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Click any of the 'red' links below to be taken straight to the area of Christmas Gifts that interests you. And don't forget to have a look at our 'Great Reads in 2012' category. Perfect for you to catch up, and gift, the best fiction this year.
Humour/Stocking Fillers
Fiction
Biography/History/Real World
Food & Drink
Teen/Young Adult
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You are Not So Smart
David McRaney
For those who think they are in control this is a real counterblast showing just how irrational and delusional our brains can be. Loads of mindboggling examples, anecdotes and research keep this entertaining, informative – and quite scary book zipping...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/10/2012
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A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick)
Amnesty International
The Secret Policeman’s Balls, there have been twelve to date, have transformed the charity Amnesty International and become the platform for blisteringly effective and extremely funny satirical comedy. This book is the anthology of these twelve landmark events. From Monty...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/10/2012
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Beatniks and Beehives The Swinging Sixties
Bob Dewar
December 2012 Book of the Month.
This is a wonderfully warm and humorous homage that captures the spirit of the grooviest decade ever in over a hundred pen and ink drawings by Bob...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/11/2012
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Simon's Cat Vs. the World!
Simon Tofield
The phenomenon that is Simon’s Cat (Youtube videos, merchandise etc) is back with a new collection of brilliantly well observed full colour cat cartoons. From Yoga with the new girlfriend to coping with a new kitten (cue lego) Simon’s continuing...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/10/2012
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Grammar for Grown-ups
Katherine Fry, Rowena Kirton
For native English speakers who realise that there is more to good English than meets the eye, but don't know where to start; for parents struggling to explain the finer details to their kids; and for English- language students everywhere...
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/09/2012
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10,000 Tips How to Do Almost Everything
Katherine Sorrell
As the author, Kate Sorrell, is a former associate editor of Homes & Gardens magazine this practical, no-nonsense guide really is ‘straight from the horse's mouth’. Covering the home, garden, workplace and beyond half the fun of this guide is...
Format: Paperback - Released: 30/08/2012
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The Story of English in One Hundred Words
David Crystal
Offers an eye-opening tour of the English language through the ages from Britain's leading linguistics expert. In this history of the world's ubiquitous language, this title draws on words that illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences and events that...
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/07/2012
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The Ralph Steadman Book of Cats
Ralph Steadman
Following on from the 2010 Book of Dogs comes the same unflinching and ruthless view of cats. Fat, ‘catwalk’ skinny, flat, philosophical and even schizophrenic - none escape the illustrators unique style.
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/05/2012
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102 English Things to Do
Alex Quick
As well as perfecting your stiff upper lip, the thoroughly English person might also want to get a bit out of their comfort zone in achieving their 102 English Things to Do. How about (after having a nice tea) a...
Format: Hardback - Released: 09/10/2012
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The Mammoth Book of Jokes
Geoff Tibballs
Never be short of the right joke for any occasion with this 600 page, brilliantly indexed and categorised, amazing value, compendium of wit.
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/10/2012
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Letters from Father Christmas
J. R. R. Tolkien
No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness and 'authenticity' of Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas. To mark ten years since the publication of the complete edition of Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas in 1999,...
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/10/2009
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Britain's Greatest TV Comedy Moments
Louis Barfe
British TV comedy in its glorious forms - from sitcom to sketch shows -is a much-loved highlight of the small-screen schedules. In this must-have collection, Louis Barfe has selected the very best of British television's comedy classics. Unforgettable moments from...
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/10/2012
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The Twelve
Justin Cronin
November 2012 MEGA Book of the Month and eBook of the Month.
When the dystopian vampire epic The Passage came out in 2010 it was, deservedly, incredibly well reviewed and The Twelve...
Format: Hardback - Released: 25/10/2012
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The Lives She Left Behind
James Long
In 1997 I read Ferney, a love story centred on reincarnation. Set in Somerset it was one of my favourite books of that year and remains so to today. Now we...
Format: Hardback - Released: 27/09/2012
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The Black Box
Michael Connelly
December 2012 Book of the Month.
The latest Harry Bosch adventure from Michael Connelly and 16th in the series (the 1st is The Black Echo). In a case that spans 20 years,...
Format: Hardback - Released: 22/11/2012
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Elijah's Mermaid
Essie Fox
November 2012 eBook of the Month.
A panoply of characters bring Victorian London’s polarised society vividly to life. The lives of two orphans brought up by their grandfather and a baby...
Format: Paperback - Released: 08/11/2012
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Bleak Expectations
Mark Evans
November 2012 Book of the Month.
Bleak Expectations began as a riotously funny Sony Award winning Radio 4 comedy but it was so amazing it has transformed itself into an equally splendid book....
Format: Hardback - Released: 15/11/2012
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A Week in Winter
Maeve Binchy
November 2012 Book of the Month.
