Products
The Spectator Best of Notes On ... : From Kippers to Jeans and everything in between, by William Moore
£12.99
Book clubs and toffee apples. Hedgehogs and hangovers. Croquet, ferret racing… and everything in between.
The Best of Notes on... gathers the funniest, sharpest and most wonderfully random pieces from The Spectator’s beloved miscellany column. For more than a decade, these short, sharp essays have uncovered the intrigue in the everyday and the delight in digression.
Witty, unpredictable and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, they celebrate life’s odd corners and overlooked pleasures. Expect the unexpected: sharp wit, sideways observations, and the occasional guilty laugh at things you thought only you found ridiculous. With contributions from a dazzling line-up including Tom Holland, Prue Leith, Jon Day, Julie Bindel, Rod Liddle, Laura Freeman, Tanya Gold, Freddy Gray, Simon Barnes, Mary Killen, Ben Fogle, Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Robert Tombs, Mary Wellesley, Julie Burchill — and plenty more besides.
The Spectator Best of Notes on... is the perfect pick-me-up for anyone who delights in life’s oddities. Whether you're buying for a curious friend, a witty relative, or just indulging your own love of the unexpected, this collection is guaranteed to entertain.
The Spy and The Traitor, Ben Macintyre ( paperback 2019)
£10.99
The Spy and the Traitor : The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War.
'The best true spy story I have ever read' John le Carre
On a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen.
The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket. The man was a spy. A senior KGB officer, for more than a decade he had supplied his British spymasters with a stream of priceless secrets from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine.
No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying.
Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever . . .
The Stolen Lives, Sharada Keats ( paperback April 2024)
£8.99
Filled with suspense and romance, ideal for fans of Noughts & Crosses, The Hunger Games and Shatter Me. Six years ago, seventeen-year-old Mora survived the terrifying Skøl invasion.They stole her land. They took her family. And now not even her life is her own.
Skøl culture revolves around one motto: Life is Golden. You must pay the government for the right to survive. If you can't, you're cast out at best - at worst, culled.
Records of every citizen are held at the hallowed, highly secured Life Registry, which tracks who lives and who dies, who pays and who fails. Colonized survivors like Mora face endless servitude, repaying the 'debt' of their years lived before the invasion. Mora is resigned to her fate, finding glimmers of joy in her tentative friendship with another repayer, the handsome, elusive Kit.
But then she finds out that twelve-year-old Zako, the closest thing she has to a brother, is to be put to death by the dangerous new Skøl Governor. Finding the courage to fight back, Mora and Kit conspire to smuggle Zako to safety. But their plan draws them into a dark mystery - and to a heart-pounding mission at the Life Registry itself.
They must ultimately ask themselves: what are we worth to each other? Gripping, moving and suspenseful storytelling with a friends-to-lovers romance that crackles with tension. A girl driven by unthinkable grief. A boy targeted for his unimaginable ability.
A compelling story exploring the power of hope, courage and connection from a stunning new voice in YA.
The Storm Keeper’s Battle, Catherine Doyle ( pb, Mar 2021)
£7.99
book 3 in the trilogy:
Fionn Boyle, Storm Keeper of Arranmore, is facing the fight of his life. The terrifying all- powerful sorceress Morrigan has been raised from the dead and has sealed off the island from all help. Fionn is the only thing that stands between her and a dark future.
He's got to find a way to defeat her. But there are some terrible choices in store for Fionn as the dark sorcerer begins to take his nearest and dearest for her own. With only two candles left to burn, will Fionn master his powers in time to stop her?
The Storm Swimmer , Clare Weze ( paperback Jan 2023)
£7.99
Summer was supposed to be Ginika's time for fun, friends and fairs. But instead she's been sent to live at the dead-end seaside boarding house her grandparents run.Even though her parents say it's just for a little while, she can't help feeling abandoned and heartbroken to be missing out on everything she loves back home. And then she meets Peri. He leaps and dives through the water like a dolphin and he talks like a burst of bubbles.
He's not exactly a mermaid, but he's definitely something Ginika's never seen before. His family is far away too, but unlike Ginika, he loves his independence. As Ginika shows Peri her world, she starts to feel free as well.
