2003's "FORTHCOMING BOOKS" LISTINGS

DECEMBER 2003

FICTION

HARDBACK

Absolute Friends - John Le Carre

Ted Mundy, British soldier's son born 1947 in the new Republic of Pakistan and Sasha, son of an East German Lutheran pastor, first meet as students in West Berlin in the late 60s, then again in the grimy looking-glass of Cold War espionage and, most terribly, in the modern world of terror. (£16.99 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

King of Torts - John Grisham

Clay Carter reluctantly takes on a client charged with a random street killing, but a sinister conspiracy emerges involving corrupt practices in the pharmaceutical industry. (£6.99)

Inside Track - John Francome

A young trainer tries to enlist her brother’s help - he’s an ex-star jockey, but he has his own problems. (£5.99)

Land of the Living - Nicci French

Abbie wakes in the dark to find herself bound and hooded - with a man promising he will kill her “like the others”. (£6.99)

Days Without Number - Robert Goddard

Nick’s father refuses to sell the family home despite a ridiculously high offer. Only after the old man’s death does he discover why. (£6.99)

NON-FICTION

FABRICS

Headwraps - Georgia Scott

This spectacularly designed and illustrated full-colour volume takes readers on a trip around the world, exploring the world's most popular, versatile, and misunderstood sartorial statement. (£25.00)

Miniature Book of Napkin Folding - Karen Lansdown (£3.99)

FOOD

Carol Vorderman’s Detox Recipes (£10.99)

SPORT

Elland Road e:males - Dave Shack

10 fans, one season : forget TV soap operas - if you want lies, drama, intrigue and disasters on a weekly basis then look no further than Leeds United season 2002-2003. (£15.00)

TRAVEL

Ghost Riders - Richard Grant

Travels with American Nomads, from an Englishman who has never spent more than 22 consecutive nights under one roof. (£7.99)

Plus a lot of new Farm House Guides to camping, caravanning, self-catering and b&b, ready for next year.


NOVEMBER 2003

FICTION

HARDBACK

Grandmothers - Doris Lessing

Four intensely observed novellas. The title novel is about an unconventional extended family. (£13.99 at The Book Case)

Love - Toni Morrison

Women are obsessed by Bill Cosey, even after his death - but he himself was driven by secret forces. A novel on the nature of love. (£14.99 at The Book Case)

Olivia Joules and the Over-Active Imagination - Helen Fielding

From the creator of Bridget Jones, a female special agent, armed only with a hatpin, razor sharp wits and a very special underwired bra. (£11.99 at The Book Case)

My Name is Sei Shonagan - Jan Blensdorf

A strong woman's story, contrasting the beauty of ancient tradition with the harsh commercialism of modern city life. (£9.99 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

You Shall Know Our Velocity - Dave Eggers

Two young Americans decide to travel around the world in a week and give away a large sum of money in response to the untimely death of a friend, but find it is harder than they expected. (£7.99)

Doodaa - Ralph Steadman

The 'biography' of Steadman’s artistic alter ego, Gavin Twinge - the original angry voice of contemporary art. (£6.99)

Palace Pier - Keith Waterhouse

A failed novelist, still fixated on the 1960s, plots to pass off a good novel as his own. (£7.99)

Orpheus Emerged - Jack Kerouac

Recently discovered by his estate, this novel chronicles the passions, conflicts and dreams of a group of bohemians searching of truth while studying at a university. (£6.99)

Blackwood Farm - Anne Rice

Vampires and witches, men and women, demons and doppelganger, in a maelstrom of death and destruction, blood and fire, cruelty and fate. Ideal Christmas present. (£6.99)

Morality for Beautiful Girls - Alexander McCall-Smith

Continues the adventures of Mma Ramotswe, as she expands her business to take in the world of car repair and a beauty pageant. (£6.99)

Full Speed - Janet Evanovitch

Max Holt is determined to discover why a Tennessee preacher wants him dead. (£5.99)

Visions of Sugar Plums - Janet Evanovitch

Christmas holiday adventure featuring detective Stephanie Plum. (£6.99)

Hostage to Murder - Val McDermid

Sixth Lindsay Gordon mystery. (£6.99)

REISSUES:

Face - Benjamin Zephaniah

Now in adult format, a lively and positive account of a boy who is badly scarred in a joyriding crash, and how he comes to terms with it. The acclaimed first novel from the high-profile performance poet. (£6.99)

The Story of Mr Sommer - Patrick Suskind

From early in the morning till late at night, eccentric Mr Sommer is out walking, marching through the landscape like a man possessed with his empty rucksack and his walking stick. Where is he going and why? From the author of "Perfume". (£7.99)

Among Women Only - Cesare Pavese

A successful couturier returns to Turin at the end of the Second World War. Opening a salon of her own leads her into a nihilistic circle of young hedonists, but Turin itself and its pervading melancholy is at the heart of the novel. (£9.95)

Hard Life - Flann O'Brien

The tale of two orphans, Manus and Finbarr, growing up in the odour of good whiskey and bad cooking in the house of the disputatious Mr Collopy. (£7.99)

Various Lives of Keats and Chapman and the Brother - Flann O'Brien

The fictional (and hilarious) escapades of Chapman and Keats, the translator and the poet, with puns. (£7.99)

To the Slaughterhouse - Jean Giono

From the author of 'The Man Who Planted Trees', a fiercely realistic account of the effect of the First World War on a small community in Provence. (£9.95)

Radetsky March - Joseph Roth

Charts the history of the Trotta family through three generations spanning the rise and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Translated by Michael Hofmann. (£7.99)

Silence - Shusako Endo

A Japanese Catholic, Endo tells the story of two seventeenth-century missionaries attempting to shore up the oppressed Japanese Christian movement. (£9.95)

From a Crooked Rib - Nuruddin Farah

Story of a rural Somali girl’s life and unhappy marriage. (£7.99)

Books about Fiction

BBC Big Read Book of Books

Highly illustrated summaries of the Top 100 with author biographies. (£12.99)

Rough Guide to Books for Teenagers (£5.99)

Rough Guide to Lord of the Rings - Paul Simpson (£7.99)

Real Middle Earth - Brian Bates

An intelligent popular history of the early English civilisation on which Tolkien based his world of 'Lord of the Rings'. (£7.99)

NON-FICTION

ART

Hockney’s Portraits and People - Marco Livingstone

Hockney's relationships with family, friends and lovers illustrated by works ranging from the intimate to the large-scale. (£29.95)

BIOGRAPHY

Wordsworth: a life in letters - Juliet Barker

Now in paperback, Wordsworth's progress from rebellious schoolboy to radical poet to revered patriarch - in his own words, from letters and autobiographical fragments selected by prize-winning local author. (£9.99)

Byron, Life and Legend - Fiona McCarthy

Reinterprets the poet’s life and poetry for a new generation. (£9.99)

Natural Life - David Bellamy (£7.99)

Revenge: a love story - Laura Blumenfeld

After the author’s father was shot by a member of a PLO faction, she travelled across Europe, the US and the Middle East seeking revenge. In the end, her target turned out to be more complex - and in some ways more threatening - than the stereotypical terrorist she had long imagined. (£7.99)

Round-heeled Woman - Jane Juska

"My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance." Jane Juska, a smart, energetic divorcee, decided she'd been celibate too long, and placed a personal ad in her favourite newspaper, The New York Review of Books. (£10)

Gods, Mongrels and Demons - Angus Calder

101 key lives in a meticulously compiled and entertaining alternative reference work. (£16.99)

Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan - Sugawara no Takasue no Musume; Murasaki Shikibu; Izumi Shikibu; trans. Kaochi Doi

The diaries of three very different aristocratic Japanese ladies who lived around 1000 AD. (£12.95)

REISSUES

Rough Magic - Paul Alexander

A biography of Sylvia Plath. (£13.99)

Assassin’s Cloak - ed Alan Taylor 12.99

Anthology of the world's greatest diarists, laid out day by day, like a diary, (£12.99)

My Silent War - Kim Philby

Autobiography of a Spy. Foreword by Graham Greene. (£7.99)

FOOD

French Kitchen, A Cook book - Joanne Harris

Stylish collection of French family recipes by the author of 'Chocolat', with photographs and anecdotes. (£12.99)

Schott’s Food and Drink Miscellany - Ben Schott (£9.99)

A Year of Russian Feasts - Catherine Jones

Authentic and evocative with 40 recipes from the author's mother, grandmother and Russian friends. A fascinating behind-the-scenes view of Russia and its people, the feast days of the Russian Orthodox Church and the gentle rhythm of country life. (£6.99)

HISTORY

The Making of the West Yorkshire Landscape - Anthony Silson

The story of how West Yorkshire's landscape had changed since the area emerged from under a sea some seventy million years ago. (£9.99)

Templars - Piers Paul Read

Reissue. History of the Knights of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, founded to protect pilgrims against infidel attack. They soon became an expert military force and powerful bankers until French king Philip IV charged them with heresy and immorality. (£8.99)

British History for Dummies (£14.99)

Real Middle Earth - Brian Bates

An intelligent popular history of the early English civilisation on which Tolkien based his world of 'Lord of the Rings'. (£7.99)

HOBBIES

Collectables Price Guide 2004 - Judith Miller (£17.99)

Cheater’s Guide to Quizzes - Chris Hughes (£5.99)

Magic Eye (£7.99)

Magic Eye Gallery (88 images) (£12.95)

HUMOUR

Historic Framley - Alex Morris et al

Based on the popular online spoof local paper and includes such dates as 11 March 1765 and Boxing Day 1989, as well as many more! There’s so much to learn, and time is slowly running out for all of us. (£12.99)

Literary Life - Posy Simmonds

50 Literary Life cartoons (Guardian Review) and some short stories! (£14.99)

Book of Bunny Suicides - Andy Riley

Cartoons of "little fluffy rabbits who just don’t want to live any more." (£7.99)

Could Do Better - Catherine Hurley

School Reports of the Great and Good. Now in paperback. (£5.99)

Time of Your Life - John Burningham

Getting On With Getting On. (£7.99 )

Punchlines - Simon Hoggart

John Prescott speaks. (£5.99)

The Times "Not Dead Yet" (£9.99)

Cat Haiku - Deborah Coates (£3.99)

Schott’s Original Miscellany Calendar Box

A fascinating fact every day. (£9.99)

MBS

Guide to the Human Body - Richard Walker

We’re always being asked for something like this! Covers anatomy and physiology, the functions of organs and systems, and disease and treatment. Home reference and comprehensive basic text for health professionals. 200 coloured photos & illus. (£9.99)

Oxford A-Z of Medicinal Drugs

A family guide to over-the-counter and prescription medicines. (£8.99)

How to Talk so Kids Can Learn - Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

How to motivate children to learn and succeed in school, from the popular parent-child communication experts. (£9.99)

Brain Child - Tony Buzan

"How smart parents make smart kids." A look at the enormous potential of a child’s brain. (£14.99)

101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life - Roger-Pol Droit

Invites us to reconsider our most ordinary actions as unexpected philosophical events; each exercises uses materials that lie to hand and has a designated effect on the spirit. European bestseller. (£6.99)

Buddhist Offerings: 365 Days - Danielle Follmi

A beautiful daybook in the style of 'Earth From the Air - 365 Days', with daily meditations from a master of Tibetan Buddhism. (£19.95)

Mary Magdelene - Lynn Picknett

Christianity's Hidden Goddess. Are the roots of Christianity partly based on spin and propaganda? (£7.99)

This Diary Will Change Your Life 2004 - Ben Carey

Part instruction manual, part therapy, part-religious cult, part-sheer anarchy (£12.99)

Big Book of Personality Tests - Salvatore Didato (£7.99)

MUSIC

31 Songs - Nick Hornby

They either have some great significance in his life or are just songs he loves. He discusses, among other things, guitar solos and losing your virginity to a Rod Stewart song and singers whose teeth whistle and the sort of music you hear in Body Shop. (£6.99)

New Complete Guitarist - Richard Chapman

Return of a classic, now re-jacketed, expanded, and revised. (£17.99)

Cut the Crap Guide to Guitar (£7.99)

Cut the Crap Guide to Reading Music (£7.99)

SPORT AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Fishing’s Best Short Stories - (ed.) Paul D Staudohar (£16.99)

