Products
Brotherless Night, V.V. Ganeshananthan (paperback April 2024)
£9.99
"A heart-breaking exploration of a family fractured by civil war. This beautiful, nuanced novel follows a young doctor caught within conflicting ideologies as she tries to save lives. I couldn't put this book down" BRIT BENNETT
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024 / WINNER OF THE CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION
Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, as a vicious civil war subsumes Sri Lanka, her dream takes her on a different path as she watches those around her, including her four beloved brothers and their best friend, get swept up in violent political ideologies and their consequences. She must ask herself: is it possible for anyone to move through life without doing harm?
Ganeshananthan is a superb writer...I wept at many points in this novel and I also wept when it was over" Sunday Times
Brrr!, Kes Gray and Nick East ( picture book, October 2022)
£6.99
From the bestselling author of the OI FROG AND FRIENDS series comes a roaringly funny new picture book, jam-packed with dinosaurs . . .
Brrr! The Ice Age is coming, the temperatures are dropping and the dinosaurs are frrreezing. Only one thing will keep them warm - woolly jumpers! But dinosaurs can't knit, can they? Find out what REALLY happened to the dinosaurs in an out-of-this-world adventure, featuring dinosaurs, knitting and a trip to outer space.
Perfect winter funny story for kids who love the silly stuff.
Brutes, by Dizz Tate ( paperback Feb 2024)
£9.99
A Lynchian reinterpretation of The Virgin Suicides." (Observer)"An astonishing debut that will burrow under your skin." (Sunday Times)
In Falls Landing, Florida - a place built of theme parks, swampy lakes, and scorched bougainvillea flowers - something sinister lurks in the deep. A gang of thirteen-year-old girls obsessively orbit around the local preacher's daughter, Sammy. She is mesmerizing, older, and in love with Eddie.
But suddenly, Sammy goes missing. Where is she? Watching from a distance, they edge ever closer to discovering a dark secret about their fame-hungry town and the cruel cost of a ticket out. What they uncover will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Through a darkly beautiful and brutally compelling lens, Dizz Tate captures the violence, horrors, and manic joys of girlhood. Brutes is a novel about the seemingly unbreakable bonds in the 'we' of young friendship, and the moment it is broken forever.
Bunny and Monkey : The Impossible Pig ! Jamie Smart ( Paperback Sept 2023)
£12.99
The Woods are in uproar! Pig has vanished! What could have happened to him? And who is this familiar-looking bearded figure sitting on a cloud? Could they be connected?
Join bestselling comics sensation Jamie Smart for this hilarious collection of stories, available in a new chunky format. This is now book 4 in the zany series.
Burn After Reading, Catherine Ryan Howard ( April 2025)
£16.99
A ghostwriter is locked in an interview room with a man who might be a murderer, in this gripping new mystery thriller from the #1 bestselling author of 56 Days and The Trap. 'A masterclass in suspense, utterly addictive, intelligently crafted, and impossible to put down' --Clémence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant'The perfect thriller' -- L. V.
Matthews, author of the Richard and Judy Book Club pick The TwinsThe night Jack Smyth ran into flames in a desperate attempt to save his wife from their burning home, he was, tragically, too late - but hailed a hero. Until it emerged that Kate was dead long before the fire began. Suspicion has stalked him ever since.
After all, there's no smoke without fire. A year on, he's signed a book deal. He wants to tell his side of the story, to prove his own innocence in print.
He just needs someone to help him write it. Emily has never ghostwritten anything before, but she knows what it’s like to live with a guilty secret. And she's about to learn that there are some stories that should never be told .
. . 'This is one red hot thriller that boasts a vivid, true-crime authenticity at its molten core' --Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal
Burned, by Sam McBride ( paperback, Oct 2019)
£16.99
The investigative journalist Sam McBride takes an analytical and thorough look at the RHI scandal that engulfed Stormont. Well written.
