PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

Ethel M. Bilbrough

Part scrapbook, part memoir, this wonderfully colourful and eloquent diary brims with vivid observations, providing a rare snapshot of what life was like on the Home Front during the First World War. 
 
Amateur artist, animal lover and keen writer of letters to the papers, Mrs Bilbrough witnessed the men leaving for war (her husband, Kenneth, a banker in the City, was fortunately too old to be called up); the horses at Waterloo waiting to be transported to France; bombings and airraids; the introduction of the Daylight Saving Bill and food price increases (her consternation as the price of a tin of tongue rose from 2/- to 4/6 is clear!). She also writes at her outrage at the shooting of British nurse Edith Cavell; her sadness when Lord Kitchener is drowned at sea; her alarm as Zeppelins flew over Kent and her anger at the wide-ranging German atrocities. Her relief as war ended is palpable ('PEACE! The armistice is signed, "the day" has come at last! And it is ours!'). 
 
Interspersed with her daily jottings are cuttings and cartoons, her own watercolours and drawings and the colourful flags that were sold to raise money for the troops. Charming yet moving, this diary gives us a taste of what it was really like to live through the Great War, seen from the perspective of an acute social observer.

My War Diary 1914-1918

Sheila Norton

PART ONE of a serialised novel - a heartwarming and inspiring story about living the simple life and the joy of animals. 
 
Working as a receptionist in a London vets, Sam is living far from her idea of a simple life. She’s always broke, rents a tiny flat, and is constantly arguing with her boyfriend. But the worst part is that her career is going nowhere. She wants to be a vet, but the most contact time with the animals she has is a quick hello when she books in their next appointment. 
 
Something’s got to give, so when her parents suggest visiting her Nana Peggy in a small quiet picturesque village, she agrees, thinking a bit of R&amp;R could do her good. 
 
But rest and relaxation may not be the order of the day. Poor Nana Peggy’s lovely dog Rufus is unwell, and Sam can’t help but grow fond of him. With the help of Joe the local vet, a charming yet strangely distant man, Sam sets out on looking after him, despite her London life trying to call her back… 
 
Note: this is part one of a four part serialised novel. The full length paperback will be available in June.

The Vets at Hope Green: Part One

Escape to the Country

Deepak Chopra

Why Is God Laughing? tells the story of successful comedian Mickey Fellows and his friend Francisco as they explore how to overcome fear, egotism and addiction (which are the three major obstacles to joy) and become more optimistic. The final chapter highlights how to conquer these obstacles in our own lives and open the door to real joy and happiness. It spells out the lessons that Mickey's story tells us: ten reasons to be optimistic, even in a challenging world. 
 
Rich with humour and practical advice, Why Is God Laughing? shows us there is always a reason to be grateful, that every possibility holds the promise of abundance, and that obstacles are simply opportunities in disguise.

Why Is God Laughing?

One man's journey to joy and spiritual optimism

Ann Summers

With the kind of raunchy approach you would expect from Ann Summers, this unabashed cartoon version of the world's most famous sex manual reveals the amusing truth about what really goes on in the bedroom 
 
The Kama Sutra says that sex can sometimes give us a glimpse of heaven. The Calmer Sutra demonstrates that the Elephant Posture and the Yawning can just as easily result in an embarrassing situation.

Calmer Sutra

Sharon Cullen

A headstrong beauty and London’s most notorious rake... 
 
Widowed viscountess Claire Hartford is about to do the unthinkable: travel unaccompanied across the continent in search of a lover. Then she meets a magnificent cloaked stranger - Lord Blythe, a scandalous rogue hell-bent on seduction. 
 
But unbeknownst to her she is secretly beng accompanied by another man: Nathan Ferguson, her brother's best friend. He has been tasked to look out for Claire, but his desire for her could be his undoing...

Loving The Earl: A Rouge Regency Romance

Jo Beverley

Torn between her duty and her heart... 
 
Staring in the face of poverty, Anne de Lacy takes it upon herself to find a wealthy suitor so she can support her brothers and sisters.But when she meets a handsome, charming young stranger, she finds herself in a dilemma. 
 
