` What kind of world would you like to inhabit?` Here, Keri Smith begins with a list. Writing down everything the reader is drawn to, from things they love or collect to things that fascinate & excite, including objects, colours, sounds, textures, memories, places & people, the list serves as the building block for the creation of a new world. This world is based entirely on who the reader is as an individual, & as such is completely unique. Prompted to think about landscape, place names, maps, currency & more Keri Smith encourages everyone to push their imaginations to the limit. ...

For all the desert`s dreamlike beauty, to travel here was not just to pitch yourself into oblivion: it was to grind away at yourself until nothing was left. It was to aspire to the condition of s&. One third of the earth`s land surface is desert, much of it desolate & inhospitable. What is it about this harsh environment that has captivated humankind throughout history? From the prophets of the Bible to Marco Polo, Lawrence of Arabia to Gertrude Bell, travellers have often seen deserts as cursed places to be avoided, or crossed as quickly as possible. But for those whose call deserts home, the `hideous blanks` described by explorers are rich in resources & significance. Travelling to five continents over three years, visiting deserts both iconic & little-known, William Atkins discovers a realm that is as much internal as physical. His journey takes him to the Arabian Peninsula`s Empty Quarter & Australia`s nuclear-test grounds; the dry Aral Sea of Kazakhstan & `sand seas` of China`s volatile north-west; the contested borderlands of Arizona & the riotous Burning Man festival in Nevada`s Black Rock Desert; & the ancient monasteries of Egypt`s Eastern Desert. Along the way, Atkins illuminates the people, history, topography, & symbolism of these remarkable but often troubled places. Reviving the illustrious British tradition of travel writing, The Immeasurable World is destined to become a classic of desert literature. ...

Nina is a thirty-year-old English lecturer in New Delhi, living with her widowed mother & struggling to make ends meet. Ananda has recently emigrated to Halifax, Canada; having spent his twenties painstakingly building his career, he searches for something to complete his new life. When Ananda`s sister proposes an arranged marriage between the two, Nina is uncertain: can she really give up her home & her country to build a new life with a husband she barely knows? The consequences of change are far greater than she could have imagined. As the two of them struggle to adapt to married life, Nina`s whole world is thrown into question. & as she discovers truths about her husband
- both sexual & emotional
- her fragile new life in Canada begins to unravel. Tender & compelling, The Immigrant is an honest exploration of a marriage, what it costs to start again
- & what we can never leave behind.


...

75 immigrant chefs each contribute a favourite recipe that speaks of where they come from. In travelling the world & in settling in a new country the influence of these chefs & many others have transformed they way we eat.; In these times of troubling anti-immigrant rhetoric, The Immigrant Cookbook offers a culinary celebration of the many ethnic groups that contribute to a vibrant food culture. This beautifully photographed cookbook features starters, soups, salads, mains, desserts, & side dishes
- some familiar favourites, some likely to be new encounters
- by immigrant chefs from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Europe, & Australia.; Chefs include bestselling authors such as Barbara Abdeni Massaad, author/compilerof Soup for Syria: Recipes to Celebrate Our Shared Humanity.

...

Between Christmas & new year of 1817 the eccentric painter, B.R. Haydon, gave a famous dinner party. His guests included three of the greatest literary stars of the age: the poets John Keats & William Wordsworth & the essayist & wit Charles Lamb. They recited poetry, took part in ridiculous antics, indulged in high-minded discussions
- with such displays of brilliance that the party became known as the Immortal Dinner. Penelope Hughes-Hallett celebrates this famous evening, setting it against a backdrop of change, reflected in the preoccupations of the illustrious diners. A compelling & sympathetic picture emerges of these rare spirits & the age which created them.
...