Winner of the Popular Fiction Prize at the Irish Book Awards 2012.
The Queen of storytelling Maeve Binchy sadly passed away in July 2012 and A Week in...
Format: Hardback - Released: 08/11/2012
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Citadel
Kate Mosse
November 2012 Book of the Month.
Shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards 'Popular Fiction of the Year' 2012.
Citadel, again set in South West France this time during WW2, is the thrilling conclusion...
Format: Hardback - Released: 25/10/2012
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Standing in Another Man's Grave
Ian Rankin
November 2012 Book of the Month.
The brand new crime novel from number one bestselling author Ian Rankin. Since Rebus’ first appearance in 1987, the novels have gained global acclaim, become international bestsellers...
Format: Hardback - Released: 08/11/2012
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The Adventuress
Nicholas Coleridge
With witty, waspish, engaging and pitch perfect prose you can’t help but love the adventures of Cathy Fox, a modern day Becky Sharp [Vanity Fair], as she rises through England’s social strata. Spanning four decades this is a compelling,...
Format: Hardback - Released: 11/10/2012
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One Hundred Names
Cecelia Ahern
A seemingly random list of 100 names is all journalist Kitty Logan has to go on to complete an article started by her, now dead, mentor and dear friend. Her own life is in a state of turmoil and perhaps...
Format: Hardback - Released: 11/10/2012
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Hiss and Hers
M. C. Beaton
Cosy crime doyenne M.C. Beaton keeps delivering the goods with this her 23rd outing for the delightfully determined Cotswold based sleuth, Agatha Raisin. Agatha falls for the local gardner but before she can snare him he is found dead and...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/10/2012
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1356
Bernard Cornwell
Shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards 'Popular Fiction of the Year' 2012.
With characteristically meticulous research Cornwell’s new historical blockbuster weaves a complex story, epic in scope, that has as its climax the battle of Poitiers, the second but less...
Format: Hardback - Released: 27/09/2012
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The Lighthouse
Alison Moore
Winner of the McKitterick Prize 2013.
Shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards 'New Writer of the Year' 2012.
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012.
This was Lovereading's favourite to win the 2012 Man Booker Prize. Just click on...
Format: Paperback - Released: 15/08/2012
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The Kingmaker's Daughter
Philippa Gregory
August 2012 Book of the Month.
4th instalment of the fascinating Cousins’ War series again, cleverly blending fact and fiction together to bring to life the riveting story of Anne Neville, youngest daughter...
Format: Hardback - Released: 16/08/2012
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Bring Up the Bodies
Hilary Mantel
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2013.
Winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2012.
With her dazzling, utterly absorbing style of writing Bring Up the Bodies focuses on the downfall and destruction of the charismatic Anne Boleyn. This is...
Format: Hardback - Released: 10/05/2012
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Bloodline
Felix Francis
Dick Francis’s younger son Felix carries on the tradition of racing thrillers began by his father. Mark Shilling, normally a racing commentator, turns amateur sleuth after the tragic death of his sister in what the police see as a suicide....
Format: Hardback - Released: 13/09/2012
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The Mystery of Mercy Close
Marian Keyes
September 2012 eBook of the Month.
Waspish, well-observed and tragically comic in places this is the fifth instalment in the Walsh Family series. Private Investigator...
Format: Hardback - Released: 13/09/2012
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Skios
Michael Frayn
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012.
'It had been in my mind for a while' says Michael Frayn in a recent Guardian interview. 'Every time I arrived at an airport and saw the line of people holding up cards, I...
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/05/2012
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Habits of the House
Fay Weldon
Aimed squarely at fans of Downton Abbey this is a pitch-perfect, witty and fun romp of life above and below stairs and an elegy to the last days of aristocracy and Empire. Set in 1899 this is the first of...
Format: Hardback - Released: 19/07/2012
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Every Short Story by Alasdair Gray 1952-2012
Alasdair Gray
Gathering together every story he has written in a career spanning 60 years, as well as sixteen brand new tales and a host of illustrations, this is a landmark publication from one of Scotland’s greatest writers.
Format: Hardback - Released: 15/11/2012
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NW
Zadie Smith
North West London comes vividly to life in NW , the new novel by the author of the bestselling White Teeth and Man Booker-shortlisted On Beauty . This is the story of a city. The north-west corner of a city....
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/09/2012
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IF A Treasury of Poems for Almost Every Possibility
Allie Esiri
Reviewed and selected by our poetry expert, Liam Parkin.
Poetry for a younger audience is often ‘shunted in the realm of schoolwork’ as Allie Esri and Rachel Kelly notice, but this beautiful anthology reminds us of the resonance that particular...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/10/2012
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Michael Morpurgo : War Child to War Horse
Maggie Fergusson
A collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson looking at the complex and varied life of this highly successful children’s writer. Michael Morpurgo has responded to each of the seven chapters with his own stories providing a unique look into his life...