They don't need anyone else when they've got each other. But then the lights and noise of the human world start to change Peri. And when things spin out of control, Ginika must be the bravest she's ever been to face her fears and make the hardest decision of her life.
Join Ginika and Peri as they dive beneath the waves and walk the lands that will take them into each other's worlds on an adventure they will never forget and a life-changing friendship.
The Story of Russia, 'an excellent short study' Orlando Figes (paperback August 2023)
£10.99
From the great storyteller of Russia, a spellbinding account of the stories that have shaped the country's past - and how they can inform its present. No other country has been so divided over its own past as Russia. None has changed its story so often.How the Russians came to tell their story, and to reinvent it as they went along, is a vital aspect of their history, their culture and beliefs. To understand what Russia's future holds - to grasp what Putin's regime means for Russia and the world - we need to unravel the ideas and meanings of that history. In The Story of Russia, Orlando Figes brings into sharp relief the vibrant characters that comprise Russia's rich history, and whose stories remain so important in making sense of the world's largest nation today - from the crowning of sixteen-year-old Ivan the Terrible in a candlelit cathedral, to Catherine the Great, riding out in a green uniform to arrest her husband at his palace, to the bitter last days of the Romanovs.
Beautifully written and based on a lifetime of scholarship, The Story of Russia is a major and definitive work from the great storyteller of Russian history: sweeping, suspenseful, masterful
The Story of the Forest, Linda Grant ( paperback June 2024)
£9.99
It's 1913 and a young, carefree and recklessly innocent girl, Mina, goes out into the forest on the edge of the Baltic sea and meets a gang of rowdy young men with revolution on their minds.
It sounds like a fairy tale but it's life. The adventure leads to flight, emigration and a new land, a new language and the pursuit of idealism or happiness - in Liverpool. But what of the stories from the old country; how do they shape and form the next generations who have heard the well-worn tales?From the flour mills of Latvia to Liverpool suburbia to post-war Soho, The Story of the Forest is about myths and memory and about how families adapt in order to survive.
It is a story full of the humour and wisdom we have come to relish from this wonderful writer. Orwell Prize for Political Fiction Award Ceremony - 22 June 2023.
Jewel-like clarity... exceptional'RICHARD COLES'
The Story Orchestra ( series)
£16.99
Discover the spellbinding magic of The Planets in this musical reimagining of one of Holst's most famous suites. Push the button on each beautiful scene to hear the vivid sound of an orchestra playing from Holst's score. This tale is about a brother and sister who adventure deep into our solar system. Our story begins one night as Helen and Tim get ready for bed in their new space rocket bunk beds...but sleep will have to wait as they magically blast up, up, up into the glittering night sky, leaving planet Earth far below them. Helen and Tim journey here, there and everywhere through our majestic solar system. They soar past the cold rocky surface of Mars as it rises into towering peaks and plunges into deep canyons and glide through a bumpy asteroid belt made of icy rocks.
They blast deeper into our solar system, exploring the dazzling stars and astounding planets along the way. But now it really is time to head home! As the rocket speeds towards Earth, Tim and Helen watch the sun rise over their planet. As you and your little one journey through the magical scenes, you will press the buttons to hear 10 excerpts from the score.
Readers should press firmly on the pages to activate the sounds, encouraging interactive learning and introducing children to this beautiful piece of music. At the back of the book, find a short biography of the composer, Gustav Holst, with details about his composition of The Planets.
This is a gorgeous series of so many of the classical greats, making them appealing and exciting to children from 5+
The Story Orchestra - musical storybooks
£16.99
The Story Orchestra series brings classical music to life for children through gorgeously illustrated retellings of classic ballet, opera and program music stories paired with 10-second sound clips of orchestras playing from their musical scores. Also available in the Story Orchestra series: Four Seasons in One Day, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Carnival of the Animals, The Magic Flute, In the Hall of the Mountain King, I Can Play (vol 1), The Planets and Peter and the Wolf.
Next to this, you can replay the musical excerpts and, for each of them, read a discussion of the instruments, rhythms and musical techniques that make them so powerful.
A glossary defines musical terms.
