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Find out moreLooking for the perfect birthday gift? The right book for Mother’s day, or a stocking filler for Christmas? Look no further as we have the perfect selection for you.
A third spellbinding book from Yuval Noah Harari that looks at the most important issues we face today. Featured in Episode 5 of the LoveReading Podcast
This is The Sunday Times Bestseller. Planet Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens? In this bold and provocative book, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here and where we're going. Sapiens is a thrilling account of humankind's extraordinary history - from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age - and our journey from insignificant apes to rulers of the world. It tackles the biggest questions of history and of the modern world, and it is written in unforgettably vivid language. You will love it! (Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel).
Everything you love about Ottolenghi, made simple. Yotam Ottolenghi's award-winning recipes are always a celebration: an unforgettable combination of abundance, taste and surprise. Ottolenghi SIMPLE is no different, with 130 brand-new dishes that contain all the inventive elements and flavour combinations that Ottolenghi is loved for, but with minimal hassle for maximum joy. Bursting with colourful photography, Ottolenghi SIMPLE showcases Yotam's standout dishes that will suit whatever type of cooking you find easy - whether that's getting wonderful food on the table in under 30 minutes, using just one pot to make a delicious meal, or a flavoursome dish that can be prepared ahead and then served when you're ready. These brilliant, flavour-forward dishes are all SIMPLE in at least one (but very often more than one) way: S - short on time: less than 30 minutes I - 10 ingredients or less M - make ahead P - pantry L - lazy E - easier than you think Ottolenghi SIMPLE is the stunning new cookbook we have all been wishing for: Yotam Ottolenghi's vibrant food made easy.
Following the widely acclaimed and bestselling The Summer Book, here is A Winter Book collection of some of Tove Jansson's best loved and most famous stories. Drawn from youth and older age, and spanning most of the twentieth century, this newly translated selection provides a thrilling showcase of the great Finnish writer's prose, scattered with insights and home truths. It has been selected and is introduced by Ali Smith. A Winter Book features 13 stories from Tove Jansson's first book for adults,The Sculptor's Daughter (1968) plus 7 of her most cherished later stories (from 1971 to 1996), translated into English and published here for the first time.
Have you ever wanted to be a puzzle pro or logical luminary? Well, look no further! The perfect way to liven up your day, The Ultimate Mathematical Challenge has over 365 puzzles to test your wits and excite your mind. From starter puzzles to perplexing Olympiad problems designed to stretch even the strongest mathematicians, this book is the ideal forum to get your brain into gear and feed it with the challenges it craves. Specially curated from the UK Mathematics Trust's catalogue of puzzles, most of these problems can be tackled using no more than a little numerical knowledge, logical thinking and native wit. Including interludes of crossnumber conundrums and shuttle challenges, space for your working out and a handy glossary for those obscure mathematical terms, this book has everything you need to solve captivating problems all year round. Do you have what it takes to conquer The Ultimate Mathematical Challenge?
The final book from Professor Stephen Hawking, the bestselling author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME and arguably the most famous scientist of our age, BRIEF ANSWERS TO THE BIG QUESTIONS is a profound, accessible and timely reflection on the biggest questions in science. The world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work. Is there a God? How did it all begin? Can we predict the future? What is inside a black hole? Is there other intelligent life in the universe? Will artificial intelligence outsmart us? How do we shape the future? Will we survive on Earth? Should we colonise space? Is time travel possible? Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet. And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind. Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humour, BRIEF ANSWERS TO THE BIG QUESTIONS, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next.
No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses. In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds. Mythos captures these extraordinary myths for our modern age - in all their dazzling and deeply human relevance.
Everyone loves a hero - and the greatest heroes of them all were the ancient Greeks. Stephen Fry's blistering retelling of their fabulous stories makes this the PERFECT GIFT for young and old alike. Mortals and Monsters. Quests and Adventures . . . _________ There are Heroes - and then there are Greek Heroes. Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes. In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta - who was raised by bears - outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera. Filled with white-knuckle chases and battles, impossible puzzles and riddles, acts of base cowardice and real bravery, not to mention murders and selfless sacrifices, Heroes is the story of what we mortals are truly capable of - at our worst and our very best.
We're not just losing the wild world. We're forgetting it. We're no longer noticing it. We've lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing. But we can make hidden things visible, and this book features 23 spellbinding ways to bring the magic of nature much closer to home. Mammals you never knew existed will enter your world. Birds hidden in treetops will shed their cloak of anonymity. With a single movement of your hand you can make reptiles appear before you. Butterflies you never saw before will bring joy to every sunny day. Creatures of the darkness will enter your consciousness. And as you take on new techniques and a little new equipment, you will discover new creatures and, with them, new areas of yourself that had gone dormant. Once put to use, they wake up and start working again. You become wilder in your mind and in your heart. Once you know the tricks, the wild world begins to appear before you. For anyone who wants to get closer to the nature all around them and bring it back into focus, this is the perfect read.
Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop, Wigtown - Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop. It contains 100,000 books, spread over a mile of shelving, with twisting corridors and roaring fires, and all set in a beautiful, rural town by the edge of the sea. A book-lover's paradise? Well, almost ... In these wry and hilarious diaries, Shaun provides an inside look at the trials and tribulations of life in the book trade, from struggles with eccentric customers to wrangles with his own staff, who include the ski-suit-wearing, bin-foraging Nicky. He takes us with him on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, recommends books (both lost classics and new discoveries), introduces us to the thrill of the unexpected find, and evokes the rhythms and charms of small-town life, always with a sharp and sympathetic eye.
Gorgeous, lovingly chosen Middle Eastern recipes which are not only delicious, they also feel accessible to a home cook. Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich own two restaurants and a deli, all within a short distance of each other in London. These are the recipes they cook at home, there’s a wonderful explanatory chat before each recipe which connects to thoughts and feelings, the food love is visible, and it is passed on with an abundance of warmth and generosity. The cover while warm and welcoming only hints at the delicious recipes contained within. The photos contained inside by Patricia Niven are quite glorious, eye-popping colours burst from the page with one or more photo for every dish. I love how the book is divided, you can either chose from selections such as ‘us two, for friends, for a crowd’ or the more traditional examples of ‘salads and sides, bakes, vegetarian, main meals, and more’. When I first opened the book and started reading the recipes, I was surprised out how many I wanted to actually try, normally one or two leap forth, here oodles of them called out to me. The mushroom scrambled eggs is a perfect example of a simple dish made special with just a few extra ingredients such as a cinnamon stick, it is soooo yummy… and although fairly simple, it’s not something I’d ever have considered doing without the recipe. I loved the cooking tips in Honey & Co at Home, all simply explained yet descriptive enough for me to follow easily. I sat staring at the baked goat cheese wrapped in walnut pastry with fig relish, my mouth is still watering, that’s definitely next on my cook list!
Are YOU the ultimate map-reader? Do you know your trig points from your National Trails? Can you calculate using contours? And can you fathom exactly how far the footpath is from the free house? Track down hidden treasures, decipher geographical details and discover amazing facts as you work through this unique puzzle book based on 40 of the Ordnance Survey's best British maps. Explore the first ever OS map made in 1801, unearth the history of curious place names, encounter abandoned Medieval villages and search the site of the first tarmac road in the world. With hundreds of puzzles ranging from easy to mind-boggling, this mix of navigational tests, word games, code-crackers, anagrams and mathematical conundrums will put your friends and family through their paces on the path to becoming the ultimate map-master!
Looking for the perfect birthday gift? The right book for Mother’s day, or a stocking filler for christmas? Look no further as we have the perfect selection for you.