Poet & post-punk heroine Eileen Myles has always operated in the art, writing, & queer performance scenes as a kind of observant flaneur. Like Baudelaire`s gentleman stroller, Myles travels the city--wandering on garbage-strewn New York streets in the heat of summer, drifting though the antiseptic malls of La Jolla, & riding in the van with Sister Spit--seeing it with a poet`s eye for detail & with the consciousness that writing about art & culture has always been a social gesture. Culled by the poet from twenty years of art writing, the essays in The Importance of Being Iceland make a lush document of her--and our--lives in these contemporary crowds. Framed by Myles`s account of her travels in Icel&, these essays posit inbetweenness as the most vital position from which to perceive culture as a whole, & a fluidity in national identity as the best model for writing & thinking about art & culture. The essays include fresh takes on Thoreau`s Cape Cod walk, working class speech, James Schulyer & Bjork, queer Russia & Robert Smithson; how-tos on writing an avant-garde poem & driving a battered Japanese car that resembles a menopausal body; & opinions on such widely ranging subjects as filmmaker Sadie Benning, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, Ted Berrigan`s Sonnets, & flossing. ...

Despite inhabiting a great city renowned for its impeccable restraint, the extended family of 44 Scotland Street is trembling on the brink of reckless self-indulgence. Matthew & Elspeth receive startling
- & expensive
- news on a visit to the Infirmary, Angus & Domenica are contemplating an Italian menage a trois, & even Big Lou is overheard discussing cosmetic surgery. But when Bertie Pollock
- six years old & impatient to be seven
- mislays his meddling mother Irene one afternoon, a valuable lesson is learned: that wish-fulfilment is a dangerous business. Warm-hearted, wise & very funny, The Importance of Being Seven brings us a fresh & delightful set of insights into philosophy & fraternity among Edinburgh`s most loveable residents.



...

If you`re intrigued by the fact that Jack the Ripper was left-handed, or that Heinz ketchup flows at 0.7 miles per day
- &, more
...

` Elegantly written & cogently argued.. . His book is founded on a deep respect for, & love of, his subject`s curious greatness` Paul Bailey reviews Richard Bradford`s earlier Larkin biography First Boredom, Then Fear in The Independent The most widely read British poet of the twentieth century, Philip Larkin was also a keen amateur photographer & through his life he made images of the people, places & things that meant most to him. Publishing ahead of the thirtieth anniversary of the poet`s death in December 2015, The Importance of Elsewhere gathers the best of Larkin`s photographic work, divided into short thematic chapters arranged in chronological order. Written by Richard Bradford, the acclaimed author of the Larkin biography First Boredom, Then Fear, the book shows how Larkin, as an individual, as a writer & indeed as a photographer, developed an acute sensitivity to all aspects of the world around him, from his love of open uninhabited landscapes & empty churches to his mixed feelings about crowds. There are also fascinating portraits of those people who were closest to Larkin, including his lovers, his mother & his literary peers. The book beautifully reproduces more than 200 images from the Larkin archive at Hull: the majority have never previously been seen in print. A substantial foreword by Mark Haworth-Booth, formerly curator of photography at the V&A, explores what it meant to be a serious amateur photographer of Larkin`s generation. Together with Larkin`s literary works & his letters, these images make up the third, so far unseen, constituent of the material upon which our future perceptions of him will be based. ...

Burt Darwin is a writer & world religions specialist. Lady Chanel Mallory, a former hand model, has married into the aristocracy & loves romance novels. Her husband Lord Percy, a natural cynic, mistakenly thinks she`s French. Sister Mary dresses like Mother Teresa & hopes to be a nun one day. Four passengers on a cruise ship, thrown together by chance, experience the mysteries & contradictions of contemporary Africa when they take an ill-judged trip into the interior. As each is exposed to ancient African mythology & belief, their hypocrisies, petty jealousies & venality are revealed
- with hilarious & unforgettable results. The Importance of Manners is a slapstick, satirical comic novel for adults in the vein of Alexander Mc Call Smith, Evelyn Waugh & PG Wodehouse, from an acclaimed YA author.
...