The Sun Is Open, Gail McConnell (paperback 2021)
£9.99
The Sun is Open sifts through a boxed archive of public and private materials related to the life and death of the author's father, who was murdered by the IRA outside their Belfast home in 1984. Moving between child and adult voices, past and present, this startlingly innovative debut attempts to decode the fragments left behind and, with them, piece together a history and a life. 'Each page of The Sun Is Open is rich with exquisite and surprising language, pain, and wisdom.' - Maggie Nelson'The Sun is Open employs a grammar in which everything is significant, from Wendy Houses, to the very hairs of your head, to the poetry of First Aid instructions, to slaters.This is meticulous and painstaking - sometimes pain-making work - making the words fit the columns, be they inches of newsprint or entries in an Account Book, negotiating or nudging the meanings into alternative senses.
The Supreme Lie, Geraldine McCaughrean ( 12 +, Paperback April 2021)
£8.99
Twice Carnegie medal winning Geraldine McCaughrean's enthralling new novel is set in a world paralysed by natural disaster and dangerous lies. Fifteen-year-old Gloria is maid to Afalia's tyrannical Head of State, Madame Suprema. When the country is hit by unprecedented flooding, Madame Suprema runs away, fearing she will be blamed for the crisis.To cover up this cowardly act, Gloria is made to step into Madame Suprema's shoes and is thrust into a world of corrupt and desperate politicians. As Gloria becomes aware of the forces toying with her every move, she must take decisions that could save, or end, thousands of lives - including her own... A brilliant and darkly funny commentary on our present times by one of our greatest writers.
The Swallows' Flight, Hilary McKay ( paperback April 2022)
£7.99
From the Costa Award-winning author Hilary McKay, comes a moving World War II story of family and friendship on opposite sides of a devastating conflict. The Swallows' Flight is the stunning companion novel to The Skylarks' War. 'It's not necessary to have read The Skylarks' War (though many beloved characters make reappearances) to be instantly and joyfully lost in this evocative, moving novel, showing McKay at the very top of her game.' - Imogen Russell-Williams, The Guardian' Funny, poignant, wise and emotional.Full of achingly real characters (and also an excellent dog) . . . I absolutely love Hilary McKay's writing.
The Swallows’ Flight, Hilary McKay (paperback March 2022)
£7.99
From the Costa Award-winning author Hilary McKay, comes a moving WWII story of family and friendship on opposite sides of a devastating conflict. The Swallows' Flight is the stunning companion novel to The Skylarks' War. Erik and Hans are German boys.
Ruby and Kate are English girls. They grow up in worlds that would never meet, until war tumbles their lives together. Then one September afternoon there are choices to be made.
How is courage lost, and found? Who is really the enemy?And what does friendship truly mean, in the middle of a war? Meanwhile Rupert and Clarry work secretly for peace - and a brighter future for them all . . .
These are wonderfully written, with wit and warmth - if you enjoy family dramas these are brilliant books - Linda
The Swallow’s Flight, Hilary McKay ( hardback May 2021)
£12.99
Separately and together, The Skylarks' War and The Swallows' Flight are pinnacles of children's literature.' Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times Book of the Week'
Funny, poignant, wise and emotional. Full of achingly real characters (and also an excellent dog).....I eked out the final pages, not wanting it to end.' Fiona Noble, The BooksellerFrom the Costa Award-winning author Hilary McKay, comes a moving WWII story of family and friendship on opposite sides of a devastating conflict. The Swallows' Flight is the stunning companion novel to The Skylarks' War. Erik and Hans are German boys.
Ruby and Kate are English girls. They grow up in worlds that would never meet, until war tumbles their lives together. Then one September afternoon there are choices to be made.
How is courage lost, and found? Who is really the enemy? And what does friendship truly mean, in the middle of a war? Meanwhile Rupert and Clarry work secretly for peace - and a brighter future for them all . . .
