'All I did was go to the library to borrow some books'. On his way home, the young narrator of this beautifully illustrated book finds himself wondering how taxes were collected in the Ottoman Empire. He pops into the local library to see if it has a book on the subject. This is his first mistake. Led to a special 'reading room' in a maze under the library by a strange old man, he finds himself imprisoned with only a sheep man, who makes excellent donuts, and a girl, who can talk with her hands, for company.
If you love Murakami, or just love beautiful books, this book is for you (or for you to give away). Two Murakamis in a year (are you dizzy?)!
Sam is a comic artist with writer’s block. One day he finds an old comic book set on Mars and tumbles headlong through centuries of comics, stories and imaginary worlds in search of the Magic Pen. This thoughtful graphic novel for grown-ups explores the pleasures, dangers and moral consequences of fantasy.
>> How to operate the technology.
Three stories, one written as Coetzee's Nobel acceptance speech, interrogate the nature of our relationships with the inanimate, the casting of our imaginations back into history, and the feelings of a narrator towards his writer.
>> Listen to Coetzee reading 'He and His Man' at the Nobel ceremony.
'We are born and we die - but many things could happen in between. Which life do we end up living?' This book is a history of the twentieth century, written through the various possible lives and deaths of the main character. Does a long life get you any closer to feeling you have achieved anything?
"Reading Jenny Erpenbeck is like falling under hypnosis: your breathing changes, you see moments in time simultaneously, yet you can’t recall names, dates or the order of events. The End of Days is shot through with an insight that almost blinds." - Kapka Kassabova, Guardian
>> Erpenbeck reading, and in conversation with her translator, Susan Bernofksi.
Unless we can give a shape to the vast quantity of information that we are immersed in every day, how can we understand it? The infographics in this astounding book do just that: they help us to get a feel for knowledge and to make surprising, dazzling connections.
From the creator of the equally brilliant Information is Beautiful.
Two Russian girls undertake an adventure that embraces mistaken identity, the mythical Firebird, a Faberge egg, a prince travelling incognito, the awesome city of Saint Petersburg, the glacial lands of the north, and - in a starring role - Baba Yaga, the enigmatic witch of Russian folklore and her shapeshifting house perched on chicken legs.
"My name is Book, and I'll tell you the story of my life..." Book charmingly traces his development from clay tablet to papyrus to parchment to paper, from scroll to codex, and through the new capacities brought by the printing press and the computer.
Why is the night sky black, even though it's full of stars? How do pebbles skim on water? Why doesn't your own snoring wake you up? Why is the Large Hadron Collider so large? All science begins with questions. Accessible, unpredictable, entertaining.
We know the stories of the battles of the Napoleonic wars - but what of those left behind? The people on a Norfolk farm, in a Yorkshire mill, a Welsh iron foundry, an Irish village, a London bank or a Scottish mountain? The aristocrats and paupers, old and young, butchers and bakers and candlestick makers - how did the war touch their lives?
"Uglow’s excavation of a thousand forgotten incidents and observations, beautifully organised around a timeline of world-shaking events, is erudite and imagination-stretching. Her prose makes most academic historical writing look constipated, and her generous regard for ordinary people is unmatched." - Guardian
Alexander Baddenfield is a horrible boy—a really horrible boy—who is the last in a long line of lying, thieving scoundrels. One day, Alexander has an astonishing idea. Why not transplant the nine lives from his cat into himself? Suddenly, Alexander has lives to spare, and goes about using them up, attempting the most outrageous feats he can imagine. Only when his lives start running out, and he is left with only one just like everyone else, does he realize how reckless he has been.
Barnes takes us white-water rafting through the entire animal kingdom in a book which brings in deep layers of arcane knowledge, the works of Darwin and James Joyce, Barnes's own don't-try-this-at-home adventures in the wild, David Attenborough and Sherlock Holmes.
The first of the Volkswagen vans rolled off the production line in 1949 and onto the nostalgia-rich roads of our younger selves. For those of us who grew up in the back of a Kombi (and for many who didn't), no vehicle better represents the freedom and possibility we now wish we had more of in our lives.
A biography of the leader and politician, whose dedication, versatility and personal qualities helped him work effectively for Maori at the grass roots and in the tree tops.
"Anyone who thinks the bond between man and dog or cat is the supreme human-house pet attachment will have to reconsider after reading Martin Windrow's touching account of the bird who changed his life, a possessive and characterful tawny owl named Mumble who was his domestic companion for 15 action-packed years." - The New York Times
Hoot Owl is no ordinary owl - oh no! - he's a MASTER OF DISGUISE! And he will use his formidable camouflage powers to trick his unsuspecting prey into succumbing to him! Tiny animals of the night ...BEWARE! But, SOMEHOW, Hoot Owl's prey keeps escaping...Hmmm, perhaps he isn't quite as masterful as he believes. Will he ever succeed in catching himself some dinner? Hilarity, ridiculousness and VERY bad costume changes abound.
A heartening novel set amongst a group of Iranian refugees in Buenos Aries during the Falklands War.
George Clarke's Amazing Spaces television show, looking at astoundingly inventive and appealing small buildings, has given rise to a second book (the first was called Amazing Spaces).
There are more spaces and they are more amazing too.
On July 11th, 1897, three men set out in a hydrogen balloon bound for the North Pole. Led by engineer August Soloman Andree, they want to make history, but are frighteningly under-prepared. Three days into their journey they make a crash landing and disappear into a white nightmare. They never return. 33 years later. The men's bodies and equipment are found buried beneath the snow and ice on a deserted glacier. They had enough food, clothing and ammunition to survive. Why did they die?
Johnny Rotten has still not been suppressed!
>> Nostalgia.
>> "We're responsible for destroying London" (1978).
>> Talking about his book, 2014.
Cultural critic and historian Peter Conrad tells the story of the spectacular rise and subsequent waning of American influence across the world since 1945. Politics, war and commerce form the inevitable backdrop to his tale, but Conrad also treats us to a kaleidoscopic presentation of Americas unstoppable creativity: its output of great, good and enjoyably bad art, of jeans and jazz, fast food and fridges, space travel, comic books and motorbikes, technologies and therapies, along with the heroic, erotic or violent cinematic visions that have Americanized even our dreams (and the spelling of 'Americanization').
Rudder uses Big Data gathered from internet use to gain surprising insights into human nature.
"Sutherland conveys his own enthusiasm for the astonishing pleasures of the western prose novel in a spirit that's generous, enjoyable and well informed." - Robert McCrumb, The Observer
A shape-spotting companion to the hugely popular Z is for Moose.
The human spirit and the loyalty of animals come to the fore during the darks days of World War 2 in the Ukraine. Based on true events.
Absurd portrayal of life in the interface between an 'unofficial' Israeli settlement and the neighbouring Palestinian village.