Into the Abyss - Rod Macdonald

A collection of memorable diving stories written by Britain's top shipwreck author. (£15.99)

Times Night Sky 2004 - Michael Hendrie (£5.99)

Weather or Not! - Paul Hudson & Bob Rust

Highs & lows of Yorkshire weather with dramatic pictures of storm, flood, drought and snow. (£9.99)

Daily Telegraph Book of the Weather - Philip Eden (£9.99)

POETRY

Poems for Gardeners - ed. Germaine Greer

Poems about gardens and gardening from around the world and across time (£10)

First World War Poems - ed Andrew Motion (£12.99)

Collected Poems - Roger McGough

Culmination of over 40 years of popular poetry. (£20)

POLITICS

Dude Where's My Country - Michael Moore

The scourge of Stupid White Men everywhere is back, and plans to smoke Bush out at the next election, trashes Murdoch's media, argues for a Pope who likes ladies, and offers handy hints in 'How to Talk to Your Conservative Brother-in-Law'. (£16.99)

Get Your War On - David Rees

Comic book satire of George W Bush's fight against terrorism. (£9.99)

Understanding Power - Noam Chomsky (£9.99)

50 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know - Russ Kick

From the Disinformation Company. (£6.99)

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Backroom Boys - Francis Spufford

The Secret Return of the British Boffin - a rapturous history of the amazing achievements of British engineers. . (£7.99)

TRAVEL

India in Slow Motion - Mark Tully

Comprehensive journey through India by the veteran BBC South Asia correspondent, studying its people, traditions and religions. (£8.99)

Voyage by Dhow - Norman Lewis

Collection of essays on a lifetime spent travelling, from the Russian steppes, via Yemen, to Naples and Paraguay. (£7.99)

Do Not Pass Go - Tim Moore

The stirring travelogue of one man's erratic progress around 28 stations, utilities and streets on the Monopoly board. (£6.99)

On a Shoestring to Coorg - Dervla Murphy (reissue) (£8.99)

Good Pub Guide 2004 - Alisdair Aird (£14.99)

Alan Rogers Camping & Caravanning Sites, Britain and Ireland 2004 (£9.99).

Pets Welcome 2004 (£7.99)

Best Yoga Centres and Retreats (£5.99)

New Rough Guides to Australia, India, Jamaica and West Africa and Sunflower Guides to Cyprus and Gran Canaria.

WORDS

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary - SimonWinchester (£12.99)

Mouse or Rat - Umberto Eco

An erudite demonstration, by one of the world's most brilliant thinkers, of how mistranslations can affect culture, politics and art. (£12.99)

Eats Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss

The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. (£9.99)


OCTOBER 2003

HARDBACK

Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett

28th Discworld novel and the Discworld goes to war! Polly Perks, in her brother's clothes and with her hair cut off, has joined up to fight for her country, but who is the enemy? (£15.99 at The Book Case)

Rottweiler - Ruth Rendell

In a darkly atmospheric London the lives of a small group of people from very mixed backgrounds are affected dramatically by a series of apparently motiveless murders. (£14.99 at The Book Case)

Kill Bill - Quentin Tarantino

On her wedding day, an assassin known only as The Bride is gunned down at the altar by the groom (her boss, Bill) - but she survives and begins her mission of revenge. (£12.99 at The Book Case)

Bleachers - John Grisham

Youth, high school football, legends and heroes .... (£11.99 at The Book Case)

McSweeney Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales No. 10- ed. Dave Eggers

The the tenth issue of a literary magazine with new work from Chabon, Eggers, Rick Moody, Neil Gaiman, Michael Crichton, Nick Hornby and more. (£12.99 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

Little Friend - Donna Tartt

Harriet grows up haunted by her brother's murder - then one day she decides to take her revenge. (£7.99)

Baudolino - Umberto Eco

It is 1204, and Constantinople is being sacked and burned by the knights of the fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, Baudolino saves a Byzantine historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors, and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story. From the author of "Name of the Rose".(£7.99)

Rumpole and the Primrose Path - John Mortimer

Rumpole finds himself in the Primrose Path nursing home - or a hospice as he persists in describing it. (£6.99)

Night Watch - Terry Pratchett

A Discworld 'Tale of One City', with a full chorus of street urchins, ladies of negotiable affection, rebels, secret policemen and other children of the revolution. Truth! Justice! Freedom! And a Hard-boiled Egg! (£6.99)

Wintering - Kate Moses

Fictional account of the last months of Sylvia Plath's life, based on the "Ariel" poems. (£7.99)

Dancer - Colum McCann

Fictional account of Nureyev's life. (£6.99)

Certain Chemistry - Mil Millington

A story of hormones, infidelity and the hazards of divine intervention. (£10.99)

Blue Horizon - Wilbur Smith

The new generation of Courtneys stake their claim in the wilderness of Southern Africa (£12.99)

Russell Hoban: three novels, £6.99 each:

Bat Tattoo -

Roswell Clark wants a bat tattoo. His ideal bat image is on a bowl in the V&A Museum. where he encounters Sarah Varley, also compelled by the same bat. "Combines much about art with new angles on Christ, crash-test dummies, antiques and pornography.

Fremder

On 4 November 2052 Fremder Gorm is found drifting in space. Why is he the only survivor from "Clever Daughter", a battered old tanker.

Mr Rinyo Clacton's Offer

Jonathan Fitch is distraught when his girfriend, Serafina, leaves him and accepts the peculiar Mr Rinyo-Clacton's offer of one million pounds but only one year to live.

Season of Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih

Sudanese student returns home from his life in London, from highly-regarded Arabic author. (£7.99)

Mammoth Book of Best New Sci-Fi - ed. Gardner Dozois (£9.99)

World Jones Made - Philip K Dick (£7.99)

Beyond the Pale - Elana Dykewomon

The stories of two lesbian Jewish women living through times of darkness and inhumanity in the early 20th century. (£11.99)

Woman Who Lives in the Earth - Swain Wolfe

Originally self-published, disarmingly simple novel, part Aesopian fable, part environmentalist parable (£9.99)

NON-FICTION

ART, CRAFT, PHOTOGRAPHY & ARCHITECTURE

Boy - Germaine Greer

Groundbreaking work about male beauty. Tate Gallery and South Bank Show tie-in.(£29.95)

Woodworking for Dummies (£14.99)

Men and Models - Ian Marchant

Some men stay true to their childhood modelling visions . In this book, we meet some of the success stories of adult modellers, including a concrete dragon and a robotic falcon. With photos. (£6.99)

Earth from the Air 366 Days - Y Arthus-Bertrand

New 'The Earth from the Air' daybook, with over 200 completely new photographs from master photographer Arthus-Bertrand. (£24.95)

One Planet (Lonely Planet)

Beautiful coffee-table book in which Lonely Planet photographers have captured the spirit of travel and adventure. (£19.99)

England's Thousand Best Houses - Simon Jenkins

Lavishly illustrated sequel to the "Best Churches". (£30)

BIOGRAPHY

Interesting Times - Eric Hobsbawm

Autobiography of the Marxist historian who personally witnessed some of the twentieth century's major historical events. (£9.99)

My Invented Country - Isabel Allende

Autobiography of the author of "House of Spirits". "The great, wonderful quality of human beings is that we can overcome even absolute terror, and we do." (£18.99)

Where There's a Will - John Mortimer

Following 'Summer of a Dormouse', Sir John Mortimer offers up more wickedly funny lessons in living and growing old disgracefully. (£17.99)

Free at Last - Tony Benn

Brings his Diaries right up to date, covering the Gulf War, New Labour, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the war in Afghanistan. (£9.99)

Also on CD and cassette at £19.99

Kill the Messenger Again - Bernard Ingham

New edition of Sir Bernard's memoirs, first published in 1991. (£9.99)

Calling of a Cuckoo - David Jenkins

"Not Quite an Autobiography" from the former Bishop of Durham. (£10.99)

Memoirs of a Bengal Civilian - John Beames

The memoirs of a model district officer in the Raj who succeeded in defending the powerless Indian workers against their English and Mughal bosses. (£9.99)

Bedside Stories - Michael Foxton

The hilarious and alarming experiences of a junior doctor in the NHS, as published in the Guardian. (£7.99)

Reissues: Scott's Last Expedition - Robert Falcon Scott (£8.99)

Calendar Girl - Tricia Stewart (£7.99)

FOOD AND DRINK

Delia Collection - Delia Smith :

First four are Soup, Chicken, Fish and Chocolate. (£9.99 each)

River Cottage Cookbook - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Witty, practical guide to the River Cottage lifestyle (£17.99)

Green & Black Chocolate Recipes - Caroline Jeremy

Including recipes, stories about the history and myths of chocolate, its cultivation and production, tips for handling and cooking, photographs and location pictures of the organic cocoa plantations in Belize. (£14.99)

Brian Turner's Favourite British Recipes

"Classic dishes from Yorkshire Pudding to Spotted Dick". (£18.99)

Greens, Beans, Roots and Shoots - Christine Ingram

Guide to over 180 vegetables and their uses. (£8.99)

Vegan Taste of France - Linda Majzlik (£5.99)

Reissue: Pauper's Cookbook - Jocasta Innes (£5.99)

GARDENING AND OUTDOOR

50 Ways to Kill a Slug

50 alternative, organic, natural, chemical and humane methods. (£4.99)

Mini Garden Book

A showcase of global garden design throughout history. (£5.95)

Exploring the Starry Sky - Robert Burnham

An easy-to-use guide to the stars and constellations, for the beginner. (£7.95)

HISTORY

Spartans - Paul Cartledge

Ruthless, totalitarian, militaristic and slave-owning - but Spartan women enjoyed unparalleled freedom. The civilisation from its glory days to its demise. (£7.99)

Greek Lives - Plutarch

Lycurgus, Themistocles, Pericles, Alexander, Demosthenes and others. Six cassettes, approx running time 5 hours, read by Nicholas Farrell.(£18.99)

Domesday Book

First complete translation, now in paperback. (£18.99)

Treasure of the City of Ladies - Christine de Pizan, trans. Sarah Lawson

Offers advice and guidance to women of all ages and from all levels of medieval society, from royal courtiers to prostitutes and paints an intricate picture of daily life in the courts and streets of 15th-century France. (£9.99)

1421 The Year China Discovered the World - Gavin Menzies

Fascinating historical detective story tracing the astonishing voyages of the huge Chinese fleet that set sail on 8th February 1421 to journey for over two years and circle the entire globe. (£7.99)

Adventure of English 500 AD-2000 - Melvyn Bragg

English is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages. It is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. It runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet, and it is understood by around 2000m people across the world. Yet it was very nearly wiped out in its early years. The story of the English language - from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position todayTV tie-in. (£20) (2-hour audio version on cassette £9.99)

Forgotten Voices: Ypres & Gallipoli & The Somme/Back to Ypres

Series of 3-hour CDs outlining key WWI battles from the viewpoint of German, US and ANZ soldiers. (£8.99 each).

Britain at War: Unseen Archives

More than 750 original photographs from the archives of the Daily Mail packed into one book. (£9.99).