The Swifts, Beth LIncoln ( paperback Feb 2024)
£7.99
Discover the hilarious New York Times bestselling mystery adventure perfect for fans of Robin Stevens. On the day they are born, each Swift is brought before the Family Dictionary. They are given a name and a definition, and it is assumed they will grow up to match.Unfortunately, Shenanigan Swift has other ideas. So what if her relatives all think she's destined to turn out as a troublemaker, just because of her name? Shenanigan knows she can be whatever she wants - pirate, explorer or even detective. Which is lucky, really, because when one of the Family tries to murder Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude, someone has to work out whodunit.
With the help of her sisters and cousin, Shenanigan grudgingly takes on the case, but more murders, a hidden treasure and an awful lot of suspects make thing seriously complicated. Can Shenanigan catch the killer before the whole household is picked off? And in a Family where definitions are so important, can she learn to define herself?
The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues by Beth Lincoln ( paperback April 2025)
£8.99
When the famous criminal gang Ouvolpo target Swift House and swap a valuable painting for an exploding inflatable bird, Shenanigan sets off in pursuit, determined to make them pay.
The trail leads to Paris, home of her eccentric French cousins, the Martinets. The two sides of the Family have been squabbling for centuries, but when a body is discovered at the scene of Ouvolpo's latest robbery, the quarrelsome cousins must join forces to solve the mystery. Did Ouvolpo kill hotel caretaker Bernard? Why is Uncle Maelstrom wearing an earring again? And what does it all have to do with a disappearing clown. Can Shenanigan uncover the answers and set right a century-old injustice?
Book 2 in the gleeful gothic mystery The Swifts.
The System, Ryan Gattis ( paperback,August 2021)
£9.99
Longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2021
'Excellent, lucid, intelligent and gripping' - Scotsman
December 1993. A drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on her mother's lawn in South Central Los Angeles. Two local gang members, Wizard and Dreamer, are arrested.
The problem is: one is guilty, the other wasn't even there. It had to be a frame-up. And the cops had to be responsible, didn't they? Narrated by the characters involved - the suspects, the victim, the families who love them, and those simply doing their jobs - The System tells the story of one crime, from the moments before shots are fired to the verdict and its violent aftershocks.
It's a breakneck journey through the American criminal justice system. A system that can save you, or break you.
The Tall Man, Mary Cathleen Brown ( paperback, August 2024)
£8.99
The village is alive with rumours about the Tall Man and Tom lives in his house. Tom hears a boy in the cellar offering a 'special' acorn to a rat, Captain Rat, whom he begs to find the key to his leg-iron. The cellar is empty but Tom knows that the boy is real and he's convinced that he is trapped in a brutal past and the Tall's Man's prisoner.
Each time Tom tries to help the boy, the Tall Man's ghostly presence intensifies. Who is the boy in the cellar and can they escape Tall Man?
The Teenage Guide to Digital Wellbeing, Tanya Goodin ( paperback May 2024)
£12.99
A useful guide to digital wellbeing and living your best life – offline and on! Digital wellbeing is all about finding the balance between the digital world and the real world – and making sure we use smartphones and other digital devices in a healthy way, while living fulfilling lives beyond the screen. This guide helps tweens and teens do exactly that, inspiring them to set their devices aside (sometimes anyway!) and start living in the here and now. Written by digital wellbeing expert Tanya Goodin, it’s packed with positive prompts, thought-provoking science, and hands-on activities to encourage healthy habits around screen use – including nostalgic crafts, retro tech scavenger hunts, and phone-free nature excursions, plus practical tips on how to deal with digital challenges like comparison culture, cyberbullying, trolling, and much more.
This book is not about teenagers giving up their devices forever; it’s about being more mindful of how they use them, so they can live their best lives – on and off the screen. Teenagers will discover how to: Develop healthy habits, identify priorities, and set achievable goalsKnow their own screen limits and deal with digital distractionsStay safe and savvy on the internetFocus on the positive and productive uses of smartphones (no more doom-scrolling!)Combat comparison culture on social media and quieten their inner criticsNurture friendships and family relationships offline and onBuild resilience and self-confidence to live healthily and happily with their digital devices.
The Tennis Champion who Escaped The Nazis ( paperback July 2023)
£9.99
The Tennis Champion Who Escaped the Nazis : Liesl Herbst's Journey, from Vienna to Wimbledon.
