The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling is a fictional drama about a small provincial town in Engl&. Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, leaving an empty seat on the Parish Council. In the midst of the following electoral battle, in the seemingly idyllic town, ugly truths & hushed wars are uncovered. The story is written from the perspectives of many different characters, giving us an insight into their inner minds adding strength to the reality, (often bleak) surrounding them. Expect plenty of swearing & graphic details, dramas & deaths: a child cuts herself to relieve her misery, another drowns. The detailed observations go beyond the individuals, & extend to the life in the Field estate & the whole small town of Pagford, offering startling thoughts on race, poverty, class, politics, drugs, prostitution & rape. The book joins the comic tragedy genre, & sometimes is funny but also filled with raw cruelty & despair. This is a full-on drama suitable only for an adult audience, as at the end there is no wand to wave, no spell to cast to dissipate the misery. ...

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square & an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils... Pagford is not what it first seems. & the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity & unexpected revelations? A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling`s first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other. ...

Nick Sharratt`s fabulously funny debut novel is now available in paperback. THE CAT & THE KING tells the story of a gentle, unworldly King & his very clever cat, & is illustrated throughout in two colours with Nick`s irresistible wit & humour. The cat & the King must find a new home after their castle burns down in an Unfortunate Incident with a dragon. They choose Number 37 Castle Close, & the cat introduces the King to all sorts of new experiences, from washing-up to shopping. Then danger looms when the pesky, fire-breathing dragon makes its return. ...

The one & only Cat in the Hat from the iconic Dr. Seuss gets a brand new look for his 60th birthday, introducing his roller-coaster ride of mayhem to a new generation of readers. The iconic Cat in the Hat from the one & only Dr. Seuss, now with a special celebration look for it`s 60th birthday! Also

Includes:: a very special Cat in the Hat birthday card for you to colour & keep. When Sally & her brother are left alone, they think they`re in for a dull day
- until the Cat in the Hat steps in on the mat, bringing with him mayhem & madness! This is the classic book that every child should have the joy of reading. The perfect book for early readers, the new style brings a worldwide favourite to a whole new generation.


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The one & only Cat in the Hat from the iconic Dr. Seuss gets a brand new look for his 60th birthday, in this very special slipcase edition with original sketches from the making of the book. It`s the Cat in the Hat`s 60th birthday
- & you`re invited to the party! The iconic Cat in the Hat from the one & only Dr. Seuss is now available in this very special 60th birthday celebration slipcase edition, which

Includes:: an exclusive collection of Dr. Seuss`s original sketches from the creation of the book. When Sally & her brother are left alone, they think they`re in for a dull day
- until the Cat in the Hat steps in on the mat, bringing with him mayhem & madness! This is the classic book that every child should have the joy of reading. The perfect book for early readers, this wonderful gift edition is perfect for introducing a worldwide favourite to a whole new generation.