Harry Crisp is perfect for her in all ways, except the most important: he is penniless. Can she sacrifice her happiness for the good of her family? Or will she be tempted by fate...?

The Fortune Hunter: A Rouge Regency Romance

Richard Herring

Richard hits the big 4-0 and spends his birthday in the British Musuem, harassing waiters, and lamenting his demise into old age.

How Not to Grow Up: Birthdays

Jason Kersten

Felix Dennis, notorious multimillionaire publisher, first started writing poetry after a life-threatening illness. Over the last decade he has produced a string of successful poetry books, and has undertaken several high profile and successful  poetry reading tours, where his expressive, lively readings have gone down a storm. Advertising his poetry evenings with the irresistible copyline: 'Did I mention the free wine?' he has entertained packed houses, through England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland - and his fans adore him.  In 2010, journalist Jason Kersten accompanied Dennis as he undertook his most ambitious tour yet - a 21-city tour over three months. His description of being on the road with Dennis and his entourage, complete with a double-decker bus and a helicopter, makes highly engaging reading. More reminiscent perhaps of being on tour with a rock band than a poet, here is the behind-the-scenes story that will delight Felix Dennis's many fans and reveal a world of madness and mayhem, accompanied by the muse.

Did I Mention the Free Wine? Madness, Mayhem & The Muse

On tour with Felix Dennis

Ruthie Knox

An accomplished lawyer and driven single mother, Ellen Callahan isn’t looking for any help. So Ellen’s more than a little peeved when her brother, an international pop star, hires a security guard to protect her from a prying press that will stop at nothing to dig up dirt on him. 
 
But when the tanned and toned Caleb Clark shows up at her door, Ellen might just have to change her mind. Back home after a deployment in Iraq , Caleb finds that guarding the wilful beauty is harder than he imagined - and he can’t resist the temptation to mix business with pleasure...

Along Came Trouble: A Rouge Contemporary Romance

Julia O'Donnell

'I was six when my father died so my mother has been everything to me. Wherever I go I tell the world about my wonderful mother. I'm a singer today because of her encouragement. She has been the biggest influence in my life' - Daniel O'Donnell 
 
Irish singing star Daniel O'Donnell's mother, Julia, grew up on a remote island off the 
northwest coast of Ireland, going barefoot and doing hard labour as a child during the poverty-stricken 1920s. 
 
The hard work continued through her teenage years as she picked potatoes in the fields and travelled to Scotland to gut fish in the ports. After she married and settled in Kincasslagh, Julia's beloved husband, Francie, was forced to leave his family for months on end to work on farms, again in Scotland. The work was physically demanding and eventually took its toll. Sadly, Julia found herself widowed and penniless with five children while still in her forties. 
 
In this classic and inspiring story of triumph over adversity, Julia tells how she battled through this dark period by knitting sweaters into the early hours of every night to support her family. They were sold in America by relatives and the money was sent back to Ireland by post. Then, in an amazing twist of fate, this hard-working woman and dedicated mother watched from the wings as her offspring flourished in life. Her daughter Margo and son Daniel went on to achieve fame as chart-topping singers. 
 
In The Mother's Story, Julia takes us on a journey from her humble beginnings growing up in a thatched cottage on Owey Island, to a glitzy lifestyle mingling with celebrities and royalty. Poignant, warm and laced with great humour, Julia's story gives us a fascinating insight into this remarkable Irish family's life.

The Mother's Story

A Tale of Hardship and Maternal Love

Charles Hennessy

Marco was born of working-class parents on a bleak council estate in Leeds, and his Italian mother died when he was six years old. Today he has become a star chef of international renown, a controversial media celebrity, a national icon of the 1980s and 1990s, and a multimillionaire entrepreneur - all before the age of 40. How has this staggering rise to fame and fortune been achieved? MPW (as he calls himself and many of his new restaurants) is today widely regarded as the best cook in the country, but his astonishing talents and understanding of food are only part of the explanation. As this fascinating book reveals, there are many sides to this complex man which the massive media coverage he has received over the years have never revealed. Charles Hennessy tells the story with insight: the unpromising early life, his first job as a kitchen porter in Harrogate, the epiphany at the age of 17 when he went to work at the Box Tree restaurant in Ilkley, his arrival in London, learning under the Roux brothers, Pierre Koffmann and Raymond Blanc, and the opening of his own first restaurant, Harvey's from whence his fame and fortune grew.