Burning the Big House, Terence Dooley ( paperback April 2023)
£11.99
Burning the Big House : The Story of the Irish Country House in a Time of War and Revolution
The gripping story of the tumultuous destruction of the Irish country house, spanning the revolutionary years of 1912 to 1923 During the Irish Revolution nearly three hundred country houses were burned to the ground. These "Big Houses" were powerful symbols of conquest, plantation, and colonial oppression and were caught up in the struggle for independence and the conflict between the aristocracy and those demanding access to more land. Stripped of their most important artifacts, most of the houses were never rebuilt, and ruins such as Summerhill stood like ghostly figures for generations to come.
Terence Dooley offers a unique perspective on the Irish Revolution, exploring the struggles over land, the impact of the Great War, and why the country mansions of the landed class became such a symbolic target for republicans throughout the period. Dooley details the shockingly sudden acts of occupation and destruction-including soldiers using a Rembrandt as a dart board-and evokes the exhilaration felt by the revolutionaries at seizing these grand houses and visibly overturning the established order.
But I Haven’t Said Goodbye: Belfast in poetry and images
£10.00
A new collaborative collection from photographer Richard Sloan and poet Geraldine Fitzgerald, to celebrate the city of Belfast in words and images.
Cacophony of Bone, Kerri Ni Dochartaigh (paperback Jan 2024)
£10.99
Two days after the Winter Solstice in 2019 Kerri and her partner M moved to a small, remote railway cottage in the heart of Ireland. They were looking for a home, somewhere to stay put. What followed was a year of many changes.The pandemic arrived and their isolated home became a place of enforced isolation. It was to be a year unlike any we had seen before. But the seasons still turned, the swallows came at their allotted time, the rhythms of the natural world went on unchecked.
For Kerri there was to be one more change, a longed-for but unhoped for change. Cacophony of Bone maps the circle of a year - a journey from one place to another, field notes of a life - from one winter to the next. It is a telling of a changed life, in a changed world - and it is about all that does not change.
All that which simply keeps on - living and breathing, nesting and dying - in spite of it all. When the pandemic came time seemed to shapeshift, so this is also a book about time. It is, too, a book about home, and what that can mean.
Fragmentary in subject and form, fluid of language, this is an ode to a year, a place, and a love, that changed a life.
Cairn, Kathleen Jamie ( Paperback June 2024)
£9.99
'This marvel of a book is a profound meditation on the precariousness of the planet... these pieces kept bringing tears to my eyes, catching me offguard ... it is what art or, in this case, wonderful writing can do.' Kate Kellaway, Observer
Cairn: A marker on open land, a memorial, a viewpoint shared by strangers.
For the last five years poet and author Kathleen Jamie has been turning her attention to a new form of writing: micro-essays, prose poems, notes and fragments. Placed together, like the stones of a wayside cairn, they mark a changing psychic and physical landscape. The virtuosity of these short pieces is both subtle and deceptive.
Jamie's intent 'noticing' of the natural world is suffused with a clear-eyed awareness of all we endanger. She considers the future her children face, while recalling her own childhood and notes the lost innocence in the way we respond to the dramas of nature. With meticulous care she marks the point she has reached, in life and within the cascading crises of our times.
Cairn resonates with a beauty and wisdom that only an artist of Jamie's calibre could achieve.
Cally & Jimmy : Twins in Trouble, by Zoe Antoniades ( paperback)
£6.99
Four stories in one! I have a twin brother. Everyone calls him Jimmy, which is sort of the English version of Dimitri, his actual Greek name. Our mum's Greek, you see.
I'm Cally, short for Calista, which means, I don't want to sound big-headed or anything, 'most beautiful'. I'm not sure about Dimitri, but if Dimitri means most-annoying-brother-in-the-whole-wide-world, then that's him. Join Cally and Jimmy in four hilarious stories, perfect for newly confident readers.
They get into scrapes together, bake some poisonous cakes, almost ruin their school assembly and finally have a twintastic birthday party.