Days that Shook the World - Hugo Davenport

TV tie-in examining in detail some of the most important days in history (£19.99)

Rhyming History of Britain - James Muirden

From a non-historian who "wrote this poem in order to teach myself some history", illustrated by David Eccles of "Now We Are Sixty". (£9.99)

Essential Militaria - Nicholas Hobbes

Along the lines of "Schott's Miscellany" this fascinating collection contains items such as the top 10 writers on the Gestapo's 1940 hit-list if they managed to occupy Britain (Vera Brittain, Noel Coward ...), the eight wounds of Alexander the Great, and Tim Collins's famous pre-Iraq speech. (£9.99)

HUMOUR

I'm Leaving You Simon, You Disgust Me

A Dictionary of Received Ideas, focussing on particularly annoying middle-class cliches. (£9.99)

Soddit - Adam Roberts

Parody of 'The Hobbit'. (£6.99)

Bored of the Rings

Now in paperback (£5.99)

Postmodern Pooh - Frederick Crews (£6.99)

Complete Far Side - Gary Larson

Deluxe, two-volume slipcased set containing every Far Side cartoon ever syndicated - over 4,000 plus more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book.We're not keeping it in stock but we can order! (£100)

Crap Towns - Idler Magazine

"The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK." Unfortunately, there are a couple of local nominees. (£10)

Worst Case Scenario Handbook of Parenting - Joshua Piven (£9.99)

Extreme Ironing - Phil Shaw

Combining the thrill of extreme outdoor activity - rock climbing, mountaineering, canoeing, scuba diving or surfing - with the satisfaction of well-pressed clothing. Breathtaking photographs!(£7.99)

Private Eye Annual 2003 (£9.99)

Mediaballs - Private Eye (£3.99)

Unspeakable If - Steve Bell

The best of his cartoons, from the 2001 General Election to the present. (£10.99)

Darwin Awards III - Wendy Northcutt

Even more true stories of how dumb humans have met their maker. (£9.99)

Joy of Shaun (Wallace & Gromit)

Embrace Love with Shaun the Sheep. (£4.99)

Wallace & Gromit's Highway Code

All the little but important things the Stationery Office forgot to tell you. (£4.99)

Bliss - ed. Martin Parr

Postcards of couples and families - will appeal to kitsch enthusiasts! (£14.95)

The Ultimate Book of English Comics - Jon Howells

Entries for all major British comics throughout the '60s, '70s, and '80s: an essential purchase for anyone who still hasn't forgiven their mum for clearing out the attic. (£12.99)

David Beckham Jokebook - A C Parfitt (£6.99)

MBS

Twisted Fables for Twisted Minds - Barefoot Doctor

Fusion of narrative fable and traditional barefoot advice. (£12)

Runes of Elfland - Ari Berk & Brian Froud

Folklorist and poet Ari Berk provides the secret meanings of the runes in Brian Froud's paintings. (£12.99)

Silent Stones - Diana Cooper

New paperback edition of this popular spiritual novel, combining an adventure story with important lessons for the planet. (£7.99)

10-Minutes Kabbalah - Yael Li-Ron1

Judaism's most mystical text in easy to understand terms. (£7.99)

GO M A D, Go Make a Difference Again - The Ecologist

Daily Ways to Save the Planet. (£5.99)

MEDIA

New Biographical Dictionary of Film - David Thomson (£15)

Story of Emmerdale - Lance Parkin

Features every major storyline and character who has appeared in the series since it began in 1972, with archive images and specially commissioned photographs. (£14.99)

Radio Times Guide to Films 2004 (£19.99)

MUSIC

Love Supreme - Ashley Kahn

Copiously researched study of saxophone legend John Coltrane's signature album. (£12.99)

Nothing But the Blues - Lawrence Cohn (£22.50)

Rough Guide to Rock (3e) (£20)

Rough Guide to the Beatles - Chris Ingham (£6.99)

POEMS

Collected Poems - John Betjeman

The bestselling complete poems in paperback. (£8.99)

POLITICS

New Great Game - Lutz Kleveman

Blood and Oil in Central Asia. Shows how competition for the region's vast oil reserves - led by the United States and Russia - is de-stabilizing central Asia. (£16.99)

Pretty Straight Guys - Nick Cohen

British version of 'Stupid White Men' and coruscating anatomy of New Labour Britain. (£14.99)

Hegemony or Survival - Noam Chomsky

Is America's superpower mentality leading us all towards global disaster? (£16.99)

Think Globally, Spend Locally - C. Arnander

Illustrated history of globalisation. A concise primer to the epic events of the last fifty years, illustrated throughout with cartoons of the era from Punch, the New Yorker and the Spectator. (£8.99)

REFERENCE

Guardian Year 2003 (£14.99)

Oxford Dictionary of British Placenames (£8.99)

Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore (£8.99)

Oxford Dictionary of Catchphrases (£7.99)

Oxford Quotations by Subject (£8.99)

Superstitions of the British Isles (£20)

SCIENCE

How to Dunk a Doughnut - Len Fisher

The science behind ordinary daily activities. (£6.99)

On the Shoulders of Giants - Stephen Hawking (ed)

The five classics of physics and astronomy are gathered together for the first time. (£12.99)

Rough Guide to Digital Stuff

In association with Stuff Magazine, Britain's top selling magazine title on digital equipment from DVD recorders to digital cameras and mobile phones, and all the gadgets of now and the future. (£7.99)

Ingenious Women - Deborah Jaffe

Women's scientific inventions and discoveries from the first patent application in 1637 to 1914, illustrated. (£17.99)

TRAVEL

Gervase Phinn's Yorkshire - Gervase Phinn

Lots of colour photos. (£14.99)

Kindness of Strangers - Don George

Lonely Planet explores the unexpected acts of kindness that can occur on the road, with stories from around the globe. (£7.99)

My Life and Travels - Wilfred Thesiger

Anthology of the late great explorer's writings. (£8.99)

Ghost Upon Your Path - John McCarthy

An Exploration of Irish Identity. How come one can find feelings of belonging in a place that one has never visited before? (£7.99)

Trawler - Redmond O'Hanlon

His journey on a trawler sailing from Stromness to Greenland, including fry-ups, and a slightly mad - and very scared - English scientist set down among half-a-dozen tough Scotsmen. (£20)

Pennine Cycleway - Ted Liddle

The Pennine Cycleway is a new long-distance route created principally for cyclists. This book describes the northern section from Kendal across the North Pennines, through Northumberland and the Cheviot Hills to Berwick upon Tweed. (£9.95)

Green Guide for the North West (£9.99)

Good Food Guide 2004 (£15.99)

New Lonely Planet Guides to Japan, the Maldives and Catalunya and the Costa Brava, a Time Out Guide to Eating and Drinking in Paris, and new Rough Guides to Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei, Paris, Provence & the Cote d'Azur and Vietnam.

AUDIO

Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

10 cassettes, read by William Roberts. (£23.99)

Benn Tapes Vol. 1 - Tony Benn

Late each night for over twenty-five years the Labour MP and former Secretary of State, Tony Benn, sat alone and dictated on to tape his account of the daily events at the heart of the government. Double CD, running time 2 hours. (£12.99)

Benn Tapes Vol. 2 Double CD, running time 2 hours. (£12.99)

Douglas Adams at the BBC

This three CD set celebrates the life and work of Douglas Adams, author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with archive clips of Douglas' work and radio interviews. Three CDs, running time 2hrs 30min. (£12.99)

Have I Got News for You

Two cassettes with the best of the last two series that Angus Deayton chaired, last autumn, and the spring 2003 series. Running time approx 3 hours. (£10.99)

Dylan Thomas at the BBC (£12.99)

Ladies of Letters Log On (£12.99)

Classic Ghost Stories

Double cassette, running time 3 hours, read by Michael Williams. (£7.99)

Sign of Four - Conan Doyle

Four cassettes, approx running time 5 hours, read by David Timson. (£11.99)

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Six CDs, running time 6 hours, read by Joanna David. (£14.99)

Rough Guide to Latin Jazz (£11.99)


SEPTEMBER 2003

FICTION

HARDBACK

Lady and the Unicorn - Tracey Chevalier

From the author of 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' a novel centred on six mysterious medieval Flemish tapestries. (£14.99 at The Book Case)

Sunday at the Pool in Kigali - Gil Courtemanche

Powerful denunciation of poverty, ignorance, global apathy and media blindness. Canadian prizewinner (£12.99 at The Book Case)

Thursbitch - Alan Garner

An enigmatic tombstone, high on the bank of a prehistoric Pennine track, has haunted Alan Garner for 50 years. 'Thursbitch' is an exploration of an 18th century mystery; a mystery that lives on in the farms of the area. (£11.99 at The Book Case)

Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

Debut novel set in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion, about a young Afghani's journey to maturity. "If this book does not become a major film, t-shirt and car-sticker, I'll eat my bookmark" - London customer review. (£11.99 at The Book Case)

Yellow Dog - Martin Amis

First novel since 'The Information': a post 9/11 comedy. about "unchangeable: patriarchy and the entire edifice of masculinity ... and the illusion/delusion that we can protect our future and our progeny." He hasn't been a huge seller in HB so far, but there'll be a lot of publicity. (£14.99 at The Book Case)

Pompeii - Robert Harris

Recreates in spellbinding detail one of the most famous natural disasters of all time, focussing on the characters of an engineer and a scientist. Lots of publicity! (£15.99 at The Book Case)

Emma Brown - Clare Boylan/Charlotte Bronte

Victorian novel of mystery, atmosphere and page-turning suspense continued by Clare Boyland from 20 pages left by Charlotte Bronte in 1855. (£14.99 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

Whistling Woman - A S Byatt

Concludes the Frederica quartet. Her new career in television in London is threatened by tumultuous events in Yorkshire. (£6.99)

Three Stories - Alan Bennett

Bind-up of 'Father! Father! Burning Bright', 'The Clothes They Stood Up In' and 'The Laying on of Hands'. (£7.99)

That Old Ace in the Hole - Annie Proulx

One man's struggle to make good in the inhospitable ranch country of the Texas panhandle. (£7.99)

Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber

Sugar, an alluring, nineteen-year-old whore in 1870s London yearns for a better life. Just under 900 pages and to be filmed. (£8.99)

Day in the Life

Charity anthology of original short stories for Breast Cancer Care from writers including Kate Atkinson, Maggie O'Farrell, Joanne Harris and Helen Dunmore. (£6.99)

Songs of the Kings Barry Unsworth

The Trojan War is about to break out but this is a 21st-century approach to the cast of Homeric characters. (£7.99)

Number 10 - Sue Townsend

A fading Prime Minister travels the country incognito in the company of Jack Sprat, the policeman on the door of Number 10, to find out what people really think. (£6.99)

Ringmaster's Daughter - Jostein Gaarder

From the author of "Sophie's World", the tale of a trapeze artist, a lost daughter and an imaginary midget with a green felt cap and bamboo cane. "A psychological portrait of an uncommon man written with classic Gaarder magic." (£6.99)

Fountain at the Centre of the World - Robert Newman

Takes us, via container crate and conference suite, assassination and passport theft, from refugee detention centre and Rio Bravo to the WTO protests. By the Mary Whitehouse Experience chap. (£10.99)

Starter for Ten - David Nicholls

Brian's just started university, armed with the obligatory CND membership and a complete set of Kate Bush albums. (It's 1985) But he also has a dark secret - a burning ambition to appear on University Challenge. Laugh-out-loud humour in Hornby style. (£10.99)

Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations - Alexander McCall Smith

Stories about the endlessly fascinating peculiarities of the human condition. (£6.99)

Balthasar's Odyssey - Amin Maalouf

There are ninety-nine names for God in the Koran: is it possible that there is a secret one-hundredth name? From the author of Leo Africanus and Samarkand (£6.99)

Fatal Eggs- Mikhail Bulgakov

Book Case customers have been a bit resistant to Hesperus titles so far (£6.99 for c.100 pages seems a bit steep) but you might make an exception for Bulgakov! This one combines science fiction with political allegory.

Watch Your Mouth - Daniel Handler

An incest comedy from the author of the Lemony Snicket children's novels: "audacious, quite funny, and always unusual" says an online review (but NOT a children's book!) (£6.99)

Yonder Stands Your Orphan - Barry Hannah

"A hysterical and unremittingly gothic account of obsession, violence, sex and religion in America's Deepest South," it says here. Ideal Christmas present? (£7.99)

--------------

Elizabeth Berg is an American author we haven't tried before, similar to Anne Tyler and Alice Hoffman. This month we have at £6.99 each:

Joy School: A young girl living with her remote father falls in love with a married man.

Never Change: A spinster of 51, Myra Lipinsky is a visiting nurse. A new patient turns out to be an old school friend.

Until the Real Thing Comes Along: funny and touching story of Patty's quest for Mr Right. The man she loves is attractive, financially sound, sensitive and warmhearted - and gay.