Marco Pierre White

Making of Marco Pierre White,Sharpest Chef in History

Lya Fett Luft

In her bestselling book Losses and Gains, Lya Luft draws on her own experiences of loss and gain in marriage and family to address the universal themes of childhood, love and maturity. She portrays love as the common thread through all phases of life. As children, the unconditional love we receive from our parents determines our expectations for all the other forms of love we experience later. And as adults, she argues, the complex task of loving another depends, initially, on self-love and self-esteem. 
 
Luft's ardent reflections on existence and the human spirit are a powerful reminder to us all: we have lost everything only when we believe we deserve less than everything still to be gained.

Losses and Gains

Reflections on a Life with a Foreword by Paolo Coelho

Rowan Coleman

Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Dorothy Koomson and Liane Moriarty, this is an uplifting and heartfelt novel from the author of The Memory Book, which was featured in the Richard &amp; Judy book club 2014 
 
'I immediately read The Memory Book and it's WONDERFUL ... I'm so happy because she's written other books and its so lovely to find a writer you love who has a backlist' Marian Keyes 
 
Jenny, Rosie and Selin have been best friends since school. Their teenage years were spent drinking too much wine in the park, dressing up for Friday night, and making the wrong choices with the wrong men because tomorrow seemed a very long way off. 
 
Eleven riotous years later, Jenny realises something. After more than a decade of waiting for her real life to begin, nothing has really changed. Here she is, still hung-over in the park, still dressed up in Friday night clothes and about to make her most inappropriate choice of man yet . 
 
But Jenny's not the only one waiting for real life to begin. And when tragedy turns their world upside down, all three friends are forced to realise that the real growing up is still to come...

Growing Up Twice

Sefton Samuels

The word 'northern' conjures plenty of stereotypical images; men in flat caps, cobbled streets, pies and rain. But beyond the clichés lies a region rich in its diversity, devilish in its humour and fertile in its culture, and it is these characteristics that iconic photographer Sefton Samuels has captured faithfully over four decades, and are compiled here in Northerners. 
 
Described by the Guardian as 'the photographic equivalent of Ken Loach', Samuels shot legendary figures of northern life, from Alan Bennett to Morrissey, LS Lowry to George Best and Sir Ben Kingsley, but most famously and vividly he captured the realities of everyday life across the north. 
 
With snatched shots of children cheekily mugging to his camera, pictures of the more grandiose members of society at the local hunt, photos of the bleaker side of life with the riots in Moss Side, and snaps of the young and fashionable posing as they hang around with nothing to do, Northerners reveals a photographer at one with his subject; and a region whose open character was meant to be captured through a lens.

Northerners

Huw Davies

In time-honoured fashion, Another Weird Year 4 brings you the stories that no lover of bizarre, inexplicable and downright hilarious news items can afford to miss, all handily grouped by theme (Love and Marriage, Law and Order, Animals etc). Read about: the blind man banned from saying 'phlegm'; the woman who bored a burglar to sleep with her family snaps; the woman who seduces men in her sleep; the man who thought he was a cat and got stuck up a tree; another man who got out of his car and took a shower... in a car wash... with his car left outside; the shepherd that had to drive his drunk sheep home; and not forgetting the pigs given a sauna and massage before being taken for slaughter - proof again from Another Weird Year that there is humanity in even the weirdest human behaviour. All the stories are true - you couldn't make them up!

Another Weird Year 4

Carl Froch

Carl Froch grew up on a tough Nottingham housing estate. His dad took him to the local boxing gym at just nine years old, hoping boxing would keep him out of trouble. Carl’s incredible natural ability soon became clear and he rapidly ascended the heights of professional boxing, becoming three-time Super Middleweight champion and Britain’s most exciting boxer. 
 
