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The perfect gift! Which Haruki Murakami novel shares its title with a Beatles song? In Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, what is Charlie's surname? What is heavy-drinking Rachel Watson known as in the title of a 21st-century bestseller? And what do you get if you add the number of Bennet sisters in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to the number of Karamazov brothers in Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov? With four hundred questions covering books from literary classics to modern bestsellers, through iconic children's books and books you say that you've read but really you haven't, The Penguin Book Quiz is as appropriate for making you look well-read at a party as it is for a book-loving family to tuck into after Christmas dinner: it's as enjoyable to read as it is to play. Featuring the work of everyone from Antony Beevor to Zadie Smith, books from The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Ulysses, and with movie, music, television, theatre and literary references abounding, this entertaining quiz tickles the fancy (and the brains) of light and heavy readers alike. Answers:- Norwegian Wood- Bucket- The Girl on the Train- Eight (five sisters, three brothers). ISBN 9780241986035 -
From dodgy home haircuts and TikTok dance crazes to banana-bread baking and checkpoint cheek, even in lockdown social media star and comedian Rory O'Connor found plenty of opportunities to keep everyone laughing. Filled with Rory's trademark banter and observational gems, this infectious (!) and hilarious lockdown lookback will make you nostalgic for outdoor dining in the rain and loo roll shortages! ISBN 9780717195640 -
Enter the genre-defining worlds created by five masters of speculative fiction in The Science Fiction Puzzle Book. Featuring the prolific works of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein and Ursula K. Le Guin, become part of their futuristic, dystopian and world-building adventures with this series of enigmatic puzzles. Containing more than 100 enigmas, riddles and conundrums, all taking inspiration from their extraordinary stories and vivid worlds, explore new galaxies and new technologies while solving challenges all written in the distinctive and brilliant styles of these five stars of science fiction. 'A knotty puzzle may hold up a scientist for a century' - Isaac Asimov, The Robots of Dawn. ISBN 9781787394889 -
From Sunday Times bestselling author and TikTok sensation @MammyBanter. One month to go. One stressed mum. Can she pull off the perfect family Christmas?Twas the sh!te before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring except for ... mum! Like every mum, Tara wants a perfect Christmas for her family - but no-one else is lifting a finger and she's losing her elf-ing mind. From the kids behaving badly (vaping! Potty training! The Nativity!), to a distracted husband acting very out of character, the last straw is Tara's glamorous, feckless, boundary-less mother moving herself back in for the holidays.Can Tara pull off the holly jolly Christmas of her dreams? Will she deck the halls and not her family? Or is this a Christmas catastrophe waiting to happen? ISBN 9780008579883 -
Cocooning with her ninety-year-old Aunt is not the life Helen imagined when she came home to Dublin after 30 years in London. Bickering, bitching, masking-up for rare outings, The Stairlift Ascends is a Twitter diary of our time trying to live together, surviving the pandemic: and each other! Aunt: *calling loudly from sitting room* Helen, can you help me? Me: *drops everything, rushes to front room, expecting her to have fallen* Aunt: The cat’s on my lap, could you pour me a small Jameson? Cocooning with my ninety-year-old Aunt is not the life I’d imagined when I came back to live in Dublin after 30 years of being a high-flying media executive in London. From the Groucho Club to our North Dublin coastal cocoon, it was back to earth with a bump. Funny and frustrating, living with the Aunt in our Covid bubble has been quite the eye-opener. Bickering, bitching, masking-up for rare outings, The Stairlift Ascends is a Twitter diary of our time trying to live together, of surviving the pandemic ... and each other. Love, lashings of apple tart, laughter and a longing for trips to Arnotts have seen us through, so far ... A hugely popular, funny and compassionate view on 2020 from @HelenORahilly ISBN 9781788492539 -
Was there ever such a husband? A classic find from the Faber archive and a sure hit on Father's Day! The story of a man who creates more trouble for himself than he could ever have expected, will bring a smile to every dad's face. It's also a hilarious fable to read to children - as you would expect from a story that features a dad getting stuck in a chimney due to a cow falling off a roof. ISBN 9780571361274 -
The author of the hit parody The Panda, the Cat and the Dreadfully Teddy draws on the simple, idyllic world of Beatrix Potter to shed light on some of the most pertinent issues of our time. Beatrix, a refined and gentle lady, decides to relocate to the countryside to escape the chaotic city and exorbitant house prices of London, in search of a simpler, more holistic life. Looking forward to painting cute rural animals and writing stories about their charming ways, she desires nothing more than to surround herself with nature and to practice mindfulness and kindness. But after months spent in isolation during 'hibernation', all the local wildlife emerge grumpy, sweary and having forgotten all their social skills - Jemima Puddleduck has even been cancelled. Will Beatrix's new small garden and spare room make all this aggro worth it? ISBN 9780008558154 -