Captain Jesus, Collette Snowdon ( paperback, Jan 2021)
£9.99
When three brothers find a dead magpie and peg it to the washing line, the resurrection re-enactment becomes a portent of tragedy to come, and a reminder of past guilt and trauma. In Captain Jesus we see a family struggle to cope as loss rips through their lives; through the teenage eyes of their mother, twenty years earlier, we glimpse the events that shape her response. The icons, influences and family histories that define faith connect the two narratives as the family gradually heals, thanks to the quietness of love and the natural world.
Car, Car, Truck, Jeep, Katrina Charman ( board Book)
£7.99
This book is bursting with cars, buses, planes, trains, trucks, diggers and many more things that go. Add to that a text that is read aloud to the tune of 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep' and ... What a combination!Car, car, truck, jeep,have you any fuel?Yes, sir, yes, sir,three tanks full.One for the red bus,one for the train,and one for the pilotin her jumbo jet plane. With bold, colourful illustrations by the instantly recognisable Nick Sharratt and text by talented newcomer Katrina Charman, vehicle-obsessed little ones will never want to put this book down.
Cardboard Cowboys, Brian Conaghan (10+, Paperback April 2021)
£7.99
Multi-award-winning author Brian Conaghan's first book for 10+ readers is a future classic brimming with humour and heart.
Even though I found him living in a house made of cardboard, Bruce is a massive legend. FACT. So this mine and Bruce's story.You don't have to believe it happened, but it did. All of it. Nobody at school can see past Lenny's size to the person within.
So when lessons get too tough, Lenny always goes to his bench to think. At least there no one can see him. Then one day, midway through lobbing his empty can of Irn-Bru into the canal he's stopped by Bruce.
Bruce lives in a cardboard home hidden away by the banks, and he doesn't approve of kids messing up his front lawn ... But a bumpy start soon gives way to an unexpected friendship - and an epic road trip - that will change both of them for life ...
Carl Frampton : My Autobiography ( paperback March 2024)
£14.99
Belfast’s Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton MBE is no ordinary boxer. One of only three fighters from the British Isles to be named the Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year, he has headlined multiple sell-out world championship bouts on both sides of the Atlantic, winning multiple world titles in the process. His dedicated army of fans have traversed the globe to be ringside throughout it all.
But Frampton’s popularity far exceeds the traditional adulation for a sporting icon; he is regarded as a symbol of hope and unity by both sides of the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland.
In this captivating autobiography, Frampton reveals the most personal aspects of being a fighter; of fears and doubts, of exhilaration and devastation, of friendship and animosity. He also recounts for the first time his high-profile, acrimonious split with Barry McGuigan, in devastating and revealing detail.
Frampton speaks openly and passionately, not only about boxing, but about his country, how far it has come and the problems it faces. This is a uniquely intimate account of a true modern-day sporting great and a local hero like no other.
Case Study, Graeme Macrae Burnett ( paperback 2022)
£9.99
"I have decided to write down everything that happens, because I feel, I suppose, I may be putting myself in danger." London, 1965. An unworldly young woman believes that a charismatic psychotherapist, Collins Braithwaite, has driven her sister to suicide. Intent on confirming her suspicions, she assumes a false identity and presents herself to him as a client, recording her experiences in a series of notebooks.But she soon finds herself drawn into a world in which she can no longer be certain of anything. Even her own character. In Case Study, Graeme Macrae Burnet presents these notebooks interspersed with his own biographical research into Collins Braithwaite.
The result is a dazzling - and often wickedly humorous - meditation on the nature of sanity, identity and truth itself, by one of the most inventive novelists writing today.
Cassandra in Reverse, Holly Smale ( paperback May 2024)
£8.99
where would you start? Cassie has never really fitted in. She remembers everything. Understands nothing.
And consistently says the wrong thing. So when she gets dumped, fired AND her local café runs out of banana muffins - all in one day - it feels like the end of the world. But then Cassie discovers she has the power to go back and change things.