------------------

Voyage to the End of the Room - Tibor Fischer

Oceane likes to travel but never goes out. She brings the world into her home via satellite, the Internet and passing foreigners. A novel about what can be known, what evil looks like, why ketchup is important and how Lambeth Council was rated one of the worst. (£10.99)

Platform - Michel Houellebecq

Outrageously funny story of an attempt to create a package-holiday company for sex-tourists in Thailand and North Africa. (£6.99)

Family - Mario Puzo

30 years on from "The Godfather", the story of the greatest crime family in Italian history - the Borgias. (£6.99)

Mistress of Alderley - Robert Barnard

Crime fiction about successful actress whose idyllic life in a Yorkshire village is shattered one day when a young man unexpectedly turns up on her doorstep. (£6.99)

Q is for Quarry - Sue Grafton

This new Kinsey Millhone mystery is based on an unsolved homicide that occurred in 1969, and has generated renewed police efforts. (£6.99)

White Lioness - Henning Mankell

European bestseller about the murder of a young housewife, pillar of the Methodist church, in 1992, peaceful Southern Sweden. Inspector Kurt Wallander investigates. (£6.99)

Kings of the Dark House - Suhayl Saadi

Long dark night of the soul in a Glasgow Asian radio station. Bleak but energetic! (£9.99)

Emperor: the Gates of Rome - Conn Iggulden

Now in paperback, the early life of Julius Caesar and Marcus Brutus, friends caught up in a power struggle. (£6.99)

Under Fire - Henri Barbusse

New translation of French classic, giving a graphic account of World War I from the perspective of the French trenches. It evokes the mundane degradations of trench life as well as the drama and trauma of military action. (£8.99)

New from Collector's Library, nice little dust-jacketed, gilt-edged hardbacks (with marker ribbon) at £5.99 each. The first set includes: Emma, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Mme Bovary, Mayor of Casterbridge, Mrs Dalloway, Oliver Twist, Pride and Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Tale of Two Cities, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Northanger Abbey and Wuthering Heights.

Gisli Sursson's Saga and the Saga of the People of Eyri

First edition in Penguin Classics for two powerful prose sagas, and part of a new series of Eight Icelandic Sagas. (£10.99)

NON-FICTION

ART, CRAFT, PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN

Children's Book Covers - Alan Powers

The most wide-ranging collection of children's book covers and jacket designs ever assembled in book form, aimed at designers, collectors, and lovers of children's literature. 400 col. photos. (£20)

Sari - Mukulka Banerjee

An exploration of the sari as a living garment rather than just a textile, and a fascinating portrait of the life of women in contemporary India. (£24.99)

Heroes and Villains - Gerald Scarfe

Caricaturist Gerald Scarfe has depicted the villainous side of well-known figures portrayed in National Portrait Gallery while Brian Sewell, Joanna Lumley, Sir Peter Hall and Melvyn Bragg et al argue their views on Henry VIII, Oswald Mosley, Virginia Woolf, Princess Diana and David and Victoria Beckham. (£20)

Martin Parr Postcards

Forty-five postcards in a presentation box taken from a comprehensive mid-career retrospective of the work of Magnum photographer Martin Parr, including images from well known series as well as earlier work. (£14.95)

Dhurries- Nada Chaldecott

The very first comprehensive guide to the dhurrie, the cotton flatweave rug that is now enjoying enormous popularity in the West. 248 col. ill.(£24.95)

Path to Buddha - Steve McCurry

100 colour photographs of Tibetan monks and pilgrims through the lens of this sympathetic photographer depicting their strong and dignified belief and reconstruction of sites destroyed by the Red Guard. (£14.95)

Red Color News Soldier - Li Zhensheng

Only known photographic documentation of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. 300 ill. (£24.95)

Wood - Bryan Sentance

In many cultures the tree represents the very force of life itself. This is a worldwide survey of wood, the many different types of wood and their uses, and woodworking techniques employed around the globe. Over 800 illustrations, a guide to collecting, a glossary and information on where to see collections. (£28)

Mass Market Classics: The Home - Wayne Hemingway

A showcase of everyday interior design of the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s. From toasted sandwich makers to mass-produced polypropylene or tubular steel chairs (£16.99)

Men and Collections - Brian Jenner

Peers into the cluttered world of the collector, uncovering the bloke beneath the bric-a-brac, the personality behind the paraphernalia, the method in the memorabilia. Each story is illustrated with photographs of the collector and the collection. (£6.99)

BIOGRAPHY

Rupert Bear - Caroline Bott

The author has pieced together the life of her godfather Alfred Bestall, who illustrated Rupert Bear in the Daily Express almost uninterruptedly for 30 years and collected and catalogued all his work, ranging from 'Punch' cartoons to romantic, dreamy watercolours in addition to his Rupert Bear illustrations. A beautiful gift book with lots of colour plates. (£20)

Rose of Martinique - Andrea Stuart

A Life of Josephine. The butt of one of the oldest jokes around, but her relationship with Napoleon was only a tiny fraction of the life she led as a Caribbean woman in the salons of 18th-century Paris. (But I still think of Vanessa Redgrave ...) (£20)

Memoirs of a Fellwander - Alfred Wainwright

Originally compiled in the 1950s and early 1960s, the Wainwright walking guides are perhaps the most distinctive and unusual such guides ever devised. This is the first UK paperback edition of Wainwright's touching autobiography. (£12.99)

Stargazing: Memoirs of a Lighthouse Keeper - Peter Hill

In 1973, the author, then a 19-year-old student with his head fed by Vietnam, Zappa, Kerouac, Vonnegut, Watergate and Coronation Street, spent six months working on Scottish lighthouses, "keeping" with all manner of unusual and fascinating people. Within thirty years this way of life was to have disappeared entirely. (£14.99)

Biography of Eric Morecambe - Gary Morecambe

From Eric Morecambe's son a biography of one of the most fondly remembered of all British comedy acts, plus diary extracts from Eric Morecambe and many hitherto unseen photographs from the Morecambe family archives. (£16.99)

And Why Not? - Barry Norman

Memoirs of a Film Lover. And he's coming to Hebden Bridge Picture House (24th October)! (£7.99)

David Beckham: the autobiography

His own in-depth account of his career to date, with Manchester United and England, and of his childhood, family and personal life. Col ill (£18.99)

What's It All About - Cilla Black

From the 1963 pop star to "Blind Date", published in the year of her 60th birthday. (£17.99)

Life on Air - David Attenborough

Now in paperback, the memoirs of Britain's best-known natural history film-maker. (£7.99)

Sylvia Plath - Linda Wagner-Martin

Examines the way Sylvia Plath made herself into a writer and discusses of the aftermath of her death. Updated edition. (£14.99)

Pushkin - T J Binyon

Now in paperback, the award-winning biography of possibly Russia's greatest poet. (£12.99)

Koba the Dread - Martin Amis

Tackles the indulgence of communism by Western intellectuals including a 100-page study of Stalin. (£7.99)

Editor - Max Hastings

Candid memoir of his career as editor of the "Daily Telegraph". (£7.99)

Song Flung Up to Heaven - Maya Angelou

Now in paperback, the final volume in the bestselling autobiography which began with 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'. (£6.99)

800 Years of Women's Letters - Olga Kenyon

New paperback edition of unique insight into women's private thoughts and feelings over the centuries. (£7.99)

Guardian Book of Obituaries - Phil Osborne

The Guardian's obituaries are among the paper's most loved and well-read pages. This collection brings together the retrospective of over one hundred men and women who shaped the world that we live in today. It is a wonderful testimony - occasionally inspiring and often very funny - to the achievements of some remarkable people. (£12.99)

FOOD AND DRINK

French Leave - John Burton-Race

Over 200 irresistible recipes in a TV tie-in, following 2-star Michelin chef John Burton-Race, his wife, six children and Labrador dog as they escape everyday life in London and head off to rural France to set up home for a year. (£20)

Juicing Bible - Pat Crocker

250 recipes, with metric measurements throughout, for 185 ingredients. (£12.95)

Pocket Wine Book - Hugh Johnson

Now in its 27tth year of publication, with news on more than 6,000 wines, growers, and regions. (£9.99)

Good Beer Guide 2004 - Roger Protz

More than just a pub guide for beer lovers, contains details of food, pub history, architecture, transport and accommodation and the suitability of facilities for families. plus CAMRA's listing of pubs of special importance and details of new breweries, mergers and takeovers. (£12.99)

Good Bottled Beer Guide - Jeff Evans

The Good Beer Guide's little brother - focuses on bottled real ale and includes all bottled real ales brewed in the UK, with tasting notes, ingredients and background information. (£8.99)

Real Ale Pub Guide 2004

County by county directions and details of the pubs and their ales, and all the local breweries. (£11.99)

GARDENING & FARMING

Bob Flowerdew's Organic Bible

New revised edition. (£14.99)

Organic Farming - Stephan Dabbert et al

Draws on a large body of scientific research to review the organic farming sector in the 21st century, assess its contributions to the environment, food quality, farmers' incomes and rural development and makes recommendations. (£14.95)

Hen and the Art of Chicken Maintenance - Martin Gurdon

You don't need to be a farmer to raise poultry. This idiosyncratically written book chronicles the endless pleasures and myriad pitfalls of chicken keeping. (£8.99)

GIFTS

Now we're getting silly, but Christmas is coming, or the publishers think it is, anyway:

Build Your Own Kaleidoscope/Snow Globe/Fireplace in a Box (£5.99 each)

Executive Desk Gong / Guardian Angels Box of Miracles / Magnetic Love Signs (£3.99 each)

Playing cards of the 54 Most Unwanted Politicians : Regime Change Begins at Home

Bush is the Ace of Spades, Blair the Ace of Clubs, Clare Short a Joker ... (£5.00)

HISTORY

Great Tales of English History - Robert Lacey

"From Cheddar Man to the Peasants' Revolt." First of three volumes bringing the human interest back to English history. (£14.99)

Britain BC - Francis Pryor

The implications of remarkable new archaeological finds for the whole of British history before the Romans. Far from being the woaded barbarians of Roman propaganda, we had our own religion, laws, crafts, arts, trade, farms, priesthood and royalty. And the Scots, English and Welsh were fundamentally one and the same people (which news may not thrill the Scots and Welsh however). (£25)

Captives - Linda Colley

Britain, Empire and the World, 1600-1850. Uncovers the experiences and writings of those tens of thousands of men and women who "got caught" during Britain's rise to imperial pre-eminence and shows how British attitudes to Islam, slavery, race and American revolutionaries look different once the perspective of the captive is admitted. (£8.99)

Scurvy - Stephen R Bown

How a surgeon, a mariner and a gentleman solved the greatest medical mystery of the age of sail. (£9.99)

Sex Botany and Empire - Patricia Fara

The story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks. When Cook returned from his first voyage to Australia, the scandal writers mercilessly satirised the amorous exploits of his botanist, Joseph Banks, whose trousers were reportedly stolen while he was inside the tent of Queen Oberea of Tahiti. (£9.99)

Seven Wonders of the Industrial World - Deborah Cadbury

The story of how our modern world was forged - in rivets, grease and steam; in blood, sweat and human imagination. TV tie-in. (£20)

Canals of the Aire and Calder Navigation
This pictorial history demonstrates how the Calder became one of the UK's most successful inland waterways. (£9.99)

Victorian Underworld - Donald Thomas

A sweeping portrait of the vast world that did not accept Victorian values. Here, through the eyes of its inhabitants, the author portrays the nineteenth century underworld - one of night houses and cigar divans, of street people and entertainers. (£8.99)

Natasha's Dance - Orlando Figes

A Cultural History of Russia, shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. (£8.99)

Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody - Will Cuppy

A lighthearted romp through history, in the tradition of '1066 and All That'. (£7.99)

They Saw It Happen - ed. Matthew Lewin

Eyewitness accounts from Ancient Greece to Hiroshima. A unique collection of more than 60 eyewitness accounts brought to life on audiobook with music of the period. 4 cassettes, approx running time 5 hours. (£11.99)

HUMOUR

Python's Autobiography by the Pythons - Graham Chapman

The book is £30, so we're just stocking the CD! Can get you the book though ... (£16.99)

Ignobel Prizes - Marc Abrahams

The Annals of Improbable Research. Looks behind the scenes of the weirdest research from a hundred years of science (£6.99)

Now We Are Sixty and a Bit - Christopher Matthew

Another collection of A A Milne-inspired poems. (£9.99)

Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody - Michael Gerber (£5.99)

Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel - Michael Gerber (£6.99)

Morecambe & Wise

A celebration of their finest repartee. (£4.99)