Join the nation's favourite married couple and chart-topping podcast hosts, Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch, as they discuss the realities of modern relationships in this hilarious and relatable guide. From the moment you swipe right or lock eyes across a crowded bar, you step onto a rollercoaster ride of dating, first kisses and romantic weekends away. Then before you know it, you're meeting the in-laws, moving in together and walking down the aisle. It's not all highs, there are lows too: you've got your other half's annoying habits to discover and you need to learn how to win every argument in pursuit of always being right. When kids come along, sexy text messages make way for school whatsapp groups and suddenly you have no time for one another. Life is a blur of nappies, sleepless nights and chauffeuring as your offspring embark on a more colourful social life than you could dream of. That first date might just be the start of a relationship that lasts for the rest of your life, so choose wisely. From hooking up to breaking up and getting together to staying together, join us as we navigate our way through the trials and tribulations of dating and relationships. Celebrating all that's good and bad about being in pursuit of love, we ask can you ever find you happy ever after? Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Wanker. Git. Prick. Prat. Dick. Eejit. Plonker. Pillock. Nincompoop. Bellend. Halfwit. Dolt. Chump. Nitwit. Moron. ****wit. Simpleton. Lunatic. Dork. Numskull. Idiot. All lovely... but... nah... I prefer Twat. It's neat and it's accurate somehow. Because, yes, I am a Twat sometimes. Aren't we all? THE TWAT FILES are my stories of the times when I've been a total, utter twat. Time and time again, I've been a massive eejit. But the more I think about it, the more I understand that the moments where I've made mistakes, misunderstood stuff and messed up are key. That's where all my learning happens and where I laugh the most. Being a twat is universal and my twatishness is no different to yours. Except perhaps, that mine has been horrifyingly public on occasion. My hope is that reading these stories of my twattishness might remind you of just what a massive twat you also are, that we might celebrate and revel in this most delightful of traits, together. Published 12th October 2023. Order Now. -
This fabulously fun flipbook allows you to generate 60 million brilliantly beastly insults for all occasions. Wacky, zany, and sometimes plain silly, this book will ensure you'll always have the last word, not to mention the last laugh! - Hilarious heckles for silencing sassy siblings. - Teasing taunts to make best friends snigger. - Madcap comebacks to confuse mum and dad. - Playful put-downs for frenemies and enemies. ISBN 9781786270290 -
"After reading so many mammoth works of fiction, I craved something short and sweet. Well, this is bitter-sweet, with the Queen's life being turned upside down by the discovery of the treasures of the mobile library!" Ann ISBN 9781846681332 -
Join wordsmith Adam Sharp as he journeys around the world in idioms, proverbs and general nonsense. Learn unusual insults from France (You are a potato with the face of a guinea pig), how to hurry someone up in the US (You're going as slow as molasses in January) and what they call a shark in Vietnam (fat fish). Full of fascinating, ridiculous and hilarious translations from around the world, Adam has rounded up the very best of what every corner of the globe has to offer. Let's get this show on the road! Or:Let's saddle the chickens! (German) On with the butter! (Icelandic) Forward with the goat! (Dutch) 'Utter genius' Marian Keyes 'Brilliant, hilarious fun from a master wordsmith - you will LOVE this book' Kit de Waal -
From the Sunday Times bestselling author Julia Quinn comes a highly designed, colourful collection of quotes, wit, and wisdom from Lady Whistledown and the most memorable characters of the beloved Bridgerton books, now a series created by Shondaland for Netflix. Most esteemed members of the Ton, we are delighted to extend a very special invitation, let the notorious Lady Whistledown be your personal guide to each of the characters you know and love. From Simon, to Daphne, to Penelope and Colin, this is your chance to get to know your favourite characters like never before, discovering new gossip and old scandals (once noted, never forgotten...). With over 10,000 words of brand new material written by Quinn (AKA Whistledown) herself, this is the true Bridgerton devotee's perfect Christmas gift. Each chapter in the book will highlight a different character from the Bridgerton series and include a new introduction from Lady Whistledown, quotes from the character, and things other characters have said about them over the course of the entire series. Readers will relive the twists and turns of the books, taking (or not taking) the advice on love, family, etiquette, and fashion. With an introduction from the creator of the Bridgerton world, the worldwide bestselling Julia Quinn, The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton is a highly designed keepsake and unique addition to the Regency world we all know and love. ISBN 9780349431918 -
The Writer's Journey invites you to follow in the footsteps of some of the world's most famous authors on the travels that inspired their greatest works.