With endless chances to get it right, can she stop it all from going wrong?
Cazalet Chronicles, Elizabeth Jane Howard (series)
£10.99
A modern classic of twentieth-century English life, these are beautiful new reprints of Elizabeth Jane Howard's extraordinary, bestselling family saga The Cazalet Chronicles. Every summer, the Cazalet brothers - Hugh, Edward and Rupert - return to the family home in the heart of the Sussex countryside with their wives and children. There, they are joined by their parents and unmarried sister Rachel to enjoy two blissful months of picnics, games, and excursions to the coast.
But despite the idyllic setting, nothing can be done to soothe the siblings' heartache: Hugh is haunted by the ravages of the Great War, Edward is torn between his wife and his latest infidelity, and Rupert is in turmoil over his inability to please his demanding wife. Meanwhile, Rachel risks losing her only chance at happiness because of her unflinching loyalty to the family. With cover artwork exclusively designed by artist Luke Edward Hall, this will be an edition to treasure.
The Light Years is followed by Marking Time, the second book in the series. 'Charming, poignant and quite irresistible . .
Kevin Barry " This is a Big House novel of the late 1930's .. Howard is such an elegant and funny writer and her comedy is savagely alert to the fatal flaw of snobbery that forever deranges the English psyche"
Chaos Kings : how Wall Street traders make billions in the new age of crisis, Scott Patterson ( hardback August 2023)
£16.99
For fans of The Black Swan and written by a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter, this is a fascinating deep dive into the world of billion-dollar traders and high-stakes crisis predictors who strive to turn extreme events into financial windfalls. There's no doubt that our world has gotten more extreme. Pandemics, climate change, superpower rivalries, technological disruption, political radicalisation, religious fundamentalism - all threaten chaos that put trillions in assets at risk.But around the world, across a wide variety of disciplines, would-be super-forecasters are trying to take the guesswork out of what formerly seemed like random chance. Some put their faith in 'black swans' - unpredictable, catastrophic events that can't be foreseen but send exotic financial instruments screaming in high-profit directions. Most famous among this group of big-bet traders are those who run the Universa fund, who, on days of extreme upheaval, have made as much as $1 billion.
Author Scott Patterson gained exclusive access to Universa strategists and met with savvy seers in a variety of fields, from earthquake prediction to counterterrorism to climatology, to see if it's actually possible to bet on disaster - and win. Riveting, relevant, and revelatory, this is a must-read for anyone curious about how some of today's investors alchemise catastrophe into profit.
Cheri, Jo Ann Beard (hardback novella August 2023)
£10.00
Cheri has been living with cancer for many years. Now, she is dying. As she navigates the final weeks of her life, and takes charge of the manner of her death, she is flooded with childhood memories, and returns to the present with a renewed appreciation for the brilliance of life around her: the autumn has never been so beautiful, her daughters never as radiant.
Brave, incredibly strong and deeply loved, Cheri makes one last nerve-wracking journey across the country with her girls and her friends, knowing relief waits welcoming as a frozen lake on the other side. A masterpiece of fiction and memory.
For those who like Claire Keegan - sparse, emotional prose and well worth the read.
Childhood Unlimited, Virginia Mendez ( Paperback, April 2022)
£12.99
In 2013, Disney released its most egalitarian film to date - but 59% of all the lines in Frozen are spoken by male characters. - 57% of children's books published annually have central male characters; just 31% have central female characters. Raising your child beyond the limitations placed on them by gender is, let's face it, an uphill battle.
If you don't know where to start, or how to start, you will find inspiration, insight and plenty of practical strategies in Childhood Unlimited. From navigating the gendered constructs that dominate children's films, television and media generally, to choosing appropriate and stimulating toys beyond the binary divide, this accessible and relatable book will make the whole process much less daunting. Based on interviews with, and research by, some of the best thought-leaders from the fields of psychology, neuroscience and education, the insights in this book will not only open the eyes of any parent or caregiver, they will inspire you to help your child to look at the world in a critical, creative and empowered way.