How to Create a Flawless Universe

Illustrated step-by-step guide to creating your own Universe in just eight days, with cut-out-and-paste templates for easy creation of animals, birds, fishes and persons. (£9.99)

MBS

Contented Little Baby Book of Sleeping - Gina Ford (£9.99)

Child is Born - Lennart Nilsson

The beloved classic bestseller updated for the 21st century using state-of-the-art photography to show the miracle of birth. (£25)

Your Life in Your Hands - Jane Plant

Understanding, Preventing and Overcoming Breast Cancer. Updated paperback edition of this local bestseller including new information on soya.. (£9.99)

Bitch in the House - Cathi Hanauer

Twenty-six women tell the truth about sex, solitude, work, motherhood and marriage. (£6.99)

Mirror Cards - Geoff Charley

A unique self-counselling tool to help you keep your relationship in good health. The cards are based on the principle of 'mirroring', reflecting back to you what you most need to learn. (£12.99)

Life Laundry 2 - Dawna Walter

How to stay de-junked forever. TV tie-in. (£7.99)

New Revelations Neale Donald Walsch

In the aftermath of 9/11, five fallacies about life, combined with the five fallacies about God, continue to feed a deadly misconception that leads to devastating world events governed by violence and crisis. Offers some possible answers and tools (£7.99)

My Dream Journal (£14.99)

Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace(£6.99)

Straw Dogs - John Gray

Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals. Argues that the humanist belief in human difference is an illusion. (£8.99)

MEDIA

Time Out Film Guide 2004

Widely regarded as the best guide on the market, it reviews over 14,000 films. (£18.99)

Penguin TV Companion - Jeff Evans

Full cast lists and lively plot synopses of programmes broadcast in the UK, as well as entries on actors, writers, producers and directors.Updated and expanded for its second edition. (£16.99)

Guardian Media Directory 2004 - Emily Bell

Now transformed into a directory, more comprehensive and user friendly than ever before. (£17.99)

POETRY

Feminine Gospels - Carol Ann Duffy

Now in paperback. (£7.99)

Nation's Favourite Poems of Remembrance (£6.99)

POLITICS

Wages of Spin - Bernard Ingham

Sir Bernard Ingham dissects the curse of modern politics. (£8.99)

Hoo Hahs and Passing Frenzies - Francis Wheen

A updated edition of this collection of his best o commentary and analysis from the last ten years, including the war in Iraq and the collapse of Enron.(£6.99)

Political Animal - Jeremy Paxman

Why Don't We Like Politicians? And why do governments and politicians so often fail to live up to expectations? (£7.99)

Yob Society - Frank Field

Maverick Labour MP Frank Field charts the rise of anti-social behaviour and suggests radical solutions in this controversial new book. (£7.99)

Bumper Book of British Lefties - Paul Routledge

Witty pen portraits of 250 men and women who painted the political scene red - Bevin, Bevan, Foot and Castle rub shoulders with Arthur Scargill, Tom Driberg, Billy Bragg, Kim Philby, Donald Maclean and Tony Booth. (£8.99)

Under the Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer

A riveting account of Taliban-like theocracies in the American heartland controlled by renegade Mormon prophets. (£16.99)

REFERENCE

Collins Fix It Manual - Albert Jackson

A Complete Guide to Repairing Everyday Appliances. From hairdryers to washing machines, toasters to televisions, this essential book provides easy-to-follow solutions. (£25)

How Things Are Made - Sharon Rose

From autombiles to zippers - an entertaining illustrated A-Z of the processes behind the manufacture of everyday items. (£12.95)

CVs for Dummies (£12.99)

Chambers Dictionary (9th ed) (£30)

Chambers Concise Biographical Dictionary (£14.99)

Guinness World Records 2004 (£18)

What Not to Wear 2 - Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine

What to wear for every occasion. TV tie-in. (£14.99)

SCIENCE

Tomorrow's People - Susan Greenfield

How 21st century technology is changing the way we think and feel. Argues that the current revolution in biomedical science and information technologies will have a dramatic impact on our brains and central nervous system. (£20)

SPORT AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Mammoth Book of Mountain Disasters - Hamish MacInnes

Spans five continents - from the Appalachians to Mount Cook, from Peak Lenin to Siula Grande. (£7.99)

Rough Guide to Cult Football

The legends of the sport, from George Best and Romario to Vick Buckingham and Brian Clough plus the finest games ever played and an eclectic round-up of the clubs that have shaped the game. (£7.99)

TRAVEL

Good Hotel Guide 2004 (£15.99)

Lonely Planet Gap Year Book

Practical guide to planning and taking a year out - preparation, when and where to go, what to do, with tried and tested itineraries from real gappers. (£12.99)

Lots of new Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Guides

To Catch a Tartar - Chris Bird

The author lived right in the midst of the Chechen conflict for many years and brings first-hand tales and personal experience to the book. (£7.99)

Sahara - Michael Palin

The first paperback publication of this popular TV tie-in. (£7.99)

Among the Believers - V S Naipaul

An Islamist Journey. Naipaul shows young people battling to regain the original purity of their faith, and offers an insight into modern Islam and the comforting simplifications of religious fanaticism. New edition. (£7.99)

Eight Feet in the Andes - Dervla Murphy

The feet belong to Dervla Murphy, her nine-year-old daughter Rachel and Juana, an elegant mule, who together clambered the length of Peru, from the border with Ecuador, to Cuzco, the ancient Inca capital, over 1300 miles to the south. New edition. (£8.99)

Sailing Alone Around the World - Joshua Slocum

A classic of sailing literature - one of the greatest sea adventures of all time. New edition. (£7.99)

AUDIO

Wuthering Heights

Five CDs, running time 5hrs 30mins. Read by Prunella Scales and Timothy West. (£14.99)

2004 CALENDARS AND DIARIES

Calendar Girls Calendar (Royalties to Leukaemia Research) (£9.99)

365 Tiny Paper Airplanes Calendar: Page-a-day with six basic planes instructions. (£10.99)

Origami Page-a-Day Calender (£10.99)

Thomas and Friends Sticker Calendar (£7.99)

Granta Diary 2004 (£11.99)

Redstone Music Diary 2004 (£11.95)

Mind Body Spirit Book of Days 2004 (£12.99)

My Inner Pilgrimage Journal: colour photos (£14.99)

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Story of the little Mole - Holzwarth

The favourite about poo (not the bear). This one has a plush mole toy. (£9.99)

Wide-mouthed Frog - Faulkner

He has a huge mouth and he asks everyone what they like to eat, until he asks a creature who likes to eat wide-mouthed frogs. A pop-up book. (£6.99)

Smartest Giant in Town - Julia Donaldson

George the giant is scruffy. Treating himself to new clothes, he becomes smart until he meets animals who desperately need his help. (£4.99)

More the Merrier - Anne Fine

More definitely does not mean merrier when ten relatives come to stay at Christmas. (£10.99)

Last of the sky Pirates - Stewart/Riddell

New in paperback. From rock demons and rubble ghouls to banderbears, spindlebugs and a myriad of other amazing creatures. (£5.99)

Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet - Geraldine McCaughrean

All the favourite ballets in story form. (£7.99)

Angels Command - Brian Jacques

Ben and his dog escape when the Flying Dutchman is lost off the coast of South America. Now the evil Captain Vanderecken wants them back. (£12.99)

August 44 - Carlo Gebler

Retelling the stories of Prague’s Golem. "August 44" also brings to life the terrifying atmosphere of occupied France. (£5.99)


AUGUST 2003

FICTION

HARDBACK

Double Vision - Pat Barker

A man embarks on a book about the images of war, based on a late friend's photographs; he is having recurring nightmares of his time in Sarajevo. (£14.99 at The Book Case)

Taxi Driver's Daughter - Julia Darling

The story of a family from the North East on the verge of collapse, caught between the escape they crave and the imperfect reality that seems to be their lot. The author recently appeared at the Little Theatre reading poems from her new book Sudden Collapses in Public Places (£11.99 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

Voyageurs - Margaret Elphinstone

In 1810 a young English farmer sets out to find his missionary sister, lost in the Canadian wilderness. (£9.99 at the Book Case)

Lands of Glass - Alessandro Baricco

A small-town glassmaker is commissioned to make the glass for the Crystal Palace. Add an extravagant inventor and a steam locomotive for a tale of angry visions, confused emotions and fantastic ambitions. From the author of Silk. (£7.99)

Vintage Crucial Classics:

12 classic works of 20th century literature at £3.99 each:

Death in Venice, End of the Affair, Gigi, Goodbye to Berlin, Enfants Terribles, Master & Margerita, Nights at the Circus, Slaughterhouse Five, Song Lines, Under the Net, All Quiet on the Western Front, Cider with Rosie

NON-FICTION

ANTIQUES, ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Antiques Price Guide 2004 - Judith Miller

Features unique close-up photography to identify key marks and blemishes that make all the difference. From Dorling Kindersley. (£22.99)

Millers Antiques Price Guide 2004

This one's been going for 25 years. Now in full colour, it covers traditional antiques (furniture, pottery, porcelain, glass, silver, etc.) plus decorative arts, textiles, posters, kitchenware, and more. (£24.99)

Behind the Brush Strokes - Khoo Seow Hwa

A comprehensive study of Chinese calligraphy. (£9.99)

Don McCullin

The definitive retrospective of the whole career of one of the greatest British photographers. Originally published at £50 in a larger format.(£17.50)

BIOGRAPHY

My Life as Me - Barry Humphries

'Barry, you used to be so nice', his mum used to say. Now Australia's most famous comedian reflects on his long journey away from niceness. (£7.99)

Banker to the Poor - Muhammad Yunus

"The Story of the Grameen Bank." Autobiography of the man who invented humanitarian banking and micro-credit - acknowledged by world leaders and the President of the World Bank to be a fundamental weapon in the fight against poverty. (£8.99)

CURRENT AFFAIRS

The War against Saddam - John Simpson

The summation of more than twenty years covering Saddam Hussein's Iraq, with the full story of his rise to power and the West's relationship with him throughout his dictatorship to his recent downfall. From the popular BBC World Affairs Editor, who has reported from Iraq during the conflict. (£20)

Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad

The author lived with an Afghan family and as a woman outsider could move between the two worlds. Bookseller Sultan Khan had defied the authorities in order to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned by the Communists, and watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. But he is also a committed Muslim with strict views on family life. A moving portrait of a family and a clear-eyed assessment of a country struggling to free itself from history. (£12.99)

Inside Al Qaeda - Mohamed Sifaoui

"How I Infiltrated the World's Deadliest Terrorist Organisation." The journalist author, a committed opponent of Islamic fundamentalism, by chance met an Algerian school contemporary, now active in a Parisian Al Qaeda cell, and spent three months under cover with Al Qaeda. Over 35,000 copies sold in France. (£6.99)

FOOD

Rick Stein's Guide to the Food Heroes of Britain

Companion volume to 'Rick Stein's Food Heroes': a directory of the best food producers, suppliers and retailers in Great Britain and Ireland. Encourages readers to explore the small-scale side of food production. (£12.99)

Raw (The Uncook Book) - Juliano

A unique introduction to gourmet raw cuisine, with delicious healthy dishes made entirely from living plant foods. Much, much more than just 100 variations of salad! (£12.99)

GARDENING

Gardening and Planting by the Moon 2004 - Nick Kollerstrom

The 2004 edition of this full 15-month daily calendar by the BBC's Lunar Gardening Correspondent shows exactly how the influence of the moon can be harnessed even by urban gardeners. (£8.99)

HISTORY

Carnival in Romans - Emmanuel le Ladurie

How the winter carnival of 1580 in Romans in southern France degenerated into a bloody ambush. From the author of Montaillou. (£10.99)

Children of Kali - Kevin Rushby

The Thugs murdered more than a million travellers without spilling a drop of blood: were they freedom fighters or vicious hoodlums? This book explores the dark side of India but also the demons that exist within a traveller's own mind. (£7.99)

Victorian House - Judith Flanders

Domestic Life from Childbirth to Deathbed. A social history of Victorian domestic life told through the letters, diaries, journals and novels of 19th century men and women. Organised room by room, the book is a complete exploration of Victorian life - dark, cold and dirty. (£20)

MBS

New Book of Magical Names - Phoenix McFarland

The only lexicon of non-Christian names and their meanings in print, taken from modern and ancient sources. Contains almost unbelievably, over 5,000 entries.(£16.99)

Women Who Think Too Much - Susan Nolen-Hoeksema

A groundbreaking new book from an award-winning researcher that challenges the notion that constantly analysing our emotions and our selves is a good thing. (£10.99)

Highly Sensitive Child - Elaine N. Aron

The follow-up to the worldwide bestseller, The Highly Sensitive Person, this book demonstrates how to raise sensitive children to be happy and confident adults. (£9.99)

I Only Say This Because I Love You - Deborah Tannen

How to improve relationships with family members by understanding what conversations in the family really mean. (£8.99)

1001 Symbols - Jack Tresidder

An Illustrated Guide to Symbols and Their Meanings. Portable guide to traditional symbolism iarranged by theme. (£7.99)

From Age Concern,

Caring for Someone Who Has Had a Stroke

Caring for Someone Who Has Dementia, (£6.99 each)

Postmodernism (Pocket Essentials) (£3.99)

Free Will (A Very Short Introduction)(£6.99)

REFERENCE

Note the two big writers' guides are now coming out nearly simultaneously!

