Dog wasn`t really a dog, she was a human girl. But she was called Dog because that is what Uncle had always called her. Dog has never been outside of nasty Uncle`s pet shop. She sleeps in a box on a floor & has no idea what the world outside looks like. Then in a flurry of colour & feathers, Carlos the parrot arrives in the shop & her world as she knows it changes for ever. Managing to escape, Dog, Carlos & her best friend Esme the coati set out, in search of the same thing, somewhere they belong, somewhere they can call home. But the world is a huge, dangerous place, & they face danger & adventure at every turn... This is a spirit-soaring tale of adventure, friendship & belonging that will appeal to all lovers of Michael Morpurgo & Roald Dahl. ...

It`s bad enough having a mum dippy enough to name you Owl, but when you`ve got a dad you`ve never met, a best friend who needs you more than ever, & a new boy at school giving you weird looks, there`s not a lot of room for much else. So when Owl starts seeing strange frost patterns on her skin, she`s tempted to just burrow down under the duvet & forget all about it. Could her strange new powers be linked to her mysterious father? And what will happen when she enters the magical world of winter for the first time? A glittering story of frost & friendship, with writing full of magic & heart, A Girl Called Owl is a stunning debut about family, responsibility & the beauty of the natural world. ...

When a girl is found dead with a signed copy of Rudian Stefa`s latest book in her possession, the author finds himself summoned for an interview by the Party Committee. Unable to guess what transgression he has committed Rudian goes fearfully to meet his interrogators. He has never met the girl in question but he remembers signing the book. As the influence of a paranoid regime steals up on him, Rudian finds himself swept along on a surreal quest to discover what really happened to the mysterious girl to whom he wrote the dedication
- to Linda B.
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Rudian Stefa is called in for questioning by the Party Committee. An unknown girl
- Linda B.
- has been found dead, with a

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At the age of 17, Shusha Guppy left Iran & her family to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. Diving into the unknown
- a world of
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A rich & beautiful novel set during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the early 1980s, & based on the author`s personal experiences of the conflict. Ten-year-old Ruba lives in a village outside Beirut. From her family home, she can see the buildings shimmering on the horizon & the sea stretched out beside them. She can also hear the rumble of the shelling
- this is Lebanon in the 1980s & civil war is tearing the country apart. Ruba, however, has her own worries. Her father hardly ever speaks & spends most of his days sitting in his armchair, avoiding work & family. Her mother looks so sad that Ruba thinks her heart might have withered in the heat like a fig. Her elder brother, Naji, has started to spend his time with older boys
- & some of them have guns. When Ruba decides she has to save her father, & uncovers his secret, she begins a journey which takes her from childhood to the beginnings of adulthood. As Israeli troops invade & danger comes ever closer, she realises that she may not be able to keep her family safe. This is a first novel with tremendous heart, which captures both a country & a childhood in turmoil.