Free from the restraints of the stereotypes that surround gender, your child has the opportunity to reach their true potential - and this is the book that you need to launch them on that journey.
** recently launched right here in Books Paper Scissors, Virginia is an adopted Northern Irish author and a Spanish native **
Children’s Children, Jan Carson ( paperback Feb 2025)
£9.99
Read the debut short story collection from the multi-award-winning author of The Raptures, now updated with a new bonus story. '
A floating six-year-old tethered to the backyard fence; two siblings watching their parents argue inside a greenhouse; a human statue who’s lost the ability to move; a support group for the haunted: the characters in Children’s Children are all falling apart in their own peculiar ways. Told in Jan Carson’s distinctive voice, her debut short story collection contains absurdist, darkly humorous and heartbreaking stories which explore the concept of legacy, and the impact of one generation upon the next.
'These stories are pure magic, funny, sharp, heartbreaking, the short form at its absolute best. Jan Carson is a unique and very special writer, one of the greatest of the modern fabulists' DONAL RYAN, author of Heart, Be at Peace'Story after story glints with the strange, hard magic of the North . .
Children’s Picture Atlas of the Stars ( Sept 23)
£12.99
Explore constellations and find out about the bright stars that form them, in this beautifully illustrated book for children. Astronomer Tom Kerss introduces the constellations that can be seen in different parts of the world and the legendary stories behind each one.* Meet the fearsome lion Leo, one of the most ancient constellations in the skies* Dive with Hydra, the mythical sea monster that was defeated by Hercules* Come face-to-face with Orion, the mighty hunter from Greek mythology From amazing animals and brilliant birds to monsters and monster-slayers - children will love learning about these incredible star patterns and the science, history and myths surrounding them. It is the ideal gift to inspire budding astronomers and spark curiosity for the spectacular skies above.
Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, Wole Soyinka ( paperback )
£9.99
'Chronicles is many things at once: a caustic political satire, a murder mystery, a conspiracy story and a deeply felt lament for the spirit of a nation' - Juan Gabriel Vasquez, New York TimesA FINANCIAL TIMES AND SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEARTo Doctor Menka's horror, some cunning entrepreneur has decided to sell body parts from his hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Already at the end of his tether from the horrors he routinely sees in surgery, he shares this latest development with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne, who has never before met a puzzle he couldn't solve.Neither realise how close the enemy is, nor how powerful. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a savagely witty whodunit, a scathing indictment of Nigeria's political elite, and a provocative call to arms from one of the country's most relentless political activists and an international literary giant. 'A high-jinks state-of-the-nation novel' - Chibundu Onuzo'Chronicles is a good model for what the political novel should be: fearless, disdaining formal constraints, sparing no one' - Guardian
Chums : How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK, Simon Kuper (paperback April 2023)
£9.99
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Power. Privilege. Parties.It's a very small world at the top. 'Brilliant ... traces Brexit back to the debating chambers of the Oxford Union in the 1980s' James O'Brien'A searing onslaught on the smirking Oxford insinuation that politics is all just a game.
It isn't. It matters' Matthew Parris'A sparkling firework of a book' Lynn Barber, Spectator'Exquisite and depressing in equal measure' Matthew Syed, Sunday TimesBoris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May, Dominic Cummings, Daniel Hannan, Jacob Rees-Mogg: Whitehall is swarming with old Oxonians. They debated each other in tutorials, ran against each other in student elections, and attended the same balls and black tie dinners.
They aren't just colleagues - they are peers, rivals, friends. And, when they walked out of the world of student debates onto the national stage, they brought their university politics with them. Eleven of the fifteen postwar British prime ministers went to Oxford.
In Chums, Simon Kuper traces how the rarefied and privileged atmosphere of this narrowest of talent pools - and the friendships and worldviews it created - shaped modern Britain. A damning look at the university clique-turned-Commons majority that will blow the doors of Westminster wide open and change the way you look at our democracy forever.
