The Canterbury Estate in Bradford during the ’50s and ’60s was a tight-knit community reared on poverty, crime and violence, and at the top of the heap were the infamous Hudson family. But it wasn’t just the boys who had a story to tell: from matriarch Annie, who gave birth to 13 children, to daughters Margaret and Eunice, who married up and out, each had a personality as indomitable as the last. Then came Shirley Read, who was just 17 when she fell in love with Keith, one of the Hudson lads. To Shirley, the only child of affluent parents, the poverty of the unruly estate was as exciting as it was mysterious; newspapers for tablecloths, jam jars for cups, and, even by that time, no electricity. But it was a friendship forged with Annie and June, the younger Hudson sisters, that would teach Shirley not only to how to survive, Canterbury-style, but would also give her the strength to overcome an unexpected personal tragedy that would soon become a nightmare for women across the world… Eye-opening and warm, this is the vivid account of the ‘Tucker’ girls; the resourceful women at the helm of a notorious Bradford family who will never be forgotten.
Proud Man Walking
Proud Man Walking
Claudio Ranieri
¥72.99
Betrayed by his club but beloved by the fans, former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri has been a constant headline-maker in 2004. Occasionally puzzling, often eccentric, but always fascinating and refreshing, the Italian describes the highs and lows of an extraordinary season at Stamford Bridge - and the dramatic end to his English journey. 'Hello, my sharks. Welcome to the funeral.' 'People have said I am a dead man walking - but I am still moving!' 'Tonight I am a crazy man and Roman Abramovich is also going mad like me!' We rejoiced with him. We laughed with him. And we cried with him. In what turned out to be a year for the Blues resembling more a soap opera than a season of football, Claudio Ranieri reveals the highlights and the hurt of his farewell twelve months in England. This collaboration between Italian journalist Massimo Marianella and Ranieri promises to reveal the inside story of a rollercoaster year at Stamford Bridge, with a first-hand account of coaching the most expensively assembled team in the Premiership, alongside the increasing pressures of satisfying his bosses as Chelsea's season threatened to turn into anticlimax. How did Ranieri keep all his players contented, when the value of his subs bench often exceeded that of most Premiership teams? What were the skills required to mould a group of exciting individuals into a team capable of challenging the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United at the top of the tree? With the media suggesting an uneasy alliance between Ranieri and Roman Abramovich, what was it that drove their complex relationship? What was the real truth behind the allegations that Ranieri's position was being undermined by his bosses? And when did the 'Tinkerman' discover his final denouement? Just some of the questions that will be answered in this book by arguably the most talked-about man in English football in 2004.
The Wild Child
The Wild Child
Casey Watson
¥11.77
Casey tells the harrowing story of Connor, an eight year old boy from a broken home who comes to stay with her family. It’s a Saturday morning when Casey and Mike are asked to take in eight year old Connor – an emergency placement, just for a couple of days, following a violent incident at his now former care home. And Casey’s instinct, as ever, is to say yes. With long term foster son Tyler off to football, and no particular plans for the weekend, even the fact that Connor arrives in what looks like a prison van doesn’t phase her – after all, challenging children are what she and Mike have trained for. And how much trouble can he really be? He’s eight. A lot, as it turns out. Connor is as streetwise as they come, and, hurt and angry, seems determined to cause trouble from the off. But despite the attitude, there’s something strangely endearing about their little visitor that makes Casey want to tease out the frightened child behind the swagger. So much so that, with Connor and Tyler getting on so well, she wonders – should they say they’ll keep him longer? It seems like the easiest decision in the world …
Scarlett’s Secret: A real-life short story by Casey Watson
Scarlett’s Secret: A real-life short story by Casey Watson
Casey Watson
¥14.81
Bestselling author and foster carer Casey Watson tells the shocking and deeply moving true story of two sisters who carry a terrible secret. This is a first taste of the ‘Unit’ series: several stories about ‘difficult’ children Casey helped during her time as a behaviour manager at her local comprehensive. Casey doesn’t know what to expect when seventeen-year-old twins Scarlett and Jade join her class. The girls seem grounded but they never leave each other’s side, although there seems to be an underlying tension between them that Casey can’t quite put her finger on. What’s more, Jade has a strong, unpleasant smell about her that further isolates her from the other teenagers. Eager to help the girls, Casey starts digging and finds out that Jade was pregnant and that the girls were taken into care when they were sixteen. But it’s not until a violent argument during class that Casey truly realises the anger the two girls harbour towards the rest of the world. And when Scarlett finally reveals the truth, it suddenly all makes sense. Can Casey find a way to bring Scarlett and Jade closer together? And can she break down Jade’s walls and get the girls the help they have craved since their childhood? Dark, disturbing and heartbreaking, this is a story of two sisters who just needed someone to believe in them.
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