Format: Hardback - Released: 07/06/2012
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Beyond the Page
Quentin Blake
Best-selling illustrator Quentin Blake has delighted young and old for over fifty years with his wonderful picture books such as Mr Magnolia and his iconic illustrations for Roald Dahl’s classic titles including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...
Format: Hardback - Released: 15/11/2012
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Whitaker's Little Book of Knowledge
From plot summaries of shakespeare’s plays through countless top ten lists and potted biographies of the world’s most influential people to a whole section full of stuff you can say to sound clever, this handy-sized book is beyond invaluable. Quirky,...
Format: Hardback - Released: 27/09/2012
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David Bowie Style
Danny Lewis
From Mod in the 60‘s through ‘Ziggy Stardust’ in the 70‘s and a ‘dancer in a serious moonlight’ David Bowie, born David Jones in 1947, has had more reinventions than Madonna and 40 years on he is still massively influential...
Format: Paperback - Released: 25/10/2012
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Fauna Scotica Animals and People in Scotland
Mary Low, Polly Pullar
Written by an expert in Celtic studies and a naturalist and wildlife guide, this sumptuous coffee table book is a glorious celebration of Scottish People and wildlife - and a lovely Christmas gift. Informative and beautifully illustrated it is the...
Format: Hardback - Released: 17/09/2012
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Extinct Boids
Ralph Steadman, Ceri Levy
What began as a single commission became a bit of an obsession for cartoonist and national treasure Ralph Steadman as he applied his unique artistic style on a variety of extinct birds. It is now a lavish coffee table book...
Format: Hardback - Released: 25/10/2012
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Solo A Thousand Miles from Anywhere
Dave Clarke
An epic and inspiring story of an ordinary bloke with a passion for adventure who attempts to row 3,235 miles across the Atlantic. Achieving this would make him the only person to sail and row the Atlantic solo. With candid...
Format: Paperback - Released: 12/09/2012
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The Art Book
Phaidon Editors
The Art Book, New Edition is an accessible, informative and fun A-Z guide featuring artists from medieval times to the present day. The first edition introduced art to millions of people around the world. This edition is updated and expanded...
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/09/2012
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On the Map
Simon Garfield
Packed with interesting facts, written in an incredibly accessible style this book is simply amazing. From early attempts to map the world, where strangely East was at the top of some maps (hence the term Orient yourself), to a map...
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/10/2012
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Will We Ever Speak Dolphin?
New Scientist
October 2012 Non-Fiction Book of the Month.
The seventh in the phenomenally brilliant and best selling series. Complied from the ‘Last Word’ section of the New Scientist magazine, where readers write in with...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/10/2012
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Churchill 1940-1945 Under Friendly Fire
Walter Reid
Churchill’s gift for words as a speaker and a writer – “we will fight them on the beaches”...”we will not give in”...and most tellingly “history will be kind to me for I intend to write it” has given us a...
Format: Paperback - Released: 20/08/2012
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Stalin's Legacy The Soviet War on Nature
Struan Stevenson
In this book Struan Stevenson travels to the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. He investigates the effects of Stalin's reign on the land and lives of the region. Despite almost insurmountable challenges, however, there ultimately...
Format: Hardback - Released: 20/08/2012
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Love Me Do 50 Great Beatles Moments
Paolo Hewitt
My first memories of the Beatles date to 1962 and the excitement of listening to that first single Love Me Do but it really started on 6th July 1957 with the meeting of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. In total...
Format: Hardback - Released: 27/09/2012
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Ancient Trees Trees That Live for a Thousand Years
Anna Lewington
In the title it states trees that live for a thousand years, unbelievably there are records of trees living four times as long, for some trees such as the Yew, their growth patterns mean that dating is extremely difficult, some...
Format: Hardback - Released: 20/09/2012
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Real Britannia Our Ten Proudest Years - The Glory and the Spin
Colin Brown
1215: The Magna Carta. 1415: Henry V. 1588: Defeat of the Spanish Armada. 1688: The Bill of Rights. 1815: Waterloo. 1833: Abolition of the slave trade. 1928: Women's suffrage. 1940: Dunkirk and Churchill's last stand. 1945: Creation of the welfare...
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/11/2012
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My Secret Garden
Alan Titchmarsh
After moving from the Barleywood garden where he hosted BBC Gardeners' World for seven years, Alan Titchmarsh set up home in an old farmhouse a few miles down the road, and went about planting his own private eden away from...
Format: Hardback - Released: 25/10/2012
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My Animals and Other Family
Clare Balding
Shortlisted for the Horse Racing Book of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards 2013.
Winner of the Specsavers National Book Awards 'Biography/Autobiography of the Year' 2012.
