TAKE A TRIP back in time more than 2, 500 years to the first ever Olympic Games
- then journey through hundreds of the most extraordinary
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Details a wide selection of ideas of weekend breaks, from boating in the lake district to urban weekends in London, Bath or Edinburgh. All suggestions are accompanied by information on what to see, where to stay & where to eat. Published by Which?, one of Britain's leading consumer organisations. ...

Winner of an English PEN `PEN Translates!` award. Barcelona, 1952: General Franco`s fascist government is at the height of its oppressive powers, casting a black shadow across the city. When wealthy socialite Mariona Sobrerroca is found dead in her mansion in the exclusive Tibidabo district, the police scramble to seize control of the investigation. Ana Marti Noguer, an eager young journalist, is surprised to be assigned this important story, shadowing Inspector Isidro Castro. But Ana soon realises that a bundle of strange letters unearthed at the scene point to a sequence of events dramatically different from the official version. She enlists the help of her cousin Beatriz, a scholar, & what begins as an intriguing puzzle opens up a series of revelations that implicate the regime`s most influential figures. The two women have placed themselves in mortal danger. As the conspiracy unfolds, Ana`s courage & Beatriz`s wits will be their only weapons against the city`s corrupt & murderous elite. ...

` When you have a large collection of animals to transport from one end of the world to the other you cannot, as a lot of people seem to think, just hoist them aboard the nearest ship & set off with a gay wave of your hand`. Gerald Durrell & his wife are the proud owners of a small zoo on the island of Jersey. But there`s one thing that`s better than a small zoo
- a bigger one! So Durrell heads off to South America to collect more animals. Along windswept Patagonian shores & in Argentine tropical forests, he encounters a range of animals from penguins to elephant seals. But as always, he is drawn to those rare & interesting creatures which he hopes will thrive & breed in captivity... Told with enthusiasm & without sentimentality, Gerald Durrell`s ” The Whispering Land” is an often hilarious but always inspiring foray into the South American wilds.
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In THE WHISPERING MOUNTAIN by Joan Aiken, the small town of Pennygaff, the legendary Harp of Teirtu is found
- & lost again.
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It is winter in the mountains of Greece & as the snow falls in the tiny village of Vrisi a coffin is unearthed & broken open, revealing some unexpected remains to the astonished mourners gathered at the graveside. In a village where gossip flows like ouzo, the discovery in the grave sets tongues wagging & heads shaking. But when a body is found buried beneath the fallen snow in the shadow of the shrine of St Fanourios (the patron saint of lost things), it seems the truth, behind both the body & the coffin may be far stranger than the villagers` wildest imaginings. Hermes Diaktoros, drawn to the mountains on an affair of the heart, finds himself embroiled in the mysteries of Vrisi, as well as the enigmatic last will & testament of Greece`s most admired modern poet. The Whispers of Nemesis is a story of desperate measures & dark secrets, of murder & immortality, & of pride coming before the steepest of falls. ...

When orphans Ben & Jennet arrive in the seaside town of Whitby to stay with Alice Boston, they have no idea what to expect. A lively 92-year-old, Miss Boston is unlike any other foster mother they’ve known. Ben is gifted with ‘the sight’, which gives him the power to see things invisible to other mortals. He soon encounters the mysterious fisher folk who live under the cliffs & discovers that Alice & her friends are not quite what they seem. But a darkness is stalking the streets of Whitby, bringing with it fear & death. Could it be a ghost from the Abbey? Or a beast from hell? Unless the truth is uncovered, the town & all its inhabitants is doomed. Robin Jarvis started writing in 1988 & quickly became a bestselling author with his Deptford Mice & Whitby Witches series. The Whitby Witches is the book that inspired his latest series, which begins with The Power of Dark. You can find out more at www.robinjarvis.com or follow him on Twitter @robinjarvis 1963 ...

From the author of The Vegetarian & Human Acts comes a book like no other. The White Book is a meditation on colour, beginning with a list of white things. It is a book about mourning, rebirth & the tenacity of the human spirit. It is as stunning investigation of the fragility, beauty & strangeness of life. Translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith. ...

From the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for The Vegetarian From the author of The Vegetarian & Human Acts comes a book like no other. The White Book is a meditation on colour, beginning with a list of white things. It is a book about mourning, rebirth & the tenacity of the human spirit. It is a stunning investigation of the fragility, beauty & strangeness of life. Translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith. ...

`A thous&-miles-an-hour hoot.` Esquire ` Hilarious...and immensely moving.` The New Yorker `A blast of satirical heat from the talented heart of black American life.` New York Times White Boy Shuffle is Man Booker-winner Paul Beatty`s electrifying debut novel about teenage-surf-bum Gunnar Kaufman who is forced to wise up when his mother moves from suburban Santa Monica to urban West Los Angeles. There, he begins to undergo a startling transformation from neighbourhood outcast to basketball superstar, & eventually to reluctant messiah of a `divided, downtrodden people`. A bombastic coming-of-age novel that has the uncanny ability to make readers want to laugh & cry at the same time, Beatty mingles horrific reality with wild fancy in this outlandish, laugh-out-loud funny & poignant vision of contemporary America. ...