In 29 professional fights has suffered defeat only twice. His greatest fights have already gone down in boxing history. In 2009 he was knocked down for the first time in his career by Jermain Taylor. Behind on everyone's scorecard but his own, until, with just 14 seconds of the fight to go, he came back in spectacular fashion with a stunning knock out. In 2012 he emphatically beat Lucian Bute to reclaim his belt in front of record audiences. The press described the fight as ‘one of the best nights in British boxing’. 
 
The Cobra follows Britain's most respected boxer every step of the way as he prepares for, and fights, the most important bouts of his life. Honest, outspoken, and every inch the boy from Nottingham, Carl pulls no punches in his revealing story from inside the high-stakes world of boxing, from his first discovery of his talent to his ascent to World Champion. 
 
**Fully updated from the hardback; this edition includes two brand new chapters covering Carl's astonishing fifth-round destruction of previously unbeaten Lucian Bute, to reclaim his IBF world super middleweight title**

The Cobra

My Story

Wayne Mardle

'Extremely funny' - Guardian 
 
Booze, Bullseyes and (more) Booze 
 
Humanity has come a long way in the 500,000 years since Neanderthal man first started chucking spears around. Or has it? In his blisteringly funny new book, former professional player Wayne Mardle, whose crowd-pleasing antics were even more lively off stage than they were on, blows the lid off one of the UK's biggest televised sports. 
 
Known in darts circles as Hawaii 501 on account of his colourful Hawaiian shirts (yours for just forty-five quid - he's got a garage full of them) Mardle remains one of the planet's most recognisable players, having performed on the world stage during a professional career that saw him play all the greats and, quite frankly, lose to most of them. 
 
 In this witty (frequently), honest (largely), and poignant (twice) guide to life both on and off the oche, Mardle delivers world-class advice - such as why you shouldn't go on a two-day Vegas booze bender before a major PDC final, or how to avoid going live on European TV with a string of expletives so outrageous that clips are still replayed, years later, on Belgian telly. Some are lessons Mardle learned the hard way; others, like why it's best to avoid being sued by a well-known biscuit manufacturer, are gleaned from green-room gossip spanning decades.

Slinging Arrows

How (not) to be a professional darts player

Christopher Titmuss

Christopher Titmuss believes that the work of the great Buddhist writers can provide profound spiritual, religious, social, political and environmental insights.  This collection of inspirational quotes, one thought-provoking excerpt for every day of the year, draws on the very best Buddhist writings from early sages to the work of contemporary writers such as Jack Kornfield and Thich Nhat Hanh.  This is a book readers will want to keep for many years, and dip into time and again.

Sons And Daughters Of The Buddha

Daily meditations from the buddhist tradition

Oonagh Shanley-Toffolo

The Voice of Silence is by an Irishwoman who has had an extraordinary life. Oonagh Shanley-Toffolo was brought up in 1930s rural Ireland where her father initiated her into the healing arts. At the age of 16, she entered a convent where she trained as a nurse, and was sent to India to look after the elderly (and knew Mother Teresa). Here, she felt it was the young, rather than the old, who needed more help and so she left her order and trained in midwifery. Later, in Paris, she was asked to nurse the Duke of Windsor just before he died - and many years later was introduced to Princess Diana and became her weekly confidante. In between, were bouts of serious illness, studying acupuncture in China - and being photographed by Snowdon. The Voice of Silence is the life story of a very unusual woman who has learned far more than most from all the remarkable things that have happened to her. It is also the author's thoughts on healing, spirituality and love - and how closely the three are intertwined. Full of feeling, poetic vision and insight, this book cannot fail to touch the heart of the reader, and inspire.

The Voice Of Silence

A Life of Love, Healing and Inspiration

Esther Rantzen

Be bolder as you grow older, and make sure you float above any challenges that threaten to overwhelm you. 
 
Multi-award-winning broadcaster, founder of Childline and The Silver Line, campaigner, mother, grandmother and joyous trailblazer of our times, Dame Esther Rantzen dazzles in the glory of getting older and ever bolder. 
 
And now in this energising A-Z, she time-travels through her most signi?cant memories, from meeting Princess Diana to creating a national outrage with a mischievous short ?lm about a driving dog, and re?ects with candour and humour on the life lessons she's learned, revealing the hints, hacks and personal philosophies that have been her secrets to surviving almost everything. 
 