Writer's and Artist's Yearbook 2004

Ninety-seventh edition of this bestselling guide to markets in all areas of the media, revised, redesigned and updated. Includes ghost writing, distribution, and adaptation. Listings include newspapers and magazines, book publishers and literary agents, TV and film producers, websites, picture agencies and libraries, societies, prizes, festivals and editorial services. (£13.99)

Writer's Handbook 2004 - Barry Turner

The seventeenth edition of the bestselling guide to everything to do with writing. Revised, updated and enlarged. (£12.99)

A-Z of Everything - Trevor Montague

We haven't stocked encyclopaedias for a bit, but the first edition of this was a bestseller! (£25)

What To Do If a Bird Flies in the House - Elizabeth Nix

Fresh and funny, this book will be the twenty- and thirty-something woman's quick-fix guide to a more fabulous life. Through short, easy to follow instructions and graphics, readers will learn over 70 essential skills. (£8.99)

Good Web Site Guide - Graham Edmonds (£4.99)

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Women and Plants - Patricia Howard

Highlights the crucial role of women in plant biodiversity management and conservation, the influence of gender relations on the ways in which local people understand, manage and conserve biodiversity, and the importance of continued access to biological resources for rural women's status and welfare. Also shows up the gender biases evident in much contemporary scientific research, policy and development practice. (£16.95)

Dawkins vs Gould - Kim Sterelny (£9.99)

TRAVEL

Over the Hills and Far Away - Candida Lycett Green

Betjeman's daughter's story of her journeys round England on horseback and a memoir of her family, from her idyllic childhood, charmed youth in the Swinging Sixties and later travels. Blends lyrical impressions of landscape with echoes of her father's writing. (£7.99)

In Ethiopia with a Mule - Dervla Murphy

Famously intrepid Dervla Murphy's account of her hazardous trek through Ethiopia's remote and hostile regions with her pack-mule, Jock. (£8.99)

Ray Mears' World of Survival

Well known TV presenter Ray Mears shares his experiences from around the world to reveal how native peoples survive in some of the harshest environments on Earth. (£14.99)

Traveller’s Guide to Sacred England - John Mitchell

The classic bestselling guidebook has been revised and substantially updated to produce this completely new, easy-to-use edition. (£14.95)

New Footprint Handbooks to Central America & Mexico, and South America, plus new Lonely Planet Guides to India and Thailand.

AUDIO

Alan Bennett at the BBC

A unique anthology of Alan Bennett's radio and television work featuring extracts from his diaries and readings, tributes to Russell Harty and Peter Cook plus commentary and specially recorded links by Bennett himself. Running time 2hrs 30mins. (£12.99)

Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe

Double cassette, running time 3 hours. Read by Jan Francis. (£7.99)

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Quilt for Baby - Kim Lewis

Whilst mother makes a patchwork quilt she tells the story of each picture square. (£4.99)

Elmer and the Butterfly - David McKee

Elmer rescues a butterfly and she promises to help him in return. He doesn’t think that a tiny butterfly could ever help him but he finds out sooner than expected. (£4.99)

Go Maisy Go - Lucy Cousins

Featuring vehicles of all kinds. Here is the new Maisy flap book. (£7.99)

Castle Diary and Pirate Diary - Richard Platt

Winner of the 2002 Smarties Silver Prize now available in paperback.(£3.99)

Horrid Henry’s Underpants - Francesca Simon

Henry’s biggest and naughtiest adventure yet. (£4.99)

Spiderwick Chronicles - Tony Diterlizzi

Books 1 & 2. Jared Grace found their great uncle’s book and realises that they are not alone in their new house. The faeries do everything to stop them telling their story. Get ready to enter a world that you never knew existed. (£5.99)

Wish List - Eoin Colfer

Life, death and the unexpected hereafter in this bestseller now in paperback. (£5.99)

At the Sign of the Sugared Plum - Mary Hooper

Hannah is excited at the prospect of joining her sister in her sweatmeats shop in 17C London but the Plague is sweeping through street by street, house by house. (£5.99)

Fat Boy Swim - Catherine Forde

Jimmy Kelly is bullied at school. He’s a talented chef and when the school sports coach sees his potential this becomes a story of triumph over adversity. Memorable and emotional. (£4.99)


JULY 2003

FICTION

HARDBACK

Rules of Engagement - Anita Brookner

Old school friends Elizabeth and Betsy meet again in their thirties. Are their lives taking off, or are they just making more of the wrong choices? (£14.99 at The Book Case)

Boy who Taught the Beekeeper to Read - Susan Hill

An exciting event: a new collection of short stories by Susan Hill - elegant, poetic, intelligent and brave. (£9.00 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

High Society - Ben Elton

The war on drugs has been lost for want of the courage to face the fact that the whole world is rapidly becoming one vast criminal network. Hilarious and terrifying journey through a kaleidoscope world from which the law offers no protection. (£6.99)

Next Big Thing - Anita Brookner

Herz is seventy-three. He must do something with the time left - but what? Comedy about what it really means to be old. (£6.99)

This is Not a Novel - Jennifer Johnston

Irish Book of the Year shortlisted - Johnny, an outstanding young swimmer, went missing nearly thirty years ago: drowned, or so everyone except his sister Imogen believes. As Imogen gradually pieces together bits of her family history, we hear the tragic echoes that connect her with the Great War and Ireland in the nineteen-twenties. (£6.99)

In Arcadia - Ben Okri

A group of angry and ill-assorted people accept an invitation to discover the real Arcadia. (£6.99)

Dead Air - Iain Banks

Ken Nott is a devoutly contrarian, radio shock-jock living in London. After a wedding breakfast people start dropping things from a balcony on to a deserted car park ten storeys below. But mobile phones ring and they're a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center... (£7.99)

Dirt Music - Tim Winton

Prize-winning novel set in Western Australia Georgie Jutland is a mess. At forty, with her career in ruins, she finds herself stranded in White Point with a fisherman she doesn't love and two kids whose dead mother she can never replace. Then a dangerous new element enters her life: Luther Fox, the local poacher, (£6.99)

Seahorse - Tania Unsworth

When Vanessa West and her mother Marion travel to Ashagiri, the Indian hill town where Marion grew up, they embark on a journey in search of the past. (£6.99)

For Matrimonial Purposes - Kavita Daswani

Debut novel about the differences between Indian and American culture. "One meeting, two worlds, one hour to decide." (£6.99)

Wake Up - Tim Pears

John plans to change the world with GM potatoes injected with edible vaccines. (£6.99)

Standing in the Rainbow - Fannie Flagg

Feelgood novel from the author of "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe".(£6.99)

Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn

The people of Nollop worship the author of the pangram 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' and erect a statue to their hero, but one day the letter 'z' falls from the inscription. The council see this as Nollop's message from beyond the grave. (£6.99)

Stillness - Courtney Brkic

Puts a human face on the lost, missing, exiled, and invisible, from all sides of the recent Yugoslavian conflict. (£9.99)

Learning to Talk - Hilary Mantel

This collection of loosely autobiographical stories locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood. Being dramatised on "Woman's Hour". (£6.99)

Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age - Kenzaburo Oe

Last novel from the winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize for Literature. A poignant picture of the strange, loving, burdensome relationship between father and son."(£7.99)

Englishman's Wife - Louis Sanders

Sexual jealousy and vioilence in the Dordogne. An antidote to "Chocolat", it says! (£8.99)

Enemy Women - Paulette Jiles

Literary Western set in 1865 Missouri, with cinematic sweep, a galloping pace and a memorable heroine. Cold Mountain by Sebastian Faulks! (£6.99)

Babes in the Wood - Ruth Rendell

When a couple get back from a weekend in Paris, they find both teenage children and their minder vanished - assumed drowned. 19th Chief Inspector Wexford mystery (£6.99)

REISSUES:

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Raymond Carver

Stories set in the mid-West among the lonely men and women who drink, fish and play cards to ease the passing of time: one of the most influential literary works of the 1980s. (£6.99)

Will You Please Be Quiet Please - Raymond Carver

His first collection. (£6.99)

NON-FICTION

Biography

Mad Madge - Katie Whitaker

The Flamboyant Civil War Duchess of Newcastle. One of the first Englishwomen to make a living through her writing, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, was a dazzling figure - brave, eccentric, loving, clever and energetic - who wrote of herself: 'My mind's too big'. Her colourful story is told against the background of the Civil War and the Restoration. (£20)

Lost King of France - Deborah Cadbury

"The Tragic Story of Marie-Antoinette's Favourite Son". The brief life and many possible deaths of Louis XVII. Radio 4 Book of the Week, "reads like a gothic novel". (£8.99)

Carlyle's House and Other Sketches - Virginia Woolf

First publication of one of Virginia Woolf's very earliest notebooks, recently unearthed. It contains a series of six striking and semi-autobiographical sketches, experimental in style, and heralding the later masterpieces. Foreword by Doris Lessing. (£4.99)

At War with Waugh - Bill Deedes

From the original of Boot in Waugh's satirical novel "Scoop", the real story of his adventures in Abyssinia in the 1930s. (£12.99)

As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me - Josef M Bauer

Extraordinary true story of one man's dramatic escape from a Siberian Labour camp and his three year trek to freedom, originally published in 1955. (£8.99)

Steps Along Hope Street - David Sheppard

"My Life in London and Liverpool". Autobiography of the Captain of the England cricket team and former Bishop of Liverpool, a combination of personal journey, theological exploration and political memoir. (£8.99)

Little Princesses - Marion Crawford

The Queen and Princess Margaret's childhood by their nanny. (£6.99)

Death and Life of Sylvia Plath - Ronald Hayman

Not a conventional biography, this book offers an explanation of Sylvia Plath's death in 1963, and discusses her life with her husband Ted Hughes. Previously unpublished photographs. (£7.99)

Outsider- Keith Hellawell

The tough life of one of Britain's most senior policemen, who rose through the ranks from poverty and deprivation to the highest office, and went on to become Blair's 'Drug Czar'. (£8.99)

Craft

Readers Digest Complete DIY Manual (£19.99)

Building Your Own Home - Tony Booth

The ultimate guide to managing a self-build project and creating your dream home. Co-written by a property developer/estate agent and an architect/self-builder. (£12.99)

Tranquillity Fountain - Micky Baskett

"Projects for a Serene Lifestyle." Learn to construct small fountains from a variety of materials. (£12.99)

Current Affairs

Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi

"A Story of Love, Books and Revolution." When Azar Nafisi was fired from teaching English literature at Tehran University because she refused to wear a veil, she gathered a group of her female students and resumed her classes at home, privately and discreetly. (£14.95)

Sewing Circles of Herat - Christina Lamb

"The terrible human cost of the Taliban experiment and the enduring strength of spirit of those who refused to join it." (£7.99)

Secret History of the IRA - Ed Moloney

At the heart of a a cold, ferocious, persistent campaign of bombing and terror of extraordinary duration and inventiveness lies one man: Gerry Adams. How did a man who condoned atrocities that resulted in huge numbers of civilian deaths also become the guiding light behind the peace process? (£8.99)