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Art honours the world, and criticism honours art, even - perhaps especially - when the critic sets out to destroy. The bad review is hardly ever written out of mere spite. In most cases, the motivation is disappointed idealism. Critics are people who love art and who hate to see it traduced. Hence the critic's sempiternal cry: You're doing it wrong. What the critic wants is for you to do it better. Since 2008, acclaimed novelist Kevin Power has reviewed almost three hundred and fifty books. Power declares, 'Even now, cracking open a brand-new hardback with my pencil in my hand, I feel the same pleasure, and the same hope. That's the great secret: every critic is an optimist at heart.'Art that thinks and feels at the same time - 'good art' - requires explication. The writing of criticism in response to such art is an activity that has taken place since Aristotle first sat down to figure out what made tragedy work. It is in the pursuit of this question - what makes good art 'good' - that Kevin Power found his vocation. During a ten-year stint as a regular freelance reviewer for the Sunday Business Post, Power fell in love with the writing of criticism, and with the reading of it, too, particularly by talented novelists who review books on the side. His conclusion is that criticism is absolutely an art. But it is never more so than when practiced by an actual artist. These pieces, ranging from reviews of Susan Sontag to the meaning of Greta Thunberg, apocalyptic politics, and literary theory, represent a decade's worth of thinking about books; a record of the author's attempts to honour art, and through art, the world. In You're Doing It Wrong, Power explains how he became a critic and what he thinks criticism is. It begins and ends with a long personal essays, 'The Lost Decade', written especially for this collection, about his mental and writing block after publishing Bad Day in Blackrock and his decade-long journey to White City. The pieces gathered by Power are connected by a theme - this is a book about writing, seen from various positions, and about growth as an artist and a critic. ISBN 9781843518327 -
An ingenious exploration of the meaning of literature, from one of Italy's most beloved writers 'If the world is increasingly senseless, all we can do is try to give it a style' The difference between life and literature; the good intentions of holiday reading; the avante-garde; the fate of the novel; the fantastical; the art of translation: these are just some of the ideas in The Written World and the Unwritten World. A collection of essays, articles, interviews, correspondence, notes and other occasional pieces on writing, reading and interpreting books, this work gives us new insight into Italo Calvino's expansive, curious and generous mind. Translated by Ann Goldstein ISBN 9780141394923 -
Step inside Louis's life like never before as he turns his critical eye on himself, his home, and family and tries to make sense of our weird and sometimes scary world. His new autobiography is the perfect book for our uncertain times by the hilarious and relatable Louis Theroux. Louis started lockdown with a sense of purpose and determination. Like the generation who survived the Second World War, this was his chance to shine. Then reality set in, forcing him to ask: When did he start annoying his children? Why is home-schooling so hard? Has the kitchen become the new shed, a hideaway for men, where, under the guise of being helpful, you can just drink, listen to music and keep to yourself? And is his drinking really becoming a problem? He also describes his dealings with Joe Exotic and flies to the US to make a documentary on the Tiger King, discusses his Grounded podcast, jumps back into the world of militias and conspiracy theorists as he catches up with past interviewees for his Life on the Edge series, and wonders whether he could get rich if he wrote Trump: The Musical. ISBN 9781509880454 -
Do you feel like you've solved enough traditional Sudoku, crosswords and logic problems to last a lifetime? Thinh Lai's Puzzle Universe is for everyone who loves puzzles and wants something fresh! Vietnamese puzzle master Lai Van Duc Thinh has created a series of original puzzle types sure to test the skills of even the most experienced puzzle-solver. Creatively stimulating new puzzles include Bar Code, Elbow Room, Boxing Match, Borderlands and more, each of which come with full instructions on how to solve them, as well as a variety of difficulty levels to aid in your progression. ISBN 9781787394063