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”A must read book for any fan of Irish whiskey. At a time when the category is making the mightiest of comebacks Fionnan O` Connor has written a gem of a book, digging deep in to the heart of his country`s whiskey history & telling its story with style & authority. Excellent.” Dominic Roskrow, Founding Director, The Craft Distillers Alliance Irish single pot still whiskey has a romantic mystique for many whiskey critics because of its tragic history as the lost sister of single malt scotch. Ireland`s history & politics resulted in the near-annihilation of the national drink & there`s an almost eerie beauty to the silent distilleries that still dot the Irish countryside. These distilleries inform the aesthetic of the title &, indeed, there is visual poetry in the barrels, pot stills & photogenic amber spirits that convey the Irish whiskey world. Although Irish whiskey is currently the fastest-growing global spirits category & Irish pure pot still has long been a favorite drink among whiskey critics & connoisseurs, the existing literature is still surprisingly sparse. This book illustrates the production, history, & appreciation of Irish pot still whiskey & will introduce casual drinkers to the richness of these whiskeys as well as being a collector`s item for established whiskey connoisseurs. AUTHOR: Fionnan O Connor tasted his first glass of Green Spot in a pub in Galway 10 years ago & has spent an excessive number of subsequent evenings trying to uncover what exactly made that tipple so bewilderingly delicious. He has travelled extensively across the distilleries of Ireland & Scotland & has a particular affection for Islay scotch, American rye, &, of course, Irish single pot still. As an English major, he taught classes on The History & Appreciation of Whisky through UC Berkeley`s Celtic Studies department while working as a brand ambassador for the Bushmills single malts & running seminars on whiskey appreciation through the legendary San Francisco cocktail bar Bourbon & Branch. He has since served as an historical consultant & whiskey lecturer for distilleries across Irel&, worked as an independent bar staff educator, & currently volunteers on the committee of the Irish Whiskey Society. He has represented Irish whiskey before the European Union as an independent critic & written articles on Irish distilling for magazines across the industry. SELLING POINTS: * A full history of the production & appreciation of Irish pot still whiskey * Revised to include listings of a number of new & mentionable distillers ” Quickly being recognised as the most comprehensive guide to Irish whiskey.”
- Gary Quinn, The Irish Times 215 colour images
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Winner of the 2013 Beterriko Liburua Award & the 2013 Zazpi Kale Prize, the prize of Bilbao book fair.` But what if we are all fictioneers? What if we all continually make up the stories of our lives? (...) Our life-stories are ours to construct as we wish, within or even against the constraints imposed by the real world...` J.M. COETZEEA writer in her late thirties retreats to Landes in France for a while, fleeing from her own suffering after the break-up of a relationship. Little by little, she finds solace in writing about the losses in her life, about her person, & about indifference & freedom, & in sharing the doubts that arise in her creative process with a `you` whom she imagines to be on the other side of the paper. The glass eye, a self-referential element of the author-protagonist & metaphor for pain & transcendence, also represents the literary concept of the work, a private notebook where fiction imitates & replaces a fragmented reality. Translated into English by Amaia Gabantxo, arguably the most prestigious Basque-English translator working today. ...

In 2006, the Guardian's much-loved Country Diary column is a hundred years old, & to commemorate the anniversary Martin Wainwright has compiled a collection of the best of a century's writing. Where Harry Griffin's A Lifetime of Mountains, Aurum's first & extremely successful collaboration with Guardian Books, was essentially a collection of writing about the Lake District, this new book covers the landscape of the whole of the United Kingdom, from Wales to Northern Irel&, Scotland to Norfolk. Also the Country Diary column has consistently attracted some of Britain's best writers on natural history & the countryside: Jim Perrin the mountaineering writer, whose biography of Don Whillans won the Boardman-Tasker Award, writes the dispatches from Snowdonia; Mark Cocker, author of the bestselling Birds Britannica, writes the Country Diary from Norfolk. There are also diaries written by a leading Suffragette, one of Rupert Brooke's mistresses, & even one of the Guardian's printers! And Martin Wainwright (who also edited A Lifetime of Mountains) has found diaries to reflect the changing of the countryside over a hundred years: from the prevalence of owls in First World War trenches full of vermin to the plant surveys of Second World War bombsites. ...

A Glimpse of Eternal Snows- A journey of Love & Loss in the Himalayas by Jane Wilson-Howarth is the autobiographical story of an English doctor relocating with her family to Nepal. A decision taken in the hope that a different culture will allow her new born baby, diagnosed with a serious neurological disorder, to live in dignity & happiness. Wanting David to live life to the fullest & spare him a life dominated by hospitals, doctors & medical tests, the family settles in their new home in Rajapur Isl&. There the baby looks much calmer, happier & starts to respond to the people around him. The villagers accept him & see beyond his illness & praise his beauty & blessings. Meanwhile, Alexander, the older son enjoys a different life than the one in England learning to climb trees, catching lizards & flying kites. It is in this more tolerant culture, with its spirituality & fatalism that accepting the challenges & finding joy seems much easier. Wilson-Howarth also explores the inevitable emotions, issues & ethics surrounding disability & death. Through her remarkable experiences set against the dramatic backdrop of the Himalayas, the author brings together the sounds, sights, smells & the wildlife she encounters & reveals the warmth & complexity of the local people.A Glimpse of Eternal Snow is an inspiring, thought provoking & touching personal story that develops together with a detailed & elaborate portrait of a Nepal. ...