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. ...

By the winner of the Women`s Prize for Fiction 2018 Shortlisted for the Baileys Women`s Prize for Fiction Summer, 1914. Young Englishwoman Vivian Rose Spencer is in an ancient l&, about to discover the Temple of Zeus, the call of adventure, & love. Thousands of miles away a twenty-year-old Pathan, Qayyum Gul, is learning about brotherhood & loyalty in the British Indian army. Summer, 1915. Viv has been separated from the man she loves; Qayyum has lost an eye at Ypres. They meet on a train to Peshawar, unaware that a connection is about to be forged between their lives
- one that will reveal itself fifteen years later when anti-colonial resistance, an ancient artefact & a mysterious woman will bring them together again.
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Winner of the 2015 Costa Novel Award. A God in Ruins relates the life of Teddy Todd
- would-be poet, heroic World War II bomber
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Spring, 1971, East Pakistan. Rehana Haque is throwing a party for her beloved children, Sohail & Maya. Her young family is growing up fast, & Rehana wants to remember this day forever. But out on the hot city streets, something violent is brewing. As the civil war develops, a war which will eventually see the birth of Bangladesh, Rehana struggles to keep her children safe & finds herself facing a heartbreaking dilemma. ...

Since it was founded in 2003, Good African Coffee has helped thousands of farmers earn a decent living, send their children to school & escape a spiral of debt & dependence. Africa has received over $1 trillion in aid over the last fifty years & yet despite these huge inflows, the continent remains mired in poverty, disease & systemic corruption. In A Good African Story, Andrew Rugasira argues that trade has achieved what years of aid failed to deliver, & has provided a tantalising glimpse of what Africa could be. As he recounts the very personal story of his company & the challenges that he has faced
- & overcome
- as an African entrepreneur, Rugasira discusses the barriers that currently prevent fair & equal trade between Africa & the rest of the world. He sets out the arguments for building a sustainable trade framework & reducing dependency on handouts. & he builds up a manifesto for a revolution in the way that Africa is perceived. This is a book about Africa taking its destiny in its own hands, & dictating the terms of its future.

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Alex George`s A Good American is a positive & uplifting novel about the American Dream. This is the story of the Meisenheimer family, told by James, a third-generation American living in Beatrice, Missouri. It`s where his German grandparents
- Frederick & Jette
- found themselves after journeying across the turbulent Atlantic, fording the flood-swollen Mississippi, & being brought to a sudden halt by the broken waters of the pregnant Jette. A Good American tells of Jette`s dogged determination to feed a town sauerkraut & soul food; the loves & losses of her children, Joseph & Rosa; & the precocious voices of James & his brothers, sometimes raised in perfect harmony.. .sometimes in discord. But above all, A Good American is about the music in Frederick`s heart, a song that began as an aria, was jazzed by ragtime, & became an anthem of love for his adopted country that the family still hears to this day. ” There`s plenty of storytelling charm on display here, with echoes of John Irving`s humane zaniness”. (The New York Times). ” Epic, lyrical, compelling”. (USA Today).”A sweeping, lush intergenerational novel about a family of German-Americans learning to live in 20th-century America”. (Oprah.com).

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How two unlikely heroes inspired a whole town Sometimes, in the blink of an eye, you do something that changes your life forever. Like climbing a tree with a girl you don`t know. Marnus is tired of feeling invisible, living in the shadow of his two brothers. His older brother is good at breaking swimming records & girls` hearts. His younger brother is already a crafty entrepreneur who has tricked him into doing the dishes all summer. But when a girl called Leila turns up on their doorstep one morning with a petition, it`s the start of an unexpected adventure. And finally, Marnus gets the chance to be noticed... ...

An egg is the simplest & most versatile of ingredients. Nutritious, rich in protein, low in fat, perfect for a quick brunch, essential for baking & key to so many starters, main courses & puddings, there is something magical about the humble egg. Eggs are cheap & available to us all
- particularly to those who keep chickens. Inspired to find the most imaginative ways to make the best use of her hens` steady supply, & at the same time use as much fruit & vegetables from her garden as possible, Genevieve Taylor has created a year`s worth of recipes that are shaped by the changing seasons & are spontaneous, unfussy & joyful. Her passion for food that tastes & looks gorgeous, whether for every day or for parties, shines through each & every recipe & photograph in this wonderfully handy book. Move over omelette & custard, here are tortillas & tarts, pasta & pies, sauces & ice-creams, curries & clafouti & a couple of cakes for every month of the year.
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