A fabulous story guaranteed to capture people's imagination' - Mail on SundayIn 1930, at the age of twenty-seven, Liesl Herbst was the Austrian National Tennis Champion, a celebrity in Vienna. Liesl, her husband David and their daughter Dorli came to Britain after escaping the Nazis.
In London, though initially stripped of their Austrian passports and rendered stateless aliens, both Liesl and her daughter Dorli competed at Wimbledon. They remain the only mother and daughter ever to have played doubles together at Wimbledon. This moving story of escape and survival is told by Liesl's grand-daughter.
It is as much a search for the author's own identity as for her own children and grandchildren to ensure that their remarkable family history is never lost again. Illustrated throughout with family photographs and original documents, this is a story of survival against terrible odds, an inspiring tale of resilience and hope.
The Things That We Lost, Jyoti Patel (paperback Jan 2024)
£9.99
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL OF 2023
WINNER OF THE 2021 #MERKY BOOKS NEW WRITERS' PRIZE
Nik has lots of questions about his late father but knows better than to ask his mother, Avani. It's their unspoken rule. But when his grandfather dies, Nik has the opportunity to learn about the man he never met.
Armed with a key and new knowledge about his parents' past, Nik sets out to unlock the secrets that his mother has been holding onto his whole life. The Things That We Lost is a beautifully tender exploration of family, loss and how far we will go to protect the ones we love.
The Things We Do To Our Friends, Heather Darwent ( paperback Jan 2024)
£9.99
The Things We Do To Our Friends: A deliciously dark, intoxicating, compulsive tale of feminist revenge, toxic friendships, and deadly secrets
Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate: to find the right people and reinvent herself.
And then she meets Tabitha. Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon Clare is sucked into her enigmatic circle of friends and their dizzying world of champagne on rooftops and summers in France.
Her new life has begun. Then Tabitha reveals the little project they're working on, a project they need Clare's help with. It's reckless, possibly perilous and might finally allow Clare to become who she was meant to be...
But how much is an extraordinary life worth if others have to pay?An intoxicating feminist page-turner with shades of The Secret History and Promising Young Woman, this novel will take you on a journey from Edinburgh's dazzling spires to the dripping staircases and dark alleyways of its underbelly.
Paperback from January 2024.
The Time of Green Magic, by Hilary McKay (paperback, August 2020)
£7.99
From acclaimed author and Costa winner Hilary McKay comes The Time of Green Magic: a beautiful, spell-binding novel about family, magic, an old house and a mysterious visitor . . .
Abi and her two step-brothers, Max and Louis, find that strange things happen when they are alone in their eerie, ivy-covered new house. Abi, reading alone, finds herself tumbling deep into books, while Louis summons a startling guest through his bedroom window. Even Max has started to see shapes in the shadows .
. . Their busy parents see none of it - but Louis' secret visitor is growing too alarming to keep secret, and he finds he cannot manage without Max and Abi's help. Can they find out where the mysterious creature has come from - and how to get it back there?
One of my favourite authors for aged 8+ readers.
The Time Tider, Sinead O’Hart ( paperback Feb 2023)
£7.99
Mara and her dad have lived in their van for as long as she can remember. Whatever her father does to scrape a living has kept them constantly moving and Mara has never questioned it. That is until she uncovers a collection of notes addressed to 'the Tider', an individual responsible for harvesting lost time from people whose lives were cut short.But before Mara can question her father he is taken by a dangerous group who want to use his power for evil. With the very fabric of time and space at stake, it's down to Mara and her new friend Jan to find him before it's too late... A fast-paced, time bending adventure perfect for fans of A WRINKLE IN TIME, THE SECRET KEEPERS and SKY SONG.
The Time Tider, Sinead O’Hart ( Paperback Feb2023)
£7.99
Mara and her dad have lived in their van for as long as she can remember. Whatever her father does to scrape a living has kept them constantly moving and Mara has never questioned it. That is until she uncovers a collection of notes addressed to 'the Tider', an individual responsible for harvesting lost time from people whose lives were cut short.But before Mara can question her father he is taken by a dangerous group who want to use his power for evil. With the very fabric of time and space at stake, it's down to Mara and her new friend Jan to find him before it's too late... A fast-paced, time bending adventure perfect for fans of A WRINKLE IN TIME, THE SECRET KEEPERS and SKY SONG.