The author grew up in a rather unusual household. Her father a champion trainer,...
Format: Hardback - Released: 13/09/2012
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Jamie's 15-Minute Meals
Jamie Oliver
Offering super quick, tasty, nutritious food that you can eat everyday of the week, this book arms you with the skills to create wonderful meals, shockingly fast. It features recipes such as classic chicken, steak and pasta dishes, looking at...
Format: Hardback - Released: 27/09/2012
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New Vegetarian Kitchen
Nicole Graimes
Food with style, great flavours and range - Vegetarianism has truly shed its brown rice and sandals reputation. There are a host of temptations presented by Nicole Graimes and she has sampled World Cuisine to present this Vegetarian best. It’s...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/07/2012
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Clarissa's Comfort Food
Clarissa Dickson Wright
Winter draws on – as they say and what better for a spot of personal central heating than Clarissa’s Comfort Food. It’s not specifically cold-weather cookery but there are some ideal winter warmers to be found here. Clarissa Dickson Wright...
Format: Paperback - Released: 13/09/2012
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The Kitchen Diaries II A Year of Simple Cooking
Nigel Slater
The Kitchen Diaries was one of the most acclaimed food books of recent times. With Kitchen Diaries II: A Year of Simple Suppers, Nigel Slater returns to this inspiring structure - recording the food he buys, prepares, eats and shares...
Format: Hardback - Released: 13/09/2012
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Nigellissima Instant Italian Inspiration
Nigella Lawson
Nigellissima takes inspiration from Italian cooking to bring the spirit of Italy into the kitchen and onto the plate, pronto. At the heart of Italian cookery lies a celebration of food that is fresh, tasty and unpretentious; Nigella Lawson reflects...
Format: Hardback - Released: 13/09/2012
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A History of Food in 100 Recipes
William Sitwell
April 2012 Food and Drink Book of the Month.
It’s the second part of the title – “in 100 Recipes” that makes this stand out from the usual plod from hunter-gathering to yesterdays...
Format: Hardback - Released: 12/04/2012
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Lemongrass and Ginger: Vibrant Asian Recipes
Leemei Tan
Many plus points for this cookery book, firstly it covers all Asian cuisines from Japan to Singapore and Vietnam to China giving a huge range of flavours. An eclectic collection of recipes gathered by the Author, Leemei Tan on her...
Format: Hardback - Released: 12/04/2012
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Finale
Becca Fitzpatrick
The stunning final instalment in the bestselling Hush, Hush sequence that began with Hush, Hush, continued in Crescendo and then Silence. Finale is one of the most hotly anticipated novels of 2012 and eagerly awaited by well...
Format: Hardback - Released: 23/10/2012
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Reached
Ally Condie
The best-selling Matched trilogy takes off in a dangerous and shattering new direction as Cassia’s revolt and her determination to fight for what matters to her most comes to a head. Now the signs of the Rising are showing Cassia,...
Format: Paperback - Released: 30/11/2012
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A World Between Us
Lydia Syson
Shortlisted for The Branford Boase Award 2013. Packed full of passion – both political and of all other kinds – this is a harrowing, thrilling and romantic account...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/10/2012
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Zom-B
Darren Shan
The exciting new series from the master of teen horror. Zom-B is a radical new series about a zombie apocalypse, told in the first person by one of its victims. The series combines classic Shan action with a fiendishly twisting...
Format: Hardback - Released: 27/09/2012
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Maggot Moon
Sally Gardner
Winner of the Costa Children's Book Award 2012.
Sally Gardner tells a story that is rich in drama and ideas as Standish Treadwell, an unlikely hero, takes on the vicious forces of the repressive motherland in a novel set in a...
Format: Hardback - Released: 30/08/2012
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Insignia
S. J. Kincaid
Alex Rider meets Hogwarts in space in this futuristic action adventure debut! In the first book in this fast-paced and futuristic trilogy, S J Kincaid asks significant questions concerning the use of technology, the value of human life and if...
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/08/2012
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Martin Amis : The Biography
Richard Bradford
Writing the biography of a subject still living is fraught with difficulty. The life has not yet run its course – we can’t see the whole picture and many people may find it hard to say what they really think....
Format: Paperback - Released: 21/06/2012
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The Sacrifice
Charlie Higson
There aren't many authors who are able to conjure up fear and terror in the way Charlie Higson does so brilliantly in his series The Enemy of which The Sacrifice is the fourth. His brilliantly imagined dystopian world is a...
Format: Hardback - Released: 20/09/2012
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Changeling
Philippa Gregory
June 2012 New Gen Book of the Month.
Best-selling Philippa Gregory’s first book for teenagers is a thrilling story of malice and betrayal, courage and passion. Tricked out of her inheritance by her...
Format: Hardback - Released: 24/05/2012
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Categories
Michael Connelly 