Circe ( Anniversary Hardback Edition ), Madeline Miller
£20.00
A FIFTH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION, FEATURING A NEW FOREWORD BY THE AUTHORWoman. Witch. Myth.Mortal. Outcast. Lover.
Destroyer. Survivor. CIRCE.
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals.
But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When her gift threatens the gods, she is banished to the island of Aiaia where she hones her occult craft, casting spells, gathering strange herbs and taming wild beasts. Yet a woman who stands alone will never be left in peace for long - and among her island's guests is an unexpected visitor: the mortal Odysseus, for whom Circe will risk everything.
So Circe sets forth her tale, a vivid, mesmerizing epic of family rivalry, love and loss - the defiant, inextinguishable song of woman burning hot and bright through the darkness of a man's world.
Circle, by Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett ( pb, 2020)
£8.99
From the dynamic, dream team of Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett comes the final instalment in the hilarious shape trilogy. Triangle and Square are visiting Circle, who lives at the waterfall. When they play hide-and-seek, Circle tells the friends the one rule: not to go behind the falling water.
But after she closes her eyes to count to ten, of course that's exactly where Triangle goes. Will Circle find Triangle? And what OTHER shapes might be lurking back there? Sparks the imagination, allows chat about hidden worries, and ultimately has style and humour.
Clean by Alia Trabucco Zeran ( paperback April 2025)
£9.99
A book of intense power’ PHILIPPE SANDS 'A compelling book, with a tightly coiled power' PANDORA SYKES The shockingly compulsive new literary thriller from the ( Translated from Swedish.... International Booker-shortlisted author of The Remainder. Clean begins with an inescapable fact: a girl has died. Told by Estela, a maid to a wealthy, middle class family who speaks to us from a locked room, we hear of her plight and the circumstances that led to this moment.
As we enter into her account of her daily existence, we see how her apparently simple life begins to sour, but would that drive her to the unthinkable? Disturbing and profound, Clean explores domestic work, class and violence, against the backdrop of Chile’s changing political landscape.
This is one of the most daring and compelling thrillers in international literature. 'Uncomfortable and provocative … a chilling account' FINANCIAL TIMES 'I hardly paused for breath' ALICE SLATER, author of Death of a Bookseller '
Clear, Carys Davies ( paperback Feb 25)
£9.99
1843. On a remote Scottish island, Ivar, the sole occupant, leads a life of quiet isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. The newcomer is John Ferguson, an impoverished church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into grazing land for sheep.Unaware of the stranger's intentions, Ivar takes him into his home, and in spite of the two men having no common language, a fragile bond begins to form between them. Meanwhile on the mainland, John's wife Mary anxiously awaits news of his mission. Against the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland, Carys Davies's intimate drama unfolds with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us.
Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling, an exquisite short novel by a master of the form.
Cleopatra & Frankenstein, Coco Mellors ( paperback Feb 2023)
£9.99
For readers of Modern Lovers and Conversations with Friends, an addictive, humorous, and poignant debut novel about the shock waves caused by one couple's impulsive marriage.
New York is slipping from Cleo's grasp.
Sure, she's at a different party every other night, but she barely knows anyone. Her student visa is running out, and she doesn't even have money for cigarettes. But then she meets Frank.
Twenty years older, Frank's life is full of all the success and excess that Cleo's lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a green card. She offers him a life imbued with beauty and art-and, hopefully, a reason to cut back on his drinking.
He is everything she needs right now. Cleo and Frank run head-first into a romance that neither of them can quite keep up with. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that's Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off.
Ultimately, this chance meeting between two strangers outside of a New Year's Eve party changes everything, for better or worse. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.
Close To Home, Michael Magee ( hardback April 2023 / paperback April 2024)
£14.99
He was supposed to leave and never come back. But Sean does come back. Arriving home after university, he finds Anthony's drinking is worse than ever.