The Time Travelling Caveman, Terry Pratchett ( Paperback)
£7.99
A brand new collection of short stories from the incredible Sir Terry Pratchett!*Imagination is an amazing thing. It can take you to the top of the highest mountain, or down to the bottom of the deepest depths of the sea. This is where it took Doggins on his Awfully Big Adventure: a quest full of magic and flying machines.
(And the world's best joke - trust me, it's hilarious.)It took three young inventors to the moon (where they may or may not have left a bottle of lemonade) and a caveman on a trip to the dentist. You can join them on these adventures, and many more, in this incredible collection of stories . .
. From the greatest imagination there ever was. Written for local newspapers when Terry Pratchett was a young lad, these never previously published stories are packed full of anarchic humour and wonderful wit.
A must-have for Terry fans . . . and young readers looking for a fix of magic.
The Tools, Phil Stutz ( paperback March 2023)
£12.99
Change can begin right now. Learn to bring about dynamic personal growth using five uniquely effective tools- from psychotherapist Barry Michels and psychiatrist Phil Stutz, subject of the Netflix documentary Stutz, directed by Jonah Hill. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you could tap into a new source of power - one that has been inside you all along - to solve your own problems and become the master of your life?The Tools is an extraordinary psychological model based on the proven methods of Hollywood's greatest psychotherapists.Phil Stutz and Barry Michels have over 60 years of psychotherapeutic experience between them. Together they have helped their A-list clients work through whatever has held them back - be it insecurity, trauma, anger, lack of willpower, negativity or avoidance - to achieve their greatest work and find a deep level of fulfilment. Now, at last, the acclaimed clinicians are sharing their methods in this eye-opening and empowering book.
Introducing their five simple techniques, namely The Reversal of Desire, Active Love, Inner Authority, The Grateful Flow and Jeopardy, the authors clearly explain what they are plus how and when to use them. Astonishingly effective and beautifully simple - once you've learned a tool it takes only three to five seconds to use it - this book will give you everything you need to propel yourself forward to achieve your ambitions and be who you were born to be.
The Trackers, Charles Frazier ( paperback, July 2024)
£9.99
The stunning new novel from the author of international million-copy bestseller Cold Mountain.
Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he’s landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office. A wealthy art lover named John Long and his wife Eve have agreed to host Val at their sprawling ranch.
Rumors and intrigue surround the couple: Eve left behind an itinerant life riding the rails and singing in a western swing band. Long holds shady political aspirations, but was once a WWI sniper—and his right hand is a mysterious elder cowboy, a vestige of the violent old west. Val quickly finds himself entranced by their lives.
One day, Eve flees home with a valuable painting in tow, and Long recruits Val to hit the road with a mission of tracking her down. Journeying from ramshackle Hoovervilles to San Francisco nightclubs to the swamps of Florida, Val's search for Eve narrows, and he soon turns up secrets that could spark formidable changes for all of them.
The Trading Game, Gary Stevenson ( paperback 30 Jan 2025)
£10.99
An unforgettable story of greed, financial madness and moral decay' Rory Stewart
'Hilarious, shocking and deeply sad — often in the same sentence' Sunday Times
An outrageous, white-knuckle journey to the dark heart of an intoxicating world - from someone who survived the trading game and then blew it all wide open'If you were gonna rob a bank, and you saw the vault door there, left open, what would you do? Would you wait around?Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken footballs on the streets of East London in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscrapers, Gary wanted something better. Something a whole lot bigger. Then he won a competition run by a bank: 'The Trading Game'.
The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. A place where you could make more money than you'd ever imagined. Where your colleagues are dysfunctional maths geniuses, overfed public schoolboys and borderline psychopaths, yet they start to feel like family.
Where soon you're the bank's most profitable trader, dealing in nearly a trillion dollars. A day. Where you dream of numbers in your sleep - and then stop sleeping at all.