News from No Mans Land - John Simpson

Third riveting volume of the popular frontline BBC reporter's autobiography, focussing on how journalists set about finding the stories that make the headlines. (£7.99)

Middle East Illusions Noam Chomsky

The roots of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, why the US-brokered 'peace process' repeatedly fails to deliver peace, the interests that underlie current US strategic doctrines in the Middle East and possible more peaceful and viable alternatives. (£14.99)

Middle East for Dummies (£13.95)

We are Everywhere - Notes from Nowhere

A celebration of direct action movements across the planet told through the words and images of the people who are still there. (£9.00)

Global Woman - Barbara Ehrenreich

Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy. The unexplored consequences of globalisation on the lives of women worldwide. (£8.99)

Just Another Kid - Torey Hayden

An educational psychologist describes her work with emotionally disturbed teenagers. One of a series. (£5.99)

History

History of Women's Bodies - Edward Shorter

A social and medical history of women: the social anthropology of women and the history of childbearing and the family. (£8.99)

Real Bluebeard - Jean Benedetti

The horrific deeds of Gilles de Rais, the precursor of our own time's serial killers and a founding father of the cult of the child-snatching bogeyman. A gripping story, told with great verve and an authoritative grasp of the historical context. (£8.99)

Pilgrimage of Grace - Geoffrey Moorhouse

The Rebellion that Shook King Henry VIII's Throne. The dramatic story of a forgotten 16th century rebellion by the North of England against the Crown. (£8.99)

Black Hole of Calcutta - Noel Barber

The notorious episode in Imperial Indian history, when on the night of June 21, 1756, 123 English prisoners suffocated to death on the orders of Siraj-ud-Daula, Nawab (ruler) of Bengal. A classic work involving detection, story-telling and the skills of reconstruction of past events. (£8.99)

Humour

Tragically I was an Only Twin - Peter Cook

Collection of the late great comedian's work including his dualogues with Moore as Pete and Dud, and Derek and Clive, to transcripts of TV appearances, and a selection of his journalism. (£7.99)

One Hit Wonderland - Tony Hawks

Tony Hawks' unique assault on the world of music, as memorably demonstrated at Hebden Bridge Picture House! (£6.99)

Finding New Goddesses - Barbara Ardinger

New and wildly inventive goddesses to help frustrated individuals cope with life in the 21st century. Goddesses from Acme to Zombonie and more than 20 computer goddesses come to the rescue of mortals looking for a parking spot, sending an e-mail attachment, working a temp job, laboring at the gym, seeking decent day care, or panicking about what to take to a potluck dinner. (£10.99)

What Not To Wear - Susannah Constantine and Trinny Woodall

Straight-talking BBC Television style experts reveal the secrets of looking good and offer advice on making the most of your body. Brutally frank, deliciously rude, spookily spot-on. (£7.99).

MBS

Letting Go as Children Grow - Deborah Jackson

An updated guide to relaxed parenting, previously titled 'Do Not Disturb'. (£7.99)

Three in a Bed- Deborah Jackson

The benefits of sleeping with your baby. (£7.99)

That's My Boy - Jenni Murray

The latest research on the development and education of boys, from the voice of Woman's Hour, who has two sons herself. (£9.99)

Who Moved My Cheese for Teens - Spencer Johnson

How to anticipate change and adapt quickly; bestseller adapted for young people. (£8.99)

Tai Chi Mind & Body - Tricia Yu

Easy-to-use programme from Dorling Kindersley. (£12.99)

Media, Music and Poetry

Nobody's Perfect - Anthony Lane

Collection of film, book, art and culture reviews from the witty New York Times critic. (£12.99)

Beatles Anthology

For the very first time, the story of The Beatles from birth to break up - in their own words. Paperback edition. 1000 colour photos and illus. (£20)

Blue Note Records - Richard Cook

Chronicles the most famous and influential jazz label of them all, from its 1939 beginnings to the present day. Plus a parallel analysis of all the major records released by the label throughout its history. (£10)

Do You Mr Jones - Neil Corcoran (ed)

Simon Armitage, Paul Muldoon and others explore every aspect of Bob Dylan's work. (£10)

Best-Loved Poems of John Betjeman (£7.99)

Reference

Pears Cyclopaedia - Chris Cook

112th edition covering politics and economics, literature, music and art, science, medicine and the environment. (£16.99)

Roget's Thesaurus

Completely updated with hundreds of new words. (£11.99)

Science & Philosophy

Out of Eden: the Peopling of the World - Stephen Oppenheimer

Presents new findings that radically change our views of humanity's global migration. Accompanies Discovery/Channel 4 documentary. (£18.99)

Dictionary of Science and Technology - S M H Collin (£9.99)

Knowledge is Power - John Henry

How magic, the government and an apocalyptic vision helped Francis Bacon to create modern science. (£6.99)

Philosopher at the End of the Universe - Mark Rowlands

If you understand "The Matrix", you can understand Descartes! (£9.99)

Travel (of various kinds)

Le Tour: a history of the Tour de France - Geoffrey Wheatcroft

History of the event's first hundred years - a blend of history, sport and culture published to coincide with the centenary Tour de France in July 2003. (£16.99)

Parallel Lines - Ian Marchant

The story of two railways: the real railway and the railway of our dreams & memories. Bill Bryson meets Michael Palin! (£12.99)

Pub Crawls 2 - Barrie Pepper

Ranging from city centres, through suburbs, to country towns; and villages, and including some country rambles. (£7.99)

Way of a Ship - Derek Lundy

Benjamin Lundy crossed oceans under sail in the late nineteenth century and over one hundred years later Derek Lundy, his great-great nephew, has re-created that journey. (£7.99)

Through the Embers of Chaos - Dervla Murphy

A truly people-focused account of travels in the troubled former Yugoslavia. (£8.99)

New travel guides include a Lonely Planet guide to Cycling in Ireland and Rough Guides to Amsterdam, Andalucia, Brittany and Normandy, and the Ionian Islands.

We're boosting our Talking Books section, and Audio items in July include:

World's Wife - Carol Ann Duffy

Double CD, running time 90 minutes approx, read by Eileen Atkins, Jill Balcon and Elizabeth Bell. (£12.99)

Vanity Fair - William Thackeray

Read by Timothy West. Double cassette, running time 3 hours. (£7.99)

Audience with Tony Benn

Tony Benn's hugely successful stage show. Double CD, running time 2 hours. (£10)

Dr Zhivago - Boris Pasternak

Four cassettes, running time 6 hours. (£12.99)

Calendars & Diaries

2004 Calendars include:

Babar's Yoga for Elephants (£8.95), British Walks (£7.99), Cirque du Soleil (£8.95), Extraordinary Chickens (£8.95) Flower Fairies (£7.99 & £4.99), Lady Cottington's Fairy Album (£8.95), Lonely Planet (£8.99), Peter Rabbit (£6.99), Wicca (£7.99)

2004 Diaries include: Beatrix Potter Diary (£5.99), British Library (£12.99), Flower Fairies (£5.99), Lonely Planet (£9.99), National Railway Museum (£10.99), Peter Rabbit (£4.99) RHS (£11.99 and £5.99)


JUNE 2003

FICTION

HARDBACK

Crossing the Lines - Melvyn Bragg

Continuing from The Soldier's Return and A Son of War Joe moves from working-class Wigton to the rarefied atmosphere of Oxford. (£15.99 at The Book Case)

Finding Myself - Toby Litt

From the author of Exhibitionism. "Best beach book ever" it says here. (£11.99 at The Book Case)

All He Ever Wanted - Anita Shreve

Novel about love, jealousy and loss by theauthor of The Pilot's Wife (£11.99 at The Book Case)

Brick Lane -Monica Ali

The story of a girl from Bangladesh who moves to London's East End. Debut novel. (£11.99 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

City of the Beasts - Isabel Allende

Ecological romance and Amazonian adventure story in one. (£6.99)

Everything is Illuminated- Jonathan Safra Foer

Prize-winning novel about a young man who arrives in the Ukraine to search for the woman who fifty years ago saved his grandfather from the Nazis, aided by an incompetent translator, a 'blind' old man and an undersexed guide dog named Sammy Davis Jr, Jr. (£6.99)

Fragrant Harbour - John Lanchester

The story of four people whose intertwined lives span 70 years in Asia: the complacency of colonial life in the 1930s; the horrors of the Japanese occupation during World War II; and the post-war boom and transformation of Hong Kong all surface in this epic novel. (£7.99)

Across the Nightingale Floor - Lian Hearn

"Tales of the Otori 1": set in a mythical, feudal, Japanese land, a world both beautiful and cruel, the intense love story of two young people takes place against a background of warring clans, secret alliances, high honour and lightning swordplay. (£6.99)

Seven Sisters - Margaret Drabble

When Candida Wilton arrives alone in London, divorced and rejected and without much money, she is filled with a strange sense of excitement. (£6.99)

Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

"I was 14 when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighbourhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer."' A novel about life, death, forgiveness and vengeance, memory and forgetting. (£6.99)

Party in San Niccolo - Christobel Kent

Set during one week in springtime Florence, this book follows the events leading up to the 75th birthday party for Frances Richardson, a much-loved English resident. (£6.99)

Not the End of the World- Kate Atkinson

Short stories from the popular Whitbread winner, exploring the world we think we know whilst offering a vision of another world which lurks just beneath the surface of our consciousness. (£6.99)

Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About - Mil Millington

Funny and original first novel about love, fatherhood, librarians and Anglo-German relations, from the creator of the cult website, Things My Girlfriend and I have Argued About, and one of The Guardian's top 5 debut novelists for 2002. (£6.99)

Rule of Night - Trevor Hoyle

From Hebden Bridge publishers Pomona, a reissue of this chillingly detailed novel about the seamy side of Rochdale in the 1970s. (£8.99)

Dorian - Will Self

Set against the Aids crises of the '80s and '90s, a reworking of Oscar Wilde's novel. (£7.99)

Stump - Niall Griffiths

"After the darkness of (his) first three books, there is the relief of black farce and scabrous banter, and a move towards a sense of regeneration." From the author of Grits and Sheepshagger. (£10.00)

Kelly and Victor - Niall Griffiths
Dark and disturbing novel about sadomasochism. (£6.99)

Atom Station - Halldor Laxness

From the author of Independent People and Fish Can Sing, a satire on politics, politicians, Communists, anti-Communists, phoney culture fiends, big business, and all the pretensions of authority. Translated from the Icelandic by Magnus Magnusson. (£9.99)

Virginia - Jens C Grondahl

Novel of love and relationships from Denmark; European bestseller. (£7.99)

Red Poppies - Alai

"An epic saga of old Tibet" - in the 1930s, a wealthy family make a bargain with the Chinese Nationalists. (£7.99)

Refusal Shoes - Tony Saint

Comic novel exposing the secretive and surreal world of passport control and immigration. (£10.00)

Manual of the Warrior of the Light - Paulo Coelho

A collection of inspirational thoughts and stories from the author of The Alchemist. (£6.99)

Boomeritis - Ken Wilber

A novel that will set you free." A naive young graduate in computer science seeks meaning in a fragmented world. (£14.99)

The Rock - Kanan Makiya

Whose rock is enshrined inside the golden Dome of Jerusalem, the Rock of Moses or of Muhammad? This historically based account of the building of the Dome of the Rock reconstructs the paths of the actual individuals whose spiritual journeys revolved around the Rock. (£7.99)

Highland Fling - Katie Fforde

Jenny Porter goes to Scotland to investigate a woollen mill for a client - and finds herself helping run The Homely Haggis, a mobile burger bar. (£6.99)

Pandora - Jilly Cooper

About the international art world - where successful young artists strut around like rock stars, where artful and crafty dealers indulge in every kind of gallery-pokery, and where the more beautiful the painting, the greater the backstabbing. (£6.99)

Summer Magic - ed. Gil McNeil

New collection of short stories by some of the best-selling writers today (Joanna Trollope, John O'Farrell ... ) to raise funds for the charity PiggyBankKids. (£6.99)

Crime Fiction:

No 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall-Smith

Wayward daughters, missing husbands, philandering partners, curious conmen. If you've got a problem, and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's only - and finest - female private detective. Now in mass-market paperback. (£6.99)