Meanwhile the jobs in Belfast have vanished, Sean's degree isn't worth the paper it's written on and no one will give him the time of day. One night he loses control and assaults a stranger at a party, and everything is tipped into chaos. Close to Home witnesses the aftermath of that night, as Sean attempts to make sense of who he has become, and to reckon with the relationships that have shaped him, for better and worse.
Drawing from his own experiences, Michael Magee examines the forces which keep young working class men in harm's way, in a debut novel which shines with intelligence and humanity on every page. Close to Home is an extraordinary work of fiction about deciding what kind of a man you want to be and finding your place in the scarred city you call home.
Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr ( paperback Sept 2022)
£10.99
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST 'A dazzling epic of love, war and the joy of books' Guardian 'There is magic in this place ... You just have to sit and breathe and wait and it will find you' Fifteenth-century Constantinople. Present day Idaho.
The future, and humanity's last hope. Across time and space, five young dreamers are bound by a single ancient text. Together, they tell a story of a world in peril; of the power of words, of resilience, and of hope against all odds.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See returns with a heart-breaking, magnificent epic of human connection and a love letter to storytelling itself.
** Do check out the BLOG pages where the BPS Bookclub reviewed this book last January!**
Clutch, MG Leonard ( paperback April 2023)
£7.99
When the peregrine falcon nest is raided, Twitch realizes a thief is at work. Horrified, he and the Twitchers set out to catch the dangerous criminal, only to be ensnared in a deadly trap.Can they save themselves and stop the villain before anyone gets hurt? Clutch is a thrilling spring mystery adventure about friendship, bravery and protecting nature, perfect for readers 9+ and for fans of Robin Stevens, David Baddiel and Jenny Pearson. It can be enjoyed as a stand-alone adventure or read as part of The Twitchers series. Praise for The Twitchers:"Leonard knows her audience and the jeopardy comes in flocks ...
Co-Intelligence : Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick (paperback April 2024)
£16.99
'Co-Intelligence is the very best book I know about the ins, outs, and ethics of generative AI. Drop everything and read it cover to cover NOW' Angela Duckworth
Consumer AI has arrived. And with it, inescapable upheaval as we grapple with what it means for our jobs, lives and the future of humanity.
Cutting through the noise of AI evangelists and AI doom-mongers, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world. In Co-Intelligence, he urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher and coach. Wide ranging, hugely thought-provoking and optimistic, Co-Intelligence reveals the promise and power of this new era.
Colossal Words for Kids : 75 Tremendous Words Neatly Defined to Stick in the Mind, by Colette Hiller
£9.99
Boost your child’s growing vocabulary with 75 hilariously illustrated poems from Colette Hiller, author of the critically acclaimed kids’ poetry book The B on Your Thumb. Each poem in this funny, funky book teaches a specific important word, as well as its meaning and spelling, in an innovative and accessible format that kids will love. Using rhythm and wordplay, the poems help build a colossal vocabulary, thinking skills and literacy – without kids even noticing! But most of all, this book delights young readers with the joy and silliness of the English language.
Building a colossal vocabulary has never felt so natural, or so much fun! Each word in this collection is defined in a simple rhyme. Using rhythm, humour and logic, each word’s meaning is made clear and accessible. Kids will want to try them out straight away: it’s a ready-to-use collection! You and your kids will love:Rolling rhymes that will be chanted again and againFun and quirky drawings that bring these educational poems to lifeHolistic learning premise from Colette Hiller, skilled in writing educational poetry for childrenFrom Ambiguous to Zealous, the words in this book are for 7-to-12-year-olds.
Come and Get It, Kiley Reid ( hardback Jan 2024)
£16.99
Everything comes at a price. But not everything can be paid for…Millie wants to graduate, get a job and buy a house. She’s slowly saving up from her job on campus, but when a visiting professor offers her an unusual opportunity to make some extra money, she jumps at the chance.