But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? When the easiest way to make money is to bet on millions becoming poorer and poorer - and, as the economy starts slipping off a precipice, your own sanity starts slipping with it? You want to stop, but you can't. Because nobody ever leaves. Would you stick, or quit? Even if it meant risking everything?
The Trees, Percival Everett ( paperback March 2022) * Booker Shortlist 2022 *
£9.99
The Trees is a page-turner that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body - that of a man who resembles Emmett Till, a young black boy lynched in the same town 65 years before.The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried.
In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence, and does so in a fast-paced style that ensures the reader can't look away. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance.
The Troubles With Us, Allie O’Neill (Paperback out June 2022)
£9.99
A hilarious memoir about growing up in Northern Ireland in the 90s towards the end of the Troubles and a brilliantly propelling narrative of the extraordinary background story of her mother. Her mother's vivid personality and witty colloquialisms dominate the book and help to give a social history of life in Belfast from the 1950s onwards. Growing up on the Falls Road in 1990s Belfast, Alix O'Neill has seen it all - burnt-out buses blocking the route to school, the police mistaking her father for a leading terrorist and a classmate playing hide and seek with her dad's prosthetic hand (blown off making a device for the IRA).Not that she or her friends are up to speed with the goings-on of the resistance. They're too preoccupied with the obsessions of every teenage girl - booze, boys and Boyzone - to worry about the violence on their doorstep. Besides, the odd coffee jar bomb is nothing compared to the drama about to explode in Alix's personal life.
Desperate to leave Northern Ireland and the trials of her mother's unorthodox family - a loving yet eccentric band of misfits - behind, she makes grand plans for the next stage. But it's through these relationships and their gradual unravelling that Alix begins to appreciate not only the troubled history of where she comes from, but the strength of its women. Warm, embarrassing and full of love and insight, The Troubles with Us is a hilarious and moving account of the madness and mundanities of life in Northern Ireland during the thirty-year conflict.
It's a story of mothers and daughters, the fallout from things left unsaid and the lengths a girl will go to for fake tan.
The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually, Helen Cullen ( PB 2021)
£10.99
AN IMMERSIVE AND HEARTFELT EXPLORATION OF FAMILY AND LOVE
A beautiful bittersweet story of love, loss and families all set in the most irresistible of locations. Tears were shed!' Graham Norton 'A compassionate portrayal of love, support and grief ... a writer whose skill is matched by an ability to surprise with each new work' John Boyne, Irish Times'
On an island off the west coast of Ireland, the Moone family are shattered by tragedy. Murtagh Moone is a potter and devoted husband to Maeve, an actor struggling with her most challenging role yet - being a mother to their four children.
Now Murtagh must hold his family close as we bear witness to their story before that tragic night. We return to the day Maeve and Murtagh meet, outside Trinity College in Dublin, and watch how one love story gives rise to another. And as the Moone children learn who their parents truly are, we journey onwards with them to a future that none of the Moones could predict .
The Turning Tide, Jon Gower ( paperback August 2024)
£10.99
Fascinating, spellbinding, erudite and great fun.’ Roddy Doyle
The Turning Tide is a hymn to a sea passage of world-historical importance. Combining social and cultural history, nature-writing, travelogue and politics, Welshman Jon Gower charts a sea which has carried both Vikings and saints; invasion forces, royals and rebels; writers, musicians and fishermen.
The divided but interconnected waters of the Irish Sea – from the narrow North Channel through St George’s Channel to where the Celtic sea opens out into the wide Atlantic – have a turbulent history to match the violence of its storms. Jon Gower is a sympathetic and interested pilot, taking the reader to the great shipyards of Belfast and through the mass exodus of the starving during the Irish Famine in coffin boats bound for America. He follows the migrations of working men and women looking for work in England and tells the tales of more casual travellers: sometimes seasick, often homesick too.
The Irish Sea is also a place with an abundant natural history. The rarest sea bird in Europe visits its coasts in summer while the rarest goose wings in during winter. The Turning Tide navigates waters teeming with life, filled with seals and salt-tanged stories and surveyed by seabirds.
Lyrically written and fizzing with curiosity, this is a remarkable and far-reaching book.