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A funny, heart-warming Christmas story about one little kitten & a very big turkey! It`s Christmas, & everyone in the Hudson family is very excited
- including their kitten. First he knocks the Christmas tree over, then he shreds the presents, & finally he eats the entire Christmas turkey! Mum gets cross, & the kitten runs away. But when he doesn`t come back, the Hudson family have to venture out on Christmas Day to find their naughty kitten. Can they have a merry Christmas after all? This gorgeous book is illustrated in two-colour throughout, with a special section at the back for Christmas facts, jokes, craft activities & recipes. The kitten in this story will be named by one lucky reader, via a competition hosted by the Reading Zone. Check this space for the big reveal!
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Tibble is a reporter. He only ever writes about cats, & he`s about to be fired. Minou is a young woman who has moved into Tibble`s flat. She hates dogs, likes rooftops, loves the fishmonger, & happens to have been, until very recently, a cat. With her feline friends listening out for all the local human news, is Minou the answer to all Tibble`s problems-or just the beginning of them? A hilarious, charming story of cats, dogs, & learning to dare. ` My find of the year to date...both a rousing story about how to be brave & a captivating defence of the virtues of the cat` Lorna Bradbury, Daily Telegraph `A big, unexpected hit... The beauty here is the writing itself` Daily Telegraph ` To discover Annie MG Schmidt is to feel like the cat who got the cream
- & the salmon fillet... Guaranteed to make anyone 7-plus to 107 who likes to curl up with a book & a cat purr with pleasure.` Alex O` Connell, The Times ` Enchanting.. . Amusing & uplifting.` Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times ` This story is a gift to the English language & a reminder that we should not forget the wealth of tales written abroad` We Love this Book `A funny & yet quietly profound tale of courage, friendship & what it really means to be human... The narrative beautifully unfolds with unseen & fine tuning, climaxing with an exciting & rich ending which is deeply satisfying` Playing by the Book `A humorous, surreal & satisfying story with an old fashioned feel` Book Trust Books We Like ` Annie is not a writer, she`s a miracle!` Guus Kiijer ` Books of this quality are a rare thing`NRC Handelsblad Annie M.G. Schmidt (1911-95) was regarded as the Queen of Dutch Children`s Literature & her books have been an essential part of every Dutch childhood for the last fifty years. She trained as a librarian but burst onto the literary scene when the newspaper she was working for discovered her gift for children`s verse. Having won numerous awards during her lifetime, including the 1989 Hans Christian Andersen Award, Schmidt is now included in the Canon of Dutch History taught to all Dutch schoolchildren, alongside Spinoza, Anne Frank & Vincent van Gogh. David Colmer has won several international awards for his translations of Dutch & Flemish novels, poetry & children`s books. He has translated much of Annie M.G. Schmidt`s work.
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Welcome to the British Museum, home to Lottie Lipton: nine-year-old investigator extraordinaire! Lottie has lived in the British Museum all her life
- she thought she knew it like the back of her hand! But when she finds herself locked in a secret tunnel deep beneath the museum she starts to worry that she might never escape. Can Lottie, Uncle Bert & Reg solve the puzzles to find their way out of the maze of passageways? Perfect for developing & newly confident readers, Lottie Lipton Adventures are packed with action, excitement & puzzles for the reader to solve.
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Without libraries, what have we? We have no past & no future. This book tells for the first time in English the story of the first great universal library in the age of printing
- & of the son of Christopher Columbus who created it. This is the scarcely believable
- & wholly true
- story of Christopher Columbus` bastard son Hernando, who sought to equal & surpass his father`s achievements by creating a universal library. His father sailed across the ocean to explore the known boundaries of the world for the glory of God, Spain & himself. His son Hernando sought instead to harness the vast powers of the new printing presses to assemble the world`s knowledge in one place, his library in Seville. Hernando was one of the first & greatest visionaries of the print age, someone who saw how the scale of available information would entirely change the landscape of thought & society. His was an immensely eventual life. As a youth, he spent years travelling in the New World, & spent one living with his father in a shipwreck off Jamaica. He created a dictionary & a geographical encyclopaedia of Spain, helped to create the first modern maps of the world, spent time in almost every major European capital, & associated with many of the great people of his day, from Ferdinand & Isabel to Erasmus, Thomas More, & Durer. He wrote the first biography of his father, almost single-handedly creating the legend of Columbus that held sway for many hundreds of years, & was highly influential in crafting how Europe saw the world his father reached in 1492. He also amassed the largest collection of printed images & of printed music of the age, started what was perhaps Europe`s first botanical garden, & created by far the greatest private library Europe had ever seen, dwarfing with its 15, 000 books every other library of the day. Edward Wilson-Lee has written the first major modern biography of Hernando
- & the first of any kind available in English. In a work of dazzling scholarship, The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books tells an enthralling tale of the age of print & exploration, a story with striking lessons for our own modern experiences of information revolution & Globalisation.



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The third mystery in the hugely compelling, bestselling international crime series from Norway`s answer to Agatha Christie, Hans Olav Lahlum. The Catalyst Killing will have you guessing to the final clue... The first murder was only the spark.. .1970. Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen, known as K2, witnesses a young woman desperately trying to board a train only to have the doors close before her face. The next time he sees her, she is dead.. . As K2 investigates, with the help of his precocious young assistant Patricia, he discovers that the story behind Marie Morgenstierne`s murder really began two years ago, when a group of politically active young people set out on a walking tour in the mountains. There, one night, the party`s charismatic leader
- & Marie`s boyfriend
- Falko Reinhardt vanished without a trace. But were the relationships between this group of friends & comrades all they appeared to be? What did Marie see, that made her run for her life that day? & could both mysteries be linked to Falko`s research into a cell of Norwegian Nazis he suspected may still be active? It soon becomes clear that Marie`s death is not only a complex case in its own right, but will act as a catalyst in a dark set of events which will leave K2 & Patricia confronting their most dangerous & explosive investigation yet. & as the pair work hard to unravel the clues before Marie`s killer can strike again, the detective fails to notice that his young assistant has her own problems to face.. .

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