Agatha is a writer, recovering from a break-up while researching attitudes towards weddings and money for her new book. She strikes gold when interviewing the girls in Millie’s dorm, but her plans take a turn when she realises that the best material is unfolding behind closed doors. As the two women form an unlikely relationship, they soon become embroiled in a world of roommate theatrics, vengeful pranks and illicit intrigue – and are forced to question just how much of themselves they are willing to trade to get what they want.
Sharp, intimate and provocative, Come and Get It takes a lens to our money-obsessed society in a tension-filled story about desire, consumption and bad behaviour. ‘Smart, funny and perceptive’ i‘A perfect read’ STYLIST
Paperback May 2025
Common Decency, Susannah Dickey ( paperback from end July 23)
£9.99
In an apartment building in Belfast, two young women's lives play out in parallel. Since her mother's death, Lily has withdrawn from the world, trapped between grief and anger. She has to break out of this damaging cycle - but how? Upstairs, Siobhan is consumed by her affair with a married man.Her days revolve around his sporadic texts and rare visits. She barely notices the strange girl who lives below and dawdles in the foyer. But Lily is keeping a close eye on her neighbour, whose life seems so much better and more fulfilling than her own.
When resentment evolves into something darker and more urgent, she decides to teach Siobhan a lesson... From the critically acclaimed author of Tennis Lessons comes a darkly powerful novel about two lives running closely in parallel but divided by gulfs of misunderstanding. With boundless wisdom and deep empathy, Dickey charts the anonymity and hidden intimacies of modern existence, and our profound human need to connect.
'Sharp as tacks, extremely funny and deeply moving. This novel is very good company.' JAN CARSONPRAISE FOR SUSANNAH DICKEY'I loved Tennis Lessons so much. Susannah is a phenomenally talented writer' ELIZABETH DAY'A raw, fierce, shockingly honest coming-of-age story' LOUISE O'NEILL'Incredibly funny .
Complicit, Winnie M Ali ( paperback July 2023)
£8.99
HE DREW US ALL IN LIKE BEES TO HONEY - AND HE KNEW IT THE ENTIRE TIME. Ten years ago, Sarah left behind a career in Hollywood that she had sacrificed everything for. Now she lectures at a small college, her dreams of showbiz success long behind her.When a curious journalist raises her filmmaking past, Sarah must finally tell her own story and confront the old dreams that she left behind. But with old dreams come new realisations, and Sarah can't help but wonder: was she complicit in the terrible events that happened all those years ago? And is she content to let the past stay buried? POWERFUL AND TIMELY, COMPLICIT IS A GLIMPSE INTO THE DARK GLAMOUR OF HOLLYWOOD, AND THE PRICE OF AMBITION IN A DANGEROUS WORLD.
Confessions, Catherine Airey ( hardback Jan 2025)
£16.99
It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing.
Cora Brady’s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone. Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise.
There the story of Cora's family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool…An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, Confessions traces the arc of three generations of women as they experience in their own time the irresistible gravity of the past: its love and tragedy, its mystery and redemption, and, in all things intended and accidental, the beauty and terrible shade of the things we do.
Constellations: Reflections from Life, Sinead Gleason (paperback, Apr 2020)
£10.99
Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2020**Winner of non-fiction book of the year at the Irish Book Awards*'
I have come to think of all the metal in my body as artificial stars, glistening beneath the skin, a constellation of old and new metal.
A map, a tracing of connections and a guide to looking at things from different angles. How do you tell the story of a life in a body, as it goes through sickness, health, motherhood? How do you tell that story when you are not just a woman but a woman in Ireland? In the powerful and daring essays in Constellations Sinead Gleeson does that very thing. All of life is within these pages, from birth to first love, pregnancy to motherhood, terrifying sickness, old age and loss to death itself.
Throughout this wide-ranging collection she also turns her restless eye outwards delving into work, art and our very ways of seeing. In the tradition of some of our finest life writers, and yet still in her own spirited, generous voice, Sinead takes us on a journey that is both uniquely personal and yet universal in its resonance. H