The Ultimate Guide to Growing Dragons, Andy Shepherd ( paperback Sept 2022)
£7.99
Book 6 in the successful series for 6-9 year olds, but can be read standalone.
An enchanting companion title to Andy Shepherd and Sara Ogilvie's bestselling THE BOY WHO GREW DRAGONS seriesTomas, the boy who grew dragons, is officially the Grand High Dragon Master. He's lived with his dragons - Flicker and Zing - and grown dozens more. He's an expert at caring for the dragonfruit tree.
He knows all the tricks for training dragons, nurturing dragonfruit seedlings and defusing dragon poo. So - he has this brilliant idea. He and his friends have got to get all their dragon expertise down, in one easy-to-read place, for them, and anyone else who might find themselves growing dragons!The only problem is - Tomas's friends Ted, Kat, Kai, Liam and Aura are currently scattered all around the world, from Suffolk to Mexico to China.
Perhaps, though, if they can get their heads together, they can figure this all out together, and create the most brilliant ULTIMATE GUIDE ever, together? Of course, what they don't realise is they still have a lot to learn about dragons!
The Unknowns, by Shirley-Anne McMillan ( paperback 2017)
£7.99
A teenage story of friendship, and boundaries, and preconceptions. Likeable main characters of Tilly and Brew, it’s edgy but realistic. My 15yo enjoyed this a lot.
Shirley Anne is from Lisburn and this is her second novel.
Tilly is perched at the top of Belfast's largest crane. She likes to climb up high at night in order to feel free from a city which, despite the best PR, is still full of trouble and conflict. Eventually, she comes back down to discover her bike is missing and in its place is a boy named Brew.
Wearing eyeliner and high-heeled boots, he offers her a drink from his flask of coffee before disappearing into the night. The next morning, Tilly's bike is returned, but tucked into the spoke of the wheel is a card with Brew's number on it. As Tilly learns to trust Brew, he leads her into a world she never knew existed - a world of parties in abandoned houses, completing missions that involve break-ins, and risking everything just to help strangers in need; the world of The Unknowns.
What Tilly doesn't anticipate is that they will also make her question everything she was brought up to believe in, and force her to make a choice that will stay with her for the rest of her life. The Unknowns is a story about hope in a city where increasing numbers of young people are struggling to get by, a place where there is no trust in the political system, and where some people still dare to dream.
The Vanishing Elephant, Charles Way and Sabine Dargent
£9.99
In the heart of Bengal, a young boy named Opu dreams of becoming an elephant trainer. When he befriends Janu, an Asian elephant, their friendship is a first step on an adventure so huge, it spans decades and continents. On their separate paths, they face fearsome encounters, stormy seas and strange new worlds.
It works as a great story to read aloud to younger children and to share with older children, the layout and shape of the book is great for shared reading.
This moving story of friendship and belonging from award winning theatre company Cahoots was named Critic's Pick by the New York Times. The live show is coming to Belfast for one week only this Autumn! Don't miss it - book via the Grand Opera House Belfast, at www.goh.co.uk.
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett ( Paperback, 29 April 2021)
£9.99
* Longlisted for Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 *
'The Vanishing Half is an utterly mesmerising novel. It seduces with its literary flair, surprises with its breath-taking plot twists, delights with its psychological insights, and challenges us to consider the corrupting consequences of racism on different communities and individual lives. I absolutely loved this book' Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize 2019
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical.
But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past.
Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' story lines intersect? Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
The View from Ninety : Reflections on How to Live a Long, Contented Life, Charles Handy
£16.99
Over a span of seven decades, Charles Handy was, variously, a businessman, a writer, a philanthropist and a philosopher. Not even a stroke as he approached the age of 90 dimmed his intellectual curiosity or his immense zest for life.
In this, his final book, written from the vantage point of a contemplative old age and drawing on his articles for The Idler he shares his thoughts on the big questions with which we all grapple:What things really matter?What daily worries should we learn to treat as unimportant?How do we become more accepting of ourselves and of those around us?How do we discover purpose in our everyday existence? How do we cope with grief and loss?Drawing in part on his own experience, in part on the wisdom of others, he sets out the principles of enjoying a fulfilled and contented life, and gently points the way to the practicalities of achieving it.
