How do you find the woman of your dreams when you`re nearly forty, living in the middle of nowhere & spectacularly ungifted in the art of seduction? Three years into his solo adventure in rural France, Michael Wright has everything he ever wanted: a ramshackle house, several manly power tools, a cat, a grand piano & a vintage aircraft. Yet the lovelier his life becomes, the lonelier he feels. Three unfulfilled wishes return to haunt him: to grow a perfect potato, to fly a Spitfire &, most of all, to meet his soulmate. Written with honesty, self-deprecating wit & life-affirming passion, Michael Wright`s new memoir reveals how, while his livestock seem bent on reproduction, a solitary man can learn to accept being single.. . Or so he thinks until a bumptious American Labrador & a perilous landing in a light aircraft conspire to offer a glimpse of romance that could turn his whole world upside down. ...

Can we truly know the one we love? In this painfully candid book Marcel Proust looks straight into the green eye of every lover`s jealous struggle. He broods on why we are driven to try possess one another, how jealousy can outlive death, & whether we can ever reclaim those careless days of first love. There is no greater chronicler of jealousy`s darkest fears & destructive suspicions than Proust. Selected from the book In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Desire by Haruki Murakami; Eating by Nigella Lawson; Home by Salman Rushdie; &, Babies by Anne Enright. ...

In a rural French village an old man & his only remaining relative cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. They need its spring water to grow their own flowers & crops, so are dismayed to hear that a new owner is moving in. They block up the spring & watch as their new neighbour, Jean, tries to keep his crops watered from wells far afield throughout the hot summer. Though they see his desperate efforts are breaking his health & his wife & daughter`s hearts, they turn a blind eye as events reach a tragic conclusion. Manon des Sources picks up the thread ten years on as Jean`s daughter, Manon, now a beautiful woman, discovers her neighbours` heartless actions & seeks to avenge her father`s death. Originally published as a two-part novel in 1962, entitled L` Eau des Collines (Water of the Hills), it was later adapted into award-winning films by Claude Berri in 1987. Jean de Florette & its sequel Manon des Sources were both set against the sun-splashed landscapes of Provence & starred Yves Mont&, Daniel Auteil, Gerard Depardieu & Emmanuelle Beart. ...

French photographer Jean-Luc Mylayne has traveled the world since 1976 in search of birds to photograph. His quest revolves around an encounter
- secret & furtive
- with the bird of the moment. In thirty-three years, Mylayne has taken no more than three hundred photographs, because each one is the result of a long & patient period of observation, & exists-without exception-in only a single print. Mylayne, who defines himself as a film director & speaks of birds as though they were actors, constructs his photograph around their presence. The compositions & tonalities of what he calls his scenes are extremely precise: the artist takes into account a multitude of parameters, such as the seasons & the time of day. He dedicates very special care to his compositions, which he does not retouch, & to the focal lengths, for which his lenses are largely fashioned by h&. A single photograph might be the objective of several months of preparation. The arrival of the bird at the place that has been specifically reserved for it in the photograph constitutes the successful outcome. Mylayne`s processes, the slow approach of the bird, & the dialogue between them all question time. Mylayne`s photography is about the quiet `discipline of experiencing the intervals` in contrast to the decisive moments so traditional to the photographic medium. This book, published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Lyon, France, presents a previously unpublished series of 68 photographs taken by Mylayne between 1992 & 2008. ` When I see a bird, I see at the same time that bird on a tree near the house. I see everything as an ensemble, & I realize that`s how I see everything in life... With my lenses, I can take in that place, then the tree, the bush, the house. I try to capture all those places at the same moment, just like our eye travels from one spot to another in taking in the scene, & I try to reconstitute it`
- Jean Luc Mylayne, Marfa, TX, 2006.


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Topographic map of this highland region in the south west of the country, with notes for visitors. The cartography is based on Russian military mapping, & complemented by more recent survey work. Road detail distinguishes surfaced & unsurfaced roads, ill-defined routes & paths. Relief is shown by contours at 40m intervals, with additional spot heights & elements indicating escarpments, rock towers, s&, dunes, seasonally flooded areas, waterholes, cultivated l&, & areas of palm trees & sparse vegetation. Hill ranges & wadis are named, & built up areas & border post are shown. The main map at 1:100, 000 map covers an area of Approx. 68x 93km, from latitude 24°30’N to 25°20’N, & from longitude 10°10’E to 10°50’E. The towns of Ghat & Al Barkat appear on the western edge. Latitude & longitude lines are drawn at 5’ intervals. On the reverse is a smaller map at 1:400, 000 which continues the coverage northwards to include Al Awainat. The map legend is in English & French. Also on the reverse: notes (in English & French) on access to the area, & on its geography & cave art sites. Eighty-five of the latter sites are listed, & some are marked on the map. ...

Jeddah street plan from the Saudi Arabian publishers Farsi Maps in an English language edition, with a selection of plans & maps at various scales, plus an extensive index of services & facilities in the city. On one side is a street plan of Jeddah at 1:25, 000, with a more detailed enlargement of the city centre. On the reverse the city is presented at 1: 55, 000 approx. with coverage extended further south & north to include the international airport & the Sharm Ubhur area, also shown in greater detail on a separate panel. All the plans highlight main traffic arteries & show names of streets & neighbourhoods in Latin alphabet only, with names of sights, etc. in English. All are annotated with numerous facilities & services cross-referenced to an index booklet which in addition to streets & districts also lists governments & public agencies, consulates, hotels & furnished apartments, restaurants, banks, shopping centres & markets, etc. Also provided is a road map of the city ...

Jeddah on a GPS-compatible street plan from the Dubai-based Explorer Publishing, presenting on one side the city at 1:27, 000, plus on the reverse a wider area including King Abdul Aziz International Airport at 1:45, 000. All place names are in the Latin alphabet only. On one side is a plan of the city at 1:27, 000 highlighting its network of main traffic arteries. The plan shows names of neighbourhoods, plus of main & selected connecting streets. Various facilities & places of interest are named and/or marked by symbols, including hotels & restaurants, banks, embassies & consulates, etc. Accompanying index lists neighbourhoods, shopping & souks, hotels & resorts, museums, etc. The plan has a 2km UTM grid. On the reverse a wider area around Jeddah, including the city’s international airport is presented at 1:45, 000 with a 5-km UTM grid. Map legend & names of facilities on both plans are in English. ...

Perfect for fans of STAR WARS or comic-book fiction such as CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS. Story & illustration are combined within this fun graphic novel. Roan`s dream is to leave home & attend Pilot Academy like his older brother, father & grandfather. But just as Roan is mysteriously denied entrance to Pilot School, he is invited to attend Jedi Academy
- a school that only recruits children when they are just a few years old. That is, until now... Under the tutelage of Master Yoda, Roan learns that he possesses more strength & potential than he could have ever dreamed. Being a Jedi might not be so bad after all.
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Perfect for fans of STAR WARS or comic-book fiction such as CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS. Story & illustration are combined within this fun graphic novel. After surviving his first year at Jedi Academy, Roan thought his second year would be a breeze. He couldn`t have been more wrong. Roan feels like he`s drifting apart from his friends, & it`s only made worse when Roan discovers he`s not the amazing pilot he thought he`d be. When the school bullies take him under their wing, he decides they aren`t so bad after all
- or are they?
...

` Impossible to read without grinning idiotically`
- Mark Sanderson, Evening Standard Storm clouds loom over Europe. Treason is
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