We may not all achieve what Dame Esther has, but here we can soak up her wisdom, laugh with her, learn from her, embrace the passing years and march boldly on.

Older and Bolder

My A-Z of surviving almost everything

Mark Rowlands

Everything I Know I Learned From TV uses characters we all know and love and their TV worlds to explain the great questions of philosophy. The only qualifications you need to join in are ownership of a sofa, a remote control, a sense of humour and an enquiring mind. The philosophy discussed is very much 'life' philosophy, answering the questions we all want to know: How do you define what is a good life to lead? The Simpsons disagree over the right way to live with Nietzsche and Diogenes on hand to take sides. What is real happiness? Aristotle fights Descartes for the heart and mind of Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw. Can a good person do a bad thing? Kant and Socrates pay a call on Tony Soprano and his latter-day Mob to talk moral philosophy. Where does love end and friendship begin? Rachel and Ross ask Plato about the philosophy of emotions and wonder if they're just good friends. Is the pursuit of self-knowledge a good thing? Socrates helps Niles and Frasier Crane and their dad deal with the relative merit of the examined and the unexamined life. And much more.

Everything I Know I Learned From TV

Philosophy For the Unrepentant Couch Potato

PART THREE of a serialised novel - a charming and romantic story about living the simple life and the joy of animals. 
 
Emma Nightingale finds she’s accidentally becoming something of a local celebrity in the small town of Crickleford, and it seems that everyone wants her to look after their pets. 
 
While looking after a hamster, she accidentally uncovers a mystery that threatens to draw even more attention to her. With nowhere to turn, soon Emma will have to make a decision that could cost her everything… 
 
Note: this is part three of a four-part serialised novel.

The Pets at Primrose Cottage: Part Three Trust Your Heart

Good girls know how to misbehave... 
 
As program director for the Camelot Community Center, Amber Clark knows how to keep her cool. That is, until a sudden tornado warning forces her to take shelter in a darkened basement with a man whose sex appeal fulfils her every fantasy. 
 
Building contractor Tony Mazzara was just looking to escape nature’s fury. Instead, he finds himself all tangled up with lovely Amber. But can he let go of his painful past and look to a future he never dreamed existed?

How to Misbehave: A Rouge Contemporary Romance

Jon Nicholson

'This account will not hide from the truth of what this illness does to the one who is suffering, and to all those whom that person loved the most. Above all, however, I want to write this book because my story, which is also Emma's and that of our three wonderful children, is nevertheless a story of hope.' 
 
Living Without Emma is Jon's Nicholson's moving account of how he and their three young children coped when their mother was diagnosed with the cancer that ultimately took her life. On her 35th birthday, Emma Nicholson was told she had a tumour - it turned out to be osterosarcoma, a very rare form of bone cancer. 
 
For 14 months she fought the disease and here Jon writes about how her illness put unimaginable strains on his relationship with his wife and the loved ones around them, how it pitched them all into roles they had never foreseen, and how as a family they coped and pulled together in the dark days after her death to discover a life that, although very different from the one they had planned, is happy.

I Want My Mummy Back

A Moving True Story of One Family's Loss

The funniest French Bulldogs in costumes from around the world, captured for pawsterity. 
 
Meet BATBULL, FRENCHIE THE POOH, SNOOP FRENCHIE FRENCH and many, many more mostly stylish, always adorably funny Frenchies in costumes.

Fancy Frenchies

French Bulldogs in Costumes

Felix Dennis

Following in the footsteps of A Glass Half Full, Lone Wolf and When Jack Sued Jill, Homeless In My Heart - Felix Dennis's long-awaited new collection of verse - is 'the story of a fool whose life was saved by poetry'. 
 
Felix Dennis's life has been a long series of unlikely events: incarceration by the British government in 1971 following the longest conspiracy trial in British history; recording a chart single with John Lennon; co-authoring Muhammad Ali's first biography; becoming one of the richest individuals in Britain; launching one of the most successful media brands in the world; falling into crack cocaine addiction; beginning the task of planting a huge native broad-leaf forest in the Heart of England; salvaging the wreckage of a life dedicated to hedonism; and, lastly, and most surprisingly of all, discovering that he could write the kind of poetry that people wanted to read and to hear. 
 