Full Cupboard of Life - Alexander McCall-Smith

Mr J.L.B. Matekoni has other things on his mind than naming a day for his wedding with Mma Ramotswe: notably a frightening request made of him by Mma Potokwani. Another super cover. (£8.99)

Hard Eight - Janet Evanovich

Bombshell bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is back on her Harley. (£6.99)

Missing - Karin Alvtegen

For 15 years Sibylla Forsenstrom has been one of the homeless in Stockholm; then one night she charms a businessman into paying for her dinner and room. His dead body is discovered the following morning and Sibylla is the prime suspect. (£9.99)

Jupiter Myth - Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis' fourteenth novel in the bestselling Marcus Didius Falco series is a Londinium noir tale of gangsters, gladiators and love. (£6.99)

Mist of Prophecies - Steven Saylor

During the Roman Civil War, Gordianus the Finder starts to investigate the murder of a woman about whom no one seems to know very much at all. (£6.99)

Used Women's Book Club - Paul Bryers

On the night the Used Women's Book Club meet to swap novels and exchange literary views, the adulterous husband of one of its members is being brutally murdered. (£9.99)

Historical Fiction (see also Crime fiction above):

Last of the Amazons - Steven Pressfield

Full of brutal, bloody battles and wonderfully realised characters: the Amazon tribes march on Athens when their queen falls in love with Theseus. (£6.99)

NON-FICTION

ART & MUSIC

World Textiles: a Concise History (£8.95)

BBC Proms Guide 2003 (£5.00)

Gypsies and Flamenco - Bernard Leblon (£11.99)

BIOGRAPHY

Slipstream - Elizabeth Jane Howard

Illuminates the literary world of the latter half of the 20th century, as well as giving a highly personal insight into the life of one of our most beloved British writers. (£7.99)

The Kindness of Strangers - Kate Adie

Now in paperback, the career autobiography of the BBC's Chief News Correspondent. With photos. (£7.99)

Footnote - Boff Whalley

From Hebden Bridge publishers Pomona the autobiography of Chumbawamba founder member Boff Whalley: from smalltown Lancashire reconciling Mormonism and punk rock to international hit single Tubthumping. (£8.99).

King of the Castle - Martin Plimmer

Entertaining account of domestic chaos as the writer's freelance career collapses around him. (£6.99)

HISTORY

Ancient Egypt: Mammoth Book of How It Happened

Using over 150 eyewitness documents, reconstructs Ancient Egyptian history from the unification of the kingdoms in c.3150 BC to the conquest by Rome in 30BC (£7.99)

Letters to Auntie Fori - Martin Gilbert

"5000 Years of Jewish History" told in 70 letters, a wonderfully readable overview and introduction to Jewish history and faith by a bestselling author. (£8.99)

Blood and Guts - Roy Porter

"A Short History of Medicine", startlingly illustrated (£6.99)

Workhouse - Norman Longmate

New edition of this study of the Victorian workhouse first published in 1974. (£12.50)

Boer War - Denis Judd

The Boer War was an epic both of heroism and of bungling, cunning and barbarism, with an extraordinary cast of characters. A fresh view, debunking some myths. (£8.99)

Women who lived for Danger - Marcus Binney

"The Women Agents of SOE in the Second World War." Thirty-seven young women volunteered for extremely dangerous undercover work in occupied France during WWII. 13 never returned. (£8.99)

Gold Train - Ronald Zweig

The closing months of Fascist Europe told via the journey of a single train crammed with valuable booty from the genocide and a desperate group of collaborators, racist ideologues, civil-servants and bodyguards trying to reach the Nazi "Alpine redoubt" from Budapest as the Soviet army closes in in 1944.

MBS

Blank Slate - Stephen Pinker

Following 'How the Mind Works', Pinker now asks: what makes a person?, challenging conventional widom that our thoughts and feelings seep into our heads from the surrounding culture. (£7.99)

Pooh and the Magicians - J. Tyerman Williams

At the very heart of the Ancient Mysteries of the World sits the Great Bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, master of every branch of ancient lore. (£7.99)

MEDIA

Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies (3rd ed.) - ed. John Walker (£17.99)

When Will I Be Famous - Martin Kelner

How we are entertained nowadays: pubs, clubs & reality TV. (£7.99)

NATURE AND OUTDOORS

Dr.Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation - Olivia Judson

"Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex" in witty question-and-answer format. Short-listed for the Dr Samuel Johnson Non-Fiction Prize 2003. (£6.99)

Remarkable Trees of the World - Thomas Pakenham

Thomas Pakenham goes in search of the oldest, most unusual and most impressive trees of the world. A new portable hardback format, illustrated. (£12.99)

Essential Bushcraft - Ray Mears

Based on the bestselling 'Bushcraft', an illustrated, handy portable compendium of vital survival skills and wisdom from around the world. (£9.99)

POLITICS

Stasiland - Anna Funder

Extraordinary tales from the underbelly of the former East Germany (£12.99)

Age of Consent - George Monbiot

"A Manifesto for a New World Order." - tackles the political and economic presumptions and prejudices on which our society has rested since the Second World War. (£14.99)

Extra Time: World Politics Since 1989 - Perry Anderson

An alternative route to general theories of globalization, sampling the historical situations of a range of nation-states, and attempting to move beyond them. (£20.00)

We Did Nothing: The Untold Story of the Modern Battle for Peace - Linda Polman

What really happens when the young men in blue helmets reach the frontline? Linda Polman witnessed the UN missions to Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda and Sierra Leone and met their frightened soldiers, mystified locals, and jaded mercenaries. (£12.99)

Among the Heroes - Jere Longman

The story of Flight 93 and the passengers who fought back. (£6.99)

SCIENCE

I Have Landed - Stephen Jay Gould

The late scientist's tenth and last volume of essays from Natural History magazine. (£7.99)

SOCIETY

Man Walks into a Pub - Pete Brown

A Sociable History of Beer. (£10.99)

Good Women of China - Xinran Xue

For 7 years, Xinran Xue hosted a daily radio phone-in programme on which she invited women to call in and talk about themselves; the show became famous for its powerful, honest discussions of what it means to be a woman in today's China. (£6.99)

In Search of British Heroes - Tony Robinson

Boudicca, Macbeth, King Harold, William Wallace and Robin Hood. Although all but one died a failure, each was seen as symbolising something great during their lifetime. Tony Robinson seeks the real people were behind the myths, and looks at how these myths have woven themselves into our nation's character. Channel 4 tie-in. (£18.99)

Smokescreen - Robert Sabbag

Allen Long led a group of dope smugglers who violated Colombian and US airspace, landed on jungle mud-tracks in bandit country and avoided detection by America's most tooled-up law enforcement agencies. (£7.99)

TRAVEL

Travels of Ibn Battutah - ed. Tim Mackintosh Smith

Abridged edition of the great masterpiece of Muslim geography, written by a Moroccan who journeyed for a quarter-century across Asia and Africa on the eve of the Black Death in the 14th century, giving an unequalled picture of medieval civilisation. (£10.00)

Seeking Robinson Crusoe - Tim Severin

In search of the world's most famous castaway, Tim Severin travels where men were shipwrecked or abandoned in the days of the pirates and buccaneers, and lived to tell their tales of survival. (£7.99)

Outposts - Simon Winchester

"Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire." Reissue. (£7.99)

Southern Gates of Arabia - Freya Stark

In 1934 Freya Stark travelled alone to the Hadhramaut in what is now Yemen. (£9.99)

Seek - Denis Johnson

"Reports from the Edges of America and Beyond." (£7.99)

Brazil - John Malathronas

Odyssey through the adrenaline-fuelled, chaotic city bars, the extravagant and exotic Carnaval, and the destitute shanty towns of this remarkable country. (£8.99)

Bay of Tigers - Pedro Rosa Mendes

"A Journey Through War-torn Angola" in 1997. (£9.99)

Hokkaido Highway Blues - Will Ferguson

Funny and illuminating account of journey along the length of Japan on the Cherry Blossom Front. (£7.99)

Bon Courage - Richard Wiles

"A Renovation in France's Rural Limousin". Doing up a dilapidated, rat-infested stone barn set amidst thirteen acres of overgrown woodland and starting a llama farm. (£7.99)

Water Road - Paul Gogarty

The account of a four-month circumnavigation by narrowboat of "The Grand Cross", the inland waterway linking the Thames to the Humber, Severn and Mersey, the world's most concentrated canal network.(£8.99)

New Lonely Planet Guides to Russia and Belarus, Boston, East Africa, the Philippines and East Africa amongst others.

New Rough Guides to Ireland, France, Croatia, Turkey, the Netherlands, Sweden, amongst others

New Time Out Guides to Rome and Vienna

Lots of new Berlitz editions too - we can usually order in overnight.

CALENDARS & DIARIES

Early I know, but expected are Tolkien Calendars and Diaries, Faeryland and Goblin Calendars, a Hobbit Calendar, a Year of the Monkey Calendar and a Goddess Calendar.

CHILDREN'S

Bright Penny - Geraldine McCaughrean

When a farmer challenges his three children to fill his barn completely using £1, they try using feathers, light and magic! (£5.99)

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly - Colin and Jacqui Hawkins

Colourful and hilarious lift-the-flap version. (£5.99)

Bing and Bong Story Book: Be a Sport - Rod Green

Picture book based on the TV series. (£3.50)

Abe's Team - Will Gatti

When Abe magically sets free a team of 11-year-old footballers from a 1942 photograph, he has to save them from the witch-headmistress who imprisoned them. 8 + (£4.99)

All Day Saturday - Charles Causley

A new edition of his poems with pictures by Tony Ross. (£4.99)

Bullies, Bigmouths and So-Called Friends (Girls/Boys) - Jenny Alexander

Two books designed to raise self-esteem as a way to combat bullying, with exercises and quizzes. 9-12 years. (£4.99)

Wind on Fire 3: Firesong - William Nicholson

Third and final title in the trilogy as the wind is rising! (£6.99)

Shadowmancer - G. P. Taylor

Frightening feelgood story written by a vicar. (£5.99)

Worry Website - Jacqueline Wilson

Lots of the kids in Mr Speed's class have problems to worry about and it's sometimes difficult to discuss them. So Mr Speed sets up the Worry Website on the classroom computer. Anybody in the class can anonymously enter their worry and anyone else can type in advice to help out. (£4.99)


MAY 2003

FICTION

HARDBACK

Oryx & Crake - Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood's first novel since the Booker-winning The Blind Assassin. Earth has been left devastated in the wake of ecological and scientific disaster. (£14.99 at The Book Case).

The Colour - Rose Tremain

Historical novel set during the New Zealand gold rush in the mid-19th century. ('The Colour' is miners' slang for gold.) "Combines terrifically strong narrative and brilliant characterisation with lovely writing, extraordinary imagery and a touch of magic." (£14.99 at The Book Case).

Cosmopolis - Don De Lillo

"A stunningly eventful day in the life of Eric Packer, a multi-billionaire who owns a forty-eight room apartment and a decommissioned nuclear bomber, and who has recently married the heiress to a European fortune. ... A mesmeric tour de force of character, stylistic brilliance, intelligence and wit." (£14.99 at The Book Case).

Crabwalk - Gunter Grass

The Nobel Literature prizewinning author of The Tin Drum tackles a taboo subject: the the sinking of a German refugee ship by a Soviet submarine in 1945, with the loss of 9,000 women and children. Already in stock. (£14.99 at The Book Case.)

Holy Fools - Joanne Harris

Set in 17th century France against the backdrop of witch trials, regicide and religious frenzy, this is the story of Juliette, a travelling actress and rope dancer. From the author of Chocolat (£13.00 at The Book Case).

Maid's Request - Michele Desbourdes

An artist has journeyed from Italy to lead his school of students in the design and construction of a chateau in the Loire Valley. This novel is about the enigmatic relationship between a 16th-century Italian painter and his servant. (£11.99 at The Book Case)

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon

Unusual murder mystery in which the murder of a neighbour's dog sets a 15-year-old autistic boy onto a terrifying trail of discovery. Funny, moving and convincing. (£9.99 at The Book Case)

PAPERBACK

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Booker Prize winner. The only survivo