Now, with the publication of Homeless In My Heart, Felix Dennis's extraordinary talents have come to fruition - from ironic tales of darkness and savagery to hymns of praise for the glories of nature. Homeless In My Heart fulfils the promise predicted by the author and critic Tom Wolfe, who has called Dennis 'a 21st-century Kipling [whose poetry] rollicks and rolls with rhyme, meter and melody'.

Homeless in My Heart

Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Dorothy Koomson and Liane Moriarty, this is an uplifting and heartfelt novel from the author of The Memory Book, which was featured in the Richard &amp; Judy book club 2014 
 
'I immediately read The Memory Book and it's WONDERFUL ... I'm so happy because she's written other books and its so lovely to find a writer you love who has a backlist' Marian Keyes 
 
For five years, Maggie has known what her life is all about: her satisfying job in a small catering company, her boyfriend (and boss) Christian, and the future they're building together. Christian is the man Maggie's destined to be with forever, she fell in love with him the moment they met, their love runs River Deep, Mountain High - until Christian comes home one night and says the terrible words 'it's over'. 
 
Numb, shocked and disbelieving, Maggie moves home to her parents' pub. Jobless and single, living in a bedroom still papered with A-ha and Take That posters, she's back to square one. The life she spent five years building is over. Or is it? Convinced she knows Christian better than he knows himself, Maggie sets out to win him back. But when she enlists the help of Pete, temporarily abandoned by his fiancé, she starts to wonder just how broken her heart really is...

River Deep

Jane Austen

Mr Darcy *heart eyes emoji* Lizzie Bennet. But will she swipe right?  Delight in Austen’s  intelligent wit and piercing social commentary,  distillled and translated into the beautiful, modern  language of emoji.  Because there is no enjoyment like reading. Except maybe texting.

Pride and Prejudice & Emojis

In this second collection of sexy secrets as told to hostess Madame B, we discover a world of delicious and dangerous delights. No fantasy is too extreme, no indulgence or scenario off limits. 
 
Velvet Underground - an everyday Tube journey takes an erotic turn for a young woman 
Digits - the telephone provides the ultimate release for two strangers 
The Magic Toyshop - a mysterious saleswoman opens a young customer's eyes to new pleasures 
Buckle My Shoe - Nick is an unashamed foot fetishist; but has he met his match? 
Hard Cell - the prisoner/guard relationship is taken to extremes of passion 
Statuesque - Englishwoman Kelly enjoys a very special midnight feast while on a cooking holiday in Italy 
The Lure of the Greasepaint - best friends Jade and Tania get closer than they ever expected as extras in an orgy scene 
Fourplay - on a second honeymoon in the Seychelles, Alex and Jessica meet attractive Australian couple Laura and Brad, and have a holiday they will never forget 
The Sinner - when her car breaks down, a reporter seeks shelter at a monastery, where she meets the shy Brother Michael... 
Rockstar 2 - model Anna Lamb and her rockstar boyfriend Joey love taking sexual risks in public, and at a masked club for the rich and famous they show everyone else what they're missing. 
 
With private indulgences stripped bare for all to see, Madame B's White Hot &amp; Wild Whispers ensures that nothing remains a secret any more.

Madame B's White Hot & Wild Whispers

Steve Lyons

With the Doctor wanting to repair the TARDIS in peace and quiet, Barbara, Ian and Susan decide to get some experience of living in the nearby village of Salem. But the Doctor knows about the horrors destined to engulf the village and determines that they should leave. 
 
 His friends are not impressed. His granddaughter Susan has her own ideas, and is desperate to return, whatever the cost. But perhaps the Doctor was right. Perhaps Susan’s actions will lead them all into terrible danger and cause the tragedy that is already unfolding to escalate out of control. 
 
 An adventure set in the 17th century Salem Witch Trials, featuring the First Doctor as played by William Hartnell and his companions Susan, Ian, and Barbara.

Showing results for: ‘Albert Camus’

Filters

Category

Publication Date

Format

Series

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter